Appeal No. 1998-1133
Application 08/382,296
combustion engine. Claims 21 and 22 are illustrative:
21. Exhaust gas treatment system for treating the
exhaust gases of an internal combustion engine comprising:
an exhaust pipe;
a catalytic converter having an inlet and an outlet
connected in said exhaust pipe for treating exhaust gases
passing through said exhaust pipe;
an igniter in said exhaust pipe having an inlet and an
outlet, the inlet of said catalytic converter being connected
to the outlet of said igniter, said igniter including catalyst
material for raising the temperature of the exhaust gases
passing through said igniter to a temperature sufficient to
ignite said
catalytic converter;
a bypass passage extending around said igniter to
communicate exhaust gases directly to said catalytic converter
bypassing said igniter;
a control valve in said exhaust pipe shiftable from a
first position in which a first portion of said exhaust gases
are directed through said bypass passage and a second portion
of the exhaust gases are directed through said igniter, said
first portion being greater than said second portion, to a
second position in which substantially all of the exhaust
gases are directed through said bypass passage; and
a controller responsive to the temperature within said
catalytic converter for shifting said control valve between
said first and second positions, said controller switching
said valve to said first position after engine start but
before ignition of said catalytic converter and to said second
position after ignition of said catalytic converter.
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