US808957A - Circuit-controller. - Google Patents

Description

No. 808,957. PATENTED JAN. 2, 1906. R. VARLEY.

CIRCUIT CONTROLLER,

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PATENTED JAN. 2, 1906.

R. VARLEY. CIRCUIT CONTROLLER. APPLIOATION FILED 00T. 31,1904.

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il @31d UNITED STATES PATENT OEEIOE7 RICHARD VARLEY, OE ENGLEWOOD, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS TO THE AUTOOOIL CO., A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

Specification of Letters Patent.

CIRCUIT-CONTROLLER.

Patented Jan. 2, 1906.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, RICHARD VARLEY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Englewood, in the county of Bergen and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Circuit-Controllers, of which the following is a full, clear, and eX- act description.

This invention relates to circuit-controllers, and has special reference to that type of circuit-controller used in connection with in ternal-combustion engines to periodically close the primary circuit of an induction-coil, and thus throw the vibrator into operation to create an induced current in the secondary circuit of the coil for the purpose of igniting the explosive charge. In the operation of such apparatus it has heretofore been the practice to usey a cam on one of the engineshafts which in its rotation strikes a spring and drives it against a contact-point to close the said primary circuit. Itis also a custom to insert a metallic segment in the periphery of a non-conducting disk and allow a contactspring to slide over it in the rotations of the disk. A still further plan has been to allow a spring to rest upon a disk normally, but to drop into a notch in the rim of the disk at the point in the rotation where the circuit is to be closed. In all of these mechanical arrangements the period of time during which the circuit remains closed or the "dwell of contact depends entirely upon the speed of the rotary part. The soucre of current in such machinery is usually a battery, either galvanic or secondary, and the consumption of current necessarily depends upon the length of period of the closure. It is nearly always the case that the circuit remains closed some time'after the charge has been fired, thus entailing a Waste of the electric energy, and when the engine is running at the slower speeds this useless consumption of the battery is a serious item.

The primary object of the present invention is to provide a circuit-closer for use in the situation mentioned above which will close the circuit and hold it closed for a definite period regardless of the speed of the engine, such period being adjustable to conform to the requirements or mean speed of the engine. In carrying out this feature of the invention I use a magnetic circuit-closer instead of a mechanical circuit-closer. This has the characteristic of attracting and moving a circuit-closing element when it is brought to bear thereon instantaneously, whether its approach within attractive distance of the element is brought about slowly or rapidly, and in conjunction with such a magnetic controller l use a mechanical circuit-breaker which automatically opens the circuit after it has been magnetically closed after a predetermined interval or dwell entirely independent of the motion of the engine. A permanent magnet is preferably used to operate the magnetic circuit-controller, and in order to maintain the strength of such a magnet constant l have provided a keeper' which is to be thrown across the poles of the magnet whenever the engine is not in use. A feature of the present invention is the combining of such a keeper with the ordinary hand-switch of the primary circuit. Such a switch is commonly used as a means for stopping the engine, and by combining it with the keeper in the manner hereinafter described l insure the placement of the keeper whenever the circuit is opened. l have also applied to the legs of the permanent magnet a magnet-winding having its terminals conveniently disposed for connection to a source of electricity by which the magnetism can be revived whenever it becomes weakened by connecting a storage battery or other source of heavy current to the terminals and allowing it to flow through the coils a short time.

The invention will be described in detail in connection with the accompanying drawings, in Which-- Figure 1 is a perspective view of the complete apparatus. Fig. 2 is a vertical section through the polar end of the apparatus and including a diagram of the circuits.

A represents a base of wood or other suitable insulating material uponwhich is mounted a horseshoe-magnet comprised of the legs B and B and the back yoke B2. The poles of this magnet are mechanically connected together across the ends by a brass plate O, which also furnishes a bearing for a shaft E, extending between the legs of the magnet and parallel thereto. another bearing, if neccessary, in the back yoke B2 or elsewhere. Between the poleplieces of the magnet the space is partially led by. a block of iron B4, that portion of The shaft may have y IOO the space left open being occupied by an iron disk e, carrying upon its periphery an integral pin or lug e', the disk being mounted upon shaft E. The block of iron B4 contains a groove in its face concentric with the disk, through which pin e travels in the rotation of the disk. In the upper leg or pole of the magnet a vertical hole or passage l) is provided, through which a plunger b extends. Said plunger is attached at its lower end to a small iron armature b2, which in turn is fastened to a thin plate b3, the latter being pivoted at b4 to the upper pole-piece and extending transversely outward beyond the plane of the magnet, where it carries a platinum contact-point b5. The upper end ofthe plunger t is attached to a spring b and this in turn to an adjusting-screw t7, by which the upward pull ofthe spring can be determined. The upper end of the plunger may be fitted with a cross-head bs to rest across the edges of the opening of passage t and limit the downward motion of the plunger. The iron armature b2 and the plate 3 are in the same plane with the disk e, so that as the latter rotates the armature will be strongly attracted when the lug e passes beneath it. At other times the air gap or space between the periphery of the disk and the armature b2 is so great that the armature will .not be moved.

Upon a suitable frame or bracket formed by the plates c and c of insulating material are mounted two springs f and g, the former being pivoted at f in a bracket 71I and the latter at g in the same bracket. Each spring has a rigid tailpiece engaged by adjustingscrews f 2 and g2, respectively. Spring carries at its forward end a contact-pointf3, opposing the contact t5, and spring g carries at its forward end a contact g3, opposing an adjustable contact i. The end of this spring also projects under the end of plate b3. Spring f bears normally against a stop and is out of contact with the contact-point b5, while spring g is normally in contact with the contact i.

P indicates a heavy bar of iron pivoted t0 the forward end of leg B of the magnet, the pivot being shown at p in Fig. 2. It is fitted with a handle p', by which it can be swung on its pivot. l/Vhen in a vertical position, it bridges across and rests against the two legs of the magnet and serves as a keeper to confine the lines of magnetic force when the magnet is not in use. At the free end of the keeper a blade g is attached., and upon the base A is iixed a pair of spring-clips g', into which the blade is forced when the keeper is swung downward.

The electric circuits will be explained in connection with the operation which now follows: If the engine is to be operated, the keeper P is swung downward to the position shown in' Fig. 2, where its outer end engages with the clip g. This closes a circuit from the clip,which is grounded upon the frame of the engine in any of the usualways, through the lever P to the iron structure B, B2, and B to the pivot 1, along the plate b3, thence across the normally open gap between the points b5 and f 3, spring bracket it, spring g, contacts g3 and i, conducting-wire 1,primary winding 2 of inductioncoil I, vibrator 3, battery 4 to ground. The secondary circuit of the induction-coil (indicated by the wire 5) leads to terminals 6 in the engine-cylinder. Vhen the engine is started, the rotation of shaft E and disk e carries the lug e under armature bg. The instant the lug gets within attractive distance of the armature the latter is drawn downward and held until the lug passes out of attractive distance, when it is released and moves back under the action of spring h6. In the downward movement of plate b3 contact b5 is rst carried into engagement with contactfs, thus entirely completing the circuit before traced and starting the vibrator 3 into action. Before plate b3 iinishes its downward movement its extreme end engages the end of spring g and separates the contacts g3 and t' and opens the circuit previously closed at If and 7F Hence the circuit is iirst closed and after a determinate period is opened in the one downward stroke of plate b3. rIhe length of time during which the circuit is entirely closed is not to any substantial extent dependent upon the rapidity of movement of lug e or the engine-shaft, for the reason that the function of the engineshaft is merely to bring lug e within attractive range of armature b2, whereupon the movement of plate b3 is accomplished with the quickness of magnetic attraction and not that of the mechanical motion of the shaft. The length of this closure can be predetermined by adjusting the tension of springs j' and g and the front stop might be made adliustable for the same purpose. Likewise the initial position of plate b3 might be made adj ustable by a change in elevation of the backstop against which it normally rests. In fact, any means may be resorted to within the scope of my invention for predetermining the length of time that the circuit will be entirely closed during the downward stroke of plate b3 under the magnetic attraction. l lence I have provided a device which affords a uniform and definite consumption of electricity at each rotation of the engine, or at each closure of the circuit and by proper adjustment by any of the means proposed the most economical consumption of current can be obtained. When the engine is to be stopped, the lever P is swung upward and brought into engagement with the upper leg B of the magnet. This simultaneously opens the circuit which stops the engine and places the keeper across the poles of the magnet to conserve the magnetism.

If after long-continued use the strength of the permanent magnet becomes less, it can be very quickly revived by connecting the binding-posts 7 and 8 with a source of electricity, such as a storage battery or dynamo, and sending a heavy current through the coils S.

The circuit controlling mechanism has been described herein in connection with a single circuit, presumably for a single-cylinder engine; but it is obvious that several sets of the contact springs and plates could be arranged upon one magnet with a corresponding number of disks e alongside of each other on the shaft and with their lugs c spaced apart angularly to close as many different circuits in succession at each rotation, this being mere duplication of what has been described in detail.

It will be seen that the disk e is to all intents and purposes a magnet attached to or carried by an engine-shaft. It may be replaced by a straight bar hung at the middle upon the shaft, or, for the purposes of my invention, it maybe entirely independent of the magnet structure B B B2 and be simply a magnet, either permanent or electro, revolved by the shaft and carried into attractive range of the circuit-controlling lever or armature b3. A primary idea of my invention is that the shaft of an explosive or internal-combustion engine carries a magnetic structure, either permanent or electro, which is carried by the shaft periodically into attractive range of the circuit-controlling element, which by reason of the movement thus created in it iirst closes and then opens the v circuit.

In the operation of explosive-engines it is customary to alter the point in the rotation of the shaft where the explosion is fred, as when the engine is running at high speed the charge should be fired alittle earlier than when running at low speed. In operating with the apparatus herein described this adjustment for timing the spark may be accomplished by swin ing the magnetic structure bodily around t e shaft E, and thus carrying the armature b2 toward or away from the lug e', and so advancing or retarding the spark. For this purpose I show the end of a rod t pivotally connected with the base A, whereby the magnet structure can be swung upon the shaft as a center.

A distinct advantage of the magneticallyactuated circuit-controller over those mechanically actuated is in the fact that no wear or distortion of the circuit-controlling element can take place, since no cam strikes it and there is no rubbing of the rotary part upon the fixed part.

The devices for opening the circuit, as at the points t' and g3, after it has been closed at b5 and f 3 will be operative and useful in connection with mechanical circuit-controllers* that is to say, the spring Z13 or its equivalent can be moved by a cam on the shaft and the interval of closure will still be determined by the time elapsing before spring Z13 strikes spring g.

Having described my invention, I claim l. The combination of a permanent magnet, a rotary shaft carrying a block of iron tending to close the magnetic circuit of said magnet and a circuit-controlling lever interposed between a pole of said magnet and said block of iron.

2. The combination of an explosive-engine, a circuit controlling the ignition of the charge therein, a circuit-closer in said circuit and actuated by the engine a circuit-breaker also in said circuit and adapted to be actuated after the circuit-closer is actuated and means whereby the period during which the circuit remains closed is substantially independent of the speed of the engine.

3. The combination of a shaft, a magnet whose poles embrace said shaft, a body of iron carried by said shaft 'and rotating in the space between said poles, a circuit-controlling element carrying an armature subjected to the magnetic influence of said body of iron intermittently by the rotations of thc shaft and a circuit controlled by said element.

4. A circuit-controller comprising a magnet and a movable element subject to the attraction of said magnet, means for moving the magnet periodically into attractive range of said element, a pair of contacts adapted to be brought together when said element is moved by the magnet, a second movable element adapted'to be moved by the first after the first has brought said Contacts together, and a second pair of contacts adapted to be separated when said second movable element is moved, said two pairs of contacts being in series with each other, substantially as described.

In witness whereof I subscribe my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

RICHARD VARLEY.

I/Vitnesses FRANK S. OBER, VVALDO M. CHAPIN.

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