Improvements in Rotary Engines and Pumps.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 22nd Sept., 1893-Accepted, 28th Oct., 1893
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Rotary Engines and Pumps.
A communication to me from RUDOLF NADENICZEK, of Budapest, in the Empire
of Austria, Clerk.
I, EDMUND EDWARDS, of the Firm of Edwards and Co., Patent Agents and
Engineers, of 35, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the County of
Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement and accompanying drawing, that is to say :-
This invention relates to that class of rotary engines in which a plate serving as
a piston is made to rotate within a cylinder. This plate is either driven round by
steam admitted to the cylinder, transmitting its motion to another driving medium,
for instance a shaft, or on the other hand the plate may be driven round by a
driving shaft worked by suitable power, and used as a suction pump for air or
water.
In both cases the piston plate must have a suitable guide in the interior of the
cylinder, and further it is necessary that the inlet and outlet ports of the cylinder
should be opened and closed in a suitable manner at the right times.
For these two movements I employ a single device, namely, a second cylinder in
the interior of the outer cylinder which contains the piston plate.
In order to make the invention more fully intelligible, reference is made to the
accompanying drawing, in which like letters are used to denote like parts throughout
the several figures.
Figure 1 is a cross section of the engine employed as a steam engine,
Figure 2 is a longitudinal section of the same,
Figure 3 is a cross section shewing the position of the piston plate during the
entrance and the expansion of the steam,
Figure 4 is a cross section of the engine arranged as a suction pump,
Figure 5 is a cross section through cylinders e, and
Figures 6, 7, and 8 are enlarged details of some of the parts.
The rotary engine which forms the subject of the invention, can be employed as
a steam engine driven by steam worked expansively, or as a suction pump, and is
provided with the small cylinder B so situated in the outer cylinder A that it rests
upon the same between the inlet and outlet ports a and b, and in the case where the
machine is employed as a steam engine, the cylinder B covers the inlet port a and
consequently is placed excentrically in the interior of the larger cylinder A
(Figure 3). The working space A' between the two cylinders sickle or crescent
shaped in cross section, is enclosed at its sides (or ends) by the two covers c, e, which
form the flanges of two further cylinders c', ', Figure 2.
Into these cylinders e, the ends d, d, of the inner cylinder B project, and lie with
their outer surfaces against the inner surfaces of the said cylinders. The cylinder
ends d, d, pass through the cylinders c', c', and somewhat diminished in cross section,
are supported in bearings d².
The driving shaft e of the machine lies in the longitudinal axis of the larger
cylinder A and passes through the inner cylinder B. It is carried in bearings in a
suitable manner outside the cylinders and carries the piston plate fattached to it by
means of a coupling e¹ the said plate passing through a slit in the cylinder B iuto
the working space, and filling up the whole breadth of the same from one cover c to
the other, being made to fit steam or water tight against the same.
The machine as above described can be used in combination with another of a

page_text: similar nature, the two plates
arranged on one shaft e.
being set at an angle of 180° to each other and
:-
The compound engine works as follows:-
The piston of each working chamber in its first position I is slightly in front of
the port a through which steam enters (Figure 3). The steam presses the piston
round and when the steam is cut off it is in position 11. During the period of
motion a recess g on the surface of the cylinder B which otherwise closes the port a
passes over the said port, and permits the entrance of steam behind the piston
plate f
The recess is divided by one or more bridge pieces so that the steam can not
pass direct from the inlet port to the outlet port, the recess y being longer than
the breadth of the cylinder surface between a and b.
When the piston has reached the position II the recess g of the cylinder B has
passed the port a which latter is now closed by the cylinder B. The expansion of the
steam now commences and carries the piston from I into position III. From this
point the piston is brought again into position I, by the piston of the other engine
on the common shaft e which is now under steam pressure.
The steam passes out at the exhaust port b.
In order that the machine may act as a suction pump both the inlet and outlet
ports a and are arranged near the place where the cylinder B rests with part of its
surface upon the inner surface of A (Figure 4). The inlet port therefore, in this
instance, also remains uncovered.
The recess on the surface of the cylinder B is in this case unnecessary.
Otherwise the arrangement of the machine as a suction pump is essentially the
same as when acting as a steam motor.
The shafte is however rotated by some external driving power, the medium to
be pumped being sucked in through the port a behind the piston plate into the
working chamber A', and forced out at in front of the plate. As the piston
plate, which passes through the walls of the inner cylinder, does not rotate round
the axis of rotation of the latter, but round the axis of rotation of the larger
cylinder A, it will in rotating, continually alter its position in the slit of the
cylinder B. For this purpose, the slit in B is provided with loosely mounted
bearings through which the piston plate passes. The bearings turn into positions
corresponding with those of the piston plate in the slit.
In order that the cylinder B may fit well against the covers e circular grooves
are made in the said covers opposite the outer edge of the cylinder B, in which
groove steel rings are placed, pressing against the cylinder B under the influence
of helical springs (Figure 2). Similarly between the cylinders and e² steel
rings are placed (Figure 2).
In order that the inner cylinder B may not bear too heavily on the bearings d²
enclosing its ends and also on the lower inner surface of the cylinder A from
the great pressure of steam in the working chamber A', steam tubes m are arranged
in the inner cylinder which connect the working chamber A¹ with narrow circular
chambers which lie between the cylinders & and e', Figures 1 and 2.
The steam
entering these chambers presses against the inner cylinder with the same pressure
but always in a contrary direction to the pressure, in the working chamber A¹.
In order to make the surfaces of the cylinders A and B steam tight, packing
rods or strips o are set in the surface of the larger cylinder, Figures 1 and 3.
The movement of the piston plate is assisted by lateral rods r also acting as
pistons. These lie in slits in the outer surface of the cylinder d Figure 5. In
order that each rod may fit tightly against the inner surface of the cylinder cover cl
an elastic steel semi-circular ring t is sprung in between each piston and a sliding
cheeks also set in the cylinder d and opposite to r. This spring half ring't has
sufficient force to press the piston r and the cheeks continually against the walls
of the cylinder c
When the machine is acting as a steam engine, fresh steam is admitted into the
narrow sickle or crescent shaped space n between c' and 'd, driving the rod-piston ŕ

page_text: with the cylinder d round, the steam being admitted through the pipe p, which at
one end opens into the inlet port a, passes through the mantle of the cylinder c¹
and at the other end opens out into the space between c and d (Figure 5).
If the machine is used as a suction pump, then the medium is sucked into the
space n behind the piston r, whilst the cylinder d with the rod cylinder is rotated
from the exterior. The steam or other fluid passes out again through a tube q,
which opens out into the outlet port b.
In the same way as the inlet and outlet ports a and of the working chamber A'
are separated by the part of the surface of the cylinder B resting upon A, the
inlet and outlet ports of each space n are separated by the parts of the cylinder d, d,
of the cylinder B resting upon the inner surfaces of the cylinders c', c'. The
contact surfaces of the parts d, d, press in the opposite direction to those of the
cylinder B.
Further in a compound or double machine, the pistons r, r, of the one machine
can be placed at an angle of 180° to the pistons of the other, in the same way as
the piston plates, so that the one pair is assisted over from the outlet opening of
the tube g to the inlet opening of tube p by the other pair, when these latter are
under steam pressure.
The piston r is composed as can be seen from Figure 6, of the three parts 1, 2, 708,
of which the two combined parts, hold the part 3 firmly in a semi-circular
recess. This latter part lies with its exterior surface tight against the inner
walls of the cylinder c' and can turn slightly in its recess.
The sliding cheek is composed of two parts s' and s², Figures 7 and 8, and is
provided on the outside with small flutings, through which the steam led in by
tube p can pass behind the pistons r.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. A rotary machine, consisting in the combination of a working cylinder A,
with internal cylinder B, piston plate f passing through a slit in the walls of the
cylinder B into the outer cylinder A, inlet and outlet ports a and b separated from
each other by the part of the cylinder B which rests upon the inner surface of the
cylinder A and means for operating the same, substantially as and for the purpose
herein described and illustrated.
2. A rotary steam engine consisting in the combination of a cylinder A, of
ports a and b, of a cylinder B arranged within the cylinder A so as to cover the
porta and a recess g in the surface of the cylinder B for the admission of steam
into the working chamber A', all substantially as and for the purpose herein
described and illustrated.
3. In a rotary steam engine, such as described under Claim 2, chambers > lying
between the cylinder cover and the cylindrical guides d, d, of the cylinder Bat
the sides of the working chamber A', substantially as and for the purpose herein
described and illustrated.
2°
4. In a rotary machine, such as claimed above, rod-pistons working in the
chambers n, substantially as and for the purpose herein described and illustrated.
Dated this 21st day of September 1893.
EDWARDS & Co.,
35, Southampton Buildings, London, Agents for the Applicant.