Improvements in Gas Motor Engines.
Year: 1890

page_text: Date of Application, 31st May, 1890
Complete Specification Left, 25th Feb., 1891-Accepted, 28th Mar., 1891
PROVISIONAL
DIMUIFICATION.
Improvements in Gas Motor Engines.
EPAPHRAS SEAGE and FREDERICK JAMES SEAGE, Engineers, of 17, Codrington
Street, and 5, Clifton Road, Exeter, in the County of Devon, do hereby declare
the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
Our invention relates to motor engines of the kind in which a piston in a cylinder
is moved by the pressure resulting from the combustion of a mixture of air &
inflammable gas or vapour admitted into the cylinder or compressed therein.
In engines of this kind it has been usual to employ a shaft running at right
angles with the crank shaft, & driven by gearing at half the speed of same, this
shaft being used for the purpose of operating the slide or other valves for the
admission of the combustible charge ignition & expulsion of same.
By our invention we dispense with this shaft & the friction thereof by substituting
levers, fulcrumed at the centre the same being operated by cambs attached to the
boss of a cog wheel, which wheel is driven at half speed by a pinion on crank shaft,
the other ends of the levers operating the valves contained in a suitable chamber
for the admission of the combustible gases & expulsion of same, as also an arrange-
ment for governing the speed of engine (to be hereafter described).
Figs. 1 & 2 of accompanying drawing shew side elevation & plan of our before
described invention, A representing levers, fulcrumed at B; C camb wheel, D pinion
keyed to crank shaft, E valve chamber.
On Fig. 3 is shewn more clearly a side elevation of valve box & the mode
of governing the speed of engine. At the end of lever A1 (Fig. 3) is fastencil
an adjustable upright pedistal F, formed at right angles at its upper end, upon
which traverses a friction roller G, H represents a arm, hinged at I, into which the
friction roller with its frame is fastened. This arm H has a slot through the centre,
as shewn at H 1 (Fig. 4) for the purpose of adjusting the friction roller & frame
up or down to vary the stroke. At the end of arm H is hinged a catch lever J,
which works in conjunction with same & which operates upon the gas valve
spindle K, this spindle being kept in position by a pin passing through its centre,
& working in a slot as indicated on drawing L shews a coil spring connected at
the upper end with the lever J & fastened at the lower end to a hook which is
adjustable up or down to give more or less tension to the spring. It will thus
be seen that when the lever A1 is risen by the action of the camb wheel it
engages itself with the friction roller thus lifting & straightening the arm H
& lever J, which in its turn comes in contact with the notch in gas valve spindle K,
& so pushes it inwards, thus opening the gas passage to cylinder of engine.
On
the lever A1 falling to its lowest point the arm & lever follow it, thus releasing
the gas valve spindle, which resumes its closed position by the action of a spring M
pressing on the pin N, the spring L at the same time keeping the point of lever J
down on the sloping part of valve spindle K. On the engine attaining more
than its normal speed the action of the lever A1 becomes so sudden that the
lever J is caused to leap over the notch in valve spindle K before it has time
to engage itself with same, which then remains closed, preventing any gas from
entering the cylinder, & is allowed to fall into action again upon the engine
resuming its normal speed. The speed of the engine is varied by either adjusting
the hook at end of spring L up or down, thus tightening or slackening the spring
& causing the point of lever to engage itself more or less frequently with the

page_text: gas valve spindle, or by moving the friction roller & carriage Gup or down the
slot in arm H thus increasing or diminishing the suddenness of its action.
Dated this 30th day of May 1890:
EPAPHRAS SEAGE.
FREDERICK JAMES SEAGE.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvementslin Gas Motor Engines.
EPAPHRAS SEAGE, and FREDERICK JAMES SEAGE, of 17, Codrington Street,
and 5, Clifton Road, Exeter, in the County of Devon, Engineers, 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 relates to motor engines of the kind in which a piston in a cylinder
is moved by the pressure resulting from the combustion of a mixture of air &
inflammable gas or vapour admitted into the cylinder or compressed therein.
In engines of this kind it has been usual to employ a shaft revolving at right
angles with the crank shaft & driven by gearing at half the speed of crank shaft,
this shaft being used for the purpose of operating the slide, or other valves, for
admission of the combustible charge, ignition, and expulsion of same.
By our invention we dispense with this shaft & the friction thereof by substi-
tuting levers, fulcrumed in the centre, the same being operated, upon by cambs
attached to the boss of a cog wheel, which wheel is driven at half speed by a
pinion on crank shaft, the other ends of the levers operating upon the valves, con-
tained in a suitable chamber, for the admission of the combustible charge &
expulsion of same; as also an arrangement for governing the speed of engine to be
hereafter described.
Figs. 1 & 2 of accompanying drawing shew side elevation & plan of our before
described invention, A representing lever, as also A 1, being fulcrumed at B;
C camb wheel, D pinion, keyed to crank shaft; E valve chamber.
In the Provisional Specification left with our Application for Letters Patent to
this invention is described a mode of governing the speed of engine by inertia.
This mode of governing we find in practice not so sensitive as it should be.
Therefore we propose to adopt the ordinary ball governors, as shewn at Figs. 1 & 5
of the accompanying drawings. Attached to this governor is a crank lever C.
(Fig. 5), the other or slotted end of which, D, operates upon lever A. 1 in an
horizontal direction. Fig. 5 is an end view, shewing how the governors operate
upon lever A. I.
E represents a boss, carrying cams, F and G, which give the
levers A & A. 1 their vertical movement. Attached to lever A. 1 is a vertical
pedestal H, the upper end of which is actuated by the slotted end of the cranked
lever C. It will thus be seen that when the governors are influenced by speed they
lift the crank lever C, which in its turn moves the lever A. 1 horizontally. The
lever A is used for the purpose of opening the gas & air valves. It is constructed
so as to give a horizontal as well as a vertical movement. This is obtained by
jointing this lever as shewn in section by Figs. 3 & 4. Fig. 3 being an elevation
of the boss of lever A 1 cut through the line abin Fig. 2. In Fig. 3, A represents
the stud upon which the lever is fulcrumed. B shews a boss working loose on
same, at the top & bottom of which is a pit or countersink, & barrelled from the
centre as shewn in Fig. 4, the outside boss C being in section. At C (Fig. 3) is
shewn the boss connected with the lever itself, having two set screws, the pointed
ends of which fit into the pit or countersink of boss 13, thus allowing the lever A 1
to have a slight horizontal movement. At I (Fig. 6) is shewn end of lever A 1,
with an adjustable pedestal (J) inserted for lifting the gas valve spindle K at the
notch L. It will thus be seen that when the governors are in action they operate

page_text: upon the lever A. 1 horizontally, taking the pedistal J (Fig. 6) in or out of the
notch in gas valve spindle & thus regulating the speed of the engine.
Having now particularly described & ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion, & in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is :-
1. The use (for operating the valves for admission of combustible gas or vapour
& expulsion of same) of levers, situated at right angles with the crank shaft, thus
doing away with the use of a shaft & the friction thereof as usually employed in
gas motor engines of this class, substantially as herein before described.
2. The use of a lever situated at right angles with the crank shaft & operated
upon by governors in a horizontal direction by means of the pivoted joint at its
fulcrum for regulating the frequency of the gas supply into the cylinder of the
engine substantially as herein before described.
EPAPHRAS SEAGE.
FREDERICK JAMES SEAGE.