A NEW APPLICATION OF A PRINCIPLE BY WHICH MECHANICAL POWER MAY BE OBTAINED OR APPLIED
Year: 1836

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
SURREY, of York House, in the Parish of Battersea, in the County of Surrey,
Miller, send greeting:
WHEREAS His most Excellent Majesty King William the Fourth, by His
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the First day of September, in the seventh year of His reign, did, for
Himself, His heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said James
Surrey, His especial licence, that I, the said James Surrey, my executors,
administrators; and assigns, or such others as I, the said James Surrey, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and
no others, from time to time and at all times during the term of years therein
expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within
England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and also within all
His Majesty's Colonies and Plantations abroad, my Invention of "A NEW
APPLICATION OF A PRINCIPLE BY WHICH MECHANICAL POWER MAY BE OBTAINED OR
APPLIED;" in which said Letters Patent there is contained a proviso obliging
me, the said James Surrey, by an instrument in writing under my hand and
seal, particularly to describe and ascertain the nature of my said Invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed, and to cause the same to be
inrolled in His Majesty's High Court of Chancery within four months next
and immediately after the date of the said recited Letters Patent, as in
and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large
appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
James Surrey, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, is described and ascertained
as follows, that is to say:--
The principle of which I have discovered a new application is the com-
pressibility and elasticity of the atmosphere, and the new application thereof is
the working stationary or locomotive engines by means of it in lieu of steam.
To effect this object I first compress the atmosphere into any suitable vessel
capable of holding it. This vessel or reservoir must be perfectly air-tight, and
able to bear the required pressure. I compress the atmosphere by means of
one or more air-forcing pump or pumps; these, according to their size, may
be worked by a manual or horse labour, steam, wind, water, or any other
power. This reservoir of compressed air answers the place of the boiler to the
steam engine, and by a pipe from it I supply the engine with compressed air
in the same
manner as the steam engine is supplied with steam from
the boiler. By means of a governor the supply of compressed air to the
engine can, if necessary, be regulated in the same manner as the supply of
steam is usually done; so long as the pressure of the air in the reservoir exceeds
that of the natural atmosphere (commonly estimated at fifteen pounds to the
inch) a power is obtained to work the engine, and by keeping the reservoir
continually supplied with compressed air I can work my engine for any
required time.
The compressed air may be conveyed to work stationary
engines in two ways:-One by means of tubes, similar to gas pipes, communi-
cating from the original reservoir to the engine intended to be worked. By
this method a line of pipe may be laid of any given length, with branch pipes
supplying the compressed air at any required places in order to work any
given number of engines. All that is requisite is to compress a sufficient.
quantity of air at the original reservoir, and to make the reservoir itself, as
well as the main and branch pipes, of sufficient size and strength, and the
cocks and whole apparatus perfectly air-tight. The second method of distri-
buting the compressed air to stationary engines, is by filling portable receptacles
of compressed air at the original source, and transporting them to the engines
requiring them; such portable vessels must, of course, be provided with cocks
or tubes fitted to join and communicate with the engine or with a pipe con-
nected with it. Locomotive engines may be supplied as follows:-Either by
conveying the locomotive engine to the original source or reservoir of com-
pressed air, and by a pipe communicating therewith to fill a portable air
vessel or reservoir attached to the engine, or fixed on a tender to ac-
company it. This method is calculated for locomotives used on short rail-

page_text: ways. Here you may have a depot or reservoir of compressed air of any
required magnitude filled by a compressing pump of any required size, and
worked by any preferred power at one end of the railway, and by having
reservoirs of a sufficient size to supply the engines to the other end and back,
such reservoirs being being attached to the engines, or fixed on tenders to
accompany them with proper attaching pipes. You, at each journey, feed
your engine accordingly. On railways of a length beyond that for which you
could conveniently carry a supply of compressed air, either on the engine or
on its tender, or on both, you may either have a pipe from the original depot
or reservoir of compressed air running the length of the railway, with branch
pipes and cocks at suitable stations to supply the portable reservoirs on the
engines or their tenders, or you may without such a pipe convey the com-
pressed air in portable reservoirs to the various stations where the engines will
call for them. It is essential that the reservoirs, tubes, pipes, cocks, joints,
and all other parts of the apparatus be air-tight, as a great loss of power of
course arises from any leakage. They may be made of iron, brass, or any
other metal or substance capable of resisting the degree of pressure intended to
subject them to, which, of course, depends on the degree of power sought to be
attained for the engine or engines. As the engines worked by compressed
air have neither fire or boiler, I find it convenient to work the piston of
my engines in fat, but recommend oil in lieu thereof. I employ a metallic
piston, commonly called a metallic spring piston; but one packed with tow, if
well packed, will also do. With respect to locomotive engines I find it
convenient to have more than one vessel attached, containing the compressed
air, or, in other words, recommend several small reservoirs before one large one,.
and for this reason,-when one is partially used, and therefore of less power, I
close the communicating pipe and reserve that partially-used reservoir for
descents or places where little power is required, and, on the contrary, at first
starting after a stoppage, or on ascending an incline, or on any other
occasion requiring the engine to exert its utmost power, I open the valve or
cock letting out the fresh air from a fresh and unexhausted reservoir, by which
means I speedily obtain any power I desire. The air may be compressed to
any degree your vessels and apparatus will bear it; but for all practical
purposes a pressure of four hundred pounds to the square inch is sufficient.
This is ten times the usual pressure of steam on high-pressure engines, and
gives a very portable and lasting power, but where your apparatus is not suffi-
ciently strong, any pressure exceeding that of the natural atmosphere will work
your piston and give corresponding power. The vessels I use to contain the
compressed air are wrought-iron cylinders, containing about five cubic feet

page_text: each; but the size of your forcing pump and the power that works it, the
extent of your original reservoir of compressed air, as well as the size and
strength of the portable reservoirs, and of the pipes and other apparatus, must,
of course, depend on the power of the engine or engines you intend to work,
and the degree of pressure it may be found convenient to apply. The air power
is applicable to any species of steam engine if the piston and cylinder be made
air-tight.
In concluding this my Specification, I would observe that I have herein
described what I consider the best method of carrying into effect my new
application of a principle for the purpose of obtaining or applying mechanical
power, but that the Invention to which I lay claim is simply that of using
compressed air in lieu of steam for the purpose of working engines hitherto
worked by steam, and that I do not lay claim to any peculiar engine or
apparatus either for compressing the air or for applying it when compressed.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Surrey, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, the Thirtieth day of December, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and thirty-six.
HENLEY.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the same Thirtieth day of December,
in the year above mentioned, the aforesaid James Surrey came before our
Lord the King in His Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification aforesaid,
And also
and all and every thing therein contained, in form above written.
the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the tenor of the Statute
in that case made and provided.
Inrolled the Thirty-first day of December, in the year above written.