IMPROVE- MENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF GAS-MOTOR ENGINES
Year: 1879

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said Henry Woolfe at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 30th May 1879.
HENRY WOOLFE, of Darlington, in the County of Durham, Engineer. "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF GAS-MOTOR ENGINES."
My said Invention consists in improvements in the construction of that kind of
engines known as gas motor engines; that is to say, engines in which the motive
power is obtained by the combustion and consequent expansion of gas.
A vertical cylinder open at the upper end is fixed on or attached to any suitable
stand above a double crank shaft. Above the upper end of the cylinder, and
working between suitable guides, is a cross head, the respective ends of which are
connected by means of rods to the two cranks of the said shaft. To the cross head
is connected by two rods a buffer plate, the latter having two air valves therein,
and which plate works within the mouth of the cylinder, as hereinafter described.
Within the cylinder, and below the buffer plate, is a piston, having attached thereto
a rod which is free to work through the centres of the buffer plate and cross head.
The cross head is fitted with a simple stop arrangement which allows the piston
rod to ascend freely through it to the desired distance, but not to descend without
taking the cross-head with it until the back stroke of the latter is completed, when
the stop arrangement is caused to liberate the piston rod and allows the piston to
fall into its original position near the bottom of the cylinder. The amount of gas
and air admitted to form the charge is regulated as desired by means of a regulator
acting upon the said stop arrangement on the cross head. By the adjustment of
the said regulator the cross-head is caused to lift the piston to the desired height,
according to the required extent of the charge, which is drawn into the cylinder
through the slide valve, and is ignited by the descent of the latter. On the charge
being ignited the expansion thereof drives up the piston which carries with it the
cross head by means of the pressure exerted on the air remaining between the
piston and the buffer plate. A vacuum or partial vacuum being produced in
the cylinder below the piston, the pressure of the external atmosphere forces the
piston back to the lower part of the cylinder, and in so doing causes the cross head
to regain its previous position. The action above described is repeated at each
revolution of the fly wheel.
I will now proceed to refer to the accompanying Drawings, from which the nature
of my said Invention will be more clearly understood. Figure 1 is a front elevation

page_text: of an engine; Figure 2, a vertical section; and Figure 3 is a side elevation, partly
in section; Figures 4 and 5 are detached views of stop arrangements; Figure 6 is
a detached view of the apparatus for actuating the stop arrangement, shewn in
position when the piston rod is free; Figure 7 is the same, shewn in the position
when the stop arrangement is caused to grip the piston rod; and Figure 8 is a plan
of the said stop opener. The same letters of reference indicate similar parts in the
several Figures.
A is the cylinder fixed to the stand B; C is the crank shaft, having mounted
thereon the cam c for moving the levers D which actuate the slide valve E; Fis
the cross-head working in the guides f, and connected to the cranks of the crank
shaft by the rods G. The buffer plate is shewn at H, and h are the rods securing
the latter to the cross-head; I is the piston; and K, the piston rod; L is a lever
and roller for keeping the slide valve against its face; M is the exhaust and air
inlet; and N, the gas inlet. A stop arrangement, shewn detached in Figure 4, is
indicated by the letter O, and is kept in position by the pieces of steel o, the ends
of which rest respectively in small recesses in O, and in projections formed on or
attached to the cross head. The stop opener or apparatus for actuating the said
stop arrangement consists of four links p, connected to a horizontal plate P. Q, q,
which is a regulator for regulating the action of the said stop opener, is mounted on
the rod R, connected with and actuated by the governor of the engine, as will be
well understood; it also admits of adjustment, as hereinafter described. S is a stud
or projection for acting on the stop-opener in order to release the piston rod.
The action of the apparatus is as follows:-The regulator Q having been adjusted
in the required position on the rod R by screwing the collar q up or down on the
latter, for the purpose of regulating the amount of air and gas to form the desired
charge, the latter is admitted through M. and N into the cylinder beneath the
piston I, and being exposed by the action of the slide valve E to a flame is exploded,
thereby driving upwards the piston, which acting through the medium of the air
enclosed between it and the buffer plate H causes the latter to be forced upwards,
and with it the cross-head F: In the upward stroke caused by half a revolution of
the fly wheel the roller at one end of the horizontal plate P of the stop opener
comes into contact with the inclined surface of the regulator Q, and is moved from
the position shown in Figure 6 to that shown in Figure 7, thus causing the stop
arrangement O to fall by reason of its own weight and to grip the piston rod K,
thus controlling the height to which the piston is to be carried, and thereby regu-
lating the amount to be admitted to form the charge, as before mentioned. The
governors when necessary regulate the supply of gas by turning the rod R partially
round, and thereby removing the regulator from the path of the stop opener. A
partial vacuum having been produced by the explosion in the cylinder below the
piston the atmospheric pressure forces back the latter, which carries with it the
cross-head and buffer plate. The roller at the opposite end of the horizontal plate
of the stop opener coming into contact with the stud or projection S is moved from
its former position to that shown in Figure 6, and by lifting the stop arrangement
causes the piston rod to be released and allows the piston to fall to its original
position in the lower part of the cylinder.
The above described action is repeated at every revolution of the fly wheel.
It will be readily understood by reference to the accompanying Drawings that
motion is transmitted from the cross head through the connecting rods G to the
crank shaft C, by the revolution of which the cam cacting on the levers D regulates
the movement of the slide valve, and consequently the inlet of gas and air, and the
exhaust.
Figure 5 shows a construction of stop arrangement in which the part O has a
wedge shape, and is caused to grip the piston rod by being allowed (when the stop
opener is in the position shown in Figure 7) to bear against the inclined surfaces
of the projections on the cross-head, being thereby compressed, and the said stop
arrangement is raised in order to release the piston rod by the stop opener heing
moved to the position shown in Figure 6.

page_text: Having thus described and ascertained the nature of my said Invention, and the
manner in which the same is to be performed, I would observe in conclusion that
what I consider novel and original, and therefore claim as constituting the said
Invention are,-
First. The construction and arrangement of a buffer plate connected to the cross-
head and working within the cylinder, substantially as and for the purposes herein-
before described and set forth.
Secondly. The construction and arrangement of the apparatus for gripping and
releasing the piston rod, shown in Figure 5 of the Drawings, substantially as and for
the purposes herein before described and set forth.
Thirdly. The construction and combination of the regulator Q and the apparatus
for actuating the stop arrangement, substantially as and for the purposes herein-
before described and set forth.
And, Fourthly. The combination and arrangement of mechanism forming the
engine shown in Figures 1, 2, and 3 of the Drawings, substantially as and for the
purposes hereinbefore described and set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Woolfe, have hereunto set my hand and
seal, this Twenty seventh day of May, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and seventy nine.
HENRY WOOLFE. (L.S.)