An air-assisted jet flame ignition device includes a housing, a fuel-air premixing unit, and a prechamber. The fuel-air premixing unit includes a fuel injector, an air injection valve, a premixing sleeve, a premixing sleeve inner core placed in the premixing sleeve, and a fuel injector fastening bolt. An inner wall surface of the premixing sleeve and an outer wall surface of the premixing sleeve inner core form a premixing sleeve inner cavity. An inner wall surface of the premixing sleeve inner core, a lower end surface of a nozzle of the fuel injector, and an upper end surface of an air inlet of the air injection valve form a premixing cavity. The premixing cavity coupled to the premixing sleeve inner cavity via a through hole on the sidewall of the premixing sleeve inner core. A prechamber nozzle is fixedly coupled to the lower part of the housing.

A spark plug for an internal combustion engine includes insulating glass having a tubular shape, a central electrode including a tip protruding portion, a housing having a tubular shape, and a plug cover provided over an auxiliary combustion chamber. The plug cover is provided with injection holes through which the auxiliary combustion chamber communicates with the exterior. The central electrode includes a base material and a core material disposed inside the base material and having a higher thermal conductivity than the base material. The core material includes a large diameter portion and a small diameter portion continuously formed on a tip side of the large diameter portion. The small diameter portion has a smaller diameter than the large diameter portion, and includes, in a part of the small diameter portion in an axial direction, a small-diameter columnar portion having a constant diameter. At least a part of the small-diameter columnar portion is disposed further on the tip side of the spark plug than a tip of the insulating glass.

An ignition device includes a coil unit and an igniter. The coil unit includes a primary coil and a secondary coil. The primary coil includes a main primary coil and an auxiliary primary coil formed by winding a single primary conductor on a primary bobbin. The secondary coil is formed by winding a secondary conductor on a secondary bobbin. A DC voltage is applied to an intermediate section of the primary conductor between the main primary coil and the auxiliary primary coil. The igniter controls current flowing into the main primary coil or the auxiliary primary coil. The primary bobbin includes a bobbin body and a hooking part protruding from the bobbin body. The main primary coil and the auxiliary primary coil are wound on an outer peripheral surface of the bobbin body to the same direction. A part of the intermediate section is hooked on the hooking part.

An ignition assembly configuration in piston engine with a main piston and an auxiliary piston, the ignition assembly is mounted on the cylinder wall and connects to the combustion chamber; the ignition assembly comprises an connection cut-out passage, an ignition device, or ignition device combined with a fuel injection nozzle, or an ignition device combined with a fuel injection nozzle and a pressure sensor passage. Wherein the auxiliary piston has a by-pass passage to keep the ignition assembly connected to the combustion chamber when the auxiliary piston moves down below the uppermost position of the main piston and blocks the ignition assembly cut-out passage; wherein the uppermost position of the ignition assembly is at or aligned with the uppermost position of the auxiliary piston in combustion stroke, the lowermost position of the ignition assembly is at or aligned with the uppermost position of the main piston. Fuel-water injection, multiple fuel injections and combustions can be easily practiced in the new configuration.

A method for starting an internal combustion engine comprises the steps of: providing an internal combustion engine having at least one cylinder and a piston supported at a crankshaft for repeated reciprocal movement in the cylinder so as to define a main combustion chamber, the internal combustion engine further having an ignition device arranged in said cylinder with an igniter portion and a fuel injector which are both arranged at a pre-chamber, wherein the pre-chamber has a plurality of orifices for providing fluid communication between said pre-chamber and the main combustion chamber, injecting fuel in the pre-chamber, and igniting the injected fuel in the pre-chamber for pre-heating of the pre-chamber prior to injecting fuel in the main combustion chamber for combusting the injected fuel in the main combustion chamber.

In a catalyst warming-up control, a first time injection is performed by an injector in an intake stroke. A second time injection is performed with an amount smaller than the first time injection in an expansion stroke after a compression top dead center. In the catalyst warming-up control, an interval from the start of the ignition period of an spark plug to the completion of the second time injection is controlled by the ECU so that the initial flame generated from an air-fuel mixture containing the fuel spray injected by the first time injection is brought into contact with the fuel spray injected by the second time injection.

A fuel injector is configured so that, when seen from a top view of a combustion chamber, a first fuel spray flux and a second fuel spray flux sandwich an electrode part of a spark plug, and the electrode part is located outside of contour surfaces of the two fuel spray fluxes. A first injection angle between a center line of the first fuel spray flux and a vertical line and a second injection angle between a center line of the second fuel spray flux and the vertical line are larger than an angle between a center line of any other fuel spray flux and the vertical line. The second injection angle is made smaller than the first injection angle so that a distance from the electrode part to the contour surface of the second fuel spray flux is larger than a distance from the electrode part to the contour surface of the first fuel spray flux.

A fuel injector is configured so that, when seen from a top view of a combustion chamber, a first fuel spray flux and a second fuel spray flux sandwich an electrode part of a spark plug, and the electrode part is located outside of contour surfaces of the two fuel spray fluxes. A first injection angle between a center line of the first fuel spray flux and a vertical line and a second injection angle between a center line of the second fuel spray flux and the vertical line are larger than an angle between a center line of any other fuel spray flux and the vertical line. The second injection angle is made smaller than the first injection angle so that a distance from the electrode part to the contour surface of the second fuel spray flux is larger than a distance from the electrode part to the contour surface of the first fuel spray flux.

An upper part of FIG. 7 represents a catalyst warming-up control when a normal fuel is used, and a lower part of FIG. 7 represents the catalyst warming-up control when a heavy fuel is used. As understood from a comparison between the upper part and the lower part of FIG. 7, the start timing of the ignition period and the total injection amount of the injector in each cycle when the heavy fuel is used are the same as those when the normal fuel is used, though the ratio of the intake stroke injection and the expansion stroke injection to the total injection amount of the injector is changed to increase the fuel amount of the expansion stroke injection as compared with the case where the normal fuel is used.

An upper part of FIG. 7 represents a catalyst warming-up control when a normal fuel is used, and a lower part of FIG. 7 represents the catalyst warming-up control when a heavy fuel is used. As understood from a comparison between the upper part and the lower part of FIG. 7, the start timing of the ignition period and the total injection amount of the injector in each cycle when the heavy fuel is used are the same as those when the normal fuel is used, though the ratio of the intake stroke injection and the expansion stroke injection to the total injection amount of the injector is changed to increase the fuel amount of the expansion stroke injection as compared with the case where the normal fuel is used.