Improvements in or connected with Petroleum Engines.
Year: 1890

page_text: Date of Application, 22nd Jan., 1890
Complete Specification Left, 25th July, 1890-Accepted, 1st Nov., 1890
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or connected with Petroleum Engines.
!, OTTO LINDNER, Mechanical Engineer, of 32, Ruo de la Bourse, Brussels, Belgium,
do hereby declare the nature of my invention to be as follows:-
My invention relates to motive power engines worked by gas mixtures produced by
the combustion of petroleum vapour in a closed chamber. It is more particularly
applicable to four-cycle engines, that is to say, those, which work in a cycle of four
operations, and with compression of the combustible mixture.
The principal feature of the invention consists in separating the furnace or
combustion chamber from the working cylinder by a valve or cut-off mechanism,
which is operated in such a manner, as to establish and interrupt communication
between the two spaces at the required moment.
By means of this valve it is possible to compress at pleasure during the compression
stroke the air which has been sucked into the working cylinder during the suction
If the latter now
stroke, and subsequently allow it to enter the combustion space.
contains a suitable combustible material distributed in such a manner, that it will
combine with the oxygen of the air, when mixed with the latter, the combustion and
the consequent rise of temperature, will cause the gaseous mixture contained in it to
expand, and to produce the outstroke of the working piston which had arrived at its
inner dead centre, after which the processes of the four-cycle succeed each other in
their well-known order.
The same result is produced, by forming in the working cylinder an explosive or
combustible mixture in the well known manner, and causing it to pass into the com-
bustion space during the compression period at a suitable position of the piston, by
opening the valve mentioned above.
If now the walls of the combustion chamber or of the igniting tube are in a condition
favourable for the ignition of the combustible mixture entering the said space, ignition,
combustion and expansion are produced in the well-known order.
During the
discharge stroke the gases of combustion are allowed to escape through a separate
valve.
The valve between the working cylinder and combustion space, may be arranged to
work automatically, or it may be controlled by the valve-gear of the engine in such a
manner, as to start the combustion at the right moment and to prevent a premature
development of pressure even when the combustion chamber is strongly heated.
The combustion chamber and igniting tube may be heated simultaneously from the
outside by means of a suitable burner or other appliance.
Dated this 22nd day of January 1890
FAIRFAX & WETTER,
433, Strand, London, Agents for the Applicant.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or connected with Petroleum Engines.
I, OTTO LINDNER, Mechanical Engineer, of 32, Ruede la Bourse, Brussels, Belgium,
do hereby declare the nature of my invention and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:
My invention relates to petroleum engines, which work in a cycle of four operations
and with compression of the combustible mixture.
The object of the invention is, to construct the engine in such a manner, that the
Pain 21

page_text: combustion chamber can be highly heated by external means before the engine is
started, and internally while it is at work, in order to ensure perfect evaporation and
complete combustion of the petroleum supplied to the engine; also to prevent the
premature explosion of the combustible mixture during the period of suction and of
compression, which explosions frequently occur in uncooled and therefore highly heated
combustion chambers."
The principal feature of novelty consists in the combination of a cooled working
cylinder with an entirely uncooled combustion chamber and with a valve adapted to
control the communication between the said spaces in the manner hereinafter
described.
In the accompanying drawings, Fig. 1 is an axial section showing the rear part of
the working cylinder, as well as the combustion chamber and valve box of a petroleum
engine embodying my invention, while Fig. 2 is a diagram of the crank or crank disc,
and Fig. 3 is a detail view showing the means for producing a mixture of air and
petroleum-gas in one of the methods of working hereinafter described.
A, is the working cylinder surrounded by a cooling jacket C, K the working piston,
G the valve chamber, fixed to the rear end of the working cylinder and provided with
a cooling jacket, F the combustion chamber fixed to the bottom or side of the valve
chamber, and provided with an inlet p for petroleum, and with an igniting tube for
other suitable device for igniting the combustible mixture, b is the valve for the
admission of air and combustible mixture, a the exhaust valve, and V the valve which
serves to open and close the passage E between the combustion chamber F and the
working cylinder A. The chamber F is a separate metallic vessel which projects from
the valve chamber, so that it can be heated all round.
The valves are connected with the engine shaft or other moving part in such a
manner, as to open and close automatically at the required moment of each cycle.
The mechanism for operating the valves from the engine shaft is analogous to that
used in other engines and therefore not shown by the drawings.
The engine may be adapted for two different methods of operation.
1st. Method. During the suction period, the combustible mixture (mixture composed
of petroleum gas coming from a vaporiser v heated by a flame v¹, Fig. 3, and atmo-
spheric air coming from the tube 6') enters through the valve band valve box G into
the cylinder A; during the following return stroke (compression period) the mixture
is compressed to about 2 atmospheres, at which moment the crank pin occupies
approximately the position indicated in the diagram, Fig. 2 by the letter m, if o and o
indicate the two dead centres. In this position, the valve V opens and allows the com-
pressed gaseous mixture to enter through the passage E into the combustion chamber F,
in which it is highly heated and ignited at f by one of the well-known automatic
devices usually employed for this purpose. Then follow the generation of gases by
combustion, their expansion in the working cylinder and subsequent discharge through
the valve
in the usual order. If, during the working of the engine, the chamber F
becomes so hot, that its walls will ignite the combustible mixture, before ignition takes
place at f, this is an advantage, rather than a fault, because at this moment the
piston is always at its inner dead centre and therefore ready to commence the working
stroke.
a,
2nd. Method. During the suction period, air alone is drawn into the cylinder A
through the valve b, (which in this case has no vaporizer), while the valve V remains
closed and the petroleum is forced or injected into the heated chamber F through the
inlet opening p. The petroleum may be evaporated by means of a vaporiser before its
admission through the valve O, in a manner similar to that shown by Fig. 3; or a
petroleum spray may be forced through the said valve O and be transformed into gas
by impinging against the heated walls of the chamber F. In both cases, the valve O
is automatically closed after having admitted the petroleum.
At a suitable moment during the compression period, the valve V is opened and
thereby the compressed air allowed to enter the chamber F, in order to mix with the
petroleum vapour in the proportion necessary to produce perfect combustion. By this
manner of supplying petroleum to the chamber F, the contact of the same with the

page_text: working cylinder is entirely prevented, waste of petroleum is avoided, and the cylinder
kept clean.
The valve V is sufficiently cooled by the current of air which is coming from the
valve b.
my
Having now particularly described, and ascertained the nature of said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that claim :-
1. In a four-cycle petroleum engine, the combination of a cooled working cylinder,
with a separate combustion chamber communicating with the working cylinder and
adapted to be heated from the outside, and a valve adapted to establish and interrupt
communication between the working cylinder and the combustion chamber at every
cycle of the engine, substantially as described and for the purposes specified.
2. In a four-cycle petroleum engine, the combination of a cooled working cylinder,
with a separate combustion chamber communicating with the working cylinder and
adapted to be heated from the outside, and a valve adapted to cut off communication
between the said cylinder and the said chamber during a portion of the periods of
suction and of compression, in order to prevent the premature contact of the com-
pressed combustible mixture with the heated walls of the combustion chamber,
substantially as described.
3. In a four-cycle petroleum engine, the combination of a cooled working cylinder,
with a separate combustion chamber communicating with the working cylinder through
a passage and adapted to be heated from the outside, and a valve adapted to cut off
communication between the said cylinder and the said chamber during the periods of
suction and of compression, in order to prevent the contact of the unburnt petroleum
introduced into the heating chamber with the walls of the working cylinder, so as to
keep the latter clean and to avoid waste of petroleum, substantially as described.
a,
4. In a four-cycle petroleum engine, the combination of a working cylinder A,
surrounded by a cooling jacket C, with a valve box G containing valves b and
communicating with the said cylinder, a separate heating chamber secured to the valve
box and communicating with the same through a passage E, said heating chamber
being provided with igniting apparatus, and with a valve V adapted to close the
passage E during the suction and the compression period, in order to avoid premature
ignition of the compressed combustible mixture entering through the valve b, sub-
stantially as described.
5. In a four-cycle petroleum engine, the combination of a working cylinder A
surrounded by a cooling jacket C, with a valve box G containing valves a, b, and
communicating with the said cylinder, a separate heating chamber secured to the valve
box and communicating with the same through a passage E, said heating chamber F
being provided with an igniting apparatus and with petroleum supply apparatus po
and with a valve V adapted to close the passage E during the periods of suction and
of compression, in order to prevent the contact of the unconsumed petroleum gas with
the cylinder walls, substantially as described.
Dated this with day of Tul, 1800
OTTO LINDNER.
By Fairfax & Wetter,
433, Strand, London, Agents.