IMPROVEMENTS IN GAS ENGINES
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the Firm of Haseltine,
Lake, & Co., Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London,
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN GAS ENGINES."-A com-
munication from abroad by George Bailey Brayton, of Boston,
Massachusetts, United States of America.
Sealed the 26th March 1872, and dated the 10th February 1872.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said William Robert Lake
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition
and Declaration, on the 10th February 1872, pursuant to the 9th
Section of the Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London, send greeting.
WHEREAS I am in possession of an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN GAS ENGINES," and have petitioned Her Majesty to grant unto
me, my executors, administrators, and assigns, Her Royal Letters

page_text: Patent for the same, and have made solemn Declaration that it has
been communicated to me from abroad by George Bailey Brayton,
of Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Robert Lake, do hereby
declare that the following Complete Specification, under my hand and
seal, fully describes and ascertains the nature of the said Invention, and
in what manner the same is to be performed, in and by the following
statement, reference being had to the accompanying Drawing forming
a part of this Specification :-
The Invention herein-after described relates to a means for making
practically available as a motive power those compounds formed from
the mixture of gases obtained from light hydrocarbons with atmospheric
air. It has for a long time been known that such compounds were
capable of developing, upon ignition, an immense degree of force, and
various attempts have been made to employ them as motive agents for
working machinery.
The said Invention is embodied in a structure which provides, first, for
maintaining an accumulation of a limited quantity of the gaseous
compound, under considerable but uniform pressure, in a reservoir; the
supply to the reservoir being always proportioned to the consumption of
the engine, and the gaseous compound mixed only as it is introduced to
the reservoir; and, secondly, for introducing a jet of the mixed compound
so under pressure, while in the act of changing its volume, as the result
of ignition, into a cylinder to act with its expansive force upon a
moving piston.
The Drawing represents a single acting engine arranged to exhibit my
improvements.
The construction of a double acting engine operated by this motive
power would only require such changes of arrangement as any competent
constructor would understand, and would not involve any changes in
principle.
DESCRIPTION OR THE DRA WING

page_text: Referring to Figure 2, A is the cylinder proper of the engine, which
is fitted with a piston B. As the piston is exposed to the direct action
of the ignited and heated gases, it should be made of, or protected by
some material, as for instance, soap stone, capable of sustaining without
injury a high degree of heat. The cylinder itself should also be encased
with a water-tight jacket of metal, and sufficiently larger in diameter
than the cylinder to allow a water space between the two, through which
water should be made to circulate. A convenient way of effecting this
will be to connect a tank of water which may be located at any convenient
place with the water space, by two pipes, one entering near the top and
the other near the bottom of the same, as in the common arrangement
for establishing a water circulation. The cylinder A is in this instance
surmounted by an air pump.
O is the barrel of the said pump. It is
furnished with a piston D attached to the rod E common to it and the
piston B. This air pump is supplied with a proper induction valve a,
and eduction valve b; of any preferred construction and arrangement.
F is a chamber provided with two inlets c and d. The former admits
atmospheric air, and the latter by means of any suitable tube or
conducting pipe is connected with a supply of common illuminating gas
or other carburetted hydrogen, as for instance, the volatile constituents
of petroleum oils. The capacity of these two inlets may be readily
regulated by means of a screw valve applied to each, so that the relative
quantities of air and gas to be admitted at the same time to the chamber
F may be varied at pleasure. In general, the proper proportions will
be found to be twelve parts of air by volume to one of carburetted
hydrogen, to make a compound which upon ignition will be followed
by complete combustion; but in practical operation differences in the
chemical constituents of the gas employed will probably require
variations in the required proportions of atmospheric air.
It is obvious that the movement of the piston D of the air pump will
at each downward stroke draw into the barrel C a charge of gaseous
compound through the valve a, and that upon the upward stroke of the
piston the same charge will be forced through the eduction valve b into
the reservoir G. This reservoir should be constructed of strong boiler
plate, or of the best mixtures of iron used in casting ordnance. It
should be made with reference to sustaining a constant internal pressure
of at least 60 pounds to the square inch. It should be furnished with a
pressure guage and with a safety valve, arranged to open when the
pressure from any cause exceeds the prescribed limit. It is not to be

page_text: understood that any large volume of the gaseous compound is to be
collected and retained within the reservoir G. Its interior capacity need
not be more than twice the cubical contents of the cylinder A; but
nevertheless it should be of sufficient size to enable the air pump (which
should be properly proportioned to that end) to maintain within the
reservoir a nearly uniform maximum of pressure.
The arrangement of devices which I employ for applying the gaseous
compound to work the engine are as follows :-
:-
In a suitably shaped recess or chamber H formed at the bottom of the
cylinder A below the range of the down stroke of the piston, I place any
convenient number of wire gauze diaphragms, e. These are called the
interceptors," because they serve to guard the passages through which
the gas is supplied to the engine, and cut off the flame after the gas has
been ignited from the supply which is flowing from the reservoir when
the valve connection is operated, and they are so located that all gas con-
sumed in working the engine must pass through them. I is a screw
valve which when opened allows the gaseous compound to flow into the
conducting passage f, with which and the recess or chamber H, spanned
by the interceptors, a communication is made when the valve h is opened.
The valve h is opened for every up stroke of the piston B by means
of the revolving cam J on the main shaft, which causes the lever K to
vibrate and work the valve rod k, which is pivotted to such lever. The
configuration of the cam J determines the length of time that the valve
h shall remain open, and the spring ; causes the valve to close at the
instant the cam ceases to hold it open.
As previously indicated it is intended to apply the gaseous compound
to work the piston while it is undergoing expansion after ignition. It is
therefore necessary to provide for maintaining a constant flame upon the
upper surface of the interceptors, which will serve to fire each charge of
gas so soon as it passes through the diaphragms of wire gauze and upon
its first entrance to the cylinder. For this purpose a small V shaped
channel m is made in the edge of the valve h, or, which would be better,
a vent is made through the valve seat, and its area is regulated by a
check valve. This allows a small quantity of the gas to flow at all times
to the interceptors, which being ignited will burn tranquilly and with a
lambent flame upon the upper surface of the interceptors, and constitute
a living torch at the entrance of the cylinder to fire each charge of
gaseous mixture in succession.

page_text: Let it now be supposed that the engine is to be put into operation.
The reservoir G should be filled with gaseous compound to the desired
pressure. This may be done by revolving the balance wheel by hand if
the engine be of small capacity, or a separate air pump for changing the
reservoir may be used in case the engine is too large to be readily
revolved by hand. The screw valve I is now opened, and a lighted taper
is inserted through the exhaust port L, Figure 1.
The small supply
of gas admitted through the channel m in the valve h struggles
through the meshes of the gauze interceptors, and when a lighted taper
is applied to it will burn quietly. The valve his now opened by a
starting bar or other convenient means, and a charge of gas under the
pressure in the reservoir rushes against the under side of the interceptors,
and upon reaching the flame playing upon their upper surface is fired
thereby. While in the state of expansion consequent upon ignition it
exerts not a spasmodic or explosive force upon the piston, but a true
pressure due to expansion, for the reasons that the piston is at the very
commencement of its stroke when the expanding gas begins to act upon
it, and the quantity of gaseous mixture during its period of admission
is in proportion to the extent of movement of the piston, and is put
into the state of expansion upon passing the interceptors and entering
the cylinder. This mode of applying the agent of force developed by
the combustion of gaseous compounds is radically different from that
which characterized all previous engines constructed to employ such
agent.
The piston having completed its upward stroke, the connection of the
balance M (Figure 1) which by means of the common crank and links
shewn is connected in any convenient way with the piston, causes
the piston to descend again (the injection valve h being now closed).
While the piston is descending a cam on the main shaft acting
upon a lever (Figure 1) similar to that which works the valve h, opens
the exhaust valve M¹ (Figure 4) in a well understood way. The exhaust
passage in the several Figures is indicated by a broad black feathered
arrow.
It would naturally be supposed that the flame caused by igniting
explosive gas under pressure upon the surface of the wire gauze inter-
ceptors would be forced back through the interceptors and ignite the
gaseous compound in the passage f connecting with the reservoir, and
explode the contents of the latter. Many months of experiment with a

page_text: working engine subjected to every variety of conditions likely to occur
in daily use have proved that a series of wire gauze diaphragms (six or
more) perfectly intercept the flame, and render danger from accident
impossible. And that the flame has no tendency to turn backward is
proved from the condition of the gauze after long use in shewing no
evidence of being even slightly burned. The gaseous compound in the
reservoir has been repeatedly fired, and the safety valve in every instance
has prevented the slightest injury to the apparatus.
In case it is preferred to make use of any of the light hydrocarbons
obtained from petroleum or other sources, as for instance naptha, on
account of the greater cheapness of the material over illuminating gas,
it will be found most convenient to allow the fluid having the necessary
constituents to be dropped upon or absorbed by a sponge placed in a
vessel so that it can readily vaporize, and in that state be pumped off
from the vessel by the air pump in combination with atmospheric air
into the reservoir for supplying the engine.
The reservoir G is described as containing the mixed gases. It is
however entirely practicable to employ two reservoirs, one of which
shall contain the carburetted hydrogen and the other atmospheric air,
the contents of both being condensed by pressure, and mixed only as the
charge from each reservoir enters the chamber H. Such arrangement
would be more complicated in the machinery necessary to be used than
the one described, requiring as it would an induction valve appropriate
to each reservoir, but it would ensure nearly absolute safety in the use
of such gaseous agents of force.
Having thus fully described the said Invention as communicated
to me by my foreign correspondent, and the manner of perform-
ing the same, I wish it understood that I do not limit myself to
the construction or arrangement of the several parts of the engine as
described, inasmuch as the improvements which constitute my Invention
can be applied to engines of various forms, and I claim the following
apparatus or organisms in combination, a pumping engine for con-
densing air and gas, a reservoir for containing such agents either
separately or when mixed, and a cylinder and working piston provided
with suitable automatic valve gear, operating induction and eduction
valves when such cylinder is furnished with a perforated partition, whose

page_text: office is to maintain a torch to fire the successive charges of gaseous
mixture as they are entering the cylinder, and prevent the back action
of the ignited charge substantially as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Robert Lake, have hereunto
set my band and seal, this Tenth day of February, in the year
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two.
Witness,
W. J. Lowe.
W. ROBT. LAKE. (L.S.)