Improvements in Gas or Vapor Engines and in Electric Exploding Devices or Apparatus for such Engines.
Year: 1889

page_text: Date of Application, 23rd Nov., 1889
Complete Specification Left, 20th Aug., 1890-Accepted, 4th Oct., 1890
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Gas or Vapor Engines and in Electric Exploding
Devices or Apparatus for such Engines.
We MORA MOSS BARRETT of No. 1000 Pine Street Mechanical Engineer and
JOHN FRANCIS DALY of No. 520 Howard Street Machinist in the City and County
of. San Francisco and State of California United States of America, do hereby
declare the nature of our invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN GAS OR VAPOR ENGINES
AND IN ELECTRIC EXPLODING DEVICES OR APPARATUS FOR SUCH ENGINES" to be as
follows:-
Our invention relates to improvements in engines of that class in which the
explosive force of a mixture of atmospheric air and a gas or vapor exploded in. the
engine-cylinder acts directly upon the piston; and our improvements consist of a
novel construction of valve-operating mechanism for moving the exhaust-valve at
every alternate stroke of the piston, of certain novel construction and combination of
upright cylinder, single-acting piston, gas-inlet and exhaust-outlet at the upper part
of the cylinder, gas-exploding device arranged and applied for operation in close
relation to the gas-inlet, and a hood or bonnet fixed around the gas-inlet and adapted
by its form and position to direct the incoming charge of fresh gas around the
exploding device: these parts being arranged and combined with other parts to
produce an upright engine of great simplicity. Our said improvements include
also a novel electric exploder for firing the charges in the cylinders of gas or vapor
engines.
The nature of our said improvement in valve operating mechanism for engines of
this class consists of an upright valve-rod a rocking-lever having a curved toe upon
which the end of the valve-rod rests, a slide-bar moving longitudinally in bearings
and having the opposite end of the rocking-lever attached to it, and a cam fixed on
and rotating with the crank-shaft of the engine and adapted by its shape to move the
slide-bar at every other revolution of the crank-shaft. The engine is so constructed
and adjusted that the exhaust-port is opened at the up-stroke of the piston after each
explosion, but is closed at the succeeding down-stroke and during the following
up-stroke immediately preceding the explosion; and the valve mechanism is there-
fore operated at every other up-stroke. The gas for every charge is drawn into the
cylinder by the vacuum produced by descent of the piston after the exhaust valve
is closed and the inlet-valve is an upwardly-acting valve having a spring-controlled
stem by which the valve is adjusted to lift and admit a greater or smaller quantity of
the explosive mixture for the charge according as the work required of the engine
varies. The exhaust-port is located about on a line with the electric exploder and the
latter device being also in line with the gas inlet the charge of gas is directed upon
and around the exploder by a hood or bonnet by which means the spent gas is
thoroughly expelled and a body of fresh gas is brought in direct contact with the
spark-producing points. This insures certain action of the electric spark and an
explosion of the gas and keeps the points cool. The nature of our said improvements
in electric exploders for engines of the class mentioned consists of a flat spring or
yielding tongue forming one electrode or terminal of an electric circuit and a rock-
shaft carrying an arm or projecting point at right angles to it forming the other
electrode. These two parts set through the body of the cylinder into the space where
the charge of gas is taken in and are insulated from surrounding metal.
The spring tongue is fixed by one end having the opposite end free to vibrate
and the rock-shaft being set with its projecting arm in close relation to this free end
a spark is produced and the charge of gas is fired as often as the arm of the rock-

page_text: shaft is drawn across the tongue. Motion is given to the rock-shaft by a cam or
eccentric on the engine-shaft.
But while this wiper or arm on the rock-shaft strikes the spring tongue at every
revolution of the engine-shaft, the spark is intermitted at every other stroke by a
circuit-breaker also operated from the rock-shaft, by which the electric current is
interrupted and no explosion takes place at every alternate up-stroke of the piston.
Dated this 23rd day of November 1889.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, Agents for the Applicants.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Gas or Vapor Engines and in Electric Exploding
Devices or Apparatus for such Engines.
We MORA Moss BARRETT of No 1000 Pine Street, Mechanical Engineer and
JOHN FRANCIS DALY of No. 520 Howard Street, in the City and County of San
Francisco and State of California, United States of America do hereby declare the
nature of our invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN GAS OR VAPOR ENGINES AND IN
ELECTRIC EXPLODING DEVICES OR APPARATUS FOR SUCH ENGINES" 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 improvements in engines of that class in which the
explosive force of a mixture of atmospheric air and a gas or vapor exploded in the
engine-cylinder acts directly upon the piston, and our improvements consist of a
certain novel construction of valve-operating mechanism for moving the exhaust-valve
at every alternate stroke of the piston of certain novel construction and combination
of upright cylinder, single-acting piston, gas-inlet and exhaust outlet at the upper
part of the cylinder: a gas igniting device arranged and applied for operation in close
relation to the gas-inlet, and a hood or bonnet fixed around the gas-inlet and adapted
by its form and position to direct the incoming charge of fresh gas around the igniting
device. These parts are arranged and combined with other parts to produce an
upright engine of great simplicity. Our several improvements include a novel
electric igniter for firing the charges in the cylinder of gas or vapor engines, and
also an automatic governor of novel construction especially adapted for engines of
this character.
The nature of our said improvement in valve-operating mechanism consists of an
upright-valve rod, a rocking lever having a curved toe upon which a tappet on the
valve-rod rests, a slide-bar moving longitudinally in bearings and having the opposite
end of the rocking lever attached to it, and a cam fixed on and rotating with the
crank-shaft of the engine and adapted by its shape to move the slide-bar at every
other revolution of the crank-shaft. The valve is thus operated at every other
up-stroke, as the engine is so constructed and adjusted that it is necessary to open
the exhaust-port at the beginning of the up-stroke of the piston following each
explosion and to close it at the succeeding down stroke and keep it closed during the
following up-stroke immediately preceding the explosion. The gas for every charge
is drawn into the cylinder by the vacuum produced by descent of the piston after
the exhaust valve is closed, and the inlet-valve is an upwardly-acting valve which is
raised by the pressure of the gas when the piston makes the down stroke.
The electric igniter is set in line with and in close relation to the gas-inlet, so that
every charge of gas flowing into the cylinder is directed against the points of the
igniter and expels the spent gas or vapors from around them. This action is assisted
by a hood or bonnet which surrounds the mouth of the gas-inlet and the electric
igniters, and the result is to keep the points of the igniter cool and bring every charge
of fresh gas closely around the igniting points.
The nature of our improvements in electric igniters for engines of this class consist
of a flat spring or yielding tongue forming one electrode or terminal of an electric

page_text: circuit; and the shaft carrying a finger or point projecting at right angles from it andi
forming the other terminal of the circuit.
These two parts set through the body of the cylinder into the space where the
charge of gas is taken in, and are insulated from surrounding metal. The spring
tongue is fixed by one end, and the end of the crank-shaft is set in such close
relation to the free end of the spring tongue that the projecting finger will strike
the tongue and be drawn across it when the shaft is turned. Contact and
separation of the points of these two parts produces an electric spark to fire the
charge of gas. The shaft is worked from the engine-shaft by a cam or an eccentric,
and either with a continuous rotary motion, in which case the finger is caused to.
strike and move across the free end of the spring tongue once at every alternate
revolution of the engine-shaft, or else, with an oscillating or rocking motion of the
shaft, in which case the contact of the two terminals is made at every revolution.
of the engine shaft, but the, spark is intermitted at every other stroke by an
interrupter or circuit breaker which is also operated from the engine-shaft. This.
interrupting device is used. to cut off the current and prevent waste of battery
power at the alternate down strokes of the piston when no explosion takes place.
In another construction of the electric igniter both terminals are spring tongues and
are set with their free ends in close relation to each other overlapping but not in
actual contact, and in the path of a projecting finger on the head of the piston which acts
at the end of the upstroke to press the two tongues together and then allow them to
separate, thus making and breaking the electric circuit of which the tongues are the.
terminals. Both the finger on the piston and the spring tongues are insulated from"
surrounding metal.
The nature of our said improvements and the manner in which we proceed to
construct and apply them will be understood from the following description and the
accompanying drawings therein referred to.
Figure 1 of the drawing represents the engine in elevation with the cylinder, piston:
and parts of the frame principally in section.
Figure 2 is an elevation taken from the left hand side of Figure 1 with the top part.
of the cylinder in section.
10
Figure 3 is a horizontal cross-section through the cylinder just below the igniters.
and looking towards the head of the cylinder.
Figures 4 and 4° are views of the electric, igniter on an enlarged scale.
Figures 5 and 6 are details on an enlarged scale of the exhaust valve mechanism.
Figures 7 and 8,show details in horizontal section and in vertical section respectively.
of another form of electric igniter in which both electrodes are spring tongues and are-
caused to make and break circuit by an insulated finger on the head of the piston.
Eigure 9 illustrates the construction of the spring tongue.
Engines of larger size for heavy work may have two smaller cylinders coupled to a
single crank-shaft instead of employing a single large cylinder.
A indicates the cylinder mounted on a supporting frame W on which are
bearings a a* for a crank-shaft D under the cylinder; B is the piston connected by
its rod C directly to the crank D' and having a trunk Bx that plays in the lower end'
of the cylinder. The top of the cylinder is closed by a removable head A*.
In
A water-space A2 in the body of the cylinder is connected with a cold water supply-
by inlet and outlet pipes for circulation of water to keep the cylinder cool.
engines of the larger sizes the cylinder-head may have a water-space in it, and also a
water-jacket around the exhaust valve to keep down the temperature.
EE are oil passages leading from oil reservoirs Ex on the outside into the cylinder-
to lubricate the cylinder and piston.
The piston has grooves. B² for lubricating oil and the coupling pin C* of the piston
rod is drilled longitudinally from an oil passage to connect the grooves on the opposite
sides.
An explosive mixture of gas produced from gasoline, or other similar hydrocarbon,.
and atmospheric air or a mixture of natural gas and air is admitted in charges at
intervals into the space in front of the piston, and after each explosion is discharged.
>

page_text: from the same side by the return stroke of the piston through the valves that control
the inlet and outlet ports: the charges are admitted in greater or less quantity at
the beginning of every alternate down stroke of the piston; and the exhaust is thrown
open at every other up-stroke.
G is an inlet for the charge of air and gas, and H is the exhaust located in the side
of the cylinder at a point about 90° distant from the inlet.
An upwardly-acting valve G* controls the gas-inlet and is raised by the pressure
behind it when the piston moves a down stroke with the exhaust closed. The exhaust
valve I, also upwardly acting, is lifted mechanically by a cam on the engine-shaft to
open the cylinder to the atmosphere.
A coil-spring 1 on the valve stein I¹ holds the valve to its seat and the valve-stem
is lifted by the rocking lever L, adjustable tappet M and the grooved cam K fast on
the crank-shaft. The lever is pivoted at n, on the bracket N, its lower end is attached
to a slide-bar L' and its upper end terminates in a curved toe that is forked to embrace
the valve-stem I' under the tappet. The cam has a double groove and a switch-piece P
is attached by a swivel-joint to the slide-bar L'. As the acting portion of the cam
grooves from k to throws out the lower end of the lever the curved toe raises the
valve-stem and holds the valve open until the piston finishes its upward stroke.
The foot of the stem has a working fit in a guide on the end of the bracket N and a
long bearing for the upper end portion of the stem in the bottom of the valve body.
An important part of these improvements consists in placing the electrodes or spring
tongues of the electric igniter in such close relation to the gas-inlet that the stream of
cold gas shall impinge against the springs, so that the low temperature of the
gas due to its expansion is utilized to keep down the temperature of the contact
springs. This cooling effect is increased also by placing around the springs and
from the mouth of the gas-inlet a bood V, the arrangement of which is shown in
Figures 1, 2 and 3. It is formed of two parallel partitions A3 A3 projecting down
wardly from the cylinder-head and extending from the gas-inlet which they
surround on two sides to the opposite side of the cylinder where they butt against
the cylinder, thereby inclosing the spring tongues on both sides but open at the
bottom to the cylinder-space. The hood can be cast in one piece with the
cylinder-head or it may be a separate piece fixed to the cylinder head...
The electric igniting mechanism, also another important feature of this invention, is
composed of two electrodes that are terminals of an open electric circuit, both set
for operation in the gas-chamber or space above the piston and normally out of electric
contact. Two different constructions of these terminals are illustrated in the drawings
in one of which (Figures 7 and 8) the two terminals are flexible, yielding tongues of
metal ST setting one above the other with their ends or points out of contact
but in close relation and also in the path of a finger or projection R on the head
of the engine piston. The tongues are elastic and are fixed by one end in plugs S
setting through and insulated from the cylinder-body with binding posts S³ for
the conducting wires X Y.
The finger Ŕ is formed of some non-conducting material, or is suitably insulated
from the surrounding metal of the piston in which it is fixed if formed of metal having
conducting properties.
The plugs and this finger are insulated to prevent waste of the electric current.
The ends of the spring tongues are pressed together by the point of the finger
striking the undernost spring in the upward stroke of the piston and are separated by
virtue of their elasticity as soon as the piston begins its backward movement. When
contact of the two electrodes are made and broken in this manner a spark is produced
and the charge of gas is exploded just as the piston begins to make the downward stroke.
Compression of the charge of gas which was previously drawn into the cylinder
during the down stroke of the piston takes place as soon as the piston completes the
up-stroke and then reverses its movement.
The valve-mechanism is so adjusted that the exhaust valve is lifted and held open
during every alternate upward stroke of the piston but is closed during the inter-
mediate strokes in both directions. A charge of explosive gas is drawn through- the-

page_text: No
gas-inlet at the down stroke of the piston when the exhaust-valve is closed, but in the
up-stroke following the explosion the exhaust is opened to the atmosphere for the full
stroke to expel the spent gas and is then closed before the piston reverses.
explosion takes place during the following up-stroke because the charge of gas is
being drawn in and the piston makes the up-stroke to compress the charge of gas
before firing.
The igniter acts only at the end of every alternate up-stroke and is prevented from
producing a spark except at the time of firing by means of an interrupter or
circuit breaker acting at the intermediate up-stroke to cut off the current when the
two electrodes are pressed together at every other up-stroke, so that although the
piston finger makes and breaks contact between the two electrodes at such time no
spark will be generated.
This is effected by a circuit breaker composed of two spring tongues Z Z* which
are interposed in the conductor and insulated from each other so that when in normal
position standing apart the electric connection will be broken between the contact-
spring in the cylinder and the pole of the battery, but when the circuit-closing springs
are pressed together the connection will be established.
.
The conductor X from one pole of the battery is attached to the end of the spring Z,
while the outer spring is connected by the wire X' with the spring tongue S. The
spring Z forms the terminal of wire X' from the tongue S and is suitably insulated.
from the bracket N while the other spring Z is fixed on the end of the slide-bar L
which is moved by the rocking lever and is connected to the pole of the battery by
wire X. The lever when in its position of rest clear of the exhaust-valve holds one
spring Z against the other and closes the circuit. The inner groove 2 of the cam
brings the slide-bar into this position as will be understood from Figures 1 and 2 in
which both positions are represented. In addition to their function of operating the
exhaust-valve the cam and working lever press the contact-springs together to close:
the circuit when the spark is to be produced.
The object of cutting out the igniters is to prevent the waste of the electric current
and economize battery power in the alternate up-strokes of the piston.
In that form of igniting device represented in Figures 2, 3 and 4, a rock-shaft T¹
setting from the outside into the gas-space and carrying a finger or projection T* on
its end is substituted for the yielding spring T and the finger on the piston is dispensed
with. Such form of igniter will be of advantage in some cases. The shaft T is set
at right angle to the yielding tongue S to bring the projection T in line with the
tongue and is moved by an eccentric T on the crank-shaft either with a rocking
motion or with a continuous rotary motion.
When moved by the eccentric into contact with the yielding tongue S, the turned- :
up end of the rock-shaft is pressed against and drawn over the end of the tongue with:
a wiping movement producing thereby a much longer or better quality of spark than
is usually made by springs working with a single contact without rubbing.
In the construction shown in Figures 3 and 4 the shaft T' is worked directly from
the crank-shaft by the eccentric, eccentric-rod T, and crank arm fast on the outer
end of the shaft, and the finger T is caused to strike the spring tongue first from
above and then from below. The other construction illustrated in Figure 4* gives the
finger T2 a continuous rotary movement so that it strikes always against the same
side of the springs. In this arrangement the shaft T is rotated once to every two
revolutions of the crank-shaft so that the circuit-breaking springs Z Z' are not
required, there being contact of the spark-producing springs only at every alternate
stroke.
Rotation of the shaft T' is produced by the counter-shaft Te moved by the eccentric
rod T and the gears T' T that connect the shafts T¹ T together.
The construction of the spring tongue shown in Figure 12 is used to preserve the
temper of the spring.
The strip of spring metal is separated from the tongue S by a layer of asbestos
or other suitable non-conducting substance and the ends of the two pieces are clamped
in the end of the plug by the block S and screw S³. A wrapper of fine wire binds

page_text: the strips together. A tongue of this construction will retain its elasticity for a
considerable time and will be more durable as well as more certain in its action than
a single piece tongue.
The inlet pipes are providea ith stop cocks U U for regulating the supply of gas
and air which constitute the motive power. This engine will run either with natural
gas or illuminating gas or carburetted air produced from gasoline.
The exhaust pipe may be carried to any suitable distance from the engine to
discharge the heated gases and vapors into the atmosphere or otherwise dispose of
¡them.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is-
1. The herein-described single-acting engine adapted for gas or gasoline as the
motive power, constructed and arranged for operation as described and shown in the
drawings.
2.-In a gas or gasoline engine, a cylinder having a cylinder-head with a hood
consisting of parallel plates surrounding the gas-inlet into the cylinder and inclosing
a space inside the cylinder in which are located an electric igniter formed of two
electrodes in open circuit, substantially as described and shown.
3. In electric igniter for gas or gasoline engines, consisting of two tongues of
spring metal which are electrodes or terminals inside the cylinder of an electric
battery outside but are insulated from the cylinder body, and a finger, or projection,
-on the piston insulated from surrounding metal or otherwise made a non-conductor,
and adapted by the movements. of the piston to press the electrodes together at the
end of the upward stroke, and to release them at the beginning of the down stroke,
.substantially as described and shown..
4. In an electric igniter for gas or gasoline engines the combination with the
electrodes which are terminals inside the gas space of an electric circuit, and a circuit
interrupter in the conducting wires between one of the electrodes and the battery,
actuated from the engine-shaft to operate said interrupter at every alternate revolution
of the crank-shaft, substantially as described and shown.
5. An electric igniter for gas or gasoline engines consisting of a flexible tongue
forming one electrode or terminal and a shaft with a finger or projection forming the
other terminal and actuated by the movements of the shaft to act against the flexible
terminal with a wiping movement, substantially as described and shown.
6. In combination with the exhaust valve and its stem, the rocking lever, tappet,
spring, double groove, cam and swivel piece, arranged for operation as described and
shown in the drawings.
7.-The flexible tongue or yielding electrode for gas or gasoline engines composed
of a metal contact point, a metal spring and an interposed layer of asbestos or similar
non-conductor united together, substantially as described.
Dated this
AIVINETASH
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, Agents for the Applicants.