Improvements in or connected with Ignition Gear for Explosion Engines.
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 24th Mar., 1898
Complete Specification Left, 9th Dec., 1898-Accepted, 28th Jan., 1899
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or connected with Ignition Gear for Explosion
Engines.
I, FREDERICK RICHARD SIMMS, of Amberley House, 12, Norfolk Street, Strand,
in the County of London, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention'
to be as follows:
This invention relates to improvements in or connected with electric ignition
gear for explosion engines and has for its object to provide means whereby the
time of ignition of the explosive charge can be varied.
According to the invention I operate the device for generating the current for
producing the spark to ignite the explosive charge (the said device being prefer-
ably a magneto-electric machine of the kind described in Bosch's Patent No. 15411
of 1897 though I do not confine myself to the use of this or any other particular
magneto-electric machine) by a half-speed or counter shaft which is rotated from
the main or crank-shaft of the engine o motor. The sparking device comprises
a hollow plug adapted to be fixed to the ignition chamber of the motor and
carrying a contact insulated from it and electrically connected to one terminal
of the magneto-electric or other machine, the other terminal of which is connected
to any convenient part of the engine which may form a good conductor.
A lever
is pivoted to the plug and normally rests upon the contact held in the said
plug. This contact lever is actuated by a spring rod operated by a cam on the
counter shaft in such a manner that it is gradually raised and allowed to suddenly
descend so as to cause it to strike the contact lever thereby momentarily breaking
contact and producing the spark.
To alter the time of ignition, that is to say, the point in the cycle at which
the explosion of the charge is effected, I provide for altering the relative positions
of the cam and of the crank-shaft and to this end I mount a sleeve loosely upon
the half-speed or counter-shaft and upon this sleeve I mount a second sleeve or
collar in such a manner that it rotates therewith but can slide axially thereon,
the said longitudinal movement being advantageously effected by means of a
toothed sector engaging with a rack in connection with the said second sleeve or
collar. The second sleeve is provided with a spiral groove with which engages,
the end of an arm or the like secured to the toothed wheel upon the half speed
shaft, which toothed wheel engages with the toothed wheel upon the main or
crank-shaft of the engine or motor as above described.
With this arrangement it will be obvious that, by sliding the second or outer
sleeve longitudinally upon the sleeve enclosing the half-speed shaft, the said
outer sleeve will be caused to partially rotate on account of the fixed toothed
wheel arm which engages in its slot, the rotation of the said outer sleeve rotating
the inner sleeve and thereby the cam for operating the contact device of the
ignition apparatus, so that the relative positions of the said cam and of the
crank-shaft are altered to the desired extent. The sleeves are normally rotated
by the half-speed shaft through the medium of the toothed wheel arm which
engages the groove in the outer sleeve.

page_text: When applying my invention to explosion engines having two or more cylinders
it will be obvious that for varying the time of ignition the spindle of the magneto-
electric or other machine must be moved relatively to the crank-shaft through
twice the distance that the cam actuating the contact device of the ignition
apparatus is moved. To this end I provide two counter shafts, the first of which
is driven from the crank-shaft of the engine and is provided with a toothed
wheel which gears with a driving toothed wheel of equal size upon the second
counter shaft. The said second counter shaft is furnished with a second toothed
wheel gearing with a broad pinion of half its diameter loosely mounted upon
the first counter shaft, and rigidly secured to an eccentric for reciprocating the
movable part of the current generator. Cams for operating the contact devices
of the ignition apparatus for each cylinder are keyed to the second shaft which
is also formed for a part of its length with a screw thread of large pitch working
in the boss of the driven toothed wheel so that by moving the said shaft longi-
tudinally in its bearings, it is partially rotated so as to vary the position of the
ignition cams relatively with the crank-shaft of the engine or motor.
movement also at the same time moves the broad pinion and thereby the eccentric
through twice the distance that the cams move thus varying the position of the
movable part of the current generator actuating with the crank-shaft to the
required extent.
This
The above described arrangement is preferably used in combination with the
well known "Daimler" motor, but when convenient I may discard the first shaft
and actuate the rocking mechanism direct from the crank-shaft, driving the cam
shaft at half speed by means of gear wheels therefrom.
Dated the 24th day of March 1898
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, Finsbury, London,
Agents for the Applicant.
Improvements in or connected with Ignition Gear for Explosion
Engines.
I, FREDERICK RICHARD SIMMS, of Amberley House, 12, Norfolk Street, Strand,
in the County of London, 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:-
This invention relates to improvements in or connected with electric ignition
gear for explosion engines and has for its object to provide means whereby the
time at which ignition of the explosive charge takes place and thereby the speed
of the engines can be varied while the engines are running.
In the accompanying drawings,
Figure 1 is a sectional side elevation of ignition gear made in accordance with
the invention:
Figure 2 is a sectional end elevation thereof;
Figure 3 represents views of a detail hereinafter described; and,
Figures 4 and 5 are end and front elevations respectively of the cylinders of a
double cylinder Daimler motor having a modified form of my electric ignition
gear fitted thereto.
In the arrangement illustrated in Figures 1, 2 and 3 I operate the device for
generating the current for producing the spark to ignite the explosive charge
(the said device being preferably a magneto-electric machine of the kind described

page_text: in Bosch's Patent No. 15411 of 1897 and shewn at A in Figure 4, though I do not
confine myself to the use of this or any other particular magneto-electric machine)
by a half-speed or counter shaft a which is rotated from the main or crank-shaft b
of the engine or motor.
The sparking device comprises a hollow plug c adapted to be fixed to the ignition
chamber of the motor and carrying a contact d insulated from it and electrically
connected to one terminal of the magneto-electric or other machine A by means
of an insulated wire d¹, as shewn clearly in Figures 4 and 5, the other terminal
of which is connected to any convenient part of the engine which may form a
good conductor. A lever e is pivoted at e¹ to the plug c and normally rests upon
the contact held in the said plug. This contact lever is actuated by a spring
rod operated by a cam g keyed to a sleeve h (Figures 1 and 2) loose on the
counter shaft a in such a manner that it is gradually raised and allowed to
suddenly descend under the action of the spring f¹ so as to cause it to strike the
contact lever e, thereby momentarily breaking contact and producing the spark.
I, however, make no claim to this sparking device as it is described and claimed
in my application No. 7195 of even date herewith.
To alter the time of ignition, that is to say, the point in the cycle at which
the explosion of the charge is effected, I provide means whereby the relative
positions of the cam g and of the crank-shaft 6 can be altered. To this end I
mount upon the sleeve h (Figure 1) which is loose upon the half-speed or counter-
shaft a, a second sleeve or collar i in such a manner that it rotates therewith
but can slide axially thereon, the said longitudinal movement being advan-
tageously effected by means of a toothed sector j engaging with a rack k or any
suitable lever, the end of which engages in a groove 20 in the sleeve or collar i
The sleeve is provided with a spiral groove ¹ (Figure 3) with which engages the
end of an arm or the like / secured to the toothed wheel m upon the half-speed
shaft a which toothed wheel m gears with the toothed wheel n upon the main or
crank-shaft of the engine or motor.
With this arrangement it will be obvious that, by sliding the outer sleeve i
longitudinally upon the sleeve h enclosing the half-speed shaft a. the said outer
sleeve will be caused to partially rotate on account of the fixed toothed wheel
arm which engages in its groove ¹, the rotation of the said outer sleeve i revolving
the inner sleeve h and thereby the cam g for operating the contact device of the igni-
tion apparatus, so that the relative positions of the said cam g and of the crank-snaft b
are altered to the desired extent. The sleeves are normally rotated by the half-
speed shaft a through the medium of the toothed wheel arm which engages the
groove in the outer sleeve i. The cam is shewn provided with a pin g¹ for
oscillating the movable part of the current generator.
When applying my invention as illustrated in Figures 4 and 5, to explosion
engines having two or more cylinders it will be obvious that, for varying the time
of ignition, the spindle of the magneto-electric or other machine must in some
cases be moved relatively to the crank-shaft through twice the distance that
the cam actuating the contact device of the ignition apparatus is moved. To this
end I provide two counter-shafts a and a¹, the first a (preferably the exhaust cam
shaft but not necessarily so) of which is driven from the crank-shaft h of the
engine at half speed by means of gear wheels and is provided with a toothed
wheel o which gears with a toothed wheel o¹ of equal size upon the second counter
'shaft a. The said counter shaft a¹ is furnished with a second toothed wheel p
gearing with a broad pinion p' half its diameter loosely mounted upon the first
counter shaft a, and rigidly secured to an eccentric g for reciprocating the movable
part of the current generator A by means of the rod q². Cams g. 9 for operating
the contact devices of the ignition apparatus for each cylinder by means of the
spring rods f, f are keyed to the second shaft a¹ which is also formed for a part
of its length with a screw thread of large pitch as shewn at a2 working in the
boss of the toothed wheel o' so that by moving the said shaft a longitudinally
in its bearings, through the medium of the forked lever t, it is partially rotated

page_text: so as to vary the position of the ignition cams 9, 9 relatively with the crank-shaft
of the engine or motor. This movement also at the same time moves the wheel p
and the broad pinion p¹ so as to rotate the eccentric q through twice the distance
that the cams 9, 9 move thus varying the position of the movable part of the
current generator relatively with the crank-shaft to the required extent.
The above described arrangement is preferably used in combination with the
well known Daimler motor, as shewn, but when convenient I may discard the
gear wheel and actuate the rocking mechanism of the current generator A
direct from the half-speed shaft a driving the cam shaft a¹ at half speed by
means of gear wheels therefrom.
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 I
claim is
1. Electric ignition gear for explosion engines comprising a counter shaft
driven from the crank-shaft of the engine by spur wheels and carrying a loose
sleeve provided with a cam for operating the sparking device, and a second sleeve
or collar mounted upon the first sleeve so as to rotate therewith but slide axially
thereon, the said collar being provided with a spiral groove with which engages
the end of an arm secured to the counter shaft wheel and with a groove with
which engages the end of a rack adapted to be operated by suitable means such
as a toothed sector or the like, substantially as, and for the purpose, hereinbefore
described.
2. Electric ignition gear for explosion engines having two or more cylinders,
such gear comprising a current generating device, sparking devices, a counter
shaft for operating the current generating device, and a counter shaft for actuating
the sparking devices, and means whereby, when the two shafts are rotated inde-
pendently of the crank-shaft of the engine for varying the time of ignition, the
current generating device is operated at twice the speed at which the shaft operating
the sparking devices rotates, substantially as, and for the purpose, hereinbefore
described.
3. The improved electric ignition gears for explosion engines hereinbefore described
and illustrated respectively in Figures 1, 2 and 3 and 4 and 5 of the accompanying
drawings.
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, Finsbury, London,
Agents for the Applicant.