Improvements in Multiple Cylinder Air Compressing Engines.
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 29th Sept., 1898-Accepted, 3rd Dec., 1898
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Multiple Cylinder Air Compressing Engines.
I, GEORG SZIMAY, of No. 19ª, Kalmangasse, Budapesth, in the Kingdom of
Hungary, and Empire of Austria, Machinist, 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 :-
The present invention relates to multiple cylinder air compressing engines and the
object is to increase the efficiency of the same, at the same time rendering the
construction as simple as possible. The invention consists essentially in
the peculiar combination of four cylinders and their suction and pressure
connections as hereinafter set forth and particularly pointed out in the claims.
And in order to render the present specification more easily intelligible reference
is had to the accompanying drawings in which similar letters of reference denote
similar parts throughout the several views:―
Fig. is a side elevation of the engine showing two of the valves in section,
Fig. 2 is a plan view and
Fig. 3 a detail longitudinal section through the mechanism for positively
operating two of the valves.
The four cylinders c, c, c¹, c¹ are arranged in pairs on the bed plate f, each pair
having the cylinder glands and stuffing boxes opposite each other and being
provided with a common piston rod c². These are again rigidly coupled by means
of the cross pin c³, on which the fork gl of the connecting rod g engages. The other
end of the connecting rod g is attached to the crank 82 of the crank shaft 8', which
is mounted in bearings at the forward end of the bed plate fand provided with
a fly wheel 8 and a large chain wheel 21. This latter is connected by means of a
chain 2 with a small chain wheel z fast on a shaft a¹ mounted in bearings i
parallel to the shaft &¹ and being turned either by hand by means of the crank
pink of the wheel a or by machine power by means of the pulley r. Each cylinder
is provided with two flanges n one at either end of the same for pipe connections
and the said cylinders are connected up in the following manner :-
For the convenience of the present specification, the stuffing box end of each
cylinder will be called the forward end and the other the rear end. The rear ends
of the two cylinders c, c are connected by a pipe d and those of the cylinders c¹ by a
pipe d. The pipes d & communicate with the pressure reservoir w at either
end of the same by means of pipes d² in which are mouated back pressure valves i
and one at either end of the reservoir or between it and the cross pipes d, at
any suitable point (Fig. 1). At either side of the central pipes d² pipes bb commu-
nicate from the pipe d to the forward ends of the two cylinders c¹ c whilst similar
pipes hh communicate from the cross pipe d¹ to the forward ends of the two
cylinders c, c. The forward ends of all four cylinders communicate with the open
air by means of valves u and u' arranged below the openings n n (Figs. 1 and 3).
Above the said openings n, n of the forward end of each cylinder a back pressure
valve o, o is mounted. The valves u, u¹ are advantageously positively operated
being held normally closed by a spring j and being opened at the required moment
by means of a pawl q¹ pivotally connected to a frame q fixed between the ends of
the open pipes of two opposite cylinders. The pawls q¹ are alternately operated by

page_text: means of a sliding arm p parallelly guided in bearings pl mounted on the frame q,
said slide arm being worked by an eccentric e on the shaft s¹ and its eccentric rod e
which engages at the centre or there about of the slide rod or arm p being pivotally
connected thereto. The reservoir w is provided with an outlet m for the compressed
air and a safety valve v of the ordinary construction.
The engine operates in the following manner :-
If the pistons of all the cylinders are moved in a direction towards the shaft s¹
air will pass by suction into the rear ends of the cylinders c, c through the valves u¹ o¹
along the pipes band d to the front ends of the cylinders c¹ c¹ direct through the
valves and openings n. At the front ends of the cylinders cc and the rear ends
of the cylinders c¹ c¹ the air will be compressed passing from the former along the
pipes hand into the reservoir w and from the latter directly along the pipes d¹
and and through the valve i¹. On the opposite stroke of the engine air will be
drawn by suction into the front ends of the cylinders c, c and the rear ends of
those c¹ c¹, in the first case through the valves u, u direct to the said cylinders and
in the second case through these valves along the pipes h and d¹, whilst air will be
compressed in the front ends of cylinders c¹ c¹ and in the rear ends of the cylinders c, c,
in the former case passing along the pipes b, b, d through valve i and 2 into the
opposite end of the reservoir w and in the second case directly along the pipe d
through valve i and pipe d². Thus will it be seen that the arrangement of pipes is
such that each set will act alternately as suction and pressure set, which is the
object of the invention.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is
1 A multiple cylinder air compressing engine, in which four cylinders c c and
c¹ care arranged in pairs, having the stuffing boxes of each pair opposite each
other, each pair having a common piston rod c², a cross pin c³ to rigidly connect the
piston rods of each pair together and a connecting rod g having a fork g¹ to engage
said cross pin and operate all four pistons simultaneously substantially as described.
2: An air compressing engine of the class covered by Claim 1 in which the
corresponding ends of each cylinder cc and c¹ c' are connected pair-wise by means
of pipes dbd2 and d¹h d² leading to the air reservoir w, said pipes being provided
with back pressure valves i and ¹, those of the pipes leading from the stuffing box
end of each of the cylinders being provided with suction valves u and u¹ and
pressure valves o and o¹, the said valves being adapted to act alternately as suction
and pressure valves in the manner and for the purpose substantially as described.
Dated this 29th day of September 1898.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicant.