Abstract: The invention discloses an internal combustion engine of the type in which alcohol or alcohol-containing mixture and air undergo the thermal or catalytic reforming reaction, and the reformed gases containing hydrogen are directly charged or mixed with gasoline or the like and charged into the engine for combustion. The production of soot and tar during the thermal or catalytic reforming reaction may be minimized, and the emission of noxious combustion products may be also minimized.

Abstract: A combination AC and DC electrical starting motor system for internal combustion engines has a first portion responsive to DC current for cranking a starter motor assembly of an internal combustion engine, and a second portion responsive to AC current for cranking the starter motor assembly simultaneously with the first portion. Each of the first and second portions of the starting motor system includes an electrical motor, which may be shared with the other portion, and an electrical solenoid connectible to a source of current for actuating the motor simultaneously with actuation of the motor of the other portion.

Abstract: An air starter having a rotary air motor and a drive pinion mounted on radially offset drive shafts in axially disposed housings which are connected by an intermediate common flange. The flange provides a pair of grooves which are concentric with each other and with one of the shafts. Air passages in the two housings are disposed to communicate with the grooves regardless of the relative angular orientation of the two housings. Also disclosed is pneumatically controlled main air valve which incorporates a lubricator for injecting a charge of lubricant into the incoming air stream as the valve opens and a shock absorber to regulate the closing movement of the main air valve against the bias of incoming air pressure.

Abstract: An air heating system for a compression ignition engine comprises a combustion chamber which includes a burner through which fuel is supplied to the combustion chamber. A two stage fuel pump is provided to supply fuel to the burner with the output of the second stage being connected to the burner and the input of the second stage being connected to the output of the first stage. Valve means is provided to ensure that there is substantially no pressure drop across the second stage of the pump and control means is provided to control the speed of operation of the pump so that the rate of fuel delivery to the combustion chamber can be closely controlled.

Abstract: A starting system for a compression ignition engine includes an auxiliary engine in combination with a conventional cranking motor arranged so that either the auxiliary engine or the cranking motor may be used for starting, or both may be used in tandem. When the auxiliary engine is selected torque is transmitted therefrom to the main shaft of the cranking motor through a transmission including an epicyclic reduction gear train and a releasable clutch. The auxiliary engine is started from the cranking motor through a Bendix drive mechanism driven from a sprag gear which is in constant sliding mesh with a drive gear of the cranking motor and connected to the Bendix drive mechanism by a cushion spring.

Abstract: A four stroke cycle internal combustion engine is presented having a sustained power stroke which results from a delayed mixing of a stratified charge. Use of delayed mixing of an overall stoichiometric air-fuel mixture results in formation of a low amount of the oxides of nitrogen. Delayed mixing of the stratified charge is achieved by placement of a Helmholtz resonator cavity in the head or closed end of each combustion chamber. The Helmholtz resonator cavity communicates with the main combustion chamber via a narrow slot made around the periphery of the top end of the chamber. On the intake stroke of each engine cylinder, the main chamber is filled with a slightly fuel rich gaseous charge while the companion Helmholtz resonator cavity is filled with air. During the compression stroke some of the rich air-fuel mixture is forced into the resonator cavity via the communicating slot. At or near TDC, the air-fuel mixture in the main chamber is ignited.

Abstract: An auxiliary charge of air, fuel mixture, and/or recycled exhaust gas is injected into the combustion chambers of an engine through directional ports adjacent the spark plug gaps to enhance combustion, reduce noxious emissions, scavenge exhaust gases, etc. The injection timing is controlled by cam driven valves, and the magnitude thereof is regulated in accordance with both engine temperature and throttle valve opening or engine load, the latter being sensed by vacuum passages adjacent the throttle in the carburetor throat or by a direct coupling to the throttle valve.

Abstract: A two cycle loop scavenging engine of the crankcase precompression type having a pair of equally dimensioned scavenging passages 14, 16 disposed in a cylinder block 10 behind an apertured cylinder line 12. The passages are symmetrically positioned on opposite sides of a vertical plane A including the cylinder axis and oriented at an angle .theta. to a plane normal to the crankshaft 17. Recessed notches 22, 23 in the lower periphery of the piston skirt 20a mate with notches 12e, 12f, respectively, in the bottom of the cylinder liner at the entrances to scavenging passages 14, 16 at the bottom of each piston stroke. The notches 22, 23 have unequal cross-sectional areas to compensate for unequal fuel mixture pressures at the scavenging passage entrances caused by the rotation of the crankweb 17a, thereby producing a more uniform fuel mixture distribution in the cylinder.

Abstract: An injector apparatus particularly suited for injecting starting fluid into the cylinders of an internal combustion engine can be operated by the on-board compressed air system of a vehicle. The air, which may be taken from an air-driven starter motor or an air brake system, is used to actuate a piston causing starting fluid to be expelled from a metering chamber into the fuel cylinders of the vehicle's engine. The metering chamber is then refilled from a pressurized reservoir.

Abstract: A rotary valve system for an internal combustion engine is disclosed. Through the provision of an axially movable valve rotor, the system is capable of variable valve opening duration and timing. Ports in the rotor or in the rotor housing, or both, have edges inclined with respect to the axis of the rotor, so that relative axial movement of the rotor and housing ports effects a change in the timing of valve opening and closing. Valve opening duration is also varied. An actuator system which controls the axial translation of the rotor during operation of the engine considers factors affecting engine performance such as engine speed, road speed and engine loading in determining the optimum valve timing and duration setting.

Abstract: Disclosed herein is an internal combustion engine comprising a cylinder, a piston movable in the cylinder between top dead center and bottom dead center positions, and an air entry port located in the cylinder adjacently above the piston when the piston is at bottom dead center and adapted to be opened and closed in response to piston movement, which air entry port extends generally tangentially from the cylinder so that air entering the cylinder through the port swirls within the cylinder, together with valve means preventing flow from the cylinder and permitting flow into the cylinder.

Abstract: The cylinders of a supercharged two-stroke internal combustion engine have valves, intake and exhaust pipes and a cylinder head constructed for air to be directed from the intake pipe toward the piston along the wall of the cylinders upon opening of the valves and to scavenge the combustion chamber without substantial direct flow of air from the intake pipe to the exhaust pipe along the cylinder head.

Abstract: An internal combustion engine having a precombustion chamber connected to the cylinder by a venturi passage is supplied fuel through an opening in the venturi passage. Fuel is supplied to the precombustion chamber in an initial increment on the compression stroke so that the air and fuel in the precombustion chamber can be ignited at the end of the compression stroke and a stream of high pressure, hot gases returning through the venturi aspirate a second increment of fuel for completing combustion of the air in the cylinder. A bypass conduit from the precombustion chamber conveys gas under pressure to the fuel near the opening in the venturi to assist in ejecting said second increment of fuel into the hot gases in the venturi. A small cylinder and piston, or a diaphragm in the bypass conduit transmit pressure to the fuel without letting hot gases contact the fuel.

Abstract: A fuel injection system for externally ignited internal combustion engines including a device for injecting fuel into an air stream and an air measuring device comprising a valve having an airfoil portion. The air measuring valve is pivotably mounted within the suction tube of the engine, thereby exposing the air measuring valve to the air stream flowing through the suction tube. The air measuring valve is exposed to a combination of forces. One of the forces is an impedance induced force developed in accordance with the principle associated with impedance type valves and as a function of the pressure prevailing in front of and behind the air measuring valve when viewed in the direction of flow of the air stream in the suction tube. The other force is a lift force and is developed in accordance with the airfoil principle and as a result of an air flow about the airfoil portion of the air measuring valve.

Abstract: This disclosure deals with a reciprocating piston for an internal combustion engine, particularly for a diesel engine. The piston is made of a relatively high strength metal such as iron, and no more material is used than is necessary to withstand the thermal and mechanical loads encountered in use. A circular piston dome is supported by a support part which extends between the dome and a pair of piston pin bosses. The bosses also support arcuate side thrust pads. A ring band is connected to the outer periphery of the dome by a connecting part which is relatively thin and flexible. The dome, the ring band and the support part are generally symmetrical about the axis of the piston. The support part is annular in cross section and may be conical, cylindrical, or partly conical and partly cylindrical.

Abstract: A two-cycle internal combustion engine having reed-type intake valving, and specially configured and positioned intake and injector porting, with the porting constructed and arranged to improve various of the operating characteristics of the engine, and particularly adapted to increase the effectiveness of the injection through the injector porting.

Abstract: An articulated, spring-controlled intake valve, for use in controlling induction flow through an intake port of an induction passage in an internal combustion engine, includes a valve head and a separate valve stem connected together by a hinge member with one end thereof pivotally secured to the valve stem and its opposite end fixed to the valve head with one end of a flexure spring sandwiched therebetween, the opposite end of the flexure spring being secured by a clamp member to an internal wall defining a portion of the induction passage.

Abstract: A port in the cylinder wall of a two-stroke cycle engine is connected by a passage and a restricted orifice with the idle reservoir of a diaphragm type carburetor. The idle reservoir is connected through an adjustable idle mixture valve with the metering chamber. The passage from the engine port is connected by a vent passage with the venturi of the carburetor. The dry side of the metering diaphragm is vented by a restricted opening and is connected with the dry side of a crankcase pressure operated fuel pump through a passageway having therein a check valve and a valve which is open when the choke valve is closed. This connection allows pressure pulses from the crankcase to influence fuel flow so that the desired fuel flow is obtained under more than one engine operating condition. In addition fuel is introduced directly into the crankcase at idle speeds instead of into the throttle bore giving more stable idle condition.

Abstract: Disclosed herein is a starter mechanism for an engine having a starter gear, which starter mechanism includes a rotatable starter shaft, a starter pinion rotatably mounted on the starter shaft for axial movement, in response to rotation of the starter shaft in one direction, to an engine starting position in driving engagement with the engine starter gear, and a drive member mounted for rotation coaxially with the starter shaft and drivingly connected to the starter shaft. Manual starting of the engine is selectively effected by rotating a circular member or rotor drivingly connected to the drive member through a first one-way clutch which, in response to rotation of the rotor in the one direction, affords common rotary movement of the rotor and the drive member and permits free wheeling of the drive member relative to the rotor in the same direction when the rotor is not operated.

Abstract: An air and fuel mixing device incorporates a Venturi throat or other mixing means for feeding a highly combustible mixture of fuel and pressurized air to an electrical fuel injector valve or directly to the intake manifold in a system for starting an internal combustion engine. The system replaces the choke in a conventional electrical ignition type internal combustion engine. The fuel injector valve is controlled to inject a limited quantity of a highly combustible atomized air-fuel mixture into the engine intake manifold during engine startup. Startup is achieved with minimum fuel waste and produces a minimum of exhaust pollutants. A modified form of the invention is shown as employed in a fuel injection type internal combustion engine system wherein high pressure air-fuel mixture is fed to the fuel injectors solely through use of a conventional low pressure fuel pump and air supply.