US Patent Issued to Caterpillar on March 3 for "Engine having hotspot fuel igniter and piston and methodology using same" (Illinois Inventors)

ALEXANDRIA, Va., March 3 -- United States Patent no. 12,565,865, issued on March 3, was assigned to Caterpillar Inc. (Peoria, Ill.).

"Engine having hotspot fuel igniter and piston and methodology using same" was invented by Chad P. Koci (Washington, Ill.) and Dana R. Coldren (Secor, Ill.).

According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "An engine includes a piston movable within a combustion cylinder, a direct fuel injector, and a hotspot fuel igniter. The hotspot fuel igniter includes a core exposed to the combustion cylinder, to ignite fuel spray plumes of a directly injected fuel, and an insulator insulating the core from heat transfer with a material of the piston. Applications include igniting a range of f...