US2288480A - Engine or the like - Google Patents

Description

June 30, 1942; v. PALUMBO 8 ENGINE OR THE LIKE Filed 001;. 12, 1940 :s Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG-1.

v INVENTOR. VINCENT PALUMBQ BY 83 aw \A M YQDW Y June 30, 1942. v PALUMBO 2,288,480

ENGINE OR THE LIKE Filed 0013. 12, 1946 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORNEYS.

June 30, 1942.

Filed Oct. 12, 1940 V. PALUMBO ENGINE OR THE LIKE 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented June 30, 1942 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ENGINE OR THE LIKE Vincent Palumbo, Cleveland, Ohio, assignor of one-fourth to John E. Bevingto'n, Cleveland,

Ohio

Applicationoctober 12, 1940, Serial No. 360,967

the invention is of broader application, as, -for example, to pumps, compressors, hydraulic transmission mechanisms, etc, of the type aforesaid.

Among the more general objects of the invention are the provision ofan engine or the like of the above mentioned type that is highly efficient; that is well balanced and smooth running; that is compact and small relative to its power, and wherein friction and wear are minimized.

Another and very important object of the invention is to provide an internal combustion engine of the type aforesaid that operates on the two-cycle principle and has a port arrangement that insures complete scavenging, and, as

a consequence thereof, has greater efiiciency than is possible of attainment in two-cycle engines of the more common varieties.

A further object is to provide, in an engine of the character above described, a fuel injector in association with mechanical means, de-

sirably a roughened part of the engine shaft, by

which the fuel is efiectively atomized and is thoroughly diflused throughout the working chamber.

Still further objects of the invention 'are to provide an internal combustion engine that is especially suited to aviation in that it is relativelylight and slender; and that is peculiarly adapted to combat planes because of the fact that the engine shaft, on which the propeller would be mounted, is straight and may be made tubular so that gun fire may be directed through the shaft.

Other objects, more limited in character than the foregoing, will appear as I proceed to describe the embodiments of the invention illustrated in the accompanying drawings .wherein Fig. 1 represents-a side elevation of an engine incorporating my improvements; Figs. 2 to 6 are transverse sections through the engine taken on the respective section lines 2-2 to li6 of Fig. 1, and looking in the direction of the arrows associated with said lines, in the majority of instances parts beyond-the plane of section being omitted in order to avoid confusion; Fig. '7 is a central horizontal section through the engine on a scale considerably enlarged over that of the preceding views; and Fig. 8 is an elevational view, somewhatdiagrammatic, of a modification of the invention involving a plurality of working-chambers with a corresponding number of pairs of pistons, etc., and that is especially suited for aviation purposes and more particularly for use in combat'planes.

In Figs; 1 to '7 of the drawings, Idesignates generally, the main structure or housing of the engine which, in the present instance, is .cylindrical from end to .end, and .for a substantial distance in both directions lfromiits longitudinal center is formed'with a cooling jacket 2 through which water or other cooling .fiuid ,may be (circulated, as will hereinafter more fully appear.

Disposed axiallyof the structure I is the engine shaft :5. Keyed .to one end of the shaftis vafiy wheel [0, the same being shownas held upon the shaftby a'nut N that .is screwed onto thereduced' threaded end of the shaft. The hub of the fly wheel, and consequently the adjacent end of the shaft, is rotatably supported centrally of the correspondingendof the structure lbyuan anti-friction bearing l5, the outer race of which is held in the endof the structure by a ring ll, suitably fastened thereto,

Keyed or otherwise secured to the end of the shaft 5 remote from the flywheel ltiis the hub of a gear 20 which, like that of the flywheel, is rotatably supported centrally within the adja-. cent end of the structure I through an antifriction bearing 2|, the outer race of which is heldwithin thestructure by aring 22. A grease retaining member 23, desirably in the .form of a relativelythin washer of suitable material, is clamped inplace adjacent the hearing?! by the :IinglZZ. Theigear 20 is held .uponithe shaft by va nut 24, that is. screwed on .a reduced threaded portionof the .shaft, and the nut and gearare .enclosed by a casing 25 which, :with the ring .22,.-are:s1.1itably fastened-to theend of thestruc- :ture I, said .casing being extended upwardlya substantial distance above the structure, as

.shownin Figs. 1 and 3. Arranged alongside the upper portion of the casing 25 (Fig. *1) is a magneto 28 shown as mounted upon standards 29 that rise from and are integral with the engine structure I.

Disposed on the side of the casing 25 remote from the magneto is a dual pump unit 30 which may be of any approved rotarytype. It and the :magneto have driving connection "with the engine shaft through suitable gearing housed within the casing 25 and of which the previously mentioned gear 20 is a part. One working part of the pump unit 39 circulates fluid through a cooling system represented by conduits 3| and including, besides the jacket 2 of the engine structure, a radiator that is indicated diagrammatically at 32; and the other working part of the pumping unit impels oil through a lubrieating system including conduits 33 and a reservoir 34.

Operating in opposed relation to each other within the central, cylindrical portion of the engine structure I are pistons 35 (Fig. 7), and between them is what may be termed the working chamber 36. The ends of the pistons 35 remote from the working chamber are swiveled, through suitable connections involving anti-friction bearings 31, to cam members designated generally by the numeral 46. These cam members are formed with peripheral helical grooves 4| having reversely inclined reaches. In other words, these are endless wave-like or sinuous grooves,

Each of the cam members 49 is splined to the engine shaft through a plurality of balls 45 that operate within grooves 46 of the shaft and grooves 41 of the cam members 46. The halls, confined within said grooves against movement circumferentially of the cam member and shaft, insure freedom of movement of the cam member along the shaft. The outer ends of the grooves 41 of the cam member are closed by a ring 48 that is held in place by a bushing 49 which has a sliding fit on the shaft and occupies, for a part of its length, a counterbore in the end of the cam member. Operating within the cylindrical end portions of the structure I are compressor heads 59, each being swiveled to the near end of the adjacent cam member 49. The swivel connection is effected through a member 5| that is secured, by screws 52, to the end of the cam member and has a central tubular boss that fits over the bushing 49 and extends into the counterbore of the cam member. Arranged in opposed relation to the end of the cam member 49 is a flange 53 of the member 5|, and disposed between these opposed parts are the inner portion of the compressor head 56 and anti-friction bearings 54 on opposite sides of said portion of the head. Pursuant to common practice the compressor heads 50 and the pistons 35 are equipped with piston rings 5|) and 35 respectively; and similar rings 5 occupy grooves in the engine shaft for contact with the lined hubs 56 of the pistons.

The end portions of the structure I wherein the heads 59 reciprocate may be termed the compressor chambers 55, andatmospheric air is admitted thereto through annular series of ports 69 that surround the ends of the structure I, the admission of air to said chambers being controlled by rotary valves 6| that are mounted on members '62 and, through said members are fixed againstturning with respect to the engine shaft 5. The rotary valves, which are slightly conical, operate against similarly shaped annuli 64 shown as having peripheral flanges that are clamped between internal shoulders 65 of the structure I and the outer races of the previously mentioned anti-friction bearings l5 and 2|. The peripheral flanges of the annuli 64 have ports registering with and constituting extensions of those designated 69 in the cylinder. The rotary valves 6| are urged against the annuli 64 by resilient rings 66 that are compressed between the valve members and annular abutments 61 that are mounted on the shaft. The rotary valves 65 have diametrically opposed elliptical ports 66 that intermittently register with similar ports 69 in the annuli 64, as will appear from Fig. 3 wherein one of the valves is shown.

Immediately inwardly of the rotary valves 6!, the structure I is provided with relatively narrow slot-like ports 16 (Fig. 6), and each of the ports 19 communicates, through a pipe or conduit II, with one of the sets of inlet ports 72 (Figs. 4 and 7 that are located at one extreme end of the working chamber 36. At the other extreme end of said chamber, the structure I is provided with exhaust ports 13 (Figs. 1, 5 and 7) shown as opening directly to the atmosphere, although it will be understood that exhaust pipes may be attached thereto if desired.

At its longitudinal center, the structure I is provided with diametrically opposed threaded holes 15 and 16, in the former of which is mounted a conventional spark plug l'l. This plug is a part of an electrical ignition system of ordinary kind (not shown) and which includes, also, the usual make-and-break device with timing mechanism that causes the circuit to be closed twice at the proper times during each rotation of the engine shaft. Communicating with the working chamber through the other hole 16 is a fuel injector 36, shown as having a threaded boss 8| that is screwed into said hole. The injector may be of any approved type. Fuel is conducted to the injector 89 through a pipe 82 from a fuel pump 83 that is mounted on the casing 25 and is driven by an extension 84 (Fig. 7) of the engine shaft. This pump, per se, is not a part of the present invention, although it may be explained that at each rotation of the engine shaft it delivers at regular intervals two charges of fuel to the injector. The pump 83 communicates through a pipe 84 with a suitable source of fuel supply (not shown).

As Will be observed, the fuel injector 85 is disposed radially of the engine shaft and, as a consequence thereof, when the liquid fuel is projected into the working chamber, it will strike said shaft. The shaft, rotating at high speed, will effectively atomize the fuel and whirl it outwardly and thoroughly diffuse it throughout the working chamber; and to enhance this action, the portion of the engine shaft against which the fuel is projected, is knurled or roughened, as indicated at 85. The roughening or knurling of the shaft is preferably effected by cutting grooves or serrations into the shaft so that no parts will project beyond the cylindrical plane of the shaft and interfere with the lined hubs of the pistons.

Projecting into the grooves 4| of the cam members 49 are thrust elements 90, preferably frustoconical in shape and whose taper corresponds exactly with the inward convergence of the side walls of the grooves 4|. The thrust elements 99 are constituted of the tapered inner ends of otherwise substantially cylindrical hollow members 9| that are rotatably supported within thimbles 92 through roller bearings 93 and thrust ball bearings 94. The thimbles are threaded into radial bosses 95 of the engine structure I, and are adapted to be locked therein by jam nuts 96. The outer ends of the thimbles are equipped with wrench engaging portions or the like 97. From the construction described, it will be seen that the thimbles may be adjusted to obtain the proper engagement of the thrust elements within the grooves of the cam members,

and that they may be locked in any position by the nuts 96. Thus the parts may be adjusted to compensate for wear. The opposed thrust members are in axial alignment and their common axis bisects the central longitudinal axis of the engine.

The engine may be supported in any approved manner by any suitable supporting structure and is shown as incorporating brackets or standards 98. A drive shaft 99 is shown as fastened to the flywheel III.

In considering the operation of the form of the invention thus far described, and with reference particularly to Fig. 7, it may be assumed that an explosion has just occurred in the working chamber 35 and that, as a result thereof, the pistons 35 have been driven to the outer ends of their strokes, uncovering the inlet ports 12 and the exhaust ports I3.

During this action, the linear movement of the pistons, through the cam members 40 (by reason of the latters cooperation with the thrust elements 90), has been converted into rotary motion, and the rotary motion of the cam members has been transmitted to the engine shaft through the balls 45. The compressor heads 50, having been impelled outwardly by the cam members 40 to which they are swiveled, have compressed the air that was trapped between them and the rotary valves 6| within the compression chambers 63, and the instant the inlet ports I2 were uncovered by the adjacent piston 35, the compressed air rushed from the chambers 53 through the pipes or conduits 'II and inlet ports 12 into the working chamber 35, expelling the burnt gases through the exhaust ports I3 which, it will be remembered, were uncovered by the near piston simultaneously with the uncovering of ports I2. It is to be noted that the diameter of the compression chambers is somewhat greater than that of the working chamber. As a result thereof, a volume of fresh air in excess of the capacity of the working chamber is delivered to said chamber at each outward stroke of the compressor heads and this absolutely insures the expulsion of all burnt gases, along with the excess quantity of fresh air; and inasmuch as the inlet ports are at one extreme end of the working chamber and the exhaust ports at the other extreme end thereof, there can be no possibility of the occurrence of a pocket in which residue of the previous expulsion remains, as in the more common varieties of two-cycle engines wherein both the inlet and the exhaust ports are at the same end of the cylinder. Complete scavenging is further assured by the very wide angle of the ports-that is to say, the substantial distance they extend about the circumference of the working chamber.

Now, under the inertia of the flywheel II], the engine shaft continues to rotate and, through the balls 45, rotates the cam members 40. By the latters cooperation with the thrust elements 98, the cam members, and consequently the pistons and compressor heads, are caused to move inward along the shaft, the pistons 55 compressing between them the fresh air in the working chamber. At the same time, by reason of the registration of the ports 68 of valves III with ports 63 of the annuli 64, atmospheric air is drawn into the compression chambers 53 through the aforesaid ports and through the ports 60 that surround the ends of the structure I. Just as soon as the inward travel of the pistons 35 close the inlet ports I2 and exhaust ports I3, a 7

charge of fuel is shot into the working chamber by the injector to mix with the volumeof air therein, the fuel being atomized and diffused throughout the body of air in the manner already described. At the proper instant, the mixture is ignited by the spark plug 11, resulting in an explosion that again drives the pistons to the outer end of their strokes. In the present embodiment, incorporating cam members having the kind of grooves shown, there is a complete rotation of the engine shaft for every two successive explosions.

By virtue of the swivel connection hereinbefore described between the pistons 35, cam members 40 and compressor heads 50, the pistons and compressor heads are relieved of all rotary motion beyond that which occurs through a tendency of the pistons and compressor heads to rotate with the cam members and engine shaft, such action being caused by the friction between these parts, Thus it will be seen that, by reason of said swivel connections, the wear of the piston rings and chamber walls is not only reduced to a minimum, but such wear as does occur will be uniform, due to the floating action, so to speak, of the pistons and compressor heads. In other words, as the pistons and compressor heads reciprocate, they may passively rotate and thus avoid uneven wear of the parts.

The embodiment of the invention shown more or less diagrammatically in Fig. 8, and wherein the parts corresponding to those of the previously described form are designated by the same reference numerals augmented by the exponent (1., involves two working chambers and consequently two sets or pairs of opposed pistons 35 to which cam members W are connected. The cam members of one set are stepped about the shaft with respect to those of the other set which results in the pistons 35 of one set being nearest each other while those of the other set are furthest from each other. It will be seen, therefore, that the working strokes of the two sets of pistons alternate, and as a consequence therefore, each explosion drives the engine shaft 5 a fourth rotation. Obviously, the working units might be further multiplied and the cam members so arranged as to provide any desired number of power strokes to each rotation of the engine shaft within practical limits.

In the present modification, the compression heads and chambers have been dispensed with and in lieu thereof an air compressor I00 is employed for supplying compressed air for the working chambers. The air compressor is shown as driven, through a pinion IIII, from a gear I02 on the engine shaft 5 that is located adjacent the right hand end of the structure I, as the parts are viewed in the drawings. The air is conducted from the compressor I00 through a conduit I05 to a reservoir I06 and thence, through conduits I01 and I08 to the inlet ports I2 of the two working chambers. Also driven by the gear I02, through a pinion H0, is a fuel pump III, which receives fuel from a suitable source (not shown) through a conduit H2 and delivers it alternately through conduits H3 and M4 to the injectors 80.

As pointed out in the brief description of Fig. 8, the present form of the invention is especially adapted for use on aircraft, being compact and relatively slender and comparatively light of weight. For such use, the flywheel is replaced by a propeller H5; and when constructed for use on combat planes, the engine shaft 5 may be made tubular, as shown in the drawings, so that a machine gun or the like, indicated in broken lines at I26, may be so mounted as to fire through the engine shaft.

Having thus described my claim is:

1. In an internal combustion engine of the type wherein the engine shaft is disposed axially of the cylinder, and pistons are reciprocable in the cylinder in opposed relation to each other and surround the shaft; members surrounding and splined to the shaft and arranged with the pistons between them, each of said members being swiveled to the adjacent end of the near piston so that said member and piston reciprocate together but are capable of independent rotation, a housing enclosing the members, and interengaging means on the housing and members for effecting rotary motion therebetween during reciprocations of the members.

2. In an internal combustion engine of the type wherein the engine shaft is disposed axially of the cylinder, and pistons are reciprocable in the cylinder in opposed relation to each other and surround the shaft; members surrounding and splined to the shaft and arranged with said pistons between them, a swivel connection including anti-friction bearings between each member and the adjacent end of the near piston so that the member reciprocates with the piston but is. capable of rotation independently thereof, a housing enclosing the members, and interengaging means on the housing and members for effecting rotary motion therebetween during reciprocations of the members.

3. In an engine or the like, a shaft, a piston reciprocable on the shaft, the piston having an annular cavity that opens through one of its ends, a member reciprocable on the shaft and having a part extending into the cavity of the piston, an anti-friction bearing surrounding the extension of said member and constituents of which are connected, respectively, to the extension of the member and the surrounding portion of the peripheralwall of the piston, a housing surrounding the pistonand member and including a cylinder wherein the piston operates, and interengaging means on the housing and member for invention, what I effecting rotary motion therebetween during re- .ciprocations of the member.

4. In an engine or the like, a shaft having a series of circumferentially spaced. longitudinal grooves, a member surrounding the shaft and reciprocable therealong and having longitudinal grooves registering with those of the shaft, balls occupyingsaid grooves and through which said member has driving connection with the shaft, thegrooves of said member opening through an end of the member, an element applied to said end and serving to close said grooves and constituting an extension ofthe member for the swivel connection of a piston-like element thereto, a housing surrounding said member, and interengaging means on the housing and member for effecting rotary motion therebetween during reciprocation of the member.

5. In an internal combustion engine of the type wherein the engine shaft is disposed axially of the cylinder, and pistons are reciprocable in the cylinder in opposed relation to each other and surround the shaft; members surrounding the shaft and arranged with the pistons between them, each member being swiveled to the adjacent end of the near piston so that said member and piston reciprocate together but are capable of independent rotation, the shaft and each member having registering longitudinal grooves, balls within said grooves through which the member has driving connection with the shaft, a housing enclosing the members, and interengaging means on the housing and members for effecting rotary motion therebetween during reciprocations of the members.

6. In an engine or the like, a shaft having a series of circumferentially spaced longitudinal grooves, a member surrounding and reciprocable on the shaft and having grooves registering with the former grooves, balls rotatably fitting within said grooves and through which driving connection is effected between the member and shaft, said member being counterbored at one end to the radial depth of the grooves therein, an element fitting within the counterbore of the member to form a closure for said grooves, a piston reciprocable on the shaft adjacent said member and to which the member is connected, a housing enclosing the piston and member and a part of which constitutes a cylinder in which the piston operates, and interengaging means on the housing and member for effecting rotary motion therebetween during reciprocations of the member.

7. In an internal combustion engine of the type wherein the engine shaft is disposed axially of the cylinder, and the piston is reciprocable in the cylinder and surrounds the shaft; a member surrounding the shaft and reciprocable but non-rotatable with respect thereto, said member being swiveled to the adjacent end of the piston so that said member and piston reciprocate together but are capable of independent rotation, a housing enclosing the member, and interengaging means on the housing and member for effecting rotary motion therebetween during reciprocations of the member.

VINCENT PALUMBO.

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