A NEW OR IMPROVED CONSTRUCTION OF CALORIC ENGINES
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Marc Antoine François Mennons, of the British and
Foreign Patent Offices, 39, Rue de l'Echiquier, Paris, in the Empire of
France, for the Invention of "A NEW OR IMPROVED CONSTRUCTION OF
CALORIC ENGINES."-A communication from Nicolas de Telescheff (Captain
of Artillery) resident at Tver. in the Empire of Russia.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Marc Antoine François
Mennons at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 26th June 1861.
I, MARC ANTOINE FRANÇOIS MENNONS, of the British and Foreign Patent
Offices, 39, Rue de l'Echiquier, Paris, in the Empire of France, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "A NEW OR IMPROVED CONSTRUCTION
OF CALORIC ENGINES," to be as follows:-
The Invention communicated to me consists in a new or improved com-
bination of known machinery applied to the construction of locomotive,
stationary, marine, and other engines. The essential elements of this com-
bination, in which heated air is the motive agent, are,-
Istly, a ventilating apparatus, by means of which cold air is thrown into
the body of the engine.
2dly, a furnace composed of a metallic cylinder provided with a horizontal
grate carrying the fuel, and with vertical grated apertures, giving passage to
the air supplied by the ventilator.
3dly, a turbine mounted on a horizontal shaft and driven by the dilated air
mingled with the gaseous products. of the combustion.
4thly, a regenerating apparatus, by means of which the cold air supplied by

page_text: the ventilator is progressively heated to a given point, while the temperature
of the hot air escaping from the turbine is reduced in the same proportion.
5thly, connecting rods, cranks, wheels, and other ordinary mechanical
accessories by means of which the movement of the turbine is transmitted to
the ventilator, the driving shaft, and other working parts of the engine.
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawing represents in section, on a scale of
th, an application of the elements above enumerated to the construction of
a 40 h.p. locomotive engine.
A is the ventilator (seen apart in Fig. 2) mounted on the horizontal shaft a,
and throwing the air, as indicated by the curved arrows, into the cylinder B, B,
near the opposite extremity of which is placed the furnace c. To equalize the
velocity of the air a hollow cone c*, c*, is mounted within this cylinder, and
secured in position by cross bars or other convenient setting. A portion of
the air delivered by the ventilator traverses the furnace c above the grate c¹ by
the grated apertures c¹. The remaining portion passes round the furnace,
and the whole mingling with the gaseous products of the combustion is thrown
into the turbine D (seen apart in Fig. 3), to which it imparts a rotatory
movement. This rotation is communicated by the endless screw e, set on the
shaft d, to a toothed wheel set on the vertical shaft.f, which in its turn acting
on the horizontal shaft G, G, G, transmits the movement to the ventilator A.
A portion of the shaft d towards its outer extremity is reduced to a square,
triangular, or other prismatic form, and on this part is mounted a second
endless screw h, so arranged as to slide freely under the action of a lever, as
seen in i, i. This screw h transmits the movement by the vertical shaft k to
the horizontal shaft L, which in its turn sets in motion the driving wheels of
the engine by means of the cranks and connecting rods M, N. On the other
side of the screw h is placed a vertical shaft m, provided with a cog wheel, by
which the reverse motion may be communicated to the shaft L; on pressing
the lever i, i, the sliding screw h is freed from the cog wheel n, and takes up
position in the space o, between the vertical shafts k and m. The communi-
cation between the turbine and the driving wheels being thus cut off, the
movement of the latter is suspended. The screw h being drawn still further
forward engages in the cog wheel of the vertical shaft m, and thus communi-
cates the reverse movement to the driving wheels. The spent air and gases
on leaving the turbine pass, as shewn, by the curved arrows into the regene-
rator formed by the exterior of the cylinder B, B, and the interior of the
casing p, p. During their passage through this compartment their caloric is
progressively absorbed by the air proceeding from the ventilator, the tem-
perature of which air is thus raised to a bigh degree before its arrival at the

page_text: furnace; E is a capacity hermetically closed by a lid and pressure screw, and
serving as magazine for the fuel. To start the engine thus constructed the
ventilator is turned on its shaft, either by the hand or by suitable mechanism
By the first impulse thus given the air is thrown into the cylinder B, B,
expands under the action of the heat disengaged by the furnace C, and passing
into the turbine D, imparts to it the rotatory movement, which from thence is
communicated by the transmitting mechanism to the driving wheels on one
hand, and to the ventilator on the other in the manner above described.
From the preceding example it will be understood that the Invention may
be applied to the construction of caloric engines of the different types, loco-
motive, stationary, and marine, the general details of form, arrangement, and
secondary mechanism being varied according to circumstances.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent; filed
by the said Marc Antoine François Mennons in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 18th December 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, MARC
ANTOINE FRANÇOIS MENNONS, of the British and Foreign Patent Offices, 39,
Rue de l'Echiquier, Paris, in the Empire of France, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-sixth day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fifth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Marc Antoine François Mennons, Her special licence that I, the
said Marc Antoine Francois Mennons, my executors, administrators,. and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Mare Antoine François Mennons, 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
CONSTRUCTION OF CALORIC ENGINES," (a communication from Nicolas de Teles-
cheff (Captain of Artillery), a person resident at Tver, in the Empire of
Russia, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Marc Antoine
François Mennons, 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

page_text: 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 Marc Antoine François Mennons, 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, reference being had to the Figures of the accompanying
Drawing, and to the letters marked thereon, that is to say :-
The Invention communicated to me consists in a new or improved combi-
nation of known machinery applied to the construction of locomotive, stationary,
marine, and other engines.
The essential elements of this combination, in which heated air is the motive
agent, are,―
1stly, a ventilating apparatus, by means of which cold air is thrown into the
body of the engine.
2dly, a furnace composed of a metallic cylinder, provided with a horizontal
grate carrying the fuel, and with vertical grated apertures giving passage to
the air supplied by the ventilator.
3dly, a turbine mounted on a horizontal shaft, and driven by the dilated air,
mingled with the gaseous products of the combustion.
4thly, a regenerating apparatus, by means of which the 'cold air supplied by
the ventilator is progressively heated to a given point, while the temperature
of the hot air escaping from the turbine is reduced in the same proportion.
5thly, connecting rods,. cranks, wheels, and other ordinary mechanical
accessories, by means of which the movement of the turbine is transmitted to
the ventilator, the driving shafts, and other working parts of the engine.
Figure 1 represents in longitudinal section an application of the elements
above enumerated to the construction of a locomotive engine.
A is the ventilator (seen apart in Figure 2) mounted on the horizontal
shaft a, and throwing the air as indicated by the curved arrows into the
cylinder B, B, near the opposite extremity of which is placed the furnace C.
To equalise the velocity of the air, a hollow cone C*, C*, is mounted within
this cylinder, and secured in position by cross bars or other convenient setting.
A portion of the air delivered by the ventilator traverses the furnace C above
the grate C, by the apertures C"; the remaining portion passes round the
furnace, and the whole mingling with the gaseous products of the combustion is
thrown into the turbine D (seen apart in Figure 3), to which it imparts a
rotatory movement. This rotation is communicated by the endless screw e, set
on the shaft d, to a toothed wheel mounted on the vertical shaft f, which in its

page_text: turn, acting on the horizontal shaft G, G, G, transmits the movement to the
ventilator A. A portion of the shaft d towards its outer extremity is reduced
to a square, triangular, or other prismatic form, and on this part is mounted a
second endless screw h, so arranged as to slide freely under the action of a
lever, as seen in i, j. This screw h transmits the movement by the vertical
shaft K to the horizontal shaft L, which in its turn sets in motion the driving
wheels of the engine by means of the cranks and connecting rods M, N. On
the other side of the screw h is placed a vertical shaft m, provided with a cog
wheel, by which the reverse motion may be communicated to the shaft L. On
pressing the lever i, j, the sliding screw h is freed from the cog wheel n, and
takes up position in the space o between the vertical shafts K and m. The
communication between the turbine and the driving wheels being thus cut off,
the movement of the latter is suspended. The screw h being drawn still
further forward, engages in the cog wheel of the vertical shaft m, and thus
communicates the reverse motion to the driving wheels. The spent air and
gases on leaving the turbine pass, as shewn by the curved arrows, into the
regenerator formed by the exterior of the cylinder B, B, and the interior of
the casing p, p. During their passage through this compartment their caloric
is progressively absorbed by the air proceeding from the ventilator, the tem-
perature of which air is thus raised to a high degree before its arrival at the
furnace. E is a capacity hermetically closed by a lid and pressure screw F, H,
and serving as magazine for the fuel.
To start the engine thus constructed the ventilator is turned on its shaft,
either by the hand or by suitable mechanism. By the first impulsion thus
given the air is thrown into the cylinder B, B, expands under the action of the
heat disengaged by the furnace C, and passing into the turbine D imparts to
it the rotatory movement, which from thence is communicated by the trans-
mitting mechanism to the driving wheels on one hand, and to the ventilator
on the other, in the manner above described.
Figure 4 represents in plan an application of the Invention to the construc-
tion of stationary engines.
A, A, is the ventilator mounted on one end of a horizontal shaft a, a, on the
opposite extremity of which is set the turbine B, B. C, C, are two furnaces
placed one on each side of the shaft. The double envelope, which in Figure 1
forms the inlet and cutlet passages for the air, is in this engine replaced by
the longitudinally-partitioned cylinders F, G, of which a cross section is shewn
in Figure 5. By this arrangement, the object of which is to increase within a
limited space the amount of heating surface, the cold air passes from the
ventilator through the lower sections x, x, of the zig-zag partitions, while the

page_text: heated air escaping from the turbine egresses through the upper sections z, z.
D, D, register, worked by the screws E, E, and serving to regulate the quan-
tity of air admitted to the turbine. F, F, is the external cylinder or casing of
the engine, covering by its inner surface the points of the outlet zig-zag parti-
tions, %.
G, G, is the internal cylinder, by which the lower or inlet passages
a, x, are closed over. H, H, is a casing in sheet iron or other suitable matter,
surrounding and preserving from the heat the portion of the main shaft in the
vicinity of the furnaces. I, I, is a second casing covering the above, and
ranging from one end of the shaft to the other.
Figure 6 represents a cross section of the above plan through the
line X, X.
Figure 7 is a section of one of the furnaces, with its fuel feeder J.
It will be readily understood that the partitioned cylinders above described,
may in almost every case be advantageously substituted to the plain rege-
nerating compartment originally adopted as in Figure 1. The essential object
of this arrangement being, as before stated, to multiply as far as possible
within a given space the heating surface of the air passages. The same end
may, of course, be attained by other combinations, but that just described has
hitherto been found to give the best practical results.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention, and the manner of
carrying it into effect, I would have it understood that I do not confine
myself to the details of form, arrangement, and secondary mechanism above laid
down, as these may be modified ad libitum according to the type or intended
application of the engine, without deviating from the principle on which
the system is based; but what I claim and desire to protect by the above in
part recited Letters Patent is, the application to the construction of motive
engines, of a ventilator and turbine, acting in combination with heating
surfaces substantially in the manner above described, and represented in the
Figures of the accompanying Drawing.
In witness whereof, I, the said Marc Antoine François Mennons, have s
hereto set my band and seal, this Twelfth day of December, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
M. F. MENNONS. (L.S.)