CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN OBTAINING AND APPLYING MOTIVE POWER
Year: 1852

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHRISTIAN
SCHIELE, of Oldham, in the County of Lancaster, Machinist, send greeting.
'
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Twelfth day
of February, in the fifteenth year of Her reign, did,. for- Herself, .Her heirs
and successors, give and grant unto me, the said Christian Schiele, Her
especial license, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said
Christian Schiele, my exors, admors, or assigns, should at any time agree
with, and no others, from time to time and at all times during the term of
years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, usc, exercise, and
vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and
also within the Islands of Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Sark, and Man, and in
all Her Majesty's Colonies and Plantations abroad, my Invention of "CERTAIN
IMPROVEMENTS IN OBTAINING AND APPLYING MOTIVE POWER;" in which said Letters
Patent is contained a proviso requiring that I, the said Christian Schiele,
by an instrument in writing under my hand and séal, shall particularly describe
and ascertain the nature of my said Invention; and in what manner the same
is to be performed, and shall cause the same to be enrolled in Her said
Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Christian Schiele, do hereby declare the nature of my Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by this present Instrument in writing as follows, reference being had
to the Drawing hereunto attached, and to the letters and figures marked
thereon, that is to say:-
My said Invention relates,-
First, to various arrangements of machinery, apparatus, or means for
obtaining motive power by the action of steam, water, or other fluid upon a
species of turbine or rotatory cone wheel, as well as to a mode or modes of
transmitting the motion therefrom.
Second, to a species of piston governor or speed regulator for steam engines
and other machinery, wherein the unbalanced pressure on the two sides of a
piston in detached cylinder is made to adjust the throttle valve or passage for
the actuating medium.
Third, to a system or mode of transmitting power along ranges of pipes or
fluid ducts, and the transmission of the motion therefrom, and the regulation
or governing of such motion; and
Fourth,, to the working of expansion valves by means of an adjustable
"pendulum action," for varying the cut-off.
And in order that my said Invention may be properly understood, I shall
now proceed to describe the several Figures on the Sheet of Drawings hereunto
attached.
Figure on my Sheet of Drawings is a partial vertical section of one form
or arrangement of my turbine or motive power engine, suitable for being
worked by the pressure or action of steam, water, or other fluid matter.
Figure 2 is a plan of the central runner reversed.
And Figure 3 is an elevation, half in vertical section, of the machine de-
lineated in Figure 1, but modified to suit a peculiar movement for the trans-
mission of the rapid revolutions of the runner to the machinery to be actuated,
this view being on a scale of half the size of the view, Fig. 1.
Figure 4 is a reversed horizontal section of the runner and its shell at the
line a, b, in Fig. 1. The steam or other motive force used in actuating this
turbine is conducted along a pipe terminating in an opening A, in the side of
a cylindrical chamber B. This chamber is a plain cylinder resting by its lower
flange upon a base C, whilst its upper end has a similar flange, on which the
casting or open frame D is set to rest, and between the two flanges is placed
This shell or hollow
the flange of a differentially curved or coned shell E.
cone is set within the cylinder B, the reversed apex
or point F or the cone

page_text: and casing steam or fluid tight. The principle of formation of these differential
channels is such that the steam shall enter them at its full velocity without any
shock or objectionable obstruction, whilst, as the current enters the channels in
a nearly horizontal direction, it shall be smoothly conducted off its line to
almost a right angle to its original direction, the speed of the current being
very greatly reduced until it has scarcely any motion, passing, however, mean-
while through the channels M at a regular uniform rate, thus using the
known rules of construction in such machines to this form so far as it concerns
the faces against which the fluid acts. These channels are not of uniform
transverse section throughout, but are widened from their bottom upwards.
This may be done to an extent sufficient to allow of any practical expansion
when steam or other elastic body is used as the motive power.
By. this
arrangement the steam or other pressure acting upon the differential channels
M causes the runner or spindle to revolve at a rapid rate, whilst at the same
time the actuating current or currents are subject to very gradual changes of
direction, and the motive matter thus gives off an extremely high proportion of
its theoretical power to the useful purpose of causing the revolution of the
spindle or shaft F, G. In Fig. 1 of my Drawing I have also represented a
mode of oiling or lubricating the foot step or lower bearing of the runner
shaft by an external annular reservoir or channel P encircling the lower conical
end of the fixed chamber E, which is perforated with a series of small holes at
the encircled portion, so as to form a free communication between the annular
reservoir and the interior of the shell at the working surfaces, and the reservoir
being kept supplied with the lubricating fluid by the pipe Q, the bearing is
thus effectually lubricated. The upper bearing J also of the antefriction curve
form is formed with an annular detaining reservoir R screwed up to the end
of the bearing brass. This reservoir encircles the shaft, and is just clear of it
as it revolves, so as to catch the oil thrown off during working. This oil is
led off by a small side pipe S to a separate side reservoir, whence it may be
again returned to the working surfaces of the bearing, as required. In order
to free the cylinder B from the water of condensed steam or other fluid which
may collect therein, a small pipe and stopcock T is fitted to the cylinder near
its bottom surface. The arrangement delineated in Fig. 3 represents an efficient
plan for taking off the motion of the running shaft by means of a pair of
inclined buff or frictional surface cone or bevil wheels U, and a central hori-
zontal wheel V on a separate vertical driven shaft W. The cover K in this
case has a pair of opposite projecting brackets or arms X cast upon it, each
bracket having at its outer end an adjustable antifriction bearing or footstep Y
to receive the spindles of the inclined wheels U. The adjustment of these

page_text: extending downwards nearly to the bottom of the cylinder. The runner G,
which is the sole moving portion of the machine, is a vertical spindle, formed
of a duplex conical shape, the two bases of the differential or curved cones
being joined at H, near the longitudinal centre of the spindle. The lower end
of this spindle, which is made up throughout of my "anti-friction curve"
surfaces (for which Letters Patent were granted to me, bearing date the
Twenty-third day of November, One thousand eight hundred and forty-eight),
rests in a long anti-friction bearing I, in the bottom of the shell E, whilst its
upper end is supported in a bearing J of a similar kind in the top of the
overhead framing D. This framing has also formed within it the cover K of
the cylinder, which cover thus surrounds and protects the lower expanded
portion of the upper cone. The upper portion of the spindle passes through
this cover by a central hole in the latter, the passage of the steam or other
actuating medium being prevented by the nice adjustment of the coned surface
of the spindle to the hole in the cover, and by its taper form, which, by rapid
revolution, will prevent steam or other fluid to escape, imparting centrifugal
force to it. The cover has on this part to be lengthened inward should the
fluid in its exhaust passages still retain so much pressure as would overcome
the effect described above.
The face of the lower cone of the spindle or runner, as delineated in
Figures 1 and 2, is formed with a series of differentially curved oblique ducts,
channels, or passages M, the face of the spindle or coned boss thereof
revolving just clear of the interior surface of the fixed shell E. The steam is
admitted by the passage A into the cylinder B, which it fills, passing thence
into the interior of the narrow part of the coned shell or chamber E, through
a ring of inclined tangential openings N in the shell, as indicated in the
horizontal section, Figure 4, taken on the line a, b, in Figure 1.
These aper-
tures taper in diameter inwards, being considerably wider at the exterior than
at the interior surface of the shell, and they correspond in number, direction of
inclination, and size, with the channels M of the runner. The interior of the
conical chamber has a slight or shallow annular groove in it at O, corresponding
to a similar ring, groove, or recess in the spindle at the foot of the circle of
vanes M, and the steam, finding its way from the cylinder B, through the
ring of openings N, enters this annular space, and has thus a free entrance
thence into the spaces or channels M on the runner. When the steam has so
passed in, it traverses along the channels M, between the opposed antifrictional
curve surfaces formed by the exterior of the cone spindle and the interior of the
chamber E, this form of surface being selected principally for the reason that
it best answers the conditions of keeping the working surfaces of the runner

page_text: bearings, and consequently the friction wheel surfaces, as well as the lubri
cating contrivance, are contrived on the principle described and figured in the
Specification of certain Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of
October, One thousand eight hundred and fifty-one, and granted to John Platt
and myself. The cross bar or everhead portion of the upper framing Z carries
an antifriction bearing for the top of the runner spindle, in the same manner
as I have already described in reference to Fig. 1, and the same bar has also
projections a to afford bearings for the upper ends b of the inclined shafts of
the wheels U. The axes of these two shafts are inclined at right angles to
each other, one wheel being set on each side of the centre line of the runner G,
the portions of which at the level of the contact of the wheel's peripheries is
slightly hevilled, to accommodate its surface to the wheel rims.
The part c
thus bevelled becomes the frictional driving surface, and the peripheries of the
wheels being pressed against it on each side, the wheels are thus driven in
reverse directions at a rate corresponding to the ratio of the diameters of the
runner at c and the wheels. The adjustment of these driving surfaces is
effected by the set screws d at the bottom bearings of the inclined shafts. The
cross bar of the framing also carries a central footstep c for the shaft W, having
upon it the third and larger bevil wheel V, and this wheel is of such a bevil
that its working surface shall be in a horizontal plane f, g, in contact with the
peripheries of the two wheels U, being pressed thereto by a step like that of
the runner G, or by weights, or by a spring. In this way the motion is easily
taken off the runner by the balanced surface pressure of the two wheels, the
motion being continued in the original axial line of the runner, and reduced to
a degree which will admit the application of known transmissions or for direct
use, for instance, driving blowing fans, centrifugal pumps, hydro extractors, &c.
Fig. 5 is an elevation, partly in vertical section, of my piston governor or
speed regulator for steam engines and other machinery, as working in con-
nection with a centrifugal pump constructed according to the herein-before
mentioned Letters Patent of the Twenty second day of October, One thousand
eight hundred and fifty-one, the pump and pipes being delineated in external
side elevation. The steam pipe or duct A for the supply of the actuating
medium to the engine is fitted with a throttle or other suitable adjustable valve
B, and the spindle of this valve carries a slotted lever C fitted with an ad-
justable counter weight D. The slot in the lever C, at E, is for the reception
of a short stud pin fast near the lower end of a vertical connecting rod F, the
bottom extremity of which has a weight G hung to it. The rod F is jointed
at H to the rod of the piston I, working freely in, but accurately, to the small

page_text: inverted vertical cylinder J overhead. This cylinder is filled with water or
other fluid, and has an upper and a lower port K, L, with pipes passing thence
to the centrifugal pump, and the inverted cylinder bottom or closed end is
formed with a small reservoir M to contain a supply of water or other suitable
fluid, which, when necessary, may leak slightly through the loosely fitting
valve N in the cylinder bottom, or the cylinder J may have an open top, the
loose valve N and screw T in this case being dispensed with. The upper
cylinder port K communicates by its pipe O, here shewn broken away, with the
suction or inlet side P of the fan, whilst the lower port L similarly communi-
cates with the opposite passage R in the axial line of the fan, being the dis-
charging outlet. The fan is actuated by the engine to which the pipe A
supplies steam through the cord pully S, or other gearing. When the speed
of the fan is duly adjusted, the fan constantly revolves with the engine at a certain
determined speed in relation thereto, and of course varying in its rate as the
engine varies. The effect of the fan's revolution then is, that there is a
constant tendency to exhaustion, or the formation of a vacuum above the
piston, from the sucking action of the fan, whilst the forcing or propelling
action from the duct R similarly tends to produce a plenum beneath the piston;
and the difference of pressure on the two sides of the piston, which difference
is thus greater or less according to the rate of the engine and the consequent
fan action, adjusts the piston up or down in its cylinder. This movement
raises or lowers the lever C, and correspondly affects the area of the,steam
passage at the throttle valve B, letting less or more steam pass, just as the
engine is going too fast or too slow. Thus, when the engine goes too fast, the
increased forcing effect of the fan will cause an increase in the constant fluid
pressure which it is its office to exért against the lower side of the piston, and
the throttle valve will be partially closed. Again, when the engine's rate
diminishes the relaxation of the fluid pressure beneath, the piston will allow
the latter to descend a certain distance by its own weight, aided by the weight
G again opening the valve B. The small adjustable weight D enables the
attendant to vary the dead weight on the piston, as may be found desirable in
practice. The small loose valve N, communicating between the cylinder and
its reservoir, M, allows the passage of a fluid in either direction, so that in the
one case the contents of the cylinder above the piston may ooze through into
the reservoir on the occurrence of any expansion in the cylinder, whilst in the
other, when the contents contract, or are reduced in bulk or density, a supply
of fluid may gradually find its way in from the reservoir. The valve N also
serves for letting the air pass, when filling the governor, by unscrewing the

page_text: thumb screw T. The piston I will let the air pass by moving it up and down
several times. As the position of the piston in its cylinder at any determined
period has no connection with and does not affect the regulating speed of the
fan or pumping apparatus, the tendency of this governor is to keep the engine
running at a regular uniform rate, whatever may be the resisting load upon
the piston. The same regulator, or modifications of it, making it powerful
enough for nearly any purpose of governing engines. are obviously applicable,
for instance, for working an expansion valve gear, and the sluice of a water
wheel. And I would have understood, as a point of importance in practice,
that the rate of working of the fan or pump Q will greatly depend upon the
length and sizes of the pipes O, R, as the more sluggish movement through
long pipes will necessitate a greater speed than would be necessary for short
ones. To obviate any risk from the engine running off at a high rate, in case
the actuating cord or band of the pulley S should fail, and thus, from the sus-
pension of the fan's action, allow the piston I to fall down in its cylinder, other
gearing or safety connections, as generally known, may be applied between the
engine and regulator.
Figures 6, 7, and 8 represent several details of my plans for the easy and
economical transmission of power from its source to its scene of action, by
means of fluid circulation through a circuit of pipes or ducts. Fig. 6 is a
side elevation of an arrangement of pipes suited for the conveyance of the fluid
power into a building of three stories, with the intention of placing turbines
such as I have already described, or other rotatory machines, at a certain
determined point or points in the line of the circuit, for the fluid circulation
and consequent transmission of power. Fig. 7 is a side elevation of a
turbine, fan, or centrifugal pump, as patented by the herein-before mentioned
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of October, One thousand
eight hundred and fifty-one, being an enlarged detailed view of the pump fixed
at A, in the circuit pipes, Fig. 6. The fan is actuated by the band pulley
B, and the whole range of pipes being full of water, the revolution of the fan
causes the fluid to circulate in the direction of the arrows. The pipe C is the
discharge pipe from the pump, and the parallel pipe D, which is hidden by
the other pipe in Fig. 6, being the return or fluid delivery pipe. At E is a
piston governor, constructed according to the plan which I have already de-
scribed, the upper port of the cylinder being in connection by the pipe F with
the discharge pipe C, whilst the lower port is similarly connected to the return
pipe D by the pipe H. In this way the action of the fan upon the water in
the circuit of pipes brings the governor into action in a manner precisely

page_text: similar to that which I have before described, so as to keep up a certain
relative pressure between the two pipes. Whatever variation may occur in
the pressure of the two pipes will necessarily affect the rate of the fan; or
should the engine keep an uniform rate, a pair of cone pulleys may be used to
transmit the motion to the pump, the strap only being shifted as required by
the governor's action. Exemplifying its application to other machinery,-so
long as no power is taken off the circuit, no circulation will arise in the pipes;
but when a turbine or other engine is put in connection, the circulation
commences. This connection is represented in Figs. 8 and 9. which are
respectively a side elevation and a plan of portions of a pair of parallel pipes,
with a turbine I connected therewith. The motion consequent upon the revo-
lution of this turbine by the action of the fluid current is taken off by the
pulley J on the turbine spindle. A regulating valve is fitted at K for the
adjustment of the current, and at L is a safety valve between the two turbine
branches, to guard against chance accidents resulting from the sudden shutting
of the regulator valve. The pipes are of course always kept full of water,
being filled and replenished, on the occurrence of any loss. by a funnel M,
represented in Fig., part of pipe C being left away, and pipe D shewn
in section; this funnel having an inlet valve in its bottom, an air hole being
fitted to each pipe, under the command of an adjusting screw. To obviate
the chances of bursting, a safety valve is to be adjusted on any suitable
part of the circuit; and if fire plugs are added, the discharge line may be
brought into use for extinguishing conflagrations, in which case there must be
a constant supply of water in or near the funnel, and warm water may be used
as the circulating medium in winter, so as to heat the buildings where the
principle is applied.
Figures 10, 11, 12, and 13 exhibit details in various positions of my
adjustable pendulum action for the expansion gear of steam engines. Figure
10 is a side elevation of the pendulum movement, with the actuating link or
connecting rod H, communicating with the usual valve spindle or its eccentric;
the expansion rod is represented as broken off, and the expansion slide in
vertical section.
The remaining Figures exhibit the motion and the corresponding slide
in three other positions; the facing on which they slide represents a partition in
the steam box of a slide valve as commonly used. The short pendulum
rod A is suspended from an adjustable sliding rod or link B set in the fixed
vertical slide C, in one piece with the guide D, D, of the connecting rod E of
the valve spindle. This connecting rod has upon it a pair of studs carrying

page_text: the rollers F, which have liberty to revolve loosely on the studs as centres.
The end G of the link H is connected to the actuating eccentric or spindle of
the usual slide valve; the opposite end of this link being hinged at I to the
lower end of the pendulum rod. The expansion slide J is of the gridiron kind,
that is, both the slide and partition faces have more than one narrow port opening
through them in correspondence with each other. In this way the oscillation
of the pendulum derived from the eccentric action gives an intermittent vibra-
tory traverse to the slide J by acting alternately upon the pullies F, and hence
it follows that at each stroke the angular action of the pendulum causes the
slide to be left behind at the central portion of the pendulum's swing to an
extent equal to the width of the steam parts in such slide. By raising or lower-
ing the rod B the traverse or speed of the valve is correspondingly varied, and
thus the extent of the expansion is adjustable at pleasure by producing a
quicker or slower motion of the valve rod, and through it of the valve. This
apparatus is limited in its application to an expansion which is never less than
one half the stroke of the engine piston. In cases where this condition cannot
be adhered to the arrangement represented in Figures 14 and 15 must be
adopted. Fig. 14 is a side elevation, and Fig. 15 a plan, of this motion. In
this arrangement a duplex cam A on the engine shaft is employed to move
the pendulum, and comparatively little time is expended in the action
from B to C, in moving the pendulum by the cam projection through the two
pulleys D, D, and the link E of the cam frame. The remainder of the stroke
from C to F is very much slower and allows of the adjustment of the gear to
a limited expansion.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried into
effect, I would observe, in conclusion, that I do not confine or restrict myself
to the precise details or arrangements which I have had occasion to describe
or refer to; as many variations may be made therefrom without deviating from
the principles or main features of my Invention. But what I consider to be
novel, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the herein-before
in part recited Letters Patent, is,-
First, the general arrangement, construction, and action of the herein-before
described turbine or rotatory wheel or engine."
Second, the system or mode of constructing turbines and other rotatory
mechanism of a similar class, with ducts or passages gradually increasing in
width, as herein-before described.
Third, the system or mode of supplying the actuating medium to the revolv-

page_text: ing ducts or channels by the use of an intermedial annular chamber or passage,
as more particularly referred to and described in Fig. 1 on my Sheet of
Drawings.
1
:
Fourth, the peculiar construction of the differentially curved channels or
fluid ways of turbines and similar rotatory machines, as herein-before
described.
Fifth, the system or mode of adjusting, regulating, or governing the rate of
steam engines and other machinery by the differential pressure cylinder and
piston, as herein-before described.
Sixth, the application and use of a centrifugal pump, fan, or set of revolving
vanes in the line of pipes communicating with the opposite ends of a differential
pressure cylinder of a regulating apparatus, as herein-before described.
Seventh, the system or mode of regulating the motion of steam engines and
other machinery by means of the piston of a differential pressure cylinder,
which piston has liberty to move to any position in its cylinder without inter-
fering with the regulating speed of the fan, and hence, without counteracting
the attempt of the latter to keep the engine at a regular uniform rate of
action.
Eighth, the system or mode herein-before described of transmitting power
by the application of a fluid circuit.
Ninth, the adaptation and use of centrifugal pumps, fans, or rotatory vanes
in the line of a circuit of piping, ducts, or fluid ways, for the transmission and
application of power by the production of a fluid current.
Tenth, the adaptation and use of a continuous fluid circulation through a
ring or other arrangement of receiving and discharging pipes for transmitting
power.
وو
Eleventh, the application and use of the "pendulum or swinging rod
movement for the regulation and adjustment of expansion valves, as herein-
before described.
Twelfth, the system or mode of securing a differential motion or action for
expansion valves by the use of a jointed rod or "pendulum" capable of work-
ing at a variable speed with the line of traverse of the slide spindle, as herein-
before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Christian Schiele, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Ninth day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-two.
CHRISTIAN (L.S.) SCHIELE.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Ninth day of August, in the
year of our Lord 1852, the aforesaid Christian Schiele came before our said
Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification afore-
said, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form above
written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the
tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Enrolled the Twelfth day of August, in the year of our Lord One