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 History Of The 'Halo' Ring Tip |
World War II
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It is apparent from all the information known at this time that during World War II the Germans either originated or attempted further development of the concept of a halo ring tip spark plug. As WWII wore on, the quality of German gasoline dropped dramatically due to inherent impurities in Rumanian oil, the primitive nature of oil refining during the time period (followed by reliance on rather primitive methods to process fuel from coal) and a rapidly crumbling fuel distribution system (i.e., constant bombing of German refineries, pipelines, tank farms, etc., poor/non-existent maintenance procedures, and sabotage by non-German forced labor workers). As a result, the Germans became increasingly desperate for a spark plug that would not be fouled by their deteriorating gasoline and that would more quickly ignite the air-fuel mixture (by 1944 the design and technology of conventional spark plugs was about 50 years old). By the time of the German surrender on May 8, 1945, it was clear to all that their fuel situation was instrumental in contributing to their defeat.
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1946
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In 1946, some Europeans undertook to develop a version of the "Halo Ring Electrode" concept. However, probably due to post-war shortages and the previous overall wartime reliance on stamped (bended) metal, a hydraulic press was utilized to bend the metal legs for attaching the halo ring tip to the spark plug body. The bent metal legs were then welded to the spark plug body. Because metal seeks to return to its original shape when it gets hot (what happens in a combustion chamber) the bent metal legs would then burst the primitive era welds and the halo tip would disintegrate. As a result, the project was abandoned and the concept of a halo ring tip spark plug faded away.
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1989 - 1994
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In October 1989, a small company in the United States (Ultra Performance International, Inc.) began experimenting with the halo ring electrode concept. Various configurations of single and multiple leg, both open and closed upper ring tip ground electrodes, were developed and tested. In 1991, a radical, critical change was pioneered. The entire halo tip (upper ring, supporting legs, and lower ring) would be cast as one metallurgical piece and the lower ring would be welded to the spark plug body. See Figure No. 1 (below).  The first casting mold and initial Halo ring tip of this novel concept was created in a high tech dental lab. It was hand welded on a spark plug body, and testing by an astute dirt track racer demonstrated that it produced more horsepower - validating the theory of the Halo ring tip. After a series of modifications this experimental Halo ring tip propelled the dirt track racer to two consecutive winning seasons.
On January 18, 1994, the first of a series of patents was issued for this novel concept. When a NASCAR engine building shop achieved more horsepower and quicker engine response with an early version prototype Halo spark plug, expectations were sky high. This early version prototype Halo spark plug was then utilized in one NASCAR race and the car won. However, since the triumphant NASCAR team was sponsored by a big spark plug company, the 2/10 second per lap faster times achieved by the Halo plug was not publicized. In any event, post-race X-rays revealed hairline cracks so further development was required. |
1995 - 1999
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Over the next few years, the design of the Halo ring tip began to be refined.
First, the correct dimension for the tip’s ring hole was established. Second, to reduce heat build-up, the top part of the three legs that attached the top ring to the bottom ring began to be curved on top.
Initial testing revealed that the increase in horsepower (which increases a vehicle’s mpg) also resulted in a substantial reduction of emissions - further validating the theory and design of the Halo ring tip. 
Subsequent testing of this refined design revealed that, when the surface face of the piston reached top-dead-center (TDC) at the conclusion of the compression stroke/beginning of the combustion (power) stroke, the flame head produced by a Halo ring tip spark plug was six times the size of a flame head produced by conventional spark plugs. This faster burn rate of the air-fuel mixture meant that the timing point of the ignition spark could be advanced very close to TDC. However, the calculations and formula’s that had been painstakingly developed as to conventional spark plugs had little relevance. Also, the quality of evolving computer controlled electronic ignition systems varied widely between automotive manufacturers - resulting in inconsistent engine performance and some widely varying results. In many engines, a Halo ring tip spark plug produced a stunning increase in mpg along with a dramatic decrease in emissions. Yet, in a few engines, a Halo ring tip spark plug would produce a dramatic decrease in emissions but only a marginal increase in mpg. In need of better-funded R&D since clear-cut answers were evasive, prototype Halo spark plugs were presented to five of the larger well-known brand-name manufacturers of conventional spark plugs. However, comfortably enjoying the bulk of the vast North American and European market, they had no interest in perfecting and manufacturing a spark plug that would dramatically increase mpg while substantially reducing emission levels.
In 1999, the assets and patents belonging to Ultra Performance International, Inc. were transferred to Halo Spark Plugs, Inc. and the Halo ring tip was further perfected. First, to further reduce heat build-up, the top part of the three legs connecting the upper ring to the bottom ring were given a more pronounced curve. Second, to ensure the precision welding of the lower ring to a spark plug body, a thin insertion collar was added to the bottom of lower ring (to precisely position the Halo tip on a spark plug body). See Figures No. 2-3 (below). Testing at Michigan State University proved the Halo ring tip produced an increase in horsepower along with an increase in a vehicle’s mpg and a substantial reduction of emissions - fully validating the highly refined design of the Halo ring tip. Finally, due to the highly complex design of this highly refined Halo tip, the high tech liquid injection molding process was deemed to offer the most precise method for casting of the entire Halo ring tip. |
2000 - 2003
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The first batch of highly refined design Halo ring tips produced by a liquid injection molding process occurred in November 1999. However, it was soon discovered that approximately one in forty tips had a microscopic surface crack so in 2000 a different liquid injection molding firm was utilized to cast the tips. At the same time, the highly refined design was globally patented. Upon European testing by TUV and DEKRA (TUV and DEKRA are German Government authorized testing facilities), a larger batch of tips were ordered from the replacement liquid injection-molding firm. Thereafter, various types and sizes of prototype Halo ring tip spark plugs were produced and distributed. However, in 2002, it was discovered that about one in sixty of refined design Halo tips produced by the replacement firm had a microscopic bubble on the under-side of the bottom ring (causing the lower ring to be slightly un-level when it was welded to a spark plug body). In part, it was determined that the highly complex nature of the refined Halo tip design was just slightly too cutting-edge for a metal casting firm. A recall of these prototype Halo ring tip spark plugs brought all further development to a halt.
At about the same time, almost all of the financial backing had become depleted. Clearly, due to the earlier denial of the R&D expertise of the five manufacturers of conventional spark plugs, followed by the year after year of costly trial and error research, and coupled with poor management decision-making, the financial burdens finally became insurmountable and took their toll. In 2003, Halo Spark Plugs, Inc. (HSPI) and its successor, Halo, Inc., became insolvent. |
2004 - 2005
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In mid-2004, the rights to the globally patented Halo ring tip were licensed to LSG Brisk, LLC, a highly innovative privately owned company composed of highly trained internationally experienced engineers and specialized attorneys. Due to the inability of HSPI (and its successor, Halo, Inc.) to utilize the most advanced liquid injection molding process at the time, LSG Brisk painstakingly sought out the most high-tech cutting edge liquid injection molding firms in the world and then narrowed its selection to the very best of the very best (those utilizing 21st century technology).
LSG Brisk entered into a joint venture with Brisk, the eighth largest spark plug company in the world (Brisk is an O.E.M. of spark plugs for Lamborghini, Volvo, Audi, Volkswagen, and other world class vehicle manufacturers). Similar to Thomas Edison methodically developing the light bulb, the LSG Brisk/Brisk teams closely worked together to understand and solve the problems and inconsistencies that had confounded and then obstructed the earlier development of the Halo Spark Plug. First, they discovered that a ring electrode required consistent one-direction magnetic properties and that some of the earlier prototype version Halo spark plugs had inconsistent magnetic properties (i.e., resulting in very minor inconsistent combustion of the air-fuel mixture but some on-board automobile computers could detect such a slight difference and get confused). As a result, they ensured the consistent ionization of the metal in the Halo tip. Second, they discovered that some of the earlier prototype version Halo spark plugs had been assigned either a slightly too high or too low heat range as to a given engine. A slightly too cold heat range meant that the hot electrode and tip of the earlier Halo spark plug would not self-clean as well, resulting in a smaller increase in mpg in a some vehicles. They undertook a painstaking review of every automotive gasoline powered engine and ensured that the heat range of a LSG Brisk Halo spark plug assigned to a given engine would be perfect. It should be noted that the formerly unknown inconsistent magnetic field problem, in conjunction with the slightly too cold heat range problem on some engines, is what had largely confounded and obstructed the earlier development of the Halo spark plug. Third, the earlier prototype version Halo spark plugs only had one preset gap range (.035). That worked extremely well for engines designed to use a spark plug in that gap range but a .035 gap does not always work very well in engines designed to use a (.052) or wider gap range. As a result, the LSG Brisk/Brisk teams created five preset gap ranges which are (.025), (.036), (.044), (.052), and (.060). Computerized machining techniques ensure that these gaps are within plus or minus of a thousandth of an inch. Fourth, the collar insert, which had been added to the bottom of the lower ring to ensure the precision welding, was deleted to reduce heat build-up. See Figure No. 4 (below). Fifth, with these four technical problems being successfully corrected, the 21st century LSG Brisk Halo spark plug was then extensively re-tested so the widely differing computer controlled electronic ignition systems could be distinguished. |
Mid 2005 - Present
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As a result of the joint efforts by the LSG Brisk/Brisk teams, a limited number of various types of LSG Brisk Halo spark plugs were manufactured for field trial testing in the United States and Europe. The City of Little Rock, Arkansas was the first governmental entity in the U.S. to initiate police fleet field trial testing. Subsequently, various cities, counties, and state agencies began to initiate field trials. Contemporaneously, qualified individuals, mechanics, and commercial businesses separately undertook field trials. All the initial results far exceeded the most optimistic expectations of the LSG Brisk/Brisk teams (which in hindsight were far too conservative). The conclusive results showed that for the same amount of gasoline LSG Brisk Halo spark plug produced more horsepower than conventional spark plugs. This boost in engine efficiency results in an average increase of 12% more mpg per vehicle while also reducing emission levels to nearly zero. It is the spark plug of the 21st century, rendering all 100-year-old technology conventional spark plugs obsolete.
Because the LSG Brisk Halo spark plug is the only spark plug in the world that practically eliminates all emissions - particularly carbon monoxide (CO) levels - the State of California is in position to assemble new data proving that vehicles using the Halo spark plug do not need to use oxygenated fuel to achieve lower emissions (California must use prohibitively expensive ethanol which must be shipped by tanker rail cars from the corn belt region). Since 1999, California has been seeking to have the EPA grant it a waiver out of the prohibitively expensive federally mandated oxygenated gasoline program (which, since 1999, has been technically obsolete). The EPA’s sole technical objection to granting a waiver to California is its belief that granting the waiver would increase is carbon monoxide (CO) levels. See Figure No. 7 (below). Please read further below for a more full understanding of the social and economically costly nightmare that constitutes the now obsolete political oxygenated fuel program.
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No Known Upper Limit Regarding the Durability of Halo Spark Plugs
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There is no known upper limit regarding the durability of this unmatchable one-of-a-kind world-class spark plug. In Europe, a set of prototype Halo spark plugs was tested until 155,000 miles. In the U.S., a set of prototype Halo ring tip spark plugs was rigorously tested to 105,000 miles in a 1999 Toyota Camry. Depending on elevation, these prototype Halo plugs averaged a 6½% to 7½% increase in mpg over the stock NGK V-Power spark plugs - the finest conventional spark plug in the world. See Figure No. 5 (below). When it was discovered that this set of Halo plugs was one heat range too cold, they were substituted with a set of prototype Halo ring tip spark plugs having a slightly higher heat range. The 6½% to 7½% increase in mpg over the NGK V-Power spark plug then jumped to a 14% increase. See Figure No. 6 (below).  This dramatic increase in mpg emphasized the critical role of ensuring the correct heat range. In both cases, the Halo ring tips and hot electrode had no detectable pitting and it was useless to test the plugs any further. In other words, there is no known upper limit on the length of use of a Halo ring tip spark plug. |
Postscript Update About the Current Exorbitantly High Gasoline Prices
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| If any of the five manufacturers of conventional 100-year-old technology spark plugs had finished perfecting the Halo spark plug, it would have been on the market by 1999 and easily replaced most of the spark plugs in the world within a few years. As a result, it is fair to state that the demand for oil could have been dramatically reduced which would have averted the very high gasoline prices that now financially and politically threaten the U.S. economy and the American way-of-life. |
Diluting Gasoline With Ethanol – The $$$ Flim-Flam
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| As the retail price of gasoline rapidly rose in June, July, August, and September 2005, rising above $3.00 per gallon in many parts of the nation, it began to be increasingly diluted with much cheaper ethanol - as high as 43% by volume in parts of California - and either willingly or unknowingly sold by a number of mostly independent chains and outlets. This was a massive fraud because ethanol only has 60-62% of the btu’s (heat) of conventional gasoline – causing a vehicle’s mpg to plunge. Reformulated (oxygenated) gasoline only contains up to 10% ethanol and no more than 15% ethanol can be safely mixed with gasoline and not damage most gasoline powered engines in existence. This fraud damaged consumer’s pocketbook in two ways: (1) dramatically reducing a vehicle’s mpg; and (2) a vehicle’s engine could be damaged depending on how high the ethanol percentage was above 15% and how long the higher amount of ethanol was used. Only the new, rare, and expensive ethanol flexible-fuel engines are capable of tolerating and using more than 15% ethanol. They are designed to operate using gasoline, E85 (a mixture of 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline), or any mixture less than 85% ethanol. Any use of ethanol drops mpg. |
Photos/Diagrams
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| Figure No. 1 - Diagram of original three prong tip |
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| Figure No. 2 - Diagram of patented Halo ring tip |
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| Figure No. 3 - Diagram of patented Halo ring tip |
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| Figure No. 4 - Diagram of LSG Brisk Halo ring tip |
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| Figure No. 5 - Photo of 105,000 miles prototype Halo spark plugs |
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| Figure No. 6 - Photo of prototype Halo spark plugs that were the correct heat range |
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| | Figure No. 7 - June 2, 2005 EPA Letter to California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger |
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| Figure No. 8 - May 2005 EPA Program Update Concerning Oxygenated Fuel |
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