IMPROVEMENTS IN ROTARY STEAM ENGINES
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Pierre Laroche, of Saventhem, in the Kingdom of
Belgium, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN ROTARY STEAM ENGINES."
Scaled the 28th December 1855, and dated the 17th July 1855.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Pierre Laroche at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 17th
July 1855.
I, PIERRE LAROCHE, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN ROTATORY STEAM ENGINES" to be as follows:-
I propose in the construction of a rotatory steam engine to differ from the
ordinary construction. 1 intend to introduce the steam by means of a cock
through a pipe into and through a chamber or compartment where it is
sustained or maintained, thence into the squares of a wheel; here the steam
pushes or impinges with all its force on a wing, which lies (at first) at the
bottom of a half arch, on which the wheel turns; by its rotatory motion the
wheel carries with it the aforesaid wing, and also another wing (or more).
The wing first mentioned as being at the bottom of the half arch retires
gradually to give place to the other by means of an eccentric, and so each
alternately takes the position first mentioned. When one of the wings has

page_text: arrived at its position it has no longer any means of holding the steam, which
lischarges itself into a receiver capable of taking up the whole, and it then
escapes altogether by an outlet pipe, and may be used for other purposes, as,
for example, a low-pressure engine may be worked therewith.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Pierre Laroche in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 5th
January 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, PIERRE
LAROCHE, of Savanthem, in the Kingdom of Belgium, send greeting,
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, and in the nineteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
,the said Pierre Laroche, Her especial license that I, the said Pierre Laroche,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Pierre
Laroche, 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 make, use, exercise, and
vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel
Islands, and the Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN ROTARY
STEAM ENGINES," upon condition, amongst others, that I, the said Pierre Laroche,
by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, should particularly
describe the nature of my 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 Pierre Laroche, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, reference being had to the Sheet of Drawings hereunto annexed,
and forming part of this my Specification.
It would be needless to enter into any dissertation on the use of the steam
engine, or the reasons for endeavouring to obtain a perfect rotatory; and as
the matter has been freely discussed, and the results are well known, I will
therefore at once proceed to describe my system.

page_text: Figure number 1 shows the machine complete with flier and expansier;
Figure number 2 is a side view of wheel without one of its rims or the
excentric; Figure number 3 is a section of the machine as the half of it
would appear, the cut being taken through the centre of the axle; Figure
number 4'is wheel, shewn without one of its rims, but with the excentric and
its half arch on which it turns, as well as the piece of metal acted upon by
the springs; Figure number 5, condensing machine, with double wheel, and a
third for air or cold water pump. Similar letters of reference are placed
upon and denote similar parts of mechanism (where such parts appear or can
be seen) in each of the Figures or Diagrams respectively.
Having placed by the aforesaid Figures or Diagrams my machine before
the reader, I will now describe its operation or motion. I introduce the steam
by the cock M, which, passing through the pipe N, comes or passes below the
piece L, and girding itself, held or sustained by this piece, and between the
partitions or sides of the wheel A, pushes with all its force the wing 3,
which is at the bottom of the half arch F, on which the wheel turns. By its
rotatory motion the wheel draws the wings. The wing 3, which in moving
touches the bottom of F as far as the place of wing 4, retires afterwards into
the interior of the wheel, being gradually drawn in by the excentric, which
passes by 5, 6, 7, and 8 as far as the place of 1, which then recommences its
exit, pushed by the excentric as far as the places of 2 and 3. The action of
all the others is similar; that is to say, when 3 is in the place of 4, this 4 is in
the place of 5, and so on for the whole; but each time that one of the wings
arrives at the placo 4, having no further nieans of maintaining the steam, the
steam discharges itself into the case R, which receives the whole, and passes
by the pipe T to the reservoir Y, so as to go out by the discharge pipe T, T,
which conducts the steam to the exterior. The wheel A turns on the picce F;
this piece carries on each of its sides a piece of metal J, which is pushed by
the springs against the edges of the wheel A, and in a groove or channel
which is therein formed, and the use of which is to prevent the steam from
escaping between the wheel and the half arch; that the wing B whero' they
touch the arch F remain continually in contact therewith, but with too
strong a pressure; a spring P will be observed in the excentric D, which at
this spot has no rim or edge, the spring taking the place and performing the
function thereof, pushing the bottom of the ends H of the wings B against
the walls or sides of the piece F; these ends II pass through the stuffing
boxes C, so that the steam which is contained in the partitions or walls of the
wheel should not escape. Tho excéntric D is fixed; the wheel turns round it,
which permits the entry and exit of tho wings B. K is an open box in the

page_text: interior of the wheel, into which the wings B enter or from which they go
out, according to the excentric D. The piece L serves to maintain the steam
in the wheel A; this piece carries four pieces of metal, which are acted upon
by springs N, N, against the wheel, to arrest the escape of the steam between
the piece L and the wheel A. The piece L is a fixture of one piece, and when
fixed with the piece F, it carries, as does the said piece F, a spring Q to
press against the piece of metal J. The pieces F and L are again covered
by a piece G, which covers again the piece J and the springs Q on both sides.
E is the axle of the wheel; this axle may be of an indefinite length, according
to circumstances. It is by this that movement may be given to any apparatus
or machinery that it may be desirable to work, either by chain of wheels or
other gearing. M. is the cock to admit the steam and to regulate the swiftness
of the machine; N, the steam pipe, forming a single piece with the expansion
A, A; R, R, is a box covering the wheel A, serving with the piece G to carry
the stuffing box S, as well as the excentric D, and the piece F, F; this stuffing
box is to prevent the escape of the discharged steam around the axle.
Governors may be adapted to my machine as to ordinary steam engines. My
machine may be made of any size or capacity; the number of wings may be
varied, as it may be worked without expansion or fliers, if found desirable.
Figure number 5 represents a machine with double wheels, furnished with a
third (as aforesaid) below, to serve as a pump for either air, and condensing.
The steam arriving by the pipe N passes into the expansive chambers A, A,
thence into the first machine, which it causes to rotate, as related for the
single machine; afterwards the steam passes by the pipe T to the second
machine, which is larger than the first, where it expends the small quantity of
force remaining in it. The third machine is to be seen underneath, and
receives its movement by two gearings or chains of wheels L, L, and serves to
draw or suck up the steam which comes from the second machine; it turns
completely in water which is in the tank K, K, fed by the pump H, H; its
diameter and breadth is much smaller than the two others just referred to, and
it is not covered in as the others are by the box R. This wheel may be replaced
by an air pump, such as are employed in other descriptions of steam engines.
The first, second, and third of the machines in Figure 5 are interiorly con-
structed in a similar manner to that shewn in Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4, with the
exception of the third modification, which has but four wings.
Having now described the nature of my Invention of "Improvements in
Rotatory Steam Engines," I would wish it to be distinctly understood that
while I lay no claim to any of the parts or portions of the mechanism
mentioned or shewn, taken as parts or portions, and not in combination or for

page_text: the purposes of this Invention, I reserve to myself the right (not departing
from the principle of the Invention) to make my machine or engine to rotate
either vertically or horizontally, nor do I confine myself to the proportions
or shape of parts herein described or shewn, as they may and often must be
varied or altered to suit particular circumstances; but I claim as of my
Invention, the system of moveable wings herein described and shewn in the
Drawings as applied to rotatory steam engines, whether such wing be put in
motion by a fixed or moveable excentric, or by any other piece or portion of
machinery whatsoever.
In witness whereof, I, the said Pierre Laroche, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Second day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
Witness,
H. BIEBUYCK,
Bruxelles:
PIERRE LAROCHE, FILS AINÉ. (L.B.)