Improvements in Explosion Engines.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 11th Oct., 1892
Complete Specification Left, 10th Aug., 1893—Accepted, 11th Nov., 1893
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Explosion Engines.
I, THOMAS GILBERT-RUSSELL, of Pluscarden, Neasden, in the County of
Middlesex, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
This invention relates to an explosion engine having a vibratory piston or pistons
and in which what is known as the Otto principle or cycle of operations is applied
whereby I obtain one or more explosions or impulses for each vibration of the
piston or pistons.
For this purpose I provide a cylinder or chamber having within it division pieces
or bulkheads which serve to form compartments in which to admit, compress and
explode gas and air or other combustible vapours as hereinafter described. In
the cylinder I arrange a central boss having pistons or blades projecting into the
compartments so as to form a compound piston, the blades of which are adapted to
work in the said compartments. The boss having the blades is secured to a central
rock-shaft which is held in position by and passes through the cylinder covers and
serves to operate the crank-shaft by an arm and connecting rod.
the piston and the bulkheads are advantageously flanged so that they can be
respectively connected by bolts to the boss of the piston and the interior of the
cylinder.
The blades of
The blades of the piston and the bulkheads and covers are provided with suitable
packing which advantageously consists of rings and straight pieces kept gas-tight
by spiral or other other springs placed behind them.
For the purpose of effecting the cycle of operations I provide suitable valves in
connection with each compartment. These valves are advantageously of the
mushroom type and serve to admit the combustible mixtures to the compartments
to ignite the charges and exhaust the products of combustion.
These valves are advantageously operated by cams so arranged on their
operating shaft that they can be moved to throw any of the valves out of use in
order to decrease the power of the engine.
I provide suitable jackets on the cylinder or covers for the circulation of water
for cooling purposes and I also provide for the circulation of water through the
rock-shaft and the boss of the piston.
By my arrangement I can employ either one cylinder with a pair of blades or
pistons diametrically opposed to one another or two cylinders each having a pair of
blades or pistons on one rock-shaft and in some cases I employ one cylinder with
four chambers and four blades or pistons.
Couch 1902
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, Finsbury, London, Agents for the Applicant.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Explosion Engines.
I, THOMAS GILBERT-RUSSELL, of Pluscarden, Neasden, in the County of
Middlesex, Gentleman, 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 :-
This invention relates to an explosion engine having a vibratory piston or pistons

page_text: and in which what is known as the Otto principle or cycle of operations is applie
whereby I obtain one or more explosions or impulses for each vibration of th
piston or pistons.
For this purpose I provide a cylinder or chamber having within it divisio
pieces or bulkheads which serve to form compartments in which to admit, compres
and explode gas and air or other combustible vapours as hereinafter described. I
the cylinder I arrange a central boss having pistons or blades projecting into the
compartments so as to form a compound piston, the blades of which are adapted to
work in the said compartments. The boss having the blades is secured to a central
rock-shaft which is held in position by and passes through the cylinder covers and
serves to operate the crank-shaft by an arm and connecting rod. The blades of the
piston and the bulkheads are advantageously flanged so that they can be
respectively connected by bolts to the boss of the piston and the interior of the
cylinder.
The blades and boss of the piston and the bulkheads are provided with suitable
packing which advantageously consists of rings and straight pieces kept gas-tight
by spiral or other springs placed behind them.
For the purpose of effecting the cycle of operations I provide suitable valves in
connection with each compartment.
These valves are advantageously of the
mushroom type and serve to admit the combustible mixtures to the compartments
and exhaust the products of combustion.
These valves are advantageously operated by cams and the connecting
mechanism between the gas valves and their cams being arranged so that it can
be moved to throw the said valves out of use in order to decrease the power of
the engine.
I provide suitable jackets on the cylinder or covers and openings in the
bulkheads for the circulation of water for cooling purposes and I also provide
for the circulation of water through the rock-shaft and the boss and blades of
the piston.
By my arrangement I can employ either one cylinder with a pair of blades or
pistons diametrically opposed to one another or two cylinders each having a pair
of blades or pistons on one rock-shaft and in some cases I employ one cylinder
with four chambers and four blades or pistons.
To enable my invention to be fully understood I will describe how it can be carried
into practice by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which :—
Figure 1 is a side elevation of a gas-engine constructed according to my invention,
the engine being of the type in which a cylinder is employed having two bulkheads
and a pair of blades or pistons diametrically opposed to one another. One of the
cylinder covers is omitted in order to shew the interior of the cylinder and pistons
therein.
Figure 2 is a sectional plan of the engine, and,
Figure 3 is a side elevation shewing the valve mechanism and governor
connections.
Figure 4 is a section on the line 4-4, Figure 3.
Figure 5 is a sectional elevation of one of the valve chests the section being
taken on the line 5-5, Figure 4.
Figures 6 and 7 are side views of two forms of cams employed for operating the
valves, and,
Figure 8 is a development of the cams employed for operating the valves, the
operating parts of the said cams being arranged in the order for effecting the
required cycle of operations in the cylinder.
Similar letters of reference indicate similar parts throughout the drawings.
a is the cylinder, b, b the division pieces or bulkheads therein and c the central
boss provided with the blades or pistons d, d¹ projecting into and vibrating in the
spaces or compartments formed between the bulkheads b, b, the spaces between the 5
In each of
said blades and bulkheads forming four compartments e, el, e², e³.
the said compartments the Otto cycle of operations is carried on, that is to say,

page_text: gas and air are admitted, compressed, exploded and the products of combustion
exhausted, and in such order, as hereinafter described, that an impulse is obtained
at each vibration of the compound piston d, d'.
fis the rock-shaft to which the boss c is secured, the said rock-shaft passing
through and rotating in bearings f¹, f¹, in the cylinder covers 9, 9 and in some
cases rotating in additional bearings attached to the bed of the engine. is the
arm on the rock-shaft through the medium of which and the connecting rod i
the vibrating movement of the compound piston d, d', is communicated to the
crank-shaft j.
In large engines two arms / may be advantageously used attached to the rock-
shaft one on each side of the cylinder, with either a fork shaped or two separate
connecting rods for transmitting the power to the crank-shaft. The dotted lines
in Figure 2 shew the rock-shaft extended for this purpose.
k, kare the flanges on the blades d, d¹ and bulkheads 6, 6 whereby they are
respectively connected by the bolts 1, to the boss c and the interior of the
oylinder a.
m, m³, m² indicate suitable metallic packing for keeping the blades d, d¹, boss c
and bulkheads b, b respectively gas-tight.
n, n' are the valves for controlling the supply of gas to the engine, the former
valve operating in connection with the compartments e, e³, while the latter valve
operates in connection with the compartments e¹ and e². o, o¹, 02, 03 are the inlet
valves or valves for admitting the explosive mixture and p, p', p², p³, the exhaust
valves, which valves in each series operate in connection with the compart-
ments e, e', e², e respectively.
qare two valve-chests in which the valves are carried. The inlet and exhaust
valves for each compartment open into a chamber r from which a port r¹ leads into
the said compartment, the air passing to each inlet valve through a holes and
passages while the products of combustion pass from each exhaust valve through
a passages into a pipe s³. The gas valves open communication between gas-inlet
passages, and the passages s¹ so that the gas and air are drawn together into
the cylinder a through the inlet valves.
t, t¹ are the cams for operating respectively the gas valves n, none of which
cams is shewn at Figure 6. Each of these cams has two operating portions or
projections u, u³ and u¹, u² which operate in connection with the compart-
ments e, e³, e¹, e² respectively. v, v1, v2, v3 are the cams for operating respectively
the inlet valves o, o¹, 02, 0³ and w, w¹, w², w³ the cams for operating respectively the
exhaust valves p, p², p², p³. One of the cams which serve for either the exhaust
or inlet valves, is shewn at Figure 7. The valves n, n' are operated directly from
their cams while the inlet and exhaust valves are operated through the medium of
bell-cranks, respectively. The whole of the said cams are mounted upon and
rotated by a shaft y driven from the crank shaft j through the medium of gear
wheels y', y, y³, y which wheels are so proportioned that the crank shaft makes two
revolutions for one of the shaft y.
The valves are provided with friction rollers pt to roll upon the cams, springs p
being employed to keep them in contact with the said cams.
The cams are arranged upon the shaft y so as to effect each operation of the
cycle of operations successively in the compartments e, e¹, e², e³, that is to say, the
admission of the explosion mixture for instance will first take place in the com-
partment e, then in the compartment e', next in the compartment e² and finally
in the compartment e³ and so on for each operation.
2,2,2, z are igniting tubes in connection with each compartment e, e¹, e², e³, through
passages and the chambers r the said tubes serving to ignite the combustible
charge automatically in a well known manner when a predetermined degree of
compression is obtained.
The operation of the engine is as follows-
Assume the blades and pistons d, d¹ to be in the position shewn in Figure 1, the
compartment e to have a compressed charge, the compartment e¹ and uncompressed

page_text: charge, the compartment e² to have just exhausted and the compartment 3 full of
the products of combustion. The charge in the compartment e will then ignite
and drive the blade d in the direction of the arrow whereby the charge in the
compartment will be compressed, the compartment e² will be filled by a fresh
charge, through the valve o' operated by the cam 2, the gas valve n¹ also being
opened by the portion u² of the cam t¹, and the compartment e³ will have the
products of combustion therein driven out by the blade or piston d' through the
exhaust valve p³ operated by the cam w³. The compressed charge in the compart-
ment e will then ignite and drive the blade d back to its first position whereby the
charge in the compartment e² will be compressed, the compartment e³ will be filled
by a fresh charge through the valve o operated by the cam v³, the gas valve n also
being opened by the portion u³ of the cam t, and the compartment e will have the
products of combustion therein driven out by the blade or piston d through
the exhaust valve p operated by the cam w. The compressed charge in the
compartment e² will now ignite and drive the blade d' in the direction of the arrow
whereby the charge in the compartment will be compressed, the compartment e
will be filled by a fresh charge through the valve o operated by the cam v, the gas
valve n also being opened by the portion u of the cam t, and the compartment e
will have the products of combustion therein driven out by the blade or piston d
through the exhaust valve p' operated by the cam w. Finally the compressed
charge in the compartment will ignite and drive the blade d' back again whereby
the charge in the compartment e will be compressed, the compartment el will be
filled by a fresh charge through the valve o operated by the cam v', the gas
valve n' also being operated by the portion of the cam t', and the compartment e
will have the products of combustion therein driven out by the blade or piston d'
through the exhaust valve p² operated by the cam w².
n,
n'
In order that the power of the engine may be varied to suit the load thereon, I
provide for disconnecting the gas valves from the operating portion of their
cams t, t¹ by means of an ordinary centrifugal governor y in the following
manner, that is to say, I form the bifurcation of the spindles of the gas valves
in which their rollers p³, pt are carried wider than the said rollers, so that the
latter can be moved laterally on their pivot pins by the governor through the
medium of the bell-crank y and a rod y' working in guides y and carrying
forks y, which latter embrace the said rollers. I also form the operating portions
of the said cams t, t¹ of different widths, as shewn clearly in Figure 8. For
instance, the portion u of the cam t is formed twice as wide as the portion u³, its
excess width projecting to the right of the portion 3 and the portions u' and u² of
the cam t' three times and four times as wide respectively as the portion u³ of the
cam t, the excess width of the portion u² also projecting to the right of the portion u'.
The forks y are arranged upon the rod y' in such a position that when the governor
is in its normal position the rollers 11 embraced thereby run level with the left
hand edge of the portions u³, u, u, u² of the cams t' as indicated in Figure 2.
By this arrangement when the governor balls rise the rod y' will be drawn to the
right and carry with it the rollers of the valves n, n' whereby the roller of the
valven will be withdrawn successively from the portions u³ and u of the cam & and
then the roller of the valve n¹ successively from the portions u¹ and u² of the cam t¹
whereby the supply of gas to the compartiments e³, e, e¹ and e² is cut off in succession
and the speed of the engine consequently decreased. The governor balls will then
drop owing to the decreased speed of the engine and move the rod y' to the left,
whereby the rollers of the valves n, n¹ will be successively moved onto the
portions u², u of the cam t¹ and then onto the portions u, u³ of the cam t.
yo, y, are gear wheels for operating the governor from the shaft y.
In connection with the gas valves I arrange mechanism whereby the gas supply
can be permanently shut off to one two or three of the compartments so as only to
employ the remaining compartment or compartments for running the engine and
thus decrease its power when required. For this purpose I employ a collar 2¹ upon
the rod y and fixed by a screw, the said collar acting as a stop against one of the

page_text: guides y so that by adjusting the said collar the rollers of the valves n, n¹ can be
permanently maintained out of contact with the operating portions u³, u³ and u or u³,
and u¹ of the cams t and t¹ as required, whereby the corresponding compartments
in the cylinder a are deprived of their gas supply.
a¹ and ', ' are the jackets on the cylinder a and covers g, g respectively for
the circulation of water, a² and a³ being the inlet and outlet respectively for the
said water. is the opening in each bulkhead for the admission of the cooling
water from the jacket a¹ and 2 c and d², d² are the openings in the rockshaft fi
boss e and pistons d, d' respectively also for the circulation of water.
Although I have described my engine as having a cylinder with two bulkheads
and with a pair of blades or pistons diametrically opposed to one another, I may in
some cases duplicate this arrangement that is to say, 1 may employ two such
cylinders, each having two bulkheads and two pistons, the cylinders being arranged
side by side with their respective rockshafts coupled to an arm and connecting rod
between the said cylinders, and may also employ a cylinder having four bulk-
heads and four pistons so that two impulses may be obtained for each vibration of
the pistons.
I have described and illustrated my engine as being operated by mixtures of gas
and air but it will be obvious that I can equally well employ petroleum or other
combustible oil, any suitable well known means being arranged for vapourizing
such oil.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what 1
claim is :-
1. An explosion engine having a cylinder provided with bulkheads and con-
taining a vibratory compound piston so arranged that the cylinder is divided into
four compartments each of which has inlet and exhaust valves so operated that an
explosion will take place in one compartment the ejection of the products of com-
bustion of the previous explosion from another compartment, the introduction of a
charge of explosion mixture in another compartment and the compression of a
charge of explosion mixture in another compartment, the four operations taking
place in cach compartment consecutively whereby an explosion is obtained for each
vibration of the piston, substantially as described.
2. In an explosion engine of the kind claimed in Claim 1, the combination of a
compound piston having four blades and a cylinder having four bulkheads whereby
two explosions are obtained for each vibration of the piston, substantially as
described.
3. An explosion engine comprising a cylinder having two bulkheads, two blades
or pistons projecting into the spaces between the bulkheads so as to form four com-
partments and suitable valves operated by cams for effecting the induction and
compression of the gaseous mixture and the exhaustion of the products of
combustion from each of the said compartments, substantially in the manner
hereinbefore described.
4. In an explosion engine of the kind described in the first and third claiming
clauses the employment of means for cutting off the gas supply to the several
compartments automatically and by hand, substantially as described.
5. In an explosion engine of the kind herein before described forming the rock-
shaft and piston hollow for the circulation of water, substantially as described.
6. The combination of parts forming an improved vibratory explosion engine the
said parts being arranged and operating, substantially as hereinbefore described and
illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, Finsbury, London, Agents for the Applicant.