Year: 1887

page_text: Date of Application, 6th Oct., 1887
Complete Left, 15th June, 1888
Complete Accepted, 20th July, 1888
I, JOHN HENRY KNIGHT, of Thumblands, Farnham, in the County of Surrey,
Landowner and Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
In the provisional specification of a former application for Patent by me filed the
22nd day of February 1887 and numbered 2783 is described a construction of engine
worked by vapour of mineral oil, and my present invention has reference to means for
igniting the charge of mixed vapour of mineral oil and air in such an engine; to an
improved method of feeding the mineral oil to the engine; and to means whereby the
governor of the engine can be made to regulate the quantity of oil fed to the engine.
For igniting the combustible charge or mixture of mineral oil vapour and air, I use
suitable refractory substance heated to a suitable temperature by a blast of flame from
a mineral oil lamp, the blow-pipe whereby the flame is urged being blown by bellows
or a pump worked by the engine, or it may be by a portion of the air supplied by the
air pump of the engine if it be fitted with one, and at the proper time the heated
substance is placed in communication (by any suitable means such as a slide or valve)
with the mixture of air and oil vapour in the cylinder or ignition chamber by which
means the mixture will be fired. The refractory substance employed may be of any
suitable kind such as platinum or fire clay, or it may be iron.
To feed the engine with mineral oil instead of using a pump, I employ a wheel, or
a series of arms resembling the spokes of a wheel, caused to revolve in a tank. On
the periphery of this wheel, or on the arms, as the case may be, are brushes which, as
they are carried round, will pick up the oil and cause it to drop down a funnel or guide
whereby it is fed as required to the engine..
Instead of brushes, I sometimes use small buckets arranged to pick up the oil
from the tank, and empty their contents into the funnel or guide as they revolve.
To regulate, by means of a governor, the quantity of oil fed to the engine, various
devices may be employed. According to one arrangement, I provide two chambers
that may be formed by dividing a tank or other suitable vessel by a partition. One
chamber is connected by a pipe or passage to the engine, and the other part to the

page_text: reservoir containing the supply of oil. The funnel or guide referred to above, or a
pipe leading from it or from such other arrangement as may be employed for feeding
oil is caused to deliver the oil into the above mentioned chambers, the arrangement
being such that the delivery of the oil takes place close to the dividing partition. A
rod connects the delivery tube with the governor of the engine in such a manner that,
when the engine is going above a certain speed, the oil will be delivered into that
chamber or part of the divided tank or vessel which is connected with the oil reservoir,
and on the other hand when the speed of the engine falls below a certain number of
revolutions (according to the arrangement or adjustment of the governor.) the oil will
be fed into that chamber or part of the divided vessel which communicates with the
engine, the delivery tube being made sufficiently flexible or mobile to be capable of
the necessary movement for this purpose.
According to other modifications, the oil supply may be regulated by valves or cocks
which may be operated in various ways-as, for example, by opening or closing them,
or by partially opening or closing them by the action of the governor.
With some oils, there is a heavy portion which will not easily evaporate. This in
time would form a heat resisting film over the bottom of the vaporing chamber and
surface of the plate described in my provisional specification No. 2783, A.D. 1887,
and stop the working of the engine. To get rid of this thick and heavy oil, a pipo
with cock or valve is fixed to lower part of chamber to draw the oil off. This cock
may be arranged to be opened automatically by the engine at various periods of time,
or may be opened by hand at the discretion of the man in charge of the engine.
Dated this 6th day of October 1887.
W. LLOYD WISE,
Per F. J. Brougham,
46, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, W.C.,
Agent for the Applicant.

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Engines Worked by Minerals Oils.
I, JOHN HENRY KNIGHT of Barfield, Farnham, formerly of Thumlands, Farnham,
Landowner and 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 :-
In the Specification of former Letters Patent granted to me dated the 22nd day of
February 1887 and numbered 2783 is described a construction of engine worked by
vapour of mineral oil, and my present invention has reference to means for igniting
the charge of mixed vapour of mineral oil and air in such an engine; to an improved
method of feeding the mineral oil to the engine; to means whereby the governor of
the engine can be made to regulate the quantity of oil fed to the engine; and for
clearing the vaporising chamber of any heavy oil remaining therein. For igniting the
combustible charge or mixture of mineral oil vapour and air, I use a blast of flame
from a mineral oil lamp, the said lamp being fed with paraffin or similar oil of high
specific gravity, and not with benzoline, gasoline or other light hydro carbon. The
blow-pipe whereby the flame is urged is blown by bellows or a pump worked by the
engine, or it may be by a portion of the air supplied by the air pump of the engine
if it be fitted with one. The flame impinges on a suitable refractory substance and at
the proper time the heated substance is placed in communication (by any suitable
means such as a slide or valve) with the mixture of air and oil vapour in the cylinder
or ignition chamber by which means the mixture will be fired.-The refractory
substance employed may be of any suitable kind such as platinum or fireclay or it may
be iron. In some cases I dispense with the refractory substance and arrange the flame
to be drawn or blown into the cylinder or combustion chamber.
Referring to the accompanying sheet of illustrative drawings Figure 1 shews a part
of the cylinder and the slide of an engine worked by mineral oil. A is the cylinder
of the engine B; the vaporising chamber; C the slide containing in a cavity a piece
or pieces of platinum, D in the form of wire, sheet or gauze, securely fixed therein.
The flame of the lamp E is urged or blown by the blast of the blow pipe F; and the
jet of flame impinges on the platinum and in a very short time raises it to a white
heat. The air to feed the flame is supplied by a small bellows or pump (not shewn)
worked by the engine, but so arranged that it is easily worked for a few strokes by
hand to start the engine. If the engine has a compressing or charging pump the air
may be taken from it and the separate pump or bellows not employed. If desired the
flame can be blown from the mouth by means of a flexible tube until the engine is
started and the pump or bellows supplies the air.
The refractory substance may also be arranged in the form of a tube and be heated
by the mineral oil blow pipe in a similar manner to the tube sometimes used in gas
engines. It is to be understood that no claim to novelty is made for the use of either
tube or incandescent platinum or other substance except in conjunction with the paraffin

page_text: oil or mineral oil blow pipe lamp. When the smokeless flame of the mineral oil blow pipe
lamp is used without the intervention of a heated substance it can be made to impinge
on a valve or slide which is opened at the proper moment when the flame will be drawn
or forced into the cylinder.
To feed the engine with mineral oil instead of using a pump, I employ a wheel, or a
series of arms resembling the spokes of a wheel, caused to revolve in a tank. On the
periphery of this wheel, or on the arms, as the case may be, are brushes which, as they
are carried round, will pick up the oil and cause it to drop down a funnel or guide
whereby it is fed as required to the engine.
Instead of brushes, I sometimes use small buckets arranged to pick up the oil
from the tank, and empty their contents.into the funnel or guide as they revolve.
To regulate, by means of a governor, the quantity of oil fed to the engine, various
devices may be employed. According to one arrangement I provide two chambers
that may be formed by dividing a tank or other suitable vessel by a partition. One
chamber is connected by a pipe or passage to the engine and the other part to the
reservoir containing the supply of oil. The funnel or guide referred to above, or a
pipe leading from it or from such other arrangement as may be employed for feeding
oil is caused to deliver the oil into the above mentioned chambers, the arrangement
being such that the delivery of the oil takes place close to the dividing partition. A
rod connects the delivery tube with the governor of the engine in such a manner that,
when the engine is going above a certain speed, the oil will be delivered into that
chamber or part of the divided tank or vessel which is connected with the oil
reservoir, and on the other hand when the speed of the engine falls below a certain
number of revolutions. (according to the arrangement or adjustment of the governor.)
the oil will be fed into that chamber or part of the divided vessel which communicates
with the engine, the delivery tube being made sufficiently flexible or mobile to be
capable of the necessary movement for. this purpose.
According to other modifications the oil supply may be regulated by valves or cocks
which may be operated in various ways, as for example, by opening or closing them,
by the action of the governor.
Fig. 2 (which is drawn to a smaller scale than Fig. 1) shews the method of feeding
the engine and regulating the supply of oil according to the speed. G is a tank con-
taining the oil; in this tank is a shaft H which is caused to revolve by the motion of
the engine. This shaft carries a wheel or arms with small buckets J which dip into
the oil and in revolving pour it into the hopper or tray K from whence it runs by the
tube L to the engine. The tube L is slightly flexible and is moved in a horizontal
plane by the action of the governor.
The tube L does not empty directly into the air and oil pipe leading to the Engine,
but into the divided funnel. M. This funnel has two openings, one leading to the
engine, the other by the pipe N back to the tank, (see Figs. 3 & 4 Fig. 3 being a plan
of the pipes and funnel, and Fig. 4 a section of the funnel).
When the engine exceeds its normal speed the feeding tube L is dragged over by
the rod P which connects it with the governor so as to pour the oil in the other half
.of the funnel and so back to the tank.
In using some oils 1 find there is a thick heavy substance which will not easily
evaporate. This in time would cover the bottom of the vaporizing chamber B (Fig. 1)
and the surfaces of the rods or plates R as described in my specification No. 2783
A.D..1887. This thick oil being a bad conductor of heat would stop the working of
the engine. To get rid of it, I fix in the lower part of the chamber B a cock, valve
or plug.S, by which the thick heavy oil is drawn off and the chamber cleaned out.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is
In an engine worked by mineral oils
1. The use of the paraffin or mineral oil blowpipe (I disclaim the use of the lighter
hydrocarbons such as, benzoline, or gasoline.). as described to obtain a smokeless

page_text: flame to heat a refractory substance to fire the charge, I do not claim the use of
platinum or such like substance, or the heated tube but only the blowpipe, to obtain a
hot smokeless flame, to heat the platinum or the tube and so fire the charge.
2. The use of the above described smokeless flame from the paraffin oil blowpipe to
fire the charge, without the use of a refractory substance, the flame being directly
communicated to the contents of the cylinder, for instance sucked or forced into it.
3. Diverting the supply of oil from the feeding pipe and returning it to the tank by
means of the governor when the speed of the engine exceeds the normal, substantially
as described.
4. The use of a cock or valve or plug connected with the lower part of the
vaporizing chamber for the purpose of clearing out the same.