Improvements in Apparatus for Carburetting Air.
Year: 1891

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Apparatus for Carburetting Air.
We, GEORGE HARGREAVES, of No. 18, Seventeenth Street, Lumberman,
JAMES PARDEE SCRANTON, of No. 551, Congress Street East, Lumberman,
and EDWARDS WILLIAMS PORTER, Gentleman, of No. 38, Winder Street, all
of Detroit, in the County of Wayne, Michigan, United States of America, do
hereby declare the nature of our 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 new and useful improvements in apparatus for
carbureting air, and the object of the invention is to produce carbureted air in
which the proportion of hydrocarbon is so nicely adjusted to the amount of air
used that the vapour produced is neither so heavily carbureted as to smoke in
burning, or so lightly as not to produce a pure white flame.
Furthermore it is the object of our invention to automatically regulate the
quantity of vapour produced to the amount consumed, thus if one burner is in use
the machine produces vapour sufficient for one burner only, if ten burners are
lighted the proportion of vapour is increased to supply them all, while if all lights
are turned out no vapour is produced, thus up to a certain limit the apparatus is
intended to automatically adjust itself to furnish the requisite amount of vapour.
Our improved apparatus comprises an air pump for forcing the air, a feeding
device for supplying oil in regulated quantities to the carburetor, and a carburetor
in which the vapour is formed; the parts being so constructed arranged and
combined, that the operation of the air pump is directly controlled by the quantity
of vapour consumed in burning; that the feeding device is directly controlled by
the operation of the air pump, and that the feed device has proper adjustments for
regulating the quantity of oil necessary to carburet a certain quantity of air.
In the drawings,
Figure 1 is a diagram side elevation partly in section of my apparatus complete.
Figure 2 is a cross section through the air-pump.
Figure 3 is an enlarged sectional elevation of the motor and feeding device.
Figure 4 is a diagram front elevation of the machine and
Figure 5 is a detail of one of the cam wheels for controlling the feed valves.
A is an oil tank which is preferably placed outside the building below the
ground. B is an air pump for furnishing the air to the carburetor C, and' D is a
motor device therefor.
E is a feeding device, or pump for regulating the supply of oil to the carburetor,
and F are mechanically controlled valves in the discharge and supply connections
of the pump.
The air
B
pump may be of any construction which will give a uniform pressure
of air; we preferably use the construction shown in the drawings of which a is
a cylindrical casing partly filled with water; is a shaft passing centrally through
said casing and carrying the buckets c, one end of said shaft passing through the
stuffing boxes d and out of the casing the other being suitably journaled to the
opposite head of the cylinder.
e is an exit pipe centrally leading out from the casing opposite the shaft b, and
fis an inlet aperture at the top of the casing, the parts being similar in construction
as the well known gas meter, but so arranged as to force air by the rotation of the
shaft b (and consequent depression of the buckets into the water) through the exit
pipe e:
The motor device D may also be of any kind which will drive the pump against
a certain fixed resistance or air pressure only.

page_text: In the drawings g, is a winding drum journaled in line with the shaft b of the air
pump, the projecting end of said shaft forming one of the bearings for one end of
the drum. A hand wheel is fast upon the shaft band engages with the adjacent
end of the drum, through the medium of a pawl and ratchet device, all so arranged
that the revolution of the drum will transmit motion to the shaft of the air pump.
The shaft of the drum projects beyond its bearing and is provided with a winding
crank j, and gear wheel K.
k is a cord or wire cable wound upon the drum one end of which after passing
over suitable pulleys is attached to the weight D'. By using a sufficient
number of pulleys and heavy enough weight, a single winding will store power to
last for several days.
The carburetor is constructed as follows: Within the casing I place a series of
conical disks m one above the other, and having their apices alternately turned up
or down. Each disk has a series of perforations at or near the lowest point of its
surface, all so arranged that the oil which is introduced through the pipe G into
the top of the carburetor will run down the inclined surface of the disks m dropping
through the perforations n which are alternately at the base or apex of each plate,
onto the plate immediately below. At the same time the air which is admitted
through the air pipe H into the bottom of the carburetor in passing up in contact
with the surfaces of the disk m and through the perforations n, is brought into such
intimate relation with the oil that the latter is completely absorbed before it
reaches the bottom of the carburetor. I is a gas pipe leading out from the top of
the casing.
E is a pump preferably consisting of two single acting pump cylinders cach
having a pitman o pivotally connected at its lower end to the plunger o¹ and at its
upper end to the double crank J which is secured on the end of a shaft J¹ journaled
in suitable bearings to the frame of the machine underneath the shaft i.
J2 is a gear wheel upon the shaft J¹ meshing with the gear wheel K sleeved upon
the shaft i, and adapted to be driven by the same through the medium of the
ratchet wheel K' secured to said shaft and pawl K' upon the gear wheel K.
The double crank J is formed of the plate J³ adjustably secured to the face of
the gear wheel 2, by means of the adjusting screw J engaging with the lug J' on
the rear side of the plate Ja said lug passing through the slot J* in the gear
wheel J².
J7 is a crank pin secured to the plate J³ and J8 is a slotted arm secured to the
said pin carrying the adjustable crank pin J' all so arranged that by the means
described the length of the cranks can be adjusted to insure greater accuracy in
such adjustment. The plate J³ and arm Ja are each provided with a scale marking
by which they may be set equidistant from the center of the shaft.
L are cam wheels adjustably secured to the shaft J' by means of the set-screw L',
cach of these wheels is provided with a cam flange L' extending a little less than
half way around its periphery.
Fare valves operated by the cams L, two of said valves forming the admission
valves and the other to the discharge valves of the pump cylinder allowing the oil
from the pumps to pass into the carburetor. We preferably use the so-called
needle valves and arrange them in a common casing M containing the chambers M¹
and M connected with the pipes A' and G leading respectively to the oil tank A
and carburetor C.
N are stems of the valves F preferably made adjustable as to length; by means
of the coupling N₁ and set screws N. Their upper ends are provided with anti-
friction rollers N³ adapted to engage with the cam flanges L N is a guide for
each of the valve stems N, and N are springs sleeved upon the valve stems and
adapted to hold the valves to their seats except when lifted by the cams L.
M3 and M are induction and eduction pipes connecting the chambers M' and M'
respectively with the pump cylinders E, whenever their valves F are open. ○ is a
supplementary air pump for compressing air in the tank A above the oil, to elevate
the latter to the chamber M. O' is a pitman connecting the plunger of said pump

page_text: with the crank j, which is preferably sleeved upon the shaft i having the ratchet
and pawl connection therewith, admitting of its being turned one way without
moving the shaft i.
The pitman O' is made in two parts having a slip coupling O2 which may be
tightened by the set screw 03 thus making a dissoluble driving connection between
the motor and the pump O.
In practice the apparatus is intended to operate as follows: The motor is wound
up by turning the crank which at the same time by its connection with the supple-
mentary air pump O, compressed the air in the tank A above the oil sufficiently to
force the same through the pipe A' to the chamber M'.
If the requisite air pressure (as indicated by the gauge A³) is reached before the
motor is completely wound, an escape valve A will allow of the escape of air, or
the operator may unloosen the dissoluble connection O2 and thus allow the pitman O
to slide loosely in its socket without working the pump. When the motor is wound.
the machine is ready for operation but if no escape for vapour is afforded the pump
stops when a certain pressure is reached and this pressure can be regulated by
increasing or diminishing the weight.
Assoon however, as one or more of the gas jets are opened and the pressure thereby
relieved, the motor will begin to operate, and by actuating the air and feed pumps
will force air into the bottom of the carburetor and oil in the top, which in running
down over the disks m is completely absorbed by the air before reaching the bottom
and produces carbureted air in the usual manner. Thus the operation of the
apparatus is automatically controlled by the pressure of the vapour.
It will be seen that the office of the feed pumps E and their mechanically con-
trolled valves is not to force oil into the carburetor (which might readily be accom-
plished by the pressure of the air above the tank A) but to so control the flow of
oil that a measured quantity is allowed to pass into the carburetor for a certain
volume of air, and to this end the cams L are so set that the admission valves
are always closed before the discharge valves are opened, and to vary the propor-
tions of oil to the air the stroke of the pump E is made adjustable by lengthening
or shortening the cranks.
The object of our mechanically controlled valves is to insure their positive
action no matter how slow the operation of the pump is, and thus the quantity
of oil fed into the carburetor (after the adjustment is once made) never varies.
By maintaining a fixed pressure on the oil within the tank, we prevent the
separation of the lighter from the heavier products, thus the last drop is just
the same in quality as the first.
In conclusion the advantages of my construction may be briefly summed up as
follows:-
First. That the machine is perfectly automatic in its operation.
Second. That the gas is only made as needed for consumption and is not stored
in a gasometer at the risk of deterioration in quality.
Third. The quality of vapour may always be maintained uniform neither being
too heavily or too lightly carbureted.
Fourth. All the oil or hydrocarbon may be used as no separation of the lighter
from the heavier products can take place, as is the common difficulty in other
machines where a residuum is left which is of no value.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim'is :-
:-
1. In an apparatus for manufacturing carbureted air, the combination with an
air pump and motor automatically controlled in their operation by the pressure
of the air, of a feed device driven by a suitable connection with the air pump, and
of valves for said feed device, also controlled by positive mechanical connection
with the air pump substantially as described.

page_text: 2. In an apparatus for carbureting air, the combination with the air pump and
motor automatically controlled by the pressure of the air, of the carburetor into
which the air is delivered from the air pump, a feed pipe connected to said carburetor
to feed oil into it, and a valve in said feed pipe adapted to control the delivery
of oil into said carburetor said feed valve controlled by positive mechanical con-
nection, substantially as described.
3. In an apparatus for carbureting air, the combination with the air-pump and
motor automatically controlled by the pressure of the air in the carburetor, of a
carburetor into which the air is delivered by said air-pump, a feed pump for
feeding oil into said carburetor, and of pump valves controlled by positive
mechanical connection with the air compressor, substantially as described.
4. In an apparatus for carbureting air, the combination with the air pump and
motor automatically controlled in their action by the pressure of air in the
carburetor into which the air is delivered from said air pump, two single acting
pump cylinders to feed oil alternately into said inlet and outlet valve of said pump
cylinders being controlled by positive mechanical connection with the air pump
substantially as described.
5. In an apparatus for carbureting air, the combination with the air pump and
motor automatically controlled by the pressure of air in the carburetor, a carburetor
into which air is delivered from said air pump, two single acting feed pumps for
feeding oil alternately into said carburetor and provided with valves controlled by
positive mechanical connection with the air pump, an oil reservoir connected to the
feed pumps, a supplementary air pump connected into the top of said reservoir, and
a dissoluble drive connection between said pump, and the winding mechanism of
the motor, substantially as described.
6. In an apparatus for carbureting air, the combination of an air pump and
actuating motor automatically controlled by the pressure of the air in the carburetor
a carburetor from which the carbureted air is directly supplied to the burners, and
an oil feeding device consisting of a suitable pump actuated by the motor under
the control of the air pump, inlet and outlet connections from said pump com-
municating respectively with a supply tank and with the carburetor, induction and
eduction valves in said pump connections also actuated by the motor under the
control of the air pump, and a supply tank from which the oil is automatically
supplied to the feed pump by compressed air on top of the oil in the supply tank,
substantially as described.
7. In an apparatus for carbureting air, the combination with a carburetor, of
compressed air and oil feeding devices connecting into the bottom and top of said
carburetor respectively of a motor adapted to intermittently operate said device
under the control of the pressure of air in the carburetor, and a supply tank for
such feeding device in which the oil is maintained under an air pressure by an
independent air compressing device substantially as described.
8. In an apparatus for carbureting air, a carburetor consisting of a cylindrical
casing, a vertical series of perforated conical disks fitted within said casing
alternately reversed and alternately perforated in the center and near the edge,
and of an apertured or raised flange formed around the edge of such disks having
their perforations near the edge, substantially as described.
9. In an apparatus for carbureting air, the combination with the carburetor
of the rotary air compressor and its motor the winding drum of said motor
journaled in line with the shaft of said air compressor and having a ratchet
and pawl connection therewith, the winding crank on the shaft of the winding
drun, the two single acting pumps, an induction and an eduction chamber com-
municating with a supply tank and with the carburetor respectively and also
communicating with the induction and eduction ports of the pumps through inter-
mediate connections controlled by induction and eduction valves, a shaft driven by
intermediate gearing with the shaft of the winding drum and provided with two
adjustable cranks for actuating the pumps and with cams or their equivalents for

page_text: actuating the valves of said pumps, and a supply tank provided with an inde-
pendent air compressor for forcing air into the top of the tank all arranged to
operate, substantially as described.
Dated this 20th day of January 1901
GEORGE HARGREAVES.
JAMES PARDEE SCRANTON.
EDWARDS WILLIAMS PORTER.
Haseltine, Lake & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, Agents for the Applicants.