US 4,683,849 AGranted

Reciprocating multicylinder vee machines with secondary counterbalancers

OwnerArthur E. Browninventor

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Abstract

An engine is disclosed in which two cylinders or guideways are mounted in a Vee or L formation with a reciprocable piston or crosshead in each. Connecting rods interconnect each reciprocable member to a crankshaft. Countershafts with balance weights thereon are referred to as balance shafts and these are driven at twice cranshaft speed in opposite directions and they serve to counterbalance the secondary reciprocating inertia forces. The balance shafts are mounted substantially parallel to the crankshaft instead of at right angles to the crankshaft as taught by Lanchester in a Vee machine. Thus, ordinary gearing can be used to drive the balance shafts instead of the skew gearing taught by Lanchester in a Vee machine. When the angle between the two cylinders is 90 degrees, only two not four balance shafts are required. When the machine has four cylinders in a 90 degree Vee, only two parallel balance shafts are required to serve all four cylinders. For some applications, three balance shafts are used.

Claims7

Dependent claims

In a reciprocating machine, the combination of a frame structure, a crankshaft mounted for rotation in said frame structure, two guideways fastened to said frame structure and directed radially outward from said crankshaft, said two guideways being disposed at an angle relative to each other about the axis of the crankshaft, a reciprocable member guided for reciprocation in each said guideway, a connecting rod interconnecting each reciprocable member to said crankshaft for respective reciprocative and rotary motion,

at least one primary counterweight attached to said crankshaft and rotatable therewith, said primary counterweight serving to counterbalance the primary reciprocating inertia forces of said reciprocable members,
at least two secondary balance weights mounted for rotation in said supporting frame on axes offset from the axis of said crankshaft, positive toothed gearing rotatably interconnecting said crankshaft and said secondary balance weights so as to drive the secondary balance weights at twice the RPM of said crankshaft, two of said secondary balance weights driven in opposite directions of rotation from each other, said secondary balance weights serving to counterbalance the secondary reciprocating inertia force of said reciprocable members,
and wherein the improvement comprises;
said secondary balance weights being mounted with their axes of rotation substantially parallel to the axis of rotation of said crankshaft, and wherein the angle between the two said guideways is 70 to 110 degrees, and wherein the axis of rotation of one said secondary balance weight is located inside said 70 to 110 degree angle, and wherein the axis of rotation of a second said secondary balance weights is located outside said 70 to 110 degree angle.

1 more element

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.