Improvements in Electric Sparking Plugs for Explosion Engines or Motore.
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 24th Nov., 1898
Complete Specification Left, 23rd Aug., 1899-Accepted, 18th Nov., 1899
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Electric Sparking Plugs for Explosion Engines
or Motore.
I, FREDERICK RICHARD SIMMS, of Amberley House, 12, Norfolk Street, Strand,
in the County of London, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this inven-
tion to be as follows:-
This invention relates to electric sparking plugs for explosion engines or
motors, the object being to provide a better and more effectual spark at starting
than hitherto, to ensure the heavy vapour in the combustion chamber being
properly ignited in a cold cylinder, to provide good insulation and also to avoid
the liability of the terminals breaking or becoming short circuited.
According to the invention, to produce better sparking at starting than usual
and to ensure the heavy vapour in the combustion chamber being properly
ignited when the cylinder is cold, I arrange in connection with the contact-breaker
a cock through which is injected a small quantity of a light oil, such as benzine,
on to the sparking points. To this end the cock is advantageously screwed upon
one of the terminals which is made hollow so as to enable the oil to be injected
therethrough onto the contact-breaker.
The terminal is insulated from the usual plug by being enclosed in asbestos
packing which is held in place at the outer end by a conical washer and a lock-
nut screwed upon the said terminal, the lock-nut and washer being shielded from
damage by an enclosing cylindrical portion of the plug, the open end of which
is closed by a porcelain or other suitable washer held in position by a washer
and a lock-nut to which the conducting wire is attached.
The inner end of the asbestos packing may also be held in position by a cone
upon the terminal and be provided with a shield.
Dated the 24th day of November 1898.
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, Finsbury, London,
Agents for the Applicant.
Improvements in Electric Sparking Plugs for Explosion Engines
or Motors.
I, FREDERICK RICHARD SIMMS, of Amberley House, 12, Norfolk Street, Strand,
in the County of London, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this inven-
tion 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 electric sparking plugs for explosion engines or

page_text: motors, the object being to provide a better and more effectual spark at starting
than hitherto, to ensure the heavy vapour in the combustion chamber being
properly ignited in a cold cylinder, to provide good insulation and also to avoid
the liability of the terminais breaking or becoming short circuited.
According to the invention, to provide good insulation the terminal is insulated
from the usual plug by being coated with a hard enamel of a non-conducting
substance and enclosed in asbestos packing held in place at the outer end by a
conical washer coated with enamel and a lock-nut screwed upon the said terminal,
the lock-nut and washer being shielded from damage, and trom foreign con-
ducting matter such as metal nlings or moisture which might tall thereon and
cause short circuiting by an enclosing cylindrical portion of the plug, the open
end of which is closed by a porcelain or other suitable washer held in position by
a metal washer and a lock-uut by which the conducting wire is attached.
The inner end of the asbestos packing may also be held in position by a cone
upon the terminal and be provided if required with a shield, either turned solidly
with the said cone or as a separate piece conveniently held in position.
To produce better sparking at starting than usual in the case of "heavy oil"
engines and to ensure the heavy vapour in the combustion chamber being properly
ignited when the cylinder is cold, 1 arrange in connection with the contact-breaker
a cock through which is injected a small quantity of a light oil, such as benzine,
on to the sparking points. To this end the cock is advantageously screwed upon
one of the terminals which is made hollow so as to enable the oil to be injected
therethrough onto the contact-breaker.
In the accompanying drawings,
Figure 1 is a longitudinal section through a sparking plug having my improve-
ments applied thereto but not having an injection cock fitted thereto; and
Figure 2 is a sectional elevation of a sparking plug provided with an injection
cock.
Referring to Figure 1 a is the body of the sparking plug, is the movable
contact lever which is operated by the external arm and c is the fixed terminal
coated with enamel which passes through the plug a and is insulated therefrom.
d is the insulating asbestos packing which encloses the terminal c and which is
held in position by forming conical recesses upon each face of the plug a and
by holding the ends of the asbestos tube d in the said recesses a¹ by means of
the cone formed upon the terminal c at its inner end and the loose conical
washer also coated with enamel at its outer end, the said cone d' and washer d
being held in position by the lock-nut which is screwed upon the outer screw-
threaded end of the terminal e and bears against the base of the conical washer ³.
This lock-nut may be of any suitable material, such as metal or porcelain.
e is the cylindrical extension of the plug a which shields the lock-nut d³ and
washer from damage and prevents any moisture or other foreign
conducting matter from entering and forming a short circuit, and f is the washer
of porcelain or other suitable non-conducting material which closes the open end
of the cylindrical shield e, the said washer being held in position by the metal
washer nut and lock-nut ; the nut and lock-nut h¹ also serve as a clamp
for receiving the conducting wire i. is a shield fitted upon the inner end of
the terminal e to protect the inner end of the asbestos packing d.
Figure 2 shews my improved sparking plug fitted with an injection cock. The
said cock is of ordinary construction and is screwed upon the projecting screw-
threaded end of the insulated terminal e, as clearly shewn, the said terminal in
this case, however, being made hollow, that is to say, provided with a passage-
way which at its outer end is in communication with the through passage-
way of the cock and which opens at its inner end into the ignition chamber
of the engine in such a manner that when the plug of the cock is turned so as to
open the passage-way a light oil, such as benzine, can be injected through
the cock and into the passage e¹ and thence on to the sparking points of the
terminals thereby facilitating the ignition of the heavy vapour in the combustion

page_text: chamber in a cold cylinder, for example when starting the engine. Previous to
starting the engine the cock may be closed.
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 electric sparking plugs for explosion engines, insulating the fixed terminal
by a packing of asbestos held in position in the plug by a conical washer and a
cone which are pressed into conical recesses in the plug by a lock-nut, the ter-
minal being also advantageously provided with a coating of hard enamel sub-
stantially as herein before described.
2. In electric sparking plugs of the kind described in the preceding claiming
clause, the employment for protecting the outer conical washer and lock-nut of
a cylindrical shield on the body of the plug, the said shield being closed at its
open end by a washer of porcelain or other suitable material held in position by
a washer and nuts which latter may serve as the clamp for the conducting wire,
substantially as herein before described.
3. An electric sparking plug for explosion engines having a hollow terminal
to which a cock can be fitted so that a light oil, such as benzine, can be injected
on to the sparking points, substantially as, and for the purpose, herein before
described.
4. The improved electric sparking plug for explosion engines hereinbefore
described and illustrated in Figure 1 of the accompanying drawing.
5. The improved electric sparking plug for explosion engines herein before
described and illustrated in Figure 2 of the accompanying drawing.
Dated the 23rd day of August 1899
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, Finsbury, London,
Agents for the Applicant.