Improvements in and connected with Explosion Engines.
Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application, 24th Aug., 1899-Accepted, 30th Sept., 1899
QUALI LEID DIUITIATION.
Improvements in and connected with Explosion Engines.
A communication from abroad by COLUMBIA AUTOMOBILE COMPANY INCORPORATED,
of Hartford, Connecticut, United States of America.
I, PHILIP MIDDLETON JUSTICE, of 55, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middle-
sex, Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Patent Agents, 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:-
Owing to the excessively high temperature of the exhaust gases of explosion
engines the exhaust valve and its seat and stem are liable to scaling and stick-
ing, and there are sometimes other ill effects. One object of the present inven-
tion is to prevent the ill effects of the over heating of the parts of the engine
about the exhaust, and this result is accomplished by the introduction of steam
into the chamber just outside of the exhaust valve, the temperature of ordinary
live steam being so much lower than the temperature of exhaust gases that the
resultant diminution of temperature very largely reduces the tendency to scaling
and other ill effects referred to. It is obvious that the steam might be supplied
from any suitable source, so far as concerns the attainment of the result already
referred to, but a further beneficial result is accomplished by using for this
purpose the steam which is slowly generated from the water of the ordinary water
jacket which is commonly applied to those parts of an explosion engine which are
liable to become highly heated. Such steam from the water jacket is generally
allowed to escape directly into the open air and the cloud of steam so produced
is sometimes objectionable, but in the present case the steam from the water
jacket is delivered into the exhaust chamber and not only accomplishes the result
above referred to but is itself greatly superheated and possibly decomposed by
contact with the hot hydrocarbons and at any rate mingled with a considerable
volume of hot gases so that it is finally exhausted into the atmosphere in a prac-
tically invisible state and does not cloud. The mixture of the steam with the
hot gases has another marked advantage in that it deodorizes them, which may
also be a result of the decomposition referred to as a possible cause for the
dissipation of the steam cloud. The accompanying drawing represents, partly in
elevation and partly in section, a convenient and practical embodiment of the
invention. In the drawing an ordinary explosion engine is sufficiently illustrated
at A. The exhaust valve B permits the escape of the excessively hot exhaust
gases at the proper intervals from the cylinder C into a chamber or conductor D
from which they pass eventually into the open air. In the construction shown a
water jacket E is applied to the head of the cylinder C, being conveniently con-
nected by circulation pipes e and e' with a supply tank F, if such tank be
employed. Whatever the particular construction may be a steam conductor, such
as the pipe f, delivers the steam generated in the water jacket or in the cooling
ystem or elsewhere, into the exhaust chamber or conductor just outside of the
exhaust valve B, so that the steam is mingled with the hot exhaust gases, reduc-
ng their temperature so as to prevent the ill effects due to their very high normal
D

page_text: temperature while the steam itself is so affected by the hot exhaust gases that it
is practically invisible when finally delivered from the engine into the open air.
A small steam dome f¹ is shown as provided on the tank F, and a check valve f
may be interposed in the pipe f, but it will be obvious that in this as well as in
many other respects the construction can be varied from what is shown without
departing from the spirit of the invention, which is not limited to the precise
construction and arrangement of parts shown and described herein.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
is claimed is:-
1. The combination with an explosion engine, of a steam supply and a con-
ductor to deliver the steam to the exhaust chamber or conductor of the engine,
substantially as described.
2. The combination with the cylinder of an explosion engine and a water
jacket, of a conductor to deliver steam generated from the water of the jacket
to the exhaust chamber or conductor of the engine, substantially as described.
3. The combination with the cylinder of an explosion engine, a water jacket,
and a supply tank connected with the water jacket, of a steam pipe to conduct
the steam from said tank to the exhaust chamber of the engine, substantially
as described.
1000