US1248563A - Charge-forming apparatus for internal-combustion engines. - Google Patents

Description

I. T. SHUMAKER.

CHARGE FORMING APPARATUS FOR INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 28, I9I2.

Patented 1000. 4t, 1917.

5] no A U601 226 GIIMM JOHN T. SHUMAKER, OF ROCHESTER, NEW YORK.

CHARGE-FORM ING APPARATUS FOR INTERNAL-COMBUSTION ENGINES.

masses.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. a, rare.

Application filed February 28, 1912. Serial No. 680,431.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN T. Si-iuMAknn, of Rochester, in the county of Monroe and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Charge- Forming Apparatus for Internal-Combustion Engines; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, and to the reference-numerals marked thereon.

My present invention relates to internal combustion engines and it has for its obj ect to increase the efficiency of the explosive mixture and to prevent to a greater degree than usual the accumulation of products of partial combustion in the engine cylinders and the escape and consequent waste of unburned fuel. I obtain these results by introducing into the explosive mixture or charge a roportion of Water vapor, and

' further Ob](-)CtS of my invention are to provide simple, cheap and efiicient means in connection with the charge forming apparatus for generating the water vapor and to utilize the heat of the engine for such generation. To these and other ends the invention consists in certain improvements and combinations of parts, all as will be hereinafter more fully described, the novel features being pointed out-in the claim at the end of the specification.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of an internal combustion engine provided with a charge forming apparatus constructed in accordance with and illustrating one embodiment of my invention;

Fig. 2 is an end elevation thereof, and Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail section takensubstantially in the plane 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Similar reference numerals throughout the several figures indicate the same parts.

The particular type or construction of engine is immaterial so far as my invention is concerned, and, therefore, I have illustrated a rather conventional engine that is shown to comprise a crank case 1 and cylinder castings 2. The intake pipe that supplies all of the cylinders with the explosive mixture is indicated by 3 and the exhaust pipe or conveyer that drains all of the cylinders of the gaseous products of combustion, is indicated at 4, the said pipe preferably extending horizontally exteriorly of the engine.

Any one of a number of types of carbureter may also be employed providing it has an air intake and a gasolene or other fuel supply with which fuel the air is mixed to form the charge that is delivered into the cylinder. Such a carburetor is indicated generally at 5 in the present embodiment being provided with a discharge connection 6 into the intake pipe 3 of the engine, and with an air intake in the resent form of a vertically extending pipe In the present embodiment of my invention in which the exhaust pipe 1 is horizontally arran ed in the position shown, this air intake l of the carburetor preferably extends vertically, as shown, and terminates in a hood or enlarged portion 8 that closely encircles, or partially encircles, the exhaust pipe 4, it being open to the atmosphere, however, at one point 9, preferably on the opposite side of pipe 1 from that on which is located the connection 10 between the carburetor intake 7 and the hood.

With the construction thus far described, it will be seen, that the proportion of air constituted in the charge is sucked through the intake 7 of the carburetor by the engine piston, or such other means as may be employed in the particular type of engine used and enters through the opening 9 of the hood 8 so that it first passes over the heated exhaust pipe 4: which, in itself, is an advantage as it is thereby rendered more efficient in volatilizing, absorbing and mixing with the liquid fuel in the carburetor proper. In the further practice of my invention, however, I introduce into the intake 7 with the air a quantity of water vapor preferably at the point 9, and to this end I provide a water reservoir 11 having a pipe or conductor 12 leading therefrom into the opening 9 of the hood 8 or to such point that it will apply a flow of water to the hot exhaust pipe 4 within the hood, as clearly shown in Fig. 3. In the present instance, the pipe 12 terminates just above the exhaust pipe 1 so that the water will drip upon it and the flow is regulated in any desired manner, as by a valve 13.

The parts may be so proportioned on account of the limited amount of vapor that is required that the exhaust pipe 4 will not be materially cooled by the flow of wgter tice which, inordinary cases, is applied dropby drop so that the steam or vapor is generated instantaneously under normal conditions and is readily taken up by the air rushing into the intake 7 through the opening 9. It is desirable, however. that there be no possibility of any unvaporized water being admitted to the carbureter and I, therefore, prefer to apply to the heating or vaporizing element 4 a covering of noninflammable absorbent material 14, such as asbestos, so that if the pipe 4 has not arrived at the proper high temperature at the time the flow from the pipe 12 is started, such flow will be absorbed andheld adjacent the exhaust pipe until the latter has obtained sufficient heat to dissipate it. Such a circumstance would arise, for instance, in the'present embodiment, when the engine is first started and before the exhaust pipe 4 has conveyed enough of the hot exploded gases to become hot.

It is preferable, when convenient, to keep the water in the reservoir 11 warm as it is thus more quickly vaporized and I, therefore, prefer to mount the reservoir on the engine, as shown, so that it will derive some heat from the cylinders before it is applied to the vaporizer.

It is Well known that Water vapor or steam greatly aids the combustion of carbonic and hydrogenous gases and substances,

particularly in superheated surroundings Where it is readily decomposed and, therefore, when vapor is introduced, in the pracof my mvention, into the explosion chamber of an engine and is superheated by the early part of the explosion in which the free oxygen of the air is combined, it readily furnishes active oxidation for any unexploded gas that may remain and tends to consume, as well, much, if not all, of the free carbon that in most instances is carried off intact through the exhaust or deposited within the explosive chamber with the effect of fouling moving parts of the engine to which it is accessible.

It will be recognized that no fixed formula can be givenfor the proportions of Water, air and gas that should constitute the explosive charge as the nature of the fuel, the type of engine in which it is used, the type of carbureter and other matters make it expedient to vary the percentages in different instances, but with the ordinary gas engine I have found that the introduction of approximately lk} grains of water per cubic foot of air with the ratio of air and gas as usual gives good results.

I claim as my invention:

In a carburetor mechanism, a carbureter having a carbureting chamber provided with an air inlet, an exhaust pipe, an annular chamber encircling said exhaust pipe and provided with an opening for admitting air, a water conductor discharging into said annular chamber and against said exhaust pipe, and a conductor connecting said annular chamber with said air inlet.-

JOHN T. SHUMAKER.

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