IMPROVED ROTARY ENGINE
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Abraham Ripley, of 34, West Square, Saint
George's Road, Southwark, in the County of Surrey, Engineer, for
the Invention of ss A Non Iwanagan Dameny "
the Invention of
f ss
Now on IMPROVED ROTARY ENGINE."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Abraham Ripley at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 28th February 1870.
I, ABRAHAM RIPLEY, of 34, West Square, Saint George's Road,
Southwark, in the County of Surrey, Engineer, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "A NEW OR IMPROVED ROTARY ENGINE,"
to be as follows, that is to say :—
This Invention has reference to a new or improved rotary engine to
be actuated by steam, water, or other motive power. A simple con-
struction of this new or improved rotary engine to be actuated by
steam, water, or other motive power and the action of the same are as
follows: On one end of the engine shaft, which is supported in one
or more suitable bearings, are formed or attached as fixtures to turn

page_text: with it and on the same centre two concentric cylinders, the inner
being considerably smaller in diameter than the outer, but of equal
width or depth, and both completely closed on that side at which they
meet the said shaft, but open at the opposite side. These said concentric
cylinders are also connected by means of a plate or radial arm of the
same width or depth as the said cylinders, so that at their open side their
end surfaces and that of the said plate or arm are exactly flush. The
said plate serves as the piston in the manner herein-after described. A
third cylinder working eccentric to the said concentric cylinders and
of the same width or depth, and on a hollow spindle communicating
with the interior of the said inner concentric cylinder, and of such
size that its outer surface will work steam-tight on the inner surface
of the said outer concentric cylinder, whilst its inner surface will
_work-steam-tight-on-the-outer-surface-of-the-said inner concentric
cylinder, is then introduced from the open side of the said concentric
cylinders. This said eccentric cylinder is provided with a slot in order
that it may pass over the said piston, and is a fixture to a circular
plate of sufficient diameter to completely cover up the open side of
the said concentric cylinders and work steam-tight against their said
.end surfaces. The whole is then enclosed in a steam-tight casing, into
which the steam is first admitted, whence it passes through an aperture
formed in the circumference of the said outer concentric cylinder imme-
diately at the back of the said piston into the interior of the said outer
concentric cylinder and the said eccentric cylinder, and being pre-
vented by the said eccentric cylinder from getting round to the opposite
side of the said piston will by its action on the said piston force the
said concentric cylinders round, thereby giving motion to the said engine
shaft, and as the said piston intercepts the circumference of the said
eccentric cylinder it will in its rotary motion carry round with it the
said eccentric cylinder, which serves to open and close the exhaust
consisting of an aperture formed in the circumference of the said
inner concentric cylinder immediately in front of the said piston, through
which aperture the steam after it has done its work exhausts into the
interior of the said inner concentric cylinder, which communicating
with the said hollow spindle of the said eccentric cylinder as before
described provides a means of conveying the waste steam to where
required.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Abraham Ripley in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 27th August 1870. -
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ABRAHAM
RIPLEY, of 34, West Square, Saint George's Road, Southwark, in the
County of Surrey, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-eighth day of February, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the thirty-
third year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Abraham Ripley, Her special licence.
that I, the said Abraham Ripley, my executors, administrators, and
· assigns, or such others as I, the said Abraham Ripley, 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 Isle of Man, an Invention for " A NEW OR
IMPROVED ROTARY ENGINE," upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said Abraham Ripley, 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 Abraham Ripley, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and. ascertained in and by
the following statement thereof, that is to say :-
My Invention has reference to a new or improved rotary engine to be
actuated by steam, compressed air, or water.
And in order that my said Invention may be clearly understood and
readily carried into effect, I proceed to describe the same with the aid.
of the accompanying Drawings, reference being had to the letters
and figures marked thereon. In each case the same letter wherever it
occurs indicates the same part.

page_text: Figure 1 is a front or face view of my new or improved engine;
Figure 2 is a vertical section thereof taken on the line a, b, (Figure 1);
Figure 3 is a sectional view taken on the line c, d, (Figure 2); Figures
4 and 5 are similar views, but shewing the piston at different portions
of a revolution; and Figures 6 and 7 are views of detached portions
thereof.
A is a driving shaft supported in suitable bearings, and has attached
to it so as to turn with it and on the same centre two concentric
cylinders B and C, the inner one C being considerably smaller in
diameter than the outer, but of equal width or depth, and both com-
pletely closed on that side at which they meet the said shaft A but open
at their opposite side. These said cylinders B and C are also connected
by a plate or radial arm D (Figures 2, 3, 4, and 5) of the same width or.
depth as the said cylinders, so that at their open side, their end surfaces,
and that of the said plate, or arm are exactly flush. The said plate or
arm D acts as the piston in the manner herein-after described. A third
cylinder E working eccentric to the cylinders B and C, on a hollow spindle
F communicating with the interior of the cylinder C and of such diameter
that its outer surface will work steam-tight on the inner surface of the
cylinder B (shewn at 4, Figures 2, 3, 4, and 5), whilst its inner surface
will work steam-tight on the outer surface of the cylinder C (shewn at 3,
Figures 2, 3, 4, and 5) is then introduced from the open side of the
cylinders B, C. This cylinder E is of the same width or depth as the
cylinders B, C, and is formed with or attached to a circular plate G,
Figure 2) of sufficient diameter to completely cover up the open side of
the cylinders B, C, and work steam-tight against their end surfaces, as
shewn at points 5, 5, 5, 5, Figure 2, and is also provided with a slot H;
Figures 3, 4, 5, and 7, to enable it to pass over the said piston D, so
that its end surfaces will work steam-tight against the back of the
cylinder B, as shewn at points 6, 6, Figure 2. The edges of the slot are
of an angular form and have one or more channels cut therein as shewn
in section at H, Figures 3, 4, and 5, and in plan in Figure 7, to allow of
the passage of steam as herein-after described. I is a steam-tight casing
surrounding the cylinders B, C, E, and supported on bed J, and is con-
structed so as to take the bearings K and to form the stuffing box L for
the engine shaft on the one side, and on the other to take the bearing M.
for the spindle F. The steam being admitted into the steam chest I at N
(see Figure 3) fills up the space surrounding the cylinders B, C, E, and

page_text: passes thence through the aperture ○ (also shewn dotted at 7, Figure 2)
into the interior of the cylinder B, filling that portion of it marked 1,
and being prevented by the cylinder E from getting round to the other
side of the piston B will act on the said piston with all its force, impelling
it in the direction indicated by the arrow. In Figure 4 the piston is
shewn as having accomplished one-fourth of a revolution, and here the
steam continuing to pass through the aperture O into the cylinder B will
have filled all that portion of it marked 1, and also that portion of the
cylinder E marked 2, into which it will have passed through the slot H,
this portion of the steam being shut off from the exhaust at point 3.
In Figure 5, where the piston D is shewn as having accomplished half a
revolution, it will be seen that the whole of the cylinder B outside the
cylinder E will have been filled, as also that half of the cylinder E
marked 2. When the piston D in continuing its revolution approaches
the position shewn dotted in Figure 5 it will be seen that the steam
filling the cylinder B will exhaust through the slots H and P into the
cylinder C, which communicating with the hollow spindle F as before.
described provides a means of conveying the waste steam to the waste
or exhaust pipe, whilst the steam continuing to pass in through the
aperture O continues to fill that portion of the cylinder E marked 2, and
commences again to fill cylinder B at that part marked 1, and so on
until the piston approaches the position shewn dotted in Figure 4, when
it will be seen that the whole of the steam in the cylinder E will exhaust
through the aperture P and be conveyed away as before described. The
next and following revolutions are then accomplished in the manner of
the one described. The supply pipe N and exhaust pipe Q being con-
nected with an ordinary slide valve R, shewn in section at Figure 6,
provides a means of reversing the engine, as through the medium of the
hand lever S the valve R may be instantaneously reversed when the
steam passing into the engine by way of the pipe Q will exhaust by way
of the pipes N and T, in its course driving the engine in the reverse
direction to that indicated by the arrow. U is the pipe by way of which
the steam from the boiler is conveyed to the engine. It will be seen on
examination of Figures 1 and 2 that the spindle F of the cylinder E
has an eccentric bearing M so contrived that it may be turned down,
thus lowering the working centre of the said cylinder E and providing
a means of setting up the rubbing surfaces 3 and 4 in case of slackness
in consequence of wear or otherwise, whilst slackness at the points 5, 5,

page_text: improved manner herein described and illustrated in the accompanying
Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Abraham Ripley, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-seventh day of August,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and
seventy.
A. RIPLEY. (L.S.)