US1846873A - Ltttheb johns - Google Patents

Description

Feb. 23, 1932. JOHNS ENGINE CONTROL MEANS Filed Oct. 14, 1929 V I 7622757 02%W Patented Feb. 23,1932 7 UNITED star data;

LUTHER JOHNS, or A3 PARK, ILLinors, nssrcrnon- To RALIPH L'NAFZIGER, on a I .K.A.1 \TSAS'CITY, MISSOURI M q H Y ENGINE contract Mums a V i Application filed Odtoberl, 1929. Serial lio.399, 581.

These improvements relate to means for automatically stopplng an engine, with particular view to the prevention of undue en gine idling in automobiles and the. like;

The chief object of the invention s to provide a simple and'eficient circuit or system whereby such idling will be prevented beyond some predetermined and usually short interswitch controlled by relative movements of the seat constituting the drivers operating 26 station; and

Referring to Fig. lthe battery B grounded at G passes current through conductor 10 to the connection 12, at which placethe'circuit divides into whatmay be termed the delay- 25 action branch, the thermostat branch or the auxiliary branch, marked X, and what may be termed the main branch,} marked Y.

In the main branch current may pass'from.

connection 12 through conductor. 14L to one side of a switch mechanism shown as a plate 15, and it may also pass from connection 12 through conductor 16 to the other sideof-the' switch mechanism shown as a plate 17;, both plates thus being charged.

The gear shift lever 18 of the automobile is to beunderstood as being of the usual type.-

having two lateral or operative positions on each side and a central, inoperative or neutral position, in which neutral position it is shown. This lever 18 is illustrated as carrying, in insulated relation to the lever, so as not tobe grounded, a-contact maker 19 adapted to make electrical contact with plate 17 when the gearshift 'lever'is in either of the lateral or operative positions marked a and b on one side, and also with the plate in either of the lateral positions cor (Z'onthe other side. j V

The conductor 22, connected to the contact? to maker 19, leads to a connection at 23 With a conductor shown as a fiatbar or plate 24 adapted at its free end to make contact with leaf-spring 25 having its free end formed I Witha recess orseat 26 adapted tobe'engaged' and moved by an insulating roller 27 on'thef manual control lever 28 pivoted at 29; When.- thehand lever 28 is moved into its operative position'as shown byFi'g. 1 the-spring 25 is flexed and'held by the sprin'giness of the strip 25 operating slightly beyond the deadcenter i of the lever 28 with respect topivot 29 wherebycontact is made and maintained withthe 1 conductor 24:. Current therefore" passes to the spring 25 and thence throughconductor 30 to the timer or'interr'upter T and thence to the spark'coil 31,'theprimary of whichis grounded at 32 and the secondaryof which 7 is. grounded at 33, the secondary having, a" conductor'34 leading to the distributorD and thenceto the conductor 35 to the spark plug m I 36,- onlyone of such plugs being shown; g

It thus appears-that when the gearshift lever is moved into anyof-its operative posi tions indicated at a, 6,0 'and"cZ-,';a circuit will be completed through' the de'viceq31 and an induced c'urrent'supp'lie d tothe spark plug.

A part of the ignition circuit'thu'sf described has been denominated Y and I shall call that part of it r-which includes conductor 30', and

thence on to the s ark olu section Z.

There is another open path for current to U the spark plug while the, engine is in opera tion, namelythreugh the auxiliary-branch X. From connection 12 conductor4c0 leads to the preferably adjustable resistance R,

and the current thence passesthrough'jcom ductor 41 and through-the heatingcoil i2' of a current controlled delay-action device shown as a thermostat. The heating/coil 42 is connected at li-lwith the bi-nietal-th e'rmd V stat element 44' and the current passes 1 7 through element 4 1' to a connection at 45' from which the conductor 46 leads to connection 23, thus completing the auxiliary branch circuit to the switch elements 2 1 and having a primary side and a secondary side.

The winding 42 and the resistance provided by the element R are so proportioned that when the engine is normally running to drive the vehicle there will not be suflicient current passing through the thermostat Winding 42 to heat it suiiiciently to flex the bi-metal strip 44, downward as the device is illustrated. s

Such downward flexing, due-to sufficient heat, causes the pin 48 to push 'upon 'theroller 27 and to dislodge it from the small bend 26 in the spring 25, the spring 25 being thereby enabled to straighten out under its own springtension and to assume its position in Fig. 3 and to break the contact-between switch elements 24 and 25.

The foregoing description of the operation contemplated the movementof the, gear shift. lever to one side or the other, so as to energize both branches X and Y, and we have observed that the current flows chiefly through branch Y during the running of the vehicle. Let us nowjconsider the gear shift lever as being moved into its central,

neutral or inoperative position as shown by Fig. 1. Contact is therefore broken between the contact-maker 19 and both of the plates 15 and 17, and the more direct or substantially. resistance-free line to the spark-producing mechanism is thereby broken. That throws a greater amount of current through conductor 40, resistance R and the heating coil142, and this increase of current causes the coil 42 to becomeheated, and to such effect as to fiex'thestrip 44 so asto operate the manual switch lever ,28 as described.

The resistance R and the thermostat winding 42 may be of such various values severally and combined as' to provide a longer or shorter delayed action-for cutting off the sparks as may be desired within the effective limits indicated by practice. =In-some cases the engine will be permitted to'idle for say one minute while in others it may be preferable to allow several mi-nutes or more to'intervene before the ignition circuit is broken.

The occasion for such a device is largely in connection with the operation of trucks, although it is equally applicable to passenger vehicles. Truckdrivers have a habit of per-- mitting the engine to idle for long PGI'lOClS, as while making deliveries,- getting their.

luncheons,'etc. The present device will automatically prevent such undue idling, with a great saving of engine wear and-tear, oil and fuel,.and the prevention of much noxious gas discharge in the streetsf I am not the first, however, to suggest means for accomplishing these desirable results.

v In Fig. 3 the system is in all respects the same as that shown in Fig. 1 with the exception of the switch device in branch Y operatingto break the more direct line and thus to throw suiiicient current through the heatingcoil. The parts, and operation of the system of Fig. 3 which have already been discussed in connection with Fig. l'will be given; the same reference characters, and without repeating much of What has been described. v

' 1 Referring then to Fig. 3,.the conductor 16 leads to a terminal opposite which is'a terminal 51 and these two terminals are bridged byla conductor-52 movable 'downward by seat 53 when the operator seats himself thereon. This insulated plate 52 is guided by a'stem 54surrounded by a coil spring 55 resting against a support 56 and operating to raise the bridging plate 52 as well as the seat whereby contact is broken at 50, 52 and 51when the operator rises from the seat. Conductor 22 in Fig. 3 leads from the contact 51 to connection 23 asin Fig. 1.

. According to. Fig. 3 ,when the operator seats himself the circuit iscompleted frombattery through contact makers 50, 52 and 51- and thence through the elements already described and to the same efiects. Then when the driver gets off of'his seat, to. unload the truck or to make a delivery consuming considerable'time, the contact at 50 and 51 is broken and an increase of current passes through the thermostat, with the effects alreadydescribed, and as is shown by Fig- 2.

When the operatorwishes tov start the engine according. to either embodiment shown the lever 28 ismoved by the driver into contact-making position. This operation is equivalent to turning the ordinary ignition switch-on the automobile dashboard.

The particular thermostatzswitch device and the seatswitch illustrated are severally not of my invention This invention is in a circuit or system which-may employ other forms of delay-action means and other forms of thermostat devices. 'With'res'pecttoithe seat switch, of which various forms have been devised'by another thanmyself, the

present invention is in a system. peculiarly appropriate to such a control device. What I deem to be the chief merits ofthe present system are its notable simplicity and freedom from parts likely to get out of order, its

possibilities :of convenient embodiment in units or devices readily applicable to cars now in use, and all whereby theklesired operative position and to break the same circuit when the gearshift lever is in its inoperative position, a current-operated delayed-action device in the auxiliary branch and adapted to operate said switch means to break the circuit in both of said branches when the gear-shift lever is moved into its inoperative position. V 2. The combination with the gear-shift lever having an operative positionand an inoperative'position and the internal combustion engine of an automobile, of a. divided ignition circuit for the engine comprising a main branch and an auxiliarybranch, a switch common to both said branches, a makeand-break devicein the main branch and under the control of the gear-shift lever to make the circuit in the main branch when the gear-shift lever is in its operative position and to break the same circuit when the gearshift lever is in its inoperative position, a" current-operated thermostat device in the auxiliary branch and adapted to operate said switch means to break the circuit of both said branches when the device having said circuit-inaking-and-breaking means is in one of its positions. 7 3. In an automobile having an engine depending for its operation upon an ignition circuit, having also a hand-operable lever de-; vice for connecting the vehicle tothe engine, and having also a drivers seat device, each of said devices being movable into difl'erent positions, one of said devices having operatively associated with it means for making and breaking a circuit, the combination therewith. of a divided ignition circuit for the engine comprising a main branch and an auxiliary branch, switch means common to both of said branches, said circuit-making-and-breaking means being op'eratively in the main branch and being adapted to make the circuit there in when the one of said devices associated with said circ-uit-making-and-breakingineans is in one of its positions and to break same circuit when the same device is in another one of its positions, a current-operated delayedaction mechanism in the auxiliary branch and adapted to operate said switch means to break the circuit of both said branches when the device having said circuitqnaking-and breaking means is in one of its positions.

4. The combination of claim 1 hereof in which there are also means for operating said switch means by hand to complete thecircuit through both said branches.

5. The combination of claim 2 hereof in I which there are also means for operating said switch means by hand to complete the circuit through both said branches. I 6. The combination of claim whichthere are also means for operating said switch means by hand to complete the circuit through both said branches.

7. In an automobile having adrivers seat 7 3 hereof in adapted to move up and down andthereby having two'positions. and having aninternal combustion engine, the combination there-'" with of a divided ignition circuit for the ena gine comprising a main branch and an auxiliary branch, switch means common to both a V of said branches, a make-and-break device in the mainbranch and-under the control of thedrivers seat and being adapted to make one of its positions.

8. The combination of claim .7 hereof in which there are also means for operating said switchmeans by hand to complete the circuit through both said branches.

' LUTHER JOHNS.

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