Year: 1899

page_text: We, JEAN FRANÇOIS BRELLIER, of No. 57, Rue St. Georges Ixelles, Commercial
Traveller, and EMILE MARIUS, of No. 21, Kue des Champs, Uccle, Merchant,
both in the Kingdom of Belgium, do hereby declare the nature of this invention
to be as follows:-
This invention relates to explosion mixture motors operating with a variable
volume of a mixture the composition of which is constant and in which an auxiliary
piston is freely displaced in the compression chamber.
In these motors the auxiliary compression chamber, that is to say, the space
situated behind the auxiliary piston, is generally placed in communication with
the atmosphere, at a certain point in the travel of the driving piston. This
arrangement prejudicially affects the production of a constant compression
ewing to the variation of the ratios of the volumes of air and of explosive
mixture admitted at the various admissions.
The arrangement which forms the subject of this invention differs from other
arrangements of this kind owing to the fact that, for the purpose of enabling a
constant pressure to be obtained, it is characterised by the combination of an
auxiliary piston with a storage chamber of variable capacity in which the mixture
in excess is maintained automatically separated from the operative mixture
during the explosion expansion and exhaust periods of the motor.
In one example of the invention the compression or storage chamber of the
motor is applied directly upon the cylinder of a motor having a cycle of four
phases. The motor may however equally well have a cycle of six phases without
in any way modifying the principle of our invention.
In this example the desired constant compression is obtained by the ratio of
the capacity of the compression chamber to that of the driving cylinder and
the regulation of the volume of the operative explosion mixture is effected by
the automatic variation of the position of an auxiliary piston according to the
volume of explosion mixture which should be retained, after a full admission,
in front of the auxiliary piston.
For this purpose the auxiliary piston is provided with apertures capable of
being closed by means of a valve the rod of which, traversing the rod of the
auxiliary piston, is operated by a spring and by the lever upon which acts a
cam which is displaced by the governor along the shaft proportionately to the
velocity of the motor.
During the exhaust phase the auxiliary piston is impelled in the forward
direction by the expansion of the explosion mixture which, as is hereinafter
explained, is compressed behind the said piston. This piston thus assists in a
known manner to expel the products of combustion and at the end of the exhaust
period is situated at the extremity of the compression chamber in proximity to
the driving piston.
This arrangement onerates in the following manner:

page_text: At the commencement of the suction stroke of the driving piston, the valve
opens under the action of the lever pressing upon the extremity of the rod.
The suction valve also opens and the explosion mixture is drawn in during the
whole of the suction stroke of the driving piston, in such a manner that at the
end of this stroke the compression chamber and the cylinder of the motor are
invariably filled with explosion mixture.
At the moment when the compression stroke of the driving piston commences,
the suction valve closed automatically, the valve is however maintained open by
the lever under the action of the cam until the moment at which the quantity of
explosion mixture comprised between the driving piston and the auxiliary piston
is the quantity required for the work to be effected.
At this moment the valve closes under the action of the spring drawing back
the rod as soon as the lever is withdrawn from it under the action of the governor.
The compression then continues to take place, the auxiliary piston moving back
automatically merely owing to the effect of this compression until the driving
piston reaches the end of its travel. At this moment the auxiliary piston is
fixed by means of any suitable device, for example by means of a second
auxiliary piston acting in a sleeve containing a fairly fluid liquid and one which
will not emit vapours as a result of the heating which takes place; this liquid
may be, for example, a heavy but not too viscous or fusible oil which forms an
incompressible cushion rendering the displaceable auxiliary piston motionless
in the compression chamber during the explosion and expansion period.
It will be noticed that in this case, contrary to what takes place with other
known devices in which an auxiliary piston is employed, the admission invariably
takes place during the whole of the suction stroke of the motor, whilst the
desired constant compression is obtained owing to the fact that a mixture of
the same volume is always forced into a chamber of predetermined and invariable
capacity, and that the whole takes place in precisely the same manner as if,
after having thus invariably compressed to the same point the same volume of
mixture, the quantity of this mixture within the compression chamber properly
so called (that is to say between the driving piston and the auxiliary piston
were caused to vary by means of the displacement of a movable partition, here
represented by the auxiliary piston, the apertures of which being maintained
open at this moment by the valve, permit of the passage or of the storage behind
this piston of the quantity of mixture in excess in the compression chamber
properly so called.
It will also be noticed that the valve which is arranged, in the case under
consideration, upon the displaceable auxiliary piston, might equally well be
placed at any other suitable point of the compression chamber, for example in a
passage placing the front and rear portions of the compression chamber in
communication.
The valve is in this case inserted in a passage placing the storage chamber in
communication with the cylinder during the whole of the suction period and
during either the whole or a portion of the compression period according to
the volume of the mixture required to be maintained in front of the auxiliary
piston. This auxiliary piston is rendered fixed at the end of the compression
period, in the manner already indicated, by means of the second auxiliary
piston. In this arrangement, as in that above described the forward movement
of the auxiliary piston is limited by a stop the portion of the passage terminating
above the valve may likewise serve for the exhaust which takes place through
another valve.

page_text: Improvements in Explosion Motors.
We, JEAN FRANÇOIS BRELLIER, of No. 57, Rue St. Georges Ixelles, Commercial
Traveller, and EMILE MARIUS, of No. 21, Rue des Champs, Uccle, Merchant,
both in the Kingdom of Belgium, 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 motors, actuated by an explosive mixture, and working
with a variable volume of a mixture of uniform composition, and in which an
auxiliary piston is freely displaced in the compression chamber.
In nearly all these types of motors, the auxiliary compression chamber, that
is to say the space situated to the rear of the auxiliary piston requires generally
to be placed in communication with the atmosphere at a certain moment during
the stroke of the working-piston. In others the auxiliary piston constitutes
a buffer either with liquid, or spring-power. The first of these arrangements
affects the obtention of a uniform compression owing to the variations in the
proportions of the volumes of air and explosive mixture admitted at the various
admissions, while the latter arrangement presents the inconvenience of limiting
the variations in the charges to the displacement of the auxiliary piston.
Our improved invention differs from arrangements of this kind inasmuch as
it permits the obtention of a uniform compression, and also the variations of
the charges within the widest limits, and such arrangement is characterized by
the combination with the auxiliary piston of a storing-chamber having variable
capacity into which the explosive mixture, after being drawn during the whole
suction stroke, is forced and kept separately, in an automatic manner from the
firing mixture during the periods of explosion, expansion and exhaust.
In the accompanying drawings, which by way of an example show a convenient
form of construction,
Figure 1 is a side-elevation and
Figure 2 is a sectional plan of the general arrangement of the improved
motor.
Figure 3 is a sectional plan drawn to a larger scale of the rear portion of the
motor, and
Figure 4 is a side-elevation, partly in section, of the previous figure.
Figure 5 is a vertical cross-section taken on the line X Y of Figure 4.
Figure 6 shows a horizontal section of a modified form of construction of our
invention.
Referring more particularly to Figures 1 and 2, the motor comprises a motor
cylinder 1, in which moves a working-piston 2 operating through the intervention
of a connecting rod 3 and a crank 4 of the motor-shaft 5, upon which is keyed
the fly wheel 6 and gear wheel 7 for actuating a screw-wheel 8 fast on the end
of a longitudinally disposed shaft 9.
According to our invention we affix to the end of the motor cylinder 1 a
compression chamber 10 in which is arranged an auxiliary piston 11, shewn in
Figures 2, 3, and 5. This chamber 10 has an opening 12 adapted to be closed
by a valve 13, the stem 14 of which passes through the hollow rod 15 of the
auxiliary piston 11, and is controlled by a spring 16 and lever 17 actuated by a
cam 18 upon the longitudinal shaft 9. This shaft operates, by means of a
bevelled pinion 19 a wheel 20 keyed to the lower end of the vertical spindle of
the governor 21 which latter, through the intervention of a lever 22, affects a
longitudinal displacement of the cam 18 upon the shaft 9.

page_text: The longitudinal shaft also controls, by means of cams 23, 24, (Figure 5),
levers 25, 26 operating the exhaust-valve 27 and the ignition-regulating valve 28
(Figure 4) respectively.
The admission is effected by an automatically operated valve 29 lodged in a
tubular chamber 30 for the gas supply which opens into the rear of the chainber 10.
This arrangement operates as follows in connection with a four-cycle motor.
The mixture supplied from the carburater (not shown in the drawings) enters
from the chamber 30 into the chamber 10; the valve 29 opening automatically.
At this moment the auxiliary piston is at the end of its stroke and near the
motor piston. During the entire period of aspiration, that is to say during the
stroke of the motor-piston, the valve 13 operated by the lever 17 acts on its rod 14
so opening the passage 12 and allowing the mixture from the chamber 10 to
flow into the motor-cylinder.
The motor piston having arrived at the end of its stroke said motor-cylinder
and the chamber 10 are filled with explosive mixture. From this moment the
automatic admission valve 29 is closed; the mixture cannot escape either from
the motor cylinder 1 nor from the chamber 10 and is therefore subjected to
compression during the return stroke of the piston.
The
Suppose that the load on the engine necessitates a maximum admission or
full charge, whilst at the same time bearing in mind that only that portion of
the mixture which is in the motor-cylinder is exploded. The portion of the
mixture contained in the chamber 10 is not ignited; the valve 13 being always
closed at the moment of firing the mixture. In the case here supposed of a
maximum admission (admission which must not be confounded with the volume
drawn in which never varies), the cam 18 sliding on the shaft 9, owing to the
action of the governor 21 upon the lever 22 at the end of the suction stroke, acts
upon the lever 17 which is thereby removed from the rod 14 of the valve 13,
and the spring 16 now acts on the said rod 14 so as to close the valve 13.
piston 11 which is free, is therefore subjected to the pressure exerted by the
motor piston upon the mixture during its return or compression stroke. Inder
the pressure and at the rate at which it increases, the piston 11 is forced
towards the rear of the chamber 10 thereby compressing the portion of the
mixture contained in such chamber. It will be evident that the pressure in
the motor-cylinder 1 is balanced by that in the chamber 10. Now if the volume
of the compression or storing chamber 10 is for example five times smaller than
the total volume of the cylinder and the chamber 1, the compression obtained at
the end of the compression phase will be in the motor cylinder, as also in the
chamber 10, five times greater than at the start, that is to say it will be 5
atmospheres. In other words if we take the volume of the useful cylinder space
of the cylinder at 8, and that of the chamber 10 at 2, the total volume drawn in
will be 8+ 2 = 10. At the end of the compression this volume 10 will only
occupy a volume equal to that of the storing chamber 10 being 2 and therefore
the compression will be 10 : 2 5 atm. The volume 8 will be reduced to
8:5
=
0.4 existing
16 which volume exists between the motor piston and the distributing
or auxiliary piston 11, while the original volume 2 will be 2:5
between the auxiliary piston 11 and the chamber 10.
=
Supposing that the valve 13 after having been kept open for the whole
duration of the suction stroke is still kept open during the first half of the
compression stroke, then until this moment the auxiliary piston 11, with its
passage 12 open, rests in its initial position at the end of its stroke towards the
motor piston 2: the pressure being the same at each side of it. But as soon
as the motor piston has accomplished the first half of its compression stroke and
the valve 13 closes, the auxiliary piston 11 is subjected to the pressure of the
mixture which is being further compressed by the motor piston. The auxiliary
piston 11 is thereby forced towards the bottom of the chamber 10. At the
moment of the closing of the valve 13 which moment corresponds to the comple-
tion of the first half of the stroke of the motor piston, the compression in the

page_text: inotor cylinder and in the chamber 10 is equal to the quotient of the sum of the
volume of the motor cylinder and chamber 10 divided by the volume existing
8 + 2
at that moment, the sum total of the mixture drawn is at start, or -
-
6
= 1.666.
At this pressure the portion of the mixture contained in the chamber 10, if
restored back to atmospheric pressure, that is to say to that which existed
during the suction period, would occupy a volume equal to that of the chamber 10
multiplied by the actually existing pressure, or 2 × 1.666 3.332. From this
it must be concluded that a quantity of mixture equal to the difference between
3.332 2 = 1.332 has entered the chamber 10 by reason of the compression.
This quantity must necessarily have been taken from the volume of gas drawn
in the motor cylinder, which volume is reduced by the same amount and which
therefore, at the moment of the closing of the valve 13, is 8 1332 = 6.668.
This volume of 6668 is therefore in the present case the charge for ignition.
The valve 13 being closed, the motor piston 2 continues its compression stroke.
The auxiliary piston 11 with its passages closed by the valve 13 is subjected,
from this moment upon its face adjacent to the motor piston to the pressure
exerted by this latter in the motor cylinder and is driven towards the bottom
end of the chamber 10 thus compressing between it and the bottom of the said
chamber the portion of the mixture contained in such chamber. The pressure
on both sides of the auxiliary piston 11 balance each other, and as there is on
one side of the motor cylinder a volume, or charge, equal 6668 and at the
other side (in the chamber 10) a volume equal to 3.332, there is always present
the total volume represented by 6·668 +3.332 = 10, which is exactly the
total volume of mixture drawn in. Now this volume 10 occupies at the end of
the compression stroke only a space equal to the volume of the chamber 10,
being 2, and therefore the pressure at this moment is 10:2 5. The
volume of the charge given as 6668 subjected to this pressure occupies a volume
equal 6.668: 5 13836, and the volume of the mixture in the chamber 10 is
equal 3332:5
= = 0.6664.
=
=
In case where the total suppression of the charge takes place the valve 13
remains open during the entire compression stroke, and the total volume of 10
drawn in will, at the end of this stroke, be driven into the chamber 10 without
the auxiliary piston 13 being operated at all during the whole of the compression
stroke of the motor piston.
At the end of the compression the mixture forming the charge is ignited in
the ordinary manner by the action of the lever 26 lifting the valve 28.
As this explosion would tend to drive the auxiliary piston 11 towards the
bottom of the chamber 10 it is necessary to firmly wedge the piston at the
precise moment when the compression terminates.
This wedging may be effected in any convenient manner for example by
means of a system of locking levers, or preferably, as shown in the drawing, by
means of a second auxiliary piston 31 disposed in a cylindrical extension 82
containing a liquid which is sufficiently fluid without emitting vapours through
the action of heating. The liquid may be heavy oil, not too viscous or fusible,
rendering inoperative the piston 11 during the period of explosion and expan-
sion. In order to permit of the displacement of the piston 11 while that part
of the compression stroke during which the valve 13 is closed, the liquid is
allowed to escape through a passage 33 provided with a valve 34 which is kept
open during the whole period of the exhaust stroke, the suction stroke and
the compression stroke of the motor piston, and which closes automatically
through the action of a cam at the precise moment when the compression-
stroke terminates.
From the start of the exhaust period the valve 34 is opened again, the
auxiliary piston 11, under the pressure of the mixture compressed between it
and the bottom of the chamber 10, returns automatically to the end of its
stroke near fhe motor piston, while at the same time the liquid required for

page_text: wedging the piston 11 is drawn in by the piston 31 ready for the next com-
pression stroke. The auxiliary piston 11 is thus by the end of the exhaust
stroke always in the position which it should occupy at the start of the suction
stroke.
In the example hereinbefore described the necessary communication between
the motor cylinder 1 and the storing chamber 10 is effected by the aid of the
valve 13 disposed in the auxiliary piston 11. This valve may however be
arranged in any other convenient position for example in a passage forming
communication between the parts at front and at the rear of the compression
chamber.
Figure 6 shows an example merely of a suitable construction of this
arrangement.
In this example the valve 13 is lodged in a conduit 35 forming communication
between the chamber 10 and motor cylinder 1 during the suction stroke and
during the whole or that part of the compression stroke corresponding to the
necessary volume of mixture for maintaining the auxiliary piston 11 at the
front.
This auxiliary piston is wedged at the end of the compression period, in the
manner already explained, by the aid of the piston 31. In this arrangement,
the same as in that represented in Figures 1 to 5, the forward movement of
the auxiliary piston 11 is limited by a stop 36; the portion of the conduit 35
which opens above the valve 13 may also serve for the exhaust which takes
place through the valve 27 to be operated.
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 an explosion motor working with charges of variable volumes but with
invariable conipression, a chamber 10, the capacity of which is rendered variable
by means of a movable auxiliary piston 11 adapted to be displaced between the
Working cylinder and the chamber 10, said chamber being in communication
with the working cylinder during a part, capable of being varied, of the
compression stroke, substantially as described and illustrated by the accom-
panying drawings.
2. An explosion motor as claimed in Claim 1, characterized by the fact that
the auxiliary piston operates in conjunction with a valve which remains open
during the whole suction stroke and which regulates by its closure through
the action of a governor at any given moment during the compression stroke,
the volume of the charge which is to be ignited in the compression chamber
proper of the working cylinder, after which the piston in its return stroke
causes the displacement of the auxiliary piston which is movable up to the
moment when it is wedged at the end of the compression stroke substantially
as described and illustrated by the accompanying drawings.
Dated this 20th day of February 1900
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicants.