US1002465A

US1002465A - Engine-starting device.

Info

Publication number: US1002465A
Application number: US56457510A
Authority: US
Inventors: Gregory J Spohrer
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1910-06-02
Filing date: 1910-06-02
Publication date: 1911-09-05
Anticipated expiration: 1928-09-05

Description

G. J. SPOHRER. ENGINE STARTING DEVICE. APPLICATION FILED JUNE 2, 1910.

1,002,465. I Pat ented Sept. 5,1911.

2 SHEETS -SHEET 1.

fir-31.... 5 i J 1 7 G. J. SPOHRER.

ENGINE STARTING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNEZ, 1910.

Patented Sept. 5, 1911.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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GREGORY J. SPOHRER, 0F FRANKLIN, PENNSYLVANIA.

ENGINE-STARTING DEVICE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 5,1911.

Application filed June-2, 1910. Serial No. 564,575.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GREGORY J. SroHRnR, a citizen of the United States, residing at Franklin, in the county of Venango and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Engine- Starting Devices, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to improvements in engine starting devices and more particularly to a device adapted to be operated by compressed air or exploded gas from the cylinders of'a motor and constructed and arranged upon. amotor driven vehicle to impart the initial movement to the crank shaft of the motor.

Another-object resides in the provision of a device of the above character which is extremelysimple, very positive in its operation and-may be actuated at a minimum expenditure of power.

A still further object is to provide, a re ciprocating piston geared to the motor shaft and adapted to be actuated by compressed air or exploded gas from the cylinders of a motor, a pressure tank being provided and connected to the engine cylinders and means a for controlling. the supply of air from said tank to the piston cylinder.

With these and other objects in view, the

invention consists of the novel features of construction and the combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter fully described and claimed, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 1s .a side elevation of a device constructed in accordance with the present invention; Fig. 2 is an enlarged longitudinal section through the piston cylinder; Fig. 3

is a section taken on the line 33 of Fig. 1

Fig. 4 is a section taken on the line 44 of Fig. 3; and Fig. 5 is a detail section of one end of the piston. cylinder showing the position of the parts after the supply of air to the cylinder has been automatically out 01f.

Referring more particularly to the drawings 5 indicates the piston cylinder in which a reciprocating piston 6 is arranged. The piston rod 7 is secured to the-piston (3 and extends through one end of the cylinder. A headS is secured upon and closes the other end of the cylinder 5. A longiti ldinal channel 9 is formed in the wall of the cylinder 5 and connnunicates with said cylinder at the closed end 8 thereof. At the communication with the longitudinal 'chan nel 9, a short passage 13 being formed in the end of the cylinder. A valve 14 is arranged in the casing 10 and is formed with a stem 14 which ismovable in a stufiing box 15 provided on the end of the valve casing. An

extension or arm 16 is also formed on the end of the cylinder on which the valve is arranged. Arms 17 extend from said extension and the body of the cylinder and are connected and formed into a bearing 18 for the motor shaft 19:

Upon the motor shaft 19 a gear 20 is loosely arranged and adjacent to said gear a'flanged disk 21 is keyed on the motor shaft. The flange ofthis disk is disposed within a reduced portion or recessed face of the gear 20. The disk 21 carries the pivoted pawls 22 which are arranged thereon at diametrically opposite points and are adapted to engage with a ratchet 23 rigidly secured on themotor shaft 19. These pawls are normally held in engagement with the teeth of the ratchet by means of the leaf springs 24. To the gear 20 one end of a helically coiled spring 25 is secured, the other end of said spring being secured to the bearing 18. The piston rod 7 is formed with or has secured thereto a rack 26 the teeth of which are engaged with the teeth of the gear 20 at all times in'the movement of the piston 6. At a point diametrically opposite to the rack 26 the piston rod is also formed with a longitudinally extending rib 27. This rib is ada ted to engage with the lower end of the va ve stem 14:, as shown in Fig. 1 and when so engaged the valve 1 1- is lifted from its seat 11 so as to opencommunication between the

chambers

11 and 12 and permit the passage .of air under compression I through the valve and the passages or

channels

9 and 18 into theend of the cylinder 5 behind the piston 6. Adjacent to its forward end thecylinder 5 is formed with an exhaust port 5 through which the air is adapted to escape after the piston reaches the limit of its reci'procatory movement in one direction, as will more fully hereinafter appear. It

will be noted from reference to Fig. 3 that I the end of the arm 16 is enlarged and is formed with a longitudinal groove 16 which receives the rib 27 and provides a guide for the longitudinal movement of the piston rod.

'In the application. of my invention air or exploded gas from the cylinders of aupon the body of the vehicle land is coninto the cylinders. 20.

tubing.

nected to bne or more cylindersof the motor ,by means of the piping 29 in-which a valve 3( ).is arranged, and controls the supply of air to the tank. The ipe 29 has a check valve therein at each of the motor cylinders to prevent back pressure of the burned gas The air is adapted to be conveyed to the valve 10 through the medium. of the piping 31 which may either be a fiexible hose or sheet metal At a convenient point in the pipe 31 a control valve 32 is arranged. This valve is'in the form of an odinary stop cock and is rotatably mounted in a suitable casing which is'provided with an exhaust or outlet port, as shown at 33. A curved bore or passage 34 extends transversely through the valve member at one side of itsoenter and is adapted to connect the two sections of the pi e 31 to open comfmunication between the air tank 28 and the valve 1 0. This arrangement of the parts is clearly shown in Fig. 1 and when so arranged the air enters the chamber 12 of the valve 10 from whence it passes into the chamber 11 and from said chamber into the longitudinal channel 9 inthe 'cylhider wall. It is finally discharged into the end of the cylinder and between the iston 6 and the end 8 of the cylinder casing. It will be obvious that when sufficient airhas thus been admitted to the cylinder the pressure of the same upon the piston 6 will cause the piston and its rod to move longitudinally toward the opposite end of the cylinder. This move.- ment of the piston rod will cause the. rotation ofthe gear 20. owing to the engagementof theteet-h of said gear with the teeth of.

the rack 26 carried by the piston rod. The gear 20 and the disk 21 will be looked upon the motor shaft by the engagement of the pawls 22 with the teeth of the rack 23 which is carried by the gear. It will be obvious that as the gear 20 is thus moved to rotate the shaft, the spring 25 will be coiled. After the rib 27 passes beyond the valve stem 14,

the valve 14 moves into its seat and closes communication between the

chambers

11 and 12 thus shutting off the supply of airto the cylinder ,5. This action takes place before the piston 6 reaches the exhaust port'28 so that there is still the pressure of air acting upon the piston after the valve is closed.

reverse rotation of the gear. action of the piston will generally produce 32 will release the air from the cylinder .upon

the return stroke of the piston,the valve 14 being immediately unseated by engagement with the beveled or inclined end 27 of the rib 27 Thus the return stroke of the piston will force all air from the cylinder through the valve and the pipe 31 and discharge the same at the outlet 33. The return movement of the piston 6 is accomplished throu h the medium of the spring 25 which rota es the gear 20 on the shaft, the pawls 22 moving over the teeth of the ratchet 23 during this One such suflicientrevolutions of the shaft to start the motor and after the motor has beenstarted, the pawls 22 carried by the disk 21 keyed on the shaft are thrown outward by the centrifugal force occasioned by the speed of rotation of the shaft. This outward movement of the pawls is limited b means of the stop pins 22. fixed on the dis so that the springs 24 will not be bent or distorted so as to render the same inoperative to return the pawls to their normal positions.

From the above it will be seen that I have produced a very simple and efiicient starting mechanism for gas engines and the like such as are commonly used in the automobile industry. In the event that sufiicient pressure cannot be obtained from the engine cylinders, an air pump of any desired construction may be carried in the machine to supply air to the tank 28. The device is also very durable in construction and positive in its operation so that the engine may be quickly started without necessitating any manual exertion.

I While I have shown and described the particular embodiment of my invent-ion which I deem best adapted to the purposes in View, it will be obvious that the same may be variously modified in form, proportion and construction without departing from the essential features or sacrificing any of the advantages thereof.

Having thus described the invention what is claimed is:

1. In an engine starting device, the combination with a cylinder and a piston mounted.to reciprocate therein, of a gear ada ted to be loosely mounted on an engine s aft, a rod extending from the piston through one end of the cylinder provided with rack teeth engaging with the teeth of said car,

pipe, and means carried by the piston rod for automatically raising said valve and admitting air to the cylinder to reciprocate said piston.

2. Inan engine starting device, the combination with a cylinder and a piston mountits wall connecting the air inlet pipe with the other end of the cylinder, a gravity valve member arranged in one end of the cylinder and normally closing communication between said passage and the inlet pipe, and means movable with the piston in its reciprocatory movement to elevate said valve and open communication between said inlet pipe and the air passage to reciprocate said piston.

3. In an engine starting device, the combination with a cylinder anda piston mounted to reciprocate therein, of an engine shaft disposed transversely with relation to the cylinder, a rod extending from the piston through one end of the cylinder, operating connections between the engine shaft and the piston rod whereby said shaft is rotated in one direction of movement of the piston, an inlet pipe connected to one end of the cylinder and to a suitable source of air supply, a valve mounted in the end of the cylinder and normally closing communication between the same and said inlet pipe, said piston rod being engaged with the valve stem and holding the valve open through the greater part of its reciprocatory movement to admit air to the cylinder to reciprocate said piston, the wall of said cylinder having an exhaust port therein to exhaust the air at the end of the movement of said piston in one direction.

4:. In an engine starting device, the combination of a cylinder, a piston arranged to reciprocate therein having a piston rod extending through one end of the cylinder, a bearing formed on one end of the cylinder,

,an engine shaft mounted in' said bearing,

means connecting said piston rod and engine shaft to rotate the latter, a valve casing formed on the end of said cylinder having a central partition therein'providing two chambers, a valve normally closing communication between said chambers and provided with a stem extending through one end of the casing, a longitudinal rib formed on the piston rod adapted to engage said valve stem'and unseat the same to open communication between the chambers, said cylinder wall having a longitudinal channel therein connected tonne of the valve chambers and extending to the opposite end of the cylinder to supply air thereto, said cylinder wall adjacent to its forward end having an exhaust port therein, the longitudinal movement of the piston in the cylinder in one direction being adapted to disengage the rib from the valve stem to shut off the air from the cylinder before the piston reaches said exhaust port, and air tank, a pipe connecting said tank to the valve, and a controlling valve in said pipe having an outlet and adapted to control the supply of" air from the tank to the cylinder and to exhaust the air from the cylinder upon the return stroke of the piston.

In testimony whereof I hereunto afix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

GREGORY J. SPOHRER. \Vitnesses FAYETTE E. SMITH, \VALTER F. Ross.

five cents each. by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C.