US359646A - Carburetor - Google Patents

Description

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

E. K. SUMERWELL.

' GARBURETGR. No. 359,646. Patented Mar. 22, 1887.

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(No Model.) 2' Sheets-8heet 2.

E K. SUMERWELL.

GARBURETOR. No. 359,646. Patented Mar. 22, 1887.

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EDWARD K. SUMERW'ELL, OF COVINGTON, KENTUCKY.

CARBURETOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 359,646, dated March 22, 1887.

Application filed January 4, 1886. Serial No. 187,547.

.To aZZwhom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD K. SUMER- WELL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Oovington, in the county of Kenton and State of Kentucky, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Carburetors, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this spccification.

My invention relates to improvements in gas machines in which gas is produced by carbureting air by passing it over or incontact with gasoline, or some such substance, by

which the vapors arising from it are taken up by and mingled with the air, producing a gas adapted for illuminating or heating purposes.

It consists in constructing the carburetor so that the heaviest portion of the gasoline, from which the most valuable portion of the gas has already been taken, shall always be in the bottom pan, and so regulating and controlling the flow of air that the fresh air always comes first in contact with the most exhausted or impoverished part of the gasoline, when itis in condition to work more effectively upon it for absorbing what gas remains.

It also consists in so regulating the flow that the supply of gas can be taken entirely from one of the bottom pans, which under ordinary circumstances would be the least rich, or en tirely from the upper richer pans or compartments, or partly from both, mingled in such proportion as to produce the best quality of gas, by which means the quality of gas may always be regulated, regardless of the varying conditions and circumstances.

In the accompanyingdrawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of my machine. Fig. 2 is a top and side view of the overflow connecting the different pans or compartments of the carburetor. Fig. 3 is a three-way cock for controlling the supply and regulating the quality of the gas. Fig. 4 is aside elevation of the carburetor in section, showing the connections and pipes. Fig. 5 is a crosssection of a compartment, showing the manner of hanging the wicking. Fig. 6 is a top plan view of the same. Fig. 7 is a top or plan view of the dialplate and indicator.

(No model.)

The same letters of reference are used to indicate identical parts in all the figures.

It is very important that the flow of air through the carburetor should be as constant as possible. For that pupose I arrange two bellows side by side,.one of which is shown at A, Fig. 1. The outer sides of the bellows are stationary, the bottom one, A, being fastened to. the support, and the upper one held rigid by the brace c. g A partition, 13, separates the bellows into two chambers, and is arranged to move up or down. The mouth of the bellows enters a valve-chamber, G. This valvechamberis divided into two parts by a partion, and supplied with valves so arranged that as the middle partition of the bellows moves down and forces air out of the lower half of the bellows into the carburetor the upper half fills with air drawn through the valve-chamber O, and as it is forced up the air driven from the upper half is forced into the carburetor, while the lower half sucks in air through the valve-chamber O.

If the bellows worked alternately, or both together, there would be a point at which the pressure of air or blast would cease for an instant, which might cause a flicker of the gas.

To avoid thisI applythe power which is to operate the bellows to a double-crank shaft, G, with two arms or cranks, G and G". These cranks or arms'are at right angles or at quarter-turn from one another, so that the reverse movement in one bellows will always take place while the other is in full motion, so that there never is a point at which there is not a complete and full blast, thus absolutely preventing any flicker.

, Power for operating the bellows is applied bythe weight H. I The cord it passes overpulleys I I, and is wound on a cylinder, J. At one end of this cylinder is a cog-wheel, K, rotating loosely on the same shaft, and provided on one side with a small ratchet-wheel. (Not shown.) Spring-pawls on the end of the cylinder J engage with the ratchet-wheel, so that as the cylinder rotates to unwind the cord h the cog-wheel K is turned. This cog-wheel meshes with a smaller wheel, K, keyed on the L is a crank or lever for turning the cylinder J to wind up the rope h.

The force or pressure of the blast is regulated in the usual way by the relative size of the cog-wheels, number and proportion of the sheaves, and the weight, 810. A governor may also be provided in the pipe F, if desired. By this means a constant nnvarying blast of air is always maintained.

The carburetor M is divided into a number of horizontal compartments or chambers and a bottom residuum-pan, as shown in Figs. 1 and 4. These compartments are all connected by overflow-tubes O O, which serve also for the passage of the gas, and are all provided with a number of partitions or guides, so that the air, entering at one side, passes in a zigzag course, traversing the breadth of the carburetor a number of times, so as to bring the entire amount of air in contact with every part of the gasoline contained in the chambers. All the compartments are provided with wicking of the usual character, its object being to take up by capillary attraction the gasoline, spreading it over a large surface,and thus more effectually exposing it to the action of the air and giving a large evaporatingsurface. This wicking is suspended from the top of each pan by a wire, as shown in Figs. 5 and 6, in which the wires V V are soldered to the top of the pan at the middle, leaving the ends free. The winking Q is suspended from the wires in folds, as shown in Figs. 5 and 6, either in narrow strips or in broad strips, as illustrated. When broad strips are used, corresponding in width with the length of the wire-support, the wicking islaid over the wires, a small hole being cut at the middle of each wire. The wircsare then soldered to the top at the middle, and the wicking is held in place.

The gasoline is poured in through the supply-pipe N, which extends above or to the surface of the ground. It first enters the top pan, P, Fig. 4. \Vhen that pan is nearly full, or the gasoline rises to the top of the overflow 0, it flows into the second pan, P, and so on down to the residuum-pan 1 This overflow is so constructed that the heavier or lower portion of the gasoline flows through it into the next lower pan. It consists of a double tube, as shown in Fig. 2, the outer chamber, 0, being open at the bottom, as seen at 0, and extending above the top of the partition-wall 0. The heavy gasoline is at the bottom, and as the pan is filled this heavier portion is forced up in the chamber 0 until it flows over the partition 0 into the next lower compartment or pan. By this arrangement the top pan always contains the lightest, richest, freshest gasoline, the quality growing poorer with each lower pan until the bottom pan contains the poorest or most impoverished portion or residuum. There is no part of this gasoline which will not volatilize and produce a supply of gas; but as it becomes heavy and impoverished it volatilizes much more slowly and sluggishly. If the air were admitted to the carburetor and allowed to pass freely through all the pans or compartments, it would quickly absorb gas from the more volatile gasoline in the upper chambers, and, becoming saturated, little or no gas would be taken from the heavy poor residuum in the bottom, and in the course of time the lower pans would become filled with heavy poor stock, the efficiency of the machine materially reduced, and the supply and quality ofgas diminished. Itis necessary, therefore, to attack the residuum in he lower pan with fresh air which has not been at all saturated with gas and whose absorbing powers are at the highest; but if the air is confined to the lower pans the supply and quality of the gas would be very nnreliable. In hot weather the air might take up enough gas to make it efficient, but in cold weather it would absorb very little. It is necessary, therefore, to regulate and control the flow of air into the carburetor and of gas out of it. I therefore introduce the fresh air into the residuum-pan P by the pipe F, where it is caused to follow a zigzag course. The air, being fresh and unsaturated,will absorb a considerable quantity of gas from this residuum, which it would not take up had it become partially saturated. From this pan it passes through the tube or overflow O to the next pan above, which I call the bottom gaschamber, where it passes through the wicks, absorbing still more gas, and so on to the top pan. Of course the richest gas is always in the top chamber. Just at the overflow-pipe 0, connecting the residuum-pan with the bottom gas-cliamber,isa gas or exit pipe, S. iVhen the other exit from the carburetor is closed, the gas forced up from the residuumpau will naturally pass at once into the pipe S before it has traversed the gas-chamber. This pipe passes up to the three-way cock at T, Fig. 6. (Shown more enlarged at Fig. 5.) Also opening into the chamber of this three-way cock is a pipe, R, connected with the pipe N, and through it with the top pan, 1. This threeway cock T can be adjusted so as to open the connection between the pipe S and the service-pipe Z, which conveys the gas to the burners, and close all connection between the pipes Z and R; or it can be turned to open the connection between Z and R, closing the connection between Z and S; or it may be turned to any intermediate point. \Vhen it is turned so as to connect the pipesS and Z, the supply of gas is taken entirely from the bottom gas-chamber at the inlet from the residuum-chambcr-that is, the air which has passed over only the heaviest, poorest gasoline. This is often rich enough to supply a gas of the requisite quality. As it becomes more and more impoverished, however, the gas becomes poor. The cock Tis then turned to admit to the pipe Z more or less of the rich gas drawn from the top pan, P, thus enriching the gas drawn from the bottom pan. By this means the gas-supply maybe taken entirely from the gas-chambers or entirely from the residuum-pan, .or part from each, as circumstances require. The quality of the gas can thus always be regulated, and'I am enabled thus to bring the fresh air always into contact first with the poorest. gasoline, thus making the absorption more complete and using up all the residuum, which would otherwise be worthless and have to be removed from the carburetor.

extends above the ground. The upper end of The cock T is operated by a rod, W, which the rod is bent at a right angle to form a finger or indicator upon the dial-plate W. When the indicator is turned to the left to the word Rich, the cock is opened between pipesR and Z only. When turned to the right to the word Poor, the cock is open between the pipes S and Z only. When it stands in the middle of the dial, it is opened half-way, so that the flow is equally divided between the two pipes S and B. By this means the rich and poor gas may be mingled tion has ever before been devised that has been provided with means for utilizing the gas generated in either the residuum pan alone or in the gas-chamber alone, or in both together, at the will of the operator.

Having thus fully described my invention, I claim- 1. The combination, with a carburetor hav-. ing a residuum-pan at its bot-tom and a series of gas-chambers above said pan and in communication therewith and with each other by overflow-pipes, of a supply-pipe communicating with the upper gas'ehamber, an air-inlet pipe communicating with the residuum-pan, an outlet-pipe leading from the lowergaschamber, and a service-pipe in communication with the outlet-pipe, substantially as described.

2. In a carburetor constructed as above described, a supply-pipe communicating with the upper gas-chamber, an air-inlet pipe leading to the residuum-pan, an outlet-pipe leading from the lower'gas-chamber, a branch pipe on the supply-pipe, a service-pipe, a three-way pipe for connecting the outlet branch and service pipes, and a three-way cock in the three-way pipe for governing the flow of gas through the pipes, the whole combined in the manner set forth.

' EDWARD K. SUMERXVELL.

Witnesses:

EDWARD W. Rnoron, OTTO RICHTER.

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