improvements in or Applicable to Motor Engines Operated by the Combustion of Fluid Hydrocarbon.
Year: 1886

page_text: Date of Application, 4th Sept., 1886.
Complete Left, 3rd June, 1887.
Complete Accepted, 8th July, 1887.
improvements in or Applicable to Motor Engines Operated by the
Combustion of Fluid Hydrocarbon.
I, JOHN JOSEPH REVELEY HUMES, of 18 Lilford Road, Camberwell, in the County
of Surrey, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
This invention relates to means applicable to motor engines operated by the
combustion of charges ordinarily composed of atmospheric air permeated with
petroleum, benzoline or other suitable hydrocarbon, in a liquid or gaseous, or in a
partly liquid and partly gaseous, state; the said invention including means for
enabling the inflammable mixture to be formed previously to the engine being started
and independently of its action; means for heating the inflammable mixture
previously to its admission to the motor cylinder, either by the employment of the
waste gases discharged from the cylinder or by the application of a lamp or other
independent heating apparatus or by both these methods conjointly; means of a
similar description or descriptions for heating the air previously to its mixture or
impregnation with the fluid hydrocarbon; and means for collecting and returning to
the liquid fuel storage reservoir such portion of the hydrocarbon as may subside
in a liquid state from the inflammable charge previously to its conveyance to the
cylinder.
My present improvements are applicable to various forms or types of liquid hydro-
carbon engines; amongst others to the kind particularly described and illustrated in
the Complete Specification to my Letters Patent, dated 11 July 1885, No. 8411. In
that engine a pump is employed to compress air, which. is thereupon conveyed to a
mixing-nozzle or vapouriser to which the liquid hydrocarbon is also led. The two
fluids mingling form an inflammable vapour or mixture, which is received in a
chamber whence the motor-cylinder draws its supply. As the air-compressing-pump

page_text: is operated by the engine, it is necessary to give the engine a few turns by hand or
otherwise, in order to create the inflammable mixture in the vapour chamber.
To enable the inflammable charge to be created in the vapour chamber without the
instrumentality of the engine, I apply to the air-pipe leading to the mixing-nozzle or
vapouriser, a mouthpiece, which may be connected to the said air-pipe by means of a
flexible tube and may be provided with a non-return valve. To create an inflammable
mixture in the vapour chamber, the attendant, using the mouthpiece and with the
aid of his lungs, is enabled to operate the vapouriser. He then starts the engine,
and the inflammable charge, being ready formed, is at once drawn into the motor-
cylinder and having been fired the engine becomes self-acting.
Instead of using the lungs to create the slight air-pressure requisite for operating
the vapouriser, a small hand-pump may be employed for the purpose. Or an air-
vessel may be connected with the pump and charged therefrom during the working
of the engine; the compressed air so stored being subsequently utilised for temporarily
operating the vapouriser when it is required to restart the engine.
With this
When it is desired to work a motor-engine of the class herein before referred to
with petroleum or other hydrocarbon oil, or with kerosine or other comparatively
heavy description of hydrocarbon distillate, it is a matter of common knowledge that
the mixture of air and finely divided liquid may with advantage be subjected to heat;
the liquid or a considerable portion thereof being thereby volatilised, and the
subsequent ignition of the mixture expedited and rendered more certain.
object, I apply heat to the mixture of air and liquid hydrocarbon whilst in the vessel
referred to in my aforesaid previous specification as the vapour chamber; such heat
being derived from a lamp or other convenient but independent heating apparatus, or
from the waste gases after escaping from the cylinder, or preferably from both these
sources; the former being principally intended for use in starting the engine and the
latter for use during regular work. The vapour chamber may be provided internally
with a coil or other heating pipes or passages through which the waste gases are
conducted, and the said chamber may be furnished with a casing or jacket, the heat
from the lamp being passed round the exterior of the vapour chamber. Or the waste
gases may be conveyed to the jacket, and the heat from the lamp may pass through
the internal coil, tubes or passages. Or the vapour chamber may be elongated and
the heat from the lamp applied to one part thereof whilst the heat conveyed by the
waste gases is applied to another portion. Or the vapour chamber may consist of
several tubes, some of these being heated from one of the sources described and others
from the other source; the vapour being caused to traverse both series of tubes and
thus to become heated whether the lamp or the waste gases be in operation for the
purpose.
After the exhaust or waste gases have been conducted through, around or past, the
vapour chamber, I sometimes conduct them to another chamber traversed by a coil
through which air is conveyed to the vapouriser or to the vapour chamber or to the
motor cylinder, according to the system of working employed.
Instead of the hot gases being admitted to the chamber and the air passing through
the coil, it is obvious that the hot gases may pass through the coil whilst the air to be
heated is enclosed by the chamber whence the vapouriser or the vapour chamber or
the motor cylinder is supplied. I regard the latter arrangement as preferable.
Instead of conducting the waste gases to the vapour chamber and thence to the air
chamber, a portion of the waste gases may be applied for heating the vapour whilst
another portion or the remainder may be conveyed to and through the air-heating
chamber. By means of stop-cocks or throttle-valves, the supply of gases for each of
the purposes described may be varied and regulated. If preferred, the air, before
reaching the vapouriser, vapour chamber or motor cylinder, may be heated by a lamp
or other independent means instead of by exposure to the heat conveyed by the
exhaust gases.
In motor engines operated by the combustion of liquid hydrocarbon dispersed in
air, there is a tendency, owing to supersaturation or other causes, for a small portion

page_text: of the liquid to become deposited in the vapour chamber. For the reception of such
liquid, I provide and connect with the vapour chamber a vessel into which such
surplus liquid drains. This vessel is also connected with the benzoline or other
liquid fuel reservoir, the connection being provided with a stop-cock. Whilst the
engine is running, the liquid draining from the vapour chamber is received in the
supplementary vessel and there retained until the engine has ceased working and
the air pressure in the benzoline reservoir has fallen to that due to the atmosphere. The
communication between the vessel and the reservoir is thereupon opened, and the
surplus liquid drained from the vapour returns to the reservoir.
If the connection between the vapour chamber and the supplementary vessel be
furnished with a stop-cock, the surplus liquid collected in the latter may be returned
to the reservoir whilst the engine is running and whilst the benzoline reservoir is
under pressure; the communication between the vapour chamber and the supple-
mentary vessel being temporarily closed whilst that between the latter and the
reservoir is opened. Or the respective connections referred to may be so arranged as
to permit of the application of a two-way valve serving to place the supplementary
vessel in communication either with the vapour chamber or with the reservoir as
required.
Til: 11
1
1000
G. G. M. HARDINGHAM,
Agent for the Applicant.

page_text: Improvements in or Applicable to Motor Engines Operated by the
Combustion of Fluid Hydrocarbon.
I, JOHN JOSEPH REVELEY HUMES, of 18, Lilford Road, Camberwell, in the County
of Surrey, 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 means applicable to motor engines operated by the com-
bustion of charges ordinarily composed of atmospheric air permeated with petroleum,
benzoline or other suitable hydrocarbon in a liquid or gaseous or in a partly liquid
and partly gaseous state; the said invention including means for enabling the
inflammable mixture to be formed previously to the engine being started and inde-
pendently of its action; means for heating the inflammable mixture previously to its
admission to the motor cylinder, either by the employment of the waste gases
discharged from the cylinder or by the application of a lamp or other independent
heating apparatus or by both these methods conjointly; means of a similar description
or descriptions for heating the air previously to its mixture or impregnation with the
fluid hydrocarbon; and means for collecting and returning to the liquid fuel storage
reservoir such portion of the hydrocarbon as may subside in a liquid state from the
inflammable charge previously to its conveyance to the cylinder.
My present improvements are applicable to various forms or types of liquid hydro-
carbon engines; amongst others to the kind particularly described and illustrated in
the Complete Specification to my Letters Patent dated 11 July, 1885, N° 8,411. In
that engine a pump is employed to compress air which is thereupon conveyed to a
mixing nozzle or vapouriser to which the liquid hydrocarbon is also led. The two
fluids mingling form an inflammable vapour or mixture which is received in a chamber
whence the motor cylinder draws its supply. As the air compressing pump is operated
by the engine, it is necessary to give the engine a few turns by hand or otherwise in
order to create the inflaminable mixture in the vapour-chamber.
To enable the inflammable charge to be created in the vapour-chamber without the
instrumentality of the engine, I apply to the air-pipe leading to the mixing nozzle or
vapouriser, or to the tank in which the hydrocarbon is stored, a mouth-piece, which
may be connected to the said air-pipe or tank by means of a flexible tube and may be
provided with a non-return valve. To create an inflammable mixture in the vapour-
chamber, the attendant, using the mouth-piece and with the aid of his lungs is enabled
to operate the vapouriser. He then starts the engine, and the inflammable charge
being ready formed, is at once drawn in to the motor cylinder and having been fired
the engine becomes self-acting.

page_text: Instead of using the lungs to create the slight air pressure requisite for operating
the vapouriser, a small hand-pump may be employed for the purpose. Or an air-
vessel may be connected with the pump and charged therefrom during the working of
the engine; the compressed air so stored being subsequently utilised for temporarily
operating the vapouriser when it is required to restart the engine.
When a hand-pump is employed for the above mentioned purpose as also for a
further duty hereinafter referred to, I prefer to construct same as represented in the
sectional view Figure 1 and the side elevation Figure 2 of the accompanying drawings..
a is the pump-barrel fitted with a trunk-plunger a¹, the latter being connected by
means of a rod a² with the operating lever a³. b is the air inlet valve enclosed in a
double cage 62 63, the annular space formed between the two perforated cylinders 62 63
being filled with wool or other filtering material for the purpose of preventing the
entry of dust. c is the delivery valve and c¹ the, delivery pipe which may lead to
the vapouriser or to the petroleum-tank with which the vapouriser is connected or to
any other apparatus appertaining to the engine and requiring to be supplied with
compressed air before the engine is started; as for example, a vapour-burning lamp
for heating the working charge before admission to the motor cylinder or combustion
chamber.
When it is desired to work a motor engine of the class herein before referred to with
petroleum or other comparatively heavy hydrocarbon distillate, it is a matter of
common knowledge that the mixture of air and finely divided liquid may with
advantage be subjected to heat; the liquid or a considerable portion thereof being
thereby volatilised and the subsequent ignition of the mixture expedited and rendered
more certain. With this object, I apply heat to the mixture of air and liquid hydro-
carbon whilst in the vessel referred to in my aforesaid previous Specification as the
vapour-chamber ; such heat being derived from a lamp or other convenient but
independent heating apparatus, or from the waste gases after escaping from the
cylinder or preferably from both these sources; the former being principally intended
for use in starting the engine and the latter for use during regular work. Various
forms of vapour-chamber adapted for carrying this portion of my invention into effect
may be devised. According to one mode of construction shewn in the side elevation
Figure 3 and the part plan and part horizontal section Figure 4, the vapour-chamber d
is partially enclosed in a casing or jacket e, the latter being traversed by the waste
gases after escaping from the motor cylinders. The vapouriser is attached or the
vapour inlet is formed at d¹; additional air being admitted at d², d³ is the outlet for
the inflammable mixture. The waste gases enter the jacket e at e¹, and, after traversing
the same, escape at e². Figures and 6 are transverse sections on the lines A A
(Figure 3) and B B (Figure 4) respectively. From the former of these, it will be
seen that a considerable portion of the underside of the vapour-chamber, instead of
being encased, is exposed. Heat derived from a lamp placed beneath the chamber,
or from some other independent source, is applied to this exposed surface and serves to
heat the vapour-chamber before the waste gases become available for the purpose upon
the engine being started.
An alternative design or construction of vapour-chamber is represented in the
vertical and horizontal sections, Figures 7 and 8; Figure 9 being a transverse section
on the line A. A (Figure 7). d is the vapour-chamber partially enclosed in the jacket
or casing e to which the waste gases are admitted by the inlet e¹, the same escaping
by an outlet arranged as may be convenient. Liquid hydrocarbon and air, after
passing through suitable vapourising or mixing apparatus, which may be mounted
at d', enter the chamber d in the form of vapour; the latter being supplemented by
an additional quantity of air admitted direct or otherwise than through the vapouriser
to the chamber d. The inflammable mixture, after having been exposed to the heat
conveyed by the waste gases passing through the jacket e or to that evolved by the
flame of a lamp applied to the unenclosed portion de of the vapour-chamber, escapes
by the pipe d³; the outlet from the latter being provided with means for preventing
back-ignition, such as described in the specification to Letters Patent granted to me
22nd April 1886. N° 5.597.

page_text: Instead of heating the vapour-chamber by enclosing a portion thereof in a jacket
traversed by the waste gases and exposing another portion thereof to the flame of a
lamp or equivalent heating appliance, it will be obvious that other modes of con-
struction may be employed without departing from the principle of my invention.
For example, the vapour-chamber may be provided internally with a coil or other
heating pipes or passages through which the waste gases are conducted and the said
chamber may be furnished with a casing or jacket through which the heat from the
lamp passes. Or the waste gases may be conveyed to the jacket and the heat from
the lamp may be conducted to the coil. Or the vapour-chamber may consist of two
or more tubes or receptacles; one or more of such receptacles being heated from one
of the sources described and the other or others from the other source; the vapour
being caused to traverse both tubes or series of tubes or receptacles and thus to become
heated whether the waste gases or the lamp be in operation for the purpose. Or the
jacket of the vapour-chamber may be formed in two or more compartments, the waste
gases traversing one or more of such compartments, whilst the remaining compart-
ment or compartments is or are reserved for the reception of the heated gases
generated by the lamp.
According to the method of construction illustrated partly in elevation and partly
in longitudinal section in Figure 10, wherein d is the vapour-chamber and e a coil
through which the waste gases are led, the flame of the lamp or other independent
heating apparatus is simply applied to the exterior of the chamber d.
After the exhaust or waste gases have been conducted through, around or past the
vapour-chamber, I sometimes convey them to another chamber traversed by a coil,
pipe or passage through which air is led to the vapouriser or to the vapour-chamber
or to the motor cylinder according to the system of working employed. Such a
supplementary air-heating apparatus is represented in the side elevation Figure 11.
e is the casing enclosing the vapour-chamber, as herein before described with reference
to Figures 3 to 6, the waste gases being admitted to the said casing at e¹ and passing
by the pipe e² to the chamber f, from the opposite extremity whereof they escape to
the atmosphere or by the waste-pipe f. Air entering the chamber at the same
extremity is conducted in the opposite direction through a coil, pipe or passage,
arranged within the chamber and reaches the pipe f in a heated condition, and may
be conveyed to the vapour-chamber, as shewn in the present illustration, or to the
vapouriser or to the motor cylinder or combustion chamber, according to the system
of working employed.
Instead of the hot gases being admitted to the chamber fand the air passing through
the coil, pipe or passages, enclosed within the said chamber, it will be obvious that the
hot gases may pass through the coil whilst the air is caused to traverse the chamber.
It will also be perceived that instead of applying the waste gases to the vapour-
chamber and then to the air-chamber, a portion of the waste gases may be applied for
heating the vapour, whilst another portion or the remainder may be conveyed to and
through the air-heating chamber. By means of stop-cocks or throttle valves the
supply of gases for each of the purposes described may be varied and regulated. If
preferred, the air before reaching the vapouriser, vapour-chamber or motor cylinder
may be heated by a lamp or other independent means, instead of by exposure to the
heat conveyed by the exhaust gases.
In motor engines operated by the combustion of liquid hydrocarbon dispersed in
air, there is a tendency owing to supersaturation or other causes, for a small portion
of the liquid to become deposited in the vapour-chamber. For the reception of such
liquid, I provide and connect with the vapour chamber a vessel into which such surplus
liquid drains. This vessel is also connected with the petroleum or other liquid fuel
reservoir, the connection being provided with a stop-cock. The arrangement of these
parts is represented in Figure 12; d being the vapour-chamber, g the petroleum-
reservoir and h the intermediate vessel communicating with the vapour-chamber by
the pipe hand with the petroleum-reservoir by the tapped connection h². Whilst the
engine is running, the liquid draining from the vapour-chamber d is received in the
supplementary vessel h and there retained until the engine has ceased working and

page_text: the air pressure in the reservoir
has fallen to that due to the atmosphere. The
communication between the vessel and the reservoir g is thereupon opened and the
surplus liquid drained from the vapour returns to the reservoir.
If the pipe h¹ be furnished with a stop-cock, the surplus liquid collected in the
vessel / may be returned to the reservoir g whilst the engine is running and whilst
the said reservoir is under pressure; the stop-cock in the pipe h¹ being temporarily
closed, whilst that appertaining to the connection 2 is opened. Or the respective
connections referred to may be so arranged as to permit of the application of a two-
way valve serving to place the vessel in communication either with the vapour-
chamber d or with the reservoir g as required.
Having thus particularly described and ascertained the nature of this invention and
in what manner the same is to be performed, I claim
:
-
First For use with a liquid hydrocarbon engine, the improved means substantially
as herein described for vapourising liquid hydrocarbon and generating combustible
vapour for use as specified preparatory to starting the engine, such means consisting
of a mouth-piece, tube and mixing nozzle operated by the lungs.
Second-The alternative means for vapourising liquid hydrocarbon and generating
combustible vapour preparatory to starting the engine substantially as herein described,
and consisting of an air-compressing pump operated by hand and serving to place
the liquid hydrocarbon reservoir under pressure or to deliver air direct to the main
vapouriser or to a vapour-burning lamp.
Third: In motor engines operated by the combustion of hydrocarbon vapour,
utilising the waste gases as also a lamp or equivalent device for heating the com-
bustible mixture before admission to the motor cylinder or other combustion
chamber, such duplex means being capable both of simultaneous and of independent
employment.
Fourth For use with a liquid hydrocarbon engine, the improved construction of
vapour-chamber, substantially as described with reference to Figures 3 to 6 of the
accompanying drawings and having a portion of its surface enclosed within a jacket
traversed by the waste gases and a portion thereof exposed to the heat generated by a
lamp or other independent heating appliance.
Fifth-In motor engines operated by the combustion of hydrocarbon-vapour, the
improved means substantially as herein described for heating the air for mixing with
the liquid hydrocarbon in the formation of the vapour or for subsequently mixing
with the vapour or for conveyance to the motor cylinder or other combustion chamber
direct;
such means comprising appliances for utilising the heat conveyed by the
waste gases or generated from a lamp or equivalent source and adapted for simultaneous
or independent employment.
Sixth-The use in connection with the vapour-chamber of a liquid hydrocarbon
engine, of a vessel for the reception of the surplus liquid subsiding from the vapour
contained in the said chamber; such vessel communicating with the liquid hydro-
carbon reservoir and being furnished with the requisite tap or taps for enabling
the surplus liquid to be returned direct to the reservoir, substantially as herein
described.
G. G. M. HARDINGHAM,
191, Fleet Street, London, E.C.,
Agent for Applicant.