US583584A

US583584A - Gas-engine

Info

Publication number: US583584A
Authority: US
Publication date: 1897-06-01
Anticipated expiration: 1914-06-01

Description

3 Sheets-Sheet 1.

(No Model.)

G. WESTINGHOUSE 8: E. RUUD. GAS ENGINE. No. 583,584. Patented June 1,1897.

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G. WESTINGHOUSE 88 E. RUUD.

- GAS ENGINE.

No". 583,584. Patented June 1, 1897.

6%:12285: 6a ufi n'rojfia UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE IVESTINGHOUSE AND EDWIN RUUD, OF PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

GAS-ENG|NE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 583,584, dated June 1, 1897'. Application filed April 22, 1896. Renewed April 29, 1897. Serial No. 634,463. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, GEORGE WESTING- HOUSE and EDWIN RUUD, citizens of the United States, residing at Pittsburg, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented or discovered a certain new and useful Improvement in Gas-Engines, of which improvement the following is a specification.

The object of our invention is to provide an improvement in gas-engines; and to this end our invention consists in a new and improved internal combustion or explosive gas engine which is efficient in operation, simple and economical in construction, and adapted to effect a regular and uniform rotation of the main shaft, in a new and improved valve-gear for operating one or more valves by motion derived from the main shaft of the engine, and in certain combinations and features of construction, all as hereinafter fully set forth.

In the accompanying drawings, which illustrate an application of our invention, Figure 1 is a central vertical section through the cylinders and crank-case of a two-cylinder gasengine provided with our improvement; Fig. 2, a vertical section through the crank-case and through one of the cylinders in a plane at right angles to the plane of Fig. 1; Fig. 3, a vertical section on the line a; a; of Fig. 1, and Fig. 4: a horizontal section on the line y y of Figs. 1 and 3.

The preferred form of our improvement comprises two vertical cylinders mounted on a closed crank-case and having their pistons directly connected with two similarly-placed cranks on the main shaft. The cycle of operations is the same in both cylinders. In each cylinder the charge is drawn in during an outstroke of the piston, compressed during the next instroke, exploded and expanded during the next outstroke, and exhausted during the next instroke; but although the two pistons move together the similar operations in the two cylinders are not coincident. When explosion and expansion are taking place in one cylinder, a charge is being drawn into the other cylinder and a Working stroke occurs during each revolution.

In the embodiment of our invention as shown in the drawings the valve-gear is specially adapted for application to a two-cylinder engine, but it may be employed with a single cylinder or with more than two cylinders without affecting the general construction.

The cylinders l and 2 may be either cast integral with one another or separately, as preferred, and are mounted on a closed crankcase 3, provided with the removable heads 4 and 5, on which are formed bearings 6 and 7 for the main shaft 8. The pistons 9 and 10 are connected with the cranks 11 and 12 by means of the connecting-rods 13 and 14, the cranks being located in the same plane and ,on the same side of the main shaft, so that the pistons move together in the same direction.

A gear-wheel 15 on the main shaft meshes with a gear-wheel 16, mounted on a countershaft 17, which passes through the removable head 5 of the crank-case and is provided with the bearings 18 and 19. A gear-wheel is mounted on the counter-shaft 17 between the bearings 18 and 19 and meshes with a gearwheel 21, mounted on a cam-shaft 22, which extends into the crank-case and is supported in

bearings

23, 24, and 25.

Mounted on the camshaft 22 are two

cams

26 and 27, which are adapted to engage with

rollers

28 and 29 on the

oscillatory levers

30 and 31, respectively. The

levers

30 and 31 are mounted to oscillate on a shaft 32, which is supported by a bracket 33, centrally located in the upper part of the crank-case. The bracket 33 is formed integral with a plate or flange portion 34, which rests on projecting portions or lugs 35, formed on the upper portion of the crank-case, and which is secured in place by bolts 36. These supporting-lugs or projecting portions 35 are of such a width as to form a proper bearing for the plate or flange portion 34 of the bracket and to permit the removal of the bracket by a lateral movement after the bolts 36 are withdrawn. By means of this construct-ion a substantial bearing is provided for the bracket, which is in position to receive the strain applied through the

levers

30 and 31, and the bolts 36 act merely to prevent lateral or upward move- 'revolutions.

ments which might be caused by jarring, but which do not cause any considerable strain on the bolts.

One arm of each of the

levers

30 and 31 is normally in contact with one end of a rod or stem 37 or 38 of an exhaust-valve which is oper ated by the movement of the lever with which it is in contact. In the drawings, Fig. 3, the rod 37 is shown connected to the exhaustvalve 39. In case the engine has but a single cylinder one cam only and one only of the levers 30 31 will be required; but in the construction shown, as there are two cylinders, we employ two separate exhaust-valves, two oscillating levers, and two cams on the shaft 22.

In order to obtain a regular movement of the engine, we employ two cylinders, each of which performs a working stroke every other revolution, one cylinder performing its working stroke during one revolution of the main shaft and the other cylinder. performing its working stroke during the next revolution of the main shaft. In accordance with this method of operating when the piston 9 of cylinder 1 is moved downward by an explosion of the mixed gases the piston 10 will also be moved downward and will draw in its charge of mixed air and gas. On the next upward stroke the piston 9 will force out the burned gases and the piston 10 will compress the mixed gases in its cylinder, and on the next downward stroke of the pistons the piston 10 will be actuated by the explosion or combustion of the gases and a new charge of mixed air and gases will be drawn into the cylinder 1. By means of this method of operating the main shaft will be actuated by an explosion during each revolution, and a more uniform rotative movement of the shaft will be efected than can be obtained by those engines in which an impulse is given only once in two In accordance with this in ethod of operating one or the other of the exhaustvalves of the two-cylinder engine is opened every revolution, and in order to effect the desired alternate movement of the exhaustvalves and their actuating-

levers

30 and 31 the

cams

26 and 27 are placed one hundred and eighty degrees apart on the shaft 22. During the exhaust-stroke of one revolution the cam 26 will actuate the lever 30 and open and permit the closure of the exhaust-valve 39 of cylinder 2, and during the exhauststroke of the next revolution the cam 27 will actuate the lever 31 and open and permit the closure of the exhaust-valve of cylinder 1.

It will be obvious that with this construction and method of operating the working parts of the engine may bemade much lighter than would be necessary if the explosions in the two cylinders were simultaneous or than would be necessary in a single-cylinder engine of the same power.

On the cam-shaft 22 is securedabevel gearwheel 40, which meshes with .a bevel gearwheel 41 011 a vertical shaft 42, mounted ina bearing 453, which passes through the upper portion of the crankcase, as shown in Fig. 3. The shaft 42 carries a centrifugal governor lat, which is connected with and adapted to regulate the position of a hollow cylindrical valve 45,c0ntrollin g the admission of air and gas to the inletvalves of the cylinders. The inlet-valves are not shown, but any ordinary form of puppet-valve may be employed for this purpose.

Air is admitted to the interior of the controlling-valve 45 through the pipe 46, passage 4:7,and ports 48, as shown in Fig. 3, and gas is admitted through the passage 49 and ports 50 to the interior spaee'of the valve 45, where the air and gas mingle before passing to the inlet-valves through the ports 51 and passage 52.

The valve 45 is formed in two parts, which are adapted to be adjusted longitudinally by the governor 44: to regulate the quantity of air and gas, and each of the parts is adapted to be rotated by hand to vary theproportions of the air and gas. This controlling-valve forms no part of our present invention, and is therefore not shown in detail, but it is fully described and claimed in our pending application, Serial No. 571,386, filed Decemher 7, 1895.

The mixed air and gas may be ignited by any preferred means to produce an explosion, and it is immaterial, so far as our present invention is concerned, whether the ignition is effected by means of electricity or by means of a flame or some incandescent substance the application of which is controlled by a valve. The employment of puppet-Valves or other automatic valves for the admission of air and gas at the proper time and the operation of the valve-gear to effect opening and closing movement of the exhaust-valves during the return stroke which occurs immediately after explosion and expansion of the combustible gases control the relative occurrence of the several operations in the two cylinders, and as any ordinarypuppet-valves operated by suction may be employed for admission of the gases the relation of the cycles of operation in the two cylinders to one another will depend on the relative time of operation of the exhaust-valves when such puppet valves are employed. lVe have therefore considered it unnecessary to show the admission-valves in the drawings.

\Ve claim as our invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. The combination, in a gas-engine, of a main shaft, a cam-shaft parallel to the main shaft and actuatedthereby, acam on the camshaft, a lever actuated by the cam and adapted to engage with and operate the stem of an exhaust-valve, a governor-shaft at right angles to the cam-shaft and geared thereto by means of bevel gear-wheels, a governor operatively connected with the governor-shaft, and a valve controlled by the governor, substan tially as set forth.

2. The combination, in a vertical gas-en ICC gine, of two single-acting cylinders mounted on a closed crank-case, a main shaft, two similarly-placed cranks on the main shaft, connections from the pistons of the cylinders to the cranks, a cam-shaft parallel to and geared to the main shaft and located inside of the crank-case, two cams on the cam-shaft, an exhaust-valve for each cylinder, and two le-. vers actuated by the cams on the cam-shaft and adapted to alternately operate the exhaust-valves, substantially as set forth.

3. The combination, in a vertical gas-engine, of two single-acting cylinders mounted on a closed crankcase, a-main shaft passing through the crank-case, two similarly-placed cranks on the main shaft, connections from the pistons of the cylinders to the cranks, a gear-wheel on the main shaft within the crank-case meshing with a gear-wheel on a counter-shaft, a cam-shaft which extends into the crank-case and is geared to the countershaft by gear-wheelsoutside of the crankcase, cams on the cam-shaft within the crankcase, and levers actuated by the cams and adapted to alternately operate the exhaustvalves of the two cylinders, substantially as set forth.

4. The combination, in a Vertical gas-engine, of two single-acting cylinders mounted on a closed crank-case, a main shaft passing through the crank-case, two similarly-placed cranks on the main shaft, connections from the pistons of the cylinders to the cranks, a cam-shaft parallel to the main shaft and 10- cated within the crank-case, a counter-shaft, gear-wheels on the counter-shaft meshingl with gear-wheels on the main shaft and camshaft, two cams oppositely placed on the camshaft, and two levers adapted to be actuated by the cams to operate the exhaust-valves of the two cylinders, substantially as set forth.

5. The combination, in a vertical gas-e11- gine, of two single-acting cylinders mounted on a closed crank-case, a main shaft, two similarly-placed cranks on the main shaft, con-' nections from the pistons of the cylinders to the cranks, a camshaft parallel to and geared to the main shaft, two cams on the cam-shaft, levers actuated by the cams for operating the exhaust-valves of the cylinders, a bevel-gear on the cam-shaft engaging with a bevel-gear on a vertical governor-shaft, and a governor on the governor-shaft connected with a controlling-valve, substantially as set forth.

6. The combination, in a vertical gas-engine, of two single-acting cylinders mounted on a closed crank-case, a main shaft, a camshaft Within the crank-case parallel to the main shaft and geared thereto, two levers actuated by cams on the cam-shaft for operating the exhaust-valves of the cylinders, and a removable bearing for the levers which is supported by projecting portions or lugs on the upper portion of the crank-case, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof we have hereunto set our hands.

GEO. WESTINGHOUSE. EDWIN RUUDL Witnesses:

J. SNOWDEN BELL, E. W. NEWELL.