Patent Application
20160230738
The present invention relates to device to be used on a commercially available battery operated drill/driver gun to start an internal combustion engine including but not limited to a model airplane engine. Model airplanes are powered by either electric motors or fuel fed engines. The fuel feed variety of model airplanes are either powered by nitromethane or gasoline. In either case, most often, these fuel-type engines are started by means of an external electric starter powered by a battery. The motor of the electric starter powers a shaft onto which a nose cone adapter is connected to allow the electric starter to engage the nose cone of the model airplane engine when starting. An electric motor powered starter device is particularly suited to this application because the electric motor will not impede the motion of the model airplane nose cone when the engine begins to start and run on its own.
Small internal combustion engines are often used to power out door home or farm machines including but not limited snow blowers, weed whackers, lawn mowers, tractors and chain saws. A cone adapter is attached to the engine crankshaft and used to turn the engine over for starting as a by-pass or substitute for the typical pull cord found on these devices. Again, an electric motor powered starter device is particularly suited to this application because the electric motor will not impede the motion of the internal combustion engine cone adapter when the engine begins to start and run on its own.
The present invention is directed to a fixture to be applied to a commercially available battery operated drill/driver impact gun which allows it to act as a starter for an internal combustion powered engine including but not limited to model airplane engines.
Model airplanes powered by nitromethane or gasoline fuels require a starter to crank the engine in order for it to start. Often the starter is a device powered by an electric motor used to rotate the crankshaft and piston of the engine to draw fuel into the engine. This rotation of the crankshaft connected to the piston pulls fuel into the engine and forces the compression of this fuel in the piston cylinder where an ignition source is located. Once the fuel ignites, the engine starts to operate on its own as an internal combustion engine and the electrical starter device is removed.
Small internal combustion engines are often used to power out door home or farm machines including but not limited snow blowers, weed whackers, lawn mowers, tractors and chain saws. A cone adapter is attached to the engine crankshaft and used to turn the engine over for starting as a by-pass or substitute for the typical pull cord found on these devices. Again, an electric motor powered starter device is particularly suited to this application because the electric motor will not impede the motion of the internal combustion engine cone adapter when the engine begins to start and run on its own.
The electrical starter is most often outfitted with an adapter into which the nose cone housing the engine propeller which is mounted on the engine crankshaft is inserted. When the electrical starter turns the nose cone, it turns the crankshaft of the engine which draws fuel into the engine and moves the piston in the piston cylinder. Once the fuel air mixture ignites, the engine catches and begins to run. At this moment, when the engine begins to run on its own power—prior to the electric starter device being removed from the nose cone—the engine crankshaft turns faster than the electric starter. The electric starter accommodates this additional speed and freely spins along with the nose cone.
It is the object of the present invention to provide a fixture for a commercially available battery operated drill/driver gun to allow it to be used to start internal combustion powered engines including but not limited to a model airplane engine. Commercially available drill/driver guns are powered by gears to produce the necessary torque for the applications for which these guns are designed. This gear drive provides the torque to turn an internal combustion engine crankshaft and piston; however, this same gear drive prohibits the engine from turning faster than the drill/driver gun at the moment the engine catches and starts to run on its own.
The present invention features a shaft attached to a cylinder which accepts a rubber or silicone insert that fits onto the nose cone of a model airplane or cone adapter of any small internal combustion engine. The shaft is attached to the cylinder by means of a one way clutch which allows the torque of the drill/driver gun to be applied to a gasoline powered engine including a model airplane engine while also allowing the engine to speed up faster than the drill/driver is spinning when the engine starts to run on its own.
A device used to adapt a commercially available battery powered drill/driver gun for use as a starter for internal combustion powered engines including model airplane engines. A shaft is attached to a cylinder into which a rubber or silicone adapter is inserted. The rubber or silicone adapter is fitted onto the nose cone of a model airplane or a cone adapter of any small internal combustion engine. The shaft and cylinder are attached by means of a one way clutch. The one way clutch allows the gear driven drill/driver gun to turn the cylinder with the necessary torque to crank the internal combustion engine while allowing the cylinder to be spin as fast as the engine when the engine starts to operate under its own power. This feature allows the device to turn the engine drive crankshaft with sufficient torque to start the engine while not prohibiting the engine from rotating faster than the cylinder attached to the drill/driver gun when the engine stats running.
The present invention will now be described in terms of the presently preferred embodiment thereof as illustrated in the drawings. Those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that many obvious modifications may be made thereto without departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention.
The present invention is directed to a device for a commercially available battery operated drill/driver gun. Specifically, the device is a tool designed to be set in the chuck of the drill driver/gun.
The device comprises a shaft (2) affixed to a cylinder (1).
A commercially available miniature one direction clutch mechanism (8)—such as the one available by JTEKT Corporation—is press fit into the end of the cylinder (1) opposite the end where the rubber or silicone inset (3) is located.
The hexagonal end (4) of shaft (2) of the device is then inserted into a commercially available battery operated drill/driver gun.
The device attached to the drill/driver is then pushed onto the nose cone of a model airplane engine mounted in a model airplane.
Once the fuel ignites, the engine begins to run and the nose cone will start to turn in the same direction as the device in the drill/driver. At this moment, the gears in the drill/driver required to generate the torque to crank the engine, now act to interfere with the engine operating on its own power. The gears in the drill/driver act as a break and inhibit the engine from catching and ruining on its own power. This phenomenon makes the use of a drill/driver gun without the use of the current invention unsuitable as a starter device for a model airplane engine.
The current invention addresses this issue by allowing the cylinder (1) to rotate faster than the shaft (2).
The current invention may also be used to start engines that are inaccessible to a drill/driver in the way described herein or which do not have a nose cone or other adapter to allow the device to interface with the engine. Specifically, a v-shaped slot (5) is machined or molded into cylinder (1).
Additionally, the instant device can be used as a fixture to a battery operated drill/driver gun as a starter on any internal combustion engine which is started by turning the crankshaft while introducing fuel into the piston cylinder and an ignition source when necessary. Internal combustion engines are used to power out door maintenance machines for the home and farm. Specifically, lawn mowers, tractors, snow blowers, weed whackers and chain saws. These machines are most often started with recoil start mechanisms referred to as a pull cords. The recoil starter mechanism consists of a rope coiled around the end of the crankshaft of the machine. When the rope is pulled the crankshaft is spun and the flywheel keeps turning to start the engine.
The present invention can be applied to these machines by attaching a cone adaptor to the crankshaft of the specific machine protruding out of the engine cover in the vicinity of the pull cord arrangement or in place of the pull cord arrangement.
The current invention addresses this issue by allowing the cylinder (1) to rotate faster than the shaft (2).
Those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that the embodiments just described merely illustrate the principles of the present invention. Many obvious modifications may be made thereto without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.
