US3788782A

US3788782A - Rotary engine oil metering pump

Info

Publication number: US3788782A
Application number: US00310234A
Authority: US
Inventors: R Morgan
Original assignee: Motors Liquidation Co
Current assignee: Motors Liquidation Co
Priority date: 1972-11-29
Filing date: 1972-11-29
Publication date: 1974-01-29
Anticipated expiration: 1991-01-29
Also published as: CA1003338A; JPS4983902A

Abstract

A rotary engine is provided with an oil metering pump having a valve-impeller member that is rotatably mounted in the pump''s body and is driven by the engine. An oil supply port in the pump''s body is connected to an oil delivery port also in the pump''s body via a chamber and then a variable area metering port in the valve-impeller member as this member turns. The area of the metering port is varied by controlling the axial location of the valve-impeller member according to engine throttle opening whereby the pump meters oil to the oil outlet port at a rate which increases with increasing throttle opening and also the centrifugal force of the oil at the metering port and thus with increasing engine speed.

Description

United States Patent [191 Morgan [451 Jan. 29, 1974 1 ROTARY ENGINE OIL METERING PUMP [75] Inventor: Robert E. Morgan, Grand Rapids,

Mich.

[73] Assignee: General Motors Corporation,

Detroit, Mich.

[22] Filed: Nov. 29, 1972 21 Appl. No.: 310,234

[52] US. Cl 418/84, 418/87, 418/88, 418/100, 184/628 [51] Int. CL... F0lc 21/04, F04c 15/00, F04c 29/02 [58] Field of Search 418/84, 87, 88, 97-100; 123/196 R [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,185,631 l/l940 Heinze 418/87 3,140,700 7/1964 Nallinger 123/196 R 3,280,812 10/1966 Peras 418/87 Primary Examiner-William L. Freeh Assistant Examiner-John J. Vrablik Attorney, Agent, or Firm-R. L. Phillips ABSTRACT A rotary engine is provided with an oil metering pump having a valve-impeller member that is rotatably mounted in the pumps body and is driven by the engine. An oil supply port in the pumps body is connected to an oil delivery port also in the pumps body via a chamber and then a variable area metering port in the valve-impeller member as this member turns. The area of the metering port is varied by controlling the axial location of the valve-impeller member according to engine throttle opening whereby the pump meters oil to the oil outlet port at a rate which increases with increasing throttle opening and also the centrifugal force of the oil at the metering port and thus with increasing engine speed.

3 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures PATENTED I 3 788 782 SHEU 1 (IF 2 ROTARY ENGINE OIL METERING PUMP that meters oil to lubricate a rotary engines gas seals 7 in accordance with engine speed and throttle opening.

In a rotary engine, it is desirable to meter oil to lubricate the engine rotors gas seals at a rate that increases with engine load. It is recognized that one wayof doing this is to meter the oil at a rate that increaseswith increasing engine speed and torque demand as indicated by engine throttle opening. While there are presently commerical pumps that produce such oil metering operation, there is a continuing effort for simplification and reduction in size of the pump coupledwith increased reliability and reduction in cost.

The rotary engine oil metering pump according to the present invention is directed to the above goals and comprises a pump body in which is mounted a rotary valve-impeller member that is drivingly connected to the engines shaft so that it turns at a speed proportional thereto when the engine is running. An oil inlet port in the pump body is connected to an oil outlet in the pump body via a chamber and then a variable area metering port in the valve-impeller member as this with increasing engine speed at the metering port to provide an oil rate to the outlet port that increases with both increasing engine speed and increasing engine throttle opening.

These and other objects of the invention will become more apparent with reference to the following description and drawing in which: A

FIG. 1 is an elevational view with parts shown diagrammatically and parts in section of a rotary combus-.

tion engine having an oilmetering pump according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view of the oil metering pump in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a view of the oil metering pump taken along the line 33 in FIG. 2.

vFIG. 4 is a view of the oil metering pump taken along the line 4--4 in FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is a view of the oil metering pump taken along the line 55 in FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is a view of the oil metering pump taken along the line 6-6 in FIG. 2.

member turns. The area of the metering port is varied the metering port with increasing throttle opening. As

the valve-impeller member rotates with its engine drive, the metering port exposes oil in the chamber from the inlet port to the outlet port with the area of the metering port opening being dependent upon the relative axial position of the metering port with respect to the outlet port. At low engine speed there is metered a small quantity of oil to the outlet port and due to the centrifugal force of the oil in the chamber and at the metering port, as the speed of the valve-impeller member increases, this pressure increases to this increase flow to the outlet port. Furthermore, for any given valve-impeller member speed and thus engine speed, and on opening of the engine throttle, a greater area of the metering port is exposed to the outlet port to increase the rate of delivery to the outlet port. Thus, the outlet port receives oil that is metered at a rate that increases with both increasing engine speed and increasing engine throttle opening.

An object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved rotary engine oil metering pump.

Another object is to provide a rotary engine oil metering pump having a valve-impeller member that is driven by the engine and has a variable area metering port whose area increases with engine throttle opening to provide an oil rate that increases with increasing engine speed and increasing engine throttle opening.

Another object is to provide a rotary engine oil metering pump having a valve-impeller member that is engine driven and receives oil from an inlet port and delivers the oil via a chamber and then a metering port in this member to an oil outlet port with the area of the metering port being varied according to the axial position of the valve-impeller member and this position varied according to engine throttle opening wherein the arrangement operates to provide increasing pressure FIG. 7 is a view of the oil metering pump taken along the line 7-7 in FIG. 2.

Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown a rotary combustion engine 10 having an oil meteringpump 12 according to the present invention that operates to meter oil to lubricate the engines gas seals according to engine load. The engine 10 comprises a stationary outer'body or housing 13 having a rotor cavity that is defined by an inwardly facing peripheral wall 14 and a pair of spaced end walls 16, only one of which is shown. The peripheral wall 14 is in the shape of a two-lobed epitrochoid or a curve parallel thereto and a rotor 18 having the general shape of a triangle with three convex peripheral faces 20 is mounted within the rotor cavity on an eccentric 22 of a crankshaft 24. The crankshaft 24 is rotatably mounted outboard of the rotor cavity in the end walls 16. An annular, externally toothed gear 26 is freely received about and is concentric with the crankshaft 24 and is fixed to the engine housing 13. The gear 26 meshes with an internally toothed gear 28 that is concentric with and fixed to one side of the rotor 18. The gear 28 has one and one-half times the number of teeth of the gear 26 with the result that this gearing enforces a fixed cyclic relation between the rotor and the crankshaft such that the crankshaft, which is the engines output, makes three complete revolutions for every one complete revolution of the rotor. The rotor faces 20 cooperate with the peripheral wall 14 and with the end walls 16 to define three variable volume working chambers 30 that are spaced around and move with the rotor within the housing and vary in volume as the rotor rotates about its axis while planetating with respect with the crankshaft axis.

A carburetor 32 supplied with fuel from a fuel tank 34 by -a fuel pump 36 delivers'a combustible air-fuel mixture to an intake manifold 38 under the control of the carburetors throttle valve. The throttle valve's opening is controlled by a throttle lever 49 that is connected at one end to the throttle valves shaft 41. The other end of lever 40 is connected to a rod 42 that is linked to an accelerator pedal, not shown, for control by the vehicle operator,- the throttle valve arrangement being such that it ,is opened when the throttle lever 40 is pivoted in a counterclockwise direction as viewed in FIG. 1. The intake manifold 38 is connected to a pair of intake ports 44 which open to the rotor cavity through the end walls 16, there being only one such intake port shown in FIG. 1. On rotor rotation in the direction indicated by the arrow in FIG. 1, combustible air-fuel mixture is sequentially, periodically admitted to the chambers 30 by the traversing motion of the rotor sides relative to the intake ports 44 whereafter the airfuel mixture is trapped and then compressed in readiness for ignition. Sequential ignition of the air-fuel mixture in the chambers 30 is effected by two spark plugs 46 and 48 which receive timed ignition pulses from a distributor 50 which is mounted on the engine housing 13 with the axis of its shaft 52 at right angles to the crankshaft axis. The distributor shaft 52 is driven by the crankshaft via a pinion 54 which is secured to a mid portion of the distributor shaft 52 and meshes with a worm gear 56 formed on the crankshaft 24. The electrodes of the two spark plugs 46 and 48 are open to the chambers 30 through the peripheral wall 14 and are peripherally spaced thereabout so that the plug 46 is said to lead the other plug 48.- The spark plugs 46 and 48 may be fired together or only one plug fired according to certain engine operating conditions. With combustion, the peripheral wall 14 takes the reaction to force the rotor 18 to continue rotating and eventually each working chamber following the expansion phase is exhausted during the exhaust phase to an exhaust manifold 58 via an exhaust port 60 that is opened to the rotor cavity through the peripheral 14 and is periodically traversed by the rotor apexes.

Sealing of the working chambers 30 is effected by three apex seals 62 each of which extends the width of the rotor and is mounted in an axially extending groove at one of the rotor apexes, six corner seals 64 each of which is mounted in a cylindrical bore in one of the rotor sides near one of the rotor apexes, and six side seals 66 each of which is mounted in an arcuate groove in one of the rotor sides and extends adjacent one of the rotor faces between two of the corner seals with the corner seals each providing a sealing link between adjacent ends of two side seals and one apex seal. The apex seals 62 are urged radially outward by spring means, not shown, to continuously engage peripheral wall 14 and both the corner seals 64 and side seals 66 in both rotor sides are urged axially outward by suitable spring means, not shown, to continuously engage the end wall 16.

Having thus described a single rotor arrangement, it will be understood that the engine may have one or more additional rotors with suitable intake, ignition and exhaust provisions as is well known in the art. The oil metering pump 12 according to the present invention is particularly suited to properly meter oil to either a single or dual rotor engine of the above type to lubricate the apex seals 62 and also the corner seals 64 and side seals 66 to minimize the wear of these gas seals and the rotor cavity walls. I

Describing now the oil metering pump 12, there is a pump body 68 which at its upper end, as shown in FIG. 2, has a pilot land 70 which is fitted in a hole 72 in a lower portion of the engine housing 13. The pump body 68 is secured to housing 13 by a short bolt 73 and a long bolt 74 with a gasket 75 being provided between the body and housing to prevent leakage. The pump body 68 has a cylindrical bore'76 which extends completely therethrough and is aligned with the axis of the distributor shaft 52. A short drive shaft 78 is rotatably mounted in the upper end of the bore 76 and has formed at its upper end a rectangularly-shaped drive tang 79 that is received in a correspondingly-shaped slot 80 in the lower end of the distributor shaft 52 whereby there is provided a drive connection between the distributor shaft 52 and the pumps drive shaft 78. A thrust ring 84 is retained by a snap ring 86 in a counterbore in the upper end of the pump body 68 and engages with a shoulder 87 on the drive shaft 78 to limit upward pump drive shaft movement. A valve-impeller member 90 having a cylindrical external surface 91 is rotatably mounted with a close fit in the pump body bore 76 beneath the drive shaft 79 and at its upper end has a reduced diameter portion 92 that is slidably received in a blind axial bore 94 in the lower end of the drive shaft 78. A roll pin 96 is pressed into a radial through-hole in the lower end of the drive shaft 78 and is received in the drive shaft bore 94 in an open-ended axially extending slot 98 in the upper end of the reduced diameter portion 92 of the valve-impeller member 90. The pin 96 and slot 98 provide a pin and slot connection between the shaft 78 and the valve-impeller member 90 so that while the drive shaft 78 drives the valve-impeller member 90 the valve-impeller member is permitted to move axially relative to the drive shaft 78. Adjacent the lower end of the valve-impeller member 90 there is provided a nut- 100 having a circular perimeter that closely fits the bore 76. Nut 100 is fixed against both axial and rotational movement in bore 76 by a pin 101 which is press-fitted in a through-hole 102 in the pump body 68 and is received in a groove in the outer diameter of the nut 100 as shown in FIGS. 2 and The axial location of the valve-impeller member 90 which determines the size of a metering area, as will be described in more detail later, is controlled by an adjustment member 104 which has a cylindrical portion 105 closely fitted in the lower end of the pump body bore 76, this cylindrical portion 105 having an annular groove in its outer diameter receiving an O-ring seal 106 that radially sealingly engages the bore 76 to prevent leakage therepast. The upper portion of the adjustment member 104 is provided with a reduced diameter having a thread 108 that engages the nut 100, these threads being of left-hand pitch so that the adjustment member 104 advances into the bore 76 when turned counterclockwise in bore 76 as viewed from the outboard end thereof.

The upper end of the adjustment member 104 is provided with a rounded end 110 which bears against a conical seat 111 that is formed in the lower end of the valve-impeller member 90 centrally thereof. A coil spring 112 mounted in bore 94 of the drive shaft 78 is bottomed on the blind upper end of this bore and at its lower end engages the slotted upper end of the valveimpeller member 90. The spring 112 maintains engagement between the valve-impeller member 90 and the adjustment member 104, the valve-impeller member 90 being moved upwardly by the adjustment member 104 against this spring as the latter member advances and the spring maintaining the engagement between these members to move the valve-impeller member 90 downward as the adjustment member 104 is retracted.

The adjustment member 104 is linked to the throttle linkage so that it is turned to advance the valve impeller member 90 into bore 76 as the throttle is opened. As shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 6, a lever 114 has a square hole 115 receiving a correspondingly-shaped section 116 on the outboard end of the adjustment member 104 which is staked securely to the lever in a certain relative position to be determined in the calibration of the pump. The other end of lever 114 has a socket 118 pivotably secured thereto. The socket 118 has a radial through-hole 119 slidably receiving a rod 120 which at its right-hand end has a retaining ring 122 clamped or otherwise secured thereto and receives a coil spring 124 between the socket 118 and the retaining ring 122. The rod 120 is connected by a sheathed cable 126 to a lever 128 which is pivotably supported on the carburetors throttle valve shaft 41 and is en gaged by a tang 129 on the throttle lever 40 to pivot counterclockwise to pull the cable 126 as the throttle is opened, as shown in FIG. 1. As shown in FIG. 6, an adjustable stop provided by a stop screw 131 that is threaded to a flange 132 on the pump lever 114 engages a portion 133 of the exterior of the pump body 68 to determine the valve-impeller members minimum metering port area condition as described in more detail later, the desired position of the stop screw 131 being fixed by a lock nut 134. the adjustment lever 114 is biased to this stop positionby a torsion spring 135 which, as shown in FIGS. 2, S and 6, is arranged about the adjustment member 104 and engages at its opposite ends the pump body 68 and the lever 114 so that its force urges clockwise movement of the lever 114 as viewed in FIG. 6. The coil spring 124 maintains the lever 128 at the carburetor against the tang 129 and also yields to permit the cable-pulled rod 120 to slide in the socket 118 when the rod is pulled leftward, as viewed in FIGS. 2 and 6, beyond the maximum travel of the control lever 114.

Describing now how oil is supplied to the pump 12, metered and then delivered to lubricate the engines gas seals, oil is obtained from the engines pressurized lubrication system which includes a passage 136 in the engine housing 13 as shown in FIG. 5. A drilled hole 138 in the pump body 68 is open at the pump base end to the engine's lubrication system passage 136 and connects at its other end with a drilled hole 140 that intersects the bore 76 and is closed at its entrance end to the pump body a press-fitted ball 141. The hole 140 serves as an inlet port and opens to the bore 76 to deliver oil thereto between the nut 100 and the cylindrical. portion 105 of the adjustment member 104. A drilled radial hole 142 in the adjustment member 104 connects this portion of the bore 76 which is supplied with oil to a central axially extending hole 143 that is drilled from the upper end of the adjustment member as best shown in FIG. 2. The hole 143 in the adjustment member 104 is in turn open to a drilled hole 144 that extends centrally and axially through the valve-impeller member 90. The hole 144 is open to the bore 94 in the pump shaft 78 and is also open to a drilled radial hole 146 in the valve-impeller member that is located midway along the length of the cylindrical surface 91. The hole 146 opens at its outerradial end to a metering port 147 that is cut in the cylindrical surface 91 of the valveimpeller member 90. As shown in FIGS. 2, 3 and 5, the metering port 147 is formed so that it extends longitudinally of the valve-impeller member 90 and has a decreasing width and thus an area that decreases at surfaces 91 in the axial direction away from its feed hole 146.

The pump body 68 has two outlet ports 148 and 150 which are located 180 apart in the same radial plane and intersect the bore 76, these outlet ports being provided by a drilled hole which is closed at its entrance to the pump body by a press-fitted ball 151. The metering port 147 is always arranged relative to the outlet ports 148 and 150 so that it is sequentially opened outlet ports these ports as the valve-impeller member turns, and furthermore, the shape of the metering port provides that as the valve-impeller member 90 is adjusted axially according to the pitch of the threads on adjustment member 108 and nut 100, the area of the metering port 147 open to these outlet ports varies and increases as the valve-impeller member 90 is advanced upwardly from a position such as that shown in FIG. 2. The outlet ports 148 and are open to oil delivery passages 152 and 154, respectively, which in turn are connected to deliver oil from the pump to lubricate the engines gas seals. For example, an oil pipe 156 connects the oil delivery passage 152 to supply oil to the float bowl of carburetor 32 as shown in FIG. 1, while another oil pipe 158 connects the other oil delivery passage 154 to supply oil to the carburetor system for the other rotor. The oil thus delivered is mixed with the fuel and then fed with the fuel through the intake ports to the rotor cavities where it is distributed to lubricate the gas seals as they slide on the housing walls. It will also be understood that the oil may be delivered directly into the carburetors jet circuit or into the air stream in the carburetor throat or directly through the housing walls on which these seals slide.

Describing now the oil metering operation provided by the oil metering pump 12, the pumps drive shaft 79 and thus the pumps valve-impeller member 90 is driven from the engine crankshaft 24 via the distributor shaft 52 at a speed proportional to engine speed and with the engine throttle closed and the engine idling, the valve-impeller member 90 is then at its minimum metering area condition which is determined by the lever 114 being up against the stop 133. In this condition, some area of the metering port 147 is openable to the outlet ports 148 and 150 as the valve-impeller member 90 turns such as shown in FIG. 2. With oil made available to the pumps oil inlet port 140, oil fills the entire internal volume of the pump including the rotary chamber provided by' hole 144, bore 94, hole 146 and the metering port 147. With the valve-impeller member 90 turning at its idle speed which may be considerably less than engine idle speed, the metering port 147 presents a minimum flow area to the outlet ports 148 and 150 so that oil then periodically flows at a minimum rate to these outlet ports 148 and 150, the outlet ports thus receiving a small shot of oil for each turn of the valve-impeller member 90. At this minimum speed of the valve-impeller member 90 the small quantity of oil released to the outlet ports at this rate is determined for the particular usage to meet the minimum oil requirements which occur at engine idle with no load demand. Then when the speed of the valve-impeller member 90 increases with increasing engine speed, irrespective of whether the engine throttle is open, substantial centrifugal force is developed in the chamber space of the metering port 147 which acts to force an increase in the amount of oil that is delivered to the outlet ports 148 and 150. On the other hand, for any constant speed of the valve-impeller member 90 and an increase in throttle opening, the lever 114 is turned as the engine throttle is opened to advance the adjustment member 104 and thus the valve-impeller member 90 so that the metering port 147 has a larger area opening to the outlet ports 148 and 150 with the result that there is providing a corresponding increase in the amount of oil that is discharged to the outlet ports 148 and 150. Thus, the oil is metered to the outlet ports 148 and 150 at a rate which increases with both increasing engine speed and throttle opening and thus with engine load. it will also be understood that for engines where only one metered oil supply is required, the pump is easily adapted thereto by simply connecting one of the oil outlet ports back to the oil inlet port or by having only one oil outlet port. Furthermore, it will be understood that the oil supply to the pump may be by gravity feed instead of by engine lubrication pressure.

The above described embodiments are illustrative of the invention which may be modified within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1; An oil metering pump for metering oil to lubricate a rotary engine having gas seals, an output shaft and a throttle comprising a pump body having a bore, a pump drive shaft rotatably mounted in said bore, means drivingly connecting said output shaft to rotate said pump drive shaft, a valve-impeller member having an external surface rotatably mounted in said bore, means for drivingly connecting said pump'drive shaft and said valveimpeller member while permitting said valve-impeller member to move axially in said bore, an adjustment member rotatably mounting in said bore engaging said valve-impeller member, means for causing said adjustment member to move axially when said adjustment member is turned in said bore wherebysaid valveimpeller member is moved in one axial direction when said adjustment member is turned in one direction, spring means for maintaining said valve-impeller member against said adjustment member whereby said valve-impeller member is caused to move in the opposite axial direction when said adjustment member is turned in the opposite direction, means for operatively connecting said throttle and said adjustment member so that said adjustment member is turned in said one direction to a position determined by a stop, an inlet port in said pump body, a chamber in said valveimpeller member continuously connected to said inlet port, a metering port in said external surface of said valve-impeller member connected to said chamber, an outlet port in said pump body, said metering port extending axially of said valve-impeller member and opening to said outlet port as said valve-impeller member turns and having an area at said external surface openable to said outlet port that increases as said valveimpeller member moves in said one axial direction with increasing throttle opening.

2. An oil metering pump for metering oil to lubricate a rotary engine having gas seals, an output shaft and a throttle comprising a pump body having a bore, a pump drive shaft rotatably mounted in said bore, means drivingly connecting said output shaft to rotate said pump drive shaft, a valve-impeller member having an external surface rotatably mounted in said bore, means for drivingly connecting said pump drive shaft and said valveimpeller member while permitting said valve-impeller member to move axially in said bore, an adjustment member rotatably mounted in said bore engaging said valve-impeller member, means for causing said adjustment member to move axially when said adjustment member is turned in said bore whereby said valveimpeller member is moved in one axial direction when said adjustment member is turned in one direction, spring means arranged between said drive shaft and said one end of said valve-impeller member for maintaining said valve-impeller member against said adjustment member whereby said valve-impeller member is caused to move in the opposite axial direction when said adjustment member is turned in the opposite direction, means for operatively connecting said throttle and said adjustment member so that said adjustment member is turned in said one direction as said throttle is opened, spring means for biasing said adjustment member to turn in said opposite direction to a position determined by a stop, an inlet port in said pump body, a chamber in said valve-impeller member continuously connected to said inlet port, a metering port in said external surface of said valve-impeller member connected to said chamber, an outlet port in said pump body, said metering port extending axially of said valveimpeller member and opening to said outlet port as said valve-impeller member turns and having an area at said external surface openable to said outlet port that increases as said valve-impeller member moves in said one axial direction with increasing throttle opening whereby oil supplied to said inlet port is metered to said outlet port at a rate which increases with increasing speed of said valve-impeller member, increasing centrifugal force in said metering port and also increasing area of said metering port so that said rate thus increases with both increasing engine speed and increasing throttle opening.

3. An oil metering pump for metering oil to lubricate a rotary engine having gas seals, an output shaft and a throttle comprising a pump body having a bore, a pump drive shaft rotatably mounted in said bore, means drivingly connecting said output shaft to rotate said pump drive shaft, a valve-impeller member having an external surface rotatably mounted in said bore, means for drivingly connecting said pump drive shaft and said valveimpeller member at one end of said valve-impeller member while permitting said valve-impeller member to move axially in said bore, an adjustment member rotatably mounted in said bore engaging the opposite end of said valve-impeller member, means for causing said adjustment member to move axially when said adjustment member is turned in said bore whereby said valveimpeller member is moved in one axial direction when said adjustment member is turned in' one direction, spring means arranged between said drive shaft and said one end of said valve-impeller member for maintaining said valve-impeller member against said adjustment member whereby said valve-impeller member is caused to move in the opposite axial direction when said adjustment member is turned in the opposite direction, means for operatively connecting said throttle and said adjustment member so that said adjustment member is turned in said one direction as said throttle is opened, spring means for biasing said adjustment member to turn in said opposite direction to a minimum metering area position determined by a stop, an inlet port in said pump body open to said here, a chamber in said valve-impeller member continuously connected in said bore to said inlet port, a metering port in said external surface of said valve-impeller member connected to said chamber, a pair of diametrically opposite outlet whereby oil supplied to said inlet port is metered to said outlet ports at a rate which increases with increasing speed of said valve-impeller member, increasing centrifugal force in said metering port and also increasing area of said metering port so that said rate thus increases with both increasing engine speed and increasing throttle opening.

g gg UNITED STATES PATENT OCFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION P n 3.788.782 Dated January 29, 1974 Inventor(s) Robert Morgan It is certified that error appears in the above identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

Column 2, line 60, "49". should read 40 Column 4, line 12, "79" should read 78 Column 5, line 22, "the" should read The Column 6, line 5, after "opened" insert to these Column 7, line 29, "mounting" should read mounted Signed and sealed this 3rd day of December 1974.

(SEAL) Attest: v

McCOY M. GIBSON JR. c; MARSHALL DANN Attesting Officer Commissioner of Patents

Claims

1. An oil metering pump for metering oil to lubricate a rotary engine having gas seals, an output shaft and a throttle comprising a pump body having a bore, a pump drive shaft rotatably mounted in said bore, means drivingly connecting said output shaft to rotate said pump drive shaft, a valve-impeller member having an external surface rotatably mounted in said bore, means for drivingly connecting said pump drive shaft and said valve-impeller member while permitting said valve-impeller member to move axially in said bore, an adjustment member rotatably mounting in said bore engaging said valve-impeller member, means for causing said adjustment member to move axially when said adjustment member is turned in said bore whereby said valveimpeller member is moVed in one axial direction when said adjustment member is turned in one direction, spring means for maintaining said valve-impeller member against said adjustment member whereby said valve-impeller member is caused to move in the opposite axial direction when said adjustment member is turned in the opposite direction, means for operatively connecting said throttle and said adjustment member so that said adjustment member is turned in said one direction as said throttle is opened, spring means for biasing said adjustment member to turn in said opposite direction to a position determined by a stop, an inlet port in said pump body, a chamber in said valve-impeller member continuously connected to said inlet port, a metering port in said external surface of said valve-impeller member connected to said chamber, an outlet port in said pump body, said metering port extending axially of said valve-impeller member and opening to said outlet port as said valve-impeller member turns and having an area at said external surface openable to said outlet port that increases as said valve-impeller member moves in said one axial direction with increasing throttle opening.

2. An oil metering pump for metering oil to lubricate a rotary engine having gas seals, an output shaft and a throttle comprising a pump body having a bore, a pump drive shaft rotatably mounted in said bore, means drivingly connecting said output shaft to rotate said pump drive shaft, a valve-impeller member having an external surface rotatably mounted in said bore, means for drivingly connecting said pump drive shaft and said valve-impeller member while permitting said valve-impeller member to move axially in said bore, an adjustment member rotatably mounted in said bore engaging said valve-impeller member, means for causing said adjustment member to move axially when said adjustment member is turned in said bore whereby said valve-impeller member is moved in one axial direction when said adjustment member is turned in one direction, spring means arranged between said drive shaft and said one end of said valve-impeller member for maintaining said valve-impeller member against said adjustment member whereby said valve-impeller member is caused to move in the opposite axial direction when said adjustment member is turned in the opposite direction, means for operatively connecting said throttle and said adjustment member so that said adjustment member is turned in said one direction as said throttle is opened, spring means for biasing said adjustment member to turn in said opposite direction to a position determined by a stop, an inlet port in said pump body, a chamber in said valve-impeller member continuously connected to said inlet port, a metering port in said external surface of said valve-impeller member connected to said chamber, an outlet port in said pump body, said metering port extending axially of said valve-impeller member and opening to said outlet port as said valve-impeller member turns and having an area at said external surface openable to said outlet port that increases as said valve-impeller member moves in said one axial direction with increasing throttle opening whereby oil supplied to said inlet port is metered to said outlet port at a rate which increases with increasing speed of said valve-impeller member, increasing centrifugal force in said metering port and also increasing area of said metering port so that said rate thus increases with both increasing engine speed and increasing throttle opening.

3. An oil metering pump for metering oil to lubricate a rotary engine having gas seals, an output shaft and a throttle comprising a pump body having a bore, a pump drive shaft rotatably mounted in said bore, means drivingly connecting said output shaft to rotate said pump drive shaft, a valve-impeller member having an external surface rotatably mounted in said bore, means for drivingly connecting said pump drive shaft and said valve-impeller member at one end of said valve-impeller member while permiTting said valve-impeller member to move axially in said bore, an adjustment member rotatably mounted in said bore engaging the opposite end of said valve-impeller member, means for causing said adjustment member to move axially when said adjustment member is turned in said bore whereby said valve-impeller member is moved in one axial direction when said adjustment member is turned in one direction, spring means arranged between said drive shaft and said one end of said valve-impeller member for maintaining said valve-impeller member against said adjustment member whereby said valve-impeller member is caused to move in the opposite axial direction when said adjustment member is turned in the opposite direction, means for operatively connecting said throttle and said adjustment member so that said adjustment member is turned in said one direction as said throttle is opened, spring means for biasing said adjustment member to turn in said opposite direction to a minimum metering area position determined by a stop, an inlet port in said pump body open to said bore, a chamber in said valve-impeller member continuously connected in said bore to said inlet port, a metering port in said external surface of said valve-impeller member connected to said chamber, a pair of diametrically opposite outlet ports in said pump body, said metering port extending axially of said valve-impeller member and opening to said outlet ports as said valve-impeller member turns and having an area at said external surface openable to said outlet port that is a minimum in said minimum metering area position of said adjustment member and increases as said valve-impeller member moves in said one axial direction with increasing throttle opening whereby oil supplied to said inlet port is metered to said outlet ports at a rate which increases with increasing speed of said valve-impeller member, increasing centrifugal force in said metering port and also increasing area of said metering port so that said rate thus increases with both increasing engine speed and increasing throttle opening.