US2330378A - Internal combustion engine - Google Patents

Description

, mmvroa Games A. Pou. M 1 m m 64 fl WM INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE Filed July 13, 1942' 2 Slants-sheaf, 1

Attorney Sept 1943- G. A. POLL 2,330,378

INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE Filed July 13, 1942 2 Sheets Sheet 2 Grows: A. PoLL At'c r ney Patented Sept. 28, 1943 2,sa0,37s V INTERNAL OMBUSTION ENGINE George A. P 11, Cincinnati, Ohio I Application July 13 1942, Serial No. 450,731 7. Claims. (Cl.12353), I

This invention relates to improvements inseIicontained, self-propelled engines, such as the internal combustion typel g Internal combustion engines are well known, and particularly the engines such as usedin the present day automobile'of the four stroke type."

In the engines as today employed, each cylinder and its piston is independent'and operates or fires in an established order, wherebythe power impulse or stroke is distributed along acrank shaft, so as to obtain as smooth and continuous a retation of said crank shaft as possible. With most engines, ignition takes place at approximately the top dead center; in factone'half of the'coinbustion and therefore one half of thepressure is developed at the time of dead center, and likewise with most engines the total combustiori'is completed at approximately 25 past dead center.

is at this precise moment that the pressures are the greatest, and the crank belowthe piston is not at any advantageous angle for converting these pressures into work, Y 1

With this invention the possibility'of ignition on top dead center of thej'piston is eliminated, as

provision is made whereby-the piston unit to-be fired is always beyond this top center position when the spark is supplied thereto. l I

It is therefore the principal object of this inventionto provide a piston type engine wherein the crank is 50 disposed angularly as'to turn these pressures intowork as soon as they are developed.

Another object of this invention is the provision in an internal co-mbustionengine of means which insures a cylinder of each unit of a multi-' cylinder engine being off center in the direction of its drive at the time when the firingoccurs and when the 'compression'pressure isthe greatest.

Another object of this invention is the provision of an internal combustion engine, wherein.

all of the residual gases, after a power stroke, are practically eliminated from the cylinder unit before being charged with raw gas'for subsequent firing.

It is also an object of this invention to provide an internal combustion engine, which, inview of the foregoing objects, can, be made somewhat lighter in construction due to its eflicient operation and conversion of heat, topower in View of the fact that no resistance within the engine is encountered at the time that'the explosion within the cylinder takes place.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention should be readily apparent by;reference to the-following. specification considered in conjunction with" the accompanying drawings form ing a'part thereof and it, is' to .be' understood that any modifications may bemade in the exact structural details there shown and described,

within the scope of the appended claims, without departing from or exceeding the spirit of'theinvention.

Inthedrawingsz' Fig. l is a top plan viewofa portion :of an internalcombustion engine embodying the improve-' ments ofithis' invention.

Fig. 2 is' a view partly in section and partly in elevation, as seen from line 2-2 on Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view takenon line 33 on Fig. 2. "i

Fig. 4 is a view, on'a smaller scale, of a portionof a crankshaft that-may be employed for accomplishing the objects of this invention.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary sectional View of a portion ofan engine, showing a modification.

Fig: 6 is a transverse sectional view on line 6-6 onFigrfi. I

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary sectional view taken-on linel-1on-Fig.5.-*

Fig.8 is a-f-ra'gmentary plan view of a portion of the engine as seen fromline 8 8;on'Fig. '7; ;Fig. 9 is a perspective of thevalve shown in the modification andforming a detail of the invention. 1 i 1 Throughout the several views of the drawings, similar reference characters are employed to de-' note the same or similar parts;

As was noted above, this inventionpertains'in general to'an'engine of the reciprocating piston type, and particularly to internalcombustion engines, where-it will probably find its:greatest' use. The accomplishment of the-objects initially set forth will become evidentlas the invention is specifically describedbe In general the invention comprises a housing, comprising a cylinder block H), to which is secured, in the usual manner, the cylinder blockally known as a four-cylinder engine. As illustrated in the. drawings; cylinders l3 and-l5 are illustrated as of a, similar diameter andare smaller than the cylinders Hand i6,-with cylinders l3 and Mfforming one unit, while-cylinders i5 and I6 form a second unit, and these units are multiplied as desired; there being four such units in what has been heretofore known as a four cylinder motor, six units in a six cylinder motor, etc.

Each of the cylinders may be encircled by a water jacket I1 which would be communicable with one another through passages in the head II, or the said cylinders may be air cooled, as desired and well known. Disposed in each cylinder unit, such as I3 and I4, are pistons I8 and I9 of a diameter corresponding to its cylinder, and each piston is further provided, as is usual practice, with piston rings 20. The wall 2| between cylinders I3 and I4 is relieved at its top, as at 22, to provide a passageway 23 between the cylinders I3 and I4 whereby the pressure in said cylinders may be equalized.

Extending through the cylinder block head I! are supply ports 24 and 25, respectively supplying the cylinders I3 and I4 with the gas mixture to be subsequently. exploded. Likewise extending through the cylinder block head II are exhaust ports 26 and 21, respectively connected with cylinders I3 and I4, for permitting the escape of residual gases in said cylinders after the explosion. Eachof the ports 24 to 21 inclusive is provided with a similar valve 28, each having extending therefrom a valve stem 25. Each valve stem 29 passes through a guide 30 located above its port. Each valve stem 29 is provided on its upper end with a head3l, forming 'one abutment for a spring 32, which abuts on its other end with the valve stem guide 30. As is well known, the spring 32 maintains the valve against its seat to prevent passage through its port except when the cylinder is being charged or discharged.

It will be understood that each cylinder unit, such as I5 and I6. is provided with similar valves for each of its individual cylinders.

The ports 24 and 25, as well as the supply ports to each of the other cylinder units, are supplied through an intake manifold 33, which extends from the usual carburetor or other fuel supplying device. As illustrated in the drawings. the intake manifold 33 is shown as formed partly of the cylinder block head II, but this intake manifold may be an independent supply system bolted or otherwise secured to the cylinder block, as is the usual practice.

The exhaust ports 26 and 21, as well as the exhaust ports of all of the other cylinder units of a given engine, are likewise connected with a manifold, usually termed an exhaust manifold 34, which extends to the atmosphere, usually through a mufiler, as again is usual practice. It will be noted that the exhaust manifold is illustrated as formed integral with the cylinder head II, which againmay bea separate system bolted or otherwise secured to the cylinder block itself.

In order to explode the gaseous fuel within the cylinders, each cylinder is provided with the usual spark plug or other spark producing mechanism 35, each of which has extending from it an electric current conductor, such as a wire 36. The said wires 35 extending from the snark plugs terminate in a distributor 37, which through the usual timing mechanism d stributes the electrical impulses among the cylinders in the order in which they are to be fired, as is usual practice. It will be noted, that the wires 35', from the spark plugs of the cylinder unit Iii-I4 have a common terminal in the distributor 31, as have the wires 36" from the cylinder unit I5-I B. Each subsequent pair of cylinder units likewise has a pair of wires with a common terminal in the distributor. By this construction the compressed fuel gas in each cylinder unit is simultaneously exploded for driving the two pistons in each unit simultaneously in a power delivering stroke direction.

Each of the pistons I8 and I9 is provided with a connecting rod 38 and 39, each connected with a crank pin 40 and 4| of the crank shaft, indicated as a unit by the reference character 42. The crank shaft 42 is mounted in bearings at opposite ends of the crank case I2, one of which bearings is indicated at 43 in Figs. 2 and 5. The crank shaft 42 exteriorly of the crank case I2 is provided with means, such as gear 44, for transmitting power to, for example, the drive shaft of an automobile.

As illustrated in Fig. 3, the crank pins 43 and 4| are of an equal distance from the center of the crank shaft 42, but one of the said crank shaft pins is angularly disposed ahead of the other. As illustrated in Fig. 3, the crank pin 4| is shown as directly vertical of the crank shaft 42 with its piston at the upper end of its stroke, while the crank pin 40 is illustrated as in advance of the crank pin M and with its piston I8 as withdrawn from the .upper end of its stroke. This angle, as shown in the drawings, is 35 degrees, thereby placing the crank pin 40 in an advantageous position to receive the driving impulse, as would be efiected upon explosion of the compressed gases within the cylinder. It should be noted that the crank shaft 42 is to be rotated in a clockwise direction as indicated by the arrow 45 on Fig. 3. i

In operation and with reference to the drawings, it is assumed that the piston l9 has reached its full compression stroke and that the distributor 31 has sent an electrical impulse to the spark plug 35 for igniting the fuel. It will be appreciated that initially the piston I9 will respond slow er than the piston I8, due to the fact that the piston I9 is in its dead center position, while the piston I8 is in an advanced position, and will therefore be able to take advantage of the full impact of the explosion.

While an advance of 35, as illustrated in the drawings, of the piston cranks gives efl'icient results, this angularity may be reduced to 20 or may be increased to 60 with material advantage over the engines as today employed.

As is usual practice, the various intake and exhaust valves are opened during the intake stroke and the discharge stroke of the several pistons and to accomplish this, there is provided a rocker arm 46 pivotly mounted at 47 and having one end 48 engaging the valve stem head 3| and with the other end 49 of the rocker arm engaging the tappet rod 50. The lower end of the tappet rod 50 rides on the cam shaft 5| which is driven through a sprocket and chain mechanism 52, from the crank shaft 42.

From the foregoing, it is believed now evident that the objects initially set forth are accomplished and that a piston of each cylinder unit is always in position to take advantage of the maximum pressure developed.

In the modification disclosed in Figs. 5 and 6, the crank pin 4! is illustrated as of a greater distance from the center of the crank shaft than is the crank pin 40'. With this construction a greater stroke is given to the retarded piston, with said stroke extending between the top of the piston I9 illustrating the uppermost point of the upper end thereof and the phantom line 53 illustrating the lowermost point of the bottom of said piston l9, while the piston I8 travels from the phantom line 56, representing the top of its stroke in Fig. to the phantom line 55, which illustrates the bottom of the piston l8. s

It may be desirable at times to completely separate the cylinders from one another as for example when exhaustin one of the cylinders, the retarded cylinder, while the advance cylinder is being charged. To accomplish this, use may be made of a valve, such as 58, which is located at the upper end of the wall which separates said cylinders to close off the space 23; As shown particularly in Figs. 7 and 9 the valve 56 is provided with circular journal portions 51 and 58 iournaled in bearings provided by the cylinder block H3 and its head ll. Between the journals 5? and 58 the valve has a body portion 59 with its upper half removed to form passage 65], which when in the position illustrated in Figs. 5 and '7 offers no restriction to passage through the way 23. If the valve is turned either clockwise or counter-clockwise the said passage 23 is cut off.

Any suitable or desirable means may be employed for rotating the valve and as shown in the drawings this means includes a reduced portion iii projecting from one end of the valveto which is secured a lever 62. see Fig. 8. The outer end of the lever 62 is pierced to receive one end 63 of a rod 64 which has its lower end contacting and riding on the cam shaft 5|. A cam 65 on the cam shaft effects the upward movement of rod 54 and through the lever 62 a rotation of the valve 5'6 to close off passage 23. In order to maintain contact of the rod 52 with the cam shaft 5| and cam 65 use is made of a spring 65 having one end secured to the lever 62 and the other end anchored to the cylinder block.

It is contemplated that the relation between the cam 65 and valve 58 is such that the valve will operate to close the passage 23 when the advance piston is about 160 past top center on a power stroke and will open said passage when the other or retarded piston has completed its exhaust stroke, that is, after both pistons have completed their exhaust strokes and are commencing a ch arging or intake stroke.

What is claimed:

1. In an internal combustion engine, a pair of cylinders each of a different diameter and each containing a piston for reciprocation therein,

' said pistons and cylinders operating as a unit and adapted to be charged with gaseous fuel to be exploded, means for effecting the simultaneous explosion of said fuel in each cylinder, and a crank shaft below said pistons and cylinders having a pair of crank pins respectively connected with said pistons and one of said crank pins being angularly advanced with respect to the other.

2. In an internal combustion engine, a pair of cylinders each containing a piston for reciprocation therein, said pistons and cylinders operating as a unit and adapted to be charged with gaseous fuel to be exploded, means for effecting the simultaneous explosion of said fuel in each cylinder, and a crank shaft below said pistons and cylinders having a pair of crank pins respectively connected with said pistons and one of said crank pins being farther removed from the crank shaft than the first crank pin and one of said crank pins being angularly advanced with respect to the other.

3. In an internal combustion engine, a pair of cylinders connected with one another by a passage way at their upper ends, a crank shaft below said cylinders, a piston in each cylinder, said cylinders adapted to be charged with gaseous fluid to be exploded, means associated with each cylinder for effecting the simultaneous explosion of said fuel in the cylinders, a crank pin on said crank shaft connected with one of said pistons, a second crank pin on said crank shaft angularly advanced with respect to said first crank pin and connected with said second piston, and means for closing said passage way.

4. In an internal combustion engine, a pair of cylinders connected with one another by a passage way at their upper ends and each cylinder of a different diameter, a piston in each cylinder, said cylinders adapted to be charged with gaseous fluid to be exploded, means associated with each cylinder for effecting the simultaneous explosion of said fuel in the cylinders, a'crank shaft below said pistons and cylinders, a crank pin on said crank shaft connected with one of said pistons, a second crank pin on said crank shaft angularly advancedwith respect to said first crank pin, and means for closing said passage way.

5. In an internal combustion engine of the four stroke cycle type comprising a plurality of piston and cylinder units, each unit comprising a pair of cylinders connected at their upper ends by a passage way, a piston in each cylinder,' said cylinders adapted to be charged with gaseous fluid to be exploded, means associated with each cylinder for effecting the simultaneous explosion of said fuel in the cylinders, a crank shaft below said units, a crank pin on said crank shaft for each piston and connected therewith with one of said crank pins for each unit advanced with respect to the other, a valve in the passage way between the unit cylinders, and means for actuating said valve to close the passage way for a part of the stroke cycle of the pistons of each unit. 6. A piston and cylinder unit for an internal combustion engine of the four stroke cycle type comprising a pair of cylinders connected at their upper ends by a passage Way, a piston in each cylinder, said cylinders adapted to be charged with gaseous fluid to be exploded. means associated with each cylinder for effecting the simultaneous explosion of said fuel in the cylinders, a crank shaft below said pistons and cylinders. having a crank pin for each piston with one of said crank pins in advance of the other and with one of said crank pins of a greater stroke than the other to effect a greater travel of its piston, a valve in the passage way between the cylinder, and means for actuating said valve to close the passage way for a part of the stroke cycle of the pistons.

'7. In an internal combustion engine, a pair of cylinders each of a different diameter and each containing a piston for reciprocation therein,

said pistons and cylinders operating as a unit and adapted to be charged with gaseous fuel to be exploded, means for effecting the simultaneous explosion of said fuel in each cylinder, and a crank shaft below said pistons and cylinders having a pair of crank pins respectively connected with said pistons and one of said crank pins being farther removed from the crank shaft than the first crank pin and one of said crank pins being angularly advanced with respect to the other.

GEORGE A. POLL.

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