Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 7th May, 1896-Accepted, 4th July, 1896
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Gas Engine.
I, JAMES ALBERT HOCKETT, of the City of Sterling, in the County of Rice,
State of Kansas, one of the United States of America, Manufacturer, 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:-
My invention relates to gas engines, and my object is to produce an engine of
this type embodying two cylinders arranged tandem, each with its component.
mechanisni, and two pistons connected to a single crank-shaft, whereby an explosion
may occur with each outward stroke of the piston; thereby permitting a much
lighter balance-wheel to be employed, and diminishing the weight of the engine in
other particulars. Such construction embodied in traction engines, for instance,
will be found to possess great advantages over the ordinary steam traction engine
for farming and analogous purposes, because of the comparatively light weight of
my improved gas engine.
With this object in view, the invention consists in certain peculiar and novel
features of construction and organizations of parts, as will be hereinafter described
and pointed out in claims.
In order that my invention may be fully understood, I will proceed to describe
it with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
Figure 1 is a top plan view of a gas engine embodying my invention.
Figure 2 is a side elevation of the same.
Figure 3 is a vertical longitudinal section of the engine.
Figure 4 is a section taken on the line 4-4 of Figure 2.
Figure 5 is a section taken on the line 5-5 of Figure 1, and showing the end
of the cylinder in elevation.
In the said drawings, 1 designates the base of the engine. 2-2 designate
cylinders which are arranged tandem and longitudinally of the base, the open
end of one being adjacent to the closed end of the other. 3 designates the water-
jacket of said cylinders. 4 designates the gas chambers, wherein the explosion
takes place. 5 designates the vertical gas passages which communicate with the
said chambers. 6 designates the inlet-passages for gas and air. 7 designates the
controlling-valves of said passages. 8 designates springs arranged upon the stems
of said valves, and adapted to hold the valves with a yielding pressure upon their
seats. 9 designates the plungers within the cylinders, and 10 the rod which
connects said plungers. 11 designates contact-pins which project from said
plungers, for a purpose to be hereinafter explained. 12 designates the pitman,
which connects one of said plungers in the customary manner with the crank-
shaft 13, journaled transversely in bearing-boxes 14 at one end of the base.
15 designates a Hy-wheel upon one end of said shaft, and 16 a gear-wheel or
pinion upon the other end. 17 designates a larger gear-wheel which is mounted
upon a stub-shaft or stud projecting from the base in any suitable manner, and
said wheel meshes with the pinion 16. At one side of the engine, and preferably
near the open end of the foremost cylinder, a stub-shaft 18 projects horizontally
from the base, and mounted to rock or oscillate thereon is the walking-beam 19.
The lower end of said walking-beam is pivotally connected by a pitman 12" with a
crank-arın projecting axially from the gear-wheel 17. At its upper end the
walking-beam is provided with downwardly-divergent lateral projections or
pins 20, the object of which will hereinafter appear. Communicating with the

page_text: cylinders adjacent to their explosion chambers, preferably, and at equal distances
from the axis of the walking-beam 19, are the exhaust pipes 21, which com-
municate at their outer ends with the chambers 22. From said chambers said
exhaust-passages continue in the form of the passages 23. 24 designates valves,
which control the escape of gas through said passages, and are arranged in the
customary manner, so that the explosion will cause them to bear more firmly upon
their seats. 25 designates the stems of the valves, 26 collars secured thereon,
and 27 springs which encircle said stems and bear at their opposite ends against
the casing of the exhaust-passage and said collar, in order to hold said valves
against their seats with yielding pressure. 28 designates a spring-arm, which
is secured rigidly to but is insulated from the walking-beam above its pivot,
and 29 designates a conductor which connects said spring-arm with one pole
of an electric battery 30, or other source of electrical supply. 31 designates a
conductor which places the other pole of the battery in electrical communication
with the metallic base of the engine. 32 designates a metallic standard or bracket,
which is bolted igidly to the base, as shown in Figure 2, or in any other suitable
manner. 33 and 34 designate contact-plates, which are secured rigidly to and
carefully insulated from the bracket 32, at opposite sides and in the path of the
spring-arm 28. and 35 designates conductors which electrically connect said
contacts with the vertical pins 36. Said pins extend vertically downward in the
passages 5, and are carefully insulated from the engine. At their lower ends they
carry the depending spring-plates 37, which project into the explosion-chambers
proper, and are adapted to be contacted by pins 11 each time the plungers reach
the forward limit of their stroke or movement.
The general operation is as follows: The gas is admitted periodically by the
unseating of the valves 7, in the usual or any preferred manner. This is immaterial
in this instance, and forms no part of my invention. The commingled gas and air
enters both chambers 4 at the same time, and as the plunger advances the explosive
mixture is compressed therein in the customary manner, and as said plungers
reach their forward limit of movement the pins 11 come in contact with the
contact-springs 37. At the same instant the walking-beam causes one or the other
of the pins 20 at its upper end to come into forcible contact with one of the valve-
stems 25, and the spring arm 28 to contact with the contact-plate 33 or 34, as the
case may be, which is electrically connected to the pin 36 of the cylinder provided
with the valve not engaged by the walking-beam, so that a circuit is completed.
Said circuit includes the battery, the conductor 31, the base of the engine, the said
cylinder, the plunger therein, its contact-pin 11, contact-spring 37, rod 36,
conductor 35, one of the plates 33 or 34, the spring-arm 28, and the conductor 29,
back to the opposite pole of the battery. Immediately the circuit is completed it
is again broken, and that before the exhaust-valve-passage is open, in order that
the explosion which occurs, by the spark which is made by the breaking of the
circuit between the pin 11 and contact-spring 37, may force the pistons outward.
After the full expansion of the gas, which is practically instantaneous, the pressure
of the walking-beam against the valve-stem 25 occurs, and the valve 24 is opened
to permit the exhausted gas to escape from the cylinder, and as the walking-
beam rocks in the opposite direction and removes pressure from the valve-stem 25,
the spring reseats the valve automatically and instantaneously, so that it is ready
for the next charge of explosive mixture. As the walking-beam rocks in the
opposite direction, and reaches the end of its movement, the cylinders again
move forward and cause the pins 11 to again contact with the plates 37, and
the spring arm 28 comes in contact with the opposite plate of the bracket 32,
and is therefore electrically connected with the pin of the plunger in the other
cylinder. Immediately the separation of the pins 11 and the plates 37 takes
place a spark is made as before, and the explosion occurs, the pistons again
move outward, and the other exhaust-valve-passage is opened to permit the
exhausted gas to escape. All the succeeding operations are repetitions of the one
described.

page_text: From the above description, it will be apparent that I have produced a gas
engine which embodies the desirable features enumerated in the statement of
invention, and which is .comparatively simple, durable, and inexpensive of
manufacture.
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 I
claim is:
1. A gas engine, comprising a pair of cylinders arranged tandem, plungers.
therein, inlet-valve passages communicating therewith, exhaust-valve passages
communicating therewith, pins projecting from the plungers, electrical conductors
extending through the inlet-valve passages, plates electrically connected thereto, a
walking-beam, an electrical battery electrically connected to the base of the
engine, a contact plate carried by the walking-beam and insulated therefrom and
electrically connected also to the said battery, and means to operate said plungers
and to rock said walking-beam, whereby the circuit will be completed and broken
and the exhaust-valves opened, substantially as described.
2. A gas engine, comprising a pair of cylinders arranged tandem, pluugers
therein connected together, a crank-shaft, a pitman connecting the same with one
of the plungers, inlet-valves for the cylinders for the admittance periodically of an
explosive mixture, exhaust-valves for the cylinders, a walking-beam operatively
connected to the crank-shaft, and adapted alternately to open the exhaust-valves.
of the cylinders, substantially as described.
3. A gas engine, comprising a pair of cylinders arranged tandem, plungers.
therein, a rod connecting the plungers, a crank-shaft, a pitman connecting the
same with one of the plungers, a walking-beam geared to said crank-shaft, inlet-
valve passages for an expansive mixture communicating with the cylinler,.
exhaust-valve passages connected to said cylinder, valves therefor, and springs.
holding them yieldingly upon their seats, so that under the pressure of the
walking-beam they may, be alternately opened, substantially as described.
4. A gas engine comprising a pair of cylinders arranged tandem, plungers.
therein, a rod connecting said plungers, valve-controlled inlet passages for an
explosive mixture connected to said cylinders, exhaust-valves for the explosive.
mixture connected with said cylinders, a crank-shaft, a pitman connecting the same
with one of the plungers, a walking-beam geared to the crank-shaft, a spring-
contact-arm carried by and insulated from the walking-beam, contact-plates at
opposite sides of the same, conductors electrically connected to said plates and
projecting into the cylinder, pins projecting from said cylinder, a source of
electrical supply having one pole connected to said spring arm of the walking-
beam and the other to the base of the engine, all arranged substantially as and for
the purpose described.
5. A gas engine, comprising a pair of cylinders arranged tandem, inlet valve-
controlled passages for an explosive mixture connected to the cylinders, exhaust
valve-controlled passages also communicating with the cylinders, plungers therein
provided with pins, a rod connecting the plungers, a bracket, insulated contact-
plates secured thereto, conductors insulated from the engine and extending
downward into the cylinders, conductors connecting the same with said contact-
plates, a walking-beam, pins projecting from the same to alternately open the
exhaust-valves, a spring-arm insulated from and carried by said walking-beam, an
electric battery, conductors connecting the same with said spring-arm and with the
base of the engine, and means to reciprocate said plungers and said walking-beam,.
substantially as and for the purpose described.
Dated this 14th day of April 1896.
JAMES ALBERT HOCKETT.