Year: 1887

page_text: Date of Application, 8th Sept., 1887
Complete Left, 24th May, 1888
Complete Accepted, 29th June, 1888
I, CHARLES DENTON ABEL of No. 28 Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane in
the County of Middlesex Consulting Engineer and Patent Agent do hereby declare
the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention relates to an improved construction of Gas Motor Engine in which
a reservoir is charged with combustible gas and air in such manner, and is so arranged,
as to feed the engine cylinder with a compressed mixture of gas and air in a perfectly
safe manner.
The employment of a reservoir containing combustible mixture under pressure, for
the supply of Gas Motor Engines is well known. In this arrangement the gas and
air are either fed in separately by means of gas and air pumps, or both are forced
in together by a single pump.
In both cases the reservoir is filled entirely with explosive mixture of which a
small portion is admitted to the engine cylinder. Such engines cannot work without
danger, as the contents of the reservoir are liable to be accidentally fired.
The present invention has for its object to obviate this danger by so arranging the
reservoir and the charging thereof with gas and air that a considerable quantity of
explosive mixture cannot be stored therein at one time.
For this purpose the reservoir is made partially or entirely of tubular form of
comparatively small diameter, such tube or tubular part being charged, either at one
and the same end first with compressed air and then with gas or, by preference, the
air is forced in at one end and the gas at the other end.
Thus the charges of gas and air being only brought in contact with each other at
the small transverse sectional area of the tube, no mingling of the same to such an
extent as to produce an explosive mixture within the reservoir will take place, and
the reservoir being put in communication by a slide or valve with the engine cylinder
at that part where the combustible gas is contained, this will first enter the cylinder,

page_text: after which a portion of the air will enter, and, mixing with the gas, will form the
required combustible charge. The charge of combustible gas can either be forced
into the reservoir entirely before the admission slide of the cylinder is opened, or it
may be partly forced in before and partly after such opening, so as to flow directly
into the cylinder; or again, the forcing in thereof may commence at the time of
opening the admission slide or valve, and, according as the latter is closed sooner or
later by a regulator or governor, the gas may continue to be forced into the reservoir
after the admission valve is closed.
According to one arrangement for carrying out this invention, a reservoir of
ordinary form is constructed in the framing of the engine, and from this a tubular
extension passes to the inlet port of the engine. The reservoir in the framing is
charged with air under pressure from the closed front end of the cylinder which acts
as an air pump, and in connection with the part of the tubular reservoir near the
inlet port of the cylinder is arranged a gas pump that may be conveniently worked
from an arm on the piston rod head of the engine cylinder, so as to force a charge of
gas through a check valve into the tubular reservoir at each instroke of the engine
piston.
A slide worked by an excentric on the engine shaft first admits the outer air to
the front end of the cylinder to be compressed therein and then establishes the
connection between the cylinder and the reservoir so as to force the compressed air
into the latter. A second slide establishes the communication between the tubular
part of the reservoir and the inlet port of the cylinder so as to admit the charge of
gas and air in the manner above described.
The gas supply pipe to the gas pump has a small slide which is moved so as to
open the supply by a hit-and-miss lever pivotted to a standard on the engine slide
and having a weight which when the engine, and consequently its slide, move too
fast, causes the lever to miss the gas slide and thus prevent a charge of gas being
delivered into the reservoir and cylinder, in which case the engine slide admits
compressed air only into the cylinder.
In case the air admitted should expand to below atmospheric pressure during the
outstroke of the piston, a vacuum valve may be provided for automatically admitting
air into the cylinder so as to prevent such partial vacuum; or the discharge valve of
the cylinder may be arranged to open automatically as a vacuum valve. The discharge
valve for the products of combustion is actuated by a lever that lies in the path of
an arm projecting from the engine slide, so that the lever is depressed by the motion
of the slide. The gas admission slide, when opened as above described by the motion
of the engine slide in one direction, is closed by an arm on the other end of the
engine slide coming in contact with the gas slide on the return stroke.
Dated this 8th day of September 1887.

page_text: 1, CHARLES DENTON ABEL of No. 28 Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane in the
County of Middlesex, Consulting Engineer and Patent Agent 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 an improved construction of gas motor engine in which a
reservoir is charged with combustible gas and air in such manner and is so arranged as
to feed the engine cylinder with a compressed mixture of gas and air in a perfectly
safe manner.
The employment of a reservoir containing combustible mixture under pressure, for
the supply of gas motor engines is well known. In this arrangement the gas and air
are either fed in separately by means of gas and air pumps, or both are forced in
together by a single pump.
In both cases the reservoir is filled entirely with explosive mixture of which a sinall
portion is admitted to the engine cylinder. Such engines cannot work without
danger, as the contents of the reservoir are liable to be accidentally fired.
The present invention has for its object to obviate this danger by so arranging the
roservoir and the charging thereof with gas and air that a considerable quantity of
explosive mixture cannot be stored therein at one time.
As shown in the diagram Fig. 4" of the accompanying drawings the reservoir may
consist of a tube m l in connection with a chamber R, but it may also consist only of
a long tube such as a serpentine tube m l as at Fig. 4b having sufficient capacity to
contain the required volume of compressed air together with the necessary volume of
compressed gas. Assuming that the reservoir be in both cases filled with compressed
air and that at the part l next the working cylinder there be forced in a certain
quantity of gas; being small in proportion to the capacity of the reservoir, this charge
of gas will force back the air out of that part and will remain localised in the part of
the tube next the inlet opening h.
The comparatively small sectional area of the tube affords to the air and gas so
small a surface of contact, that a mingling of the same will only take place to a small
extent.
If now the charge thus contained in the reservoir be let into the cylinder by
opening the slide or valve h, the gas will first enter, being forced in entirely by the
following air, with which it will then become mixed in the cylinder.
With this arrangement it will be seen that the reservoir can never become charged
with explosive mixture, so that all danger from explosion is avoided.
The combustible gas is only forced into the tube m l at a point near the inlet to the
working cylinder. The compressed air can also be introduced at that point, in which
case it must be forced in first and the gas afterwards. It is however more
advantageous to introduce the air at the opposite end of the reservoir, in which case

page_text: the air and gas can either be forced in simultaneously or the air first and then
the gas.
Figs. 1 to 3 and 5 to 9 shew by way of example a construction of gas engine
arranged and operating according to the above described invention.
Fig. 1 shews a longitudinal section, Fig. 2 shews a sectional plan, Fig. 3 shews a
cross section at X X Fig. 2. Fig 5 shews a side view, Fig. 6 à part plan, Fig. 7 a
cross section at Y Y Figs. 5, Fig. 8 and 9 shew detached sections of the gas pump.
Fig. 10 shews a diagram of the action of the working cylinder, air pump and gas
pump.
In the arrangement here shewn the working piston and the piston of the gas pump
make their strokes together and the total charge of the gas pump is forced into the
reservoir m before the charge commences to enter the cylinder.
These pistons may however have their relative movements so arranged that only a
portion of the charge of the gas pump passes into the reservoir ml at 1 before the
commencement of the charging of the working cylinder or after the end of such
charging, the other portion being made to enter directly into the cylinder while this is
being charged.
The space A of the cylinder in front of the piston is closed by a cover and constitutes
an air compressing pump, operating with a distributing slide valve g worked by an
eccentric g on the engine shaft D, E.
The air drawn in passes through passage f, the passage in the slide and passage n
into the space A, whence after compression by the outstroke of the piston it is caused
by the passage of the slide g to pass through passages n and o into the air reservoir R
formed in the cylinder framing.
The gas
compressed by a gas pump F fixed to the engine cylinder, parallel with
the axis thereof. The piston rod of this pump is connected to the cross head and
connecting rod of the engine cylinder, and the piston consequently has the same
stroke as that of the latter.
In the position of the gas pump slide i shewn in Fig. 8, the gas passes from the
inlet pipe w through the slide passage and passage a into the pump cylinder F, while
the piston is performing its suction stroke.
During the return stroke of the piston, the slide being brought into the position
at Fig. 9, the gas is first compressed and then passes through passage y and check
valve Fig. 3 into the tubular extension ml of the reservoir R, which is charged
with compressed air. At the end of the instroke of piston B, the slide worked by
eccentric establishes a communication by means of its passage and a passage in
slide and a passage in the cylinder, between the tubular reservoir Im and the
working space A¹ of the engine cylinder, so that the charge of compressed gas and
air will enter the latter from the reservoir in the above described manner.
g
Before the piston B uncovers the passage d Fig. 1, the inlet of gas and air into the
cylinder is cut off by the movement of the slides, and the charge is then ignited by
any suitable igniting device communicating with the passage d. In the arrangement
shewn the ignition is effected by an electric current.
The slide has at each end a standard a and c Fig. 5; to the standard a is con-
nected a lever regulator the horizontal arm 6 of which is carried by a blade spring
and is connected to a weight r. When the engine is running at the normal speed
the lever b will push the slide i backwards, so that the gas can pass into the gas
pump F. At the return stroke of the slide the standard c butts against the other
end of the slide i and thus brings it back into the position shewn at Fig. 9, in which
the gas supply to the pump is cut off. If the normal speed is exceeded the lever b is
raised by the action of the weight r and thus misses the stem of the slide i so that
this remains closed and consequently no gas being supplied to the gas pump the engine
piston will perform its outstroke without doing work.
The escape valves of the cylinder is opened at the end of the piston's outstroke,
by means of the slide 4 an arm with roller u on the latter being made to depress the
lever q carried by bracket t which effects the opening of the valve.
When the piston B performs its outstroke without admission of gas as described, it

page_text: still has a charge of compressed air admitted into it. This charge is however not
compressed to such an extent that it will still be at atmospheric pressure when fully
expanded at end of outstroke, and in order to prevent a partial vacuum being thus
formed in the cylinder, an automatic vacuum valve v Fig. 3 is provided for admitting
the outer air therein. Or instead of providing a special valve for this purpose, the
discharge valve s may be so arranged as to open automatically when a partial vacuum
is formed in the cylinder.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this in-
vention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is :-
1. In gas motor engines worked with combustible gas and air compressed previous
to entering the engine cylinder, the method of forcing the combustible gas and the
air separately into a reservoir in such manner that the gas and air are only in contact
over a very limited surface, so as not to mix to any practical extent, the gas being
situated near the inlet port of the cylinder, so that when this port is opened the gas
enters first into the cylinder and then the compressed air, the two mixing in the
cylinder to form a combustible charge, substantially as herein described.
2. In gas motor engines operating as set forth in the preceding claim, so arranging
the combustible gas supply to the reservoir that the gas is partly forced in while the
cylinder port is open so as to pass directly into the cylinder and partly before the
port is opened or after it is closed, substantially as herein described.
3. In gas motor engines operating as set forth in the preceding claims, the use of
a reservoir consisting of a tube or tubular chamber communicating at one end with
the port of the working cylinder, the combustible gas being forced into such end of
the tube while the air is either forced previously into the same end, or previously or
simultaneously into the opposite end substantially as herein described.
4. In combination with a reservoir for gas engines such as is referred to in the
preceding claim, the use of an enlarged chamber at the end opposite that which com-
municates with the cylinder port, for containing compressed air, substantially as
herein described.
5. In a gas motor engine the combination of a reservoir R into which air is forced
from the front closed end A of the engine cylinder, and a tube or tubular extension m
into which gas is forced by a pump F through an automatic check valve, substantially
as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
D
ศ
1
1000
ABEL & IMRAY,
Agents for the Applicant.