US4800A - Improvement in gas-engines - Google Patents

Description

'S. PERRY. qAs ENGINE.

Patented 00L 7, 1846.

.UNITED "STATE PATENT OFFICE.

STUART PERRY, on NEW YORK, N. Y.

1 IMPROVEMENT IN GAS-ENGINES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 4,800, dated October '7, 1846.

To aZZ whom it may concern- Be it known that I, STUART PERRY, of the city, county, and State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in the Engines Operated. by the Explosion of Gases; and I do-hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the principle or character which distinguishes them from all other things before known, and of the manner of making, constructing, and using the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making part of this specification, in whiclp- Figure 1 is a plan of the engine; Fig. 2, a longitudinal elevation; Fig. 3, a longitudinal vertical section taken at the line X X of Fig. 1; Fig. 4, an end elevation, and Fig. 5 a cross vertical section.

Th'e same letters indicate like parts in all the figures. v

' On the 5th day of May, 1844, LettersPatentwere granted to me by the United States for an engine to be. operated by the explosive mixtures of inflammable gases or vapors? In this engine the piston is impelled by means of inflammable gas or gases generated from liqdids or solids, and, together with-atmospheric air exploded within the cylinder, the

expansive force of the gases thus exploded .being the impelling agent. It has been found, however, that the heat thus generated and communicated to the cylinder and to theother parts of the engine is a serious practical difficulty, and the leading object of my present improvements is to remedy this and other serious defects.

My first improvement consists in surrounding the cylinder of the engine with Water to carry off the heat generated by the explosion of the gases and keep it at a sufficiently low temperature for the efficient action of the engine, and at the same time, in certain cases, to employ this surrounding water as a waterbath for the retort which generates the inflammable gas when the gas is generated from a liquid or liquids, the heat generated .by the combustion of the gases being sufiicient to keep the water at the temperature required for generating the gas, while the water carries off the heat from thecylinder to prevent it from being overheated.

My second improvement consists in l bricating the piston and the inside of the cylinder with water, which not only prevents the wear of the parts, but at the same time aids in preventing these parts from being over.- heated.

My third improvement consists in'lubri-v eating the piston-rod and preventing it from being overheated by surrounding it with water at or near the stufiing-box. I

My fourth improvement consists of a new method of inflaming the gases by platina heated by the heat of inflamed jets of gas and air from the retort acting thereon, the

platina being so situated as to communicate, by a valve or valves directly with either end of the cylinder or with the passages through which the mixed gas and atmospheric air pass to either end of the cylinder; and my fiftlr is adapted a piston c' in the usual manner of steam-engines, and connected by means of a piston-rod d and connecting-rod ewith the crank-shaft f. The cylinder is surrounded by a metallic vessel g, sutficiently large to contain water and permit it to circulate around the cylinder, and above the cylinder and within this vessel 9 there is a metallic retort h to contain any liquid from which inflammable gas may be generated, which is to be supplied to it regularly from a reservoir by means of two balancing-tubes i i, the one 7 for conducting the liquid, and the OlliGf't' to conduct gasfrom the retort to -the upper part of the reservoir to force the liquid from the reservoir into the retort until the liquid ,"rises above its aperture in the retort, which cuts oif the supply of gas, and hence the supply of liquid, until the liquid again sinks below the said'gas-tube. As this mode of supplying liquids is well known and has been frequently employed to supply steam boilers, it is deemed unnecessary torepresent it in the drawings and model. The water in the vessel 9 keeps down the temperature of the cylinder, and for "the purpose of-lubri- 2 i moo eating the piston and the inside of the cylinder, and at the same time to lxeep down the temperatureof these surfaces, a small doubleacting fOl'OC-Pllllll') j, operated by the camshaft, to be hereinafter described, is employed, which communicates with the two ends'of the cylinder 0 by pipes 7.: 7;, which pass through the cylinder, so as to correspond with a groove Z in the periphery of the piston (see Fig. 1):) at each end of its stroke, where, by the dead points of the crank, the piston is at rest for an instant of time, the strokes of the pump being so regulated as to discharge a small stream of water alternately at either end of the cylinder when the piston reaches the end of its strokes. The piston is packed on either side of this groove to prevent the escape of the Water from the groove except through an aperture in the face of the piston, which conneets with the groove and which is furnished with, a spring-valve Z By this supply of Water the piston and inside surface of the cylinder are effectually lubricated. The pistonrod is also lubiecated and kept cool bya supply of water from the vessel by the pressure of the head by a tube m, (see Fig (i, 1011- gitudinal section of Fig. 1 at Z Z on an enlarged scale) which communicates with the stuffing-box. n, that is constructed in the followinggnanner: 0 is a ring of packing, and 1:

' a metallic ring grooved inside and outside,

and q is another ring of packing, against which fits the gasket '2'. The water-tube m communicates with the outside groove in the metal ring, and by a hole therein with-the inside groove to lubricate the piston-rod. In this way all the parts of the cylinder, the piston, and piston-rod are kept down to the required temperature.

I will now describe the engine as being worked by the explosion of atmospheric air and gas generated from spirits of turpentine. l-"or the purpose of starting the engine a metallic receiver A contains condensed atmospheric air forced in by a hand-pump, or by any other auxiliary means, and this communicates with another receiver 13 by means of a pipe m governed by a stop-cock s, and this latter communicates by a pipe t with the retort through a valve-box '11, provided with two apertures 12 w leading to the retort and governed by a sliding valve 3;, operated by a screw and crank-handle z, and this valve is a hollow cylinder, which maybe closed and opened by a valve a, the stem of which is provided with a crank-handle 0. provided with a throttle-valve d, which regulates the charge of mixed gas and atmospheric air to be admitted to the cylinder, and this may be worked by hand or b y a regulator, as in the steam-engine. From the valve-box there are two pipes or passages ef, communicating with the opposite ends of the cylin der and governed by imluction-valvcs 9 7e", and beyond these are also two exhaust-valves 11 j, and these four valves are operated in one direction by appropriate cams I." Z n2 it! on The valve-box is also.

a rod 0 receiving motion from the crankshaft by a train of wheels 1) q r s i, the three wheels r .s" if being bevel-wheels, and the two '1" f turning freely on their shaft, that either may be clutched by the sliding clutch 1/. to admit of reversing the rotation of the cam-shaft when it is desired to reverse the action of the engine. The cams operate lifters u connected with the valve-rods h t" j g by levers LC. There are two small pipes y y that extend from the valve-box to avessel .2, e on either side and placed in the pipes or passages c f to supply small jets of the inflammable mixture, which is inflamed and kept burning within the vessels z to heat platina cups a a that project within these" vessels, and the upper part of these platina cups (which open into the passages through which the inflammable mixture passcs'to the cylinder) are governed by valves I) b, the stems c" c" of which are operated by cams d" d" on the faces of the cams that operate the induction-valves. The inside of these vessels is lined with earthen lutin g made OE'SQIIIG bad conductor to prevent the vessel from being too much heated. The piston-rod of the engine is provided with an arm e, which takes hold of and operates the piston rod f" of an air-pump g", by means of which atmospheric air is forced into the air-receiver B, the capacity of this air-pump being such as to force into the receiver. a quantity of air at each stroke equal to the supply required for the working of the engine. Then the engine is first started, the water which surrounds the cylinder and the retort must be heated to the temperature required for generating inflaminable gas or vapor from spirits of turpentine or other suitable substance, and this may be done by any of the known means of apply ing heat to liquids, and when sufficient gas has been generated forstartin g the engine this sourceof heat is dispensed with. The stopcocks in the pipe, which forms the connection between the two air-receivers A B, is opened, which permits the atmospheric air by its elastic force to pass into the receiver 13, and thence through the pipe t into the valve-box 1a.. The slide-valve w is then opened, which permits a portion-of this air to pass through the aperture 1- into the retort to mingle with the gas therein, and the mixed air and gas then passes out through the aperture 20 to the induction pipes or passages ef'. At the same time a portion of the air, without entering'thc retort, passes through the hollow slidevalve to theinduction and eduction passages, there to mingle with the compound of gas and air from the retort preparatory to being inflamed. A small quantity of this mixture passes from the valve-box through the small pipes 'y' 12 and these two jets are inflamed .1n the vessels .2 z to heat the latina on s a a"; and it by the inflammation of these jets it is found that the mixture does not contain a sufficient proportion of inflammable gas, the valve a, which governs the air-passage in the slide-valve, and which is situated between the apertures 11 w, is partly closed, which forces a greater quantity of the air to.

pass through the retort and to take up the v eduction valves and one of the small valves 1), so that as the gas passes through this induction-passage to one end of the cylinder it passes over the uncovered platina cup, which, having been heated by the small jet, inflames the mixture, the expansion of which forces the piston to the opposite end of the cylinder,

when these valves are closed and the others opened by the operationof the cam-shaft to produce the reversed action of the piston, which discharges through the eduction-pas sage the-products of the previous explosion. Inthis way the engine continues to act, the

heat generated by each explosion being suifi-- cient to keep the surrounding water at the requisite temperature-for generating the gas inthe retort. The eduction-passages communicate with the lower part of the cylinder, and the valves when open permit not only the products of the previous explosion to escape out into the atmosphere, but at the same time any water which may have accumulated from the lubrication of the piston.

It will be obvious that the throttle-valve,-

tween the induction-passagesand the heated platina are opened, for otherwisethc mixture in the other parts of the apparatus would also be exploded; butone of the eduction-valvesis kept open during thegreater part of the stroke of the piston.

From the foregoing it will be evident that,

instead of generating the inflammable gas from spirits of turpentine or other liquid in the retort, it may be generated from any other material in a separate apparatus and carried by a pipe to the retort, which in that case will answer the purpose of a conducting-pipe, and under these circumstances the water surrounding the cylinder and the retort may be.

dispensed with, and the'cylinder keptcool by the injection of water; butunder all circumstances it will be found advisable to surround the cylinder, valves, and induction-passages with water.

Instead of using the platina in the cup form for infiamin'g the mixture, it may be used in any other form, as the object is to use the heated surface of platina to inflame the mixture, instead of jets of. flame, as a means of safety.

The valves may beoperated by any desired mechanical arrangement which will produce the intended and requisite movements, as I make no claim to the arrangement pointed out above.

I contemplate using this engine for the purpose of compressing-air to operate by its expans-ion another engine. This iseffected by a double-acting air-pump A, operated by a connect-ingerod B and crank C on the crankshaft f of the gas-engine. The air is forced from the pump through a pipe D into the receiver A, which is connected with the cylinder of the engine to be operated by the expansive force of the air by means of the pipeE'.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is-

1. Surrounding the cylinder and inductionpassages of an engine operated by the explosion of gaseswith water for the purpose of keeping it at the requisite temperature, as described v 2. Cooling and lubricating the inside of the cylinder and piston of an engine operated by the explosion of. gases by injecting water within the cylinder, whether this be eflected. in-the manner as hereinfldescribed or in any" 4. The method of inflaming the explosive mixture in the cylinder or in the inductionpassages by means of heated pla'tina or other metal having like properties, and provided with a valve or valves by which the heated surface can be separated from the explosive mixture, substantially as described.

5. The combination of a receiver of con densed air filled by an :uxiliary force, with the receiver, into, which air is forced during the action ofthe engine, as described, for the purpose of starting the engine, as described.

' STUART PERRY.

Witnesses:

HENRY CARTER, JAMES S.,BUTLER

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