US1932892A - Rotary engine and pump - Google Patents

Description

Oct 1933- H. s. HELE-SHAW El AL 1,932,892

ROTARY ENGINE AND PUMP 1 Filed Dec. 11, 1928 5 Sheets-Sheet l Oct. 31, 1933. H. s. HELE-SHAW Er AL 1,932,892

ROTARY ENGINE AND PUMP Filed Dec. 11, 1928 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 1933- H. s. HELE-SHAW ET AL 1,932,892

ROTARY ENGINE AND PUMP Filed Dec. 11, 1928 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented Oct. 31, 1933 PATENT OFFICE 1,932,892 ROTARY ENGINE AND PUMP Henry Selby Hele-Shaw and Thomas Edward Beacham, London, and Edward Cecil Mills,

C'amborne, England,

Application December 11, 1928, Serial No. 325,256, and in Great Britain June 15, 1928 4 Claims.

This invention relates to rotary engines and pumps and has for its object to provide improvements in such machines whereby their efliciency and durability are enhanced.

The mechanism is of the type in which a rotary cylinder carrier operates on a fixed central valve, and the pistons of the cylinders are reciprocated by a fixed eccentric or its equivalent and in which such pistons are of the single acting single stage type and communicate alternate- 1y through passages in the cylinder carrier with two passages or sets of passages in the valve which are for the flow and return of the working fluid respectively. I

Such machines have been made with the thrust of the pistons bearing on a ring carried on the eccentric members and allowed to float freely on its own centre by being mounted in ball or roller bearings.

The present invention comprises a rotary engine or pump of the type set forth in which the pistons are provided with pins or projections carrying rollers or slippers on each side of the piston respectively, the rollers or slippers on each side working in an annular grooved member mounted in a ball or roller bearing on a fixed eccentric, the two grooved members being independent of each other.

In compressors or like machines having floating eccentric rings made in one piece, there is normally suflicient friction between the rollers and rings to carry the piston over each dead centre without any oscillating movement, which is possible when using rings made in two pieces.

With the two rings movable independently of one another there is a tendency for the pistons to turn, and special means are provided for pre-- venting such turning.

The walls of the cylinders are provided on opposite sides with longitudinal slots provided with accurately fitting sliders reciprocated with the gudgeon pins of the pistons.

Each slider may have a hole in it which fits accurately on the adjacent end of the gudgeon pin, or the sliders may be formed by making flats on opposite sides of a gudgeon pin of larger diameter than the width of the slots.

In the preferred construction of the machine the cylinder carrier is supported in the casing of the machine by extending a boss portion of the carrier through one of the eccentrics and mounting it in the casing on roller bearings and the valve is provided at the opposite end with a ball or roller bearing secured in the bore of the cylinder carrier and at the other end the-valve is secured to the casing or where adjustment is required a cylindrical extension to the valve may be rotatably mounted in the casing.

In order to provide improved means for reversing the machine when designed for use as a motor the valve is provided with two ports arranged to cooperate with three in the valve face of the casing, the ports being so disposed that the supply of motive fluid under pressure will be shut off from the cylinder during the neutral position of the ports, and the valve provided with means for rotating it through an angle whereby the first and second or the second and third can be placed in communication with the supply of fluid under pressure.

In order that the valve can be made to efiect the reversing by moving it through an angle of 120 it is given 30 lap at the pressure and exhaust cut-ofi positions.

A manner of carrying out the invention as applied to compressed air driven winding drum mechanism is illustrated by the accompanying drawings wherein:-

Figure 1 is a longitudinal section of the machine,

Figure 2 a transverse section through the cylinders also showing a modification in which the cylinders are arranged tangentially, and

Figure 3 a transverse section through the valve chest of the machine.

In these drawings a shaft 2 provided with a pinion 3 is secured in a boss or hollow shaft extension 50 of a rotary cylinder-carrier 5 provided with cylinders 5a and this pinion 3 operates a spur wheel 6 on a lay-shaft '7 having a spur wheel or pinion 8 which engages a toothed wheel 9 provided on a second lay-shaft 10 having a pinion 11 gearing with an internally toothed wheel 12 provided on an end of a drum 13 arranged to rotate on an external boss 14a provided on the end of a casing 14 on the other side of which one of the eccentrics 14b is formed. The other end of the drum 13 is also arranged to rotate on an extension 14c of the casing 14.

The cylinders 5a may be arranged radially as in Figure 1 or tangentially as in Figure 2, and the piston 15 of each cylinder 5a is provided with a gudgeon pin 16 which extends through the piston 15 and longitudinal slots 5b provided in the walls of the cylinder 5a. The slots 5b in the cylinder walls are on the left hand side of the cylinder in Figure 1 narrower than the diameter of the gudgeon pins 16 and are engaged by flats 16a formed on the extending portions of the pins, thus preventing any tendency of the pins 16 to rotate, or both ends of the gudgeon pin 16 may be as shown on the right of the cylinder where the slider is in the form of a block 16s having a hole fitting on a reduced end of the gudgeon pin 16 and having parallel sides bearing against the parallel sides of the slots 5b. These constructions together with the fixed eccentrics 14b and 140 ensure parallelism of the gudgeon pins with the axis of the cylinder carrier 5.

On each end of the gudgeon pin 16 a roller 17 is fitted preferably on a roller bearing 16c and so arranged that the roller proper 16c is prevented from moving endways on the gudgeon pin 16. This may be effected by making grooves 16b in both the inner and outer races 16c and 16d of the roller bearing so that the rollers 166 will fit into both grooves and so prevent end motion. The inner race 160 may be split in order to facilitate assembly of the roller bearings. The roller races 16d form gudgeon pin rollers working in annular recesses 18a formed laterally in the two opposite disposed rings 18, and these rings 18 are mounted by means ofball bearingslBb on eccentrics 14b and 140 formed on the two inner sides of the casing 14. Each ring 18 is provided with a lip or flange 18c which bears on one side against the cylinder carrier 5 and on the other side against the races of the ball bearings 1812 so that end movement of the .rings 18 is prevented.

The. cylinder carrier 5 rotates on a central fixed valve 20 which is held in position concentrically with the axial bore 5d in the cylinder carrier 5 at one end by a ball bearing 5e and at :the other end of the cylinder carrier 5 has a boss 5f extending through the eccentric 14c and .mounted in the side of the casing 14 in a roller bearing 59. By means of these ball and roller bearings the load is taken off the valve faces and carried on the ball and roller bearings. As the valve 20 is fixed in the casing 14 at a position adjacent to this eccentric 140 this arrangement secures that the valve 20 is carried on the ball and roller bearings 5e,and 21d truly concentric with the bore 511 in the cylinder carrier 5, a small working clearance being provided so that no metallic contact takes place and all wear is .obviated. The valve 20- may be secured firmly to the casing 14 when it is not desired to reverse the direction of rotation of the winch drum 13, in the present example reversing is provided for by making the end of the valve 20 truly cylindrical and so as to fit accurately in the bore of a valve chest 14h secured to the casing 14. The valve 2 0 has two longitudinal passages 20a and 20b of which 20b is the exhaust passage and communicates direct with the atmosphere. The other passage 20a is provided with two oppositely disposed radial ports 20c and 20d which during the rotation of the cylinder carrier 5 registers with three radial ports 14m, 1411, 14p provided in the valve chest 14h and arranged to communicate with an annular passage 14r connected to an inlet pipe 14s for fiuid under pressure.

Means are provided whereby the valve 20 can be moved between either of two positions, in one of these the source of pressure is connected to the passage 20a of the valve by means of the ports 20c and 20d when in register with two pressure ports 14m and 1411. of the valve 20 and the motor will revolve in the forward direction. If the valve be turned approximately 60 towards the third pressure port in the casing the air pressure will be cut oil, and if the valve be turned a further 60, making 120 in all, the two air pressure ports 20c and 20d of the valve 20 will be in register with the second and third ports 1472 and 14p of the valve chest 14h and pressure will again be supplied through the valve to the cylinders 5a. However the ports co-operating with the cylinders 5a will now be at an angle of 120 to their previous position and thereby cause the motor to revolve in the reverse direction.

At the inner end portion of the valve 20 the longitudinal passages 20a and 20b therein communicate in the usual manner with radially arranged ports 20a: and 20g adapted to register with radial ports 5p communicating with the closed ends of the cylinders 5.

During the operating 01' the machine the valve 20 closes before the end of the stroke of piston receiving pressure is reached and the air remaining in the cylinder expands. During the exhaust stroke the valve 20 is arranged to open at dead centre and shut before the end of the stroke. Air

in the clearance space which is made especially large for the purpose is then compressed until the end of the stroke is reached and the cylinder opens to pressure air again. Thus the valve 20 is arranged to open at dead centre but close with about 30 lap. By virtue of this construction instead of 180 movement of the valve being necessary only 120 is required in reversing.

In order to facilitate the operation of the valve 20 by a hand lever 21, a toothed pinion 2022 provided on the valve 20 is arranged to gear with a quadrant 21a pivoted on a pin 21b mounted in a bearing 21c fixed on the valve chest 14h so as to beoperated by the lever 21. This arrangement enables the 120 reversing movement of the valve to be obtained by a much smaller angular movement of the lever. In order that the lever 21 may be operated without friction a ball hearing 21d is provided to take the thrust from the topthed pinion 201:.

"What we claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A rotary compressor or motor comprising a rotating carrier, a multiplicity of single acting expansive working cylinders formed on the carrier and having in their bases fiuid passages, reciprocating pistons operating in the cylinders, fixed eccentrics operating the pistons, a normally fixed cylindrical valve on which the carrier rotates and which has flow and return passages which communicate alternately with the fluid passages in the cylinders during the rotation of the carrier, a casing having a valve chest extension, means for rotating the normally fixed valve through a given angle, and means for maintaining equal angles of cut-01f in both forward and reverse running, the normally fixed valve being r0- tatably mounted in the casing and provided with two ports arranged to cooperate with three in the valve face of the casing, the ports being so disposed that the supply of motive fluid under pressure will be shut off from the cylinder during the neutral position of the ports, the angular movement of the valve placing either the first and second port or the second and third ports in communication with the supply of fluid under pressure for reversing purposes.

2. A rotary compressor or motor comprising'a rotating carrier, a multiplicity of single acting expansive working cylinders formed on the cartates and which has fiow and return passages which communicate alternately with the fiuid passages in the cylinders during the rotation of the carrier, three pressure ports in the valve face cooperating with two in the normally fixed valve, and means for varying the angular position of the normally fixed valve, the ports being so arranged that pressure will be shut off from the cylinder during the neutral position of the valve, and when the valve is moved to one angular position the first and second of the pressure ports of the casing will register with its pressure ports of the valve and when moved to another angular position the second and third pressure ports of the casing will register with the said pressure ports of the valve to effect reversing, the angular movement of the cylinder carrier being substantially the same between opening and closing to pressure and to exhaust and the valve moved through such angle to effect reversing.

3. A rotary compressor or motor comprising a rotating carrier, a multiplicity of single acting expansive working cylinders formed on the carrier and having in their bases fluid passages, reciprocating pistons operating in the cylinders, fixed eccentrics operating the pistons, a fixed cylindrical valve on which the carrier rotates and which has flow and return passages which communicate alternately with the fluid passages in the cylinders during the rotation of the carrier, three pressure ports in the valve face cooperating with two in the normally fixed valve and geared lever mechanism for varying the angular position of the normally fixed valve, the ports being so arranged that pressure will be shut ofi from the cylinder during the neutral position of the valve, and when the valve is moved by the geared lever mechanism to one angular position the first and second of the pressure ports of the casing will register with its pressure ports of the valve and when moved to another angular position the second and third pressure ports of the casing will register with the said pressure ports of the valve to efiect reversing, the angular movement of the cylinder carrier being substantially the same between the opening and closing to pressure and exhaust so that the angular movement of the reversing lever will be the samefor forward as for reverse running.

4. A rotary compressor or motor comprising a rotating carrier, a multiplicity of single acting expansive working cylinders formed on the carrier and having in their bases fluid passages, re-

ciprocating pistons operating in the cylinders,

fixed eccentrics operating the pistons, a normally fixed cylindrical valve on which the carrier rotates and which has fiow and return passages which communicate alternately with the fluid passages in the cylinders during the rotation of the carrier, three pressure ports in the valve face cooperating with two in the normally fixed valve and means for varying the angular position of the normally fixed valve, the ports being so arranged that pressure will be shut off from the cylinder during the neutral position of the valve, and when the valve is moved to one angular position the first and second of the pressure ports of the casing will register with its pressure ports of the valve and when moved to another angular position the second and third pressure ports of the casing will register with the said pressure ports of the valve to eifect reversing, the valve being given 30 lap at the pressure and exhaust cut-oil position so that the reversal can be ,eflected by rotating the fixed valve through 120

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