Charles Bethards
and
His "Wooden" Hot Air Engines
Page 3
Charles Bethards
| Here is the Bethards Scotch yoke
displacer drive engine. It, too, features an oscillating power
cylinder. But those things pale in comparison to how Charles designed the flywheel drive. Read on.
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This view shows the oscillating power cylinder,
power cylinder trunnion,
the connecting rod, crank pin, Scotch yoke, and displacer operating rod.
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| Viewed from the other side.
Here is the unique flywheel drive arrangement: crank, connecting rods, and crank. If you've ever worked with crank mechanisms, you'll know that if they are ever stopped at top dead center, they are not self-starting. Just ask a single cylinder steam traction engine operator; or, observe one as they jockey the engine back and forth. From time to time they have to reach over to the flywheel and turn the engine over, past top dead center or bottom dead center. Charlie cleverly used two crank pins and two connecting rods on each rotating shaft and he "quartered" the crank pins. It is impossible for both sets of crank pins to stop at TDC or BDC. The flywheel is always self-starting.
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| This concludes your tour of Charlie's
hot air engines. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.
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Click here to go back to Page #2 of Charlie's Engines
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These pages designed by Orrin B. Iseminger
Copyright © 2001-2007, Orrin B. Iseminger
Revised -- 1/17/07