Improvements in Gas Generating Apparatus for Explosion Engines.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 12th June, 1896
Complete Specification Left, 12th Apr.. 1897-Accepted, 15th May, 1897
Improvements in Gas Generating Apparatus for Explosion
Engines.
WALTER ROWBOTHAM 27, Vittoria Street Birmingham in the County of Warwick
Electrical Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
The object of my invention is to enable an electrically incandescent body to be
employed in vapourisation & ignition of hydrocarbons or spirit when used in explosion
engines. The said electrically incandescent body is only required for starting
purposes as, by using a specially constructed insulated chamber or portion of the
cylinder, enough heat is retained & again generated by the successive explosions of
the engine to continue the vapourisation & ignition, thus saving the continuous use
of the electric current. To carry out my invention I employ a chamber, or portion
of the cylinder, lined & insulated with any refractory insulating material such as
porcelain. In the said insulating lining a wire is imbedded or placed in grooves,
the ends of the wire being connected to insulated electrodes fitted in the walls of the
chamber or portion of cylinder. The said electrodes are connected by wires &
switch to an electric generator. The said insulated chamber is in connection with the
cylinder by means of a small aperture or apertures & has an inlet valve only for
the admission of the hydrocarbon or spirit, the air & exhaust valves being in the.
cylinder proper.
Dated this 11th day of June 1896.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Gas Generating Apparatus for Explosion
Engines.
I, WALTER ROWBOTHAM, of 27 Vittoria Street, in the City of Birmingham,
Electrical 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:-
My invention relates to methods of vapourising and igniting hydro-carbons for
use in oil engines in which an electrically heated body is employed as set forth in my
Specification No. 22793 of 1895 and its object is to provide the initial starting
impulses for the oil engine by causing the same coil to vapourise and ignite by
electrical heating.
My invention consists in so arranging an electrically heated body in a specially
constructed chamber that the electric current is usual in starting both for the
purposes of vapourising and igniting the succeeding impulses or explosions supplying
sufficient heat to the chamber for vapourisation and ignition.

page_text: In no previous engine has any device been shown which will enable a coil of
wire to be rendered incandescent for ignition and vapourising in a practicable way.
The accompanying drawing is a vertical section through the motor end of an oil
engine cylinder and illustrates one method of carrying my invention into effect.
Upon the end of a cylinder A, I bolt or fix a chamber B and place within this
chamber an insulating lining C of refractory material and within grooves in this
lining I place a metallic coil D having the terminals E F connected up to any source
of electrical supply such as a battery G. When starting, the electric current is
switched on and the hydro carbon is pumped or forced through the oil valve H and
spraying nozzle I into the chamber B where it falls on the electrically heated coil or
lining and is vapourised. In the arrangement shown air is sucked in through the
valve J to form the explosive mixture at the proper moment and the spent gases are
exhausted by way of the valve K. Ignition is also effected by the heat of the wire
coil D which is raised to an incandescence sufficient for the purpose.
The chamber B is purposely so arranged as shown that the entering air charge
does not pass through it, the valves J K open into the cylinder A and not into the
chamber B. By this arrangement the chamber B remains filled with exhaust gases
after each explosion which gases are not displaced by the entering air charge.
When the hydro carbon is pumped into B and onto the incandescent coil D the oil
vapour is formed in an atmosphere without sufficient oxygen to form a combustible
mixture. The coil D can thus be kept hot enough to ignite at the proper time
without fear of ignition during vapourising. When the air charge is compressed
from the cylinder A into the chamber B through the narrow neck then explosive
mixture is formed and is ignited by the coil D. When the engine has been running
for some time the current is switched off and the refractory walls retain sufficient
heat from the successive explosions to vapourise and ignite regularly.
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―
In oil engines the provision of an electrically heated body of metal, refractory
material, or other suitable substance in a separate chamber through which the air
charge does not pass as a means for vapourising the hydro carbon and igniting the
mixture when formed by compression to produce the initial impulses of the engine
substantially as described.
Dated this 12th day of Apri
MARKS & CLERK,
18, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., and
13, Temple Street, Birmingham, Agents.
10
MARKS & CLERK,
18, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., and
13, Temple Street, Birmingham, Agents.