• A NEW ENGINE CONSTRUCTION.
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A Résumé of Recently Published Patents.
AN ENGINE construction in which the cylinder itself, together with its casing, serves also as valves, valve gear, cal lairetter, oil pump, and exhaust silencer, is described in No, 184,217 by N. Gribojedoff. The cylinder revolves on its axis, being driven at half the rotational speed of the crankshaft, by means of a pair of bevel gears, one of which is on that shaft, the other being secured to
the base of the cylinder. The last-named is supported in ball bearings top and bottom, and, near its upper end, has ports cut in the wall which establish communication between the inside of the cylinder and a casing which surrounds it. (There is no water jacket.) A distributor is attached to the casing and opens or closes the cylinder ports as required. Fuel enters the casing at its top, in the centre, and falls on to the outside of the revolving cylinder, with which it first makes contact in a depression in the centre of the head. Centrifugal 'force causes the fuel to creep out wards over the cylinder as a thin layer, while it is vaporized and mixes with air, subsequently entering the cylinder as an explosive mixture through a the aforementioned ports. The exhaust gases are directed downwards by the distributor into the space between cylinder and casing, and they make their exit from the latter through innumerable small holes. The oil also travels the same way —down the cylinder wall—drops into the crankcase, where it lubricates the crankshaft bearings, subsequently being thrown into the interior of the cylinder, below the piston and on the cylinder wall. The niston rotates .with the cylinder, and the invensar opines that no piston rings are needed.
Other Patents of Interest.
An interesting double-reduction liveaxle gear for heavy vehicles has been invented by L. C. Huck, and is described in specification No. 184,230. The sun wheels of the differential gear are mounted on short shafts, to which are secured, at their outer ends, sun wheels of two epicyclie gears. The planetary pinions of the latter revolve on the spindles of spiders which are keyed to B44 the final drive shafts: the outer wheel Of each gear is bolted to a part of the rear axle easing. The principal feature of novelty appears to be that both epicyclic gears, as well as the differential gear, may be lifted bodily from the axle casing as required. There are certain features of design of some of the details which are worth studying.
Those of our 'readers who have been following the correspondence which has been going on in our " Opinions from Others ' pages about the lubrication of shackle pins and the like will be interested in specification No. 184,241, by F. E. Morriss. It is concerned with the grease-gun method of effecting such lubrication, and deals specifically with the means of applying and securing the gun to the end of the shackle pin, or other part which requires to be lubricated.
H. Lodge in No. 184,640 interleaves a laminated spring with strips of textile material, which is beaded along its edges, and impregnated with a lubricant such as graphite,so that both sides of the material form a lubridating surface. The beaded edges prevent lateral displacement. • A set of seats, arranged upon a light platform so that they can easily be placed upon, or removed from, a lorry, thus making it easily and quickly convertible from goods to passenger carrying, and vice versa, is described by G. A. Gray and another in No. 184,516. Ordinary bus top-deck seats, of the garden pattern, are used, a suitable number, according to the size and capacity of the vehicle, being connected together by longitudinal rails at the base of the seat legs, to the sides of the seats, and to the tops of the stiles. The lastnamed are secured to the base platform by angle cleats or other suitable means, so that the whole of a set is capable of being lifted en bloc. The base platform is secured to the lorry by a few bolts. Provision is also made for the employment of gangway seats.
A useful type of petrol filter is described in No. 184,346 by W. L. Spence. Two hemispherical castings, designed to bolt together, form the body of the filter. The gauze is held in a ring which is tightly clamped between the halves of the filter, forming the joint between them. Suitable connections for inlet and outlet pipes are provided, one in each half of the body, as well as drain plugs, the halves being thus alike in construction. The gauze is disposed verti
cally, se that the petrol enters the filter froin the top, into one half, and leaves, also from the top, from the other. Some detail improvements in tipping gear are outlined in No. 184,373, by J. B. Gray. There are two transverse screws; one, threaded one way from end to end, traverses the body from side to side of the chassis : the other is a B. and L.H. screw, with a couple of nuts which are connected to the body by. toggle levers. This Is the elevator screw, and is used after the body has been traversed to the side to which it is to be tipped. The prevision for limiting the traverse of the body is adjustable, so that it can be brought to rest as nearly as possible with the centre of gravity as fulcrum, or, at least, with the centre of gravity over the fulcrum. Latches are provided to limit the movement of the -road springs while tipping , is taking place.
There are some unusual features about the vaporizer which is patented by Jas. Keith and Blackman Co., Ltd., in No. 184,266. The inventors have endeavoured to solve the three-fold problem of providing a vaporizer which shall be sufficiently flexible to meet widely varying demands and, at the same time, be capable of dealing with fuels of comparatively high boiling point : eliminating the trouble of hunting," and avoiding flooding with liquid fuel in the event of the vaporizer not being hot enough to vaporize it or convert it into gas. Flexibility is afforded by utilizing a fairly capacious heat retainer, the heat being actually derived from exhaust gas, whilst the provision of ample heat makes the device suitable for use with fuels of high boiling points. The missive heat retainer also prevents hunting," for, although it may take fairly long to warm up; it does not readily lose its heat. The risk of flooding is avoided lily using a float chamber which is kept " in balance" by being provided with a pipe connecting its interior with the suction end of the vaporizer.