THE BROTHERHOOD ENGINE.
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A Resurn6 of Recently Published Patents.
_4n important engine patent is notified in specification No, 178,690; by Peter Erotherhood, Ltd., and it appears to have particular reference to that power unit which is used in the Peterbro tractor, and which may yet prove of service in heavy vehicle construction. The objects aimed at are the provision of simpler means for cooling the piston and for trapping any unburnt fuel which may pass the-piston,
With these objects in view, the piston, which is of the traink type, is made with a passage leading from one side, near the crosshead end, up to the top, inside the crown, and clown the other 2 side
nearly to the crosshead again. Corresponding passages are formed in the cylinder walls, through which the air for the mixture is drawn, cooling the piston, and being heated itself if on its way through.
The cylinder itself is in two parts, of which the upper portion is the cylinder proper, well water-jacketed in the usual manner, the lower portion being actually the crosshead guide, and air cooled. Between the two portions an annular duct is formed, trough-shaped as to its section, and communicating with the cylinder all round its circumference by means of an inclined port. This duct is divided by means of a vertical fin arid is in communication, so far as one portion is concerned; with the almasphere, and so far as the other is concerned, with the carburettor or vaporizer, The piston is likewise in two parts. comprising the upper portion, which is the piston proper, and the lower, which forms the crosshead, The two parts are connected together by an oval tubular portion, which is closed at its upper end, where it is connected by a suitable web to the inside of the piston head. The major axis of this oval portion of thepiston is in line with the 'ribs to which we have already referred as being formed in the annular duct, and as the oval, along its greatest diameter, is of practically the same dimension as the piston proper, it follows that this oval connectmg-piece serves as the partition between the two sides of the piston, and thus forms the passages aforesaid.
The arrangement, as will be understood by reference to one of our illustrations, is such that all air for the carburetter is drawn op one side of the piston, deflected against the underside of the piston bead, and down again, being warmed itself at the same time that it cools the piston.
Any fuel in the form of vapour which has passed the piston and vets into the spaces between the oval tube and the cylinder walls is carried oat with the air into the vaporizer, while, in addition, any fuel in a liquid state which manages to find its way below the piston rings finds its way into the annular trough or duct, whence it too eventually reaches the vaporizer.
Other Patents of Interest.
A tyre cover, specially designed for overseas use, and particularly where rough reads have to be negotiated, is described by Wood-Milne. Ltd., in No. 178,496. It is pointed out that under such conditions of use the covers are liable to be cut and damaged by stones and the like which lie below the sandy road surface into which the tread of the tyre sinks. In order to protect it, the -tyre, according to this invention, has formed on to its sides, at the widest
part of the tyre when inflated, circum.
ferential rows of lubber studs.. .
A simple method of attaching hightension wires to magneto terminals is patented by the Villiers Engineering Co., Ltd., in No, 178,641. The terminal consists of a socket for the wire; it is formed with a small hole through which a wood screw passes, the latter, however, screwing only into the cable and cutting its own thread through both insulation and wire. This terminal is spigoted into a suitable hole in the magneto, and is held in place by a bow-shaped spring, which is anchored at its ends, and bears at it middle in a notch in the end of the terminal member from .which notch it may be sprung, and subsequently swung out of the way to allow the terminal to be moved.
No. 178,476, by T. C. Smith, refers to a type of inspection window through which the character of the flame of combustion may be observed. The windows are shown as arranged in pairs in the walls of an adapter for the sparking plug. The principal feature of the in coition is eoncerned with the mounting of the windows, the glass, or other trans
parent material being held in place between an inner bush and an outer bush. The latter carries the former, and the window is held between the two.
Improved appearance of the overhead valve engine is apparently the main ob ject of the invention, which is the sub ject of specification No. 178,731, by O. Funck, provision being made therein.
for complete enclosure of the valve gear, including the long and usually unsightly tappet rods. The external wall of the cylinder, that is to say the outer wall of the water jacket, is circular and receives a circular cap, which forms a
cover for the rocker and adjacent parts. The critter wall of the water jacket has termed, on its interior longitudinal passages,one for each tappet rod.
Improvements relating to the balancing. of reciprocating engines is the title
of specification No. 167,764, by Societe Anotlyme pour l'Explaitation des Procedes Maurice Leblanc-Vickers. Several methods of balancing the reciprocating parts of engines have been tried, state the patentees, as, for example, by the attachment of suitably ea/ciliated bal ance weights on certain of the moving pa.rts—a method which gives only inade quate results. In motorcar construction attempts have been made to combine with this method the use of multiple driving cylinders acting on the same driving shaft and suitably arranged with respect to each other, so that the un balanced forces of each cylinder and parts are offset by those of arnither. The bal ancing has alao been effected by means of two eccentric masses caused to rotate in opposite directions at equal speeds but ore different. axes, This invention relates to a special, and, of course, novel method of application of the last-named principle in the balancing of two-stroke, internal-combustion engines which are provided with blowers of the Roots type for forcing air into the cylinders. One of the eccentric masses is mounted on the engine shaft, and the other is constituted by an impeller of the blower, which impeller rotates on an axis which is not co— axial with the engine shaft.
S. Lees proposes to improve the thermal efficiency of the internal-combustion engine by providing means whereby the excessive heat which 'prevails during the period of explosion may be, in part, col lected by thin metal sheets mounted upon the top of the piston and inside the corn• bust ion chamber. The absorption of the heat in this manner naturally reduces the amount which is carried off, and, therefore, lost, in the cooling water. Subsequently, as the cycle • of operations within the engine proceeds, and the gases cool, the heat retained by the metal sheets is imparted to them, lengthening the period of engine stroke during which the gases perform useful work. Much of the novelty of the patent is concerned with the arrangement and material of the metal plates. The specification is No. 178,480.
An interestingmethod of mixing alcohol and acetylene, to form a fuel for petrol engines, is described in No. 178,498, by S. W. Blake.