US1165366A - Internal-combustion engine. - Google Patents

Description

D. S. WILLIAMS, DECD.

B. D. WILLIAMS, Exfcumx,

INTERNAL CMBUSTION ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED MN4 Il, |912.

Patented Dec. 21, 1910.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

APPLICATION FILED IAN. Il. |912.

Patented Dec. 21, 1915.

2 sNEETs-sNEEr 2.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

DAVID S. WILLIAMS, GLENSIDE, PENNSYLVANIA; BELLA D. WILLIAMS, EXECUTLRIX 0F SAID DAVm S. WILLIAMS, 'QEFSASED, ASSIGNOR 0F ONE-HALF TO HENRY DRUSCHEL, .0F COLUMBIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

INTERNAL-COMBUSTION ENGINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 21, 1915.

Application led January 11, 1912. Serial No. 670,542.

T o alljwhom t may concern Be it known that I, DAVID S. VILLIAMs, a citizen of the United States, residing at Glenside, in the county of Montgomery and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Internal-Combustion Engines, of which the following is a specification.

`The present invention relates to internalcombustion engines foi-burning liquid hydrocarbon fuel heavier than gasolene such for instance as kerosene having a specific gravity of .807, a flashing point of about l1()O Fahrenheit and a burning point of upward of 1250 Fahrenheit.

The invention relates to the introduction into the cylinder or explosion chamber of an international-combustion engine of aqueous vapor or steam together with the fuel and air which according to my invention forms therein the explosive mixture.

The method adapted in carrying out my invention consists in the employment of suitable means for generating steam or vapor, which method consists in supplying a liquid to a suitable generator', heating the generator initially by means of a torch or other suitable device and afterward by the heat generated by the explosive mixture so that the small quantity of liquid injected into the generator will be maintained at a temperature of vaporization prior to its introduction into the working cylinder or explosion chainber.

'lheiinvention furtler contemplates the employment of a fuel vaporizer constructed and arranged so as to beheated by the steam generator and to discharge a quantity of fuel vapor into the explosion chamber simultaneously with the discharge of vapor from the generator and in varying the supply of fuel and air, or fuel, aqueous vapor and air in substantial unison with the variations of demand for the same and in substantially definite quantitative relation to said variations.

It is therefore the object of the present invention to provide an internal-combustion engine with a steam or vapor: generator sub stantially independent of the water jacket or other means for reducing the temperature of the working cylinder, in means for regulating the supply of liquid to the generator, in meansrwhereby the fuel is vaporized by the heat of the generator and injected with air into the working cyiinder simultaneously with the vapor from the generator' in sub stantially definite quantitative relation to the speed of the engine.

ln order to obtain successful results With liquid fuel'such as kerosene or other heavier fuel oils the temperature of the cylinder ordinarily must be hot enough to completely vaporize the fuel, yet the temperature must be controlled so that itl will not cause the piston to bind in the cylinder or causevpreignition of the combustible charge. In or dinary practice it has been the custom when employing kerosene as a fuel to start an engine with gasolene and run it for a time until the cylinder is heated to a temperature sufficient to vaporize kerosene, after which the supply of gasolene is discontinued and the kerosene is then substituted as fuel. In this manner many engines will run for a short time on kerosene as a fuel but sooner or later a deposit of carbon forms on the inner walls of the cylinder which if not promptly removed will cause serious trouble. It is well known to those skilled in the art that when certain complex bodies found in kerosene are subjected to temeperatures as high as those found within the walls of the combustion chamber of an internal-combustion engine they appear to break up into more simple compounds. It is believed to` be not improbable that many` of the more complex bodies contained in kerosene go through some such vprocess of partial decomposition before actual combustion takes place. It is therefore reasonable to suppose that when kerosene is employed as a fuel in an engine under the same conditions as gasolene free carbon is deposited as above explained. 0n the contrary it has been found that when kerosene vapor is caused to commingle with aqueous vapor particularly With superheated steam together with air and then exploded,

combustion is far more complete than when the aqueous vapor is absent.

My invention is therefore more particularly addressed to the provision of means to prevent accumulation of deposits of carbon in the explosion chamber and to this end vapor, preferably superheated steam issupplied to \the cylinder or explosion chamber without the employment in the generator of any considerable quantity of potentiallyactive reserve energy in the` form of a large body of highly heatfd liquid under considerable pressure according to the manner hereinafter fully explained.

The novel features which characterize my invention are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this specification. For a better linder- Standing of the invention, however, and the advantages possessed by it. reference may be had to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which I have illustrated and described several forms in which my invention may be embodied.

In the d1'a\\'ing-l*`igll1'e 1 is a view of an internal combustion engine in side elevation showing my invention as applied to a type known as a horizontal stationary engine. Fig. 2 is a view partly in elevation and partly inlongitudinal section through the center of the engine. Fig. 3 shows a front elevation of an internal combustion engine of the vertical type wherein a slightly modilied form of my invention is illustrated. Fig. 4 is a view in vertical secticu of Fig. 3, and Fig. 5 is a detached front elevation of one of the fly wheels showing a portion of the governing mechanism,

As shown in Figs. 1 ano L: of the draw ings, the cylinder or combustion chamber A is provided with a water jacket A1 of ordinary construction` a reciprocating piston B, ",rank shaft C and connecting rod l). The casin, A A, of the cylinder is preferablyextenutforward to inclose the crank or crank-disks and to receive the hearings of the crank-shaft C. 'l'he piston l5 is connected to one end of the conrecting rod or pitman l) by a pin B, its opposite end being joui-nah d upon the crank pin (l1, which is carried b v crank-disks C2, securely fastened to the two parts of the crank-shaft C. The space inclos/ed by the forward part of the casing A2, constitiahy.y a convenient aircompression chamber in which ail' admitted through a suitable valve A3, during the rearward movement of the piston is com- -pressed at each forward movement of the piston.

As the piston approaches the limit of its forward movement and uncovers the exhaust port E, the pressure in the working cylinder or combustion chamber will be discharged, permitting the compressed air to pass along the duct a, and to open the valve A, which controls the admission of Iair to the combustion chamber. The end wall of the working cylinder or combustion chamber is provided .with a generator F, preferably formed integral With the cylinder but which may if desired be cast as a separate piece and bolted to the cylinder after the man ner of a cylinder head.v The generator F Ils shown in Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings comprises an annular chamber formed within the end wall or head of the cylinder rntirely independent of the watenjacket surrounding the cylinder except for a fluid pipe or connection under control of a :.-xuitahhv pump by which means a Iu'etletermimni amount of water is fed to the gi-ineraior. This method of supplying feedwater to ilegenerator is preferred for the reason that the water reaches the generator at a higher ten'll'ierature than would be the case il taken from some other source. of supply. li. will be understood however that other arrangiA ments may be substituted therefor and that feed-water may be taken from any con-- venient source of supply other than that above mentioned. The fluid supply pipe l, leading from the water-picket .\1 to the geuerator F. is under control of a pump F`l pro`- vided with suitable check valves f and f" shown in Fig. 1. The generator l*Y provided with a nipple f, having a rlieahara'.A orifice 7" through which aqueous vapor mai pass from the generator to the combustion chamber or cylinder. Mounted upon the generator F is a fuel vaporizer (l. one end of which is in coi'nmunication with a 'uel supply tank through l fuel supply pipe (l2, while the other end of the fuel vapm'izer passes into and through the generator l" and is provided with a discharge nozzle (lx, coincident with the discharge orifice of the generator. Thus as the generator is sup plied with fluid and the vaporizer with fuel a simultaneous discharge of aqueous vapor and vaporized fuel will be emitted from the opening in the wall of the generator. As the air in passing from the compression chamber to the cylinder is conveyed through the duct a, it will absorb some of the heat of the cylinder so that upon reaching the discharge opening n. the valve A4,' the air in a somewhat heatedcondition will combine withl the fuel vapor and aqueous vapor upon entering the cylinder but only to form a lnechanical mixture as distinguished from a chemical combination. IInder these conditions the finely divided and highly combustible mixture admitted to the combustion chamber is readily ignited and this may be accomplished either by means of an ignition tube H, as sho-wn in Fig. 2 of the drawings or by the conventional spark plug I, as illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4. For convenience of illustration I have shown the fuel supply tank in both the horizontal and vertical types of engines as mounted upon the water-jacket of the cylinder. It is obvious however, that the fuel tank may be located at a point re mote from the engine and the fuel conveyed therefrom to the engine by a suitable line of pipe and that the fuel may flow either by gravity or from a tank under pressure as may be desired. In the type of engine shown in Figs. 1 and Q of the drawings the fuebsupply tank G, is mounted upon a The cylinder A1, is connected to a casing pipe to the fuel vaporizer G. Itis obyvious that the supply of liquid fuel to and from the pump' G* may be controlled by suitable check valves g and g5;4 VlhileY various types of generators in connection with apparatus for carrying my inventionnto effectmay be employed, the best results can only be attained by one inwhich the hquld 'is progressively heated from its point of entrance into the water-jacket to the point of exit inthe generator whereit is substantially all transformed into, vapor and in which only a small quantity of liquid is maint-lined at the temperature of vaporlzation corresponding for a b rief period to the pressure of the working cylinder.

In order to maintain a vaporizing tem perature of the fluid the generator must be located in the zone of most intense heat or in one of the heat zones of the engine, one of which is found to be located in the end of the cylinder or combustion chamber and the other at the port of exit of the exhaust. In the construction shown in Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings the generatorl has been described as placed in the end of the cylinder or combustion-chamber' while I shall now.

proceed to describe a modified form of my invention in which the generator together with the fuel "apori'zer are both placed adjacent to the exhaust passage.

In the construction illustrated in Figs. 3

and 4 the cylinder or combustion chamber' A1 is provided .with -a water-jacket A11, a piston B10. crank-shaft C1 xand pitman D1".

A12 extended downward 'to inclose the crank A13 andA to receive the bearings of the crank-shaft` C10. The piston B10 is connected to one end of the pitman D10 by a pin B11 and at its opposite end to a crank pin C11 of the crank shaft C10. The space inclosed by -the 'casing A12 serves as a compression chamber into which airis admitted through a valve a3. As the piston reaches the limitl of its downward movement as shown in Fig.f4 both the exhaust port E1 and the port or terminal of the air duct a1 will be uncovered by the piston, the former slightly before the latter as. indicated by the position occupied by each relative to the end of the piston. v

The exhaust port E1", is provided with an exhaust-head E11, in the end of which is a chamber constituting a generatorA F1". the side of the exhaust head is a connection E12. fitted to receive an exhaust pipe E11. The generator F10 is provided with a discharge opening to which is fitted a nipple f1". Mounted upon the exhaust-head or that portion of the exhaust-head constituting the generator F10 is a fuel vapotizer G1", connected to a fuel supply pipe G11, leading from a fuel supply tank G12. The vapory izer is provided with a discharge nozzle g1", which enters the nipple f1 of the generator, thus making it possible for the fuel supply to be drawn in by induction during the discharge of the vapor from the generator.

Beforev proceedingv t0 describe the governor mechanism it may be proper t0 Say that while it is desirable to have the supply of aqueous fluid, orthe supply of fuel or both vary according to the demand for fuel energy' and in definite quantitative relationsto variations'of load or variation in the speed of the engine, it is notas impor-v tant that definite quantita-tiveA relations should be maintained between,the`aqueo'us fluid supply and the fuel supply as between the fuel supply and atmospheric air. Thus for example in the construction :shown in Figs. 3 and 4 the quantitative vrela-tion vbetween fuel supply and waterl supply constantly vary for the reason that the same volume of aqueous fluid is fed by a pump to the generator at each stroke of the plston, while the volume of both fuel and air supplied to the cylinder may be caused to vary according to load or variations in the speed of the engine, while in the constructionA shown in Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings all of the products admitted to the cylinder are c.funder control of a governor mechanism.

Referring now to the governor mechanism shown in Figs. l and 2 of the drawings, K is the governor proper and comprises a frame or support K1, bolted to the casing of the engine and provided with a vertical bearing K2, forming a journal Afor a shaft K3, which carries a cap K5, to which weight-ed levers K, K are pivotally secured. The weighted levers are in fact bell crank levers the short arms'of which engage openings in a sleeve K* which sleeve is permitted to `slide upon the shaftK3 when the weighted levers are acted upon by centrifugal force. VIt is obvious that motion may be transmitted from the crankshaft of the engine to the shaft K3 of the governor by wormgears, etc., and a Suitable line of connections including shafts c1 and c2 Vall of which is of well known construction;v The bearing K2 is provided with an arm K7, forming one of the bearings for a shaft K,

the other of the bearings for saidrshaft being sie sion of air through the valve port' of the valve A, said valve provided with a tarnengine the governor K will act upon thel valve A3 to regulate the -supply of air to the compression chamber of the engine.

' The means employed to regulate the supply of duid fuel and aqueous duid to the vaporizer and generator is as follows: 'T he fuel pump- G1 is provided with a plunger O and the pump F2 has a similar plunger O1 both of which are secured to a cross head M1 adapted to engage. the latch M. Secured to the crank-shaft C is an eccentric P, operatively connected to an eccentric lever P1 journaled at one end to head of a rockingarm P2 which fulcrumed at a point P3 to the casing of the engine.. According to this arrangement as variations in the speed of .the engine take place, the governor l will cause the latch M to move into or out of the path of tlie head of the arm P2, and thereby disconnect the pumps from the actuating mechanism when the speed of the engine becomes excessive.

The governor mechanism illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4 o'f the drawings is designed to accomplish the same result butin a some what diilerentmanner. According to this construction I 1 -is'the governor` proper and comprises a., weighted lever K1 fulcrumed at a point K" .tota (ly wheel Q, and normally resting against a pin K11 bythe tension of a spring K1? interposed between the end of the lever and a projection formed upon one 'of the spokes of the wheel. The `weighted lever K, is connected by a link K13 to an arm R of a yoke R1 which is journaledv at a oint R2 to bearings R3 connected to or orming a part of the fly-wheel, The curved arms of the yoke embrace a sleeve S and are provided with short studs r1, r1, which engage a peripheral groove'S1 formed about the sleeve. The sleeve S is also provided with an inclined cam S2 adapted to operate a rod T, which rod is provided. at one end with a wheel t, to engage the ca mS2 and at the other forms the stem of a valve T1,-

which controls the flow of liquid fuel from the fuel-tank G12 to the vaporizer G1". The sleeve S, which is loosely splined to the crank-shaft C1 as shown in Fig. 5, is also 'provided with a peripheral groove S11, to

receive. the projecting'ends of a yoke R11, fulcrumedto an arm R11, proiecting from the flange of the valve a, 'The yoke R11, is

also provided with an arm R12, which is connected to :trod R, and this rod is in turn connected to a cam-plate P15 guided upon the vaive a3 and adapted to engage the head ,if a valve stem T11.

the mechanism ,inst described the governor may be, caused to act sininitancona?=I upon the device controiling the nel supp and the valve controiiing the admissionv c? air to the compression lchamber and therco`v establish definite oliiantitivc relations be tween the two according to the demand for fuel energy or as before stated according t; variations of load or variations in the speed of the engine. The mechanism i'or feeding a predetermined amount of aqueous liquid to the generator according to the construe tion illustrated in lfig's. 3 and l. compri an eccentric U secured to the crank-shaft C11 and provided witlran eccentric lever U1 fulcriuned at its uppermost portion to a rocking-arm U2, which is journaled upon a stud U3 projecting from the casing of the cylinder. The pump V is provided withl a suitable plunger V1 and with check valves V`' and V3, one of which is in line or co nection with that portion of the pipe 1 leading from the water jacket to the puvr while the other is in line of connection v. the portion leading from the pump to i; generator F1".

The plunger V1, is acted upon by the ei centric lever U1 and rocking-arm U2, only momentarily and at a time when the eccen tric U is near the end of its upward stroke, permitting but a .small quantity of aqueousfluid to be forced into the generator, and to pass from thence into the cylinder before the port E11 is closed by a return of the piston. This latter construction has been found to operate successfully with engines of small capacity and particularly with engines ofthe So called two cycle type operating at a high rate of speed.

While I have shown and' described whatvv I believe to 'be the preferred embodiment of my invention it will be understood that other mechanism of a more or less modified character may-be employed with the same object in view, and that my invention may be used in connection with engines of atype other than those herein. mentioned without departing from the scope of my invention.

Having now fully described my -invention what I claim is:-

1. An internal combustion engine; oomprising a cylinder or explosion chamber, an

aqueous vapor generator and means for suplil() afllueous vapor generator and means' for supp ying kliquid thereto, a discharge opening between said generator and the explosion chamber, a nipple in said discharge opening, a vapoxfizer and means for supplying fuel thereto, )said' vaporizer extending through said generator and having a nozzle extending into said nipple, whereby the vaporized fuel will be drawn into the combustion chamber by induction during the discharge of vapor from the generator, and means for independently supplying air to the cylinder.

3. An internal combustion engine coniprising a working cylinder or explosion chamber, a steam or vapor generator, means for supplying a liquid to the generator, a separate fuel vaporizer, means for supplying a liquid fuel to the vaporizer, means whereby the steam and fuel vapor are caused to commingle while passing into the explosion chamber, and means for independently supplying air to the explosion chamber.

4. An internal combustion engine comprising a cylinder or explosion chamber provided with an air inlet passage and a passage for the discharge of products `of combustion, a steam 0r vapor generator having a fiuid supplypipe and a vapor dischargevorice communicating with the expl'osion chamber, a fuel vaporizer provided with fuel supply and ldischarge connecdischarge orifice of the generator, means for' vsupplying a predetermined quantity of fluid to the generator and means for varying the supplies of air and fuel vapor in substantial unison and in definite quantitative relations to the variations in the speed of the engine.

5. An internal combustion. engine comprising a cylinder or explosion chamber provided With an air inlet passageand an, ex' haust passage for the discharged-of products of combustion, a "steam orvapor generator arranged within the exhaust passage having a fiuid supply connection-and a vapor discharge orifice and a fuel vaporizer mounted upon the generator and adaptedto discharge fuel vapor through the exhaust passage into Athe cylinder simultaneously with the introduction of aqueous vapor from the generator whereby the aqueous vapor and fuel vapor together with an incoming volume of air are caused to coinmingle upon entering the cylinder or explosion chamber.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

DAVID S. WILLIAMS. Witnesses:

D. F REEDMAN, A. VOLLMER.

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