IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR OBTAINING MOTIVE POWER
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Henry Johnson, of 47, Lincoln's Inn
Fields, in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR OBTAINING MOTIVE POWER."-A com-
munication from abroad by François Benjamin Carto, of Paris, in
the Republic of France.
Sealed the 2nd June 1874, and dated the 17th December 1873.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Henry Johnson
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 17th December 1873..
I, JOHN HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the
County of Middlesex, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR OBTAINING MOTIVE
POWER," a communication to me from abroad by François Benjamin
Carto, of Paris, in the Republic of France, to be as follows:-
:-
This Invention relates to a peculiar construction and arrangement of
machinery or apparatus for obtaining motive power by the continuous

page_text: ་
action of gravitation, and consists of a fixed bed plate provided with an
upright pillar in the centre, to the base of which is keyed or otherwise
secured a large horizontal spur wheel.
From the top of this pillar there is suspended by a pivot in a metal
boss or socket working in a footstep bearing fitted in the top of the said t
pillars a circular platform inclined downwards at a slight angle from the
centre, and strengthened, and divided on its surface by say eight
radiating metal ribs or vertical webs. Beneath this platform and con-
nected thereto by eight vertical and inclined guides in the form of
semi-tubes there is an annular framing, the said framing, guides, and
platform all being free to revolve round the central fixed pillar.
In bearings provided near the periphery of the circular platform and
annular framing there are fitted eight vertical helices of three spirals
each, and to the lower end of each of these helices there is secured a
spur wheel, which spur wheels all gear into the large horizontal fixed
spur wheel, so that on imparting a rotatory motion to the said vertical
helices they will travel round the fixed horizontal spur wheel and so
cause the machine to rotate.
This rotatory motion of the machine is given off by means of a crank
pin in the revolving boss or socket on the top of the pillar, and a con-
necting rod, or if preferred ordinary spur or bevel gearing may be
substituted for the crank pin and connecting rod.
Within the space inclosed between the eight vertical helices and the
central pillar there are disposed eight. other helices arranged with their
axes at an angle of about 45 degrees, the upper ends of these inclined
helices inclining inwards towards the top of the pillar and having their
upper bearings in the under side of the before-mentioned rotating boss
or socket, their lower bearings being formed in the annular revolving
frame before referred to. The axis of each of these inclined helices
carries at or near its upper end a bevel pinion, which pinions gear into a
fixed bevel wheel secured to the upper part of the central pillar, con-
sequently when the machine is rotated by the action of the vertical
helices, as will be herein-after explained, the several inclined helices will
be caused to revolve each on its own axis at the same time that they
describe a circular orbit round the central fixed pillar.
The before-mentioned semi-tubular vertical guides are fitted with their
open sides tangential to the several vertical helices, and the inclined

page_text: guides are similarly disposed with regard to the several inclined helices.
Openings are made in the top platform corresponding with the several
vertical and inclined guides, which guides are each charged with say
three metal spheres, an extra sphere being provided in each set for the
purpose herein-after explained..
The gravitation of the spheres in the several vertical guides causes
them to descend, and in doing so to act upon the helices and rotate the
same, causing the machine to revolve each sphere as it issues from the
bottom of the vertical guides, being directed to the lower end of the
inclined guides over the inclined helices, the revolution of which latter
cause the spheres to be raised in succession to the platform through the
inner set of openings therein, whence they roll to the outer set of
openings, down which they pass into the vertical guides again to keep
up the rotation of the machine & thus maintain the action of the
machine.
The extra sphere in each set is provided in order to regain the time
lost in running from the inner to the outer set of holes in the platform,
there being consequently always three spheres in action upon each of the
eight vertical helices, and three spheres being elevated by each of the
inclined helices..
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Henry Johnson in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 17th June 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of
Middlesex, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of December, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three,
in the 37th year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said John Henry Johnson, Her

page_text: special license that I, the said John Henry Johnson, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John Henry
Johnson, my executors, administrators, or 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
"IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR OBTAINING MOTIVE POWER," a communi-
cation to me from abroad by François Benjamin Carto, of Paris, in the
Republic of France, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said John Henry Johnson, my executors or administrators, by an
instrument in writing under my hand and seal, 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 John Henry Johnson, 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 accom-
panying Drawings, and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that
is to say:-
The said Invention relates to a peculiar construction and arrangement
of machinery or apparatus (which the Inventor proposes to designate a
"renouvelateur ") for obtaining motive power by the continuous action of
gravitation of a series of spheres upon vertical axes or helices, other
axes or helices in an inclined position being employed for the purpose of
elevating the spheres again in readiness for another descent, so that the
weight of the spheres is almost entirely neutralized during their upward
course, but is constantly renewed in the downward motion.
And in order that the said Invention may be fully understood I shall
now proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that
purpose shall refer to the several Figures on the annexed Sheets of
Drawings, the same letters of reference indicating corresponding parts
in all the Figures.
Figure 1 (Sheet 1) represents a vertical section of an engine con-
structed according to one mode of carrying out this Invention, and

page_text: Figure 2 is a corresponding half plan and half horizontal section of
same.
a is a circular fixed bed plate provided with an upright pillar a¹, to the
base of which there is secured a large spur wheel f. From the top a²
of this pillar there is suspended by a pivot 7 in a metal boss or socket b³,
and working in a footstep bearing a moveable circular platform b, which
is strengthened by say cight radial ribs 6', an adjusting screw being
employed to admit of the height of the pivot being varied as required.
The platform has formed in it sixteen large apertures j, eight of
such apertures being situate towards the circumference and the other
eight near the boss or socket, and eight troughs or chambers j¹ are
provided leading from the inner to the outer series of apertures.
d, d, are vertical helices of a large diameter, of which there are eight in
number, each carrying at its base a fixed spur wheel g, and being pro-
vided with three threads or spirals d', each of which has a complete turn
or coil round the helices.
The helices are carried on shafts or spindles, the upper end of each of
which is fitted with a pivot or collar p secured to the platform, whilst
the lower end fits into a footstep bearing p¹ carried on an annular
frame c.
The frame c is secured to the platform by means of eight semi-tubes or
vertical guides i bolted thereto. These guides are arranged tangentially
to the vertical helices and placed so as to fit at the top into the eight
large apertures formed in the platform near its circumference.
e are helices of a small diameter, of which there are eight in number,
placed at an inclination of say forty-five degrees to the centre of the
platform, each having at the top end a pinion in gear with a bevel
wheel g fast on the top a² of the pillar. The shafts which carry these
inclined helices are fitted at their lower end into the annular frame c by
pivots and footstep bearings p" in a similar manner to those of the
vertical helices, and at their upper end by concentric bushes / on the
platform, and turn with the platform and the annular frame.
Eight inclined guides are provided parallel to the inclined helices,
such guides being secured at the base to the annular frame and at the
top to the platform, and fitting into the large apertures formed near the
boss or socket.

page_text: I, I, are metal spheres, of which there are fifty-six in number, which
are intended to impart and maintain a continuous motion, and from
which the motive power of the engine is derived.
m and n are respectively a crank and connecting rod for transmitting
the motion; 0, 0, 0, are brakes consisting of a screw working in a nut
formed in or attached to the bed plate a and carrying brake blocks,
which when the screw is operated by means of a hand wheel with which
it is provided are moved towards and from the annular frame c, the
parallelism of the motion being insured by means of suitable guides.
Three of these brakes are employed in the engine illustrated in my 1
Drawings.
The whole of the mechanism may be left open, or if desired it may be
closed by a hinged or sliding cover u and by eight panels, resting or not
upon the ribs of the platform.
It will be understood therefore from the preceding description,
First. That the sixteen helices are moveable, as are also the wheels
and pinions which are secured to them.
Second. That the platform and the frame to which the helices are
fitted, and which are connected together by the vertical and inclined
guides, are also moveable, as the platform is only supported by the pivot
attached to its boss or socket.
Third. That as each of the inclined helices is fitted at its base con-
tiguous to the base of one of the eight vertical helices, these sixteen
helices form eight distinct sets, which are placed at equal distances apart
from each other, and form the large spur wheel and the bevel wheel,
which are fast on the upright pillar of the bed plate a.
I shall describe the operation of a single set of helices, as the whole
of the sets operate in a similar manner.
The depth of the parts which are hollowed or recessed so as to form
the three threads or spirals of each vertical helice is. so arranged as to
prevent any sphere on its arrival at the top of the vertical semicircular
guide from escaping, so as gradually to descend along the thread or
spiral, whence it follows that remaining in the guide it gravitates
vertically, imparting to the thread or spiral on which it rests a retro-
grade motion, which continues until such sphere arrives at the base of a

page_text: the inclined helice, when it passes from the vertical guide to the inclined
guide. As each thread or spiral makes one complete revolution it
follows that the spur wheel which it works performs also a revolution in
the same time. It will be understood however that during one-third of
the revolution of such thread or spiral the second arrives opposite the
guide and receives also the pressure of a second sphere, then the third
thread or spiral receives that of a third sphere, the third commencing
its motion when the motion of the first is completed; when the three
spheres therefore arrive one after the other at the bottom the helice and its
spur wheel will have performed three revolutions. Now as this wheel is
in gear with the stationary wheel ƒ, the diameter of which is three times
that of the smaller wheels, it is obvious that the vertical helice whilst it
performs three revolutions on its own axis also turns once around the
large stationary wheel, and in that second or orbital motion carries with
it the platform 6 and the frame c, as also the inclined helice and the
guide.
'
This inclined helice is provided with a pinion r as before stated, which
is in gear with the bevel wheel q secured to the upright pillar of the
bed plate a, which pinion in turning once around the bevel wheel makes
three revolutions on its own axis, thus imparting motion to its helice,
the three threads or spirals of which have a slow pitch and are formed
in the reverse direction to those of the vertical helices. The spheres
which are inserted successively from the guide are thus carried up to
the top with the same facility and without the expenditure of any more
power than is required to cause them to roll on a horizontal plane
whereby nearly the whole of their specific weight is neutralized in this
upward motion. On the arrival of the spheres at the top they are
deposited in the troughs or channels on the platform in communication
with the apertures, through which they again descend into the guide of
the vertical helice.
During the motion of three spheres on the extremity of the thread or
spiral of the vertical helice d three others are rolling along the inclined
helice; a seventh sphere is therefore required in order to regain the time
lost by the length of the run on the platform.
It is obvious that the description herein-before given of the motion of
one set of helices is equally applicable to all the other sets.
The brake is put on by moving the hand wheel so as to tighten the
two stationary wheels of the engine when it is required to charge it with

page_text: all its spheres, and when that operation is completed it is simply
necessary to take off the brake and the engine will be immediately
started.
It is obvious that the number of sets of helices and the number of
threads or spirals on each helice, as also the angle of inclination and the
number of spheres, may be varied, and that the arrangement may be
otherwise modified without departing from the principle of this
Invention.
Figure 3 (Sheet 2) is a vertical section, and Figure 4 a horizontal
section of a modified arrangement of engine. In this modification each
helice is provided with but two threads or spirals, and only thirty-two
spheres are required, and the vertical helices extend above the platform so
as to better catch or receive the spheres on the renewal of their descent;
the main stationary spur wheel also surrounds the vertical helices, whereby
the speed is diminished and the strength increased. In lieu, moreover,
of the engine being pivotted to the upper end of an upright pillar
carried by a stationary bed plate in the modified arrangement the engine
is caused to turn a vertical internal shaft or axle A fitted with a
universal joint, which admits of the engine oscillating whilst main-
taining its level, and consequently the regularity of its rotation when
applied to railways and marine purposes.
B is a horizontal shaft for transmitting motion, which shaft is actuated
from the vertical shaft by two bevel wheels placed the one above and
the other below, and thrown into and out of gear respectively with a
bevel pinion carried on the shaft B according as it is required to turn
the latter shaft to the left or to the right for the purpose of moving
forwards or backwards.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of the
said Invention and the manner in which the same is or may be used or
carried into effect, I would observe in conclusion that what I consider
to be novel and original and therefore claim as the Invention secured to
me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is, the peculiar
construction and arrangement of machinery or apparatus for obtaining
motive power by means of spheres, which are caused by gravitation to
descend and actuate vertical helices, and are successively elevated by
inclined helices, whereby the weight of the spheres is almost entirely
neutralized during their ascent, but is constantly renewed in their

page_text: descent, substantially in the manner and for the purposes herein-before
described and illustrated by the Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Henry Johnson, have to this
my Specification, set my hand and seal, this Seventeenth day
of June One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four.