Year: 1886

page_text: Date of Application, 24th Nov., 1886.
Complete Left, 24th Aug., 1887.
Complete Accepted, 27th Sept., 1887.
I, JOHN ROBSON, of Piccadilly, Shipley, in the County of York, Engineer, do hereby
declare the nature of this invention to be as follows :-
.
The object of this invention is to construct gas engines in such a manner, that the
gas may explode in the cylinder at every revolution, and after the explosion, to dis-
charge or exhaust all the spent impure gases or old charge from the cylinder before
another charge of explosive gas and atmospheric air is admitted.
I accomplish my object in the following manner: When an explosion takes place,
the pressure is carried on until the piston is near the end of its outward stroke, when
the piston uncovers an opening, thereby allowing the exploded gas to escape into
another cylinder of larger diameter.
The cranks of the two cylinders are so placed, that the piston in the second or
larger cylinder is travelling at or near its quickest rate when the other is at its slowest;
by which means, before the piston in the first named cylinder has returned to the
opening between the two cylinders, the pressure in the two cylinders is reduced to
below that of the atmosphere; when a valve opens at the end of the exploding
cylinder admitting atmospheric air, which is distributed in the cylinder by a baffle plate
so arranged, that by the air rushing in and filling up the cylinder, all that remains of
the old charge or exploded gas is driven before it into the second or larger cylinder,
when a mixture of gas and air is admitted to the first cylinder, and by the time the said
mixture arrives at the before mentioned opening between the two cylinders, the
piston of the larger cylinder will have exhausted all the air admitted to clear the
exploding cylinder of its old charge, so that nothing remains in the exploding
cylinder except the mixture of gas and air, which are compressed by the returning
piston for the explosion on the outward stroke of the said piston.
The exhaust valve is connected to the second cylinder, and when the piston in the
first cylinder on its return stroke has covered the opening between the two cylinders,
the exhaust valve is opened, thereby allowing the old charge to escape; such valve
remaining open until the piston arrives at the termination of the inward stroke.
Dated this 23rd day of November 1886.

page_text: Improvements in Gas Engines.
I, JOHN ROBSON of Piccadilly, Shipley, in the County of York, Engineer, 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:-
The object of this invention is to construct gas engines in such a manner, that
the gas may explode in the cylinder at every revolution of the engine, and after the
explosion, to discharge or exhaust all the spent impure gases or old charge from the
cylinder before another charge of explosive gas and atmospheric air is admitted.
In explaining my invention in detail, reference is made to the accompanying sheet
of drawings marked with letters of reference in Fig. 1 represents a side view of my
improved gas engine; Fig. 2 a plan partly in section and Fig. 3 a sectional end view
through the valves.
The cranks A and A¹ of the two cylinders B and B are arranged so that the
piston in the larger cylinder B', when travelling at or near its quickest rate, the
other piston is at its slowest, or passing what is termed the dead centres at each end
of the stroke.
After an explosion in the cylinder B, and immediately the piston U uncovers the
exhaust opening D between the two cylinders, the exploded charge exhausts into the
larger cylinder B¹, and to the atmosphere through the valve G, which has previously
been opened by a lever F operated by a tappet E on revolving shaft E'; the said
valve being kept open by the lever and tappet, until the piston C', has returned to
the back end of the cylinder and travelled a few inches in the opposite direction
towards the crank shaft, when the lever F is released, and the valve G closed by the
spiral spring S; the piston (" continuing its motion in the direction of the crank
shaft, exhausts what remains of the old charge from the cylinder B, by causing a
vacuum in the same, and at the same time causing the valve H to rise from its seat,
thus admitting for a certain distance atmospheric air into the cylinder B. The
tappet J will then operate the governor-bar J', moving it in contact with the end of
gas valve spindle K, and open the valve, thus admitting gas from the service pipe L,
which enters the recess and passes through narrow openings in valve seat into the
cylinder B, the air at the same time passing through the centre of the valve, so that
the gas and air enter together, and are thoroughly mixed by a baffle plate placed
opposite opening O at end of cylinder, filling the cylinder for the next explosion.
By the time the piston C on its return stroke has covered the exhaust opening D
between the two cylinders, the exhaust valve G is opened as before described: the
piston C¹ then commences its backward motion, thereby forcing out the old charge
exhausted from the exploding cylinder B into the cylinder B₁; and the gas and air
admitted to the cylinder B compressed by the piston C is ignited by the pipe M
heated to redness immediately the pressure of the gas and air is reduced on the
piston commencing its return stroke towards the crank shaft, and on the uncovering
of the opening D, the exploded charge is allowed to escape through the said opening
in the manner as before described.

page_text: In working out my invention, I have found that I can exhaust the exploded gases
and charge the explosion cylinder every revolution by reversing the action in the
larger cylinder B¹, by causing the piston of the latter to force the remainder of the
exploded old charge out of the cylinder B, instead of exhausting it in the manner before
described; which I accomplish by arranging the valves as shewn by Figs. 4, 5, and 6
which represent a side view of my modified arrangement, a plan partly in section and
a sectional end view through the valves.
According to this arrangment, the valve G at the end of cylinder B¹ is dispensed
with, and the valve box at end of cylinder B fitted with three valves instead of
two: and in addition, the exhaust opening D from cylinder B is connected to a pipe T
having an open end to the atmosphere, so that when the piston uncovers the
opening D, the exploded charge exhausts, reducing the pressure in the cylinder to
that of the atmosphere, the remainder of the old charge being removed from, and
the cylinder filled with another charge of gas and air in the manner hereinafter
described.
The position of the cranks A and A' are somewhat different to those before
described, but in this case as in the other arrangement, when one piston is moving at
its slowest rate, the other is at about its quickest: and in order to clear the remainder
of the old charge and fill the cylinder B with gas and air, the action of the pistons
and valves is as follows. When the piston C¹ in larger cylinder is travelling towards
the crank shaft, the bottom valve P at end of cylinder B is raised by the atmosphere,
thereby admitting air through the pipe P' into the cylinder B¹, and at the same time
the tappet Joperating the governor bar J¹ causes it to come in contact with the gas
valve spindle K and open the valve, thus admitting gas from the service pipe L,
which enters the recess and passes through narrow openings in valve seat along with
the atmospheric air into the cylinder B', and before the piston C¹ has completed its
outward stroke, the gas valve is closed; the remaining portion of the length of the
cylinder being filled with air, which on the return of the piston (" is forced into the
cylinder B through the top valve R: the air entering the cylinder B¹ during
the latter portion of the stroke after the gas valve is closed, going first into the
cylinder B for clearing away the old charge, and by the time the piston C has
returned and covered the opening D, the cylinder B will be charged with a mixture
of gas and air from the cylinder B', which is compressed, and exploded by the heated
pipe M immediately the piston C commences the return stroke.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
1 claim is :-
1. In a gas engine in which an exhaust opening is placed in the cylinder near the
end of the outward stroke of the piston for the purpose of allowing the exploded
charge to escape on the uncovering of the said opening by the piston.
2. In a gas engine in which the exploded charge after reduction to atmospheric
pressure, is exhausted by the action of a piston in a second cylinder substantially in
the manner described.
3. In a gas engine in which the exploded charge after reduction to atmospheric
pressure, is expelled from the explosion cylinder by the piston of a second cylinder
substantially in the manner described.
Dated this 23rd day of August 1887.
JOHN WAUGH,
Bradford, Yorks,
Agent.