US1475927A - Internal-combustion engine - Google Patents

Description

Dec. 4, 1923;

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L BLACKMORE INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE Filed March 22, 1920 02 v1 foz Patented Dec. 4, 1923.-

UNITED STATES PATENT orrica.

LLOYD nnacxnonn, or HIGHLAND PARK, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR 'ro GENERAL morons conrona'rron, or :on'raorr, MICHIGAN, A CORPORATION or nnnawaan INTERNAL-COM BUST ION ENGINE.

Application m March 22', 1920. .Serial Rojas-1559.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I,-LLYD BLAOKMORE a subject of the King of Great Britain, an a resident of Highland Park, county of Wayne, and State of Michi an, have invent.- ed certain new and useful mprovements in Internal-Combustion Engines, of which the followingis a full, clear, concise, and exact description, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which the invention relates 'to make and use the same, reference being made therein to the accompanying drawings, which form a part .of this specification.

My invention relates to mternal combustion engines," and particularly to engines in which provision is made for supplying water vapor to the combustible mixture as it flows toward the engine cylinder; so that the combustible mixture supplied to the engine in the normal operation thereof contains a certain amount of water commonly in the form of steam.

It is a well recognized fact in the art relating to internal combustion engines that a better operation is secured therein if water vapor is present in the combustible mixture,-

particularly in the case of engines operating upon kerosene or upon gasolene of the kin procurable at the present time and in wh ch there is commonly a considerable quantity of liquid hydrocarbons having a comparatively high boiling point; the presence of the water vapor in the mixture supplied. to the engine having the effect of reducing the amount of carbon deposited within the cylinder thereof, as well also as the efiect of avoiding reignition during the compression stroke an securing a smogther operation of the engine, due to a less sudden burning of the mixture and a more sustained pressure during the working stroke.

The objectof my invention is therefore to provide improve means for supplying water vapor to the combustible mixture as it flows toward the engine and, inasmuch as the supply of water vapor While advantageous when the engine is heated up and'in operation is nevertheless detrimental at starting and interferes with the starting thereof, my invention contemplates means forautomatically controlling the supply. of water vapor to-the combustible charge; such means being thermostatically controlled so that the supply of water vapor to ,the combustible mixture will not occur at the starting of the engine and when the same is cold, but will be automatically turned on, as it were, as the engine becomes heated and attains its normal operation, after which the supply of vapor to the combustible mixture continues so long as the engine remains in operation.

The water vapor supplied to the combustible mixture in engines of the type referred to is ordinarily produced by heating a vol- .ume of water in a closed chamber and conducting the resulting steam from said chamber to and discharging the same into a passage leading to the engine, and a further ob ect of my invention is to provide means for supplying steam to the combustible mixture as above pointed out and in which the chamber in which the water is evaporated is located within the cylinder block, and derlves its su ply of water from the cooling water within the jacket space of the cylin der block; the water evaporating chamber in question being arranged adjacent the exhaust conduit of the engine and having, a wall in common therewith, so that the said chamber will be effectively and highly heat ed and the steam generated therein in a like highly heated condition.

. Further objects of my invention will appear from the following description and from the drawing accompanying and forming a part of this specification it being appreciated, however, that the drawing is for illustrative purposes only; and that the particular embodiment of my invention illustrated therein may be variously modified without departing from the scope thereof, as the said invention is described in the concluding claims. 1

Referring now to the drawing in which the preferred embodiment of my invention is illustrated:

Figure 1 is a sectional view upon a vertical plane illustrating an internal combustion engine equipped with my invention.

Figure 2 is a view showing the water evaporating chamber involved in my inventionupon a larger scale than in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a view showing an alternative method of supplying the water vapor to the, conduit through which combustible mixture flows to the engine.

, cylinder within which the piston 6,oper

ates, and with ahead formed integrally with the cylinder; altho in referring to a cylinder block in this specification and.v in the claims it'will be appreciated that I refer to a unitary structure comprising the cylinder, its head, and the various passages and ports through-which combustible mixture flows into the working cylinder and through which exhaust gases flow therefrom irre spective of whether said elements are all formed as a single integral member as shown, or are formed separate from one another and secured together. particularly as regards the cylinder per se' and the head thereof, as is often the case in internal combustion engines.

Thev reference numeral 7 designates a closed water containing chamber. from which a conduit 8 leads,'and through which conduit water vapor or steam is discharged into the inlet passage 9 through which combusti-' ble mixture formed by the carburetor 10 flows on its way to the engine; so that steam produced within the said chamber 7 and; discharged into the inlet assage will mix therein with the combusti le mixture flowing toward the engine and provide a combustible mixture in which a certain amount of water vapor will be present.

The water containing chamber 7 is shown as located within the cylinder block of the engine and as formed as an internal cavity or chamber within said block during the casting o eration whereby the block is pro-- duced. t will be appreciated, however,

that the chamber need not necessarily be lo-.

cated Within the head portion of the cylinder block, such a location of the chamber in gluestion being employed because of the fam ity with which the said chamber may be heated; the heating being accomplished in the form of my invention illustrated'by heat derived from the burned gases flowing through the exhaust passage 11 of the cylinder block, the saidpassage and the closed chamber 7 having a common wall 12 through which a flow of heat occurs to thereby evaporate water within the chamber 7 in the. embodiment of my invention illustrated.

The water may be supplied to the chamber 7 in various ways, but preferably by providing a restricted passage 13 of comparatively small area leading from ,the water jacket space 14 of the cylinder block into" the said closed chamber, and through which water may flow into said chamber. The

chamber in question, however, is isolated from the main water jacket space of the eylinder block so that no circulation ofthe cooling water occurs through said chamber;

names?- from which it follows that the water within the chamber will be heated to an ex-, tremely high temperature and the steam generated therein will be dry and unmixed with unvaporized water and in a highly heated condition; which is a desirable feature as the water supplied to the inflowing combustible mixture shouldbe in a gaseous form when it reaches the interior -of the cylinder of the engine, in order to secure the maximum advantage due to the mixing of water with the combustible mixture, as distinguished from, in the form of a liquid suspended in the combustible mixture as is frequently the case when the means whereby the vapor is supplied to the incoming charge is not of such a character as to secure. the production of highly heated steam.

As hereinbefore stated, it is desirable that the water vapor shall not be supplied to the infiowing combustible mixture until the engine has been started, and has become heated up to approximately the temperature under which it normally operates; for which reason my invention includes meansfor preventing the supply of. water tothe combustible mixture when the en ine is being started and for automatical y permitting such vapor to flow to the inlet passage leading to the engine when the same has become heated, thus automatically supplying steam to the combustible mixture as soon as the engine becomes heated and is operating in its normal manner; the automatic controlling means here referred to bein prefthe temperature of the engine itself will bring about the admission of Water vapor to the inflowing combustiblemi'xture. Thus in the. form of my invention illustrated a thermostat 15 made'up of two strips of metal having unequal coeflicients of expansion is' located within the water containing chamber 7 and carries a valve 16 at its free end,

which valve seats against a valve seat provided at the inner end of a .valve chamber 17 which screws into an opening in the top wall of the chamber and to which one end of the conduit 8 isconnected, and which valve chamber serves as a support for the thermostat and is provided with a valve 18 for regulating the flow from the chamber 7.

It will be appreciated, however, that other forms of thermostatically controlled flow controlling means may be used for controlling the How through the conduit 8 and to the inlet passage 9, and that the valve wherei by such flow is controlled is not necessarily carried by the thermostatic element in question; so long as the construction and operation of the thermostatically controlled means in question is suchas to prevent a flow through. the conduit 8 when the engine is cold and to open said conduit and permit a flow of steam there through as the engine becomes heated and commences to operate under its normal working condition.

In the form of my invention shown in Figure 1 the conduit 8 discharges into the inlet passage 9 above the fuel and air mixing region of the carburetor 10, which is an arrangement of the partswherein condensation of the steam is less likely to occur or will occur to a lesser degree than if the said conduit discharged at the jet of the carburetor, at which place a low temperature is commonly present due to the vaporization of the volatile fuel. I may, however, cause the conduit through which the steam is supplied to the infiowing mixture as aforesaid to discharge adjacent the fuel supply nozzle of the carburetor, as shown in Figure 3 in which the conduit 18 discharges adjacent and across the fuel supply nozzle 19; in which case the steam is mixed with the atom ized liquid hydrocarbon directly atthe place where the combustible mixture is produced and in which arrangement the stream of steam discharged through the conduit 18 assists to a certain extent in the atomization of the liquid hydrocarbon, and in the formation of a more intimate mixture of the air and hydrocarbon and the water vapor which together form the said mixture, and in the vaporization of the fuel by communicating heat thereto. a

In view of the premises it will be appreci ated that my invention provides means for supplying water vapor to the combustible mixture as it flows toward the engine in which the water containing chamber wherein the water is eva orated is heated to a high temperature, an in which the chamber in question is formed within the cylinder block of the engine and derives its supply of Water from the water jacket thereof; all of which features contribute to an extremely high temperature within said chamber, to an efl'ective vaporization of the water therein, and to an extremely high temperature of the steam produced. At the'same time the flow from said chamberis interrupted when the engine is being started so that'at such times no water vapor is supplied to the mixture; while at the same time provision is made for permitting a flow of steam to occur lnto such mixture after the engine has been started and is operating normally, the supply of steam to the combustible mixture being automatically controlled by a valve which in'turn is controlled by thermostatic means so as to 6 en only after the engine has become hea to the temperature under which it normall operates.

Having thus escribed and explained my invention, I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. In combination in an internal combustion engine having an exhaust passage formed in the cylinder block thereof, a closed water containin chamber formed in said cylber is in communication with the jacket space of the cylinder block through a restricted assage of comparatively small area; a coniluit leading from said chamber and discharging into the inlet passage leading to the engine; a valve for controlling the flow through said conduit; and a thermostat located within said chamber and Which thermostat is opera-tively connected with said valve to control the same.

2. In combination in an internal combustion engine, a closed water containing chamber formed in the cylinder block thereof and which chamber is in communication with the jacket space of said block through a restricted passage of comparatively small area; a conduit leading from said chamber and discharging into the. inlet passage leading to the engine; and thermostatically controlled means for controlling the flow through said conduit.

3. In combination in an internal combustion engine, a closed water containing chamher formed in the cylinder block thereof and which chamber is in communication with the jacket space of said block through a restricted assage of comparatively small area; a con uit leadin from said chamber and discharging into t e inlet passage leading to the engine; and a thermostat located within said chamber and adapted to control i the flow through said conduit.

4. In combination in an internal combustion engine having an exhaust passage chamber and discharging'into the inlet pas sage leading to the engine; and means for controlling the flow throu h said conduit. 5. In combination in an internal combus tion engine, a closed water containing cham-' ber; means for supplying water to said chamber; means for heatin a conduit leading from said chamber an discharging into the inlet passage leadin to the engine; and thermostatically contro led means located in said chamber and ada ted to control the flow through said conduit.

6. In combination in an internal combustion engine, a closed water containing chamber; means for supplying water to said chamber; means for heatin said chambera conduit leading from and chamber and discharging into the inlet passa e leadin to the en ine; a valve for control in the ow throng said conduit; and a t ermostat said chamber" memes? operatively connedzed with said valve and discharging into the inlet passage leading to adapted to control the same. the en 'ne; and means the operation of 7. In combination in an internal combus which is dependent upon the temperature 10 tion engine, a closed water containing chamwithin said chamber for controlling the flow 5 her; means for sup lying water to said through the conduit aforesaid.

chamber; means for eating said chamber" In testimony whereof I aflix my signature. a conduit leading from we chamber and LLOYD BLACKMORE.

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