Improvements in and relating to Gas Engines.
Year: 1895

page_text: Date of Application, 10th Sept., 1895-Accepted, 19th Oct., 1895
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in and relating to Gas Engines.
We, CHARLES WHITE, and ARTHUR RAPHAEL MIDDLETON, both of 1006
Edmonson Avenue, Baltimore, in the State of Maryland, one of the United States
of America, Manufacturers, 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:-
Our invention relates to gas engines, and though designed for use in connection
with a gas engine of the type illustrated in the drawings, known as the White &
Middleton engine, it may be used with good results and without material changes
with other forms of engines.
We use a single rod to control the inlet and outlet ports of the cylinder and aim
to perfect the governing of this rod by simple mechanism operating automatically,
located in proximity to the crank shaft and driven thereby through positive con-
nections, this governing mechanism controlling, according to the requirements of
the work, the number of explosions by the operation of the gas inlet valve.
In the accompanying drawings ;-
Fig. 1 represents a side elevation of the engine and its base with the governor
mechanism.
gas
Fig. 1 is a detail of the cam which controls the rod for operating the inlet
and the supplemental valve.
Fig. 2 is a sectional plan view.
Fig. 2 is an elevation of the governor mechanism in a view enlarged beyond
what is shown in the other figures.
Figs. 3, 4, and 5 are details relating to the governor mechanism.
In these drawings the base of the engine is shown at A and the cylinder at B,
being jacketed as usual, the space between being adapted to be filled with any
cooling medium. The piston is fitted in a manner well known to those skilled in
the art, to the inner walls of the cylinder. The piston is connected with the crank
shaft D by the ordinary rod E which has pivotal connection both with the piston
and crank shaft. The engine belongs to that class in which an explosion takes
place after every other reciprocation of the piston or less frequently as may be
required by the conditions of the work, and after each explosion the piston on its
return stroke forces out the exploded mixture through a supplemental exhaust
port; then on its outward movement draws in a fresh charge which is compressed
on the next return stroke and after this compression the explosion takes place.
The engine shown is provided with a supplemental exhaust port in the rear of
the cylinder controlled by a valve which is operated automatically by the same rod
which controls the gas inlet.
In the operation of this class of engine in order to discharge the foul contents
of the cylinder, it is necessary first, that the supplemental exhaust port valve be
positively opened. It is of course also necessary that it shall be opened at a
certain time in the movement of the piston, that movement being its return after' an
explosion has taken place.
In order to control accurately the operation of the valve covering the
supplemental exhaust opening, and also to regulate the introduction of a fresh
charge of explosive mixture by actuating the gas inlet valve, we have provided a
An operating
governor mechanism which we have shown in detail in Figs. 2 to 5.
rod F extends along the side of the cylinder, its rear end being guided in a

page_text: projection from the cylinder, and the extreme rear end bears against a lever i
pivoted on a stud k and adapted to actuate the valve controlling the supplemental
exhaust. The rod F is provided with a spring encircling it and having one end
bearing against a collar on the rod, with its other end bearing against the projecting
part of the cylinder. This spring has a tendency to press the end of the rod
operated upon towards the governing mechanism. The rod F has a projecting arm
or stud n adjustably secured to it, and this is in contact with the stem of a valve o
which controls the gas inlet, so that it will be seen that through the operation of
the single rod F the supplemental exhaust is operated and the gas inlet also, and
this operation is effected by very simple means and by parts which are not liable
to get out of order.
The means for controlling automatically the operation of the rod F, we will now
proceed to describe.
Upon the extreme end of the rod F is a laterally projecting stud p which carries
a disc o̟, shown in Figs. 1 and 2 and this disc is the part operated upon by the
cam r. A stop 2 limits the movement of the rod F towards the cam shaft, the
purpose being to reduce the friction as much as possible and to this end we arrange
the parts in such relation that the disc q does not touch the plane surface of the
cam but is only in contact with the cam surface thereof.
A. shaft G mounted in a part of the frame carries upon one end this cam r,
and upon its opposite end a gear wheels is mounted which derives its rotation
from a pinion t on the crank shaft of the machine, as shown. This part also
carries a bevelled gear wheel u, which operates a governor mechanism and
this governor mechanism in turn controls the relative location of the disc 2
and the cam ?'. The governor mechanism consists of an upright stem 1
having a bevelled gear 21 on its lower end meshing with the gear u
and driven thereby, and carrying a sleeve 3, which rests at its lower end
upon a collar 4, fixed to the stem 1. As shown in Fig. 5, the stem 1 is flattened
near its upper end, and pivoted to it at this flattened portion are governor balls 5
which depend from arms 6, these arms being pivoted to the stem 1, and being of
the construction shown in Fig. 5. The upper faces of the arms 6 of the governor
balls are in contact with studs 7 projecting from the flange on the upper end of the
sleeve 3 and as the balls are thrown outward by centrifugal action imparted to
them by the rotation of the stem 1, the effect would be to raise the sleeve 3. As
shown in Fig. 4, the sleeve is formed at its lower end with a groove 8, and into
this groove fits a yoke 9, as shown in Fig. 3, which has a swivelled connection
with the bell crank lever 10 pivoted at 11 to the frame. The lower end of this
bell crank lever consists of two fingers 12, 13 which bear one on each side of the
disc g and thus in the upward movement of the sleeve 3 should this movement be
excessive, the disc q will be thrown to one side of the cam with the result that the
gas inlet valve will not be operated and an explosion will be missed. It will of
course be understood that the sleeve has a limited upward movement, and the limit
of this movement is a collar 14 mounted on the end of the stem 1 and under the
tension of the spring 15 enclosed within a cap 16 with its end bearing against the
collar 14, the tension of the spring being adjusted by means of the threaded end 17
of the stem, and a nut 18 on the end thereof bearing against the cap.
as the governor balls have increased in speed so as to lift the sleeve to contact
with the under side of the collar 14 further movement will be against the added
tension of the spring 15 and the result will be to throw the disc 9 to one side of the
cam and cause the engine to miss an explosion.
As soon
One of the fingers-12-is rigid, while the other-13,-is of spring metal and is
capable of giving under pressure so that in the movement of the bell crank
lever 10 should the disc be thrown so as to contact with one edge only of the
cam it will not be held rigidly in this position which action often repeated would
soɔn wear away the edge, but by reason of the spring finger unless the contact is
square lateral pressure will cause the finger to give and the disc will move to one
side of the cam until the next rotation thereof.

page_text: In Fig. 24 the governor mechanism is shown in its position of rest, the disc q
being thrown to the left of the cam surface with the governor balls down, and in
starting the mechanism we provide a lever 20 pivoted to the frame at 21' and
adapted to be turned on its pivot by the finger piece 22 with the result of bringing
the end of the lever into contact with the under surface of the upper arm of the
bell crank lever 10, which raises the said lever and the sleeve 3, and holding it
raised with the disc q in the path of the cam. A stud 23 on the arm of the bell
crank lever serves to check too great movement of the lever 20. The sleeve is
thus held in its raised position until in the operation of the engine, the cam has
actuated the disc and an explosion been effected when the centrifugal action will
raise the sleeve slightly above the position to which it was lifted by the end of the
lever 20, and this will release the lever and it will fall back to the position shown
in Fig. 2ª.
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 a gas engine, a cylinder, a piston, a main exhaust, a supplemental exhaust,
a gas supply, a valve controlling the gas supply, a valve controlling the
supplemental exhaust, a single rod for opening both of said valves and a governor
for automatically controlling the operation of said rod, substantially as described.
2. In a gas engine, a cylinder, a piston, a main exhaust, a supplemental exhaust, a
gas supply, a valve controlling the supplemental exhaust, a valve controlling the
gas supply, a single rod for opening both of said valves, a crank shaft, and a governor
for controlling the operation of the rod interposed between the rod and crank
shaft, substantially as described.
3. In combination with a governor mechanism, a bell crank lever, terminating in
fingers, one of which is a spring, a cam and a disc engaged by said fingers,
substantially as described.
Dated this 9th day of Santambor 1905
SLOAN & LLOYD BARNES,
Castle Chambers, 26 Castle Street, Liverpool, Agents for the Applicants.