Gas Engine Patents of Note
The mechanical ingenuity of machinists and engineers has driven design innovation since the infancy of the internal combustion engine. And while that same ingenuity continues unabated today, yesterday’s engineers had a smaller pool of accepted knowledge and practice from which to draw, making their innovations that much more singular.
Take, for instance, the work of Lanson Joyner, a Louisiana-based engineer who set out to craft the perfect double-acting tandem engine.
In this 1918 patent, Joyner laid claim to designing a practical, reliable and durable double-acting tandem engine, made so, he claimed, by his unique application of water cooling.
Water cooling was certainly nothing new in 1918, but Joyner’s designed use of it was. Not content with simply supplying water-cooled jacketing to the cylinders, Joyner’s design incorporated a unique system whereby cooling water was circulated through a channel in the engine’s connecting rod and cavities in the pistons.
The 1918 patent appears to be Joyner’s first stab at this approach to cooling: A second version was patented in 1921.
At least one Joyner engine, based on the 1921 patent, was built. John Davidson, Bristol, Wis., owns that engine, which was featured in the May 1996 Gas Engine?Magazine.
John regularly displays the Joyner, and as anyone who’s seen it in action will attest, it’s a truly unique design, and an absolute testament to the mechanical ingenuity of engineers working almost 100 years ago.
Know of an interesting patent? Contact Gas Engine Magazine at:?1503 S.W. 42nd St., Topeka, KS 66609-1265; rbackus@ogdenpubs.com
