US878613A - Rotary engine. - Google Patents

Description

PATENTED PEB.` l1, 1908.

LE. Lm EG BN .DIJE DY .R AA .T G0 R APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 1 o

5' 9 7 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

NQ. 878,613. PATENTEDFERfllQlQoB. G. A. DIBBELL.

ROTARY ENGINE. APPLICATION FILED SEPTJ, Y1907. i

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

sumar@ c wenns GEORGE A( DIBBELL,l OF WASHBURN, WISCONSIN.

ROTARY ENGINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 1l, 1908.

Application filed September 5i 1907. Serial No. 391.411.

To all 'whom it 'may concern:

Be it known that l, GEORGE A. DIBBELL, acitizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Washburn, in the county of Bayfield and State of Wisconsin, have invented a new and useful Rotary Engine, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to rotary engines, and the object is to provide a simple, cheap but eflicientrotary engine of the single as well as the compound type, and to construct such engine with only rotating and no oscillating or reciprocating parts.

In the accompanying drawin s: Figure 1 is an end elevation of my engine ooking into all cylindrical parts, the cylinder covers being removed. Fig. 2 is a side view ofthe packing rings used in the cylinders. Fig. 3 1s the cover removedfrom the cylinders in Fig. 1.\ Fig. 4 is a sectional view on the line a-a in Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is a top view of acompound engine constructed on the principle of my invention and provided with controlling and reversing valve whose shell in said view is intersected horizontally on a line passing throughV all of its ports, and the steam pipes connected with the ports, except the intake from thehboiler and the iinal exhaust port. Fig. 6 isa top view of the valve and adjoining piping. Fig. 7 is a vertical central section of the valve-shell on the line t-b in Fig. 6 exposing the side of the i .valve plug.

Referring to the drawings by reference numerals, 1 designates the bed-plate ofthe engine, and upon it is secured in any suitable manner three cylinders A, B and C, which are on the same principle in the single engine in Figs. 1 and 4 as in the larger cylinders A2, B2, C2 in the compound engine in Fig. 5 and in the smaller cylinders in the last named ligure, so that a description of 'one set of cylinders will cover the rest of them except as may be otherwise specified.

In Figs. 1 and 4 will be seen that in the cylinder O is fitted a rotary piston 2, `fixed on a shaft 3 and having in its face a segmental gap 4 adapted to receive loosely the wings 5, fitted one in the face of each of the pistons 6 and 7, which are ixed on shafts 8 and 9 in the cylinders A and B. On said shafts 8 and 9 are fixed gears 10 and 11 meshing with a gear 12fixed on the shaft 3,7 so that the three pistons revolve in unison and are so geared that the gap 4 receives alternately the Wings 5 one at a time.

Around each piston 6 and 7 is left a space 13 through which the steam coming in through ports 14, 14a chases the wings 5 and then exhausts at 15 and 15a; and to reverse the engine involves simply a suitable valve whereby the steam is passed in the reverse direction. Such valve will be fairl understood from the description present y to be given of Figs. 5, 6 and 7.

16 and 17 in Fig. 5 indicate pulleys fixed on the shafts of the engine for driving belts (not shown) and thereby other machinery.

As best shown in Figs. 2 and 4, the wear of the ends ofv the pistons is taken up and leakage of steam at said points prevented, by metallic packing rings 18 fitting tightly Within the ends of the cylinders, and being adjusted against the ends of the pistons by screws 19 in the cover 20 of the cylinders. The opposite ends of the cylinder may be closed by a cover 21 cast integral with the cylinder as in Fig. 4, or may be like cover 20 secured by screws 23 5 in either ease the pistons may be held against the cover by the acking vring 18, or such rings may be provided at both ends of the pistons. The packing rings may be made i-n one solid piece or separate,`and in the latter case they may have their reduced overlapping edges attached together by pivots 22.'

Turning now to the compound engine in Fig. 5 and its valve shown in Figs. 5, 6 and 7 it will be understood that the large cylinders A2, B2, CZ contain pistons like 2, 6 and 7 in Fig. 1, only that they are larger, and are fixed on the same shafts as the small pistons, and the gears 10, 11 and 12 serve for all the pistons to keep them in the desired relative positions.

To guide the steam properly to and from as well as through the engine l employ a valve comprising a shell 24 having the steam inletpipe 25 at its top and the exhaust pipe 26 at its bottom communicating respectively with the steam spaces 27 and 28, one above and the other below the valve plug 29, of which 30 is the stem and 31 the operating handle or lever, and 32 is a diametrical groove in the top of the plug for directing the steam.

33 are lugs at the underside of the cover 34 of the shell for keeping the plug down with the bottom end of its stem in the step 35, which, being small, allows theplug to turn easily although there is steam pressure on the top of it.

The shell of the valve is provided with fou side portsl 38, 39, 40, 41 connected with the engine by pipes for the steam to pass through, as will be fully understood from the following description of the operation.

In starting the engine, if the valve plug is turned as inl Fig. 5-witli the end of the groove 32 toward the port 38, the live steam passes through the branched pipe 42 into ports 15 and 15-a of the small cylinders, and after turning the pistons therein it returns from ports 14 aridv14a through the branched pipe 43 to port 39 and through the curved duct 44 in the valve-plug it passes into the branched pipe 45, which leads to ports 15b and 15C of the large cylinders, in which it operates at low pressure and returns through the ports 14h, 14c and the-branched pipe 46 into port 41 of the valve shell, where it passes through a side gap 47 in the valve plug and thence through the lower space 28 and out of the exhaust pipe 26. To reverse the engine the plug is turned with the groove 32y toward the port 39; the steam will then enter the small cylinders through pipe 43, return by pipe 42, pass through the curved duct 44 into pipe 46, and after operating in the large cylinders returns through pipe 45, side gap 47 and space 28, to exhaust pipe 26'. And to stop thev engine the plug is turned with the end of groove 14 between the two ports 38 and 39.

419 is a ste-am space to admit pressure of the live steam-to counter-balance the side pressure on the plug in the downward extension 50 of the groove 32 by which the ports 38 and 39 are reached.

To take up wear of the wings 5 as well as to adjust them at any time toward the cylinders, screws 48 are screwed into the pistons and support the wing on their heads so that by turning the screws slightly the wing may be adjusted to a steam fit against the cylinder. This is the same in all the wings butv is illustrated only to the left in Fig. 1.

By meshing the gears so that the wings of they pistons stand in the relative directions shown in Fig. 1 they will be alternately in fu-*l'l action and thus prevent any dead center of the engine although the wings are idle while passingV the inlet ports.

The arrows'37 in Fig. 1 indicate the relative rotary motion of the pistons when the steam passes through the ports in the d-irections indicated there by smaller arrows. The piston 2 may also be called an abutment, but as it is as large as the pistons 6 and 7 and the terminals ofv gap 4 act at short periods asv piston Wings the element 2 has been termed piston, without thereby seeking to avoid the term abutment.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is 1. A rotary engine having two working cylinders arranged parallel to each other and an intermediate smaller cylinder between the working cylinders and communicating with their interior, a central shaft in each cylinder,

a piston. or rotating plug snugly fitted in the intermediate cylinder and having in its face a longitudinal transversely segmental groove, a rotary piston fixed on each shaft of the working cylinder and being in peripherical steam, metallic packing rings fitting in thecylinders and ag-ainst the ends of the pistons and the plug, and means for adjusting said rings. against thefends of the pistons and plug;

2. A rotary engine having two working cylinders arranged parallel to each other and an intermediate smaller cylinder between the working cylinders and communicating with their interior, a central shaft in each cylin der, a pistony or rotating plug snugly fitted in the intermediate cylinder and having in its face a longitudinal transversely segmental groove, rotary piston fixed on each shaft of the working cylinder and being'in peripherical contact with and ofthe same diameter as the plug so as to leave a steam space about the piston at one side of each working piston a wing adapted to be moved by the steam through the steam space and to pass into the groove ofy the plug` when passing the latter, gears fixed on all of said shafts and so meshed together that the wings of the working pistons pass alternately into the groove of the plug, said cylinders having at their points of union ports for the inlet and exhaust of steam, pipes extending from said ports, a valve connected with the pipes for starting, stopping and reversing the engine, longer cylindersin axial lines with the cylinders described, pistons and plug in the longer cylinders fixed on said shafts, and means for directing the steam from the smaller to longer cylinders through to the valve. v

In testimony whereof I aix my signature, in presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE A. DIBBELL. Witnesses:

JOHN WALsH, H. P. AXELBERG.

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