A New or Improved Method and Means for Equalising or Com- pensating the Work of Compression and Expansion of the Operating Fluid in Motors.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 17th Nov., 1894
Complete Specification Left, 15'h Aug., 1895-Accepted, 21st Sept.,
1895
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
A New or Improved Method and Means for Equalising or Com-
pensating the Work of Compression and Expansion of the
Operating Fluid in Motors.
I, ADOLF KOLBE, of 67 Zeil, Frankfort-on-the-Main in the Empire of Germany,
Merchant, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
If in machines working by the energy of heat great compression and expansion
of the operating fluid be employed to obtain a higher thermic effectiveness
(see Grashof "Theory of Power Machines" 1890, §143, page 885) severe strains
arise in the push crank gearing and loss of power through friction thereby takes
place, which considerably diminishes the mechanical effectiveness. The pressure
on the crank gearing from the power conveyed to it is thus comparatively small.
A distinction can therefore be made between expansion with supply of heat and
expansion without supply of heat. The difference between the two, as is well
known, indicates the amount of useful work obtained by means of the push crank
gearing from the combustion of the fuel. The work of expansion without supply
of heat, say during the period when the machine is running without load, is, apart
from losses through radiation, cooling, friction and so forth, equal to the work of
compression, as is well known. Both are equal amounts of work in the ideal
machine but with different indication in varying periods of time and they may be
designated the inner working of the machine. This working which, as already
stated, may be a multiple of the useful work, need not, in machines built in
accordance with theory, be at all conveyed on to the gearing of the crank as has
always hitherto been the case.
This invention affords a means of avoiding any deleterious loading of the crank
gearing or of other arrangement for conveying the useful work such, for instance,
as rack bars and cog wheels. The pressure of compression and expansion (without
supply of heat) that is the amount of inner work, is immediately and directly
wholly or partially equalised or compensated by the counteraction of magnetic or
electric attraction or repulsion.
In order to produce this action, two parts, as is well known, are generally
necessary, the one producing a magnetic field (such as by a steel magnet, electro
magnet, conductor through which current passes, or the like) the other being
attracted or repulsed by the lines of force of the former (for instance of an iron
armature, steel armature, electro magnet, or conductor through which current
passes).
As however the amount of work is generally indicated by alterations in volume
of the cylinder, that is to say by the relative adjustment of the piston to the bottom
of the cylinder, one of the above named magnetic or electric parts must be connected
1 the cylinder and the other to the piston. It is immaterial whether this
connection be direct or indirect, for instance, either to the fixed cylinder or to the
frame of the machine.
This improved arrangement will be better understood by taking as an example a
piston working in a cylinder in which latter the inner work is effected. The piston
is connected in the ordinary manner by means of a push crank gearing with a fly
wheel. It is not necessary to go into the method of combustion, the supply of the
fuel, the valves or valve movements or the like as the improved compensating

page_text: arrangement for the inner work may be employed for the most widely differing
machines ;
no difference need here be made between so called isothermic and
adiabatic compression and expansion. An iron armature is connected with the
piston rod which armature reciprocates in the magnetic field of a magnet, in such a
way that on the increase of the force of compression in the cylinder, the magnetic
attraction between the magnet and the armature increases.
By a suitable regulation of the exciting current (which may be derived from a
battery, a dynamo, or the like) by means of a suitable form or position of the
armature or the magnet, the curve of the magnetic attraction may be more or less
caused to coincide with the curve of the compression.
It is thus very evident without further explanation that in this manner the inner
work may be compensated at the moment of its commencement and during its
entire course and the push crank gearing (that is to say more particularly the hinge
of the cross head, the crank, the guides and the bearings of the flywheel) be thus
relieved (more or less) from the inner work. The magnet and armature may
change place, a solenoid and an iron armature may be employed or the attraction
may take place between two solenoids. Starting from these principal types
innumerable forms of construction may be developed, of these it is only necessary
to describe one special kind. A flywheel is itself formed as a magnet and consists,
for instance, of two iron discs keyed on a shaft and between each disc an exciting
coil is arranged in a suitable manner. By the reciprocation of the piston the iron
armature approaches or recedes with the piston rod to or from the magnetic flywheel,
the piston rod being in this case extended beyond the cross head. The action and
method of the magnetic attraction is in other respects the same as that previously
described.
By suitably forming the periphery of the flywheel (which periphery acts as a
magnetic pole) the compensation as regards the piston for one direction of movement
(for instance that of compression) may be made to differ from that necessary for the
other direction of movement, for instance, that of expansion.
This variation of the compensation may also be effected by a periodical alteration
of the exciting of the magnets, solenoids, or armatures, either by the insertion of
resistances or the like or by employing alternating currents or constant currents
which are increasingly or decreasingly directly supplied periodically from a suitably
constructed dynamo which is synchronically operated by the flywheel.
Nothing is altered in the essential part of the invention if the cylinder be made
movable and the piston fixed, the two parts which act on one another for the
compensation must as hereinbefore stated merely be connected with those parts of
the machine between which the compression or the expansion pressure takes place,
thus this invention may also be employed in cases where, for instance, the cylinder
is fixed, and two pistons travel therein either in opposition or one before the other;
in such a case of course the two corresponding compensating parts may be each
connected with one of the pistons. One piston may be connected with the armature
the other with the magnet, or the solenoid and so forth.
It is possible to also go further and compress the operating fluid in one chamber
or cylinder, and allow it to expand in another. More than two cylinders may also
be employed and the compression and expansion may also take place in several
stages and the compensating arrangement may be employed either with all the
cylinders, or only with one, for instance, the high pressure one. In the above
named case with two pistons moving in the same cylinder, one piston may remain
stationary after the compression has been completed, and the other may then move
for expanding the operating fluid.
The above mentioned multiple compensating devices may also form parts of the
piston or the cylinder itself. The simplest form is obtained for instance by
employing the iron piston as armature and the magnet may then embrace the
cylinder which may be made of non-magnetic material or a solenoid coil may be
wound round the cylinder, or a suitably formed coil may be itself employed as
cylinder, and so forth.

page_text: Finally, the compensating devices may also be employed where an actual piston
is replaced by a movable membrane, or where the piston is formed by a fluid, or
fluid metal, which is moved in the cylinder with the object of altering the
volume.
These examples may suffice to show the diversity of the range of applicability of
this compensating device, and it would be beyond the scope of a Patent
Specification to set forth all the imaginable combinations and modes of employ-
ment for various machines. A special mode of transfer or delivery of useful work
may however still be mentioned. The magnetic field produced for the compensation
and the reciprocation of the piston may be utilised for producing direct electric
currents, and thus the useful work be delivered as electric energy.
It is only
necessary to provide the armature with a coil for currents to be excited in the coil by
the reciprocation of the armature (or in other words of the coil) in the magnetic
field, as is well known.
Or the coil may be placed on the poles of the maguet or finally the electro
magnets, solenoids, or the like which act on one another may be of such a form that
even in the exciting coils traversed by a constant current from a suitable source
currents may be induced in consequence of the oscillation of the lines of force,
which currents because of their alternations may be sent in the usual manner as
secondary currents into the consumption circuit from the constant current conductor
by the insertion of a transformer (or even a condenser).
Currents produced in this manner may also be employed for igniting explosive
mixtures of gases, and also for operating or regulating valve gear.
In case the compression be somewhat delayed by the piston valve or the like not
being quite tight the action of the compensating device must of course as far as
possible be stopped. This takes place by weakening the current, breaking the
circuit, short circuiting or altering the position of the compensating parts, as usual,
and this may be effected by means of an apparatus for measuring the pressure of
gas connected with the interior of the cylinder.
Instead of a single compensating device several may also be employed, arranged
in various ways.
Dated this 16th dow of November 180.1
WM. P. THOMPSON & Co.,
Of 6, Lord Street, Liverpool, Agents for the Applicant.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
A New or Improved Method and Means for Equalising or Com-
pensating the Work of Compression and Expansion of the
Operating Fluid in Motors.
I, ADOLF KOLBE of 67 Zeil, Frankfort-on-the-Main in the Empire of Germany,
Merchant, 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 :-
If in machines working by the energy of heat great compression and expansion
of the operating fluid be employed to obtain a higher thermic effectiveness (see
Grashof, "Theory of Power Machines" 1890 $143, page 885) severe strains arise in
the push crank gearing and loss of power through friction thereby takes place,
which considerably diminishes the mechanical effectiveness. The pressure on the
crank gearing from the power conveyed to it is thus comparatively small.
A distinction can therefore be made between expansion with supply of heat and
expansion without supply of heat. The difference between the two, as is well
known, indicates the amount of useful work obtained by means of the push crank.

page_text: gearing from the combustion of the fuel. The work of expansion without supply
of heat, say during the period when the machine is running without load, is, apart
from losses through radiation, cooling, friction and so forth, equal to the work of
compression, as is well known. Both are equal amounts of work in the ideal
machine but with different indication in varying periods of time and they may be
designated the inner working of the machine. This working which, as already
stated, may be a multiple of the useful work, need not, in machines built in
accordance with theory, be at all conveyed on to the gearing of the crank as
has always hitherto been the case.
This invention affords a means of avoiding any deleterious loading of the crank
gearing or of other arrangement for conveying the useful work such, for instance,
as rack bars and cog wheels. The pressure of compression and expansion (without
supply of heat) that is the amount of inner work, is immediately and directly wholly
or partially equalised or compensated by the counteraction of magnetic or electric
attraction or repulsion.
In order to produce this action, two parts, as is well known, are generally
necessary, the one producing a magnetic field (such as by a steel magnet, electro
magnet, conductor through which current passes, or the like) the other being
attracted or repulsed by the lines of force of the former (for instance of an iron
armature, steel armature, electro magnet, or conductor through which current
passes).
As however the amount of work is generally indicated by alterations in volume
of the cylinder, that is to say by the relative adjustment of the piston to the bottom
of the cylinder, one of the above named magnetic or electric parts must be
connected to the cylinder and the other to the piston. It is immaterial whether
this connection be direct or indirect, for instance, either to the fixed cylinder or to
the frame of the machine.
This improved arrangement will be better understood by reference to the
accompanying drawings in which it is shown in Figures 1-9 in various diagram-
matic views.
Figure 1 shows as an example a piston K working in a cylinder Z, in which
latter the inner work is effected. The piston is connected in the ordinary manner
by means of a push crank gearing with a flywheel R. It is not necessary to get
into the method of combustion, the supply of the fuel, the valves or valve move-
ments or the like, as the improved compensating arrangement for the inner work
may be employed for the most widely differing machines; no difference need here
be made between so called isothermic and adiabatic compression and expansion.
An iron armature A is connected with the piston rod G, which armature reciprocates
in the magnetic field of a magnet M, in such a way that on the increase of the force
of compression in the cylinder, the magnetic attraction between the magnet M and
the armature A increases.
By a suitable regulation of the exciting current (which may be derived from a
battery, a dynamo, or the like B) by means of a suitable form or position of the
armature or the magnet, the curve of the magnetic attraction may be more or less
caused to coincide with the curve of the compression.
It is thus very evident without further explanation that in this manner the
inner work may be compensated at the moment of its commencement and during
its entire course, and the push crank gearing (that is to say more particularly the
hinge of the cross head, the crank, the guides and the bearings of the flywheel)
be thus relieved (more or less) from the inner work.
In the arrangement shown in Figure 2, the magnet M and armature A may
change place in Figure 3, a solenoid S and an iron armature A may be employed,
or in Figure 4 the attraction may take place between two solenoids S. Starting
from these principal types innumerable forms of construction may be developed, of
these it is only necessary to describe one special kind. In Figure 5 a flywheel is
itself formed as a magnet and consists, for instance, of two iron discs (the front
one is shown in the drawing, but the crank gearing is not) keyed on a shaft, and

page_text: between each disc au exciting coil
arranged in a suitable manner. By the
reciprocation of the piston K, the iron armature A approaches or recedes with the
piston rod G to or from the magnetic flywheel H, the piston rod being in this
case extended beyond the cross head. The action and method of the magnetic
attraction is in other respects the same as that previously described and shown in.
Figure 1.
By suitably forming the periphery of the flywheel H, such as is shown in
Figure 5 for instance, (which periphery acts as a magnetic pole) the compensation
as regards the piston for one direction of movement (for instance that of com-
pression) may be made to differ from that necessary for the other direction of
movement, for instance, that of expansion.
This variation of the compensation may also be effected by a periodical alteration
of the exciting of the magnets, solenoids, or armatures, either by the insertion of
resistances or the like, or by employing alternating currents or constant currents
which are increasingly or decreasingly directly supplied periodically from a suitably
constructed dynamo which is synchronically operated by the flywheel.
Nothing is altered in the essential part of the invention if the cylinder be made
movable and the piston fixed, the two parts which act on one another for the-
compensation must, as hereinbefore stated, merely be connected with those parts of
the machine between which the compression or the expansion pressure takes place,.
thus this invention may also be employed in cases where, for instance, the cylinder
is fixed, and two pistons travel therein, either in opposition or one before the other;
in such a case of course the two corresponding compensating parts may be each
connected with one of the pistons. One piston may be connected with the
armature A, the other with the magnet M, or the solenoid S, and so forth.
It is possible to also go further and compress the operating fluid in one chamber
or cylinder, and allow it to expand in another. More than two cylinders may also-
be employed and the compression and expansion may also take place in several
stages and the compensating arrangement may be employed either with all the
cylinders, or only with one, for instance, the high pressure one. In the above
named case with two pistons moving in the same cylinder, one piston may remain
stationary after the compression has been completed, and the other may then move
for expanding the operating fluid.
The above mentioned multiple compensating devices may also form parts of the
piston or the cylinder itself. The simplest form is obtained for instance by
employing the iron piston as armature, as shown in Figure 6, and the magnet M
may then embrace the cylinder Z which may be made of nou-magnetic material, or
a solenoid coil may be wound round the cylinder, or a suitably formed coil may be
itself employed as cylinder, and so forth.
Finally, the compensating devices may also be employed where an actual piston
is replaced by a movable membrane, or where the piston is formed by a fluid,
or fluid metal, which is moved in the cylinder with the object of altering the
volume.
These examples may suffice to show the diversity of the range of applicability of
this compensating device, and it would be beyond the scope of a Patent Speci-
fication to set forth all the imaginable combinations and modes of employment for
various machines.
A special mode of transfer or delivery of useful work may however still be
mentioned. The magnetic field produced for the compensation and the recipro-
cation of the piston may be utilised for producing direct electric currents, and thus
the useful work be delivered as electric energy. As shown in Figure 7, it is only
necessary to provide the armature A with a coil w for currents to be excited in the
coil w by the reciprocation of. the armature A, (or in other words of the coil w) in
the magnetic field, as is well known.
Or, as shown in Figure 8, the coil w may be placed on the poles of the magnet
or finally (see Figure 9) the electro magnets, solenoids, or the like which act on
one another may be of such a form that even in the exciting coils w traversed by a

page_text: constant current from a suitable source B, currents may be induced in consequence
of the oscillation of the lines of force, which currents because of their alternations
may be sent in the usual manner as secondary currents into the consumption circuit
from the constant current conductor by the insertion of a transformer T (or even a
condenser).
Currents produced in this manner may also be employed for igniting explosive
mixtures of gases, and also for operating or regulating valve gear.
In case the compression be somewhat delayed by the piston valve or the like not
being quite tight, the action of the compensating device must of course as far as
possible be stopped. This takes place by weakening the current, breaking the
circuit, short circuiting or altering the position of the compensating parts, as usual,
and this may be effected by means of an apparatus for measuring the pressure of
gas, connected with the interior of the cylinder.
Instead of a single compensating device several may also be employed, arranged
in various ways.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. An improved method and means for equalising or compensating the work of
compression and expansion of the operating fluid in motors, consisting in employing
two or more magnetic or electric parts acting one on the other attractingly or
repellingly, so as to directly equalise the hereinbefore mentioned inner work and
thus relieve to such an extent the crank gearing or like mechanisms, substantially
as hereinbefore set forth.
2. A form of construction of the equalising or compensating arrangement
described in Claim 1, having a magnetic field employed both for the aforesaid
equalising or compensating and for the direct production of electric currents by a
suitable arrangement of inducing coils, substantially as hereinbefore described..
Dated this 14th day of August 1895.
WM. P. THOMPSON & Co.,
Of 6 Lord Street, Liverpool, Agents for the Applicant.