US2170099A

US2170099A - Engine having diametrically opposed cylinders

Info

Publication number: US2170099A
Application number: US177391A
Authority: US
Inventors: Stubings Alfred James
Original assignee: Tilling Stevens Ltd
Current assignee: Tilling Stevens Ltd
Priority date: 1936-12-15
Filing date: 1937-11-30
Publication date: 1939-08-22
Anticipated expiration: 1956-08-22

Description

1939' A. J. STUBINGS v 2,170,099

ENGINE HAVING DIAMETRIGALLY OPPCSED CYLINDERS Filed NOV. 30, 1937 Patented Aug. 1939 UNITED STATES PATIENT OFFICE Alfred James Stubings, Richmond, England, as-

signor to Tllling-Stevens Limited, Maidstone, Kent, England, a British company Application November 30, 1937, Serial No. 177,391 In GreatBritain December 15, 1936 invention relates to.engines having one or more pairs of diametrically opposed cylinders,

and more particularly to the coupling of the two opposed pistons to the crank pin of the'crank- 5 shaft of' internal combustion engines.

Hitherto three different methods have been employed for this purpose, viz:

1. Eachpiston of the pair was attached to a connecting rod of which one, the master conm necting rod, is journaled at its big end on the crank pin in the usual way, whilst the correspending end (thearticulatedend) of the other connecting rod was pivotally secured to the big end of the master cohnecting rod by a wrisfpin.

l5 This'construction. had the disadvantage that owing to the elliptical path ofmovement of the articulated end. of 'the'latter connecting rod,

forces were setup which were not easy to balance. Also the load imposed on the crank pin The disadvantage here lay. in the fact that the fork made for a weak construction of connecting rod bigenda f 3. The big ends of the two connecting rods were mounted side by side on a common axis, namely the crank pin, the axes of the two. cylinders of each pair being off-set or staggered to the necessary amount.

The undesirable feature of this construction was that the overall length of the engine was increased, particularly if there-were several pairs of cylinders; moreover this side-by-side arrangement of the connecting rods on the crank pin gave rise to a "couple" at this point. The object of this invention is to provide a construction possessing all the advantages of the constructions enumerated above and yet avoiding all the undesirable features mentioned, and\) generallyto provide an engine of compact di-i mensions which will beeflicient in use. According to this invention there is provided,

in or-for an engine of the type described, the 1 1 construction wherein the? two opposed pistons are coupledv together and drive the crank pin by a single, connecting rod attached 'toone of said pistons."

' The invention moreover embraces, in or for. an

internal combustion engine, a rigid connection between the two opposed pistons and .asingle at its smallend 2 Claims. (01. 123-56) connecting rodfor coupling the pistons to the crank pin.

According to a further feature ofthe invention each piston is relatively short in the skirt and is guided and supported in its movement by a 5. member rlgidiyattached thereto, and deriving its support from' a point remote from the piston. 'According to yet another feature. of theinvention, the piston of one cylinder acts as a guide and support for the piston in the opposing l0 cylinder through the medium of the member which rigidly connects the two pistons together. 3 One embodiment of this invention will now be described, merely by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawing, .as applied to an internal combustion engine having, say, four pairs of horizontally, opposed cylinders. The

'number of pairs 'of cylinders being immaterial so far as the invention is concerned, the followingdescription is directed to the construction relatgo ingto any one pair ofopposed cylinders and pistons.

In the accompanying drawing--- 7 Figs 1 is a transverse sectional elevation of the engine. r

Fig. 2 is a sectional plan taken in the line :c--:: of Fig. 1, looking in the direction of the arrows.

-Fig. 3 is a side elevationof the pair of opposed. pistons with the connecting plates attached, and ,0

Fig. 4 is a plan of Fig. 3. Referring to the drawing, the axes of the two" cylinders 2 are in alignment and the pistons i, 3 in. these two cylinders. are; in accordance with the invention, rigidly interconnected by two 35 spaced connecting latest.

v Each connectin plate 4 is of identical construction andcomprises a central ring-shaped portion 4' having diametrically opposite extensions l (Fig. 3) "provided with flat portions 5 40 adapted to be bolted by bolts 6 to'co'rresponding flat surfaces machined on the

pistons

3, 3!. These surfaces on the .pistonsare adjacent'the point, wherethe usual gudgeon pin bosses are to be found. a

The connecting plate .4 is shown in the drawingto be of flat section, but it may be composed of members of any desired section, either wholly or partly solid, hollow or of angle section, with or .without webs, fillets, braeings or other reinforceme'nts' 9 The piston 3 is coupled "by: means of a single connecting rod 1 to the crankshaft 8, the small end I being secured to the piston I by ag'udgeon pin 9 and the big end l being journaled on the crank pin l0, both in the normal manner,

In this way both pistons 3, 3 'are coupled to the crankshaft 8 and the difiiculties arising out of the. use of two connecting rods involving two bearings in the vicinity of the crank pin are thus overcome.

The two connecting plates 4 are spaced apart so as to lie one oneach side of the connecting rod I and between the planes defined by the confronting surfaces of the crank pin supporting vWebs oi.

the crank shaft and the purpose of the central ring-shaped portions 4 is to afiord clearance for the crank pin Ill and the big end I of the rod 1.

In an engine of orthodox pattern, the length of the piston skirt must be sufficient to provide an adequate guide in the cylinder, but an important advantage arises from the present invention in that the overall width of the engine may be materially decreased by cutting down the length of the piston skirt. This may be done because the rigid connection between the two pistons 3, El causes one piston to act as a' guide and support for the other piston in a manner similar to a cross-head.

Consequently extremely short pistons can be employed with a material'saving in weight and overall width of the engine.

What I claim is- 1. In an engine having a pair of diametrically opposed cylinders, a crank-shaft journalled between said cylinders, said' crank-shaft including spaced web members ,supporting a crank-pin therebetween, opposed pistons operating in said cylinders and a connecting rod coupling one of said pistons to the crank-pin; rigid connecting means between said pistons comprising two spaced connecting plate members the I extremities of which are fixedly secured to the respective pistons, said plates disposed on opposite sides of the connecting rod and between the planes defined by the confronting inner surfaces of the crank-pin supporting web portions of the crank-shaft, each of said plates having a centrally disposed ring shaped portion defining an opening of suflicient size to accommodate the movement of the crankpin and the bearing portion of the connecting rod secured thereto.

I 2. In an engine having a pair of diametrically opposed cylinders, a crank-shaft journalled intermediate said cylinders having spaced web members forming the crank portion thereof which web members support a crank-pin therebetween and have portions projecting beyond said shaft opposite said crank-pin, opposed pistons operating in said cylinders and a connecting rod coupling one of said pistons to said crank-pin; rigid connecting means between' said pistons comprising two spaced substantially parallel plate members rigid 1y connected at their extremities to the respective pistons, said plates being disposed on-oppo-' site sides of said connecting rod and between the