Year: 1886

page_text: I, HENRY HARINGTON LEIGH, practising as Phillips & Leigh, of No 22,: South-
ampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, W.C., in the County of Middlesex, 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:-
My invention relates to an improved slide valve and governing gear for use with
petroleum and gas engines, and is more particularly applicable to the engines
referred to in two previous specifications, viz:-Nos. 4008 of A.D. 1883, and 2272
of A.D. 1886.
In the last mentioned specification, I'described an improved gear for supplying
measured quantities' of combustible mixture to the engine cylinder, and pointed
out a simple method of governing an engine fitted with said gear. According to
the improvement now to be described, the action of the governor prevents the
engine running too fast, by interposing a slide between the pin whose function
it is to open the supply valve controlling the port through which the combustible
is injected into the mixing chamber above the cylinder, the thickness of which
slide shields the projecting supply valve spindle, and receives the tap of the.
opening pin.
The improvement in the slide valve described in the first mentioned specification
consists in fitting it with an adjusting' screw, by means of which the narrow port
along which the supply of compressed coinbustible mixture passes from the cylinder
to the flame cavity in the slide during the stroke of the latter, may be regulated
with respect to its sectional area.
In order that my invention; and the means by which the same may be carried"
into practical effect, may be thoroughly understool, I will now describe the same
in detail, referring in so doing to the accompanying drawings, which are to be

page_text: taken as part of this specification and read therewith, and in which like parts are
marked throughout the figures in which they occur with the same reference letter.
Figure 1 is a front elevation, partly in section.
Figure 2 is a longitudinal section through the axes of the combustible pump and
air valve chamber, from the fly-wheel side of the engine.
Figure 3 is an elevation of the tappet lover of Figure 2.
Figure 4 is a plan, partly in section, through the axis of the air supply pipe.
Figure 5 is a rear end elevation.
Figure 6 is a plan of part of the outer face of my improved slide valve.
Figure 7 is a section taken on the line T-U. of Figure 6.
Figure 8 is a section taken on the line Y-Z of Figure 6.
A is the way shaft driven from the crank shaft at half speed, and a the cam for
actuating the supply gear.
B is a lever having its fulcrum at b. in an extension of a bracket C standing
across the engine cylinder. C¹ is a returning spring. The lower (and longer) arm
of the lever is fitted with an anti friction roller to ensure a smooth action between
the cam and it. The upper (and shorter) arm is split into a fork b¹.
D is the ram of the combustible pump D¹, and E the spindle of the air valve E¹.
Both of these are connected to the lever, B by a crosshead F carried by the lever
and passing through a slot in the head of the ram and spindle respectively. G is
a screw by means of which the depth of the slot D', and consequently the play
of the crosshead therein, may be adjusted for the purpose of regulating the length
of the stroke made by the ram D.
H is the combustible supply terminating in a short pipe of enlarged bore in
which lies a spiral spring H' always bearing against the pin of the suction valve i.
J is a pin lying centrally in the port j. K is the delivery valve, k a pin terminating
in a conical extension, and a pin the end of which projects beyond the face of
a grooved extension & formed upon the side of the cylinder L in which the air
valve works, while the valves i and K are kept in a central position by webs formed
upon these spindles.
Similar webs are also formed for the same purpose upon the pins J and k.
The spring H keeps the aforesaid line of pins and valves in constant contact,
and when free the suction and delivery valves i and K, the former open and the
latter shut.
The rise of the crosshead F closes the air valve El and makes the ram D draw
in a supply of combustible. The return of the crosshead down the slots D' E' in
the respective heads of the ram D and spindle E, leaves the latter at rest for a
short time while the projecting end F¹ of the crosshead engages with the shoulder m
of the vibrating lever M having its fulcrum at m' in a projection from the cylinder L.
The lower extremity or tapper m² of the lever is, accordingly, forced against the
projecting end of the pin which is drawn in, thereby opening the delivery
valve K and closing the suction valve i against the spring H₁ While these valves
are maintained in this last described position by the continued contact of the
crosshead end F1 with the adjacent face of the lever M, the continued descent of
the crosshead causes the ram to make its down stroke injecting the charge of
combustible through the port ; and past the conical extension on the end of the
pin K into the cavity above the valve E¹ where it meets with the air supply
coming in at the pipe N. with which it is thoroughly incorporated, such incor-
poration being facilitated and rendered perfect by the comminution to which the
combustion is subjected during its passage from the foot of the pump D1 on to the
valve E¹. This latter is opened at the same time that the injection of the com-
bustible is being effected, and the mixed combustible and air pass the valve into
the working cylinder of the engine along the pipe O. The gutter o round the top
of this pipe gives an upward tendency to the compound vapour passing the valve El,
and therefore acts as a further intermixing agent upon the particles of air and
combustible.

page_text: P. is a slide connected to a crank p on the end of a rod p¹ geared to the governor.
The opposite end of the slide works in a groove in an extension 13, the nose l¹ of
the spindle passing through a slot formed in the end q. Upon part of the face
of the end q. there is an outward extension q¹, the projection of which beyond the
extension is not less than that of the spindle end l¹.
When the governor begins to race, the crank p. moves the extension q¹ between
the tapper m and the spindle end A. The next tap of the tapper will therefore
fail to reach the spindle end l¹. The next upstroke of the ram D will draw in
a supply of combustible through the pipe H which will be returned along the
same by the following down stroke of the ram. The consequence will be a cycle
of motion without an explosion in the cylinder. The speed of the engine will then
decrease, and the slide P be drawn back, thereby allowing the tapper m² to act
upon the suction and delivery valves in the normal way as above described.
The flexibility of the lower half of the lever M. prevents its being distorted
when the extension q' prevents it making its stroke. The returning spring m³
needs no detailed explanation.
The second part of my invention relates to an improvement in the slide valve
used with the petroleum or gas engine constructed under the above mentioned
Patents.
R is the lightning port formed by the insertion of a short tube s in a flame or
lighting cavity formed through the slide, and having three differing diameters
81, 82, 83, and a bent port 8' communicating between said cavity and a small narrow
channel formed in the cylinder face of the slide, which channel allows of the feed
of combustible mixture from the cylinder to the cavity in the valve while the
latter is making its stroke as described and illustrated in the aforesaid Specification
No 4008 of A.D. 1883.
I now according to my present invention add an adjusting screw S.
A slight turn of the screw into the valve widens the channel r while a reverse
movement of it allows of the sides of the channel to approach each other again.
The advantage of this adjustment consists in this, that the quantity of combustible
mixture allowed to pass along the channel r, as well as its rate of passage, can be
regulated to a great nicety, and the valve be adapted to work with the best effect
with combustibles of varied specific gravities.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is:
1. In a petroleum or gas engine the combination of a crosshead receiving a
reciprocating vertical movement from the way shaft of the engine, actuating the
combustible supply ram and the air valve spindle respectively, and having an
extension which 'contracts with a vibrating lever every time the crosshead is
depressed thereby causing said lever to strike a projecting pin aligned with the
suction and delivery valves in the combustible supply port, shutting the former
and opening the latter while the rain aforesaid is making its down or injection
stroke substantially as described with reference to the accompanying figures.
2. In a petroleum or gas engine, the combination of combustible supply ram, air
valve spindle, each having a slot in its head through which passes a crosshead
having an extension contacting with a vibrating lever working in the same vertical
plane as the said ram and spindle and actuating the combustible suction and
delivery valves when the crosshead descends, substantially as described with
reference to the accompanying drawing.
3. In a gas or petroleum engine, the combination of a slide receiving an
alternating linear motion from the engine governor by the side of the projecting
end of a spindle in permanent contact with the combustible suction and delivery
valves, and having an extension on its outer face of a projection not less than that
of said projecting end with a vibrating lever brought to bear against said projecting

page_text: end except when the extension on the outer face of the slide protects said projecting
end, substantially as described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
4. In the slide valve of a gas or petroleum engine, the combination of a
regulating screw with a narrow channel in the cylinder face thereof, leading from
the cylinder to the lighting cavity within said slide formed by the insertion of
a short tube in a cavity of three different diameters, for the purpose of regulating
the sectional area of said channel, substantially as described with reference to the
accompanying drawings.