Dry Crank-Case System Best for Airplane Engines
In most airplane power plants it is considered desirable to supply the oil directly to the parts needing it by suitable leads instead of depending solely upon the distributing action of scoops on the connecting rod big ends. A system of this nature is shown at Fig. 77. The oil is carried in the crank-case, as is common practice, but the normal oil level is below the point where it will be reached by the connecting rod. It is drawn from the crank-case by a plunger pump which directs it to a manifold leading directly to conductors which supply the main journals. After the oil has been used on these points it drains back into the bottom of the crank-case. An excess is provided which is supplied to the connecting rod ends by passages drilled into the webs of the crank-shaft and part way into the crank-pins as shown by the dotted lines. The oil which is present at the connecting rod crank-pins is thrown off by centrifugal force and lubricates the cylinder walls and other internal parts. Regulating screws are provided so that the amount of oil supplied the different points may be regulated at will. A relief check valve is installed to take care of excess lubricant and to allow any oil that does not pass back into the pipe line to overflow or bi-pass into the main container.
A simple system of this nature is shown graphically in a phantom view of the crank-case at Fig. 79, in which the oil passages are made specially prominent. The oil is taken from a reservoir at the bottom of the engine base by the usual form of gear oil pump and is supplied to a main feed manifold which extends the length of the crank-case. Individual conductors lead to the five main bearings, which in turn supply the crank-pins by passages drilled through the crank-shaft web. In this power plant the connecting rods are hollow section bronze castings and the passage through the center of the connecting rod serves to convey the lubricant from the crank-pins to the wrist-pins. The cylinder walls are oiled by the spray of lubricant thrown off the revolving crank-shaft by centrifugal force. Oil projection by the dippers on the connecting rod ends from constant level troughs is unequal upon the cylinder walls of the two-cylinder blocks of an eight- or twelve-cylinder V engine. This gives rise, on one side of the engine, to under-lubrication, and, on the other side, to over-lubrication, as shown at Fig. 80, A. This applies to all modifications of splash lubricating systems.
When a force-feed lubricating system is used, the oil, escaping past the cheeks of both ends of the crank-pin bearings, is thrown off at a tangent to the crank-pin circle in all directions, supplying the cylinders on both sides with an equal quantity of oil, as at Fig. 80, B.