distributor

A distributor is a device in the ignition system of an internal combustion engine that routes high voltage from the ignition coil to the spark plugs in the correct firing order. The first high-tension distributor was developed around 1904, independently by Napier, Bouton, and Winton.It consists of a rotating arm or inside the distributor cap, on top of the distributor shaft, but insulated from it and the body of the vehicle ("earth"). The metal part of the rotor contacts the central high voltage cable from the coil via a spring loaded carbon brush. The metal part of the rotor arm passes close to (but does not touch) the output contacts which connect via high tension cables to the spark plug of each cylinder. As the rotor spins within the distributor, electrical current is able to jump the small gaps created between the rotor arm and the contacts due to the high voltage created by the ignition coil.
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n. distributor, distributer, agent

In data transmission, a device that accepts a data stream from one line and places a sequence of signals, one or more at a time, on several lines, thus performing a spatial multiplexing of the original stream. Note: Examples of a distributor are (a) a mechanical unit with input to a rotor and output through many contacts wiped by the rotor and (b) a set of combinational logic circuits, such as a series of AND gates, that are sequentially enabled by a set of pulses and that are all connected to a common bus carrying the input signals. [From Weik '89]

a person or organisation who distributes/sells goods to retailers or wholesalers on behalf of the producer.