US1212578A - Starting mechanism for internal-combustion engines. - Google Patents

Description

APPLICATION FlLED JULY 21, 1914.

Patented Jan. 16,1917.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

WW a Q A TTOR/VEV G. J. SPOHRER. STARTING MECHANISM FOR INTERNAL COMBUSTION :ENGINES.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 21, {914.

1 ,2], 2,578, Patented Jan. 16, 1917.

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A TTOR/VEY UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.-

GREGORY J. SPOHRER, OF EAST ORANGE, NEW JERSEY, ASQIGNOB TO THE MOTOR- COMPRESSOR COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE.

STARTING MECHANISM FOR INTERNAL-COMBUSTION ENGINES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 16, 1917.

Application filed July 21, 1914. Serial No. 852,152.

gines; and I do hereby declare the following.

to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to starting mechanism for internal combustion engines of the type employing a convertible motor-com- ,pressor which may be employed as a motor for driving the shaft of the internal combustion engine and may be driven as a compressor by the engine to compress an elastic fluid and store it in a suitable reservoir.

The invention is directed particularly to the provision of a starting mechanism for use on automobiles, though it will be apparent that the mechanism can be used in connection with engines of various types and employed for various purposes.

This invention refers more particularly to the connecting mechanism employed between the motor-compressorfand the engine shaft, this mechanism being such that either of these two members may be the driving member and the other the driven member.

The primary object of the invention is to provide such a connecting mechanism adapted for use between a convertible motor-compressor and an engine-driven shaft which mechanism is simple in construction, which may be manufactured at low cost, which is of light weight, which occupies but little space, and the operationof which may be effected largely or entirely automatically.

In accordance with the invention, I employ a convertible motor-compressor, preferably using compressed air, and the shaft of this motor-compressor is arranged to rotate in one direction when the device is employed as a motor and in the opposite direction when the device is employed as a compressor. The shaft of the gas engine or an auxiliary shaft connected thereto must ordinarily rotate always in the same direction. The connecting gearing between this shaft and the motor-compressor must, therefore, provide for opposite rotation of the two shafts in the one case and like rotation in the other case. Also, for conveniencein operating, it is highly desirable that the neces sary connections under the differing conditions of use shouldbe made automatically. More specifically, it is highly desirable that when the motor-compressor is used as a motor, its shaft should be connected automatically to the engine shaft; that when the engine is started, the connection of that shaft to the motor should be immediately disconnected automatically and that when it is desired to drive the motor-compressor as' a compressor from the engine shaft, the engine shaft should be connected to the compressor automatically. I accomplish these ends by the provision of connecting devices between the motor-compressor and the engine shaft which are actuated automatically by the operation of the motor-compressor when the engine shaft is at rest and also are actuated automatically by the engine shaft when its speed of rotation exceeds that of the motor-compressor. These connecting devices preferably include a movable gear which may be moved to a position for connecting the engine shaft and the motorcompressor or to a position where it does not effect this connection. Preferably, this movable gear is movable axially upon a suitable support and the gear and its support are provided with coacting spiral threads.

' When the motor is operated while the engine shaft is at rest, it acts through the spiralthread to, move the gear axially into driving relation to the engine shaft. Also, when the engine is started, at which timeits speed of rotation will exceed that of the motor, the

engine shaft will act through the spiral thread to move the gear bodily to a position such that it no longer serves to connect the engine shaft and motor. In combination with these devices, I employ a means for connecting the engine shaft to the shaft of the motor-compressor so that the latter will operate as a compressor driven by the engine. The establishment of this connection may be effected in' any suitable manner, but I prefer to effect it pneumatically since then it may be done as an incident to a change in the connections leading from the compressor whereby the latter is adapted to compress air and store it in the storage reservoir. These and other features of the invention will be better understood by reference to the following description taken in connection with the being preferably of the four-cylinder compound type and arranged to run in one direction as a motor and in the other direction as a compressor. cylinders are shown at 5, each having its piston connected by a connecting rod 6 to the crank-pin 7 of the crank shaft 8. This shaft has its ends mounted for rotation in suitable bearings formed in the casing 9 of the motor-compressor. On one end of the shaft 8 is an eccentric 10 whose strap 11 is connected by rods 12 to the ends of rocking valve members 13 which are located in valve chambers 14 and by their movements serve to control the supply of air from the tank to the cylinders of the motor and the supply of air from the compressor to the tank.

The other end of the crank shaft 8 of the motor-compressor is extended through its bearing in the casing 9 and has a gear 15 secured thereon. This gear 15 is connected by an idler gear 16 to a gear 17 keyed upon a counter-shaft 18 mounted for rotation in bearings formed in the walls of an auxiliary casing 19 secured to the casing 9. The

gear 17 has an integral extension in the form of a sleeve20 and one or more spiral threads 21 are formed integral with this sleeve 20 as shown in Figs. 1 and 4. A sec- 1 0nd sleeve 22 fits upon the sleeve 20 and is adapted to rotate and move axially thereon. This sleeve 22 has a gear 23 formed integral therewith and on its interior surface, it has one or more spiral grooves corresponding to the spiral threads 21 upon the sleeve 20, the construction being such that axial and rotational movement'of sleeve 22 and gear 23 on sleeve 20 take place concurrently.

The gear 23 is adapted to move laterally into and out of mesh with a gear 24. This gear is splined by means of a key 25 upon the end of a shaft 26. This shaft 26 may be the shaft of the internal combustion engine which is to be started; or, it may be'a counter-shaft which is connected in any suitable manner to the shaft of the engine to be started, as for instance, by the chain and sprocket indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 1. The extended hub 27 of the gear 24 which extends over and is splined to the shaft 26 is preferably received in a bearing 28 which is secured to the casing 19. On its opposite side, the gear 24 is formed as a clutch-member adapted to fit over the end of The two low pressure the gear 15 and provided with projections which coact with the teeth of the gear 15 to lock the gears 15 and 24 for simultaneous rotation.

The gear 24 is moved axially upon shaft 26 into and out of engaging relation with the gear 15 by a yoke 29 which fits into a circumferential groove provided for its reception at the side of the gear 24. This yoke 29 is secured to a post 30 which is pivotally connected to a rocking lever 31 mounted in bearings formed upon the casing 19. The opposite end of this lever 31 is connected by a rod 32 to a piston 33 adapted to reciprocate Within a cylinder 34 which is secured to the frame of the motor-compressor. An air pipe 35is connected to one end of the cylinder 34 so that air admitted to the cylinder therethrough will displace the piston 33 and act through the rod 32, lever 31, post 30 and yoke 29 to move the gear 24 into clutching relation with the gear 15. The piston 33 is actuated thus against the tension of a spring 36 lying between it and the end of the cylinder 34. As soon as the air pressure is withdrawn from the cylinder 34, the spring 36 restores the parts to the positions in which they are shown in Fig. 1 with the gear 24 out of engagementowith the gear 15. The compressed air is admitted to pipe 35 and cylinder 34 from a supply reservoir 38, atwo-way valve 39 being inserted in the connection, as shown in Fig. 1. When the movable member of this valve is in one of its two positions, the cylinder 34 isconnected to atmosphere as shown, and when it is in the other position, the tank 38 is connected to the cylinder 34.

In order to make more positive the axial movement of the gear 23 upon the member 20 effected by the spiral thread heretofore referred to, I prefer to subject the gear 23 and its sleeve 22 to a slight retardation which will tend to check rotation of gear 23 with gear 17 when axial movement of gear 23 is permissible. For this purpose, I provide a springarm bearing upon the sleeve 22 to exert a slight frictional retardation of the rotation of the sleeve. Such a spring-arm is shown at 37 in Figs. 1 and 3, it being secured to the casing 19 adjacent to the sleeve 22.

If it be desired to start the engine, the operator manipulates the master-valve so as to admit air to the motor and the latter will run with its shaft driving the gear 15, the idler 16 and the gear 17 having the sleeve 20 thereon. The gears 17 and 15 will rotate in a clockwise direction as the gear 17 and its sleeve 20 are shown in Fig. 3. \Vhen the sleeve 20 is rotated in this direction, the spiral thread 21 thereon acts upon the walls of the coacting groove in the sleeve 22 to move that sleeve and its gear as the parts are shown in Fig. 1. This carries the gear 23 into mesh with the gear 24,

the axial movement of the gear 23 being ary rested when the latter is in mesh with the gear 24 by the engagement of the end of sleeve 22 with the gear 17. Since the gear 24 is splined upon the shaft 26, the motor serves as a driving member for the shaft 26 and will rotate the latter through the gears 15, 16, 17, 23 and 24 until the engine begins to operate under its own power.

It will be noted that the gearing is such that shaft 26, when driven by the motor, turns in a direction opposite to the direction of rotation of the motor shaft 8. As soon as the engine starts to operate under its own power, it drives the gear 24 at a speed in excess of that at which it was driven by the motor. This turns the gear 23 and its sleeve 22 upon the sleeve 20 and as the gear 23 turns thus, the spiral thread 21 causes the gear to be moved axially to the left as shown in Fig. 1 until it is carried out of mesh with the gear 24 whereupon the driving. relation of the engine shaft to the motor and the intermediate connecting gearing is disconnected. Furthermore, as soon as the engine started to operate under its own power, the operator would cut off the supply of air to the motor. This being done and the gear 23 being moved to the position in which it is shown in Fig. 1, the parts of the motor-compressor and the gearing for connecting it with the shaft 26, would remain at rest while the engine was in operation.

It will be noted that any tendency of the gear 23 to rotate with the sleeve 20, but not move axially thereon when the motor is first started inoperation to start the engine shaft, will be overcome by the frictional retardation of sleeve 22 and gear 23 by the spring-arm 37.

When the supply of compressed air in the storage reservoir becomes diminished and it is desired to replenish this supply, the operator manipulates the master-valve so as to open the connections from the motorcompressor to the tank and in so doing so admits air through the pipe 35 to the cylinder 34 thereby operating through the lever 31 to shift the gear 24 axially into clutching relation to the gear 15, the gear 24 being rotated in the meanwhile by the shaft 26 to which it is splined. This having been done, the shaft 26 will drive the motorcompressor as a compressor through the gears 24 and 15. It will be noted that at this time, the shafts 26 and 8 rotate in the same direction, whereas when the motorcompressor was used as a motor for driving the shaft 26, these two shafts rotated in opposite directions.

The disconnection of these two shafts is also effected automatically by the running of the engine under its own power due to the higher speed of the engine shaft when.

running under the power of the engine than when being driven by the motor. This automatic connecting and disconnecting means includes an axially movable gear which is moved automatically into and out of mesh with a gear on the engine shaft.

What I claim is:

1. The combination of a motor having a shaft, a second shaft mounted in alinement with the motor shaft and adapted to drive and be driven by the same, a clutch for con necting the two shafts for simultaneous rotation, a counter-shaft, a gear adapted to slide axially on the counter-shaft and connected to the counter-shaft by a spiral thread, and means including the said axially movable gear and the counter-shaft for connecting the shaft of the motor to said second shaft whereby the motor may drive the second shaft and be disconnected therefrom when the speed of the second shaft exceeds the speed of the motorshaft; substantially as described.

2. The combination of a motor having a shaft, a second shaft mounted in alinement with the motor shaft, a movable clutch member for connecting the two shafts for simultaneous rotation, a gear on the motor shaft,

a second gear on the second shaft, a counter- I shaft, two gears mounted on the countershaft, one of which is movable axially upon the counter-shaft and connected thereto by a spiral thread, said gears on the countershaft cooperating with the said gears upon the motor shaft and the second shaft, one meshing directly with its cooperating gear and the other connected to its cooperating gear through an idler gear; substantially as described.

3. The combination of a convertible motor compressor having a shaft, a second shaft adapted to drive and be driven by the shaft of the motor compressor, means for connecting the two shafts together for simultaneous rotation in the same direction, and automatic means for connecting the shaft of the motor compressor to said second shaft for simultaneous rotation in opposite directions, said last named means being actuated automatically to disconnect the second shaft from the motor shaft when the speed of the second shaft exceeds that of the motor shaft; substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

GREGORY J. SPOHRER. Witnesses:-

H.- Ross VAN VLEoK, D. S. EDMONDS.

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