IMPROVEMENTS IN GAS MOTOR- EXOLVEO
Year: 1881

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Grantley Becchey, of Liverpool, in the County
of Lancaster, Engineer, for an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN GAS MOTOR-
EXOLVEO "
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Grantley Beechey
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 6th July 1881.
CHARLES GRANTLEY BEECHEY, of Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster,
Engineer. "IMPROVEMENTS IN GAS MOTOR ENGINES."
In the Specification of former Letters Patent granted to me for " Improvements
in Gas Motor Engines," and dated 20th October 1880, No. 4270, I described an
engine which is regulated or governed by automatically closing the exhaust valve
at any per centage of the exhaust stroke of the piston, at the back of which piston
there is a space in the cylinder commonly called the combustion or explosion
chamber, in the which the compressed charge of gas and air is exploded.
According to my present Invention I place in the combustion or explosion
chamber of engines, in which a part of the products of combustion is allowed to
remain, an internal chamber projecting from the back end of the cylinder towards
the piston; this internal chamber separates the explosive mixture of gases from the
products of combustion or non explosive gases remaining in the cylinder, so that
perfect combustion is ensured in the inner chamber, and the heat produced by such
combustion is absorbed by the non explosive gases surrounding and in front of the
inner chamber.
:-
In gas motor engines in which the valve moves at half the time of the piston,
that is to say,
when the piston makes two strokes to one stroke of the valve, I
adopt the following novel method or arrangement for exploding the charge
I employ two inlet ports in the cylinder, and I place an explosion light in a small
cavity in the valve (which may be a slide or other form of valve), which works
against these ports. The said cavity when the valve is in its central position is
midway between the said ports, so that as the valve slides backwards and forwards
the light is brought alternately into communication with the gases in the said
ports. In the cover on the back of the valve I form a hole corresponding with the
cavity in the valve, which hole and cavity are in communication when the explosion
light is midway between the two ports, at which moment the light in the valve
is re-lit from a master burner burning outside and opposite to the hole in the
cover..
In gas motor engines in which a compression pump is employed to compress the
charges of explosive gases, I employ a novel method or arrangement for supplying
the explosion light in the valve, with the object of obtaining a greater pressure on

page_text: the said light than that of the charge it is to explode, and thereby ensuring greater
efficiency of regular explosions. For this purpose, instead of utilizing the gases
from the receiver, as described in the Specification of my said former Patent, I
place the compression and power cylinders side by side, and so arrange the position
of the respective cranks that when the gases in the pump are at the required com-
pression the piston in the power cylinder is in the proper position to receive the
charge; the gases therefore pass from the pump to the cylinder without passing
through a receiver, the receiver only being used to temporarily hold the gases
which do not enter the power cylinder. In order to get the greater pressure upon
tho above mentioned light in the valve, I allow the slide valve which admits the
gases into the power cylinder to close a little before the piston in the compression
pump has completed its stroke, thereby increasing the pressure of the remaining
gases, from which source the said light gets its supply. Suitable grooves are made
in the back plate for the supply of gases to the light in the valve, and are so
arranged that the pressure upon the light is reduced when it is open to the
atmosphere, and the full pressure admitted to it just previous to its being brought
into communication with the charge in the cylinder.
Another part of my Invention consists in forcing atmospheric air into the
cylinder immediately after the closing of the exhaust valve, the object being to
absorb the heat in the products of combustion remaining from the previous
explosion, and so reduce the power lost by the cooling of these gases whilst being
compressed, that is to say, the incoming cold air absorbs the heat instead of the
internal surface of the cylinder doing so.
I also introduce into either the air or the gas, or a mixture of air and gas previous
to their being exploded, a spray of water for the purpose of increasing the power
of the engine, and also to reduce to some extent the very dry heat of the hot
gases.
Lastly, I construct gas motor engines having an explosion at every outward
stroke of the piston, in which case I employ two cylinders, the pistons of which
work on to independent cranks, and I so arrange the relative positions of these
cranks that when the piston in the power cylinder has nearly completed its exhaust
stroke the exhaust valve closes, and the slide valve opens communication with the
compression pump, the piston of which is about half way on its compression stroke.
The explosive gases now enter the power cylinder (in which a chamber of suitable
capacity is provided behind the piston) until the piston in it has turned the centre,
and advanced about one tenth. of the forward stroke, at which point the charge is
exploded; the piston in the compression cylinder having also at this point nearly
completed its compression stroke, the remaining portion being employed for
obtaining the higher pressure upon the exploding light in the valve, as mentioned
above.
In order to govern the engine I employ a tapered or stepped cam or cams, which
shall always open a gas valve, and admit gas along with the air into the compression
pump when the piston commences its outward or suction stroke, but allow the gas
valve to close at any per centage of that stroke, according to the position of the
governor, air only being admitted during the remaining portion. It will thus be seen
that the air being behind the mixture of gas and air, upon the return stroke it will
be first admitted into the power cylinder, in which cylinder at the moment of
explosion the explosive gases will be behind the air, and consequently readily
exploded; hence the force of each explosion will be determined by the quantity of
air admitted into the compression pump.
At the point where the air and gas enter the compression cylinder I employ a
perforated plate, through which the gases pass for the purpose of preventing the air
(when not mixed with gas) rushing in a stream into the mixture of gas and air, and
so mixing with it.
The engine may also be governed by admitting no gas whatever into the
compression pump, and so miss explosions altogether.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Charles Grantley Beechey in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
6th January 1882.
CHARLES GRANTLEY BEECHEY, of Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster,
Engineer. "IMPROVEMENTS IN GAS MOTOR ENGINES."
My Invention has reference more particularly to gas motor engines which have
in addition to the power cylinder in which the explosion of the gas or gaseous
mixture is effected, a second cylinder into which the gas and air are drawn, in
which they are compressed or partly compressed and from which they are forced
into the power cylinder.
In gas motor engines in which the valve moves at half the time of the piston,
that is to say, when the piston makes two strokes to one stroke of the valve,
I adopt the following novel method or arrangement for exploding the charge :-I
employ two, inlet ports in the cylinder, and I place an explosion light or lights in a
small cavity or cavities in the valve (which may be a slide or other form of valve)
which works against these ports. The said cavity when the valve is in its central
position is midway between the said ports, so that as the valve slides backwards
and forwards, the light is brought alternately into communication with the gases
in the said ports. In the cover on the back of the valve I form a hole corresponding
with the cavity in the valve, which hole and cavity are in communication when
the explosion light is midway between the two ports, at which moment the light in
the valve is re-lit from a master burner burning outside and opposite to the hole
in the cover.
In gas motor engines in which a compression pump is employed to compress the
charges of explosive gases, I employ a novel method or arrangement for supplying
the explosion light or lights in the valve with the object of obtaining a greater
pressure on the said light than that of the charge it is to explode, and thereby
ensuring greater efficiency of regular explosions. For this purpose I place the
compression and power cylinders side by side, and so arrange the position of the
respective cranks that when the gases in the pump are at or nearly at the required
compression the piston in the power cylinder is in the proper position to receive
the charge; the gases therefore pass from the pump to the cylinder; and in order to
get the greater pressure upon the light as above mentioned in the valve, I allow
the slide valve which admits the gases into the power cylinder to close a little
before the piston in the compression pump has completed its stroke, thereby
increasing the pressure of the remaining gases from which source the said. light
gets its supply. Suitable grooves are made in the back plate for the supply of the
gases to the light in the valve, and are so arranged that the pressure upon the
light is reduced when it is open to the atmosphere, and the full pressure is
admitted to it, just previous to its being brought into communication with the
charge in the cylinder.
I also construct gas motor engines as follows:-Having an explosion at every
outward stroke of the piston, I employ two cylinders, the pistons of which work
on to independent cranks, and I so arrange the relative positions of these cranks
and the movements of the slide valve that when the piston in the power cylinder
has nearly completed its exhaust stroke the exhaust valve closes and the slide
valve opens communication with the compression pump, the piston of which is
about half way on its compression stroke; the explosive gases now enter the power
cylinder (in which a chamber of suitable capacity is provided behind the piston)
until the piston in it has turned the centre and advanced about oth of the
forward stroke, at which point the charge is exploded, the piston in the
compression cylinder having also at this point nearly completed its compression
stroke, the remaining portion being employed for obtaining the higher pressure
upon the exploding light in the valve, as mentioned above. By this arrangement

page_text: the burnt gases arising. from the previous explosion are sufficiently expelled by the
power piston itself in its return stroke without the use of a scavenging charge
of air, the exhaust valve being open during nearly the whole of the said return
stroke while a sufficient charge of the gaseous mixture is admitted to the power
cylinder in a compressed. state, and then almost immediately exploded before the
piston therein has proceeded so far on its outward stroke as to prevent the
explosion taking full effect.
To govern the engine I employ an ordinary governor, which through the
intermediation of a tapered or stepped cam or cams shall always open a gas valve
more or less fully according to the position of the governor, and admit gas along
with the air into the compression pump when the piston commences its outward or
suction stroke, but allow the gas valve to close at any percentage of that stroke
according to the position of the governor, air only being admitted during the
remaining portion. It will thus be seen that the air being behind the mixture of
gas and air upon the return stroke it will be first admitted into the power
cylinder, in which cylinder at the moment of explosion the explosive gases
will be behind the air and consequently readily exploding, hence the force of each
explosion will be determined by the quantity of air admitted into the compression
pump.
The engine may also be governed by admitting no gas whatever into the
compression pump and so miss explosions altogether.
The accompanying Drawings represent a gas motor engine embodying my
improvements. Figure 1 is a longitudinal vertical section; Figure 2, a horizontal
mid section; Figure 3, a partial side elevation, and Figure 4, a rear elevation of
the engine; Figure 5 is a horizontal section on the line 1-1 of Figure 1, showing
the gas passages for supplying the exploding burner or burners; Figure 6 is a
vertical section on a larger scale of the gas and air inlet valve box; Figure 7
represents in several views and on a larger scale the several cam surfaces through
which the opening of the gas inlet valve is controlled by the governor.
A is the compression cylinder, and A¹ its piston; B is the power cylinder, and
B' its piston; C is the crank shaft, the cranks of the two pistons A and B' being
so placed that the piston A' follows the piston B₁ at a distance equivalent to
about 30° of the crank's travel; D is the slide valve; it works at half the time of
the piston and is actuated by the crank shaft C through the intermediation of
the bevel gearing E, E, side shaft F, and connecting rod G; D₁ is the valve cover
(not shown in Figures 3 and 4); H is the gas and air inlet valve box; I, Figure 6,
is the gas inlet; I', the gas valve; J, the air inlet; H' (Figure 6) a chamber in
which the gas and air meet and mix, the air entering this chamber through the
apertures jj, and the gas through the apertures i, '; H2 is a back pressure
valve; H³, the passage from the valve box to the compression cylinder A; K is the
exhaust valve worked by a double cam L on the side shaft F through the inter-
mediation of the rod L; M is a double cam also on the shaft F, and of stepped or
tapered form, as shown, that is to say, it is composed of a series of double cam
surfaces 1, 2, 3, 4, as seen in the detached views, Figure 7; R is a runner bearing
against the cam M and mounted on a spindle Q; it is moved backwards and
forwards along this spindle by means of levers S, S, which are actuated by the
rise and fall of the governor T. The end of the spindle Q is fastened to a lever P
which, through another lever O, acts on the spindle N of the gas valve I¹.
a is a passage leading from the cylinder A so as to communicate at the proper
time with the passage b in the slide valve D; this passage b has two ports c, c,
corresponding with two ports d, d, leading into the power cylinder B; e, e, is a
double chamber in the slide valve situated midway between the ports c, c, and
carrying two exploding burners f (or the chamber e may be single and carry only
one burner if desired). When the chamber e is in its central position it is in
communication with a master light g, which is always kept burning in or below a
pipe or chimney h. The gaseous mixture for the exploding burners ƒ passes from
the passage b through a port i into a groove; in the valve cover D₁, and thence

page_text: by a passage k to a groove 1, the port l leading to the groove being throttled by
a regulating screw m so as to allow just enough of the gaseous mixture to keep the
burners falight to pass into the groove l, and thence by the ports n to the burners..
so long as the chamber é is opposite the master light g; but when, by the movement
of the valve D, the chamber e is shut off from the master light the ports n come
into communication with one or other of the unthrottled ports o, o, so that the
full force of the gaseous mixture is brought upon the burners f, the pressure of
the said mixture being at the same time, increased, as more fully hereinafter
described. When there is only a single burner f there will be only one port n.
Having described the various parts of the engine except such as are of ordinary
construction or will be clearly understood, I proceed to explain its action or mode
of working.
In the first part of the outward stroke of the compression piston A¹ it draws. air:
by the inlet J (which is always open), and gas by the inlet I, the valve I¹ being at
this time opened through the action of the cam M.; the gas and air thus drawn
become mixed in the chamber H' (Figure 6), and then pass by the back pressure
valve H2 and passage H³ to the cylinder A. At a certain per centage of the
outward stroke of the piston regulated by the position of the governor T, tho
cam M allows the gas inlet valve I' to be closed by means of its spring I², and
during the remainder of the stroke only air is drawn in; or if the engine is going
very slow and the runner R is on the largest step 1 of the cam (as shown in the
Drawings), the gas valve I¹ is opened during the whole outward stroke of the
piston A'; or if on the other hand the engine is going much too fast and
the governor is quite up, the runner R goes off the cam altogether, and then the
gas valve I' is not opened at all during the stroke, and only air is admitted. In
normal working the runner R will be on one of the steps 2, 3, and 4. It will be
seen by the form of the cam surfaces (Figure 7) that the surface 1 which keeps the
gas valve open longest also opens it fully, that the next surface 2 which keeps the
valve open for a shorter time opens it less fully, and so on for the surfaces 3 and 4;
the governor therefore not only regulates (according to the speed of the engine)
the amount of the mixture of gas and air drawn into the cylinder A before the
unmixed air, but also the proportion of gas drawn with the air, and consequently
the strength of the mixture. On the return stroke of the piston A¹ it compresses
the contents of the cylinder A during about one half of the stroke, by which time
the power piston B which has been moving on its return or exhaust stroke, and
driving out the burnt gases through the exhaust K is within about 1th of the
completion of this stroke. At this moment the exhaust valve K closes, and the
slide valve D opens communication between the two cylinders A and B through
the passages or ports a, b, c, c, and d, d, so that the gases are momentarily com-
pressed to the maximum between the two pistons A¹, B', that is to say, until the
piston B¹ completes its inward stroke and commences to move outwards. The
communication through the slide valve D remains open until the piston A¹ has
nearly completed its inward stroke, and the piston B¹ has made nearly 15th of
its outward stroke, during which time the air and gaseous mixture enter the
cylinder B in the reverse order to that in which they previously entered the
cylinder A, that is to say, the unmixed air enters the cylinder B in advance of
the mixture of gas and air; while the mixture is entering the cylinder B a small
proportion of it travels from the passage b through the port i, groove j, passage k,
port, groove l, and ports n to the exploding burners f. After the communication
between the cylinders A and B has been cut off owing to the ports c, c, passing tho
ports d, d, that is to say, during the last portion of the inward stroke of the .
piston A', the communication between the cylinder A and the exploding burners f
is still open, so that these burners are supplied with the gaseous mixture at an
increasing pressure due to the further compression exerted by the piston A', so that
the light is not liable to be blown out or back by the inferior pressure in the
cylinder B; when through the continued movement of the slide valve D the
chamber e comes opposite one of the ports d, d; further, before the chamber e comes

page_text: "into communication with the port d, the ports n put the exploding burners into
communication with the corresponding unthrottled port o in place of the throttled
port, so that the full pressure of the gaseous mixture is brought to bear upon
burners f. Immediately upon the chamber e coming into communication with the
port d, at which time the piston A¹ has just.completed its inward stroke, and the
piston B¹ has made about 16th of its outward stroke, the charge is exploded and
the piston B' propelled forwards. The exploding burners fare extinguished by
the explosion, but are relighted by the master-burner gas soon as the chamber e
comes into communication therewith. It will be understood that as the slide valve
makes only one stroke to two strokes of the pistons, the explosion is effected
through the two ports d, d, alternately; but the charge for every explosion enters
the cylinder B through both these ports simultaneously.
'
Having now described the nature of my said Invention and in what manner the
same is to be performed, I declare that I claim,-
First. In gas motor engines having a power or explosion cylinder, and a cylinder
for preparing and compressing the charge for the explosion cylinder, the so arranging
the opening of the exhaust valve, and the cranks of the pistons of the two cylinders
relatively to each other, and the valve which regulates the transfer of the charge
from the compression cylinder direct into the power cylinder, that the exhaust
valve remains open during nearly the whole of the return stroke of the power
piston, and then closes, and that the charging of the power cylinder with the
y compressed gaseous mixture is then effected during the remainder of the said
return stroke of the power piston, and about the first th part of the outward
stroke of this piston, at which point of the stroke the explosion takes place,
substantially as and for the purposes hereinbefore described.
Second. In gas motor engines having a power or explosion cylinder and a
· cylinder for preparing and compressing the charge for the explosion cylinder, the
so arranging the cranks of the pistons of the two cylinders relatively to each other,
: and the valve which regulates the transfer of the charge into the power cylinder,
and the supply of a portion of the compressed gaseous mixture to the exploding
burner or burners, that the communication between the two cylinders is closed
before the compression piston has quite completed its compressing stroke, so that
by the further pressure effected during the completion of the stroke the exploding
burner or burners are supplied with gaseous mixture at greater pressure than that
in the power cylinder, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
Third. In gas motor engines in which the valve makes one stroke to two strokes
of the power piston, the forming of two ports dd, leading to the power cylinder in
combination with an exploding burner (or burners) carried in the valvė, which
burner moves between the said two ports, so that the explosion takes place in them
alternately, substantially, as herein before described.
Fourth. In gas motor engines having a power or explosion cylinder, and a
· cylinder for preparing and compressing the charge, the regulating of the opening
and closing of the gas inlet valve by means of an ordinary governor and a tapered
or stepped cam or cams, substantially in the manner and for the purpose herein-
before described.
Fifth. Constructing gas motor engines, substantially as hereinbefore described
and represented in the accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Grantley Beechey, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Thirty first day of December, One thousand eight
hundred and eighty one.
CHAS. G. BEECHEY. (L.S.)