US1528164A - Internal-combustion engine - Google Patents

Description

H. A. NORDWICK Mar. 3. 1925. I 1,528,164

INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE Fi1ed May'6, 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR. HA.N01'da/;'c]c

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H ATTORNEY Patented Mar. 3, 1925.

I UNITED STATES I mBY A. NOBDWICI,'OF STOCKTON, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOB, BY HES ASSIGN- HINTS, OF ONE-HALF PAUL J. MABCHETTI, OF STOCKTON, CALIFORNIA.

inrmnn-comnusnon ENGINE.

Application ma flay e, 1922. Serial No. 559,018.

To all whom; it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY A. NORDWICK, a citizen of the United States,.residing at Stockton, county of San Joaquin, State of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Internal-Combustion Engines; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the characters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this application.

' This invention relates to improvements in internal combustion or gas engines, and particularly to a type in which the cylinders are arranged in a common plane radially of the crank shaft, the latter having cam-track means operatively connected to be turned with the reciprocation of the pistons.

The present engine is fundamentally of the same type as that shown in my United States Patent No. 1,374,164, dated April 5th, 1921, and in the arrangement of certain parts represents an improvement thereover.

The principal object of the present invention is to construct an engine of the above type so that the power-stroke cam is directly under the central plane of the cylinders and connecting rods of the pistons, so that the power is-transmitted to the shaft in an undeviating line.

Another object is to provide suction and exhaust stroke cams independent of the power-stroke cam against all of which the connecting rods bear; and to provide means whereby the rollers may always be kept in close contact with both sets of cams, thereby preventing any lost motion, when the pistonstrokes are reversed, thus eliminating the noi operation and rapid wear of the parts inevltable with play therebetween.

A further object is to provide for enabling the cylinders to be fired in direct sequence, giving a very steady operation of the engine and enabling a single valve operating cam bein used to actuate the intake valves of all t e c linders for one cycle of operation,

and simllarly a single cam for the exhaust valves.

A further object of the invention is to produce a simple and inexpensive device and yet one which will be exceedingly effective for the purposes for which it is designed.

These ob ects I accomplish by means of such structure and relative arrangement of erence indicate corresponding parts in the several views.

Fig. 1 1s a side view of the engine with the adjacent casing member removed, and

half in section, through the cylinders.

Fig. 2 is a half cross section, enlarged, taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Flg. 3 is a fragmentary section taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Referring now more particularly to the characters of reference on the drawings,the numeral 1 denotes a casin cylindrical in, form, and preferably made in .two parts split on avertical plane, for case of manufacture and assembly, each part being of the I same size. Pads 2 project from the casing to enable the latter to be supported on a suitable base.

Journaled in the casing axially thereof 7 and ,pro ectlng therefrom at both ends is the drive shaft 3, annular ball bearings 4.

being preferably employed, with oilpac'kmg means 5 about the shaft outside the bearings, whereby the casing is made sub- 1 stantially oil-tight.

F'xed onto the casing and projecting outwardly thereof are the cylindersv 6, preferably four in number, these being positioned in a common plane at right angles to the shaft and radially thereof, and spaced apart an even distance from eachother.

Fixed on the shaft, 3 in the planeof the center line of the cylinders is a' cam-disc 7, having an even number of hi hpoints or major-axes 8, and a correspon ing number of low points or minor axes 9, positioned half way between the major axes, there being four of each of these points, whichpolnts are connected to form a star-shaped track 7 on its outer surface.

Likewise fixed on the shaft and-spaced from the disc 7 on both sides'thereof are 100 discs 10, which have overhanging flanges 11 extending toward the disc the inner surfaces of which flanges are shaped-symmetrical with or follow the contour of the cam track 7, but s aced outwardly thereof. 106

These latter trac s have a taper or slope inwardly and away from the disc 7 as shown at 12 in Fig. 2 for apurpose as will appear. The cylindei's are provided with pistons 13 in which are pivoted in the usual manner 110 the connecting rods 14, whose lower ends are formed as forks or yokes 15 which carr spindles or pins 16 disposed parallel to tie shaft On each pin between the connecting rod fork is a roller 17 riding on the central track-surface 7, this roller preferably having ball bearings 18 between the same and the pin.

It will he noted that the cylinders are so disposed that the rollers always hear on adj acent surfaces of the track, that is, between each successive minorand major axis, thereof. The cycle-order of each piston is there fore always but one stroke ahead of or behind that of the adjacent piston.

Mounted on the outer ends of the pins for longitudinal adjustment thereon are ball-bearing rollers 19, which bear against the tracks 12 and whose outer faces are tapered or slopedto conform to the slope of said tracks.

Pivoted on each pin intermediate the fork l5 and rollers 19 are tension rods 20 which extend to a common pivotal mounting 21 with the casing at a point outwardly of the cam-discs and to the rear of the corresponding connecting rod with regard to the direction of rotation of the shaft and discs.

Adjustment of the rollers 19. when necessary may be had by any suitable means, one way being to place shims 22 as needed between each roller and the adjacent rod to bear against the shoulder 16 of the pin 16, employing adjustable locknuts 23 on the pin 16 to clamp the inner race of the rollerbearing against the shims at the opposite ends.

,By reason of this feature, if the inner cam track 7 or roller 17 Wears faster than the outer tracks, either or both the rollers 19 may be moved to always contact with the tracks 11 and take up the relative difference in radial spacing thus had between the tracks, which if not the exact width of the rollers means lost motion with its consequent evils. This feature also aids in manufacture, since with. this adjustment being possible, it is not necessary to so accurately finish the tracks with respect to the radial spacing .between each other, or to have the diameter of the rollers so exact.

Fixed on the discs 10 and projecting outwardly thereof are flanges 24, each carrying an opposed air of cams 25 and 26 respectively, the ormer to actuate the tappets 27 of the intake valve stems 28 of the cylinders. and the latter to actuate the tappets 29 of the exhaust valve stems 30. the exhaust-valve cams being positioned to be one stroke ahead of the intake-valve cams.

Since there are four each of the high and low points on the track, there are eight piston-stroke cam surfaces. giving two complete cycles of operation for each cylinder,

or in other words, each cylinder fires twice for each revolution of the shaft 3.

Owing to the fact that each piston-cycle but one stroke ahead of the next, with suffice for the first complete cycle of op eration of all four cylinders, while the other and opposed cams similarly actuate the valves during the second cycle of operatlons.

With the arrangement of cylinders and cam tracks as shown, when No. 4 cylinder has fired, No. 1 cylinder then again fires immediately after, followed by Nos. 2. 3 and 4', regardless of the fact that the cylinders are not evenly spaced about the circumfer ence of the casing. as might at first glance seem necessary. There is therefore an even flow of power to the shaft, instead of an intermittent flow as usual, giving great freedom from vibration and smoothness of operation, eliminating the need of the usual heavy fly wheel, though the cam-track discs serve this purpose.

It will be noted that the suction and firing strokes always take place with the same track surfaces engaging the connecting rod rollers in each instance, and the same of course is true of the exhaust and compression strokes.

The tension rods 20 allow the connecting rods to he flexibly mounted in the pistons. and eliminate the need of making rigid connections of the rods with the pistons. by taking the strain and side-thrust at the roller end of the connecting rods.

Timing of the engine may be accomplished. and any suitable ignition mechanism driven. by means of a pinion or sprocket 31 on one end of the shaft 3. the opposite end' carrying a driving flange 32 whereby to connect the shaft to a mechanism to be driven thereby.

From the foregoing description, it will be readily seen that I have produced such a device as substantially fulfills the objects of the invention. as set forth herein.

While this specification sets forth in detail the present and preferred construction of the device. still in practice such deviations from such detail may be resorted to rods, cam-track means on the shaft against which the rollers bear, and tension rods flexibly mounted with the connecting rods adjacent the rollers and to the casing to one side of the respective cylinders.

2. An internal combustion engine comprising a casing, a shaft turnably mounted therein, cylinders secured to the casing in a common plane at right angles to the shaft, pistons in the cylinders, connecting rods projecting therefrom, a plurality of rollers spaced longitudinally of the shaft on the outer ends of the rods, one such roller on each rod being centrally thereof, a camtrack fixed on the shaft in alinement with the central rollers and whose outer surface forms the inner track on which said rollers bear, and additional track members on the shaft spaced on both sides of the central track, said last named track members having track surfacesopposed but corresponding to that of the central track and spaced outwardly thereof, and against which the outer rollers bear.

3. An internal combustion engine comprising a casing, a shaft turn-ably mounted therein, cylinders secured to the casing in a common plane at right angles to the shaft, pistons in the cylinders, connecting rods projecting therefrom, a plurality of rollers spaced longitudinally of the, shaft on the outer ends of the rods, one such roller on each rod being centrally thereof, a camtrack fixed on the shaft in alinement with the central rollers and whose outer surface forms the inner track on which said rollers bear, and additional track members on the shaft spaced on both sides of the central track, said last named track members having track surfaces opposed but corresponding to that of the central track and spaced outwardly thereof, said outer track surfaces having a slope projecting toward the shaft away from the central track, the outer rollers bearing thereagainst and having a similar slope, and means for altering the spacing of said outer rollers with respect to the central roller.

4. An internal combustion engine comprising a casing, a shaft turnably mounted therein, cylinders mounted on the casing in a plane at right angles to the shaft, pistons in the cylinders, a plurality of rollers spaced longitudinally of-theshaft mounted in connection with the pistons at their outer ends, a track mounted on the shaft on whose outer surface. certain of the rollers bear, and additional track means on the shaft whose track surfaces correspond with but are opsed to the first named track and spaced outwardly thereof and against which the remaining rollers bear.

5. An internal combustion engine cornprising a casing, a shaft turnably mounted therein,-cylinders mounted on the casing in a plane at right angles to the shaft, pistons in the cylinders, a plurality of rollers spaced longitudinally of the shaft mounted in connection with the pistons at the outer ends, a track mounted on the shaft on whose outer surface certain of the rollers bear, addithereof and against which the remaining rollers bear, and means for taking up any lost motion between the rollers and tracks.

6. A gas engine of the type described. having the cylinders spaced forty five degrees apart and arranged to fire in consecutive order, intake and exhaust valves for the cylinders, and a pair of cams on the engine shaft for operating each class of valves, the cams of a pair being diametrically opposed and of a length such that but one valve of a class will be opened at a time with the rotation of the shaft.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

HENRY A. NORDWICK.

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