Improvements in and connected with Explosion Engines.
Year: 1898

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in and connected with Explosion Engines.
We, GEORGE BUCK, of 18, Hogarth Place, Earl's Court, in the County of London,
Engineer, and EDWARD STRONG TORREY, of 15, Britannia Street, King's Cross, in
the County of London, Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of this inven-
tion to be as follows:-
Our invention relates to explosion engines and comprises;-
(1) Improvements in connection with the valve for admitting the explosive
charges into the combustion chamber or cylinder:
(2) An improved arrangement of governor for controlling the speed of the
engine:
(3) An improved arrangement for producing and maintaining a flame for heat-
ing an igniter:
(4) An improved arrangement of contact device for igniting the explosive
charges by electricity:
(5) An improved arrangement of parts for silencing the exhaust.
In carrying out the first part of our invention we arrange in conjunction with
an inlet valve of any ordinary or suitable construction a four-way fitting or junc-
tion piece one branch of which is connected with the casing of the supply valve.
Another branch, hereinafter referred to as the gas branch, communicates with a
A third
gas supply or with an apparatus for supplying hydrocarbon vapour.
branch, hereinafter referred to as the main air supply, is open to the atmosphere
and provided with a regulator for normally controlling the quantity of air passing
through the said branch, whilst the fourth branch, hereinafter referred to as the
auxiliary air supply, also communicates with the atmosphere but is controlled by
a valve or regulating device in connection with a governor in such a manner that
the said valve will be completely closed or more or less opened according to the
action of the governor, the said governor, by admitting a greater or lesser quan-
tity of air in addition to that entering through the main air supply, serving to
more or less dilute the explosive charges. It is to be understood that in practice
the regulator on the main air supply is so adjusted that at normal speeds of the
engine the requisite quantity of carburetted air or gas will be drawn through the
gas supply and mingle with the air drawn through the main air supply to form
the explosive mixture and that by adjusting this regulator a greater or lesser
quantity of air or gas will be drawn through the gas supply.
In the chamber containing the feed valve a series of plates of wire gauze or the
like is preferably arranged in order to ensure a thorough mixing of the gas or
vapour and air before the latter are drawn into the cylinder, and to prevent back
lighting

page_text: According to the second part of our invention we provide a governor having
three tubes, namely, an inner fixed tube, which forms a spindle for the governor
to rotate upon and which forms a passage through which the air admitted by the
governor passes, an outer tube, which fits over the inner tube but is longer than
the latter and provided with a pulley or other device by which it may be rotated
from the engine, and a third tube or cap which fits over the outer tube the said
outer tube and cap being connected to the arms or springs of a centrifugal
governor in such a manner that when the governor is rotated the centrifugal
action will cause the cap to slide more or less upon the outer tube. Through the
outer tube and cap are formed openings but in the normal position of the governor
these openings do not coincide; when, however, the cap is caused to slide more
or less upon the outer tube. the openings in the said cap and outer tube are brought
more or less opposite to one another so as to admit a greater or lesser volume of
air the improved governor when used in connection with the arrangement of
feed valve previously described is connected with the auxiliary air supply branch.
According to the third part of our invention we arrange the heating lamp for
the igniting tube in connection with an air carburetting apparatus and in order
to force air through the said carburetting apparatus to the burner of the lamp with
the necessary pressure to produce the flame we make use of the water cooling.
tank usually employed in connection with an explosion engine. This water cool-
ing tank is made with a sliding section which encloses a volume of air above the
level of the water in the said tank; air is forced into this air space by means of a
suitable air pump upon the engine and a pipe extends from the said air space
down through the water in the tank to the carburettor whilst the sliding section
of the air cooling tank is weighted to such an extent that the air will be forced
from the tank with the required pressure into the carburettor and thence to the
burner of the lamp. A valve is arranged upon the top of the sliding section of
the water cooling tank in such a manner that when the air space is full of air
the said valve will be opened to allow the escape of the surplus air, to carry off
any steam or vapour given off by the water and so assist the cooling of the same.
When the engine is stopped the air in the air space forms a reserve for enabling
the heating of the igniting tube to be effected before restarting.
According to the fourth part of our invention we arrange the two contacts in a
small chamber communicating with the combustion chamber, one contact being
carried by, but insulated from, a block screwed into the said chamber whilst the
other contact slides through a stuffing box and is operated by a cam or eccentric
upon the engine in such a manner that at each reciprocation it makes.contact with
the fixed contact piece in the chamber. This reciprocating rod forms part of the
electric circuit so that immediately the two contacts come together the circuit is
completed and as the contacts are separated a spark is produced in a well known
manner.
'The silencer constructed according to the fifth part of our invention comprises
a box screwed on to the end of the exhaust pipe and having in it a series of open-
ings or perforations through which the products of combustion can pass in a series
of streams and preferably in a direction radial to the axis of the said box. On to
this box is screwed a second box into which the products of combustion escaping
through the holes of the first box pass the said second box having in its end a
series of openings arranged preferably parallel to the axis. Over this second box
is placed a cap in such a manner that a space is left between the outer surface
of the second box and the cap so that the products of combustion which issues
from the second cap strike against the inner end of the cap and thence escape
into the atmosphere through the space around the second box.
Dated the 28th dox of Databer 1900
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, Finsbury, London, Agents for the Applicants.

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in and connected with Explosion Engines.
We, GEORGE BUCK, of 18, Hogarth Place, Earl's Court, in the County of London,
Engineer, and EDWARD STRONG TORREY, of 15, Britannia Street, King's Cross, in
the County of London, Manufacturer, do hereby, declare, the nature of this inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed to be particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following statement:-
'
Our invention relates to explosion engines and comprises: -
(1) Improvements in connection with the valve for admitting the explosive
charges into the combustion chamber or cylinder:
(2) An improved arrangement of governor for controlling the speed of the
engine:
(3) An improved arrangement for producing and maintaining a flame for heat-
ing an igniter;
(4) An improved arrangement of contact device for igniting the explosive
charges by electricity:
(5) An improved arrangement of parts for silencing the exhaust.
In the accompanying drawings,
Figure 1 is a sectional side elevation of an engine having our improvements
applied to it or arranged in conjunction with it:
Figure 2 is an end elevation of the same; and,
Figure 3 is a plan view of the engine.
Figure 4 is a sectional view shewing the valve and the connected parts for
admitting the explosive charges into the combustion chamber;
Figure 5 is a sectional elevation illustrating the arrangement of the governor
of the engine:
Figure 6 is a sectional view of a pump used in connection with the apparatus
for maintaining a flame for heating the igniter:
Figures 7, 8 and 9 are sectional views illustrating different arrangements for
igniting the explosive charges;
Figure 10 is a sectional view of the arrangement which we employ for silencing
the exhaust.
Figures 4 and 5 and Figures 7 to 10 are drawn to a larger scale than the other
figures.
Similar letters of reference illustrate corresponding parts in the several figures.
a is the bed plate of the engine, the working cylinder which is water jacketted
in the usual way and the crank shaft all of which parts are of ordinary con-
struction.
is the passage through which the charges of combustible vapour are drawn into
the cylinder, the said passage having arranged within it the valve which is
adapted to open by suction and to be closed upon its seat by a spring . This
passage has arranged in conjunction with it a fitting or junction piece e, shewn
in Figure 4, which has four branches e¹, e², e³, et, the branch el being connected
with the passage d. the branch with the gas supply or with an apparatus for
supplying hydrocarbon vapour, the branch e with the atmosphere and serving
as the main air supply (the said branch being provided with a regulator f
(Figure 1) for controlling the quantity of air passing through the said branch)
and the branch also with the atmosphere. This branch e, however, is arranged
in conjunction with a valve or regulating device in connection with the engine
governor in such a manner that the said valve will be completely closed or more

page_text: or less opened according to the action of the governor, the said governor, by
admitting a greater or less quantity of air in addition to that entering through
the main air supply serving to more or less dilute the explosive charges. It is
to be understood that in practice the regulator f on the main air supply is so ad-
justed that at normal speeds of the engine the requisite quantity of carburetted
air or gas will be drawn through the gas supply and mingle with the air drawn
through the main air supply to form the explosive mixture and that by adjusting
this regulator a greater or less quantity of air or gas will be drawn through the
gas supply.
In the passage d containing the valve da series of plates g, g (Figure 4) of
wire gauze or the like is preferably arranged in order to ensure a thorough mixing
of the gas or vapour and air before the latter are drawn into the cylinder, and to
obviate any liability of back lighting.
his the governor which we make use of and which is shewn detached in
Figure 5. This governor has three tubes, namely, an inner fixed tube h', which
forms a spindle for the governor to rotate upon and through which the auxiliary
air supply passes, an outer tube 2, which fits over the tube h¹ but which is longer
than the latter and provided with a pulley or other device by which it may be
rotated from the engine, and a third tube or cap which fits over the tube h².
The tubes and have connected to their lower and upper ends respectively
arms or springs i, i carrying weights a, i, in such a manner that when the governor
is rotated the centrifugal action will cause the tube to slide more or less upon
the tube ². Through the tubes h², h are formed openings j, j respectively so
arranged that in the normal position of the governor these openings do not coin-
cide; when, however, the tube h* is caused to slide more or less upon the tube h²
the opening will be brought more or less opposite the opening so as to admit
a greater or less volume of air which will be drawn through them by the suction
stroke of the engine.
is a weight placed upon the top of the governor and the variation of which
serves to determine the sensitiveness of the governor relatively with the speed.
is the igniting tube which is fixed to a chamber m (shewn in Figure 7)
attached to the side of the combustion chamber of the engine, which chamber m
has in it an exhaust valve and another valve o for controlling the admission
of the explosive mixture into the igniting tube . The valve » is opened at the
proper time by a lever n' pivoted to the bed plate a of the engine and at its free
end pressing against the stem n² of the valve n, the said lever n¹ being connected
to one end of a rod the other end of which is carried upon the bed plate by a
short link n and is provided with a roller against which a cam bears. This
cam is operated from the crank shaft through suitable gear wheels 7, 8 the
former of which is upon the crank shaft and the latter secured to the cam and
which wheels bear the proportion of 1 to 2 so that the cam n makes only one
revolution to two revolutions of the crank shaft.
The valve o is momentarily operated at the required time, to admit the explosive
vapour from the engine cylinder into the igniting tube 7, through the medium of
a cam o' also fixed to the wheel 8, a rod o having a roller upon it against which
the cam acts and carried at one end of a link o³, and a lever o carrying the other
end of this rod and at its free end engaging with the stem or rod of of the valve o.
Springs are arranged in connection with the valve stems n² and o for normally
holding the respective valves upon their seats the valve n being pulled against
its seat by the spring whilst the valve o is pushed against its seat by the spring.
The operation of the apparatus as thus far described is as follows:-
On the outstroke of the piston air is drawn in through the branch e³ and gas
through the branch e² the said air and gas passing together into the passage d
where they are thoroughly mixed and then flowing past the valve d into the
cylinder. On the return stroke of the piston these gases are compressed and by
the time that the compression is completed the valve o is momentarily removed

page_text: away from its seat to allow a portion of the mixture to flow into the igniting tube /
and to explode, the explosion being communicated to the charge in the cylinder.
Under the force of the explosion the piston again makes an outstroke at the com-
pletion of which the valve n is opened by the cam to allow the products of com-
bustion to be expelled on the second return stroke of the piston.
Ч
Should the engine run at more than normal speed so that the centrifugal
governor h would act to cause the tube h* to slide upon the tube h² to more or less
open the ports j, j in the governor, an additional supply of air to that which is
introduced through the passage e³ would flow through the passage and thereby
dilute the normal explosive mixture to such an extent that the next explosion
would be less violent than if no air had been admitted through the passage e¹.
The lamp which we advantageously make use of for heating the igniting tube
is preferably arranged in connection with an air carburetting chamber q¹ connec-
ted with the lamp by means of a pipe q², and in order to force air through the
said carburetting chamber to the lamp with the necessary pressure to produce the
flame we make use of the water cooling tank, such as r, usually employed in con-
nection with an explosion engine and which in the present instance is connected
with the water jacket of the working cylinder by the circulating piper, ro. This
water cooling tank is made with a sliding section which encloses a volume of
air above the level of the water in the said tank, and air is forced into this
tank by means of a suitable air pump, such for instance as that indi-
cated at in dotted lines in Figure 1 and in section in Figure 6, the said pump
being operated from the gear wheel 28 through the medium of the gear wheel,
Figure 1, to which the piston of the pump is connected. is the pipe through
which the air from the pump is delivered into the said air space the said pipe
having on its upper end a non-return valve *. From the said air space a pipe 75
extends down through the water in the tank to the carburetting chamber q' and
the sliding section is weighted to such an extent that the air will be forced
from the tank with the required pressure into the carburetter and thence to the
burner of the lamp. 6 is a tap to shut off the supply of air to the carburetter q¹
when the lamp is not required to be alight.
A valve s is arranged upon the top of the sliding section r¹ of the water cooling
tank in such a manner that when the said sliding section is raised to a certain
point the said valve will impinge against a stop s', whereby the valve will be
opened and allow the escape of the surplus air the said air also carrying off with
it any steam or vapour given off by the water and so assist the cooling of the latter.
When the engine is stopped the air in the air space forms a reserve for enabling
the lamp to work for heating the igniting tube to effect the restarting of the engine.
When instead of using a heated tube for igniting the explosive charges it is
desired to make use of an electric spark we provide the following arrangement,
that is to say, we arrange in the chamber m a fixed contact t insulated from the
said chamber and having united to it a binding post for the attachment of one
of the wires of the electric circuit and we arrange the other contact 2 on the end
of the rod o to which (or to a part of the engine in electrical connection therewith)
we connect the other wire of the circuit. The cam o' which operates the rod 05
must be of such shape that normally the contact pieces t, 13 are separated but that
at the required moment the rod o is operated to complete the circuit through the
contacts t, 2 and then to draw back the rod to separate the contact pieces to pro-
duce the required spark for igniting the charge. We sometimes modify this
arrangement by placing the contact piece t in the end of the working cylinder b
as shewn in Figure 9, and by arranging the other contact 2 in the piston b¹ so that
when the said piston reaches the extremity of its instroke the contact piece f³
strikes the contact piece t. In this arrangement the contact piece 2 is arranged
at the end of a spring pin which will ensure the proper contact but at the same
time prevent the contact piece from striking the fixed contact t in such a manner
as to cause injury to the said contact pieces. When we make use of this latter
arrangement it will be obvious that the part of the chamber m which contains the

page_text: contact pieces t, t2 (shewn in Figure 8) can be dispensed with, the chamber m
then containing only the exhaust valve n; it will be obvious also that the cam
and the connected parts for operating the part of can also be dispensed with.
The exhaust silencer which we make use of and which is shewn in Figure 10
comprises a box u screwed to the end of the exhaust pipe and having in it a series
of openings or perforations u', u' through which the products of combustion can
pass in a series of streams and preferably in a direction radial to the axis of the
said box; on this box is screwed a second box e into which the products of com-
bustion escaping through the holes pass, the said box having in its end a
series of holes arranged parallel to the axis of the box. Over this second box
is placed a cap w in such a manner that a space te is left between the outer sur-
face of the box and the inner surface of the cap w, the products of combustion
which issue through the holes. v striking against the inner end of the cap and
then escaping into the atmosphere through the space w¹.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what
we claim is:
1. In an explosion engine the combination with a valve through which the
explosive charges enter the combustion chamber of the engine and with the pass-
ages through which the air and the hydrocarbon vapour or gas enter the space
beneath or behind the said valve, of an independent passage communicating with
the atmosphere and the flow of air through which is controlled by a valve operated
by a centrifugal governor in such a manner that when the normal speed of the
engine is exceeded the said valve will allow an excess of air to mix with the com-
bustible charge and more or less dilute the same, substantially as, and for the
purpose, described.
2. In an explosion engine wherein the action of a centrifugal governor is util-
ized for admitting more or less air into the explosive charge in addition to the
normal quantity of air necessary for the said charge, a governor having a fixed
tubular spindle and two tubes rotating upon it and connected with the balls or
weights of the governor, the said tubes having formed through them openings so
arranged that when the engine is running at a normal speed the said openings
are out of coincidence but that when the normal speed is exceeded the said tubes
will slide one upon the other in order to bring the said openings more or less into
coincidence and allow air to flow into and through the spindle of the governor,
substantially as described.
3. The combination with an explosion engine wherein a heated tube is em-
ployed for igniting the explosive charges, of a lamp working with a Bunsen flame,
a carburetting apparatus designed to supply carburetted air to the said lamp and
means for forcing the air to be carburetted into the said carburetter and the car-
buretted air to the lamp, substantially as described.
4. The combination with an explosion engine having a lamp working with a
Bunsen flame and burning carburetted air and wherein the cooling jacket of the
cylinder is connected with a water cooling tank, the combination with the said
cooling tank of a sliding section adapted to enclose an air space above the water,
a pump operated by the engine for forcing air into the said space and means for
conveying air from the said space into the carburetting apparatus, the said sliding
section being also provided with a valve for allowing the escape of surplus air
and of steam or vapour arising from the water, substantially as described.
5. In an explosion engine an electric igniting apparatus consisting of a fixed
insulated contact piece and of a movable contact piece, the said movable contact
piece being at the end of a rod or in the engine piston, such rod or piston forming
part of the electric circuit, substantially as described.
6. The combination with the exhaust pipe of an explosion engine of an exhaust
silencer, consisting of two boxes fitted one over the other and a cap fitting over the
outer box perforations being formed in the inner box to establish communication

page_text: with the outer box and through the outer box to establish communication with
the interior of the cap, a space being left between the cap and the outer box,
substantially as, and for the purposes, described.
Dated the 27th day of March 1899.
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, Finsbury, London, Agents for the Applicants.