Improvements in or connected with Gas Engines.
Year: 1890

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or connected with Gas Engines.
We EDOUARD FRANÇOIS DELAMARE DEBOUTTEVILLE and PAUL CHARLES LEON
MALANDIN both of Fontaine-le-Bourg in the Republic of France Manufacturers do
hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be
performed to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:
This invention relates to means for governing or regulating the action of gas and
other like explosive engines with considerable accuracy so as to admit of their being
employed for driving dynamos for example.
This arrangement for regulating the speed may be combined with an improved
arrangement of the piston whereby a more perfect expansion is obtained
hereinafter explained.
as
In employing gas engines for driving dynamos for example it is necessary to
obviate the jerks or irregularities however slight that are caused when the admission
changes from full to nothing or vice versa. With this object it has already been
proposed to weaken the gaseous mixture by varying the proportion of gas admitted.
The chief disadvantage of this method is that it is not practicable except by varying
the proportion of gas within very narrow limits and producing gaseous mixtures less
easily ignited.
By means of our present invention these disadvantages are obviated the gaseous
mixture is allowed to retain its fall proportion of gas so that its ignition is certain
and the amount of mixture admitted into the cylinder is regulated according as the
speed of the motor rises above the normal rate. These arrangements are completed
by regulating the air pump in a peculiar manner as hereinafter described and by
increasing the length of the piston so as to obtain in addition a more perfect expansion
of the gas and a more complete exhaust or discharge of the products of combustion.
This system of governing or regulating can be applied with the greatest facility to gas
engines of all descriptions.
And in order that our said invention may be more fully understood we shall now
proceed to more particularly describe the same and for that purpose shall refer to the
several figures on the annexed sheet of drawings the same letters of reference
indicating corresponding parts in all the figures.
Figs. 1 and 2 of the accompanying drawings illustrate in elevation and in section
respectively an example of and arrangement for regulating the action of a gas engine
according to our invention.
Figs. 3 and 4 are diagrams relating to the action of the engine as hereinafter
explained.
For the purpose of explanation we have shewn the regulating mechanism arranged
for acting in combination with our improved gas engine of the type known as the
"Simplex" but it is evident that the invention can be applied with equal advantage
to any other type of gas motor or engine by suitably modifying the details of
construction as will be readily understood by persons conversant with the construction
of these engines.
Referring now to Figs. 1 and 2 M represents the slide valve, N the slide valve
cover and the mixing chamber. In the interior of the chamber there is a rod or
shaft T formed with a ring or perforated enlargement through which the spring of
the gas
valve S works as shewn in Fig. 2. This shaft is connected at one end with a
perforated disc working on a corresponding seat 6 so as to form a rotary hit and
miss valve, with openings of such dimensions as to be capable of allowing the
maximum charge to pass into the cylinder when the valve is fully open. A spring r
coiled round the shaft T between the side of the chamber and the enlargement on the

page_text: said shaft serves to maintain the valve disc a in contact with the seat b which is
firmly fixed in the bottom or end of the mixing chamber.
The other end of the shaft T passes through the side of the mixing chamber and is
provided externally with an arm t moved in one direction by an adjustable spring c
(Fig. 1) and in the other direction by the piston rod p of a piston working in an air
chamber C. This air chamber is attached by a bracket f to the mixing chamber O
and communicates through a tube e with an air pump or regulator R. This pump or
regulator is attached to the cover N of the slide valve M and its piston is moved by
the slide valve by means of a rod A connected to the valve at B by a slot allowing an
amount of play in the connection equal to the width of the admission porto in the
slide valve M. This amount of play is necessary in order to ensure the admission of
the proper proportion of gaseous mixture at the required time. The pump or regulator R
is provided with an adjusting screw valve controlling the amount of air that is
forced in under the piston in the air chamber and thus enabling the action of the
pump to be adjusted according to the speed at which the motor has to run.
When the pump or regulator is thus adjusted the orifices in the discs a and b coincide
exactly and the full supply of explosive mixture passes through the valve a.
So long
as the engine runs at its normal speed these conditions are maintained the same
quantity of mixture being supplied for each explosion. In case the engine tends to
run even slightly faster than the rate for which it is adjusted the air regulator or
governor R pumps a corresponding quantity of air into the air chamber Craising the
piston therein and rod p to an equivalent extent. This causes the rod p to act upon
the arm t and rotate the shaft T in such a manner as to displace the hit and miss
valve a on its seat b and cause it to more or less obstruct the passage of the gaseous
mixture. The supply of explosive mixture is consequently reduced in proportion to
the amount of closing of the said valve and the force resulting from the combustion is
correspondingly lessened. With this arrangement the supply of explosive mixture
is not cut off the proportion of its constituents remains unaltered and a constant
supply is provided being regulated in quantity according to the power to be
developed.
In an ordinary gas engine the gaseous mixture thus introduced would act in four
periods represented diagrammatically in Fig. 3. In this fig.
2,
"
"
"
3, 5, 4
"
"
4, 5, 1
"
"
"
compression
combustion
exhaust.
In this motor also the compression chamber would be represented (see diagram
Fig. 4) by the parallelogram 6, 7, 10, 11 the internal section of the cylinder being
represented by the parallelogram 6, 7, 8, 9 the strokes of the piston being from the
line 10, 11 to the line 12, 13 and the length of cylinder necessary for the guidance of
the piston being from 12, 13 to 8, 9.
With the system of regulating or controlling the action according to our present
invention we introduce the following modification in the working of the engine.
The air chamber C is so adjusted that it shuts off the supply of gaseous mixture
by means of the hit and miss valve a 6 before the piston has reached the end of its
first forward stroke or when the side 10 11 of the piston has arrived say at the
line 12ª 13º. Under these conditions the angle of the period of admission becomes
reduced to the segment 1, 5, 2ª (Fig. 3) and the supply of gaseous mixture being cut
off at 12° 13 (Fig. 4) the mixture expands as far as the line 12, 13.
In order that the compression of the mixture at the end of the stroke may not be
affected or changed the piston is made longer being lengthened from 10, 11 to 10° 11°
consequently if the compression of the mixture was originally say 5 kilogrammes
for example it still remains 5 kilogrammes as before.
Ignition taking place the piston is driven to the end of its stroke but the expansion
is more complete than it was before with the ordinary arrangement and an important
saving of gas is effected. Moreover the compression chamber is thus reduced in

page_text: volume and a smaller quantity of inert burned gases are retained hence further
economy is effected. The expansion being more complete the burned gases escape at
a lower temperature during the period of exhaust.
Our improved system of regulating and the resulting modifications which we
introduce in the pistons and lengths of the periods in the working of gas engines will
now be readily understood without further explanations. Our said system is
applicable to all types of gas engines the details of construction being obviously
modified to suit the engine to which it is applied.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what we
claim is
1. In a gas engine the arrangement of a hit and miss or equivalent valve such as a b
working in the interior of the mixing chamber O with the effect of producing by the
simple rotation or movement of the valve varying degrees of throttling or obstruction
of the passage for the explosive mixture and of thereby regulating the action of the
engine at the same time retaining the proportions of the components of the mixture
substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
2. In a gas engine the arrangement of the obstructing valve a b enclosed in the
mixing chamber Ŏ in combination with an air chamber or cylinder C and with the
air pump or regulator R actuated directly by the slide valve so as to automatically
produce the displacement of the obturator valve and to regulate the supply of the
explosive gaseous mixture in proportion to the power to be developed substantially
as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
3. In a gas engine the improved arrangement for regulating the action by means
of valves or obturators as herein before set forth in combination with an increase in
the length of the piston with the effect of obtaining a more perfect expansion of the
products of the explosion in the manner substantially as hereinbefore described with
reference to the accompanying drawings.
4. The combinations and arrangements of parts for regulating and improving the
action or working of gas engines substantially as bereinbefore described with reference
to the accompanying drawings.
Dated this 20th day of Ca1000
J. H. JOHNSON & Co.,
47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, W.C., Agents.