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Model T Ignition Coil Part II

Engineering Applications and Design

Model T Ignition Coil Part II
The Ford and K-W Ignition Company Story
Trent Boggess, Department of Business, Plymouth State College
Ronald Patterson, Medway, MA
11 pages

Open: Model T Ignition Coil Part 2
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“Be it known that I, Joseph A. Williams, a citizen of the United States, residing at Cleveland, in the county of Cuyahoga and State of Ohio, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Ignition Apparatus...” - U.S. Patent # 1,092,417

In 1907 the K-W Ignition Company of Cleveland, Ohio had attempted to persuade the Ford Motor Company to adopt their magneto for the Ford Models N, R and S. Although K-W’s attempt was unsuccessful, it appears that Joseph A. Williams, president of K-W, continued to look for opportunities to hitch K-W Ignition Company’s wagon to Ford Motor’s rising star.

The association between K-W Ignition and the Ford Motor Company was resumed in late 1912. After its failure to get Ford to adopt the K-W magneto for its Models N, R and S cars, K-W continued to refine the design of its ignition coils as well as developing a line of accessories for the Model T. Ford Motor Company sales records in the Research Center at the Henry Ford Museum show that K-W purchased from Ford Motor Company a number of items that could have been used in K-W’s product development program. These items included flywheel magnetos, a complete Model T motor, and a jig for testing coil units.’ The K-W product line also included “road smoothers” for Model T Fords and a magneto powered electric headlights and sidelights.

Photo 6: Illustration from Joseth A. Williams 1914 patent
for the K-W coil showing various parts of the coil