24 



SCIENTIFIC NEAA^S. 



[March ist, 1887. 



The carbon reservoirs are composed of two hoiizontal chambers 

 A A, the section of which is that of a trough with inclined sides, the 

 carbon rods, or sticks aa^ of uniform length, being arranged along 

 the length of the sides, where they are held by a double wall b b'^. 



At the bottom of the chamber, between the two piles of carbon, 

 passes an endless chain C C, furnislied with catches si^, placed alter- 

 nately on the right or left at the level of the lower sticks of each pile. 

 This chain passes over the pinion D, in front of the chamber over the 

 return guide pulleys dd, and the pinions i>i?, operated simultaneously 

 by two toothed wheels G G. 



The chain advancing in the direction of the arrow, its catches come 

 in contact alternately with the lower carbon, and push it in front into 

 contact with the corresponding carbon of the other chamber ; the arc is 

 tlierefore produced alternately at the point of contact of the carbons on 

 the right or on the left, at x or x>. 



The distance of the catches is regulated so that two new carbons 

 arrive in contact at the same time, when those of the opposite side, 

 having gone beyond their supports, fall of themselves in front into the 

 box E ; the light thus passes without interruption from one pair of 

 carbons to the other. 



When the carbons pushed by one of the catches e have travelled be- 

 yond the roller D, they are pressed against the same by a spring roller 

 /', placed below, and a little in advance. The current is conducted to 

 the carbons by small metallic contacts F F, the carbons being them- 

 selves made conductors, and by an electro-deposited coat of copper. 



Referring to the regulating apparatus, one of the wheels G is driven 

 by a pinion H, the axis of which carries a ratchet wheel /, put into 

 motion of a click or driver /;, suspended from a rocking lever K, carry- 

 ing at its other end a piece of soft iron P, which enters the bobbin J, a 

 retaining click j prevents any return motion, when it is not held by the 

 mechanism. 



Upon one of the shafts of pinions B is mounted a pulley L , carrying 

 a break M, the pressure of which is obtained by a counterpoise A''; this 

 break is itself carried by a counterpoised lever 0, the action of which 

 tends to cause the mechanism to return in its motion, which cannot take 

 place unless the click g is raised. 



The recking lever IC carries a counterpoise Jf, which can raise the 

 cylinder /-", when no electric action acts upon it. It also carries a dis- 

 tributor S, which interrupts or re-establishes the current in the bobbin/. 



The principal current enters at i into the carbon reservoir, and leaves 

 at 2 after having produced the arc between the two carbons. The 

 reservoirs thus acting as conductors are insulated from their supports at 

 3 and 4. The motor is operated by a derived current 5, 5, 7, and 8, 

 which traverses the bobbin _/, and which is interrupted at i i by the 

 dislributor. 



This latter establishes or interrupts the current by a small platinum 

 contact S, which is dis; 'laced with the rocking lever K. 



The current being established the bobbin will powerfully attract 

 the cylinder, and lowering the rocking lever will displace the distribu- 

 tor; the current will be interrupted and the counterpoise R again fall, 

 but before it is able to raise the retaining click g, the contact S has re- 

 established the current, and so on. 



During this time the lever N carried by the break M comes to rest 

 on the stop T, and the wheel L continues to turn in the interior of the 

 break. At this moment the counterpoise tends to cause the mechan- 

 ism to return in its motion, but is prevented from doing so by the re- 

 taining click g, which is no longer raised by the fall of the weight R, 

 the motion of which is not suflicient. 



The mechanism becoming free, the counterpoise again falls and 

 brings it back the necessary quantity for the lighting of the carbons ; at 

 this moment the arc is established. 



From this moment each time that the resistance of the arc increases 

 by the consumption of the carbons, the derived current augmenting in 

 intensity, will cause the carbons to approach each other ; and if this 

 approach is too great, the fall of the rocking lever by disengaging the 

 retaining click ^ will permit the break to widen the distance between 

 them. 



No. 3,522. James Atkinson, of 3, Nassington-road, Hampstead, 

 London, engineer. " Improvements in gas-engines." 12th 

 March, 1886. 



The engine described has an inclined cylinder A, formed by forcing 

 a cylindrical liner into a portion of the main framing of the engine, the 

 space between this portion of the engine and the liner forming a water- 

 jacket ; the cyhnder A is closed at its lower end by a cover, in which 

 passages for the inlet of gas and air, and outlet for the exhaust are 

 formed ; the other end is left open and a single-acting piston B is 

 fitted. The piston is connected by a link C to a pin D, which is fixed 

 in the connecting-rod £, being attached to the crank F; the upper end 

 of the rod E is fitted with another pin G forming a T-htad to it : to 

 the pin G one end of the links N is attached, the other end being 

 connected to a fixed centre I, around which the links vibrate. 



The piston has a peculiar motion imparted to it by the revolution of 

 the icrank pin F, and this peculiar motion enables the whole cycle of 

 operations necessary to a compression gas-engine to be performed by 



one piston in a single-acting cylinder for each revolution of the crank — 

 that is the gas and air are drawn in, compressed, ignited, expanded, 

 doing the work and expelled once per revolution. 



Fig. I shows the position of the crank F, the various rods, and the 

 piston at the end of the exhausting stroke, and whilst in this position 

 the piston may be worked as close to the cover as is consistent with 



^^9 J 



safety, so that the residuum may be thoroughly expelled if desired. As 

 the crank F revolves in the direction shown by the arrow, the piston 

 is moved into the position shown in Fig 2 ; during this movement the 

 gas and air, forming an intermittent, homogeneous, explosive mixture, 

 are drawn into the cylinder. The crank continuing to revolve moves 

 the piston back, so as to compress the charge until the position shown in 

 Fig. 3 is reached, when the charge is rcfdyfor ignition, after which 

 the increased pressure due to ignition drives the piston into the position 



shown in Fig. 4, thus imparting power to the crank shaft ; the stored- 

 up energy round during the rest of the revolution, the exhaust being 

 driven out whilst the engine is passing from the position shown in Fig. 

 4 to that shown in Fig. 1. 



The exhaust, admission, and governor valves are of a form commonly 

 in use. 



The working gear may be arranged in any suitable manner, the 

 essential requirement being to obtain the peculiar piston movement 

 which consists of four strokes for each revolution of the crank shaft ; 

 one of these strokes being used for drawing in the charge, one for com- 

 pressing the charge, one for imparting power to the engine during the 

 expansion of the ignited charge, and the other for expelling the 

 exhaust ; the lengths of these strokes and the points at which they 

 commence and end, being under control as described in the specification. 

 The cylinder being placed in any desired position in relation to the 

 necessary rods, levers, and working centres, as may be most convenient 

 and suitable. Also more than one cylinder may be used to form a 

 combined engine, or a separate pump may be combined with a cylinder 

 whose piston by means of the motion described gives two working 

 strokes per revolution, the other two strokes being exhausting strokes, 

 the charges being drawn in and compressed in the pump. 



The relative proportions of the capacities in the cylinder A, when in 

 the positions shown in Figs. I and 3, may be varied by altering the 

 distance apart of the pins D and G, or their relative position to the 

 crank pin, and also partly by the position of the main shaft centre R. 



