Improvements relating to the Compression of Air and Utilization of the same for Motive Purposes and to Apparatus therefor.
Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application (in United Kingdom), 7th Oct., 1899
Complete Specification Left, 7th Oct., 1899-Accepted, 11th Nov., 1899.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements relating to the Compression of Air and Utilization of
the same for Motive Purposes and to Apparatus therefor.
We, EDWARD EVERETT l'ETTEE, of No. 2728, Broadway, and JOHN JAMES
MCCUTCHAN, of No. 211, West 129th Street, both of New York City, United
States of America, Mechanical Engineers, 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:-
The invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in the com-
pression of air, and the utilization of the compressed air for motive purposes.
The improvements are adapted principally for use in the propulsion of vehicles,
wherein an explosive engine or like power generator is employed for the pur-
pose of compressing air, and supplying the same to an air motor or motors for
driving the vehicle, although it will be evident that the improvements are
applicable to other analogous uses.
The characteristic feature of the invention consists in utilizing in the motor
cylinder the heat of compression developed in the air compressor.
In practice,
this result is realized by discharging the condensed air, as soon as compressed,
directly from the compressor into the adjacent motor or motors by a short con-
necting pipe or pipes surrounded by the exhaust pipe from the explosive engine
which operates the compressor. The arrangement is such that the products of
combustion from the explosive engine, at a considerably higher temperature
than that of the compressed air, traverse the enclosed space surrounding the
compressed air connecting pipe along the entire length of said pipe and
preferably pass through an annular passage or jacket exterior to the working
cylinder of the motor, and finally pass out through the motor cylinder exhaust.
A further important feature of the invention consists in supplying the
compressor with moist warm air, the air receiving its moisture at atmospheric
pressure at which pressure its capacity for holding moisture is greater than
at any higher pressure or greater density at any given temperature.
purpose of simultaneously warming and moistening the air supply the com-
pressor it is preferably brought into contact with the water employed for supply-
ing the water jacket for the explosive engine, whereby the air itself is made
available for extracting heat from the water and keeping it at the desired
moderate temperature.
For the

page_text: A further feature of the invention consists in accumulating, in a storage recep-
tacle, a reserved portion of the compressed air, not required for the operation of
the motor when running under a light load, from which storage receptacle the
surplus compressed air may be supplied to the motor, whenever the demands of
the motor exceed the normal output of the compressor, so as to be used con-
junctively with the air supplied from the compressor to the motor direct.
general arrangement indicated permits the motor to perform extraordinary work
for a limited period, as, for instance in starting the vehicle or motor from a state
of rest, or, when in motion to aid in mounting a steep hill or in carrying abnormal
loads.
In the accompanying drawings,
The
Fig. 1 represents, in plan view, the application of the invention to the pro-
pulsion of a vehicle;
Fig. 2 represents, in plan view, partly in section, and on a larger scale, the
main parts of the organization disassociated from a vehicle;
Fig. 3 represents, in central vertical section, the compressor and the explosive
engine for operating the same;
Fig. 4 represents a section taken on a plane indicated by the line 4-4 of
Fig. 2;
Fig. 5 represents a cross sectional view through the air preheating and moisten-
ing receptacle.
Similar letters of reference indicate similar parts throughout the several views.
In Fig. 1, by way of illustration, the invention is shown as applied to the
propulsion of a front-steering rear-driven automobile, although it will, of course,
be understood that it is not confined to that or any other particular type of
vehicle, its main characteristic features being manifestly capable of widely
extended use.
The operative parts are supported upon longitudinal and transverse stringers,
united, as shown, to form a frame work of suitable resiliency entirely independent
of the body portion of the vehicle, so that the vibrations of the compressor and
of the air motors shall not be transmitted to the vehicle body, to the discomfort
of the passengers.
In the form illustrated in the drawings, the rear wheels a of the vehicle are
mounted to revolve freely upon the rear axle, and are provided with hubs 7,
having fixed thereon the pinions d, which mesh with pinions c upon the crank
shafts T, arranged, as shown, with their cranks at right angles to each other.
The crank shafts are operated by the pitmans e, from the cylinders f, of any
suitable form of air motor, as, for instance, the motor shown in Fig. 2, having
the usual slide valves for controlling the supply and exhaust from the cylinders,
said valves being conveniently actuated from eccentrics h, on the crank shafts
as will be understood.
The distributing chests 9, of the motors f are supplied with compressed air
from a conduit H leading from an air compressor cylinder, whose specific con-
struction is illustrated, (together with that of the explosive engine for operating
it) in Figs. 2 and 3. Referring particularly to those figures, it will be noted that
the piston A of the explosive engine is connected by a piston rod B with
a crank shaft C, having at its outer end a balance wheel mounted thereon.
The air compressor cylinder E is like-wise provided with a piston D and is con-
nected to the crank shaft C by a piston rod K at an angle of 180° from the
point of attachment of the piston rod B. Upon the crank shaft C is mounted the
gear Qintermeshing with a gear V of twice the diameter of the gear Q. The
gear V is fixed upon a cam shaft T carrying a series of cams i, j, k upon which
rest the lower ends of rods 1, 0, p provided with springs for maintaining them in
contact with the working surfaces of the cams, as shown. To the rod is attached
the valve r, which governs the inlet to the engine, and to the rod p is attached
the valve z which governs the exhaust therefrom. The rod o terminates at its
upper end as a contact, adapted to close an electric circuit through the wires t, u,

page_text: when brought into electrical connection with the insulated contact v; so that
when separated from the contact an electric spark will result, thereby exploding
the mixture of gas and air or of oil-vapor and air in the space G. The explosion
of this mixture causes the piston A to descend and the piston D to rise. As the
piston 1) rises in the cylinder E, the air within the cylinder is compressed and
passes through the exit valve w into the pipe H. On the descent of the piston D,
air enters through the springseated valve y, to supply the necessary volume of
air for a subsequent compression.
To start the explosive engine, the balance wheel F is turned one revolution
until the piston A has descended within its cylinder and drawn therein air and
gas, or air and oil-vapor, in their proper proportion, through the valve which
has been opened by the cam i as the piston descended. When the piston A
reaches the end of its stroke, the cam i releases the rod l, and the valve r closes.
As the piston A rises, the mixture of air and gas is compressed within the
space G, and, at the same time, the cam j raises the rod o and closes electric
communication with the contact v. When the piston A has reached the upper
limit of its stroke, the balance wheel F carries the shaft C somewhat past the
center and the cam j releases the rod o, which immediately drops from the
highest point of the cam to the lowest part thereof and breaks the contact made
at v, thereby producing an electric spark, which explodes the mixture of gas and
air, and thereby forces the piston A downwardly, thus raising the compressing
piston D.
As the piston A returns to its upper position, the cam k raises the
rod and opens the valve z, thereby allowing the exploded gases or products of
combustion to pass to the exhaust N. When the piston A has reached the limit
of its upper stroke, the cam k releases the rod p, whereupon said rod drops and
closes the valve :. At the same time, the valve r is opened and a new supply of
gas and air is drawn into the cylinder as herein before described.
Referring now to Fig. 1, it will be noted that the supply of air to the air
compressor is obtained through a pipe from a tank M adapted to contain a
quantity of water, said water being in communication (by pipes a¹, a², opening
below the level of the liquid therein) with the water jacket 1 of the explosive
engine, whereby a circulation of water is obtained from the water jacket to the
supply tank and return, so as to cool the walls of the working cylinder of the
explosive engine. The tank M is provided with an air inlet c, and the pipe
opens into the tank M above the water level, so that the air drawn into the com-
pressor is caused to first pass over or into contact with the water in the tank,
thereby becoming warmed or preheated and moistened before entering the com-
pression cylinder. The supply of fuel to the explosive engine is obtained from a
tank L wherein is contained either oil or compressed gas.
C
At its exit from the air compressor, the compressed moist air is conducted by
the pipe H directly to the motors, or into a storage receptacle M provided with
a safety valve . This storage receptacle is designed to receive and store at
high pressure a reserve or auxiliary supply of compressed air, and may be con-
veniently filled when the motor is at rest or when it is operating under light load.
A cock e permits the storage tank M' to be entirely cut off from communication
with the pipe H or a throttle valve f¹ operated by the driver by means of a handle
and connecting rod R governs the flow of the compressed air to the motors when
its employment is required.
The pipe for conveying the compressed air to the distributing chamber or
chambers 9 of the motors is jacketed throughout its entire length by the exhaust
conduit S of the explosive engine, so that the heat developed by the compression
of the air in the compression cylinder shall be maintained by the hot products
of combustion until the compressed air is delivered into the motors. The
products of combustion enter the passages g' which surround the distributing
chambers and the cylinders P of the motors and finally pass out through the
exhaust pipes h¹ of the motors together with the expanded air from said cylinders.
This latter feature is useful for preventing the formation of ice at the point of

page_text: passage of the expanded air into the atmosphere, a difficulty frequently encoun-
tered, especially in cold weather, and which sometimes results in diminishing
and choking the exhaust air outlet and finally closing it, thereby stopping the
motor.
The operation of the invention will be readily understood. When the
explosive engine is at work, and the throttle valve f closed, the air compressor
may be employed for storing compressed air at the predetermined pressure
within the reservoir M, thereby accumulating in said reservoir a reserve or
surplus at a pressure limited by the safety valve d', said pressure being sufficient
to start the motors under any load. For the purpose of starting the vehicle, or
for enabling it when under way to mount a steep hill, or, for a limited time to
carry an abnormal load, we have at hand, therefore, an auxiliary high pressure
supply amply sufficient for the purpose, and which may be charged either when
the vehicle is at rest or when it is moving under light load, in which latter
instance, the surplus pressure developed by the air compressor may be gradually
accumulated in the storage receptacle for future use. It will be evident that
with the arrangement shown and described, the motors may be operated directly
from the reservoir, directly from the compressor, or by the employment of the
reservoir and the compressor in conjunction, in which latter case the continued
action of the compressor will serve to maintain approximately a uniform pressure
in the motors.
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. Utilizing in an air motor or motors, the entire heat of compression developed
in the cylinder of the air compressor supplying said motor or motors, by main-
taining the temperature of the compressed air from its point of exit from the air
compressor to its point of delivery into the motor or motors, preferably by means
of the products of combustion from an explosive engine operating the air com-
pressor.
2. Combining with the feature set forth in Claim 1, the further feature of pre-
heating and moistening the air supplied to the air compressor cylinder.
3. Providing the connecting pipe or pipes between the air compressor and air
motor or motors with a surrounding jacket, extending from the exit port of the
explosive engine to the said motor or motors, so as to convey the products of
combustion through said jacket, and preferably discharge them through passages
exterior to the working cylinder of the motor or motors and out through the
exhaust port or ports thereof.
4. Utilizing the water which cools the cylinder of the explosive engine, as a
means for preheating and moistening the incoming air of the air compressor,
said water being at the same time correspondingly cooled by said air.
5. Combining an air storage-reservoir, an air motor or motors, together with
connecting pipes and cocks or valves, so arranged that the motor or motors may
be operated directly from the storage-reservoir, directly from the compressor,
or by the compressor and reservoir conjointly.
Dated this 16th day of August 1800
EDWARD EVERETT PETTER,
JOHN JAMES MCCUTCHAN,
Haseltine, Lake & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicants.