Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 26th June, 1896
Complete Specification Left, 25th Mar., 1897-Accepted, 1st May, 1897
I, CHARLES FREDERICK WOOD, of 35 Hanby Terrace, Ordnance Road,
Enfield Lock, in the County of Middlesex, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature
of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention relates to improvements in explosion engines and more particularly
has reference to that class of engines in which explosive charges of air and oil or
gas are employed.
Heretofore it has been usual to connect the engine cylinder rigidly to its framing,
but according to my invention I pivot or attach the cylinder to the framing in
such a manner that the cylinder is free to swing about a pivot so as to accommodate
itself to the various positions of the crank pin during the revolution of the
crank.
The
As is usual in explosion engines the cylinder is open at one end and closed at the
other, and is fitted with a sliding piston whose rod is coupled with a crank.
cylinder may be provided at its open end with a slotted extension piece, which
engages with the crank pin, the slot being sufficiently long to allow the crank to
perform its revolution freely and impart to the cylinder its oscillatory motion.
The crank pin may be provided with a wearing block which is capable of sliding
within the aforesaid slotted extension.
In a modification of my invention I pivot the piston rod to the framing,
and connect the cylinder directly to the crank, the cylinder in this case
reciprocating on the piston. In this arrangement the piston and its rod are
hollow and closed at their ends so as to form a hot chamber into which the oil.
is admitted and partially or wholly vaporized therein by the beat to which it
is subjected.
The said hollow piston may be provided with end covers, the outer one of which
may be made removable and be formed with an eye for connecting the said piston
to the pivot pin on the framing.
An electric sparking device may be employed for assisting in the vaporization
of the oil.
The exhaust is effected through a valve in the cylinder near its closed end,
the said valve being opened by mechanical means as hereinafter explained. The
oil or explosive mixture is admitted to the cylinder from the hollow piston through
a valve in the piston end opening into the cylinder the said valve being held in its
closed position by means of a spring. The valve opens automatically by reason of
the partial vacuum formed within the cylinder at each alternate outward stroke
of the piston; thus the oil or explosive mixture passes from the hollow piston
through this valve into the cylinder. Whilst this is taking place, a valve or valves
on the outer end of the said piston open inward automatically, thereby letting in a
fresh supply of oil or explosive mixture for the succeeding charge.
I may, if found desirable, exhaust the products of the explosion through a valve
in the hollow piston, the said valve opening into a tube which extends through the
gas chamber or hollow piston and leads to the atmosphere.
The aforesaid hollow piston may in some cases be used as a reservoir for the oil
which may be fed into the cylinder through a valve arranged at the piston end and

page_text: the supply of air to the cylinder may be drawn in at a point above the surface of
the fluid, a partition being provided with an outlet or opening therein to allow the
gas to ascend. By these means any gas arising from the oil is drawn with the air
into the cylinder. The hollow piston may be utilized for both purposes at the same
time, that is to say one portion thereof may be used as a reservoir for the oil, and
the remainder as a gas chamber, as before stated. I would here state that although
I prefer to use the hollow piston, I may employ a separate and distinct vessel for
the purposes I have described.
The engine above referred to is intended to perform useful work at one stroke in
four; in order to enable useful work to be performed by it at two strokes in four,
the hollow piston is provided with an internal piston connected to the end of the
cylinder by a rod which works through a stuffing box at the inner end of the
hollow piston. By a suitable arrangement of valves the explosive charges can
be admitted to a space between the inner end of the hollow piston and the inner
end of the cylinder whereby when ignition takes place the hollow piston or
cylinder is driven outwardly. By other suitably arranged valves an explosive
charge is admitted to a space between the internal piston and the inner end of
the hollow piston and on ignition the hollow piston or cylinder is driven inwardly,
or the internal piston outwardly. Other suitably arranged valves are provided
for regulating the exhaust. By this arrangement of the internal piston and the
hollow piston and its cylinder I am also able to produce three independent chambers
which may be utilized as three working cylinders. Or the explosive charges may
be admitted alternately to the space between the inner end of the hollow piston
and the inner end of the cylinder and to the space between the internal piston and
the outer end of the hollow piston; in this manner and by suitably arranging the
valves, I may obtain a working stroke at each revolution.
For the purpose of firing the charge, I by preference employ two pairs of
electrodes, one in each pair being movable and the other rigid. One is arranged
in the cylinder and the other upon the end of the hollow piston in such a manner
that the two make contact just at the finish of the inward stroke, and break contact
to produce the sparks at the commencement of the outward stroke of the piston,
thus igniting the charge and driving the piston outward.
The second pair of electrodes is arranged in the hollow piston and preferably at
the rear end thereof. One electrode is rigid whilst the other is movable through
a stuffing box (or other device) to enable contact between the electrodes to be made
and broken. I thus produce electric sparks- in the hollow piston. The movable
electrode may be actuated in any suitable manner; for instance by coming against
the reciprocating piston or cylinder. Contact between the electrodes may be
broken by the same means or by a spring surrounding the movable electrode. The
sparking of both pairs of electrodes may be effected at the same time, or not, as
desired. I do not wish to be confined to the above sparking arrangement as any
other well known arrangement may be employed.
The exhaust valve may be operated by an eccentric in such a manner that at
each alternate revolution of the shaft the valve will be opened.
Instead of the hollow piston or gas chamber above described, I may if desired
arrange the gas chamber on the outside of the cylinder in the form of a casing, or
1 may use a gas chamber detached therefrom. Or I may use the ordinary rigidly
fixed cylinder with the gas chamber formed in the piston as before described and
in this case the connecting rod would be jointed to the piston and a gap be formed
in the piston chamber to allow the connecting rod to oscillate therein.
In admitting the oil to the piston chamber I may arrange a trough or channel
extending from the rear end of said chamber to the front end of the piston in such
a manner that the oil passes down this channel to the valve leading to the cylinder,
so that if the oil should not be wholly vaporized in the piston chamber the
remainder would be drawn into the cylinder ou the said valve opening.,
If found desirable in carrying out my invention I may employ a loose fitting
piston within the gas chamber to slide to and fro therein for the purpose of

page_text: separating the charges of explosive oil and of air, one charge being supplied to
the cylinder in front of said piston, and the other being supplied to the piston chamber.
at the rear of said piston. By this arrangement the forward stroke of the cylinder
or piston would draw the oil from the piston chamber into the cylinder, and the air
would enter the valve at the rear of the chamber thereby pressing forward the loose
fitting piston in the gas chamber, and separating the two charges. At the back
stroke of the piston or cylinder the charge would be compressed in the cylinder,
and by the same movement the loose piston would be returned to its original
position. An opening would be provided in the piston and he covered by a flap or
other valve through which the charge would pass to the front side of said piston
ready to enter the cylinder for the next explosion. The said piston would be
returned to its original position by means of a rod connected to the piston or
cylinder (as the case may be) the said rod passing through a stuffing box in the
piston head.
As an alternative I may dispense with the aforesaid loose piston, and use the
following arrangement, that is to say upon the forward stroke of the piston or the
cylinder, the explosive charge would be drawn into the cylinder from the gas
chamber through a valve and the forward movement of this valve in opening to
admit said charge would operate a locking device which controls or prevents the
opening of the admission valve or valves to the gas chamber, until the previous
charge has been supplied to the cylinder. Upon the closing of said valve the inlet
valves are unlocked and free to open.
The opening of the inlet valves to the gas chamber may be effected externally in
any suitable manner and the said valves may be opened at any part of the stroke
or at the completion thereof.
In some cases I may operate the exhaust valves by means of a rotatable disc
having projections on its periphery, these projections being so arranged that when
the said disc is turned the valves will be opened by striking against one of the
projections, or will remain closed if the disc be in such a position. that the valves
do not strike the projections. The operation of the said disc may be effected by
a pawl and ratchet or other suitable means which turn the disc one step at each
stroke of the pistons. The said disc can also be utilized for making and breaking
the electric circuit employed for igniting the charges in the cylinders.
The movable electrode may be arranged to be operated by hand for the purpose.
of enabling the cylinder to be sufficiently heated when the parts are cold; thus
without working the engine I may elevate the internal temperature of the cylinder
sufficiently to vaporize the oil when the latter is admitted.
Dated hocah d...
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45 Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.
Improvements in Explosion Engines.
I, CHARLES FREDERICK WOOD, of 35 Hanby Terrace, Ordnance Road,
Enfield Lock, in the County of Middlesex, 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 explosion engines, and is designed to
provide a very simple construction of engine which shall not be liable to get out
of order and the repairs of which may be effected without requiring any special
skill.

page_text: According to the said invention I arrange the cylinder of the engine in such a
manner that it is free to swing or oscillate so as to accommodate itself to the various
positions of the crank pin during the revolution thereof. To this end I may attach
the cylinder to a suitable pivot and connect the piston to the crank, or I may
reverse this arrangement and connect the cylinder to the crank pin and the piston
to the pivot.
Moreover the said piston may in some cases be hollow and be fitted with an
inner or auxiliary non-reciprocating piston connected with the outer or ordinary
cylinder, this arrangement enabling the engine to work with an impulse at every
revolution of the crank shaft.
And in order that the invention may be readily understood I will proceed to
describe the same fully with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which :-
Figure 1 is a side elevation of one form of my improved engine in which the
piston is connected to the crank pin.
Figure 2 is a longitudinal section of a modified construction of my engine.
Figure 3 is a longitudinal section of another modification, in which an impulse
is obtained at each revolution.
Figure 4 is a transverse section on the linex of Figure 3, illustrating a detail
view hereinafter described.
Referring more particularly to Figure 1, a is the oscillating cylinder of the
explosion engine which is open at one end and is pivoted at a¹ to the framing or bed
of the engine. b is the piston thereof, and c is the crank with which the said
piston is connected by a piston rod b¹. The cylinder is in this case provided at its
open end with a slotted extension piece d through which the crank pin projects,
and which imparts during the revolution of the crank the requisite oscillatory
motion to the cylinder in a very efficient manner; the slot d' thereof being
sufficiently long to allow the crank pin to perform its revolution freely. The
crank pin may pass through a suitable wearing block arranged to slide in the
aforesaid slotted extension.
In the arrangement shown in Figure 2, the piston bis hollow and consists of a
tubular casing upon which the cylinder a works to and fro. This piston is pivoted
at 6 to the engine framing and is closed at each end. It is provided with an inlet
valve 3 for the admission of oil, and its interior forms a hot chamber for evaporating
such oil, a perforated plate or plates 6 being provided therein to prevent undue
splashing of the oil within the piston as the latter oscillates. The connection of
the valve with the oil supply reservoir is made by a flexible tube.
The end of the piston which is inside the cylinder is provided with a valve e
which opens automatically on the suction stroke, and through which the vaporised
oil is admitted to the cylinder from the hollow piston. This valve is provided with
a tubular stem e¹ which extends from the valve through the piston and passes out of
the latter through a stuffing box e, where it is provided with a spring e³ which
tends to press the valve e on its seat.
The exhaust takes place through a valve f having its seat formed in the centre
of the valve e and having its stem f¹ extending through the tubular stem e¹ of the
latter valve and through a perforated cap or guide f' therein, a spring f being
provided to keep the said valve f on its seat, for example by means of the
arrangement shown, in which 9 is a recessed wheel or cam carried by a bracket g¹
projecting rearwardly from the oscillating piston b. g3 is a spring-pawl fixed to
the engine frame and adapted to engage a toothed wheel g" on the cam, as the
latter rises and falls during the oscillations of the engine, thus moving the cam
round step by step and causing its projections and recesses to come successively
opposite the end of the valve stem fi and thus alternately opening and closing the
valve f. The valve stem f¹ may.carry an arm or finger fx which engages the stem 6x
of the valve 6 and so operates such valve. The valves may be operated in any
convenient manner, I may moreover in some cases cause the cam to actuate a
rocking lever adapted to work the valves or I may cause the suction valve to
operate the oil inlet valve either in its opening or closing movement.

page_text: The engines herein before described are intended to work on the ordinary
Otto cycle" and to give one impulse at every two revolutions.
In the arrangement shown in Figures 3 and 4 wherein an impulse is obtained at
each revolution, a is as before the oscillating cylinder, b is the hollow piston thereof,
and is the inner or auxiliary piston which is fitted inside the hollow piston and is
connected with the oscillating cylinder a by a rod h. This rod is tubular and
passes through a stuffing box 6 in the hollow piston, its outer end h² which extends
through the end of the cylinder a, being left open and an aperture or air vent hole h³
being formed in the rod near the piston. The space into which this vent hole opens
is thus always in communication with the atmosphere and consequently the air
therein does not impede the movement of the piston h in the hollow piston b.
one
The interior of the hollow piston 6 therefore forms a second working cylinder,
suitable valves being provided for controlling the flow of gas into such hollow
piston and into the cylinder a, in such a manner that the explosions therein occur
alternately, the one during one revolution of the crank and the other during the
next revolution. These valves may be of any suitable construction and may
I have illustrated
be provided with any convenient operating gear.
convenient arrangement however in Figures 3 and 4 in which a ring i encircling
the cylinder a and free to rotate thereon, has cam notches or recesses
formed in its opposite edges. This ring is rotated with a step by step.
motion by means of a pair of stationary spring actuated pawls kk situated on
opposite sides thereof, and engaging with teeth is formed therein. These pawls
are arranged to act in opposite directions so that while one slips over the teeth the
other engages with them, and vice versa. The arrangement' is such that as the ring i
rises and falls with the oscillating cylinder a, it has an intermittent rotary movement
imparted to it by the said pawls. Obviously in some cases the aforesaid motion
might be obtained by a single pawl only. At one side of the said ring is arranged
an exhaust valve whose stem is acted upon by a spring 12 which presses it
against the adjacent notched edge of the ring. As long as this stem is bearing
against a projecting part of the edge, the valve is open, but when one of the
recesses is brought opposite the stem , the latter is by its spring moved
longitudinally into the said recess, the valve is then closed by its spring.
The hollow cylinder b also carries an exhaust valve m communicating with the
space inside such piston. This valve is operated by a spring pressed stem m¹
which is adapted at every alternate inward stroke of the piston to strike a sliding
rod n, mounted upon the cylinder a. The position of this rod is controlled by the
cam ring i, against the edge of which it is pressed by a spring n', the arrangement
being such that when the valve is not to be operated, the said rod n is pressed into
one of the notches and consequently the valve stem m¹ fails to strike it, when the
piston moves inward, whereas at the time when the valve is to be operated, a
projecting portion of the edge of the ring i comes opposite the said rod and moves
it into striking distance of the valve stem m¹.
The inlet or suction valves may be arranged in any convenient manner, but if
the engine is being worked with oil it is desirable to place them on the top of the
piston or cylinder. In such case the exhaust valves may be arranged by the side
of the inlet valves or be disposed on the under side of the cylinder or otherwise as
may be desired.
In some cases I may utilize the space ou each side of the auxiliary piston has
an explosion chamber thus obtaining three working cylinders all acting on a common
crank.
The gas supply may be conducted to these cylinders by any suitable means, such
as by flexible tubing, or flexibly jointed or telescopic metal tubes.
I may employ any suitable firing device for igniting the charges, but I prefer to
employ an electric igniter. In the arrangement shown in Figure 3oo are stationary
insulated contacts and o¹ o' are contacts mounted one inside and one outside the
hollow piston. o is a sliding contact device, comprising a rod fitting into a tube,
for avoiding any interruption of the circuit in the movement of the piston. It will

page_text: be seen that with this arrangement the sparks occur at each of the contacts o
simultaneously, but owing to the arrangement of the valves this sparking does not
lead to two explosions, since, while the cylinder a is charged the hollow piston b is
upen to exhaust, and conversely when the hollow piston is charged the cylinder is
opened to exhaust.
If desired however, suitable electric contacts operated from the cam-ring i may
be employed for timing the spark for producing the ignition.
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 explosion engine provided with an oscillating cylinder connected to the
crank, substantially as described.
2. An explosion engine having a hollow piston serving as an oil vaporizing
chamber, substantially as described.
3. In an explosion engine having an oscillating cylinder, the combination with
such cylinder of a hollow piston forming a second working cylinder, substantially as
and for the purposes set forth.
4. In an explosion engine having an oscillating cylinder, the combination of a
toothed cam ring and a stationary pawl or pawls for rotating the said ring inter-
mittently, for the purpose specified.
5. The electric igniting arrangement wherein the sparks occur simultaneously in
each cylinder, in combination with a valve arrangement which allows only one
cylinder to be charged at a time, substantially as described with reference to
Figure 3.
6. An explosion engine constructed and operating substantially as described
with reference to Figure 1, or Figure 2 or Figures 3 and 4 of the accompanying
drawings.
D
=
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45 Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.