GB438258A - Improvements in or relating to the automatic starting of internal combustion engines - Google Patents

Abstract

438,258. Starting; stopping. SULZER FRERES SOC. ANON., Winterthur, Switzerland. May 10, 1935, No. 13792. Convention date, July 20, 1934. [Class 7 (v)] For starting an engine which drives a generator for supplying additional current to electric power mains on the failure, overload or other abnormal condition of a main source of supply, a device for the supply of starting air to the auxiliary engine is operated in accordance with a value which is dependent upon the current flowing in the electric mains, and is automatically actuated to cut off the air supply when the engine has reached a predetermined speed. As shown, the engine 1 drives a generator 2 for the supply of current to mains 3 normally supplied by a main generator (not shown). A valve 18 for the supply of starting air from a bottle 19, through a pipe 24 and distributer 41 to non-return valves 23 on the engine cylinders, is normally closed by a spring 21. A piston 20 on the stem of the valve 18 is actuated, to open the valve, by the pressure of lubricating oil, which is supplied by a pump 9 through a pipe 14 to the cylinder 25 and thence through a non-return valve 42 and pipe 22 to a lubricating pump 31 driven by the engine. The pump 9 is driven by an electric motor 10, the circuit 11 of which comprises an electromagnetic switch 7 normally held open by current from the mains 3. A bell-crank lever 28 controlled by the switch is connected to an arm 37 on a valve 27, which normally connects the cylinder 25 through a discharge pipe 26 to the oil reservoir 13. On the failure of current in the mains, the automatic closure of the switch 7 energizes the motor 10 and the valve 27 is closed by the lever 28 and arm 37, so that the pump 9 supplies lubricant through the cylinder 25 to the pump 31, and the starting valve 18 is opened by the pressure of the lubricant acting on the piston 20. When the engine starts and reaches a predetermined speed, an engine-driven governor 6, acting through a lever 36, returns the arm 37 and switch lever 28 to the normal position shown, breaking the circuit 11 and opening the byepass valve 27, so that the starting-air valve is closed by the spring 21. The mains are then supplied by the engine-driven generator 2 until the failure, overload, &c. of the mains supply is overcome, when the engine 1 can be stopped by moving a member 43 controlling the fuel pump 4 of the engine. In a modification, the governor 6 is omitted and the switch 7 is opened and closed solely by the variation of current in the mains supply.