AN IMPROVED METHOD OF AND MEANS FOR LUBRICATING THE CYLINDERS OF AIR OR OTHER ENGINES OR PUMPS
Year: 1883

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the firm of Haseltine Lake
& Co Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings London for an Invention of
"
AN IMPROVED METHOD OF AND MEANS FOR LUBRICATING THE CYLINDERS
OF AIR OR OTHER ENGINES OR PUMPS "
communicated to him from abroad
by Franz Joseph Weiss, of Basle, Switzerland, Engineer,
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said William Robert Lake at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 7th September 1883.
"
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the firm of Haseltine, Lake, and Co. Patent Agents.
Southampton Buildings, London, AN IMPROVED METHOD OF, AND MEANS FOR,
LUBRICATING THE CYLINDERS OF AIR OR OTHER ENGINES OR PUMPS communi-
cated to me from abroad by Franz Joseph Weiss of Basle Switzerland, Engineer,
"
This invention relates to an improved method of, and means or apparatus for,
lubricating cylinders in which air or some other incondensable gas actuates a
piston, or in which such gases are actuated by means of a piston. The said
method provides for a continuous, controllable and automatic lubrication of the
said cylinders by combining with the cylinder to be lubricated a tube or the like.
communicating with a suitable air-tight vessel containing some convenient
lubricant in a liquid state, the said tube being so constructed that it allows, at
some proper point, of having its passage reduced to the desired size
The air or other incondensable gas enters at intervals in an upward direction
through the said passage, and, immediately afterwards, presses downwards into the
cylinder a certain quantity of the liquid lubricant, this operation being repeated on
every change of pressure at every single stroke of the piston, while the air-bubbles
being compelled to rise within a transparent glass, enable the attendant to see
whether the apparatus used for applying the said improved method, is in working
order, or not
In the accompanying drawing which illustrates the principle upon which this
invention is based.
Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of suitable apparatus for lubricating the
cylinders of air or other engines or pumps according to this invention, and
Figures 2 and 3 are sectional views of modified forms of apparatus

page_text: In Figure 1 the interior of the air-cylinder to be lubricated is connected with
the interior of an air-tight oil-vessel G by means of a tube D ascending vertically
or obliquely from the said cylinder to the vessel G, the area of passage in the said
tube D, at a point m, being rendered variable by means of some suitable adjusting
device, such as a cock A
The vessel G is partly filled with oil or some other lubricant in a liquid state,
an empty space being left below the upper feeding-aperture E which is then closed
tightly again; whereupon the cock A is opened just far enough to produce a small or
narrow opening at m, the said opening not allowing the passage of oil from the
apparatus while the latter is inoperative. As soon as the piston of the air-
cylinder commences to work (whether for the purpose of compression or
rarefaction of air, or whether it is driven by air or some other incondensable gas),
the pressure of the air in the tube or connecting-passage D will alternately be
high and low in accordance with the reciprocating motion of the piston. This
change of pressure causes a small quantity of air to be forced through the narrow
aperture m into the apparatus during the forcing-period, that is to say, during
that period (when applying the method for instance to a compressor or a vacuum-
pump) wherein the piston advances towards the point where the tube D connects
with the wall of the cylinder, the air already present above the level of the oil
in the apparatus being thus compressed. The air pressed through the opening m
ascends in small bubbles.
During the period of suction which follows after the piston has passed the point
where the tube D enters the cylinder, a lower pressure of air will prevail below
the opening m than above the latter, consequently the air above the oil will
expand again and force a certain quantity of oil down into the cylinder, a certain
relation existing between the said quantity of oil and the quantity of air having
previously entered the apparatus.
It has been shown that, alternately, air escapes through the opening m in an
upward and oil is pressed through the same in a downward direction. Now, as
this opening m connects with two spaces of unequal capacity it follows that on
the one hand, the entering air will at once become free and ascend in the forin of
bubbles, while, on the other hand, the oil pressed through the opening m will flow
down in drops along the inner wall and away from the said opening, and thus the
apparatus will always be kept ready for operation at the next stroke of the piston,
that is to say, above the aperture m there will always be oil while below the
same there is always air
As will be seen from Figure 1, the apparatus is also provided with an
oil-gauge W connected to the oil-vessel G in a manner similar to that in which the
water-gauges used with steam-boilers are connected to their respective boilers.
Another essential feature characterizing this improved method is that the air-
bubbles rising through the reduced opening m are compelled to ascend within
the transparent glass tube W, this being ensured, in the apparatus shewn in
Figures 1 and 2, by giving the connecting tube C, between the oil-vessel G and
the tube W, an inclined position, so that its connecting point at the vessel G
is lower than that at the tube W, this arrangement preventing effectually the
air-bubbles from entering the said tube C.
I am aware of the fact that some lubricators for steam-cylinders are provided
with oil-gauges of a similar construction, yet there is a material difference between
the effect produced with those gauges and the present one inasmuch as, with the
former, the glass will indicate to the engineer how much oil there is in the
apparatus but it will not indicate whether, at the time the apparatus is in
operation and if too much oil is being supplied, whilst with the latter, the
engineer is enabled at any time to see not only what quantity of oil there is in
the apparatus, but he can also tell at any time from the ascending air-bubbles,
whether the apparatus is in good working order or not, while from the size and
number of the said air-bubbles he will know instantaneously what quantity of
oil is being used and thus he is enabled to control and to regulate at once, by

page_text: turning the cock A, the feed of oil into the cylinder; this being particularly of
importance immediately after the vessel G has been supplied with oil.
It will be understood that for the purposes of this invention it is entirely
immaterial whether the area of the passage m in the tube D is controlled by
means of a cock A as in Figure 1 or a screw plug B as in Figure 2, or by any
other suitable means.
I may modify the construction of the apparatus shewn in Figures 1 and 2 by
enlarging the oil-gauge W to such an extent that it may itself serve for the
reception of a considerable quantity of oil; this construction is shewn. in Figure 3,
the transparent glass vessel W being, in this instance, both an oil-receptacle
and oil-gauge, the oil entering the inner cylinder G through the feeding-aperture E
which is then closed tightly again.
The cylinder G communicates with the vessel W by means of the holes a, and
the operation of the apparatus is the same as that herein before described with
reference to the apparatus shewn in Figures 1 and 2, the said holes a being
arranged preferably so that they are not in a vertical line with the opening b
through which the vessel W communicates with the tube or pipe D leading to
the air-cylinder. The said holes a therefore are arranged upon one side of, or
opposite to, the said opening b thus preventing the ascending air-bubbles from
entering the inner cylinder G and compelling the said bubbles to ascend within the
transparent vessel W, so that they will always shew whether the apparatus is in
proper operation or not.
Having thus fully described the said invention as communicated to me by my
foreign Correspondent, and the manner of performing the same, I wish it
understood that I Claim ;-
The above described method of producing a continuous automatic and
controllable lubrication of a cylinder, by means of apparatus comprising an
air-tight receptacle containing a lubricant in a liquid state; the said receptacle
communicating with the said cylinder through a passage; means for regulating
the area of the said passage, and a transparent tube or the like; air or equivalent
incondensable gas at intervals passing in an upward direction through the said
passage and then forcing downward into the cylinder a certain quantity of the
lubricant, this operation being repeated on every change of pressure at every
stroke of the piston, while the air bubbles being caused to ascend within the
said transparent tube show whether the apparatus is in proper operation,
substantially as, and for the purpose, specified.
In Witness whereof I the said William Robert Lake have hereunto set my hand
and seal this Seventh day of September in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and eighty three