Improvements in Gas, Petroleum, or like Motors.
Year: 1897

page_text: Improvements in Gas, Petroleum, or like Motors.
I, ACHILLE OLLIVIER, of 2, Rue Manuel, Paris, in the Republic of France, Civil
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention relates to motors with internal combustion, for gas, petroleum and
the like, with prolonged variable expansion and high compression rendered possible
by the variation of the proportion of the explosive mixture in the cylinder.
Experiments made with the Otto motor have shown that the mixture in this motor
was heterogeneous, the mixture admitted being diffused only partially in the
undischarged products of the preceding explosion; it is therefore possible to obtain
in a cylinder a richer mixture round the igniting device and a poorer mixture towards
the face of the pistop.
Starting from this idea I have been led to enquire whether it is not possible to
constitute in a motor cylinder two different gaseous layers, one composed of pure air
and the residual products of the combustion, and the other composed of the usual
mixture of air and of gas or of pure air and carburetted air. The experiments which
I have made in this respect enable me to affirm the possibility of the existence of a
similar mixture in a cylinder, and the actual motors working at a high speed are
excellently adapted for its constitution.
The means which I have employed for obtaining this result are very simple. They
consist in the employment of a special admission valve for the gas or carburetted air,
the admission valve for the pure air being automatic.
The device hereinafter described is applied to a vertical petroleum motor having a
single cylinder, but it is of course understood that this motor may be of any kind,
such as gas, petroleum or in general for any explosive mixture.
The motor comprises a cylinder, a piston, a connecting rod, a main shaft, and three
toothed wheels transmitting the movement of the said shaft to the distributing shaft
in such a manner that the latter shaft makes only one turn while the main shaft
makes two. I provide a valve box, and a frame or casing in two parts; I also provide
a fly wheel cast in one piece with the pulley and in the fly wheel is arranged the
regulator or governor which, by means of a sleeve and the levers connected by the
rod actuates the cam for regulating the admission of the carburreted air.
This cam
slides upon the distributing shaft while being carried away by it. Upon this shaft is
keyed the cain for the exhaust.
In the valve box are grouped first, a special valve for the admission of carburetted
air which arrives through the admission orifice; the said valve being lifted by a lever
each time the projection of the cam on the distributing shaft passes below the roller
of the said lever; second, an automatic valve for the admission of pure air and third
a valve for the exhaust, which takes place through the exhaust orifice. This exhaust
valve is lifted by the lever each time when the projection of the cam for operating
the exhaust valve passes below the roller of the said lever.

page_text: .
The plug of the ignition device is also arranged in the valve box. The ignition
can take place by incandescence or electrically:
In the position of the parts in which the piston has just accomplished its driving
stroke; the exhaust valve commences to give passage to the burnt gases, the projec-
tion in the cam for operating the exhaust valve being in contact with the roller of
the lever during the entire upward stroke of the piston; the said projection will keep
the valve raised; there will therefore remain in the cylinder, at the moment when
this valve is closed, only the residual gases enclosed in the compression chamber.
At this moment the piston descends again; this is the suction period. It will be
seen that before the projection of the cam for operating the admission valve for
carburetted air comes in contact with the roiler of the lever, that is to say before
the valve is lifted, the piston has already traversed a portion of its stroke, which
portion may be varied, because the said projection is gradually narrowed or con-
tracted. At the point considered, the piston has made about one-third of its
stroke. During this third of the stroke the suction can therefore take place only
through the second or automatic valve and there will therefore enter the cylinder
only pure air during this period; then, the piston continuing its downward stroke,
the projection will raise the carburetted air valve as hereinbefore shown, and the
carburetted air will in its turn be admitted into the cylinder; but by reason of
the height of the projections on the cam the automatic valve continues all the same
to supply to the cylinder its portion of pure air so that in fact an explosive mixture
is admitted.
It will be understood that the mixture of carburetted air and pure air admitted at
the end of the stroke of the piston is indeed an explosive mixture of variable propor-
tions, exactly as in the ordinary motors, and that this mixture is as intimate as
possible, the pure air and carburetted air being mixed on their admission into the
cylinder. It would also be easy to diffuse them by passing them through the holes
of a plate before their entrance into the cylinder without changing the arrangements
of the valves.
The mixture is partly diffused in the pure air admitted at the commencement of
the suction; this diffusion can aid only in the heating of this air by the inflammable
particles which it contains; moreover the height of the projection on the cam
enables me to obviate this inconvenience which this diffusion would have in
impoverishing the mixture admitted at the end of the stroke, because it leaves me
free to graduate the proportions of this mixture at the moment of its admission.
The other periods of the stroke of the piston take place as in other four-stroke
motors.
As regards the regulation of the speed it is effected by the displacement of the cam
for operating the carburetted air valve upon the distributing shaft by means of the
levers operated by the regulator or governor and herein before described.
In its displacement the said cam will present to the roller on the rod operating the
carburetted air valve projecting portions of gradually diminishing size corresponding
to a gradually prolonged suction of pure air at the commencement of the stroke of
the piston, say one-half, two-thirds, three-quarters of this stroke, and consequently
with a longer or shorter admission of the explosive mixture; this admission always
ceasing at the end of the stroke. I therefore vary by this means the power of the
motor and consequently its speed, the resistances being the same.
This mode of regulation has moreover the advantage of enabling the expenditure
of the motor to be regulated in proportion to the work which is required, and it is
known that the motors heretofore used spend almost as much when running empty
as during the period of work.

page_text: Improvements in Gas, Petroleum, or like Motors.
I, ACHILLE OLLIVIER, of 2, Rue Manuel, Paris, in the Republic of France, 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 internal combustion gas, petroleum and other motors with
variable prolonged expansions and high compressions which is rendered possible by the
variation of the proportion of explosive mixture in the cylinder.
Experiments made with the Otto motor have shown that the mixture in this motor
was heterogeneous, the mixture admitted only diffusing itself partially in the pro-
ducts of the preceding explosion which were not discharged; it is thus possible to
obtain in a cylinder a mixture which is richer around the igniting device than
adjacent to the face of the piston.
Starting from this idea, I have been led to consider whether it would not be
possible to form in a motor cylinder, two distinct. gaseous strata, one consisting
of pure air and the residuary products of combustion, and the other consisting of the
usual mixture of air and gas or of. pure air and carburetted air. The experiments
which I have made in this direction enable me to affirm the possibility of the existence
of such a mixture in a cylinder, and the high-speed motors now in use, are particu-
larly adapted to its formation.
The means which I adopt in order to attain this result are extremely simple. They
consist in the employment of a special gas or carburetted air admission valve, the
valve for the admission of pure air being automatic.
In the accompanying drawing I have shewn this arrangement applied to a single-
cylinder vertical petroleum motor, but it will of course be understood that the motor
may be a gas, petroleum or in short an explosive mixture motor of any description.
In the said drawings
Figure 1 is a vertical section partly in elevation of a motor constructed according
to my invention.
Figure 2 is a vertical transverse section taken upon the axis of the cylinder.
Figure 3 is a plan view shewing the valves and igniting device in section.
Figure 4 is a detail view shewing the levers of the governor, and
Figure 5 represents the carburetted air distributing cam actuated by the governor.
A is the cylinder, B the piston, C the connecting rod, D the shaft. E F G are
three gear wheels transmitting the motion of the shaft D to the distributing shaft H
in such a manner that the shaft H makes one revolution only whilst the shaft D is
making two. I is the valve chamber, J and K are the two portions of the framework,
L is the fly-wheel cast with the pulley. Within the fly-wheel is the governor M,
which, by means of the sleeve N and the levers O P, joined by the connecting rod Q,
actuates the cam R for regulating the admission of carburetted air. This cam R
slides upon the shaft H whilst at the same time it is carried round by the latter.
Upon this same shaft H is fixed the discharge cam S.
Within the valve chamber I are grouped three valves a b and c.
a is the special carburetted air admission valve, such air arriving through at; the
valve is raised. by the lever a¹ each time the cam face or projection a³ of the cam R
passes under the roller a² of the lever a¹.
is the automatic valve for the admission of the pure air which enters through b¹.
c is the discharge valve; the discharge taking place through ct. The valve
is raised by the lever c¹ each time the boss of the cam S passes beneath the
roller c² of the said lever c¹. In Figure 1 the lever c¹ is behind the lever a¹.
Ignition may be effected either electrically or by
d is the plug of the igniter.
incandescence.

page_text: When the parts occupy the position represented in the drawings, the piston has just
effected its driving stroke; the discharge valve c is commencing to permit the passage
of the burned gases, the boss c³ of the cam S being in contact with the roller c² of
the lever c' during the whole of the upward stroke of the piston; the boss c³ main-
tains the valve c raised and there will only remain in the cylinder, at the moment
when this valve closes, the residuary gases contained in the compression chamber.
At this moment the piston again descends; this is the suction period. It will be
observed that before the projection a³ of the cam R comes into contact with the
roller a² of the lever a', that is to say before the valve a rises, the piston has already
performed a portion of its stroke, which portion is variable since the projection a³
gradually contracts. During the first third of the stroke, suction can only take place
through the automatic valve b, and thus only pure air enters the cylinder during this
period; then, the piston continuing its downward stroke; the projection a raises the
valve a as before described, and the carburetted air in its turn enters the cylinder ;
but, owing to the height of the projection a³, the valve b nevertheless continues to fur-
nish its supply of pure air to the cylinder, so that it is in reality an explosive mixture
which is admitted.
It will be understood that the mixture of carburetted air and pure air admitted
towards the end of the stroke of the piston is indeed an explosive mixture and one of
variable proportions as much as in ordinary motors, and that such mixture is as inti-
mate as possible, the pure air and the carburetted air mixing immediately they enter
the cylinder. It would of course be easy to diffuse them by causing them to pass
through apertures in a plate prior to entering the cylinder, without altering the
arrangement of the valves.
This mixture is diffused, partially, in the pure air admitted at the commencement of
the suction period; this diffusion necessarily assists to heat this air by means of the
inflammable particles which it contains. Besides the height of the projection a³ per-
mits of obviating the disadvantage which this diffusion would have of impoverishing
the mixture admitted at the end of the stroke, since it allows of graduating the pro-
portions of the mixture at the moment of its admission.
It is evident that the inflammable mixture introduced during the second suction
period would become diffused partly in the pure air previously drawn in by reason of
the principle of expansibility of the continuous diffusion of gases. This diffusion
takes place particularly in the region in proximity to that in which the pure air and
explosive mixture were at first separated one from the other. The result is therefore
on the one hand, that the inflammable particles are disseminated in the volume of
originally pure air drawn in at first, and on the other hand, that the richness of the
inflammable mixture is diminished (particularly in motors of great speed) only in the
region of separation and that part of the inflammable mixture in the neighbourhood
of the igniter is not sensibly impoverished.
The diffusion of the two volumes above defined causes no inconvenience; on the
contrary, at the time of the ignition the inflammable particles disseminated into the
volume of air drawn in at first permit the readier heating of this volume inasmuch as
these particles are self igniting; the heating being, evidently more complete than if
the two volumes of pure air and of carburetted air, remained separate.
On the other hand, even though in consequence of the diffusion, the explosive
mixture near the igniter should be sensibly impoverished, no inconvenience would
arise. Indeed the consequence of what is described is that the air sucked in at the
end of the suction stroke is less in quantity, inasmuch as the speed of the piston
diminishes during this time, and consequently likewise the opening of the air valve.
In short there is accordingly, at the end of the suction stroke, almost only gas around
the igniter, which can mix by diffusion, without inconvenience, with small quantities
of air, the mixture obtained being highly inflammable.
If however, too great an impoverishment is feared, it may easily be remedied by my
system either by using a greater projection determining arger opening in the gas
inlet valve and consequently a smaller proportion of air in the mixture, or by setting
such projection in different manner, to alter the time of the admission of gas.

page_text: The other periods of the travel of the piston are effected in the same manner as in
other motors having a cycle of four periods.
As regards the regulation of the speed, it is effected by the displacement of the
cam R upon the shaft H by means of the levers actuated by the governor and
described above.
The cam R, in this displacement, presents to the roller a² projecting portions or
cam faces a tapering from one end to the other, corresponding to a gradually increas-
ing prolongation of the suction of pure air at the commencement of the stroke of
the piston, that is the half, the two thirds and the three fourths of this stroke, and
consequently to a longer or shorter admission of the explosive mixture, this admission
always terminating at the end of the stroke. The power of the motor and conse-
quently its speed are varied in this manner, the resistance remaining the same.
This method of regulating has the further advantage that the consumption of the
motor is caused to agree with the work which it is required to perform, and it is well
known that in motors of the present types have almost as great a consumption whilst
running light as when performing work.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is:-
1. An internal combustion motor for gas, petroleum and the like, characterised by
the combination of a gas or carburetted air admission valve with an automatic valve
for the admission of pure air, permitting of the formation in the motor cylinder
adjacent to the igniting device of a gaseous explosive stratum variable in volume, not
withstanding the previous admission of a volume of pure air which is also variable, and
of obtaining in this manner a partial explosion so to speak having a variable force per-
mitting of prolonged expansions, the employment of strong compressions and the
utilization of the heat lost by the cooling of the cylinder for the heating of the volume
of air previously admitted.
2. In an internal combustion motor as described in Claim 1, a governor M which,
by means of the sleeve N and the levers OP, joined by the connecting rod Q, actuates
the cam R for regulating the admission of carburetted air, which cam slides upon the
distributing shaft H, at the same time being carried along by the latter in its move-
ment of rotation, substantially as described and represented in the accompanying
drawings.
3. In an internal combustion motor as described in Claim 1, a special valve a for the
admission of the carburetted air, which valve is raised by a lever a¹ each time the pro-
jection a of the cam R, mounted upon the shaft H, passes beneath the roller a
carried by the said lever a¹, substantially as above described and represented in the
accompanying drawing.
4. In an internal combustion motor as described in Claim 1, an automatic valve b
for the admission of the pure air which enters through the aperture b', substantially
as above described and represented in the accompanying drawing.
5. In an internal combustion motor as described in Claim 1, a discharge valve c
which is raised by a lever c¹ each time the boss c³ of the cam S, fixed upon the shaft H,
passes beneath the roller c² of the said lever c¹, substantially as above described and
represented in the accompanying drawing.
6. In an internal combustion motor as described in Claim 1, a valve chamber I
fixed to one of the extremities of the motor cylinder A, and in which are grouped the
carburetted air admission valve a, the automatic pure air admission valve 6 and the
discharge valve c, substantially as above described and represented in the accompany-
ing drawing.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.