US2103787A - Internal combustion engine - Google Patents

Description

Dec. 28, 1937. P, R MCCRARY 2,1@3,787

INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE 7 Filed Feb. 28, 1936 5 SheetsSheet l Dac. 28, 11937.

' P. R. M CRARY INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE Filed Feb. 28, 1936 3 Sheets Sheet Z g; 0 o O Um 28, 3937., P. R. M CRARY V INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE s Sheets-Sheei s Filed Feb. 28, 1936 Patented Dec. 28, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE ington, D. 0.

Application February 28, 1936, Serial No. 66,275

5 Claims.

This invention relates to internal combustion engines, and more particularly to two-cycle rotary internal combustion engines.

The principal object of the invention is to provide an internal combustion engine of the rotary type which in large measure eliminates the losses due to reciprocating parts, and in which no valves are used. a v

A further object is to provide a rotary engine in which the cylinders are carried by the fiy wheel, being disposed radially so as to serve virtually as spokes of said fly wheel, which imparts a gyroscopic effect and action to the engine.

A still further object is to provide a rotary engine so constructed that it utilizes the exhaust gases from the cylinder to produce an impulse on the principle of a rocket.

A still further object is to provide a transmission system of gears of greatly simplified construction and which is especially adapted to function with the herein described engine.

Other objects of the invention will appear in what follows.

One embodiment of the invention will now be described, as a non-limiting example, in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a vertical cross-section in the plane of the axis of a one cylinder engine built according to the invention;

Figure 2 is a side view of a clutch member forming a part of the power transmission system;

Figure 3 is a vertical cross-section of the engine shown in Figurel, in a plane at right angles thereto;

Figure 4 is a side elevation partly in cross-section of a two cylinder engine built according to the invention;

Figure 5 is a partial view in vertical cross-section of a two cylinder engine in the plane of the axis;

Figure 6 is a central view cross-section, and Figure '7 is a side View of the gear transmission system.

Referring now to Fig. 1, the crank shaft 8, which is hollow, encloses the intake manifold 9, the latterbeing connected at H] to the carburetor (not shown) and having a port II on one side of the hollow crank pin. Crank shaft 8 is fixed with relation to the rest of the engine and is the axle whereon cylinder wheel l2 revolves. It is mounted on and secured to chassis frame l3 by lock nut l4 and key l5.. Frame l3 alsocarries electric wire, I6 through to distributor I1 and acts as a bearing for hub l8 carrying spokes [9 of the vehicle wheel. Spokes I9 are set on the opposite side of the wheel in hub I8a set on main bearing 20, which in turn is mounted on chassis frame l3a. At 2| is shown the location of a rim to carry a rubber tire, of which a part 22 is also shown.

Piston 23 is of the usual two-cycle construction. except that port 24 is so formed as to draw its gas from the upper portion of the piston, thus creating a circulation of gas in the direction of the arrow around wrist pin 25 and in contact with the walls of the hot piston. This serves the twofold purpose of heating the incomin as and at the same time cooling the piston, and the system of fins 26 aids in this cooling process.

Rod 21 is connected in the usual manner to wrist pin 25, which is of ordinary construction except that it is tapped at both ends so that it can be inserted and removed through plug 28. The lower end of rod 2! acts as a valve which automatically opens and closes intake port H of intake manifold 9 by means of port 29.

Cylinder head 30 differs from ordinary cylinder heads in that it has a chamber 3| which extends beyond the spark plug connection, the position of the spark plug being the inverse of that which it ordinarily occupies. This is necessary because of the fact that the centrifugal action tends to cause separation of the oil from the gas, and the construction illustrated serves to prevent lodgment or accumulation of oil on the points of the spark plugs, and causes it to be carried into the explosion chamber 3|. This explosion chamber has no cooling fins and when heated from the explosion of'the gases acts as an additional ignition means, causing complete combustion of the oil. This is an addition to the ignition caused by spark plug 32.

The cylinder wheel l2, which is made of cast ,iron, is surrounded by steel ring 33, which adds thereto sufiicient weight to produce effective gyroscopic action. Moreover, the steel band imparts additional strength to the wheel such as to permit rotation thereof at a much higher rate of speed than the cast iron web, without such reinforcement, could withstand.

Starting from the point of firing as shown in Figs. 1 and 3, it will readily be seen that, owing to the presence of the deflector 34 on piston 23 and to the fact that the wheel and not the crank is the movable part, the explosion will impart a torque to wheel 12. Then, since the piston connection with the crank pin is eccentric to the axis of the wheel, the turning of the wheel will cause the piston to reciprocate with relation to the cylinder. When the wheel has made a quarter turn, the piston on its down stroke will reach approximately the position of line AA, exhaust port 35 will be about half open, and the burnt gases, which are under considerable pressure, will rush out suddenly, giving a second impulse to the wheel of a rocket-like nature. Thus it will be seen that there are two impulses in this engine from every explosion of the gases in the cylinder.

When the wheel has made a half turn, the piston will be at the end of its down stroke, and chamber 3| in the top of the cylinder will be put into direct communication with duct 24 in the piston head through channel 36 in the cylinder wall. already been compressed by the down stroke of the piston, will rush through the hollow piston head and around wrist pin 25, through port 24 into channel 36 and thence into explosion chamber 3|. Deflector 34 then directs the gas to the upper part of the cylinder, thus forcing out any burnt gas that might still be there.

When the wheel reaches the three-quarter point, ports Hand 29 will. coincide, and the suction produced in the crank case by the up stroke of the piston will draw a fresh supply of gas from intake manifold 9 into the crank case, where it will be compressed by the next .down stroke of the piston and drawn into the firing chamber at the end of that down stroke as described above. The timing of the explosions is controlled by distributor H, ofstandard construction, mounted on the outer side of main bearing 31 and chassis frame l3.

The construction of the crank case is an important feature of the invention. It is enclosed on one side by main bearing 31 and on the opposite side by cover 38, which is preferably cast integral with shaft 39. 8, and there could be a loss of'crank case compression between them, it is essential that this space be sealed in some way. This is accomplished by means of oil ways and grease seals 40. As a further insurance, the oil-retaining dirt excluders 4| are employed. They are rings of metal, fiber or brake band material, and are inserted half way into each of the adjacent parts at points where otherwise centrifugal force would tend to throw outthe grease or oil from the bearing. Not only is the grease thus kept in, but also dirt and'other foreign substances are prevented from getting into the bearing from the outside. Heretofore this matter, of retaining compression in the crank case has been one of the greatest difficulties in twocycle engines, and the above-described construction effectually overcomes this difficulty. I

Manifold 9 is placed wholly within the crank case, thus serving a double purpose. Itreduces the cubic contents by about one-third, thereby greatly facilitating attainment of the properprecompression of the gas. heat, bearing 3?, connecting rod 21 and piston head 23 are cooled and the gas itself is pre-heated before admission to explosion chamber 3|.

The gear transmission system forms, in the one cylinder construction illustrated in Figs. 1 and 3, a part of) the counterbalance in addition to weights 42. Its position in the two cylinder engine is shown in Fig. 4, and it is counterbalanced as illustrated in order to maintain the balance of the fly wheel and gyroscopic effect of the engine. It consists of only four gears, 43, 44, 45 and 46. Gear 44 is fixed to or in one piece with main bearing 20, to which movable clutch-member 41 The gases in the crank case, which have 'F will also remain stationary. Since bearing 31 revolves on shaft Also, by exchange of is directly attached by keys 48. The two-part stationary clutch-member 49 is operated by lever 59 as shown in Fig. 2.

Gears 45 and 4B are keyed or otherwise attached to shaft 5! which turns in ball bearings 52 and is held in place by end bearings -53. Spur gear 43 is attached to vehicle wheel hub l8. The whole transmission system is enclosed in housings 54 and 541.

When the engine is running idle and the vehicle wheel is not moving, clutch 49 is released, thus allowing parts 44, 20 and 41 to revolve freely. When the clutch is applied, parts 20, 41 and 44 will be held stationary, and hence gear 43 will be'forced to revolve, as will be explained below, carrying with it vehicle wheel IS.

The construction and operation of the gear transmission system will be more clearly understood by reference to Figs. 6 and '7 of the drawings, which show the transmission. reduced to its simplest form. r

The driving shaft A and the driven shaft B are in the same axis. The power arm P is keyed rigidly to shaft A and carries the counterweight L, which corresponds to the cylinder in the one cylinder engine. Large gear G is fixed to mov able clutch-member I and when released turns freely on: shaft A. Large gear F is fixed to shaft B, as is movable clutch-member K. Pinion gears D and E are keyed to shaft C. 7 Power arm P revolves on shaft .A as shown in Fig. 7, carrying with it shaft C and its two gears D and E. With both clutches H and J released, gear G will turn freely and gear F will remain stationary. With clutch I-I applied, gear G will remain stationary. .If F and G each have the same number of teeth and likewise D and E, Similarly, if clutch J is applied, the same situation will 'result with respect to gear G. If, however, there is a difference in the number of teeth between F and G or between D and E, a forward or reverse movement of F will take place when clutch H is applied.

Thus if G has 60 teeth, D and E 20 teeth each and F 61' teeth, when clutch H is applied, F will advance one tooth for every complete revolution of P. If H is released'and J applied, G will reverse one tooth for every revolution of 'P. The driven gear F, therefore, will revolve once for every sixty-one revolutions of P, and the driven gear G once for every'sixty revolutions of P. In other words, the speed of the driving shaft has been transmitted to the driven shaft with a reduction of 60 to 1 by the use of only four gears.

V This arrangement of gears can be used for an infinite number of ratios of speed reduction or increase by simply varying the number of teeth in the various gears in accordance with the following simple principles, in which G is the number of teeth in the driving '(or stationary) gear,

, F is the number. of teeth in the driven gear, and

D and. E the number of teeth in the pinion. gears respectively as designated by those letters in Fig. 6

The invention is applicable. to internal as well as to external gearing; and when applied to in- (-5 ternal gearing it results in a more compact structure.

The same general construction used in a one cylinder engine built according to the invention may be employed in engines of any practicable number of cylinders, except for a few necessary modifications. Some of such modifications are shown, by way of non-limiting examples, in Figs. 4 and 5.

The locations of the gear transmission system and its counterbalance are shown in Fig. 4. For engines of more than two cylinders they can be put at any similar point so long as the balance of the fly wheel is maintained. It will be noticed that in Fig. 4 a conventional form of intake port to the cylinder is illustrated rather than that described above and shown in Fig. 3.

The connections of the piston rods of a two cylinder engine are shown in Fig. 5. It will be noted that there is only one set of intake ports H and 29, but there will be ample intake if said ports are made slightly larger than in the one cylinder engine.

An important feature of the multi-cylinder engine of this invention is that opposite cylinders fire simultaneously instead of each cylinder firing in rotation, as is usually the case. The advantage of the simultaneous firing of opposite cylinders is that the shock of each is neutralized by that of the other. Approximately fifty percent of the usual vibration is thus eliminated.

In the one cylinder construction this vibration is minimized by so timing the explosion that it occurs when the cylinder is at its highest point above ground; the effect being that the ground absorbs the shock. Moreover, when the engine is used for propulsion of a vehicle, the explosions assist the traction by forcing the wheel against the ground.

What is claimed is:--

1. An internal combustion engine comprising: a stationary crank shaft; a rotatable cylinderoarrying member mounted on said crank shaft; a driving gear mounted upon a bearing constituting a support for said engine and rotatable upon said crank shaft, and a driven gear mounted upon a bearing constituting a support for said engine and rotatable with said support, each of said gears being concentric with said cylindercarrying member; a clutch member for said driving gear, operable to hold said driving gear against rotation to transmit motion from said cylinder-carrying member to said driven gear and when released to enable said engine to run idle; and a pair of concentric intermediate gears carried by said cylinder-carrying member.

2. An internal combustion engine comprising: a stationary crank shaft; a rotatable cylindercarrying member mounted on said crank shaft; a driving gear mounted upon a bearing constituting a support for said'engine and rotatable upon said crank shaft, and a driven gear mounted upon a bearing constituting a support for said engine and rotatable with said support, each of said gears being concentric with said cylindercarrying member, said driven gear having more teeth than said driving gear; a clutch member for said driving gear, operable to hold said driving gear against rotation to transmit motion from said cylinder-carrying member to said driven gear and when released to enable said engine to run idle; and a pair of concentric intermediate gears carried by said cylinder-carrying member.

3. An internal combustion engine comprising: a stationary crank shaft; a rotatable cylindercarrying member mounted on said crank shaft; a driving gear mounted upon a bearing constituting a support for said engine and rotatable upon said crank shaft, and a driven gear mounted upon a bearing constituting a support for said engine and rotatable with said support, each of said gears being concentric with said cylindercarrying member; a clutch member for said driving gear, operable to hold said driving gear against rotation to transmit motion from said cylinder-carrying member to said driven gear and when released to enable said engine to run idle; and a pair of concentric intermediate gears carried by said cylinder-carrying member, one of said intermediate gears having more teeth than its fellow.

4. An internal combustion engine mounted in a wheel, and comprising: a stationary crank shaft; a rotatable cylinder-carrying member mounted on said crank shaft and concentric with said wheel; a driving gear mounted upon a bearing constituting a support for said engine and rotatable upon said crank shaft, and a driven gear fixed to a hub of said wheel, each of said gears being concentric with said cylinder-carrying member; a clutch member for said driving gear, operable to hold said driving gear against rotation'to transmit motion from said cylindercarrying member to'said wheel and when released to enable said engine to run idle; and a pair of concentric intermediate gears carried by said cylinder-carrying member.

5. An internal combustion engine mounted in a wheel, and comprising: a stationary crank shaft; a rotatable cylinder-carrying member mounted on said crank shaft and concentric with said wheel; a driving gear mounted upon a bearing constituting a support for said engine and rotatable upon said crank shaft, and a driven gear fixed to a hub of said wheel,'each of said gears being concentric with said cylinder-carrying member, said driven gear having more teeth than said driving gear; a clutch member for said driving gear, operable to hold said driving gear against rotation to transmit motion. from said cylinder-carrying member to said wheel and when released to enable said engine to run idle; and a pair of concentric intermediate gears carried by said cylinder-carrying member.

PIERCE R. MCCRARY.

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