US1219795A - Rotary gas-engine. - Google Patents

Description

T. L. ARTHUR.

ROTARY GAS ENGINE. APPucAnrm man MAR 7. 1915.

Paiteulted Mar. 20, 1917.

3 SHEETS-SHEET I.

T. L ARTHUR. ROTARY GAS ENGINE} APPLICATION FILED ma. 1, l9l6 Patented Mar. 20, 1917.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

certain new and various cylinders cape of exhaust gases from the several cylsists in t y the cr1,|ink casing. 1

THOMAS L. ARTHUR, OF EAST SMETHPORT,

PEN NSYLVANIA.

ROTARY GAS-ENGIN E.

specification pf'Letters Patent.

1; itented Mar. 20, 1917.

Application filed March 7, 1916. SerialNo. 82,71;

To all whom it mag/concern:

Be it known that I, TnoMAs L. An'runn, a citizen of the United States, residin r at East Smethport, in the county of Mclxean and State of Pennsylvania, have invented useful improvements in Rotary Gas-Engines, of which the followin .is a specification. J

y invention "relates to new and useful improvementsin internal combustion engines and more particularly to rotary en gines of the type in'avhich .a plurality of cylinders are radially disposed about a common crank shaft, the crank shaft being held in a stationary position and thec vlinders and crank case revolving about it when the engine is in operation, one of the primary objects of my invention being the provision described character in which the crank case and cylinders are braced by and also 'inclosed in a frame which turnswith them and with the cylinders constitutes a fly wheel.

A still further object of my invention consistsin the provisi n of a novel Inei nsfor positively operating the valves which-control the intake of explosive mixture to the and which govern the esof an engine of the above mders. V

A still further object of my invention consists in the provision of a novel means for driving the magneto of an engine of the above described type, and in 'the provision of a mechanism for automatically advancing and retracting the spark proportionateto the speed of'the engineh V A still urther object of my invention conie provision of a novel means for supplying the explosive mixture to the en gi'ne, cylinders, removing the exhaust gases therefronnand supplying lubricating oil to Wit) these and other objects in view, my invention will be more fully described, illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, and then specifically pointed out in the claims which are. attached to and form a part of this application.

- In the. rawings:

Figure 1 is an elevational view of the of which it may be front or intake-side of an engine constructed in abcordancc with my invention;

Fig. 2 is a vertical transverse sectional view through the nigine;

ig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional taken centrally of the engine;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary inner plan view of one of the gear driven controlling cams for operating the inlet and exhaust valves of the engine.

Fig.5 shows a n'odified forn'i of construction in which the engine may act as a propeller or fan.

(lorrespomling aid like to in the following 'lescription and indicated in all the views of the drawings by the same reference characters.

My improved engine may be. supported by any type of frame, such as indicated by the numeral 10, the frame, in any 'instz'ince, he-

view

parts are referred mg provided with horizontally aliued spaced bearings 11, one-of which rotatably receives rotation the forward end of the crank shaft 14 whiclris l 0urnaled sleeve form'c( the casing.

in a relatively short centr: lly of the frontwall of This crank casing 13 includes a substantiallycylindrical portion and |-adlally extending aims, being ior'a fourcylinder engine of the type illustra'tml, crossshaped as shown in -ligs. 1 and 2 of the drawings with the arms of the cross open at their ends. lrefirably, one of the walls of the crank case issepara'ble from the remajndcrof the c being secured v bolts in the'manucr show the walls may be formed with hand openings closed by plates 15, theseopcnings permitting ready access to the interior of the crank casing. The sleeve I2 is closed at its outer or (1 end with an altachii and formed at such lg flange 16 by means connected to a drive shaft 17, clutch or other desired mechanism, as power is transmittal from the engine by the rotation of the sleeve 12.

The crank shaft is formed within the crank casing, witha single crank arm 18t0 which is connected the piston rods 19 carryaud cithcr or oth of' preferably The spur gears 4.3, which control the inlet ing the pistons which operate in the engine cylinders 21. These engine cylinders ans secured to the o n ends of the arms of thecrank casing y bolts 22 which are assed through peripherally extending anges of the cylinders and correspondln flanges of the arms of the crank case an fastened by lock nut-s. As will be noted, by reference to Fig. 3, the various iston rods are offset somewhat interme iate their length in order that they may all be properly connected to their pistons and sti l operate with a common fixed crank shaft.

- In order to provide proper lubrication, the 1 bearing 11 is preferab ormed with an annular chamber 23'to w ich leads an oil supply pipe 2-1 and the sleeve 12 is also formed I mteriorly with an annular chamber 25 which is in communication with the chamber 23hr a plurality of radial ducts 26. That of the crank shaft which isjournaled in the sleeve 12 is formed centrally with a ion?- tudinal oil pamage 27 which opens radia ly into the-annular chamber 25 of the sleeve 12 at one endand avhich 9 lens at its other end 'into the crank case, as s own in Fig. 3.

The engine cylinders 21 are preferably of 'the'T-head type having, at their outer ends,

diametrically extended inlet valve chambers 28 and outlet valve chambers 29, the former being'locuted at the front of the en ins and the latter at the rear. Theheads o the cylindersare ,preferablv formed integrally with the bodies of the cylinders and are provided with removable plu 80 which will permit access to the valve 0 ambers and valves controlled therein.- The valve chambers are divided transversel by partition walls 31 formed with seats or the puppet valves 32 ,u As a means for opening the valves against the action of their springs, at the proper times, I provide the crank case with aplurality of sleeve forming brackets 38 disposed one in alinement with each of the stems of IS the valves 32 and 33. Rods 89 are slidably mounted in these sleeves and lightly engage the free ends of the valve stems when t e valves are-closed,being supported in such position by fpins 40. The lower ends of these 80' rods are bi urcated to receive rollers 41 and these'rollers project in thepath of cams 42 carried upon the inner faces ofspur gears or disks 43 mounted u on 'stnb shafts 44, tending outwardly rom the crank casing.

and 33 which control the inlet and exhaust ofvalves 32, mesh with a. pinion 4 5 fixed upon the crank shaft 14. .The shafts carrying the disks 43 which control the exhaust, valve: 88

extend through the casing and carry .spur

gears 46 corresponding to the or I 48 and meshing with a pinion the 79 crank shaft within the crank casi As an and will tions of its cylinder about the crank shaft.

It will further be understood that when the inlet valve oi one cylinder-is opened, the exhaust valve of the cylinder diametrically o1 posite it will also be opened.

As a means for sup lyin an explosive mixture or gas to the in st vs vs chamber of the various cylinders, the free end 'of the crank shaft is formed with a longitudinal chamber 48 opening through its 'end with radial passages '49 opcningthrou h its side into a mood or bonnet 50 which .c osely surrounds the shaft providi an annular'chamher to receive gas admitte through a supply pipe '51 to the chamber 48. Branch supply pipes 52 lead from this hood or bonnet 50 to each of the intake valve chambers. In like manner, to lead off the'exhaust from the various cylinders, I provide. E ranch exhaust pipes 53 which lead one from each of the exhaust valve chambers to a hood or bonnet 54 fixed about the extended portion of the sleeve 12 of the crank shaft casi and providing a chamber 5.5 which communicates with a corresponding chamber 56 formed in a second bonnet or hood 57 which is loosel mounted about the sleeve 12 and fromwhic extends the main exhaust pipe 58.

As a means for igniting the explosive mix ture after its admission-tothe various engine cylinders, each cylinder is provided with a spark plug 59 of any suitable type which may be threaded into the head of the cylinder or into the side thereof near its outer end, as preferred. Conductor wires 60lead froin the 'spark plugs to the contacts of-the cominutator or timer 61 of a magneto 62 which is grounded as is customary in gas'en 'ne ig nition systems. The armature sha t of this magneto carries a beveled pinion-63 which meshes with a beveled pimon'64 mounted upon one end of a shaft'fili which extends radially through thewall of the crank casing and within the crank casi is journaled in a bearing 66, The inner en of this shaft carries a'second beveled pinion 67 which meshes with a beveled lgear 68carried by the crank shaft within t is casing. If desired. this beveled gear 68 and the, pinion or spur gear 47, previoW'Wf-filjeticribed, may be integrally formed.

Obviously flwis-ldesirable to be able. to advancea'ndgr'et dthe timin .of the spark in the varionhfcyhnders'and or this reason I 180 drawin shown in the drawings.

provide an automatic spark controlling device, which is best shown in Fig. 1 of the This includes a supporting brace 69 whic is preferably connected at its ends to adjacent cylinders and which,.intermediate its length, carries an outwardly and radiall extending shaft 70 upon which is slida 1y mounted a. weight 71 which is normally eld in innermost position by helical springs 72 surrounding the shaft and engaging between the weight and a collar 73 fixed upon the outer end of the shaft. A link 74 is connected at one end to the arm 7 of the Y commutator and at its other end to an arm 76 carried by the weight. Obviously, as the speed of the engine increases, the weight 71 will be thrown outwardly against the force of the spring 72 to turn the'commutator and advance-the spark in the usual manner. On

the other hand, as the speed of the engine decreases, the spring 7 2 will force the weight inwardly and retard the spark. V

. The above described engine is of the air cooled type and the cylinders are preferably provided with heat dissipating or radiating blades or ribs 77 which are peripherally 'spaced about the cylinders, extending lonture be provided to strengthen the crank cas-' ing and cylinders and to, in a way, inclose them. Further it is advantageous that this combined guard and brace shall also act with the cylinders as a fly wheel. To accomplish this, I provide radially extending arms 78 which are connected at their inner ends to crank casing at oppositesides of each cylin- "der and at their outer ends to a relatively light flywheel 79 which surrounds the en gine, being spaced slightly beyond the outer ends of the engine cylinders, as clearly This fly wheel or guard is preferably made up of two semicircular sections 80, the ends of which abut against each other and are secured by bolts 81 passed through the inwardly directed arms of L-shaped brackets 82 carried by the abutting ends of the sectionsSO and which receive the nuts 83.

From the foregoing description of my gas engine, its operation will be readily understood. The crank casing and cylinders may be manually or otherwise turned about the crank shaft to cause a drawing in of explosive ,mixture from the supply pipe 51 through the various intake valves of the cylinders into the cylinders. The explosive mixture thus drawn in will be ignited in the cylinders in the regular order of firing by sparks which are timed by the magnetos commutator, in the usual manner, and the burnt gases will be expelled from the cylinders through the ex haust pipe 58.

It will, of course, be clear that the and brace which act as a light fly whee may be omitted and. as shown in Fig. 5, blades may be fastened to :he crank casing between the cylinders and the engine itself employed as a fan or propelle r. In this case it would not be necessary to extend the sleeve 12 of the crank casing beyond the bonnet or hood 57 and the oil supply pipe 24 could' communicate directly with the exposed end of the crank shaft 14:. Under these circumstances, it will be obvious that variousv minor changes in construction may be made with out i the slightesl degree departing from the spirit of my invention and I therefore reserve the right to make any changes, within the scope of the appended claims.

1:11 ving thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. In a rotary gas engine, a fixedcrank shaft, a crank canin rotatably mounted about the shaft, radia cylinders carried by the casing, pistons in the cylinders operatively connected to the crank shaft, exhaust valve chambers, vaflves for controlling pas sage of exhaust gas es from the cylinders to the valve chambers, a sleeve formed upon the crank casing aid extending beyond one end of the crank sh 1ft as a means for transmitting power, a ho 3d fixed to thesleeve and providing an annu .ar chamber, branch exhaust pipes leading from the valve chambers to the annular chamber, a second hood in which the sleeve It; revoluhle providing a ard,

chamber communicating with that of the i first hood, and a main exhaust pipe leading from the second ho 1d.

2. In a rotary gas engine, a fixed crank shaft, a crankcming revolubly mounted about the shaft, cylinders carried by the crank casing, pistol in the cylinders, operative connection between the pistons and crank shaft, the cr: nk shaft at one end be ing formed with i longitudinal opening comn'iunicatingat one end with theinteriorof the crank casing and formed at its other end with a radial branch opening through the crank shaft, a sleeve formed upon the crank casing and slrrounding such end of the crank craft and projecting beyond it to t ansmit power, said sleeve being formed i nteriorly with an annular chamber communicating with the radial branch of the passage of the crank shaft and with a radial 'iassage o iening into such chamher, and a bearing for the sleeve formed interiorly with an annular chamber communicating with the p issage of the sleeve and with an oil supply duct communicating with such cl'iambor.

3. In a rotary gas engine, a fixed crank shaft, a crank casing rotatably mounted about the shaft and having radial arms, cylinders communicating with and extending from the arms, braces secured at their inner ends to diametrically opposed sides of the arms adjacent their juncture with the 5 cylinders and ,diverging from the arms at either side of the cylinders with their free ends oppositely bent, and a fly wheel secured.

to the oppositely bent ends of the braces a'i'ld supported by them concentrically with {is-- spect to the crank case and cylinders and In 10 spaced relation to the outer ends of the cylinders.

In testimon whereof I aflix my signature.

THO AS ARTHUR. .[L. 5.]

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