Improvements in and relating to Gas Engines.
Year: 1889

page_text: Date of Application, 18th Mar., 1889
Complete Specification Left, 16th Dec., 1889-Accepted, 18th Jan., 1890
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION..
Improvements in and relating to Gas Engines.
1, WILLIAM VON OECHELHAEUSER, of Dessau, in the Empire of Germany, Engineer
do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows
This invention relates to gas-engines. Numerous experiments have shown that
if compressed gas is allowed to enter an engine cylinder filled with compressed
air within reach of an igniting device it is possible to effect the ignition of mixtures
of gas and air, in which the proportion of air far exceeds the limits usually adopted
in the combustible mixtures heretofore used. This is explained by the fact that a
combustion takes place before the gas which enters the engine cylinder. has become
completely mixed with the air contained therein, that is to say before it has
for example been diluted, too much by the air, in order to he ignitable in the
subsequent explosion. In this manner as small quantities of gas can be burnt and
as low pressures produced as may be desired, so that when the. engine has to over-
come a small resistance its speed can be regulated not as heretofore by omitting
charges of gas and explosions, but much more simply and advantageously by
introducing a smaller quantity of gas into the engine, cylinder.
3
7+
In order that this. regulation shall be economical and feasible, in practice the.
regulation of the quantity of gas according to the aforesaid invention, is to be
effected so that each admission, of either. large or small quantities shall take place
instantaneously and at one or more desired points of the stroke of the engine,piston.
Any degree, of pressure is thereby rapidly obtained, and the expansion is advan-
tageously utilized by one or more injections, of gas during a stroke of the piston.
For carrying the said invention. into effect it is therefore not sufficient to, simply
throttle the flow of gas from the gas pump when the resistance which the engine has
to overcome is small, and to forco the gas, from the pump into the engine cylinder
as heretofore practised, because; in, that case the velocity and the moment, of the
admission of gas will depend upon the comparatively small velocity of the gas
pump..or the position of its piston. According to this invention, the gas, before
entering the engine cylinder, is accumulated at a pressure in a collecting chamber
which is on the one lund shut off from the combustion chamber by an admission device
under control, and on the other hand from the gas pump, so that the quantity, of.
gas necessary for the combustion can be instantaneously discharged into the combustion
chamber at any desired point of the stroke of the engine piston. The regulation of
the quantity of gas admitted to the said combustion chamber is therefore not effected
by throttling the gas sucked in, but by changing the pressure of the gas already
compressed. In this manner the regulation is rendered completely independent of the
velocity and position of the piston of the pump and of the admission device for the com-
pressed gas in the engine cylinder, the said regulation can accordingly be adopted where
the engine cylinder is several times, supplied with gas during the saine stroke as well as
in cases where the supply is effected only say after every second or fourth stroke.
The aforesaid invention is applicable to any gas engine in which compressed gas
is introduced into the expansion chamber filled with compressed air, within reach of
an igniting device. Simultaneously with the regulation of the pressure in the gas
collector it is possible to regulate the time during which the admision device under
control is opon and to control the same by the governor, this however necessitates
complicated mechanism, because the whole time during which all the admissions take
place is exceedingly short.
For this reason the regulation is solely effected by changing the pressure of the
gas contained in the collecting chamber through the medium of a closing device,

page_text: f
controlled by the governor which device causes part of the compressed gas from the
collecting chamber to be conducted back to the suction pipe of the pump; or throttles
the flow of the compressed gas to a second compartment of the collecting chamber,
which is situated nearest to the said admission device. Both devices may be
connected with each other. Besides regulating the pressure of the gas by the
governor, a device can in either of the said cases be used for enabling the adjust-
ment by hand, in order to regulate the degree, of sensitiveness of the device in the
simplest manner without adjusting the speed governor.
1
An opening is provided in the wall of the engine cylinder to enable air at the
atmospheric pressure or compressed air to pass to the expansion chamber and a
second opening in the said cylinder serves for the outlet of the products of combustion.
The admission of the compressed gas is effected through the medium of an admission
device (valve or cock) controlled by the engine, the explosion by an electric or
other suitable igniting device arranged within reach of the gas admitted being
öffected as the gas enters the combustion chamber filled with air. The compressed
gas is conveyed through a pipe or passage from the collecting chamber which
receives its supply from a pump. The gas pump can be either single-acting or
double-acting, and can operate either with valves or cocks. It is connected by a
short pipe with the gas admission-pipe, and is provided with a suction valve and
a head valve. The space above the latter is in communication with the collecting
"chamber.
A-pipe connects the said collecting chamber with the closing device controlled by
the governor and which permits part of the gas compressed by the pump to be
discharged from the collecting chamber as soon as the pressure of the gas therein
shall be decreased. The gas leaving the collecting chamber in this manner is preferably
conducted back through a pipe to the suction pipe of the pump, in which case a return
valve may be arranged in the gas pipe. When the velocity increases, the above
mentioned closing device is automatically so adjusted by a governor that gas can
escape from the collecting chamber whereupon the pressure of the gas in the same
decreases. Now as the admission device is invariably opened for an equal length of
timeless gas will enter the engine cylinder when the pressure in the collecting chainber
is smaller, therefore the pressure produced and the work performed will be corre
spondingly less. If then the velocity of the engine become less again, the closing
device will allow less gas and finally no gas at all to flow from the collecting chamber
'the pressure in the latter will therefore rise, and more gas will enter the engine
"cylinder. In the normal movement of the engine the closing device reinains closed
or only opened as far as is necessary for maintaining the normal pressure in the
collecting chamber.
.
In the too rapid motion of the engine it may occur that by opening the closing
dévice all the gas contained in the collecting chamber is not reduced to the necessary
low pressure with sufficient rapidity, more especially in the case of a comparatively
large engine. When the resistance which the engine is to overcome becomes suddenly
greater, the piston of the pump would have to make several strokes in order to
re-establish the requisite pressure in the collecting chamber. In this case it is
advisable to construct the collecting chamber of two parts which, by means of a
closing device controlled by the governor, are either connected with or separated from
.each other. The second compartment of the collecting chamber, which is nearest to
the admission device may in this case be constituted by a prolongation of the tubular
slide valve forming the above described closing device. If the velocity of the
engine increases, the said slide valve throttles the flow of gas in the pipe between
the first compartment and the aforesaid second compartment of the collecting chamber :
accordingly less gas will pass from the one to the other and the pressure in the
second will decrease without lowering the pressure in the first compartment. As soon
as more gas must be introduced by reason of a decrease of velocity, this can be effected
at 'once, as there is sufficient pressure in the first compartment of the collecting
**chamber.

page_text: In order that the pressure in the collecting chamber shall not exceed. a certain
limit when it is closed for a comparatively long time, a safety valve can be
arranged on the said chamber so as to enable any excess of gas to flow back to
the suction pipe.
This regulation can take place in conjunction with the one first described by
constructing for example the lower end of the aforesaid tubular slide so as to form
a closing device for the branch pipe between the said second compartment and the
suction pipe of the pump. A cock or valve adapted to be adjusted by hand can in any
case be included in the said pipe in order to enable the back flow of the gas
to the suction pipe to be throttled for the purpose of changing the degree of
sensitiveness of the regulation.
Arrangements can be made for cooling the two compartments of the collecting
chamber respectively by water if necessary.
A material advantage of the described regulation, as compared with the method of
mixing gas and air prior to the admission to the combustion chamber, and regulating
the pressure of this mixture, consists in that in the latter case only mixtures in
which the proportion of gas and air is restricted to very narrow limits can be ignited
on their admission to the said chamber if they are ignitable at all, the limits within
which the regulation is effected are therefore much narrower in the case of the methods
heretofore practised, the working of the engine is less economical, and if the mixing
proportion changes beyond certain limits no explosion may take place. Moreover,
there is danger more especially when the pressure of the mixture which enters the
cylinder is comparatively small, that the explosion will proceed from the combustion
chamber to the collecting chamber. If however the latter contains only gas as above
described, an explosion in the gas admission pipe is impossible. Experience has
proved that the finest wire gauze does not afford reliable protection against explosion.
In contradistinction to the method of regulating the quantity of the gas to be
admitted to the cylinder by throttling the flow of the same to the pump, the improved
method above described has the advantage of being carried out quite independently
of the velocity and position of the piston of the gas pump, and enabling gas to be
injected several times during a stroke of the said piston and the regulation to be effected.
more rapidly so that it is not delayed until the piston of the pump has mado a. few
strokes.
In order to facilitate the starting of the engine and to have from the commencement
à sufficient pressure in the collecting chamber, the engine can be connected by a
pipe with a small hand pump.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for ilio Applicant..
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in and relating to Gas Engines.
I, WILHELM VON OECHELHAEUSER of Dessau in the Empire of Germany Engineer
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 gas engines. Numerous experiments have shown that if
compressed gas is allowed to enter an engine cylinder filled with compressed air in which
cylinder is arranged an igniting device, it is possible to effect the ignition of mixtures
of gas and air, in which the proportion of air far exceeds the limits usually adopted in
the combustible mixtures heretofore used.
This is explained by the fact that combustion takes place before the gas which
enters the engine cylinder has become completely mixed with the air contained therein,
that is to say, before it has for example been diluted too much by the air, in order to

page_text: be ignitable in the subsequent explosion. In this manner as small quantities of gas
can be burnt and as low pressures produced as may be desired, so that when the
engine. has to overcome only a small resistance its speed can be regulated, not as
heretofore, by omitting charges of gas and explosions, but in a much more simple and
advantageous manner by introducing a smaller quantity of gas into the engine
cylinder.
In order that this regulation shall be economical and at the same time practical
the regulation of the quantity of gas, according to the present invention is to be
effected so that each. admission of either large or small quantities shall take place
instantaneously, that is to say so quickly that the capacity of the combustion chamber
bounded by the engine piston will remain nearly constant during the injection of the
gas. whatever may be the velocity of the piston at this point of the stroke and that the
greatest as well as the least quantities of gas will have passed in before their highest,
pressure of combustion is reached. Any degree of pressure is thereby rapidly obtained
and the expansion beginning always immediately on reaching the highest pressure of
combustion is advantageously utilized by one or more injections of gas during a stroke
of the piston.
s
For carrying the said invention into effect it is therefore not sufficient to simply.
throttle the flow of gas to the gas pump when the resistance which the engine has to
overcome is small, and to force the gas from the pump directly into the engine
cylinder as heretofore practised, because in tliat case the velocity and the moment of
the admission of gas will depend upon the comparatively small velocity of the gas
pump or the position of its piston. According to this invention the gas before entering
the engine cylinder is accumulated at a pressure in a collecting chamber which is on
the one band shut off from the combustion chamber by an admission device under
control, and on the other hand. from, the gas pump, so that the quantity of gas
necessary for the combustion can be instantaneously discharged into the combustion
chamber at any, desired point of the stroke of the engine piston. The regulation of
the quantity of gas admitted to the said combustion chamber is therefore not effected.
by throttling the gas sucked in, but by changing the pressure of the gas already
compressed. In this manner the regulation is rendered completely independent of
the velocity and position of the piston of the pump and of the admission device for the
compressed gas in the engine cylinder, the said regulation can accordingly be also,
adopted where the engine cylinder is several times supplied with gas during the same
stroke as well as in cases where the supply is effected only say after every second or,
fourth stroke.
The aforesaid invention is applicable to any gas engine in which comprossed gas is
introduced into the expansion chamber filled with compressed air in which is arranged
an igniting device. Simultaneously with the regulation of the pressure in the gas
collector it is possible to regulate the time during which the admission device under
control is open and to control the same by the governor, this however necessitates
complicated mechanism, because the whole time during which the admissions take
place is exceedingly short..
For this reason the regulation is solely effected by changing the pressure of the gas
contained in the collecting chamber through the medium of a closing device controlled
By the governor which device causes part of 'the compressed gas from the collecting
chamber to be conducted back to the suction pipe of the pump, or throttles the flow
of the compressed gas to a second compartment of the collecting chamber; which is
situated nearest to the said admission device.. Both devices may be connected with
each other. Besides regulating the pressure of the gas by the governor, a device
can in either of the said cases be used for enabling the adjustment by hand in order
to regulate the degree of sensitiveness of the device in the simplest manner without
adjusting the speed governor.
The invention is illustrated in the accompanying
drawing the figures of which are hereinafter referred to.
In carrying the invention into practice an opening a is provided in the wall of the
engine cylinder H to enable air at the atmospheric pressure or compressed air to pass

page_text: to the combustion chamber A and a second opening d in the said cylinder serves for
the outlet of the products of combustion. The admission of the compressed gas is
effected through the medium of an admission device, such as a valve or cock b controlled
by the engine, the explosion by an electric or other suitable igniting device arranged.
within reach of the gas admitted being effected as the gas enters the combustion
chamber A filled with air. The compressed gas is conveyed through a pipe por
passage from the collecting chamber g which receives its supply from a pump P. The
gas, pump P can be either single-acting or double-acting and can operate either with
valves or cocks: it is connected by a short pipe Figure 2 with the gas admission-
pipe and is provided with a suction valves and a head valve e. The space above
the latter is in communication with the collecting chamber g. A pipe connects the
said collecting chamber with the closing device t controlled by the governor and which
permits part of the gas compressed by the pump P to be discharged from the collecting
chamber as soon as the pressure of the gas therein shall be decreased. The gas
leaving the collecting chamber in this manner is preferably conducted back through
a pipe q to the suction pipe of the pump in which case a return, valve & may be
arranged in the gas pipe.
"
When the velocity increases, the above mentioned closing device t is automatically
adjusted by a governor R in such a manner that gas can escape from the collecting
chamber whereupon the pressure of the gas in the same decreases.
Now as the admission device is invariably opened for an equal length of time,
less gas will enter the engine cylinder when the pressure in the collecting chamber
is smaller, therefore the pressure produced and the work performed will be corre-.
spondingly less. If then the velocity of the engine becomes less again, the closing
device will allow less gas to flow and finally no gas at all will flow from the collecting,
chamber, the pressure in the latter will therefore rise, and more gas will enter the
engine cylinder. In the normal movement of the engine the closing device t remains
closed or only opened as far as is necessary for maintaining the normal pressure in the.
collecting chamber.
In the too rapid motion of the engine it may occur, that by opening the closing
device & the gas-contained in the collecting chamber will not all be reduced to the
necessary low pressure with sufficient rapidity, more especially in the case of a
comparatively large engine.
'
When the resistance which the engine is to overcome becomes suddenly greater; the
piston of the pump would have to make several strokes in order to re-establish thei
requisite pressure in the collecting chamber. In this case it is advisable to construct
the collecting chamber of two parts Figure 3 which by means of a closing device.
controlled by the governor, are either connected with or separated from each other::
The second compartment gt of the collecting chamber which is nearest to the admission
device may in this case be constituted by a prolongation of the tubular slide valve t¹.
forming the above described closing device. If the velocity of the engine decreases,
the said slide valve throttles the flow of gas in the pipe between the first compart-
ment I and the aforesaid second compartment y' of the collecting chamber accordingly.
less gas will pass from the one to the other and the pressure in the second will
decrease without lowering the pressure in the first compartment. As soon as more
gas is to be introduced by reason of a decrease of velocity, this can be effected at once,
as there is sufficient pressure in the first compartment g of the collecting chamber..
In order that the pressure in the collecting chamber g shall not exceed a certain limit
when it is closed for a comparatively long time, a safety valve can be arranged
on the said chamber so as to enable any excess of gas to flow back to the suction
pipe.
This regulation can take place in conjunction with the one first described by
constructing for example the lower end of the aforesaid tubular slide t¹ so as to form
a closing device for the branch pipe y between the said second compartment and
the suction pipe of the pump. A cock or valve v adapted to be adjusted by hand
can in any case be included in the said pipe, in order to enable the back flow of the

page_text: gas to the suction pipe to be throttled for the purpose of changing the degree of
sensitiveness of the regulation.
.
Arrangements can be made for cooling the two compartments of the collecting
chamber respectively by water if necessary:
A material advantage of the described regulation as compared with the method of
mixing gas and air prior to the admission to the combustion chamber, and regulating
the pressure of this mixture, consists in that in the latter case only mixture in which
the proportion of gas and air is restricted to very narrow limits can be ignited on
their admission to the said chamber if they are ignitable at all. The limits within
which the regulation is effected are therefor much narrower in the case of tho
methods heretofore practised, the working of the engine is less economical and if the
mixing proportion changes beyond certain limits no explosion may take place.
Moreover there is danger more especially when the pressure of the mixture which
enters the cylinder is comparatively small that the explosion will proceed from the
combustion chamber to the collecting chamber.
Experiencce has proved that the finest wire gauze does not afford reliable protection
against explosion.
If however the collecting chamber contains only gas as above described, an explosion
in the gas admission pipe is impossible.
In contradistinction to the method of regulating the quantity of the gas to be admitted
to the cylinder by throttling the flow of the same to the pump the improved method
above described has the advantage of being carried out quite independently of the
velocity and position of the piston of the gas pump and enabling gas to be injected
even several times during the same stroke of the said piston and the regulation to be
effected more rapidly so that it is not delayed until the piston of the pump has made
several strokes.
In order to facilitate the starting of the engine and to have from the commencement
a sufficient pressure in the collecting chamber the engine can be connected by a pipe-
with a small band pump.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, declare that what I
claim is :-
First. The regulation of gas motors by the sudden injection and simultaneous
ignition of variable quantities of gas with a constant capacity of the combustion.
chamber and a uniform expansion in such a manner that the quantity of gas corre-
sponding to the respective resistance to be overcome by the motor is accumulated in
a collecting chamber outside the combustion chamber at such pressure, and the gas
admission device is opened for such a short time that the gas will pass into the
combustion-chamber previously filled with air and provided with an ignition-device
that the capacity of the combustion-chamber bounded by the engine piston will remain
nearly constant during this time the greatest as well as the least quantities of gas
having passed in before their highest pressure of combustion is reached and every
time whatever the resistance which the motor has to overcome may be, the expansion
begins immediately on reaching the highest pressure of combustion.
Second. A device consisting of the collecting chamber (g) inserted between the
introduction device (b) and the closing part (e) of the gas pump, in combination
with a closing part (t) acted upon by the governor and enabling gas to pass back from
the collecting chamber (9) to the gas pump, for the purpose of decreasing the pressure
in the collecting-chamber, or
Third. The combination of the device mentioned in claim 2 with a closing part (1)
acted upon by the governor and enabling gas to pass from the main collecting-
chamber (g) to a second collecting chamber (g) which is arranged in front of the
introduction-device (b) of the gas motor.
Fourth. The combination of the device mentioned in claim 2 with the closing
part (2) which is connected with the closing part (¹) mentioned in claim 3 and allows
gas to flow back from the second collecting-chamber (9') to the gas pump.

page_text: Fifth. In the device mentioned in claims 2 and 4 respectively, the arrangement of
a closing or throttling device (v) in the return conduit (g) for the gas conducted
from the collecting-chamber (9 or g¹) of the gas-pump, for the purpose of entirely
interrupting the regulation or changing the degree of sensitiveness of the same.
Dated this 16th day of December 1889.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, Agents for the Applicant.