IMPROVEMENTS IN GAS ENGINES
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Gion Baptiste Babacci, of Florence, in the
Kingdom of Italy, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN GAS
ENGINES."
Sealed the 17th October 1868, and dated the 29th April 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Gion Baptiste Babacci
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 29th April 1868.
I, ĠION BAPTISTE BABACCI, of Florence, in the Kingdom of Italy,
do hereby declare the 'nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN GAS ENGINES," to be as follows, that is to say :-
This Invention relates to an improved construction of gas engine, and
consists in the construction, firstly, of a vertical engine; and, secondly,
of a horizontal engine.
The improved vertical engine consists of a cylinder in which play two
pistons, and which is in direct communication by means of two pipes
with a receiver which serves as a support to the whole of the mechanism.
This receiver is partly filled with air compressed to about half an
atmosphere, and the remainder is filled with water. The lower piston

page_text: is fixed to a rod which passes through the cover of the cylinder, and is
fixed to a crosshead to which are attached the connecting rods of the
crank arms; it also passes through the upper piston. The lower piston
has two small rods passing through it connected underneath by a cross
piece, which when the lower piston is in the lower part of the cylinder
is pressed on a stop block fixed underneath, and causes by means of the
two rods the upper piston to stop at a certain distance from the lower
piston, and thus leave a space between the two pistons which forms the
chamber for the explosion. The introduction of gas and air is regulated
by a small distributing slide valve worked by an excentric on the driving
shaft. The light is communicated through a small opening made in the
slide valve by means of an electric spark or with a small gas flame, or
by platina wires or sponge kept in an incandescent state by means of a
small flame of hydrogen gas. The upper part of the cylinder is provided
with a valve which closes the opening in it as soon as the column of
air which was in the cylinder before the explosion has been driven out.
This valve is kept open by means of a lever which presses against a
frame which supports the valve; this lever is connected at the lower part
of the cylinder to the piston of a small pump which communicates with
the interior of the cylinder. The residues of the explosion and the water
are discharged through the opening in the valve by means of channels.
A safety valve allows the escape of the excess of pressure from the
receiver. After each explosion a certain quantity of water is introduced
into the cylinder which condenses the residues of the explosion, and at
the same time serves to lubricate the cylinder. After the explosion the
fly wheel forces the lower piston to travel the last tenth of the space
which contains the residues of the explosion, which are forced to pass
into the receiver. When the lower piston has finished its journey the
compressed air forces the pistons to return to the lower part of the
cylinder, where as soon as they have arrived another explosion reproduces
the same effects.
The improved horizontal engine consists of a cylinder in which three
pistons play. The cylinder communicates at its extremities with a large
receiver which contains the compressed air and water as before described.
The middle piston is fixed to a rod which extends along and passes
through the two other pistons and the covers of the cylinder, and is
attached on one side to the crosshead working the connecting rods, and
on the other side it enters the body of a pump, and is fixed to its piston.

page_text: The centre piston has two small rods passing through it, which serve to
keep the other pistons at the distance necessary for forming the chambers
for the explosion. Two small distributing slide valves worked by an
excentric or otherwise regulate the introduction of the detonating mix-
ture. The explosion takes place in each end of the cylinder, and the
light is applied as in the vertical engine. Each end of the cylinder is
provided with a valve put in motion by levers, kept in their places by a
piston head enclosed in a small pump communicating with the centre of
the cylinder by means of its lower part, and its upper part is in. com-
munication with the compressed air receiver by a pipe, and the residues
are driven out as in the vertical engine. The excess of compressed gas
escapes by a valve. A regulator allows the explosive mixture to enter
the cylinder at the same pressure as that of the large receiver by means
of tubes. In the interior of the regulator cylinder is a piston, which on
one side is in communication with the compressing pump and its pipes,
and also with the tubes supplying the slide valves, and the back part is
in communication with the large receiver. The quantity of mixture
drawn in by the compressing pump is regulated by means of a cock
moved by any suitable means. To prevent the explosion extending to
the regulator a large quantity of metallic cloth is placed in the pipes.
The air and gas are drawn into the compressing engine from a pipe by
two small valves. If by accident the pressure in the receiver should
increase too much, notwithstanding the valve with which it is provided,
a closing of a thin sheet of metal bursts and prevents the explosion of
the apparatus. The compressing pump and regulator may be dispensed
with by employing a larger chamber for the explosion. To avoid shocks
in large engines the explosion should be caused to take place between
two pistons moving in opposite directions. For this purpose I employ
a motive and a generator cylinder, the generator pistons are united by
means of a parallelogram, or a piston provided with valves. The motive
piston is fixed to a rod, which by means of a connecting rod and a crank
arm communicates motion to the main shaft. In this arrangement the
pressure produced by the two generator pistons serves to produce the
vacuum above the other piston, and to compress.the air in the receiver;
this latter causes the motive piston to return to its starting point. :

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Gion Baptiste Babacci in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 28th October 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GION
BAPTISTE BABACCI, of Florence, in the Kingdom of Italy, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of April, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the thirty-
first year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Gion Baptiste Babacci, Her special licence
that I, the said Gion Baptiste Babacci, my, executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said Gion Baptiste Babacci,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with,
and no others, from time to time, and at all times thereafter during the
term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise,
and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the
Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
GAS ENGINES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Gion
Baptiste Babacci, my executors or administrators, by an instrument
in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals,
should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said
Invention, and in what manner the same was to be performed, and
cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six
calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said Letter's
Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Gion Baptiste Babacci, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in
and by the following statement, reference being had to the Drawings.
hereto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked thereon, that is
to say:-
This Invention relates to an improved construction of gas engine, and
consists in the arrangement or construction of two systems of engines,
videlicet, firstly, of a vertical single-acting engine; secondly, of a
horizontal double-acting engine.

page_text: To make my Invention better understood I will proceed to describe it
by reference to the accompanying Drawings, in which Figure 1, Sheet 1,
is a front elevation of the vertical single-acting engine; Figure 2, trans-
verse section, and Figure 3, plan of same.
Figure 1, Sheet 2, is a longitudinal section, and Figure 2, Sheet 2, a
vertical section of the horizontal double-acting engine; Figure 3, plan
of same; and Figure 4, side view of the compressing pump.
The vertical single-acting. engine, shewn in Sheet 1, consists of a
cylinder a, a, in which play two pistons b, d, and which is in direct
communication by means of two pipes e³, e¹, with a receiver A, which
also serves as a support to the whole of the mechanism. The receiver A
is partly filled with air compressed to about half an atmosphere. The
space which this air fills is about ten times greater in volume than
the cylinder; the remaining part of the receiver contains water. The
piston 6 is fixed to a rod which passes through the cover of the cylinder
and is fixed to a cross head B to which are attached the connecting
rods of the crank arms. I call the piston 6 the motive piston, and the
piston & the generator; the rod of the piston 6 passes through the
piston d, as seen in the Drawing. Two small rods c, c, pass through
the piston b; these rods are united underneath by a cross piece which
by pressing on the stop block o' forces the piston d to stop at a certain
distance from the end of its play, and thereby forms the chamber for
the explosion: The piston 6 serves as a fulcrum for the explosion, which
takes place when the piston is near the dead point in the lower part
of the cylinder. A small distributing slide valve m worked by the
eccentric o and lever n regulates the introduction of gas and air. The
light is communicated through a small opening in the slide valve m by
an electric spark, by a small gas flame, or by platina wires or sponge
kept in an incandescent state by means of a small flame of hydrogen
gas. The top of the cylinder is furnished with a valve e, e, which closes
the opening in it as soon as the column of air which was in the cylinder
before the explosion has been driven out. The valve e, e, is kept open
by means of a lever which presses against the frame g supporting the
said valve. The lever is jointed at i to the piston of a small pump
which communicates with the interior of the cylinder. As soon as the
explosion has taken place and the the air has been thereby driven out of
the cylinder the atmospheric pressure forces the small pump piston
attached to the lever h to move inwards, and thereby moves the lever h

page_text: and thus sets free the frame g. The object of keeping the valve open
is not to offer any resistance to the air driven off by the explosion. The
residues of the explosion and the water are discharged through the
opening in the valve e by means of the small channels f.f, having a
greater length than the thickness of the piston d. These residues serve
to keep up the pressure in the receiver A. A safety valve enclosed in
the tuber allows the escape of the excess of pressure from the receiver A,
Figure 1. After each explosion a certain quantity of water is introduced
into the cylinder a, a, which condenses the residues of the explosion
and at the same time serves to lubricate the cylinder by means of the
tube 1, e, k; q is the weight of the regulating valve; 8, refuse tube.
By this arrangement the explosion takes place in the lower part of the
cylinder and forces the column of compressed air into the receiver A;
the valve then closing prevents the air driven off from re-entering, and
there are only the residues of the explosion in the cylinder; the
atmospheric pressure reacting against the piston 6 forces it to rise
against the upper part of the cylinder and the engine performs half a
revolution. The fly wheel forces the piston 6 to travel over the last
tenth of the space which contains the residues of the explosion, which
are forced to pass into the receiver A. When the piston 6 has finished
its journey the valve e, e, being open the compressed air forces the
pistons to return to the lower part of the cylinder, where as soon
as they have arrived another explosion takes place, as hercin-before
.described.
In the horizontal double-acting engine, shewn in Sheet 2, I employ
continuously an artificial atmosphere or compressed air. The mode of
.action differs from the vertical engine in that it is double-acting and
in having constantly the volume of explosive mixture, which by means
of a mechanism herein-after described is introduced into the exploding
chamber at a pressure equal to that of the artificial atmosphere or
compressed air and so as not to increase the space.
The improved horizontal engine consists of a cylinder a, a, in which
play three pistons b, b, d, d, and d, d. The cylinder communicates at its
extremities with the large receiver A, which contains the compressed air
and water as in the vertical engine. The middle piston b, b, (which I
call the motive piston) is fixed to a rod e, e, which extends along and
passes through the two other pistons d, d, d, d, '(which I call generators)
and the covers of the cylinder, and is attached on one side to the cross-

page_text: head working the connecting rods, and on the other side it enters the
body of the pump e" and is fixed to the piston e². The piston 6 has
two small rods c, c, passing through it, and which pressing alternately
on either side against one of the pistons d, d, d, d, force the other to
keep at the distance required for forming the chamber for the explosion.
Two small distributing slide valves 1, 2, worked by an eccentric or
otherwise regulate the introduction of the detonating mixture. The
explosion takes place in each end of the cylinder, and the light is applied
as in the vertical engine. Each end of the cylinder is provided with
a valve put in motion by the levers h, kept in their places by the piston
head k enclosed in a small pump communicating with the centre of
the cylinder a by means of its lower part, and its upper part is in
communication with the compressed air receiver A by means of the
pipes y, y, Figure 2; the water enters the opening D by means of the
pipe D', and the residues are driven into the receiver A as in the vertical
engine, and thus serve to keep up a constant pressure. The excess of
compressed gas escapes through the valve 6 loaded proportionately to
the pressure desired. The capacity of the compressing pump el is
proportioned to the maximum pressure desired to be given to the
apparatus. A regulator formed of a cylinder of a capacity equal to
that of the compressing pump allows the explosive mixture to enter
the cylinder a at the same pressure as that of the large receiver A by
means of the pipes m, n. In the interior of the regulator cylinder is
a piston h, which on one side o is in communication with the com-
pressing pump and its pipes x and v and u, u, and also with the
pipes m, n, and the back part q is in communication with the large
receiver A by means of the pipe o", o". When the engine is worked
at a low pressure the compressing pump is prevented from drawing in
a larger quantity of the mixture by means of the cock t, Figure 4,
worked by the lever s acted on by the projections fixed to the piston
rod r. The pipes shewn in Figure 4 and the pipe n, Figure 1, are
furnished with metallic cloth to prevent the explosion extending to the
regulator. The air and at the same time the gas from the pipe d are
drawn in by the two small valves f, f. I provide in addition to the
valve B a closing consisting of a thin sheet of metal O, which bursts
and allows the escape of the explosive mixture if the pressure be too
great. The engine herein-before described can be worked up to 5 or 6
atmospheres and is suitable for locomotive and marine engines as one

page_text: 'compressing pump would serve for two cylinders. Working with an
engine of average power, and at two atmospheres only, the compressing
pump and regulator may be dispensed with by employing a larger
chamber for the explosion. For this purpose it is only necessary to
lengthen the small rods c, c, and to draw in directly the mixture from
the gasometer and from the atmosphere as described for the vertical
engine. To avoid shocks in large engines the explosion should be caused
to take place between two pistons moving in opposite directions, as
-shewn Figure 5. In this diagram A is the generator cylinder and
B the motive cylinder. The pistons G, G, are united by means of a
parallelogram to the piston S provided with valves. The piston E is
fixed to the rod F, which by means of a connecting rod G. and crank H,
communicates motion to the main shaft as in a steam engine. In this
arrangement the pressure produced by the two generator pistons serves
to produce a vacuum above the piston S and to compress air into the
receiver J; this.latter causes the motive piston to return to its starting
point. The generator pistons may be made of vulcanized india-rubber
covered with a fibrous material and furnished in those parts exposed
to the flame of the explosion with a sheet of metal, and thus form a
.light piston.
Having thus described the nature of my said Invention, and the
manner of performing the same, I wish it to be understood that I do
not confine myself to the precise details herein laid down and shewn
in the accompanying Drawings, but what I do claim is,—.
-
Firstly. The general arrangement and construction of gas engines as
herein-before described and represented in the accompanying Drawings.
Secondly. The keeping distinct the parts generating power from those
transmitting power, leaving the pistons which receive the impulse of the
explosion free and keeping the motive piston fixed to the transmitting
parts, as herein-before described and represented in the accompanying
Drawings.
Thirdly. The means of causing the action partly of atmospheric
pressure and partly of artificial pressure, as herein-before described and
represented in the accompanying Drawings.
Fourthly. The making the engine double-acting, as herein-before
described.
Fifthly The annlication of valves for maintaining the disequilibrium

page_text: GION BAPT. BABACCI. (L.s.)