Improvements in Means for Lubricating Engine Cylinders and the like.
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 13th Apr., 1898
Complete Specification Left, 7th Jan., 1899-Accepted, 25th Feb.,
1899
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Means for Lubricating Engine Cylinders and
the like.
A communication by JEAN PIERRE SERVE, of Quai de Cuire, Lyons, in the
Republic of France, Engineer.
I, WILLIAM PHILLIPS THOMPSON, F.C.S., M.I.M.E., of the Agency for Foreign
Patent Solicitors, 6, Lord Street, Liverpool, and 6, Bank Street, Manchester,
both in the County of Lancaster, 118, New Street, Birmingham, in the County.
of Warwick, and 322, High Holborn, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer,
do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention relates to improvements in means for lubricating engine cylinders
and the like whatever may be the nature of the motive fluid whether steam,
coal gas, petroleum, spirit or the like. The arrangements adopted are more
particularly designed with a view to the use of consistent lubricating substances,
though they may also be employed for all kinds of lubricating substances, what-
ever may be the degree of their fluidity. One of the characteristic points of
the invention consists in the peculiar arrangement adopted for obviating the
grave drawbacks resulting from the possible accumulation of lubricating sub-
stance or lubricant between the piston and the ends of the cylinder.
°>
A lubricator is arranged on the rod of a motor piston near the crosshead of the
rod. This lubricator is composed of a reservoir containing the lubricant such
as plumbago mixed with any suitable liquid substance. A kind of piston or
cover compressed by a spring exerts a constant pressure on the lubricant and
forces it to flow into the lubricating passage each time that the valve or tap is
opened. A cap which is screwed on the reservoir keeps the spring compressed.
By screwing the cap down more or less pressure of the spring may be regulated
and the pressure on the piston be maintained constant whatever may be the
quantity of lubricant contained in the reservoir.
A spring valve is arranged on or below the lubricator to keep the passage
normally closed in consequence of the pressure of a spring on the plug of the
valve. By pressing on the point or projection of the valve plug a port in the
valve plug is brought opposite the passage and the lubricant in consequence of
the pressure of the piston spring is then forced through into the lubricating
passage. This kind of lubricator is mentioned as an example, but it is evident
that any other kind of lubricator allowing the distribution of the lubricant to
be effected in an intermittent or even a continuous manner may be employed
if deemed preferable.
There is formed in the interior of the piston rod a passage intended to convey
the lubricant to the centre of the piston. From the centre of the piston a
suitable number of small passages radiate and open into a groove formed on the
periphery of the piston between the piston rings or by the side of the piston
ring if there be only one, which radiating passages distribute the lubricant
between the friction surfaces of the piston and cylinder.

page_text: In order that the supply of lubricant between the friction surfaces shall be
made in an intermittent manner but still at regular intervals during the working,
the following arrangement may be adopted.
A metallic ball is suspended on the end of a horizontal rod fixed in any
suitable manner on the iore end of the cylinder. The ball may also oscillate
to a suitable extent on its point of suspension. A stop and a spring are provided
to arrest the oscillating movements of the ball after it has acted on the pro-
jection of the valve. When the piston has nearly reached the end of its course,
The effort
the projection of the tap encounters the ball and pushes it back.
made by the projection of the valve plug to overcome the inertia of the mass of
the metallic ball and the pressure of the spring, causes the valve plug to be
pressed inwards thus compressing the valve spring and bringing the port opposite
the passage, whereupon the lubricant flows into the lubricating passage of the
piston rod. It must be noted that it is the effort made to overcome the mass of
inertia of the ball and its spring which compresses the valve spring and opens
the valve, and that the weight alone of the ball and the compression of its
spring are insufficient to maintain the valve spring compressed, so that if the
piston stops when the projection encounters the ball, the tap will still remain
closed, the weight of the ball and the compression of its spring being insufficient
to keep the valve spring compressed.
The reservoir for the lubricant is fixed directly above the valve and it follows
all the movements of the piston rod. The valve and the reservoir may however
be made independent one of the other by fixing the reservoir in a stationary
manner and connecting it to the tap by means of a flexible pipe.
Instead of causing the lubricant to arrive by means of the piston, it may be
caused to reach the cylinder in the following manner. The cylinder is surrounded
by one or more lubricating tubes, communicating with its interior by a series
of nozzles. The lubricant is contained in a lubricator fixed directly on the tube
or placed in communication with it by means of an intermediate pipe. As has
been explained for the lubricator before described a spring is arranged to force
the lubricant into the lubricating tubes or passages. The lubricant may be
introduced into the parts to be lubricated, at intervals more or less distant,
by opening by hand a tap on the lubricator, but it is preferable to effect the
lubrication in an intermittent but regular manner during the whole of the
period of working. For this purpose the tap is connected in any suitable manner
with one of the motor parts so that the lubrication is effected at perfectly regular
intervals. Any suitable system of lubrication (that is to say with a mechanical
action) may also be applied with advantage to this lubricator.
The system of lubrication through the interior of the piston rod may if deemed
advantageous be employed simultaneously with the system of lubrication by means
of the pipes surrounding the cylinder. The lubricator fixed on the piston rod
will in such case serve to also feed at the same time the said pipes. In this
case it is sufficient to connect the lubricator to the pipe by a flexible pipe.
The use of solid lubricants may have the drawback of allowing of an accumula-
tion of these substances taking place between the piston and the bottom of the
cylinder. Rupture of the cylinder ends is to be feared if the lubricants accumulate
in too large quantities. In order to prevent this drawback the following arrange-
ment is adopted. There are formed in the ends of the cylinder a series of
grooves arranged either parallel one to another, or in a radial "direction. Towards
the circumferential part of the inner face of the cylinder end an annular groove
is formed deeper than the small grooves which all open into this annular groove.
The annular groove communicates by means of suitably spaced holes with the
external face of the end of the cylinder. These holes are closed by valves held
on their seats by springs, the pressure of which is sufficient to prevent the motive
fluid from escaping through these holes.. These valves are also arranged in such
a way as to allow of their being easily removed and the cleaning effected. The
chambers of these valves have a small hole opening into the outer air for the

page_text: escape of air, and which also serve in case of need to allow it to be seen when
the chamber is full of lubricant, which in such case will emerge therefrom.
It will be seen that, according to this arrangement, the lubricants which accumu-
late. between the piston and the end of the cylinder are forced into the grooves
and from thence into the annular groove. If it should happen that these
substances accumulate in sufficient quantity to form an obstacle to the movement
of the piston at the end of its course the pressure of the piston will force these
substances towards the valves which will then lift and allow the excess of
lubricant to escape.
The system of lubrication hereinbefore indicated may also be employed for
the cylinders of engines operated by the explosion of gas, such as lighting-gas
engines, petroleum engines or other engines working by means of inflammable
spirit. The cylinders of such machines having only one end, the arrangement
herein before described is applied to the said end. In this class of motor the
outside of the cylinder end is often encumbered by a series of devices which
allow little space for arranging the apparatus just described. In this case the
grooves are formed either on the end of the cylinder, or on the face of the piston,
and the annular groove in the internal face of the piston. This groove is caused
to communicate with the external face of the piston by a 'suitable number of
holes and the openings of these holes are closed by valves held on their seats by
means of springs as hereinbefore described. By this means, if the lubricants
accumulate in too large a quantity between the piston and the end of the
cylinder they will escape by lifting the valves and any danger of deformation
of the end of the cylinder is avoided.
The faces of the piston and the cylinder ends may also be given the form
of truncated cones to facilitate the expulsion of the accumulated lubricant.
Dated this 12th day of April 1898.
W. P. THOMPSON & Co.,
Of 6, Lord Street, Liverpool, Agents for the Applicant.
Improvements in Means for Lubricating Engine Cylinders and
the like.
A communication by JEAN PIERRE SERVE, of Quai de Cuire, Lyons, in the
Republic of France, Engineer.
I, WILLIAM PHILLIPS THOMPSON, F.C.S., M.I.M.E., of the Agency for Foreign
Patent Solicitors, 6, Lord Street, Liverpool, and 6, Bank Street, Manchester,
both in the County of Lancaster, 118, New Street, Birmingham, in the County
of Warwick, and 322, High Holborn, in the County of Middlesex, Civil 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 improvements in means for lubricating engine cylinders
and the like whatever may be the nature of the motive fluid whether steam,
coal gas, petroleum, spirit or the like. The arrangements adopted are more
particularly designed with a view to the use of consistent lubricating substances,
though they may also be employed for all kinds of lubricating substances, what;
ever may be the degree of their fluidity. One of the characteristic points of
the invention consists in the peculiar arrangement adopted for obviating the

page_text: .
grave drawbacks resulting from the possible accumulation of lubricating sub-
stance or lubricant between the piston and the ends of the *cylinder.
The invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying
drawings, in which,
Figure is a longitudinal section of a cylinder and a piston with the arrange-
ment of this improved lubricating system;
Figure 2 is a cross section on the line X X of Figure 1;
Figure 3 is a cross section on the line Y Y of Figure 1;
Figure 4 is a longitudinal section of the cylinder of a gas motor showing a
modification in the application of this lubricating arrangement.
A lubricator A (Figure 1) is arranged on the rod of a motor piston near the
crosshead of the rod. This lubricator is composed of a reservoir a containing
the lubricant such as plumbago mixed with any suitable liquid substance. A
kind of piston or cover a compressed by a spring exerts a constant pressure
on the lubricant and forces it to flow into the lubricating passage each time
that the valve or tap B is opened. A cap a which is screwed on the reservoir a
keeps the spring a compressed. By screwing the cap down more or less the
pressure of the spring may be regulated and the pressure on the piston a be
maintained constant whatever may be the quantity of lubricant contained in the
reservoir.
A spring valve B is arranged on or below the lubricator to keep the passage é
normally closed in consequence of the pressure of a spring on the plug of the
valve. By pressing on the point or projection b₁ of the valve plug a port 2
in the valve plug is brought opposite the passage and the lubricant in con-
sequence of the pressure of the piston spring a², is then forced through into the
lubricating passage. This kind of lubricator is mentioned as an example, but
it is evident that any other kind of lubricator allowing the distribution of the
lubricant to be effected in an intermittent or even a continuous manner may be
employed if deemed preferable.
There is formed in the interior of the piston rod a passage C intended to convey
the lubricant to the centre of the piston P. From the centre of the piston a
suitable number of small passages p² radiate and open into a groove formed on
the periphery of the piston between the piston rings or by the side of the
piston ring if there be only one, which radiating passages distribute the lubricant
between the friction surfaces of the piston and cylinder.
In order that the supply of lubricant between the friction surfaces shall be
made in an intermittent manner but still at regular intervals during the working,
the following arrangement shown in Figure 1 may be adopted.
A. metallic ball E is suspended on the end of a horizontal rod e fixed in any
suitable manner on the fore end of the cylinder. The ball E may also oscillate
to a suitable extent on its point of suspension e'. A stop e² and a spring e³ are
provided to arrest the oscillating movements of the ball after it has acted on
the projection of the valve B. When the piston has already reached the .nd
of its course, the projection of the valve B encounters the ball and pushes it
back into the position shown in dotted lines. The effort made by the projection
of the valve plug to overcome the inertia of the mass of the metallic ball and the
pressure of the spring causes the valve plug to be pressed inwards thus com-
pressing the valve spring band bringing the port 62 opposite the passage c
whereupon the lubricant flows into the lubricating passage C of the piston rod.
It must be noted that it is the effort made to overcome the mass of inertia of the
ball E and its spring which compresses the valve spring b and opens the
valve, and that the weight alone of the ball E and the compression of its
spring are insufficient to maintain the valve spring compressed, so that if
the piston stops when the projection 61 encounters the ball, the valve B will still
remain closed, the weight of the ball and the compression of its spring e
heing insufficient to keep the valve spring compressed.
The reservoir a for the lubricant is fixed directly above the valve B and it

page_text: follows all the movements of the piston rod. The valve B and the reservoir a
may however be made independent one of the other by fixing the reservoir a in
a stationary manner and connecting it to the tap or valve B by means of a
flexible pipe.
The
Instead of causing the lubricant to arrive by means of the piston, it may be
caused to reach the cylinder in the following manner, shown in Figures 1 and 3.
The cylinder is surrounded by one or more lubricating tubes such as M com-
municating with its interior by a series of nozzles such as m m1 m² m³.
lubricant is contained in a lubricator G fixed directly on the tube M or placed
in communication with it by means of an intermediate pipe. As has been ex-
plained for the lubricator A before described a spring is arranged to force the
lubricant into the lubricating tubes or passages. The lubricant may be intro-
duced into the parts to be lubricated, at intervals more or less distant, by opening
by hand a tap on the lubricator, but it is preferable to effect the lubrication in
an intermittent but regular manner during the whole of the period of working.
For this purpose the tap is connected in any suitable manner with one of the
motor parts so that the lubrication is effected at perfectly regular intervals.
Any suitable system of lubrication (that is to say with a mechanical action) may
also be applied with advantage to this lubricator.
.
The system of lubrication through the interior of the piston rod may if deemed
advantageous be employed simultaneously with the system of lubrication by
means of the pipes such as M surrounding the cylinder. The lubricator fixed
on the piston rod will in such case serve to also feed at the same time the said
pipes M. In this case it is sufficient to connect the lubricator A to the pipe M
by a flexible pipe T as shown in dotted lines.
The use of solid lubricants may have the drawback of allowing of an accumula-
tion of these substances taking place between the piston and the bottom of the
cylinder. Rupture of the cylinder ends is to be feared if the lubricants accumulate
in too large quantities. In order to prevent this drawback the following arrange-
ment is adopted. There are formed in the ends of the cylinder 1), as shown in
Figures 1 and 2, a series of grooves such as d arranged either parallel one to
another, as shown at Figure 2, or in a radial direction, as shown at d' of the
same figure. Towards the circumferential part of the inner face of the cylinder
end an annular groove F is formed deeper than the small grooves which all open
into this annular groove. The annular groove F communicates by means of suit-
ably spaced holes f with the external face of the end of the cylinder. These
holes are closed by valves K held on their seats by springs, the pressure of
which is sufficient to prevent the motive fluid from escaping through these
holes. These valves K are also arranged in such a way as to allow of their being
easily removed and the cleaning effected. The chambers of these valves have a
small hole opening into the outer air for the escape of air, and which also
serve in case of need to allow it to be seen when the chamber is full of lubricant,
which in such case will emerge therefrom. It will be seen that, according to this
arrangement, the lubricants which accumulate between the piston and the end
of the cylinder are forced into the grooves d d and from thence into the annular
groove F. If it should happen that these substances accumulate in sufficient
quantity to form an obstacle to the movement of the piston at the end of its course,
the pressure of the piston will force these substances towards the valves which
will then lift and allow the excess of lubricant to escape.
The system of lubrication herein before described may also be employed for
the cylinders of engines operated by the explosion of gas, such as lighting-gas
engines, petroleum engines or other engines working by means of inflammable
spirit. The cylinders of such machines having only one end, the arrangement
hereinbefore described is applied to the said end. "In this class of motor the
outside of the cylinder end is often encumbered by a series of devices which
allow little space for arranging the apparatus just described. In this case the
grooves are formed either on the end of the cylinder, or on the face of the

page_text: internal face of the piston,
as shown in Figure 4. This groove is caused to communicate with the external
face of the piston by a suitable number of holes and the openings of
these holes are closed by valves K held on their seats by means of springs as
herein before described. By this means if the lubricants accumulate in too large
a quantity between the piston and the end of the cylinder they will escape by
lifting the valves and any danger of deformation of the end of the cylinder is
avoided.
piston, and the annular groove F in the
The faces of the piston and the cylinder ends may also be given the form
of truncated cones to facilitate the expulsion of the accumulated lubricant.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, as communicated to
me by my foreign correspondent, I declare that what I claim is :-
1. The method of lubricating engine cylinders consisting in arranging on the
piston rod a lubricator in which the lubricant is compressed by means of a spring,
said lubricator being provided with a tap adapted to be operated by hand or
automatically and communicating by a passage formed in the interior of the
piston rod with radiating passages in the interior of the piston which open into
a groove running round the periphery of the piston, substantially as hereinbefore
described and with the object set forth.
2. In a method of lubricating engine cylinders such as described providing the
lubricator with a spring valve adapted to be opened by impact and suspending in
the path of said lubricator a metallic ball so that the spring valve at each stroke
of the piston will strike against the metallic ball, and the power necessary for
overcoming the resistance or inertia of the metallic ball will cause the spring valve
to open, substantially as described and with the object set forth.
3. The means for lubricating engine cylinders consisting in forming round
the cylinder one or more lubricating passages or tubes communicating
by suitably spaced nozzles and holes with the interior of the cylinder,
the supply of lubricant to the circular passages being effected by means
of a lubricator arranged directly on the said passages or tubes and the distribution
of the lubricant being effected in an intermittent manner by a tap adapted to be
operated by hand or automatically, substantially as hereinbefore described and
with the object set forth.
4. The means for avoiding the drawbacks resulting from the accumulation of
lubricant between the piston and the ends of the cylinder, consisting in forming
on the interior surface of the ends of the cylinder a series of grooves communicating
with a deeper annular groove, said annular groove communicating with the
exterior by means of a certain number of holes closed by valves held on their
seats by springs of sufficient pressure to prevent the escape of the motive fluid but
allow the lubricant to escape when the latter is compressed by the piston against
the ends of the cylinder, said grooves, holes and safety valves being formed on
the piston when such is more convenient, as in the case of gas engines for
instance, substantially as herein before described.
Dated this 6th day of January 1899.