AN IMPROVED ROTATORY ENGINE TO BE WORKED BY STEAM OR OTHER ELASTIC FLUID, WHICH INVENTION
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Carl Heinrich Schröder, of Altona, in the Duchy of
Holstein, Engineer, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED ROTATORY ENGINE
TO BE WORKED BY STEAM OR OTHER ELASTIC FLUID, WHICH INVENTION IS ALSO
Sealed the 10th March 1857, and dated the 17th September 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Carl Heinrich Schröder
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
17th September 1856.
I, CARL HEINRICH SCHRÖDER, of Altona, in the Duchy of Holstein, Engineer,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED ROTATORY
ENGINE TO BE WORKED BY STEAM OR OTHER ELASTIC FLUID, WHICH INVENTION IS
ALSO APPLICABLE AS A ROTATORY PUMP FOR RAISING AND FORCING LIQUIDS," to
be as follows:-
-
The principal feature of novelty in this Invention consists in placing the
cylinder or steam space (in which the piston and shaft revolve), with its axis
at an angle of more or less inclination to the axis of the shaft and piston,
instead of their axes being coincident, as is usually the case; the said steam
space being divided into two equal parts in a diagonal direction, by means of a
circular disc placed.at right angles to the axis of the shaft, and provided with
an opening through which a solid piston fitting the steam space works. This
novel principle of construction is capable of being carried into practical effect

page_text: in a variety of different ways, which will readily suggest themselves to any
practical engineer. For instance, the cylinder may be stationary, and the disc
attached to the shaft which passes through stuffing boxes placed at an angle
with the axis of the cylinder, in which case the piston moves round the shaft
with the disc; or the cylinder and disc may both be stationary, in which
instance the interior of the cylinder must be spherical and divided into two
hemispherical spaces by means of the disc, and two circular blocks are to be
placed upon the shaft, one in each space, in such a manner as that their axes
shall coincide, and shall cross the axis of the shaft at an angle passing through
the centre of the sphere. In this case, although the interior of the cylinder
is spherical, yet the steam space revolves as it were upon an axis diagonal
to the axis of the shaft.
A modification of this arrangement may be made wherein the whole of the
engine and cylinder revolve together. In this latter case the interior of
the cylinder is spherical, and the two circular blocks with a fixed piston or
steam stop between them are placed upon and revolve round the axis of the
shaft, whilst the cylinder and disc revolve round an axis which crosses that of
the shaft at an angle passing through the centre of the sphere. It will be
evident that a variety of other modifications of this Invention may also be
made without departing from the principle of construction above described.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Carl Heinrich Schröder in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 17th March 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CARL
HEINRICH SCHRÖDER, of Altona, in the Duchy of Holstein, Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of September, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the twentieth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Carl Heinrich Schröder, Her special licence that I, the said Carl Heinrich
Schröder, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Carl Heinrich Schröder, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all
times thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might

page_text: make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland, the Channel Islands and Isle of Man, an Invention for "AN
IMPROVED ROTATORY ENGINE TO BE WORKED BY STEAM OR OTHER ELASTIC FLUID,
WHICH INVENTION IS ALSO APPLICABLE AS A ROTATORY PUMP FOR RAISING AND
FORCING LIQUIDS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Carl
Heinrich Schröder, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly
describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great
Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the
date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Carl Heinrich Schröder, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement in writing, and on reference to the accompanying
Drawings, that is to say :-
The principal feature of novelty in this Invention consists in placing the
working cylinder or steam space (in which the piston and shaft revolve) with
its axis at an angle of more or less inclination to the axis of the engine shaft,
instead of their axes being coincident or parallel, as is usually the case, the
said steam space being divided into two equal parts in a diagonal direction, by
means of a circular division plate or diaphragm placed at right angles to the
axis of the shaft, and provided with an opening through which a solid piston
(fitting the steam space) works. This novel principle of construction is
capable of being carried into practical effect in a variety of different ways,
which will readily suggest themselves to any practical engineer. For instance,
the cylinder may be stationary, being furnished with stuffing boxes through
which the shaft passes, and placed with its axis at an angle of inclination to
that of the shaft, the diaphragm being fixed to the shaft and revolving with it;
or the cylinder and diaphragm may be both stationary; in which instance,
although the actual area of the cylinder is concentric with the shaft, and this
piston does not revolve, yet the effective working or steam space revolves (as
it were) around an axis diagonal to that of the shaft. The area of the cylin-
der is divided into two equal spaces by the fixed diaphragm placed at right
angles to the shaft. In each of these spaces a circular block is placed, being
fixed upon the shaft in such a manner as that the axes of the two blocks
shall coincide, and shall cross the axis of the shaft at an angle passing through
the centre of the cylinder. These blocks are so formed as to fill about one
half of the space and leave the other open, the closed half in one space being

page_text: opposite to the open half in the other, so that the axis of the effective steam
space is at an angle to that of the shaft.
A modification of this arrangement may be made wherein the whole of the
engine and cylinder revolve together. In this latter case the interior of the
cylinder is spherical, and the two circular blocks with a fixed piston or block
between them are placed upon and revolve round the axis of the shaft, whilst
the cylinder and diaphragm revolve round an axis which crosses that of the
shaft at an angle passing through the centre of the sphere. It will be evident
that a variety of other modifications of this Invention may also be made without
departing from the principle of construction above described.
In the annexed Drawing, Figure 1 is a vertical section shewing the con-
struction of the second modification above described, arranged as a rotatory
engine to be driven by steam or other elastic fluid; and taken through the
line A, B, in Figure 2. Figure 2 is a section through about the line C, D,
in Figure 1. A, A, is the main shaft of the engine, which is capable of turn-
ing loosely in the stuffing boxes a, a; B, B, is the outer casing or cylinder
made in two halves, and bolted together by means of flanges. This cylinder
may be entirely spherical, but it is preferred to make it with conical ends, as
at b, b. C, C, is the diaphragm, secured between the flanges of the cylinder;
D, D', are the circular revolving blocks; and E is the piston or steam stop,
which does not revolve but merely vibrates through the opening c, c, in the
diaphragm, at the same time turning slightly upon its vertical axis to
accommodate itself to the varying angle of the faces of the blocks D, D.
The edges of the opening c, c, are rounded, and the four sides of the piston E
are formed concave, so as to work true with the edges c, c, and the faces d, d,
of the blocks. The peculiar form of the parts D, D₁, and E are plainly shewn
in the detached views, Figure 3. The faces d, d, of the blocks are slightly
conical, and they (with the collar or neck e) are turned true upon the axis f, f.
The exterior surfaces 9, 9, are turned spherical, and the hollow conical
'ends h, h, and the bore through which the shaft A, A, (whereon they are
keyed) passes, are concentric with the axis i, i. The boss k of the piston E
is spherical, so as to work through the opening 1, 1, in the diaphragm, and is
bored in the direction of the axis m, m, to fit the collar or neck e. It will be
evident that (in order to place the piston in its proper position between the
faces of the blocks) one of the blocks must be loose, or the boss k'must be
formed in two parts. F is the steam pipe; G, the valve box; H, H¹, the
steam ports; and I, the exhaust
passage.
Supposing the steam to be entering the left-hand space in front of the
piston (see Figures 1 and 3), it acts as a wedge between the side of the

page_text: diaphragm and the conical face of the block D, thus causing the block to
revolve in the direction of the arrows, carrying the shaft A and the other
block D¹ with it, and forcing the piston E gradually over into the right-hand
space. As soon as the block D¹ commences to revolve it begins to uncover
the steam port on the right hand of the diaphragm, and the steam entering on
that side into the triangular space, beginning to form between the side of the
diaphragm and the faces of the piston and block D', acts in the same
direction, and thus a continuous rotatory motion is imparted to the shaft, the
steam escaping through the eduction port H and exhaust passage I.
To reverse the engine, it is only necessary to move the slide valve K until
the passage II is uncovered and the passage H is connected to the exhaust
passage I. It will be evident, that in order to convert this into a rotatory lift
or force pump the valve box, valve, and exhaust passages are to be dispensed
with; one of the passages II must be connected to the suction pipe and the
other to the nozzle, and rotatory motion must be communicated to the shaft A.
The only parts of the engine or pump which require packing are the sides
n, n, n, of the piston E, and the line of contact o, o, of the blocks D.
Having thus described the nature and object of my said Invention of "an
improved rotatory engine to be worked by steam or other elastic fluid, which
Invention is also applicable as a rotatory pump for raising and forcing liquids,
together with the manner of carrying the same into practical effect, I would
remark, in conclusion, that I claim as my Invention the peculiar novel con-
struction and arrangement of rotatory engine and pump above described, and
hewn in the Drawings, or any modification thereof, wherein the mathematical
axis of the steam or water space is at an angle of more or less inclination to
that of the revolving shaft which passes through the same, in the manner and
for the purposes above more particularly set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Carl Heinrich Schröder, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-first day of February, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
CARL HEINRICH SCHRODER. (L.S.)