IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF AND IN THE METHODS OF WORKING GAS ENGINES
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edward Primerose Howard. Vaughan, of 54,
Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, for
the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF AND IN THE
METHODS OF WORKING GAS ENGINES."-A communication from abroad
by Lars Albert Leonard Söderström and George Alexander. Dick,.
both residing at Paris, in the Empire of. France.
Sealed the 5th May 1871, and dated the 10th November 1870.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edward Primerose
Howard Vaughan at the Office of the Commissioners. of Patents,
with his Petition, on the 10th November 1870.
I, EDWARD PRIMEROSE HOWARD VAUGHAN, of 54, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature
of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN. THE CONSTRUCTION OF AND IN
THE METHODS OF WORKING. GAS. ENGINES," being a communication to mẹ
from abroad by Lars Albert Leonard Söderström. and George Alexander
Dick, both residing at Paris, in the Empire of France, to be as
follows:-
This Invention consists in, certain improvements in the construction
of and the methods of working gas engines, in which the mixture of

page_text: +
air and combustible gas is introduced into the cylinder between two
pistons, one of which is loose and the other connected to the main
crank shaft by means of a rod. In such engines, upon the explosion
taking place, the loose piston is projected towards the end of the cylinder
where it is retained or kept suspended whilst the vacuum in the cylinder,
which follows upon the explosion, acts upon the second or driving piston
connected to the main shaft. Before arriving at the end of its stroke,
this second piston drives the gas resulting from the explosion out of
the cylinder, the two pistons meet and return together to their former
position, but the second or driving piston before it arrives at the end of
its return stroke leaves the loose piston (which is again retained or kept
suspended,) and sucks in the combustible gas and air. The driving
piston having reached the end of its return stroke the explosion of the
gas and air thus sucked in again takes place, by which the loose piston is
again projected towards the end of the cylinder, the like operation being
repeated. In this arrangement it has been found difficult to retain or
keep suspended the loose piston at the exact instant required. In order
to obviate this difficulty a flat iron rod or bar is connected to the loose
piston. This rod passes between two iron plates which are covered with
leather, and which when required press together, thus forming a sort of
trap, and holding the flat rod in suspension. The trap is combined
with a crank lever movement, which latter is guided by an excentric or
cam fixed to the main axle of the driving crank for the purpose of
holding the two plates apart, and permitting the rod or bar to descend.
Instead of using the flat slide valve hitherto employed in gas and air
engines a slide valve having a circular section and working freely to
and fro in the same manner as a piston in a steam cylinder is used. The
speed of the engine is regulated by the introduction of a greater or
smaller quantity of combustible gas into the cylinder, and in order to
make the regulation automatic, a piston is employed which is lifted by
the aspiration of the air for the combustible mixture to a greater or
lesser height. This piston is also connected with the gas inlet, and will
regulate the inlet of the gas in such a way that when the machine
works quickly the aspiration will also become rapid and lift the piston
higher, and thereby close or partly close the gas inlet.
'
For igniting the air and gas or other combustible mixture contained
in the main cylinder a cylindrical slide valve is used, the interior of
which is always in open communication with the contents of the inner

page_text: cylinder, the ignition being effected by an exterior gas flame which is
aspirated through an aperture of small diameter, which closes before
the explosion takes place. The ignition will thus be effected in a direct
manner instead of by an intermediate flame as hitherto practised.
In order to simplify as much as possible the construction of vertical
engines made in accordance with this Invention, the cylinder is mounted
on a hollow support or column, which is made in two parts, and dividing
at the main shaft, such support or column serving at the same time as
bearings for the main shaft.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Edward Primerose Howard Vaughan in the Great
Seal Patent Office on the 10th May 1871.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDWARD
PRIMEROSE HOWARD VAUGHAN, of 54, Chancery Lane, in the County of
Middlesex, Patent Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Tenth day of November, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the thirty-
fourth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Edward Primerose Howard Vaughan,
Her special licence that I, the said Edward Primerose Howard Vaughan,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Edward Primerose Howard Vaughan, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to
time and at all times thereafter during the term therein expressed,
should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands,
and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION
OF AND IN THE METHODS OF WORKING GAS ENGINES," being a communication
to me from abroad by Lars Albert Leonard Söderström and George
Alexander Dick, both residing at Paris, in the Empire of France, upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Edward Primerose
Howard Vaughan, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should
particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and

page_text: in what manner the same was to be performed, and cause the same
to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months
next and immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Edward Primerose Howard Vaughan,
do hereby declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement, reference being had to the accom-
panying Drawings, and to the figures and letters marked thereon, that is
to say :-
This Invention consists in certain improvements in the construction
of and in the methods of working gas engines in which the mixture of
air and combustible gas is introduced into the cylinder between two
pistons, one of which is loose and the other connected to the main
crank shaft by means of a rod. In such engines, upon the explosion
taking place, the loose piston is projected towards the end of the cylinder
where it is retained or kept suspended whilst the relative vacuum in
the cylinder consequent upon the explosion acts upon the second or
driving piston connected to the main shaft. Before arriving at the end
of its stroke this second piston drives the gas resulting from the
explosion out of the cylinder, the two pistons meet and return together
to their former positions, and before arriving at the inlet of the explosive
gas the loose piston is again retained, and the driving piston continuing
its return stroke sucks in the mixture of air and combustible gas,
which is exploded before the said piston has arrived at the dead point,
the like operation being thereupon repeated. In this arrangement it
has been found difficult to retain or keep suspended the loose piston at
the exact instant required. In order to obviate this difficulty a flat
iron rod or bar is connected to the loose piston. This rod passes between
two iron plates which are covered with leather, and which when required
press together, thus forming a sort of trap, and holding the flat rod in
suspension. The trap is combined with a crank lever movement, which
latter is guided by an excentric or cam fixed to the main axle of the
driving crank for the purpose of holding the two plates apart, and
permitting the rod or bar to descend. Instead of using the flat slide
valve hitherto employed in gas and air engines, a slide valve having
a circular section, and working to and fro in the same manner as a
piston in a steam cylinder is used. The speed of the engine is regulated
by the introduction of a greater or smaller quantity of combustible gas

page_text: into the cylinder; and in order to make the regulation automatic a piston
is employed which is lifted by the aspiration of the air for the combustible
mixture to a greater or lesser height. This piston is also connected
with the gas inlet, and will regulate the inlet of the gas in such a way
that when the machine works quickly the aspiration will also become
rapid and lift the piston higher, and thereby close or partly close.the.gas
inlet.
For igniting the air and gas or other combustible mixture contained
in the main cylinder, a cylindrical slide valve is used, the interior of
which is always in open communication with the contents of the inner
cylinder, the ignition being effected by an exterior gas flame which is
aspirated through an aperture of small diameter, which closes before
the explosion takes place. The ignition will thus be effected in a direct
manner, instead of by an intermediate flame, as hitherto practised.
I will now refer to the accompanying Drawings, from which the
nature of this Invention will be more clearly understood.; Figure 1 is
a side elevation of the engine; Figure 2 is a vertical section through
the axis of the crank shaft; Figure 3 is a view of the top part of the
engine shewing the springs of the two iron plates; Figure 4.is a plan
of the two cast-iron plates at the top of the cylinder; Figure 5 is a
view of the two iron plates e, e¹, and Figure 6 is a section of the suction
pipe shewing the arrangement of the regulator. The same letters of
,reference refer to the same parts in the different Figures.
a is the loose piston; b, the flat rod attached to the same; c, the axle
on which the flat rod moves; d, an india-rubber buffer; e, e¹, the two
iron plates covered with leather; f, f¹, are two articulated rods, which
with the rod g form the crank lever; h, h, are two cast-iron plates between
which the different parts of the trap and crank lever are placed, and
which are coupled together by bolts and fixed by four flanges to the
upper end of the cylinder; i, i, are knobs placed on the two iron
plates e, e¹, to prevent them upon being opened from dropping too low,
the knobs striking against the lever part of the holes / in the plates h;
1, 1, are two springs moveable on their axes and fixed to the outside of
the plates h, h, and attached to the knobs i by means of the screws `m
for the purpose of keeping the plates e, e¹, suspended, giving them at,
the same time a tendency to open and to press the parts e, f, g, ƒ¹, and
the parts e, f, upon one another; n is the driving piston; o is the
opening through which the gas resulting from the combustion escapes

page_text: into the valve box p, and thence into the escape pipe; r is the cylin-
drical slide valve; 8 is the small valve which permits the introduction of
more or less gas between the two pistons, which valve 8 is connected by
means of a rod with the light plate t contained in the aspiration pipe u;
v, v', are the fly wheels keyed to the main shaft; y, y', are two openings
left, one on each side of the lower part of the cylinder, in order to
produce a current of air underneath the driving piston.
The action of the engine is as follows:-At the moment when the
explosion of the gas and air or other combustible mixture takes place
between the two pistons a and n, the two articulated rods f, f¹ are in
a straight line, and the two iron plates e, e¹, lean against the flat rod b,
as shewn in Figure 2. This rod therefore passes freely between the
same during its upward motion, but being retained, the moment it has
reached its highest point the loose piston a remains suspended, the
relative vacuum occasioned by the explosion attracting the driving
piston n towards the same. Before the driving piston n arrives at the
end of its stroke, the rod y descends and allows the iron plates e, e¹, to
open, thereby permitting the loose piston a to drop and join the driving
piston n upon the latter reaching the dead point. The gas resulting
from the combustion and contained between the two pistons escapes,
while the latter are joining through the opening o (the lower rim of
which is placed high enough to prevent the two pistons coming in
contact with one another and causing a shock) the gas then passes
through a valve in the box p into the escape pipe, and from thence into
the open air. The two pistons a and n (which are separated only by
the remaining thin layer of gas) descend together until they have
arrived at the point 1, at this moment the loose piston a is again.
retained by the rod g ascending rapidly and thereby pressing the two
iron plates e and e¹ against the flat rod b. The driving piston n con-
tinuing its stroke sucks in the air and combustible gas through the
opening in the lower part of the cylinder, which opening during this
operation is in communication with the atmosphere and gas pipe by
means of a canal in the upper part of the cylindrical slide valve r.
The combustible mixture contained between the two pistons is ignited
just before the driving piston n arrives at its dead point, that is, when
it has arrived at the point 2, by means of the flame which burns in the
lower canal of the slide valve r, which latter rises at this moment rapidly
into its upper position. The loose piston a is then projected upwards

page_text: and the partial vacuum resulting from the explosion attracts the driving
piston, the action of the engine being continued as before.
In order to simplify as much as possible the construction of vertical
engines made in accordance with this Invention, the cylinder is mounted
on a hollow support or column which is made in two parts and dividing
at the main shaft, such support or column serving at the same time as
bearings for the main shaft.
Having thus fully described and ascertained the nature of my said
Invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I would
observe in conclusion that what I consider novel and original, and
therefore claim as constituting the Invention secured to me by the said
herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is, the combination and
arrangement of parts and mechanism in the construction of, and in the
methods of working gas engines substantially as herein-before set forth
and described or any mere modifications thereof.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edward Primerose Howard
Vaughan, have hereunto set my band and seal, this Tenth day
of May, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred
and seventy-one.