US1093796A - Rotary engine. - Google Patents

Description

G. MILLER. ROTARY ENGINE. APPLICATION FILED 13110.7, 1909. RENEWED JAN. 23, 1913.

1,093,796. I Patented Apr. 21, 1914 3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

IIVVENTOI? CHARLES MILLER g fli r/(M 64 W1( Mb} TTOHNEYS WITNESSES coLuMmA ELANOGRAPH co., WASHINGTON. D. c.

0. MILLER. ROTARY ENGINE. APPLICATION IILED DEOJ, 1909. RENEWED JAN. 23, 1913. 1,093,796. P n ed Apr. 21, 1914 3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

L r I ,7 r' 1;- WITNESSES. INVENTOR 6 CHARLES MILLER ATTORNE Y8 a/Mv 77M O. MILLER.

110mm ENGINE. APPLICATION FILED DEC. 7, 1909. RENEWED JAN. 23, 1913.

1 09 3 79 Patented Apr. 21, 1914.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

1 w'" :|""'-/5 "II M 5 36 1 3 v 38 I 1 I ll 54 1, 54 f3 WITNESSES: INVENTOR /g W7? I CHARLES MILLER WMM/PH ATTORNEYS COLUMBIA PLANOORAPH cO-. WASHINGTON. D. e.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES MILL-ER, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR- TO MILLER MOTOR COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

ROTARY ENGINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 21, 1914;.

Application filed December 7, 1909, Serial No. 531,881. Renewed January 23, 1913. Serial No. 743,874.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that 1, CHARLES MILLER, a citizen of the United States, residing 1n the city, county, and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Rotary Engines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to that type of rotary engines in which one or more pistons are driven continuously in one direction or the other about a central axis and in an appropriate endless chamber to which said pistons are fitted, the actuating medium being su1t-. able gas, such as steam or air, admltted to the chamber under pressure and at suitable times.

In Patents Nos. 924,173, dated June 8,1 1909, and 931,785, dated August 24;, 1909, I

have shown and described improved engines of the general type herein referred to.

My present invention has particular relation to special modes of grouping the cylinders and cooperating abutments in engines of the class described, and one of its objects.

is to secure a gain of efficiency as well as of power for unit of welght. V

A further object is to minimize latera 5 pressure on rotating parts by causing SELlCll parts to be balanced.

My present invention relates further to The object of these several improvements is to provide a more efficient engine capable of being manufactured with greater flexibility of operation and in which power losses shall be reduced to a minimum.

Referring to the drawings which are hereby made a part of this specification, Figure 1 is an elevation of a preferred form of engine embodying my present improvements with the front half of the engine casing removed; Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1, the front half of the engine being in place, but with the top of the steam chest (valve casing) omitted; Fig. 8 is a central longitudinal section of the entire assembled on gine, part elevation, along the line 33 of Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a view in elevation of a modified form of my invention, the front half of the engine casing being omitted;

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. l, but with the front half of the engine casing in place, the top of the valve casing being omitted; Fig. 6 is a perspective view showing the cut-off regulating ring; Fig. 7 is a perspective view showing one of the reversing or port valves; Fig. 8 is an enlarged vertical and axial section through one pair of pistons; Fig. 9 is a horizontal section along the line 9-9 of Fig. 8; Fig. 10 is an elevation of still another form of my invention; and Fig. 11 is a plan view of Fig. 10.

Referring to the drawings, land 2 are metal castings, held together by bolts 3, comprising a main casing in which are formed the annular cylinders 4 which are preferably circular in section. These cylinders are in the same plane and have their centers equally spaced along the same straight line. In each cylinder is a pair of diametrally opposite pistons 5, 5 rigidly fixed to a thin core 6 which is itself fixed to a shaft 7, suitably journaled in the main casing above and below, and upon and with which each piston system adapted to revolve. To insure steam tight connection between each piston and its cylinder, spring rings 8 are peripherally attached to said pistons as is practised in reciprocating engines. Midway between each pair of shafts 7 and parallel wit-h them is a shaft 9 whichcarries an abutment 10. This abutment is a structure comprising two identical and di ametrally opposed thin tubular segments or heads 11, 11 having sides and ends respectively parallel and perpendicular to shaft 9, said segments being centrally united, as also affixed to the shaft, by a thin core 19.. Opposite'sides of opposite segments are united by narrow ring sections 13 at top and bottom, these rings usually being continuing portions of the segments themselves and hence integrally attached thereto. Each pair of these segments is adapted to move in an annular abutment slot 14, which like the steam chambers, is formed in the main casing and intersects adjacent cylinders as shown. This slot is axially longer than the diameter of the steam cylinders, thus extending beyond said cylinders on each side. (See Fig. 3.)

Directly above each of the abutment-s and thus midway between adjacent cylinders is a steam chest or valve casing 15 which may be formed integrally with the front half of the main casing, or may be attached thereto by any desired and usual method. Each valve casing has a cover 16 bolted thereon, and a pipe 17 common to all said casings opening through said cover into the interior of the casing; the main pipe 18, opening centrally into pipe 17, carries the steam supply. Just within each. valve casing and opposite the opening of pipe 17 is a suitably supported plate 18 In each valve casing and central with shaft 9 is a valve 19 consisting of a thin septum 20 having similar annular segments 21 at each end; this valve is rigidly fixed to shaft 9 thus rotating with it and the abutment 10, and the thin end septa are snugly fitted to the inner peripheral walls of a cut-off ring itself fitted within a valve chamber 21 formed within the casing.

Diametrally opposite in each casing and on a diagonal are two ports 22; each port leads from the peripheral wall of the valve chamber, where it has the form of a wide slot, by a narrowing passage through a reversing valve 23, by means of which it may be joined or cut off from an inlet port 24:, which, in the form of a narrow slot substantially tangent to the axis of its cylinder, extends outwardly and downwardly into said cylinder.

Each reversing valve 23 has the form of an inverted box in one side of which is a slot 2 1 and at the top of which is a central spindle terminating in a square end 25 adapted to be grasped by a suitable key. This spindle constitutes a journal by means of which the reversing valve is fixed to the top 16 of the valve chamber and upon which it may be rotated as will be hereinafter described.

Valve 19 is concentric with and snugly fitted within what I term a cut-off regulating ring 26. This ring is itself fitted in the same way snugly within the circular casing 21 formed in the valve chamber 15. In each of these regulating rings is cut a pair of opposite rectangular openings 27 and on one side of the ring between said openings is cut a series of spur teeth 28. These teeth are arranged to gear with a small pinion 29 ournaled at one side of the valve chamber, each of these pinions 29 being furnished with a square head projecting above the top of said chamber so that, by means of a suitable key, the pinion may be rotated so as to rotate the ring 26 within its chamber. As shown in Fig. 2 the opening 27 of the ring coincides with the outer opening of the port 22. By rotating the ring one way or the other this port 22 will be closed upon one side or the other so as to lessen the width of the slot by which it opens into the inlet port 24: and thus into the central steam chamber. As valve 19 revolves, steam will be admitted into each port 22 during that time when some part of the opening 30 between the valve segments 21 coincides with some part of the opening 27 of the ring. By rotating ring 26 therefore, so as to diminish this opening 27, the entering volume of steam will be lessened. and the cut-oil of the engine will. take place more quickly.

31 represents a small block extending the full height of the opening 27 and having the same thickness and curvature as ring 26. This block is set at each side of each valve chamber so as to project into opening 27 and to be flush with its inner periphery each side of the block also constituting an inner side wall of each. adjacent port 22. Each block 31 fixes the rotation of ring 26 between limits, which allow port 22 to be moved anywhere between fully opened or fully closed; furthermore, it prevents what would happen if it were a part of the ring 26 instead of separate therefrom, viz., stean'l from passing from the valve chamber into port 22 around the edge or end of segment 21 before the port 22 was properly uncovered by the valve in case opening 27 were rotated away from 22.

In the central line of the cylinder axes and on the opposite side of each valve chamber is cut a rectangular slot 32 leading from each cylinder into a steam passage 33 in said valve chamber, said passage 33 being connected by another passage 34 to the outside of the engine; this slot 32 is an auxiliary exhaust for the purpose hereinafter to be described.

As shown in the drawings 22 and 22 are ports similar to the inlet ports 22, 22 in every respect and leading to similar passages 2 1, 24. The valves 23', 23 are also similar to valves 23, 23 and operate in the same way. As shown the valves 23, 23 are set so that 22, 22 are cut off and passages 33 and 24 are connected.

The several piston and abutment shafts carry on one side of the engine support gear wheels 35, 36, 37, 38 and 39 of equal diameter and meshing in one another, thus compelling the shafts to rotate with the same angular velocity. The smooth pulley 40 attached to one of these shafts, preferably the central one, permits power to be taken from the engine.

The valve segments 21 are not lined up with their corresponding abutments but angularly thereto as shown in Fig. 2.

The operation of the engine is as follows: The moving parts being as in Fig. 2, steam having been admitted to the inlet pipe 18 is carried by the pipe 17 to the several valve chambers where it impinges upon the plate 18 and fills each chamber. The engine being started by hand, inlet ports 22 will be partly uncovered by the valve segments 21 and steam admitted. This steam will pass by way of 24c and enter the steam cylinders behind each piston, which it will drive in the direction of the arrow. lVhen the valve has rotated through the necessary angle about 90 as drawn, ports 22 will again be covered and the steam shut off. Each piston will also have rotated through the same angle and will now continue to rotate under the expansion of the steam now in the cylinder, this expansion continuing until abutment head 11 has passed completely across the cylinder and permitted the opposite piston 5 to swing past. For a few degrees of rotation the charge of steam which we have been considering, will now be carried as a dead charge until piston 5 has passed above port 2%, at which time this charge will exhaust through said port and the exhaust passages 33 and After piston 5 has passed port 2% and as it is passing to a corresponding position above the center line of the engines, consideration will show that the volume between the piston and abutment 11 just ahead of said piston is constantly decreasing so that any steam or air contained between said piston and said abutment will be compressed. This, of course, will operate like any other back pressure and tend to retard the engine and diminish its efiiciency and it is for the purpose of preventing this that I have arranged the auxiliary exhaust. 32.

As above described and as shown in Fig. 2, the piston of my engine must rotate counter-clockwise, as shown by the arrows. By rotating each inlet valve 23 so as to shut port 22 and open passage 33 and each exhaust valve 23 so as to close 33 and open 22 I may cause the engine to reverse its direction of motion.

In the engine shown by my Patents 924,173 and 931,785 before referred to I have employed two cylinders symmetrically situated on each side of the abutment system; in said engine the steam pressure upon the abutment only was balanced, the two power cylinders being unbalanced. In my present engine, as above described, I have a third power cylinder, which, other things being equal, should give me 50% more power. By the arrangement employed, however, I now have one of the three power cylinders as also two abutment systems completely balanced so that there is a gain of power over that due to the addition of the extra cylinder per 86.

Figs. 4 and 5 show a modified form of my invention comprising essentially the engine shown in Figs. 1 to 3 with the two outside power cylinders omitted. lVith these outer power cylinders omitted the inner ports 22, 22, 22 22 are exactly the same as the corresponding ports of the two valve chambers in Figs. 1 and 3 and have exactly the same function, namely that of controlling the steam inlet and exhaust of the central power cylinder. The outer ports are, however, not required, since there are no corresponding power cylinders to be controlled. I retain them, however, much as in the first described construction, except that the slots ll are tangent to the annular abutment chamber instead of to the power cylinder as before and said slots extend downwardly and open into pockets 42, 42 formed below the ports in the peripheral wall of the abutment chamber. As shown in Fig. 5 valves 43, 4-3, are inlet valves, and 43, 43 are outlet or exhaust valves, the parts moving as shown by the arrows. In this case the diagonally opposite valves -l-l, it, are set as shown, so that steam is simultaneously admitted to the pockets 42, 42, the remaining pockets 41 42 being shut off. If the engine is to be reversed, all the central power cylinder valves are altered as before explained for Figs. 1 to 3 and pockets 42 4:2, opened while pockets 42, 4.2, are closed.

Figs. 8 and 9 show in detail an improved method of keeping the piston expansion rings fitted tightly to their inclosing cylinders. Here 4.5 is the expansion ring (concave centrally and convex outwardly to fit the cylinder in which it rotates) which is cut through so as to remove a V-shaped piece or notch so that the ends of the ring will fit against the corresponding V-shaped portion of a cylindrical plug 46, inserted into a corresponding diametral hole drilled in the piston proper. At the small end of the V is a spindle 47, entered slidably in the hole suitably drilled in the core 6. 48 is aspindle terminating below in acone and above in a screw thread engaging a nut 49 fixed to the main casing. l hen 4-8 is lowered or 'aised the spindle 47 is moved in and out so as to shift the V-shaped portion of 46 and thus force the piston ring 45 outwardly or permit it to move inwardly as the case may be; a spring 50 retained in place by a screw plug 51 keeps a constant inward pressure upon 46.

In the engine of Figs. 1 to 3, employing three power cylinders, mention has been made of the spur gears by means of which these power cylinders and their abutment systems are caused to move at uniform speed and in definite registry. Gears of this kind are more or less noisy as well as expensive. Furthermore, when used in amedium to transmit power they themselves absorb considerable of the power developed and detract by so much from the elliciency of the engine as a whole. In this form of engine the power is generally taken from a central shaft, as from pulley 4:0, and the outer power cylinders must in the case of the geared arrangement transmit their power through the gears to the central shaft.

In the arrangement shown in Figs. 10 and 11 I do not use gears on the outside power shafts, but only on the central power shaft and the two adjoining abutments. Instead I attach, to the central power shaft, a balanced crank arm 52, and to the two outside power shafts similar crank arms 53, 53, all these cranks being arranged parallel'with one another. I then connect the outer eX- tremities of the cranks by a pair of connecting rods 54. With this arrangement each power cylinder communicates its power direct to the central shaft without any loss through gearing and without severe gear strain tending to break the gears. The gears used on the central power shaft and adjoining abutment shafts transmit only so much power as may be required to rotate the abutments and, since these are balanced, this power is substantially negligible.

While I have described my invention as embodied in preferred forms I do not limit myself to the actual constructions shown but, on the contrary, may make many changes in details without departing from the spirit of the invention which is set forth in the following claims.

I claim:

1. In a rotary engine of the class described a system of steam control comprising a pair of independent inlet ports each leading from the power cylinder to one side of independent valves, a pair of outer ports each leading from the steam chest to the other side of said valves, and an outer exhaust port leading from the last mentioned sides of said valves,

and common to both valves, to the atmosphere, said valves being each adjustable so as to connect an inlet port with an outer port or with the'exhaust port at will, substantially as and for the purpose described.

2. In an engine having a rotary piston system cooperating with an abutment, in combination, a rotary valve adapted to control the steam supply, a steam port, an adjustable ring closely embracing said valve, said ring being provided with an opening adapted to cooperate with said port, and a block projecting into said ring opening at the side of said port, substantially as and for the purpose described.

3. In an engine having a rotary piston system cooperating with an abutment, in

combination, a valve chamber, a rotary valve.

within said chamber, a steam supply pipe connected with said chamber and means for spreading the steam supply as it enters the valve chamber, substantially as and for the purpose described.

4. In an engine having a rotary piston provided with an expansion ring means attached to said piston and operable from without the engine whereby said ring may be adjusted without stopping the engine, substantially as and for the purpose described.

5. An engine comprising, in linear arrangement, a plurality of rotating piston systems alternated with a plurality of 006 erating rotating abutments, connecting rods uniting the piston systems together, and a gear uniting each abutment to its adjacent piston system, as and for the purpose described.

6. In an engine having a rotary piston, an expansion ring upon said piston having a V- shaped notch cut therefrom, and means for pressing the ends of said ring apart.

7. In an engine having a rotary piston, an expansion ring upon said piston having a V shaped notch cut therefrom, a spindle having a V shaped portion lying between the ends of said ring and means for moving said spindle so as to press said ring ends a greater or less distance apart.

8. In an engine having a rotary piston, an expansion ring upon said piston having a V- shaped notch cut therefrom, a spindle attached to and moving with said piston one end of the spindle being engaged with the ends of said ring, a cone engaging the other end of said spindle and means for moving said cone so as to alter the position of the spindle end with reference to the ends of the ring.

9. In a rotary engine, a casing, a rotary piston operable therewithin, an expansion ring upon said piston having a V-shaped notch cut therefrom, a spindle attached to and moving with the piston and having a V-shaped end engaging the ends of the piston ring, a cone connected with the casing and engaged with the other end of said spindle and means for moving said cone axially whereby the piston may be expanded.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto affixed. my signature in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

CHARLES MILLER.

lVitnesses ELMER Gr. WILLYOUNG,

JOHN A. KEHLENBECK.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, I). G.

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