US2354057A - Cooling means for engine pistons - Google Patents

Description

7 y .1944. w. H. PURDIE 2,354,057

COOLING MEANS FOR ENGINE PISTONS Filed Aug. '16, 1943 Inventor m, m 19mm m. H. Purv/ie 1 I Patented July 18, 1944 I C OOLIN G MEANS FOR ENGINE PISTONS William Hamilton Purdie, Sunderland, England, assignor to William Doxford & Sons Limited, Sunderland, Durham, England, a British compa y - Application August 16, 1943,Serial No. 498,898 7 In Great Britain August 21, 1942 2 Claims.

The present invention consists of improvements in or relating to means for conducting fluids to reciprocating parts and is particularly applicable, though not limited to, means for conveying cooling fluid to and from pistons of internal-combustion engines. 'I'n'the specification of United States Letters Patent No'. 1,917,590 there is described a construction for this purpose comprising'a floating guide, a flexible tube whichpasses round the guide and has one end secured to the reciprocating part and the other to a stationary part, and means to control the bodily movement of the guide to keep the tubetaut in all positions of the reciprocatingpart. The anchoragev of the tube at one end is made adjustable sothat tension can be applied toit, this tension being adjusted to suit the length and weightof the tube and the acceleration forces to which it is subjected; .the longer and heavier the'tube and the more rapid the reciprocating motion, the greater will be the tension of the tube necessary to prevent undue oscillation. The angular movement of the guide is derived, in part at least, from the tube and where the guides are of substantial construction additional tension is necessary in the tube. For high speeds of operation, the incorporation of the mechanical strength in the tube to withstand the tension is detrimental to its flexibility.

According to the present invention, there is provided in fluid-supplying means of the kind above described, the combination with the flexible tube, of a flexible tension member which is mounted and guided in the same manner as the tube, but is substantially stronger in tension than is the tube, means for tensioning said member, and means for securing the tube to the tension member along its length.

Preferably there are provided a pair of flexible tension members disposed one on each side of the tube or tubes, and clips or the like bridging the space between the tension members and securing the tube or tubes thereto.

According to another feature of this invention, the floating guide is positively engaged with the tension member or members to derive its angular movement therefrom.

In the accompanying drawing,

Figure 1 is a purely diagrammatic view showing in elevation one construction according to this invention, and

Figures 2 to 7 are sectional views showing various arrangements of tension members and flexible tubes.

Referring first to Figure l, the reference [I] indicates a reciprocating part towhich a fluid is to be supplied. It may, for example, be the piston of an internal-combustion engine which is coupled to a crank II and reciprocates between the positions l0 and I2. At a suitably accessible point on the member ID there is provided an inlet member l3 for the supply of the fluid, and there is coupled to this part a flexible tube M. This tube extends around a guide-member l5 having a suitable radius of curvature, and the guide I5 is preferably pivoted on the part III, so that it can rock during the reciprocation thereof.

The tube I4 is connected to a stationary supply pipe l6, and, as described in the prior specification aforesaid, it is guided by a floating guidemember I! so that it can be maintained taut throughout the reciprocating movement of the part l0., The guide-member I1 is connected to the pivotal axisof the guide l5 aforesaid bya rigid link l8, andis also free to move through a small range 'ona fixed abutment38.

The feature of the present invention is that a strong but flexibletension-member, or a plurality of such members, is provided to support the flexible tube throughout its length, or at suitably spaced points along its length. As illustrated in. Figure 1, this tension-member I9 is constituted by a pair of flexible wire ropes spaced side by side as shown in Figure 2, with the flexible tube l4 between them.

These wire ropes l9 are secured to the reciprocating part I!) and to a ,fixed anchorage 20 and extend around the guides I5, [1, in such a manner that their centre lines correspond with the centre line of the tube I4 throughout its length. A suitable tensioning device 2| is provided at one end of each of the tension-members l9, conveniently at the abutment 2!), whereby the requisite tension can be applied to them.

As shown in Figure 2, the flexible tube M is attached to the tension-members l9 by means of two- part clips 22, 23 which are secured together by the nuts and bolts 24, the clips being clamped tightly on both the tension-members and the flexible tube so as to secure them firmly together. These clips 22, 23 are spaced along the length of the tube at suitable intervals, the spacing being arranged to suit the length and weight of the tube and the rate of reciprocation to which it is subjected, so as to prevent it from vibrating relatively to the tension-members 19. The tension-members 19 are prevented from vibration by suitable adjustment of the tension applied by the tensioning means 2| aforesaid. It will be appreciated that since the tensionmembers are the prime means by which vibration is prevented, only light tensioning, if any, is required to be applied to the flexible tube Id itself.

In some cases it may be desirable to provide a plurality of flexible tubes in which case these may be arranged as illustrated in Figure 3, which shows two flexible tubes 25 arranged between a pair of tension-members 26 and secured to them by clamps in the same manner as is illustrated in Figure 2. The two tubes 25 might be used, for ex ample, for inlet and outlet of the fluid.

An additional tension-member may be provided between the two tubes of'Figure 3, and also more than two tubes can be arranged in this manner as shown in Figure 4; in this figure there are shown two large diameter tubes 27 and two smaller diameter tubes 28 all supported by three tension-members 29 and secured thereto by clamps similar to those illustrated in Figure 2.

In all these figures the tension-members have been shown as flexible .wire rope, but other suit ably strong and flexible materials may be used, thus for example, in Figure 5 the tension-members 36 are shown as thin flat steel strips and the clamps 3i are generally similar to those illusi trated in Figure 2, except that they are secured to the strips 38 by bolts passing through the clamps and the strips, the strips 30 being engaged betweenthe two parts of the clamp. In Figure 6 an alternative clamping arrangement is shown, in 3 which the clamps 32 do not embrace the flexible steel strips 33, but are bolted to one side of them.

Yet another form of flexible tension-member which may be used is a roller chain, the arrangement of which is shown in Figure '7. In this flgure r two flexible tubes 34 are shown with a roller chain at each side of the tubes. Adjacent links of the chain are coupled by pivot pins 35 in the usual manner, and the clamping plates 36 .are shaped to engage the upper and lower edges of a link of the chain intermediate itscends, being secured thereto by a bolt and nut 3'1. When a roller chain is used as the flexible member, it is desirable that sprocket teeth be formed on the periphery of the guides l5 and I! to engage it and control its movement.

In all the constructions so far described, separate clamps are used for securing the flexible tube or tubes to the tension-members, but if desired, the tube may have moulded or otherwise formed on it fins or strips for direct attachment in any convenient manner to the tension-members, and such means maybe arranged for ready detachment and replacement of the flexible tube if necessary, With this arrangement, the flexible tube can be supported throughout its length by the tension-members if this is desirable in any special circumstances.

I claim:

1. In a machine, the combination of a reciprocating part whereto fluid is to be supplied, a plurality of flexible tension-members connected at one end to said reciprocating part and at the other end to a stationary part of the machine, a floating guide-member engaging said tension-members, means for tensioning said members, a flexible tube or tubes lying beside said tension-members and clips spaced along said tension-members and secured thereto, said clips also gripping said tube.

2. In an internal-combustion engine, the combination of a piston whereto a cooling liquid is to be supplied, a rigid link pivotally engaged at one end with a part moving with said piston and extending laterally from the part in movement with said piston, a roller on the other end of said link whereon said roller moves extending at rightangles to the path of said piston, a guide-member carried on said link near said roller, a flexible tension-member having one end secured to said piston lying along said link and round said guidemember, an anchorage on a fixed part of the engine for said tension-member, means for applying tension to said member, a flexible tube communicating with said piston at one end lying beside said tension-member and having its other end communicating with a fixed supply pipe on said engine and means for tying said flexible tube to said tension member to restrain it from vibration.

WILLIAM HAMILTON PURDIE.

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