Improvements in Gas Engines.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 31st Aug., 1893
Complete Specification Left, 31st May, 1894-Accepted, 7th July, 1894
Improvements in Gas Engines.
We, CHARLES NORMAN GARNER of No. 15 Hilldrop Crescent, Camden Road,
in the County of Middlesex, Merchant and Contractor and JOHN VAUGHAN
SHERRIN of No. 3 Codrington Villas, Ramsgate, in the County of Kent, Engineer
do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
Our invention refers to gas engines in which an explosion is obtained in the
cylinder at every revolution.
Mounted on a suitable bedplate is a cylinder which is for some distance below of
a larger diameter than at the top. The piston is also correspondingly formed
so that when the piston is, in the case of a vertical inverted engine, at the botton
of its stroke, a chamber is formed which serves as the compressing chamber into
which gas or other vapour and air are admitted by suitable openings. The piston
is provided with a channel which has a suitable valve or means for shutting off*
communication between the compression chamber and the space above the top of
the piston which forms what may be called the ignition chamber. The cylinder is
provided with an opening just above the piston when the latter is at the bottom of
its stroke for the exhaust. Motion is communicated to the crank shaft by a
connection rod.
The action of this engine is as follows:-
Supposing the piston to be at the top of its stroke, on descending air and gas
or vapour are drawn into the compressing chamber until the bottom of the stroke
is reached whereupon on the rising of the piston the charge is compressed until
such time as the pressure in the compressing chamber exceeds that in the ignition
chamber whereupon the charge is conducted to the ignition chamber by means of
the channel in the piston or otherwise, the charge is then ignited when the piston
is at or near the top of its stroke, and the piston carried down. The engine may
also be made with two or more cylinders to work tandem, the piston being made of
two different sizes as before described but instead of the bottom of the cylinder
being open, it is closed as far as the ring piston is concerned so that a working
piston is formed below as well as above and instead of the connections between the
compressing chamber and the ignition end of the cylinder being made in the piston
they may conveniently be made in the cylinder. The area of the compressing
chamber is so adjusted that sufficient air and gas or vapour is drawn in during half the
travel to supply say the upper cylinder and the port thereto is opened for a sufficient
time to fill same with the explosive mixture and then the port to the lower or ring
cylinder is opened and the rest of the charge is conducted to it, ignition takes place
thus producing a return working stroke. The exhaust in both cases takes place when
the pistons have arrived at or near the end of their working strokes. Or instead
hereof we may duplicate the cylinders and have an ignition chamber for each
piston at each end and a compressing chamber in like manner. The crank shaft in
this case is in the centre and motion is communicated to it direct by a cross head
without the intervention of a connecting rod.
Dated this 31st day of August. 1893.
JENSEN & SON,
77, Chancery Lane, London, W.C., Patent Agents.

page_text: COME LEIE SIECIFICATION.
Improvements in Gas Engines.
We, CHARLES NORMAN GARNER of No. 15 Hilldrop Crescent, Camden Road,
in the County of Middlesex, Merchant and Contractor, and JOHN VAUGHAN
SHERRIN of No. 3 Codrington Villas, Ramsgate in the County of Kent, 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:-
Our invention refers to gas engines in which an explosion is obtained in the
cylinder at every revolution.
The cylinder end towards the crankshaft is for some distance of a larger diameter
than the other part of the cylinder. We will speak of them as two cylinders, the
large cylinder and the small cylinder; they may be in one or in two castings. The
piston is also correspondingly formed having for a short distance a large diameter
working in the large cylinder and for a longer distance a smaller diameter working
in the small cylinder and formed hollow. The annular space thus formed in the
large cylinder serves as a preliminary compressing chamber into which gas or other
suitable combustible fluid, and air are admitted. To the piston in the large
cylinder is jointed the connecting rod the other end of which takes on to the crank.
The hollow part of the piston has an inwardly opening loaded valve for admitting
the gaseous mixture into its interior and a port for conducting it thence by a
passage and port to the space in the small cylinder above the top of the hollow
piston such space forming the ignition chamber where the explosion takes place
after compression of the gaseous mixture to a pressure suitable for ignition. The
small cylinder is provided with an exhaust port which is just above the piston when
the latter is at the bottom of its stroke. Much of the heat evolved in the small
cylinder is by the hollow part of the piston and the contiguity of the cylinders
conveyed to the annular chamber in the large cylinder wherein the charge is thus
preheated and partly also by compression therein. The engine has no piston rod
stuffing boxes.
Figure 1 of the accompanying drawings is a section through a gas engine of this
construction and may be considered a plan section of a horizontal engine or a
vertical section of a vertical engine.
A is the large cylinder wherein works the piston B B¹ shewn in the lowest or
outermost position the part B fitting the cylinder A and the part B' being of a
smaller diameter thus producing the annular space A'. The part B' fits and works
in the small cylinder C. The space A¹ is about equal to that traversed by the
piston B in the cylinder C. The connecting rod S from the crankshaft U is jointed
directly to the piston B and may together with the crankshaft bearings be enclosed
in a chamber E. The port F serves to admit gas from the gas valve G and air
from the air valve H which may as shewn be inade in one by preference of the
exact relative sizes required with means such as the screw T for adjusting their
length of stroke. In the piston part B is provided a valve I for admitting gaseous
mixture to the interior of the piston part B' which is provided with a port J that
by the port K in the small cylinder C and the passage L and port M when the
piston is in the position shewn admits heated gaseous mixture from the piston B¹
to the cylinder C. O is a deflector plate for keeping this fresh charge from being 4
drawn partly into the exhaust port N before the ignition takes place. The ignition
is effected immediately the hot charge has been compressed by the upstroke (or
instroke) of the piston. A small part of the charge, further heated by the
compression enters the tube P which is closed at the outer end; the tube P is rendered
hot by each explosion and by a gas jet playing thereon, the cylinder C has a water 5
jacket V around it which takes up a great part of its heat. The cylinders may be

page_text: supplied with oil from a lubricator R which is provided with a check valve. The
oil accumulates in an annular receptacle W into which the piston B dips at each
outstroke.
The action of this engine is as follows. Supposing the piston B B' to be at the
top of its stroke; on descending or returning air and gas or vapour are drawn into
the annular space A' from the valves G and H until the bottom of the stroke is
reached that is the position shewn on the drawing whereupon on the rising of the
piston the charge is compressed in the annular space A' the hollow piston B' being
filled with a compressed charge from the said space A' in the previous revolution.
In the early part of the upstroke the compression effected in the space A' opens
the valve I and sends the charge from A' into the hollow piston B' and at the same
time compresses the previous charge in the cylinder C. The charge is then ignited
by coming in contact with the hot walls of the tube P when the piston B' is at the
end of its stroke, and the piston is then carried down again the products of
combustion escaping through the port N. Finally when the ports J and K come
opposite each other the rush of compressed explosive mixture from the hollow
piston B¹ into the cylinder C further expels the burnt products.
The engine may also be duplicated as for instance shewn in Figure 2 where there
is a small cylinder C with ignition chamber and tube P at each end and a large
cylinder A with an aunular space A' for each piston B'. The valve H G for air
and gas is here shewn made in the form of a flat rubber lined disc. The crankshaft
is in this case in the centre of the double engine and motion is communicated to it
directly by a slotted crosshead without connecting rods. We have also in this case
shewn a modified arrangement of the valve I which is placed in the end of a tube I'
which passes through the hollow piston B¹ from a cross partition 12 below which is
arranged the inlet port I³. The deflector O is in this construction shewn applied
to the piston B¹ and the port M is arranged lower down in the cylinder C.
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. An engine to be worked by the explosion of a gaseous mixture once for each
revolution consisting of a cylinder open towards the crankshaft and having a
piston working therein connected to the crankshaft, said piston having on the other
side a longer piston of smaller diameter which works in a contiguous cylinder of
corresponding smaller diameter thus forming an annular space in the large cylinder
said small piston containing an inner chamber with port and valve for admission of
gaseous mixture thereto and with a port for outlet of gaseous mixture therefrom
into the smaller cylinder which latter has an exhaust port all so arranged that the
large piston in the outstroke (towards the crankshaft) draws a charge into the
annular space and in the instroke compresses said charge forcing it into the inner
chamber in the small piston while also compressing a charge which was admitted
to the small cylinder from the inner chamber in the small piston during the
previous outstroke, the ignition then taking place at the end of the said instroke
whereupon in the following outstroke the exhaust takes place at the end of said
stroke and the small cylinder is recharged from the inuer chamber in the small
piston substantially as described.
2. The construction of single engine and of double engine as described and shewn
in Figures 1 and 2.