US732365A - Igniter for internal-combustion engines. - Google Patents

Description

I0 IODEL Inventor- 5" PATENTED JUNE 30, 1903. H. G. MEARS & H,- W. AYLWARD. IGNITER FOR INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 19, 1902.

Wlfnbssas Attogneys UNITED STATES Patented June 30, 1903.

PATENT OFFICE.

HERBERT G. MEARS, OF NEW YORK, AND HENRY W. AYLWARD, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, ASSIGNORS, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO THE AUTO-IGNITER COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORA- TION OF NEW JERSEY.

IGNITER FOR INTERNAL-COMBUSTION ENGINES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 732,365, dated June 30, 1903. Application filed November 19 1902. Serial No. 131 ,972. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that we, HERBERT G. MEARS,

residing in the borough of Manhattan, and HENRY W. AYLWARD,residing in the borough of Brooklyn, city of New York, State of New York, both citizens of the United States, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Igniters for Internal-Combustion Engines, of which the following is a description.

Our invention relates to various new and useful improvements in igniters for internalcombustion engines; and the improvements have been designed particularly for use with high-speed gas and gasolene engines employing electric ignition. As is well known, it is possible to effectively regulate the speed of engines of this type within relatively wide limits merely by timing the ignition,whereby the explosion will take place at any part of the movement of the piston on the explosion-stroke or while the piston is actually nearing the end of the compression-stroke. Our invention is particularly designed for use with internal-combustion engines of this type, for the reason that we are enabled by very simple mechanism to regulate the timing of the spark. In its preferred form the invention also possesses the advantage over devices for the purpose heretofore used of Our improved igniter is of the type invented by Le Pontois, employing a magnet with a coil surrounding one of its poles and with an inductor movable with respect to said coil. As suggested by Le Pontois, this inductor may be formed of the engine fly-wheel itself, and the relative movement between the inductor and pole may be effected by merely cutting a gap in the fly-wheel, which gap may be left as an air-space or be filled with some non-magnetic material, like bronze.

The objects of our present invention are, first, to provide improvements in igniting apparatus of the Le Pontois type by means of which the timing of the ignition can be accurately and readily efiected, and, second,

to provide improvements in such apparatus by means of which the component parts thereof are inclosed by the fly-wheel, so as to be thereby completely protected. Preferably these objects are accomplished in one and the same apparatus.

In order that the invention may be better understood, attention is directed to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, and in which- Figure 1 is a side view of the fly-wheel of an internal-combustion engine, showing the improved igniting apparatus in its preferred form; and Fig. 2, a section on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1. I

In both of the views corresponding parts are represented by the same reference-numorals.

The engine fly-wheel l is mounted on a shaft 2 and is provided with an overhanging rim 3 and a hub 4. Loosely mounted on the hub 4, so that the hub will be capable of independent rotation with respect to the same, are two bearing-rings 5 5, formed with cast lugs or ears 6. These lugs or ears are screwed or bolted to soft-iron pole-pieces 7 8, which are of any suitable form and construction. Gonnecting the pole-pieces 7' 8 are separate permanently-magnetized bars 9 9, held in position by clamping-plates l0, screwed to the pole-pieces. Like poles of all the magnets cooperate with one of the pole-pieces and the other poles of the magnets with the other pole-piece, so that the pole-pieces 7 and 8 practically constitute the two poles of a powerful magnet, Whose inductor is the overhanging rim 3 of the fly-wheel. These polepieces cooperate as closely as possible with the fly-Wheel, so as to secure the maximum inductive efiect in operation. The pole-piece 7 is reduced at its outerv extremity to form a core 11, or instead a separate soft-iron core, laminated or not, may be employed. This core is surrounded by a coil- 12, whose terminals lead to binding-screws 13, with which connection is made to the exterior circuit. On the under face of the rim 3 is cut a gap 14 of the desired length and which may be left open to form an air-gap or be closed by a non-magnetic material, like bronze. It will be evident that if the fiy-wheel were not provided with such a cut-away portion its rotation with respect to the core 11 would produce no effect in the coil; but by employing such a cut-away portion the rotation of the flywheel results in the generation of a current in the coil, the effect being the same as if the inductor were moved bodily toward and away from the coil.

We make use of a polar extension 15 of any desired size and shape, carried by the pole-piece 7, as shown, in order that the magnetic circuit may not be broken at any time to thereby permit the magnets to become weakened, as would otherwise be the case. This polar extension is so located with respect to the pole-piece 7 and the gap 14 is so proportioned in length that the front of the gap does not reach the polar extension 15 until the rear end of the gap has traversed a part of its distance over the pole-piece. Thus, having reference to the parts as shown in Fig. 1, it will be seen that although the magnetic circuit is broken at the core 11 by the gap covering the same (the effect being the same as if the inductor were moved bodily from the core) the magnetic circuit is still closed at this pole through the polar extension 15. On the other hand, when the magnetic circuit tends to become opened by the gap passing over the extension 15 the magnetic circuit will be kept closed between the core 11 and the inductor.

In order to properly time the spark, it is obvious that it is only necessary to provide a mechanism for quickly and conveniently adjusting the coil 12 circumferentiallywith respect to the fly-wheel, so that the gap or cutaway portion 14 will cooperate with the coil at any desired time in its rotation. For this purpose we illustrate a pair of links 16, pivoted to the pole-pieces 7 and 8 and connected at their ends on opposite sides of the pivot of a hand-operated lever 17 within convenient reach of the operator. Any convenient means may be employed for retaining the lever 17 in any position of its adjustmen as, for example, by imposing some sort of frictional resistance in its pivot.

It will be understood that if the present improvements are to be used in connection with an internal-combustion engine in which timing of the spark is not desired the bearing-rings 5 may be arranged so as to be incapable of independent circumferential adj ustment with respect to .the fly-wheelas, for example, by utilizing one or both of the links 16 and by connecting the same at their free ends to an immovable abutment. Such an arrangement will possess the important advantage over existing constructions of concealing the igniting mechanism entirely by the fiy-wheel, so as to protect it from injury, and of eflecting a material saving in space, which is of high importance in some arts as, for example, when the engine is employed on an automobile. It will also be understood that while it is desirable that the igniting mechanism should be entirely concealed within the fly-wheel that part of our invention which provides for a convenient and ef fective circumferential adjustment of the igniter with respect to the fly-wheel can be utilized in other constructions, including those in which the igniting device is arranged exteriorly of the fly-wheel.

Having nowdescribed our invention, what we claim as new therein, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is as follows l. The combination with a fly-wheel hav ing a cut-away section, of a magnet with respect to whose pole the fly-wheel moves, a coil surrounding said pole, and means for directly adjusting the magnet circumferem tially with respect to said fly-wheel, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

2. The combination with a fly-wheel having a cut-away portion, of an induction-generator concentrically mounted with respect to said fly-wheel, and means for adjusting said generator concentrically, substantially as and for the purposesset forth.

3. The combination with a fiy-wheel having a cut-away portion, of an induction-generator with respect to which the fly-wheel rotates, said generator being mounted within the inclosing ring of the fly-wheel so as to be protected thereby, substantially as and for the purposes set forth- 4. The combination with a fly-wheel having a cut-away portion, of an induction-generator mounted within the fly-wheel, and means for adjusting said generator concentrically to the fiy-whcel, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

5. The combination with a fly-wheel having a cut-away portion, of an induction-generator concentrically mounted with respect to said fly-wheel, and means for adjusting said generator circumferentially, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

6. The combination with a fly-wheel havi ng a cut-away portion, of a sleeve mounted on the hub of said fly-wheel and with respect to which the fiy-wheel rotates, and an inductiongenerator carried by said sleeve, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

7. The combination with a fiy-wheel having a cut-away portion, of a sleeve mounted on the hub of said fly-wheel and with respect to which the fly-wheel rotates, and means for adjusting said generator circumferentially with respect to the fiy-wheel, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

8. The combination with a fly-wheel having a cut-away portion, of a sleeve mounted on the hub of the fly-wheel, a series of magnets carried by said sleeve, a pole-piece for said magnets having a core, and a coil surrounding said core, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

9. The combination with a fiy-wheel having a cut-away portion, of a sleeve mounted on the hub of the fly-wheel, a series'of magnets carried by said sleeve, a pole-piece for said magnets having a core, a coil surrounding said core, and means for adjusting said sleeve independently of the fiy-wheel to effect a circumferential adjustment of said coil, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

10. The combination with a fiy-wheel having a cut-away portion, of a magnet mounted concentrically to the flywheel, a pole-piece for said magnet cooperating with the rim of the fly-wheel, a coil on said pole-piece, and a polar extension for said pole-piece cooperating with the fly-wheel rim, substantially as l 5 and for the purposes set forth.

This specification signed and witnessed this 1st day of November, 1902.

HERBERT G. MEARS. HENRY W. AYLWARD.

Witnesses to signature of Herbert G. Mears:

J. BAILLIE ALLEN, E. L. POWELL. Witnesses to signature of Henry W. Aylward:

JNo. RoBT. TAYLOR, J OHN LoUIs LOTSCH.

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