US1246885A - Internal-combustion rotary engine. - Google Patents

Description

B. CONKLIN.

INTERNAL'COMBUSTION ROTARY ENGINE.

Patented Nov. 20, 1917. 3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

APPLICATION-FILED SEPT- 16, J1914.

. Brute CoM/n y @QL/ffy B. CUNKLIN.

INTERNAL coMBusTloN ROTARY ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. I6. 1914.

Patented NOV. 20, 1917.

BVUCE Conklin i f) wf/WWP B. CONKLIN.

INTERNAL COMBUSTION ROTARY ENGINE. AIPLICATION FILED SEPT. I6 '|914- 1,246,885 Patented Nov. 20, 1917.

. 3 SHEETS-SHEET a.

Bruce ConkIin yf/VM i UNTTED sTATEs PATENT oEEioE. N

BRUCE CONKIIN, OF WESTMINSTER, ENGLAND.

INTERNAL-COMBUSTION ROTARY ENGINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 2o, 191'?.

Application led September 16, 1914. Serial No. 862,630.

To 'all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, BRUCE CoNxLIN, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at IVestminster, in 'the county of Middlesex, England, have invented a new and useful Improvement'in and Relating to Internal-Combustion Rotary Engines, `of i which the following is a specification.

lThis invention has reference to explosive engines of the rotary type in which the impulse from successive explosions causes rotation of the rotary drum of the engine, and relates more particularly to an engine' of that kind in whichthe rotatable element vis provided with radial vanes which cooperate with synchronously rotated valves to compress the charges at one stage in the movement of the element; and to receive the impulses from the explosions at another stage. The invention has for one of its objects to vimprove and simplify the construction of engines of the 4aforesaid type whereby they may be rendered more efficient in operation.

Further'objects areto provide an engine in which there shall be no large masses of metal in surface contact, or in other words to so construct the engine that friction between the moving parts shall be reduced to a minimumas by this means troubles arising from expansion due to the high temperature of the combustion gases will be obviated to a largev extent.

In its broadest aspect my invention contemplates an internal combustion rotary engine comprising two elements relatively movable in an angular direction one of said elements having a plurality 'of rotary re` eessed abutments and rthe other of said elements a plurality of vanes the arrangement being suchthat between the rotating parts removable packing rstrips or rings are arranged so that the parts in actual contact. are f very small area. In other words the construction is such that if the packing strips and rings are removed there will be no parts in contact except the face contact of the rotary abutments with the outer casing and the Contact at the antifriction bearing which is provided between the two elements. t

The aforementioned and other obJects as `may hereinafter appearv or are incidental to the invention are attained by the means which I will now proceedvto describe in detail for the ready understanding of which referenceshould be had to the accompanylng drawlngs in which:

Figure 1 is a section of a rotary internal combustion engine embodying the inventionV taken on the linea-a ofFigJEZ.

'Fig'. 2 is a section on line b-Z) Fig. 1.

Figs. Sand 4 illustrate a modication. In the embodiment of the invention illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 the power shaft 1 or a sleeve thereon carries a cylinder comprising two end shields 2 and 3 two internally ,toothed rings 4 and 5 and an annular wall 6 assembled and bolted by bolts 7 in such a manner that the toothed rings 4 and 5 are `located at opposite ends of the cylinder ad- ]acent the -end shields.

Passing concentrically through the cylinder thus formed is a shaft 8 to which a drum 9 is secured said drum being in the construction illustrated scalloped or hollowed out at two diametrically opposite pomts to accommodate two rotatably mounted abutments 10 and 11 one of which 10 constitutes a'rotary valve and `the other 11 a rotary seal. The drum isprovided with packing rings to lsecure gas tight engagement with that part of the outer cylinder with which it comes in contact.

The rotary abutment 10 is in the form of'.`

a hollow drum and carries at each end a gear 12 meshing with the respective toothed ring 4 or 5 built into the main cylinder. A slot 13 (Fig. 1) is provided in the rotary abutment 10 and extends in a direction parl other end is sealed as at. 1S but a number of ports 19 are provided in=the compression chamber 15 for a purpose hereinafter described.

The rotary abutment 11 is preferably a solid cylinder carrying at each end a gear 20 meshing with the respective toothed ring 4 or 5 built into the main cylinder.

The rotary abutment 10 and the rotary abutment 11 `are free to be rotated in the mainl drum by the rotation of theA outer cyl'- indei and the toothed gear above described, said abutments 10 and 11 each making three revolutions for every revolution of the cylinder. The smooth peripheries of the abutments 10 and 11 make gas tight contact with the'smooth bore of the cylinder which latter is provided with three vanes 21 also making gas tight'contact by means of a packing strip 21 with the smooth periphery of the drum.

It may here be stated that the function of the gears above described are not only to positively rotate the paits ybut to insure that the slotor groove for the reception of the vanes should occupy thecorrect position as thel vanes are successively presented to them and further-that it is an important part of the invention that the abutments should run in face contact with and at the same face speed as the outer cylinder so that the seals make one revolution while one vane is traveling through a distance equal to the distance between the centers of any two vanes or in other words the circumference .of the abutmentsshould be equal'to the distance between-the centers of any two varies.

It will be-apparent that with this arrangement it is necessary to make provision for the vanes 21 carried by the rotary cylinder to pass the rotarv abutment 10 and the rotary abutment 11and this is accomplished in the case of the rotary abutment 10 by means of the slot 13 above referred tobemg so disposed that each vane 21 passes through saine and into the abutment during the time the vane is passing from one side of the rotary abutment to the other. In the case of the rotary abutment a groove 22 is provided and so disposed as to allowT each vane 21 to pass while both parts are rotating the groove and vane being so shaped that one edge of the groove slides in close contact with one face of the vane as it enters the groove and the other edge of the groove slides in close contact with the opposite face of the vane as it leaves the groove thereby securing a gas tight joint during the passage of the vane from one side of the rotary abutment to the other. y

The construction and mounting of the aforesaid vanesis a feature of considerable importance to the successful running of the engine and I will therefore describe same in detail;` Each vane 21 (see Fig. 4) is dovetailed into the outer annular wall 6 and is provided with a packing strip 23 adapted to be pressed outwardly by the springs 2t so as to make gas tight engagement wit-h the periphery of the drum 9. In order to prevent said `,packing strip 23 `being displaced,

when the vane enters either the slot 13 or the groove in the rotary abutments 10 and 11 respectively the vane is made slightly longer than the rotary abutments 10 and 11 as the case may be consequently the ends of passages 27 and 28 in the drum 9. These passages communicate on opposite sides of the rotary abutment 11 with the chamber formed between the drum and the cylinder in which the vanes rotate.' One set of ducts and passages 25 and 27-cominunicate with the fuel supply and the other set 2G and 28 form the exhaust outlet -for the burnt gases.

The operation of the engine constructed as hereinbefore described is as follows, it being of course understoodthat the drum 9 is stationary and the outer cylinder rotating and the rotary abutment-s also rotating by means of the toothed gear above described, the arrows on the respective parts indicating the direction of revolution.,

At any given instant in a single cylinder engine unit one charge of fuel is being drawn in, a second charge is Vbeing compressed, a third chargeis undergoing combustion and a fourth charge of burnt gases is being expelled. Following the motion of onevane 21 through a complete revolution and commencing4 when it is just leaving the slot 22 in the rotary abutment 11, the cycle is as follows: A charge of working fluid having been drawn through the induction ports 25 into the cylinder space 17 in front of the vane 21, the forward motion of the latter compresses the mixture and drives it through the non-return valve 1,6 into the compression chamber 15 and as the slot 13 in the rotary abutment 10 passes'the successiveyports 19 the compressed charge passes into the interior of the abutment 10. When the vane 21 reaches the abutment 10 the slot 13 is in position to receive it and said vane passes-while the abutment is rotating-to the other side of the abutment and as the vane commences to leave said abutment on the opposite side the vexplosive mixture under compression is admitted from the interior of the rotary abutment into the space between the vane (shown in the dotted position in Fig. 1) and the 'rotary abutment. It will thus be apparent that the-.rotary abutment serves to transfer the compressed working charge from the front of the vane 21 to the rear of the same vane when this latter is in the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1. As the vane leaves the slot in the abutment, said slot is sealed by passing into the compression chamber 15 in the drum and at this instant the charge in a highly compresesd condition is fired and the eXpansion, due to combustion drives the vane 21 forward. The forward motion of the vane 21 during this part of the cycle expels the products of combustion due to the firing of the previous charge and brings the vane 2l into engagement with the slot 22 in the r0- tary abutment 11 ready to repeat the cycle. Each vane receives one impulse per revolution and sincet there are three vanes there will be three power impulses pervrevolutionv of the cylinder which in this case also operates as a flywheel for the engine.

I will now describe the means employed for obtaining. variation ofi compression of the working fluid so as tokdbtaina variable stroke engine.

Referring first to Fig. 1 it will be seen that I have provided a plurality of ducts 29 in the drum 9 leading from the induction passage to several dierent points on the periphery of the drum and each of these ducts is adapted to be controlled by valves 45 (Fig. 2) operated by rods 46 leading to the exterior. These ducts when open and in front of a rotating vane act as relief valves through which a part of the fuel admittedat the main inlet is forced back in the induction passage.

In Figs. 3 and 4 I have illustrated a somewhat modified construction wherein the means for transferring the compressed working fluid to the rear of the vane just prior to ignition is arranged upon the outer cylinder instead of within the drum 9. as illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2.

In this construction the drum 9'is provided with two rotary abutmentsl 11 actuated by gearing similar to that hereinbefore described with reference to Figs. 1 and 2. It will be seen that the recesses in the drum to receive the abutments are made of such size that there shall be a minimum of friction between the rotating parts. In the upper abutment I have shown the recess as maklng contact with the abutment at the points 0-0 while the lower abutment is shown as located in a recess provided with packing strips d-eL The rotary valve 10 of which inthe example illustrated there are three are located in valve casings 32 carried by the outer c linder and each of said valves 10 is provi ed with a spindlepassing through a stuilng box to the outside of the cylinder'said spindle carrying a sprocket wheel to which m0- tion is-transmitted by any suitable gearing such for instance as chain and sprocket gear( e The rotary valves 10 are each provided with a port 33 and the outer cylinder vis also provided with ports 34 and 35 one onl each side of each of the vanes 21 and adapted to communicate at certain times with the port 33 in the rotary valve as will now be exf plained.

Assuming the parts to be in the position illustrated in Fig. 3 it will be seen that the vane 21 at the left of the figure is compressing a charge of working fluid in the cylinder space 17. As the vane approaches the upper of the two abutments 11 the rotary valve is so timed that its port 33 registers with the port 34 and the compressed charge enters the valve which'the'n closes and passes into the storage chamber 36 with which c each of the rotary valves communicate.

The vane now passes to the other side of the rotary abutment and as it leaves the slot and the rot-ary abutment.l The rotary valve.

now closes and then the mixture is fired andthe expansion due to combustion drives the vane forward. The succeeding'operations of the cycle 'are similar to those described with reference to the construction shown in Figs. 1 and 2 and I therefore do not deem it necessary to repeat them as they will be readily understood by .those skilled in the art to which this invention appertains. v

The outer cylinder may be provided with cooling `fins and a circulation of cooling water is maintained Vwithin the drum and one means of effecting such water cooling together with the means for introducing the working fluid and' exhausting the products of combustion and the lubrication of the moving parts is shown in Fig. 3.

The drum shaft 8 is provided withfa number of bores or ducts communicating with passages in the drum 9. The duct 37 serves for the admission of the working fluid and communicates with the induction port 38 in the drum.A The duct 39 communicates with.

the exhaust port 40. inthe drum whereby the burnt gases may be led' away. y Cooling wateris admitted through theduct 41 and after circulating through the jacket 42 formed in the drum escapes through the duct 43. The bores 44 are for the purpose of introducing lubricant to the working parts and thesemay open into any suitable position in the engine to obtain effective lubrication of the parts.

An engine constructed in accordance with this invention `may be utilized to transmit power in either direction of rotation at will as it will be apparent that if the outer cylinder is locked against rotation such as by a suitable brake mechanism theinner drum will then rotate in the opposite direction ed about said drum to form an annularv workingchamber, means for positively rotating said rotary abutment, means for securing a gas tight joint between said abutments and the rotary casing and between said vanes and drum, means for introducing working fluid through the drum tothe annular working chamber, means whereby the compressed working fiuid is transferred from one side of the rotary abutment to the other, means for igniting the compressed charge and means for-exhausting the burnt gases.

2. An internal combustion rotary engine comprising an inner normally stationary drum having a plurality of' rotary abutments, induction and exhaust passages in said drum, an outer rotatable easing having a plurality ofV vanes and concentrically mounted about said drum to form an annular working chamber, a compression chamber to said drum, means for circulating cooling l water through said drum, an outerrotatable casing having a plurality of vanes and concentrically mounted about said drum to form an annular working chamber, rotary valves mounted `on said outer casing, an annular compression chamber exterior of said casing, means for introducing the Working fluid through said drum to the Working chamber, means for compressing the Working fluid into the compression chamber, means for transferring a portion of the compressed gases from said compression chamber to the working chamber, means for igniting said gases and means for exhausting the spent gases through the drum.

BRUCE coNKLiN.

Witnesses i A. E. WHITE, S. WEsTcoT,

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