US2610616A

US2610616A - Diesel-type engine for toy aircraft

Info

Publication number: US2610616A
Application number: US704604A
Authority: US
Inventors: Kenneth O Woodruff; Robert L Krier
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1946-10-21
Filing date: 1946-10-21
Publication date: 1952-09-16
Anticipated expiration: 1969-09-16

Description

Sept' 16, 1952 K. o. WOODRUFF ETAL y2,610,616

DIESEL-TYPE ENGINE FOR TOY AIRCRAFT Filed Oct. 21, 1946 Patented Sept. 16, 1952 DIESEL-TYPE ENGINE FOR TOY AIRCRAFT `Kenneth 0. Woodruff, Englewood; and Robert L. Krier, Walsenburg, Colo.

Application October 21, 1946, Serial N o. 704,604

`rThe present inventionl relates to a single cylinder diesel-type engine for toy aircraft. It has to do particularly, although not exclusively, with a single cylinder air-cooled diesel-type engine of extremely small sizel and of extremely f light weight capable of propelling a toy or miniature aircraft, in whichthe engine is of the combustion-ignition type having no electric sparking arrangement. The principle could, of course, be used also with a multi-cylinder engine. y

One of the vobjects of they present invention is to'provide an engine of the foregoing character having a novel arrangement of parts, as well as a minimum number of parts, whereby to provide a compact engine structure of relatively small size and extremely light weight which is capable voi. being manufactured at relatively low cost, and

one which will turn up at a maximum number of R. P. Ms.

A further object of the present invention is to provide novel air intake-adjustment and adjustment-maintaining means for an engine of the foregoing character; it being anotherv and important object of the invention to provide new and novel means for varying the displacement of the engine cylinder above the reciprocable piston located therein.

' Another and important object of the present invention Ais to provide an efficient, compact, andv light weight engine of the foregoing character which operates on the diesel principle and which is of the combustion-ignition type and therefore does not employ any sparking arrangement.-

` The foregoing and other objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the vfollowing description and appended claims when considered in connection with they accompanying drawings forming a partof this specification, wherein like reference characters designate corresponding parts in the several views. 1

In said drawings:

Fig.Y l is a longitudinal vertical sectional view throughv an engine 'embodying the present invention. y

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary elevational view taken substantially along the line 2-2 of Fig. 1,'looking inthe direction of the arrows; and Y Fig'. 3 isa fragmentary transverse vertical sectional view taken substantially along 'the lineA not limited in its application to the details of 3 Claims. (Cl. 123-73) 2 construction and arrangement of/partsillus-4 trated in the accompanying drawingfsince the invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced or carried out in various ways. Also it is to be understood that the phraseology or terminology employed herein is forthe purpose of description and not of limitation, and it isnot intended to limit the invention claimed herein beyond the requirements of the prior art.

Referring now particularly to the drawings, the diesel-type engine vof the present invention comprises a cylinder I0 mounted upon a' crank case, shown as a wholeat I I, the crank casa-as shownr comprising sections I2 and I3 which are thread,-

edly joined together at I4. One end of the crank case is provided with a removableV cap or cover l5 having an opening therein'to permit access to a drain or inspection plug I6. The section I3 of the crank case comprises a -vertical wall I'I having a right angularly and horizontally disposed tubular projecting portion I 8 which carries a bearing for la crank shaft or propellershaft, shown as a whole at I9; The wall I'I of the crank case carries'a bronze bushing or bearing sleeve 2li for the crank shaft. A

Attached to the section I3 of the crank case and extending Youtwardly in line therewith is a fuel tank 2I having an outer,v closure wall or disk 22 which, as shown, is threaded at 23 onto the, portion I8 of the crank case. A breather plug or venting member 24 is, as shown, threaded into the wall of the fuel tank. e

The crank shaft I9 has a reduced portion ISa which carries a propeller 25 and an outer Ithreaded end portion |91)` which receives a nut '26 to hold said propeller rigidly into engagement with the rotatable spacer ring or disk 21 which is disposed between thev propeller 25 and the end wall I8. The outer end of the crank shaft or propeller shaft carries a streamlined spinner or cap member 28 which is recessed at 29 to receive'v the nut 25 and which is internally threaded at 30 to engage the threaded end I9b of the shaft. They spinner is preferably formed from plastic so as to reduce thewweight of the engine assembly.`

The inner endi ofthe crank shaft` I9 is connected, through a connecting rod 3l, to a piston 32 which reciprocates in a liner or sleeve 33 which' is pressed into thecylinder I0. The sleeve or liner 33 is spaced from'the wall Illa of the cylinder to provide an intakeor induction passage 34 communicating with an intake port 35 formed in the liner, see Fig. 1. The-liner is'also provided with a pair of preferably opposed exhaust ports 36 (one such being shown in Figs. 1A and 2) whichV ports are in communication with outwardly projecting and preferably oppositely disposed exhaust pipes or passageways 31 which, as shown in Fig. 2, form an integral part of the walls of the cylinder lll. The upper portion of the walls of the cylinder l is threaded at 38 and is preferably shaped to provide an annular shoulder 39, Figs. l and 2. Y

The cylinder I3 is provided with an adjustable cylinder head, shown as a whole at 40, the head being provided with an annular groove 4| in its under side to receive the upper end of the sleeve or liner 33. The cylinder head 40 is provided with a series or plurality of heat dissipating and thus cooling fins 42 and has a cylinder .head operating or manipulating member 43 having ,n'ger gripping pieces or extensions 43a, which member is pressed into a socket formed in the head 40 and which is disposed entirely externally of the cylinder and head. The cylinder head 4U has a The mixturelof fuelandair, providing the combustible mixtureffor. c ip'erating the combustionignition. type engine of the present` invention, are bothfpreferably'admitted to the engine cylinderlthrough the crankcase thereof.. To provide means fcradmitting air, the section I3 yof the crank caselis extended upwardly at l5 and is provided with an aperture or opening iE-formed therein. A tubular sleeve-like member 41. having a head 48 ,and a notchedrperiph'ery v49 is telescoped-within the extension ,45 .and has an opening or aperture 53 formedv therein which is adapted to .register withthe 4opening Vor :port 46, see Fig. l. It will be .understoodthat by rotating the member 4l., the size ofthe openingfprovided by the aligned ports 46 and 5B may be Varied to control or regulate the amount of air admitted to the engine. To maintain the .parts in their proper adjusted positions, a spring-like nger 5I Lis provided and is carried by the member or extension 45 toengage in the notches 49 of :the capmember. l. v

As seen clearly in Fig. v1', vthe crank shaft i3 is provided with a port or opening 19a and with lila,Y bore` ISU Vinto thev crankl case andY thence will be drawnup'wardly through the .passageway 34 and port 3 5injto the cylinder above the piston 32.

It will be understood thatthe proper amount of fuel to air may be controlled or regulatedto the desired proportions or mixture by virtue of the diameter of the pipe or tube 5.7;, the-bore of the nipple 53, and the Asize of the Vair-intaker opening provided by the apertures 4.6 and 58, sothat the proper and desirable-mixture may be provided.

It will be understood that as the cylinder head 4E! is adjusted downwardly relative to the fixed cylinder l0, the displacement of the cylinder will be reduced, whereas the adjustment of the cylinder head upwardly, or away from the piston 32, Vwill increase the displacement of the cylinder. It will also be understood that the greatest compression is obtained when the displacement is reduced, that is when the'cylinder head 43 is in its lowermost position In this position, with the air intake opening set properly,

the propeller 25 is spun rapidly to create suction within `theengine Such suction draws into 'the cylinder the proper combustible mixture,

. which is compressed and fired by the combustionignition principle to start the engine in operation. After the engine has once been started and is in operation, 'the cylinder head 40 may be adjusted upwardly or away from the piston 32 to increase the displacement to approximately four (4)y cubic .centimeters for normal operation. With thissetting, the `improved engines of the present invention will develop up to approx-imatelyvOOR; P. M. Y 1

The entire novel engine structure loi the pres*- ent invention maybequickly and readily assembled lor disassembled andwill produce the =necessary power for propelling ininiatu-reorvtoyaircraft on relatively long-sustainediiights Y The various parts making l.upthepresent novel engine lstructure are formed .from'material which is best suited to the particular .design or par-t, some of the parts being machined .fromham aluminum whereas others, such as thepiston 32 cylinder head 4d, arepreierablfgiormed from steel. The spacer-ring or; disk 21 vmay be formed either from steelor aluminum and,` as. stated above, the spinner 2.8 is preferably formed from plastic although, if desired, it may be formed from a block of hard aluminum, or vsirnilarliglit weight material. A

Having thus described the invention what is claimed is:

1. A'two-stroke cycle` internal combustion engine of the compression ignition typefor use-in miniature aircraft comprising aY-crank case, a hollow crank shaft projecting into the crank case, means for 'passing a combustible fuel-air mixture into the-crank Vcaseffthrough the crank shaft,-a cylinder on the crank case having an inlet and an an exhaust port butgotherwise ,imperfora'te, a Vpiston Yreciprocal. in thev cylinder to;

successively seal and opensaid ports, a connectingy rod` connecting the piston to the crankv shaft, a solid imperioratey cylinder head having an integral thickened central portion projecting down- Wardly'into thecylinder in sealing engagement therewith and askirt portion threadedly en.-

Vgagirng the outer'portion of saidcylinder for-axial adjustment of vthe cylinderA head, whereby the compression ratio and therefore the ignitiona fueltankconcentric with the crank case, a hollow crank shaitextending through the fuel tank into the crank case, an air horn extending inwardly into. communication with a port formed in a Wall of' the crank case for drawing a fuelair mixture -through'the crank shaft into the.

5 crank case, a fuel nozzle in the air horn, a tube in the fuel tank connecting the inner end of the fuel nozzle with the lower portion of the fuel tank, an

adjustable means for varying the quantity of vand the crank shaft, and means for adjusting the ignition timing and compression ratio of the engine including an imperforate cylinder head sealing thev top of the cylinder, said cylinder head having a groove for slidably receiving the upper end of the cylinder and an external skirt threadedly engaging the external portion of the cylinder. f

3. A two-stroke cycle internal combustion engine of the compression ignition type for use in miniature aircraft comprising a crank case, a fuel tank concentric with the crank case, a hollow crank shaft extending through the fuel tank into the crank case, means including a fuel nozzle extending inwardly into communication with an opening formed in a wall of the crank case for drawing a fuel-air mixture through the crank shaft into the crank case, conduit means in the fuel tank connecting the fuel nozzle with the' fuel tank, means for controlling the quantity of air drawn through the crank shaft, a cylinder on the crank case imperforate except for inlet and exhaust openings, the inlet opening communitating with the crank case, a piston reciprocal 6 in the cylinder, a connecting rod connecting the piston and the crank shaft, and means for adjusting the ignitionk timing and compression .ratio of the two-stroke cycle internal combustion en-V gine, said last-named means including an imperforate thickened cylinder head sealing the top of the cylinder, said imperforate thickened cylinder head having a groove forcsldably receiving the upper end portion of the cylinder and an external cooling fin-carrying skirt threadedly engaging the external portion of the cylinder. i

' KENNETH O. WOODRUFF.

ROBERT L. KRIER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS switzerland A Dec. 17, 1928