AN IMPROVED CONSTRUCTION OF ENGINE, WHICH CAN BE USED BITHER AS A MOTOR OR FOR PUMPING
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for the
Invention of "AN IMPROVED CONSTRUCTION OF ENGINE, WHICH CAN BE USED
BITHER AS A MOTOR OR FOR PUMPING."-A communication from abroad by
John Benjamin Root and William Benjamin, both of the City of New
York, in the United States of America.
Sealed the 19th December 1865, and dated the 25th September 1865.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the.
25th September 1865.
I, WILLIAM EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane;.
in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED CONSTRUCTION OF ENGINE, WHICH CAN BE
USED EITHER AS A MOTOR OR FOR PUMPING," to be as follows:-
The engine which forms the subject of the present Invention has a cylinder,
the sectional form of which, taken in a plane parallel with the planes of
motion of the pistons, resembles two united quadrants or sectors arranged in

page_text: reversed positions, as shewn in the accompanying Drawing. In this cylinder,
which consists of two parts A and B, two oscillating pistons D and D¹ are
employed, each working in one of the quadrant or sector shaped portions
A or B of the cylinder. These pistons are both connected with one crank C
on the main shaft E of the engine, so that by a properly regulated induction
and eduction of steam or other fluid at a suitable pressure to and from opposite
ends of the cylinder the steam may act on each piston D during more than
half a revolution of the crank shaft E; and although each piston is only
single-acting, the two combined will act continuously upon the crank C
without any dead points. The main shaft E may extend directly through the
cylinder, and the crank C be inside of the same, between the two pistons D
and D', and the pistons may be connected directly with the crank by means
of rods or links; or the crank may be outside of the cylinder, and connected
with arms attached to rock shafts, on which the pistons are secured. The
pistons are kept steam-tight by means of metal strips inserted into mortices
with tenon joints, and connected together by pins, which work in slots made
in the strips, so that the latter may adjust themselves to their work when
pressed forward by means of springs placed behind them.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Edward, Newton in the Great, Seal Patent Office on
the 24th March 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS, SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fifth day of September, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-ninth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give. and grant unto me,
the said William Edward Newton, Her special licence that I, the said William
Edward Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such, others, as
I, the said William Edward Newton, 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

page_text: "AN IMPROVED CONSTRUCTION OF ENGINE, WHICH CAN BE USED EITHER AS
A MOTOR OR FOR PUMPING," being a communication from abroad, upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Edward Newton,
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 William Edward Newton, 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 Drawing hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
The engine which forms the subject of the present Invention has a cylinder,
the sectional form of which, taken in a plane parallel with the planes of
motion of the pistons, resembles two united quadrants or sectors arranged in
reverse positions, as shewn in the accompanying Drawing. In this cylinder.
which consists of the parts A and B, two oscillating pistons D and D' are
employed, each working in one of the quadrant or sector shaped portions A
or B of the cylinder. These pistons are both connected with one crank C on
the main shaft E of the engine, so that by a properly regulated induction and
eduction of steam or other fluid at a suitable pressure to and from opposite
ends of the cylinder the steam may act on each piston during more than half a
revolution of the crank shaft E; and although each piston is only single-
acting, the two combined will act continuously upon the crank C without any
dead points. The main shaft E may extend directly through the cylinder, and
the crank C be inside the same between the two pistons D and D¹, and the
pistons may be connected directly with the crank by means of suitable rods or
links; or the crank may be outside of the cylinder, and connected with arms
attached to rock shafts, on which the pistons are secured.
The Invention consists in the cylinder and system of pistons and connections
above described, and in a novel system of packing for the pistons.
Fig. 1 in the accompanying Drawing exhibits a vertical section of the
engine in a plane parallel with the planes of oscillation of the pistons; Fig. 2
is a vertical section at right angles to Fig. 1 in the plane indicated by the
line x, x, in that Figure, except that the crank shaft and its connections are
shown entire; Fig. 3 is a vertical section parallel with Fig. 1 in the plane
indicated by the line y, y, in Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a plan of the same; Fig. 5 is

page_text: a Diagram illustrating the relative movements of the pistons and crank; Fig. 6
is a face view of one of the pistons on a larger scale than Figures 1, 2, and 3,
a part near one edge being. broken away to shew the packing; Fig. 7 is an
edge view of the piston; Fig. 8 is a section of similar character to Fig. 1 of a
modification of the engine; Fig. 9 is a side view of the crank and piston
connections corresponding with Fig. 7.
D, D*, are the pistons
In the engine repre-
A represents the cylinder, the vertical section of which in one direction is
of a form. resembling that of the two united sectors arranged in reverse
positions, as shewn in Figures 1 and 8, and that in the perpendicular direction,
is of the form of a parallelogram, as shewn in Fig. 2. This cylinder is bolted
to a bed plate A³, and has its head A¹ detachable.
fitted one to each sector-shaped half of the cylinder.
sented in Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4, (in which the crank and its connections are
outside of the cylinder) these pistons are firmly secured each to one of two
parallel rock shafts b, 6*, which are fitted to suitable bearings provided in the
two cylinder heads in positions concentric with their respective sector-shaped
portions of the cylinder. These rock shafts may extend right through both
cylinder heads A', A; or only through A, as shewn, and outside of the
cylinder they have secured to them two arms P, P*, by which the connections
with the crank are made.. .These pistons, which occupy reversed positions
(that is to say, D vibrating below its rock shaft, and D* vibrating above its
rock shaft), have their edges grooved and fitted with straight metal packing
strips c, c, c, which are pressed out against the top, bottom, and heads of the
cylinder respectively by means of spiral springs d, d, placed within cavities
provided in the backs of the grooves, as shown in Figures 6 and 7. Packing
rings c, with similar springs behind them, are also fitted into grooves provided
in the sides of the pistons concentric with their rock shafts b, 6*. The side
strips c¹ are fitted to the end strip c³ with mortise and tenon joints, and the mortises
and tenons are connected by transverse pins f, inserted tightly into holes in the
tenons, and entering slots e in the sides of the mortises, as shewn in Fig. 6, so
that while the side strips are free to be pressed outward by their springs inde-
pendently of the end strip to compensate for their own wear and that of the
interiors of the cylinder heads, the end strip, in being forced outward against
the arc-formed surface of the cylinder, will draw the side strips longitudinally
along with it, and so preserve tight joints between the piston and cylinder at
their corners. E is the main shaft of the engine arranged parallel with the
two rock shafts b, b*, and with its axis equidistant from the axis thereof, in
which positions it is supported in suitable faced bearings 9, q', one of which
may be in the cylinder head A, or in a standard erected upon the bed plate

page_text: close to the cylinder head, and in the other in a standard A* erected upon the
bed plate at a distance from the cylinder head. The rock shafts b, b*, are
extended far enough through the cylinder head for journals at their outer ends
to be received in bearings in the standard A. The main shaft has a single
crank E', with the wrist or crank pin E2, of which wrists n, n*, secured in
the two arms P, P*, of the piston rock shafts are connected by two connecting
rods H, H. On the top of the cylinder is the valve chest B (Figures 1
and 8), which contains the valve L, by which the induction and eduction of
steam or other fluid to and from the cylinder A is effected. This valve chest
is represented as cast with the cylinder, but it may be made separate and
bolted in its place. It is bored cylindrically, its bore being parallel with the
axis of the several shafts of the engine. The valve is secured firmly to a
rock shaft L', which is concentric with the bore of the chest B, and passes
through a stuffing box at one end of the chest, outside of which it is furnished
with an arm L, which is connected with an excentric M on the main shaft E.
The form and arrangement of the ports a, a, 9, in the valve chest are
the same as in that of an ordinary three-port or "short D" slide, except that
the ports terminate in the cylindrical bore of the chest instead of in a flat seat.
The valve is also constructed and operated like an ordinary three-port or
"short D" valve, except that its face is a segment of a cylinder instead of a
plane, and that it has an oscillating instead of a rectilinear motion. The
middle port communicates with the space in the cylinder between the two
pistons D, D*, and this space communicates by a passage h with the eduction
pipe. The ports a and a communicate by passages i, i*, with opposite sides
of the cylinder, so as to admit the steam. or other fluid on the outer sides of
the pistons. The induction pipe is connected with the valve chest at J, and
admits steam behind the valve. The movement of the valve produced by the
excentric is such, that it alternately uncovers the ports a, a, and brings them
into communication with the port g, first effecting the induction of the steam
or other fluid to the cylinder on the outer side of either piston during the
inward movement of the latter, and afterwards allowing the induction to take
place during the outward movement. Instead of having a single valve to effect
the induction and eduction of the steam to and from both sides of the cylinder,
a separate valve of similar character may be applied to admit the steam to
each side to act on each piston, and by that means the long passages i, i*,
may be dispensed with.
It will be readily understood by engineers that this engine may be used either
as a motor or as a pump. I will first describe its action as a motor. The steam
or other fluid admitted to the cylinder acts upon the outer side of cach piston in

page_text: turn and presses it toward the centre of the cylinder, and thus, by means of the
connections of the rock shaft with the crank, rotary motion is given to the main
shaft, while one of the pistons is acted upon by the steam or other fluid, and acts
upon the crank as above described; the other piston is moved outward by the action
of the crank and its connections. The connections of the rock shafts with the
crank wrist E are so arranged, and their length so proportioned, that each piston
may be acted upon by the steam or other fluid and transmit its effect to the
crank during more than half a revolution of the latter. This is illustrated by
the Diagram, Fig. 5, which represents the crank and connections in five
different positions, in which the lines representing the pistons on their arms P, P*,
are marked respectively D', D2, D3, D', D³, and D¹*, D*, D**, D**, D5*,
and the dot representing the crank wrist is marked 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, the numbers
corresponding with those on the piston lines. When the left-hand piston D
has arrived at the outer end of its stroke, as shewn by the unbroken black
line numbered D¹* in Fig. 12, the right-hand piston, upon which the steam is
acting, and which is moving inward toward the crank shaft, has arrived in the
position of the similar line marked D¹. The steam now commences to act
upon the left-hand piston D*, and acts upon both pistons until the right-hand
one D has arrived at the inner end of its stroke, as indicated by the dotted
black line D, and the steam ceases to act upon it, the left-hand piston D*
having in the meantime arrived in the position of the dotted black line D*.
The steam now acts only upon the left-hand piston D*, while the right-hand
piston makes the whole of its outward stroke, and until it arrives in the position
indicated by the unbroken red line D³, the left-hand piston in the meantime
moving only to the position indicated by the unbroken red line D³*. The
steam now commences to act upon the right-hand piston D, and acts upon
both until the left-hand one D* bas completed its inward stroke and arrived in
the position indicated by red dotted outline, the right-hand one in the meantime
moving to the position indicated by the red dotted line D'. The steam now acts
only upon the right-hand piston D, while the left-hand piston D makes the
whole of its outward stroke, and arrives in the position indicated by the unbroken
black line D, the right-hand piston in the meantime arriving in the position
indicated by the unbroken black line D¹. The pistons have now arrived in
the first-described positions, and the crank has made a complete revolution.
The crank moves in the direction of the arrow shewn in Fig. 12, and it
will be understood, by reference to the positions 1, 2, 3, and 4 of the crank in
the Diagram, that while the steam acts upon the left-hand piston D*, the
crank moves from the position 1 to the position 4, and while the steam acts
upon the right-hand piston D, the crank moves from the position 3 to the

page_text: position 2, thus making about three-fourths of a revolution while the steam is
in operation upon either piston; and that while the crank moves from the
position marked 1 to that marked 2, and from the position marked 3 to that
marked 4, the steam is acting upon both pistons, each piston, though only
single-acting, being thus acted upon by the steam during three-quarters of a
revolution of the crank, and the two pistons being acted both upon at once
during two quarters of the revolution. The position of the parts shewn in
blue color in the Diagram as when the two connections H, H*, of the crank
and pistons are in line with each other, both pistons being then in action upon
the crank.
To operate the engine as a pump rotary motion is given to the crank shaft
by motive power obtained from any suitable source, and by this rotary motion
the connections are caused to set the piston in motion. As the pistons
respectively move inward or toward the centre of the cylinder the water or
other liquid enters the cylinder through their respective ports a, a, and as
they move outward the water is expelled from between them and the sides of
the cylinder through the cavity in the face of the valve through the space
between the two pistons, and out at h.
The example of the engine represented in Fig. 8 differs from that repre-
sented in Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4, in having the crank and its connections with
the pistons inside of the cylinder. The main shaft passes through a stuffing
box bearing in one of the cylinder heads, and extends right through the
cylinder to a bearing in the other head. The connecting rods H, H*, in this
example are connected directly with the pistons by pin joints n, n*. The
rod H is forked, as shewn in Fig. 9, that it may connect with the wrist of the
crank on opposite sides of H..
The features of novelty in the above-described engine, and which I desire to
claim as the Invention secured to me under the herein-before in part recited
Letters Patent, are,-.
First, the combination of a quadrant-shaped cylinder A and two vibrating
pistons D, D, occupying reversed positions within the cylinder, and both
connected with the same crank shaft, and operating as herein set forth.
Second, so arranging the connections between the vibrating pistons and the
crank that each piston, though being only single-acting, may act upon the
crank during more than half of each revolution of the latter, as herein
described.
Third, the crank E arranged directly between the vibrating pistons and
within the cylinder of an engine such as is herein-described, with a separate
and independent connection with each piston, as herein set forth.

page_text: Fourth, the connection of the side packing strips c' and end packing strips c²
of the pistons by means of pins f and slots e, in combination with mortise and
tenon joints, and for the purpose herein specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, Twentieth day of March, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six.
W. E. NEWTON. (L.S.)