IMPROVE- MENTS IN GAS ENGINES
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Bower, of St. Neots, in the County of.
Huntingdon, Gas and Water Work Engineer, and William Hollins-:
head, of the same Place, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN GAS ENGINES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said- George Bower and
William Hollinshead at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,
with their Petition, on the 11th September 1868.
We, GEORGE BOWER, of St. Neots, in the County of Huntingdon, Gas.
and Water Work Engineer, and WILLIAM HOLLINSHEAD, of the same
Place, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN GAS ENGINES," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to certain improvements in the general con-
struction, arrangement, and combination of the parts of motive-power.
engines intended to be worked by the ignition of an explosive mixture
of gas and air inside the actuating cylinders, and consists in the use of
two oscillating cylinders placed at right angles to each other, and having
their piston rods coupled to the same crank. They are supported by two

page_text: cast-iron A standards bolted on to a sole plate, each cylinder being
provided with piston and rod, one eccentric and rod, and one valve box.
One of the cylinder covers has apertures cast in it for the admission of
atmospheric air to one side of the piston. The valve is divided vertically
in the direction of its motion by a partition separating the supply and
exhaust ports from the ignition port. The supply and ignition ports
have each separate entrances into the cylinder. The trunnion on the
valve box side is bolted on to the back of the valve box, and is fitted
with an internal tube held stationary by being secured to one of the side
standards. This tube is divided by a longitudinal cross partition, the
lower half of the said tube being for admitting the explosive mixture,
and the upper half for containing the igniting jet. The end of the
stationary tube and that part of the valve box against which it fits have
suitable apertures arranged in them for admitting the explosive mixture
into the valve box and cylinder, and for the ignition by a confined gas
jet at the proper times. The side of the upper half of the fixed tube
and the trunnion have also apertures for admitting an outer jet of gas
for the purpose of re-lighting the one within the tube, and also for
admitting a supply of atmospheric air to the confined gas jet for sup-
porting combustion. The combined motion of the valve worked by the
eccentric and the oscillating motion of the cylinder enable the operations
of admitting the explosive mixture, ignition, exhaust, and relighting to
be performed in a simple manner. The cylinder is also provided with
a jacket for the purpose of keeping it cool by the admission of cold water
at the opposite trunnion. A pump with a solid plunger piston is
provided for pumping the gas and air into a receiver cast on the side
of such pump, suitable pipes and apertures serving to convey the gas
and air into the said pump through valves and cocks. The stroke of the
pump may be adjusted so as to force into the receiver the exact quantity
of explosive mixture required for the two cylinders. The gas is conveyed
from the receiver to the cylinders by suitable pipes, and a throttle valve
is fixed in them with gearing and governor for regulating the working
of the engine. A small hand pump is fixed near the above pump for
the purpose of starting the engine with pipes and cocks, connecting it
with the gas and air supplies and with the cylinders. This engine is
provided with the usual fittings, such as fly wheel and shaft, plummer
blocks, bolts, cross stays, and the like.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said George Bower and William Hollinshead in the
Great Seal Patent Office on the 11th March 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, GEORGE
BOWER, of St. Neots, in the County of Huntingdon, Gas and Water Work
Engineer, and WILLIAM HOLLINSHEAD, of the same Place, Engineer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eleventh day of September, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the thirty-
second 1 year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto us, the said George Bower and William Hollinshead,
Her special license that we, the said George Bower and William
Hollinshead, our executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as we, the said George Bower and William Hollinshead, our exe-
cutors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with,
and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during the
term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise,
and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,
the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN GAS ENGINES," upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the
said George Bower and William Hollinshead, our executors or adminis-
trators, by an instrument in writing under our hands and scals, or under
the hand and seal of one of us, should particularly describe and ascer-
tain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great
Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediately
after the date of the said Letters Patent.
I NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said George Bower and William.
Hollinshead, do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following statement, reference being had
to the accompanying Drawings, and to the letters and figures marked
thereon, that is to say :-
Our said Invention relates to the construction of engines in which the
motive power is derived from the force developed by the explosion of a

page_text: mixture of air and gas in certain proportions. The engine consists of a
framework carrying two cylinders placed diagonally and at right angles
to each other; these cylinders are arranged so as to oscillate on hollow
trunnions and both the piston rods are attached to the same crank pin.
On one side of each cylinder and having the axis of oscillation passing
through it there is fitted a valve box with cover and slide valve, and
on the face of the cover of the valve box there is attached the hollow
trunnion. The trunnion on the opposite side of the cylinder is attached
direct to it. Each cylinder is provided with a jacket or outer case for
the purpose of passing a stream of water round it to keep it cool.
. Within the hollow trunnions are fitted internal tubes or casings having
.compartments arranged in them for the purposes herein-after described;
.these internal tubes or casings are turned so as to fit accurately and
truly the interior of the trunnions which are also bored out; the internal
casings are held in position by a bracket and set screw bolted on to the
framework of the engine, thus preventing them from oscillating or
vibrating with the trunnions and cylinders. The valve motion is a
compound one, consisting of the ordinary reciprocating motion of the
slide valve along the cylinder face produced by an eccentric or cam on
the crank shaft and of the oscillation of the cylinder itself, the latter
motion causing the valve, valve chest, and cylinder face to oscillate
together laterally at the same time that the valve slides or reciprocates
longitudinally along the cylinder face. The explosion of the mixture
of gas and air is effected at one end of each cylinder only, the down
stroke being performed by the pressure of the atmosphere acting on a
partial vacuum produced under the piston by the exploded gases. The
gas and air for effecting the explosion are pumped into a receiver by two
pumps with the usual suction and delivery valves, and worked by one
eccentric and rod from the fly wheel shaft. The pressure in the receiver
is prevented from accumulating to too great an extent by escape valves
loaded to the pressure desired. The gas and air thus forced into the
receiver are conducted from thence by means of pipes into the lower
compartment of the internal tubes or casings of the trunnions and from
thence into the cylinders. The admission of the gas and air to be
exploded into the valve box is effected solely by a passage formed in
the end of the internal casing where it fits against the valve box cover,
and a corresponding passage formed in the valve box cover itself, such
passages always communicating with each other. The slide valve is
worked from the fly wheel shaft by an eccentric cam of the usual

page_text: description. The regulation of the operation of the igniting jet and of
the relighting jet is effected by the combined oscillation of the trunnions
and cylinders and the reciprocating motion of the slide valve. The upper
compartment of the internal casing of the trunnion on the valve side of
each cylinder is fitted with a gas jet, and an aperture is formed in the end
of the upper compartment of the internal casing where it abuts against
the valve cover, a corresponding aperture being made in the valve cover
itself, and another similar aperture in the back of the slide valve. All
these apertures coincide with each other at that point of the .stroke
where it is desired to effect the explosion and at no other point; the
oscillation of the cylinder and consequently the closing of the aperture
in the upper compartment of the casing preventing the back explosion
which would occur with the slide valve alone. At the time of the
explosion the communication. of the internal gas jet with the external
air is cut off by the closing of the lateral air ports formed in the sides
of the trunnions and internal tubes or casings by the oscillation of the
cylinders, and the communication is restored immediately afterwards
by the same means. The exhaust passage passes round one side of the
cylinder and within the jacketting to the internal casing of the trunnion
opposite to that on the valve box, and is carried forward by the central
compartment of the said internal casing, the other two compartments
of such internal casing are for the purpose of keeping up a constant
circulation of water through the cylinder jackets.
And in order that our said Invention may be fully understood we shall
now proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose
'shall refer to the several Figures on the annexed Sheets of Drawings,
the same letters of reference indicating corresponding parts in all the
Figures.
Figure 1 (Sheet 1) is a front elevation, of the engine; Figure 2. is a
plan of the same with the cylinders removed; (Figure 3 (Sheet 2) is a
vertical section of the cylinder with its slide valve, valve box, and
trunnions; Figure 4 is an elevation of the cylinder, showing the ports
therein; Figure 5 is a sectional plan of the cylinder taken through the
exhaust and igniting ports; Figure 6 is an elevation of the front or face
of the slide valve; Figure 7 is a longitudinal section of the trunnion
and internal fixed tube or casing of the same for the admission of the
'explosive mixture and of the jet: for ignition to the cylinder; Figure 8
is a transverse section of the same; Figure 9 is a longitudinal section

page_text: of the trunnion and internal tube or casing for the admission and exit
of water to and from the jacket surrounding the cylinder, and for the
exhaust from the cylinder; Figure 10 is a trunnion section of the same;
Figure 11 is a sectional elevation of the gas and air pumps and. their
valves; Figure 12' is a sectional plan of the same, showing also the
receiver for the gas and air from the pumps, and the connecting pipes;
Figure 18 is a sectional elevation of the suction valve of the air pump;
and Figure 14 is a sectional elevation of the suction valve of the gas
pump.
A, A, (Figures 1 and 2) are the cylinders; B is the fly wheel; C, the
Ay wheel shaft; D, the crank disc; E, the governor; F, F, the gas and
air pumps; G, G, the trunnions on the exhaust side of the cylinders;
H, H, are brackets for preventing the internal casings of the trunnions
from oscillating with the trunnions; I is a bracket for carrying the
governor ; K is the throttle valve; L, a small hand force pump with
connecting pipes and cocks leading to the gas supply pipes, and for
conveying the explosive mixture into the cylinder. This pump is for
the purpose of forcing gas into the cylinders at the time of starting.
M is the bed plate of the engine; N are the pipes for conveying water
to and from the trunnions; O are pipes for conducting air from the air
pump to the receiver O'; P are pipes for conducting gas from the gas
pump to the said receiver; Q is the gas supply pipe; R are the pipes
conveying the explosive mixture from the receiver to the trunnions;
8 are the by-pass pipes connecting the small starting pump with the gas
pipe Q; T is a bracket and pulleys for the driving land of the governor;
V, V, are the driving pulleys of the governor; W is the lever for
connecting the governor with the throttle valve.
In Figures 3 to 6 (Sheet 2), X is the piston and Y the piston rod.
Z is the jacket round the cylinder; a is the exhaust passage, which
extends half way round the cylinder; b, b, are ports for the admission
of water into and out of the jacket of the cylinder; c, c, are ports for
water in the internal casing of the trunnions, corresponding with those
marked b, b; G is the trunnion on the exhaust side of cylinder, and d is
the internal casing of the same; e is the central passage in the internal
casing d for the exhaust; fare apertures in the cover of the cylender
for the admission of air during the down stroke; g is the valve rod; his
the slide valve; is the exhaust port; k is the port for the admission of
the mixture of gas and air to the cylinder; i is the cover of the valve

page_text: box, and m is the interior of the valve box; G is the trunnion on the
valve side of the cylinder and opposite to the trunnion G; d¹ is the
internal casing of this trunnion divided by a longitudinal partition, as
shown, into two compartments; n is the jet of gas for igniting the
explosive mixture under the piston, and o is another jet of gas placed
outside the trunnion for relighting the jet n after the explosion; p is the
lateral port in the trunnion G' for admitting the flame of gas jet o
to the inner jet n, and q is a corresponding aperture in the internal
casing d' of the trunnion. These apertures are so arranged that the
oscillation of the cylinder closes them at the time of the explosion, and
opens them afterwards for relighting the internal jet. Other apertures
are made in the trunnion and internal casing arranged in the same
manner for affording access of air to the internal jet, but which are all
closed at the moment of the explosion by the oscillation of the cylinder.
r is a gas port in the valve box cover, and r¹ is a corresponding port in
the lower compartment of the casing d¹; s is a port in the back of the
valve, shewn dotted in Figure 3, for igniting the mixture of gas and air
in the cylinder; this port s opens into the igniting chamber (Figure 6)
and is in communication with the interior of the cylinder through the
separate igniting port and passage s¹ (Figures 4 and 5, and partly shown
by a dotted line in Figure 3. The ports communicates at the time when
the explosion is to take place with the ports or openings u and u¹ made
respectively in the valve box cover, and in the end of the upper com-
partment of the internal casing d₁, also shown dotted in Figure 3, to
allow of the entrance of the jet n into the igniting chamber t; v. is the
exhaust chamber in the valve, which is entirely separate from the
igniting chamber t; w is the lower compartment for the admission of
gas and air to the cylinders; x is the compartment containing the
ignition jet n.
In Figures 11 to 14, F" is the air pump, and F is the gas pump; O' is
the receiver; y is the outlet from the receiver; zis the suction valve,
and 1 is the delivery valve of the air pump; 2 is an escape valve for the
air pump for preventing an undue amount of pressure in the receiver;
3 is the suction valve, and 4 is the delivery valve of the gas pump; 5 is
the escape valve of the gas pump; Q is the gas supply pipe; 6 is a
by-pass pipe for conveying any gas discharged by the escape valve into
the gas supply pipe Q; P is the pipe connecting the gas pump with
the receiver O¹; O is the pipe connecting the air pump with the same
receiver; 7 is a guard for the air escape valve.

page_text: Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of. our
said Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used
or carried into effect, we would observe in conclusion that what we
consider to be novel and original and therefore claim as the Invention
secured to us by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,―
First. The general combination and arrangement of parts constituting
what is known as a gas engine for the obtainment of motive power, sub-
stantially as herein-before described and illustrated by the annexed
Sheets of Drawings.
Second. The combining in a gas engine the motion produced by the
oscillation of the cylinder with the ordinary slide valve motion, sub-
stantially as and for the purpose herein-before described.
Third. The application and use to and in the trunnions of the cylinder
or cylinders of a gas engine of the peculiar internal casings constructed
and operated, substantially in the manner and for the purpose herein-
before described.
In witness whereof, we, the said George Bower and William
Hollinshead, have to this our Specification set our hands and
seals, this Eighth day of March, One thousand eight hundred and
sixty-nimo.
Witness,
C. W. SMITH,
St. Neots.
GEO. BOWER.
(L.S.)
W. HOLLINSHEAD. (L.S.)