GB416923A - Improvements in engine starter controls - Google Patents

Abstract

416,923. Starting prime movers. ECLIPSE MACHINE CO., Elmira, New York, U.S.A. Dec. 20, 1932, No. 36114. Convention date, Dec. 21, 1931. [Class 38 (iv).] In an engine starting-mechanism in which operation of the starter is effected through a connection to a driver-actuated control member, the connection is broken only on the returnof the control member to its released position after the commencement of rotation of the engine, and remains broken so long as the engine continues to rotate. As shown in Fig. 1, the control member is the accelerator pedal 7, which is pivotally connected to a rod 8 having an adjustable abutment 9 for engagement with a lever 10 connected by a link 12 to the throttle valve. The pedal 7 actuates the switch 4 of an electric starting-motor 5 through a lever 16, which is pivotally connected to a member 13 engaged by an enlargement 14 on the rod 8. A shoulder on the enlargement 14 is normally engaged by a latch member 21 in a cylinder 22 on the member 13. The cylinder 22 is connected by a conduit 38 to the inlet 34 of a pump comprising a diaphragm 26 actuated by an engine-driven cam 31 through a lever 27. When the engine is running either forwards or backwards, the pump is actuated and the latch 21 is lifted by suction, so that the enlargement 14 slides freely in the sleeve 13 without actuating the switch 4. To prevent the premature disabling of this connection during the starting operation, a slide valve 39 in the conduit 38 has a plunger 41 pivoted at 42 to the cylinder 22 ; movement of the sleeve 13 to close the switch 4 causes the valve 39 to cut off the suction conduit 38 from the cylinder 22 until the pedal 7 has been released. To prevent the re-establishment of the connection between the pedal 7 and switch 4 until a predetermined time after the engine has stopped, the pump inlet 34 is provided with an adjustable bleeder valve 48. If the latch is to be disengaged by pressure instead of suction, the conduit 38 is connected to the pump outlet 37. In a modification, Fig. 2, the cylinder 22 is continuously connected to the pump, but a port 45 in the side of the cylinder 22 is normally closed by a switch lever 46 pivoted to the cylinder 22 at 47 ; the port is uncovered by movement of the sleeve 13 to close the switch, so that suction in the pump conduit is then ineffective to raise the latch 21. In a further modification, Fig. 4, the latch 49 is controlled by pressure from the lubricant pump through a conduit 58 provided with a cock 62 connected by a link 64 to an arm 65 on the throttle lever 10, in order to cut off the fluid pressure when the switch 4 is closed. When the engine is running, the fluid pressure depresses the latch 49 by means of an elastic bellows 55, and the rod 8 then moves freely in a port 54 in the latch without actuating the switch lever 16.