IMPROVEMENTS IN ROTARY ENGINES
Year: 1868

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Samuel Blatchford Tucker at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 7th September 1868.-A communication from abroad by George
Whitcher, of Brooklyn, New York, United States of America.
I, SAMUEL BLATCHFORD TUCKER, of Baltimore, Maryland, United
States of America, now of No. 8, Southampton Buildings; Chancery,
Lane, in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the..
said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN ROTARY ENGINES," a communication,.
to be as follows:-
My Invention relates to rotary steam and other engines, which may
also serve for raising and measuring liquids and for other like purposes...
The said Invention consists in the novel arrangement of parts for:
obtaining the continuous action of the steam or other fluid upon the.
rotating piston or pistons; in the peculiar construction of the cylinder and
pistons and other parts in connection therewith; also in the combination
of the said cylinder and pistons with the main shaft and with a rotating,
disc or plate which is fixed on the said shaft to carry the said pistons..

page_text: The said Invention also consists in the peculiar arrangement of the
admission and exhaust ports and passages in combination with the disc
and pistons. The rotating disc is fixed on the main shaft perpendicularly
or at right angles to the same. The said disc is fitted to rotate in a
cylinder or case, which is arranged diagonally or obliquely to the shaft
and disc. The said case is made with parallel sides, and plates or blocks
which form the pistons, are passed through apertures in the disc with
their sides in contact with the sides of the case; the latter is inclined
at such an angle to the shaft that the disc runs in contact with the sides
of the case at two opposite points; the admission and exhaust ports or
apertures are arranged on each side of these points, the diso being made
to work in contact with the side of the case in the space between the
two ports and prevent communication between them through such space.
It will be seen that I form an admission and exhaust aperture on cach
side of the disc; these apertures must be so arranged that the admission
apertures on each side of the disc and also the exhaust apertures are on
opposite sides of a horizontal or other straight line drawn through the
centre to the periphery of the case. As the disc rotates, the pistons
project more or less on each side of the same according to their position in
the diagonal case, the projection being all on one side at the points
between the ports and equal on both sides midway between such points.
The cylinder or case may be constructed of cast iron or other suitable
metal and of any desired capacity. The covers are provided with suitable
stuffing boxes for the main shaft. I prefer to employ only one of the
blocks or pistons, but two or more may be used if desired. The said
pistons are fitted to slide freely through the apertures in the diso and
thereby adjust themselves to the surfaces of the oblique cylinder
throughout their revolution with the disc in the same. To allow this
continuous adjustment of the piston to take place I curve the inner
periphery of the said case or cylinder and make the corresponding
surface of the piston of similar shape; I also form the inner end of
the pistons to fit a curved boss or projection on the disc; these curved
surfaces allow the movements of the pistons to take place freely and
at the same time keep their working surfaces properly steam-tight.
Springs or other suitable packing must be placed upon the periphery of
the disc and pistons to keep them steam-tight with the surface of the
cylinder. I prefer to construct the plates or pistons of such a thickness
that they will have no tendency to become displaced by the pressure of

page_text: the steam upon the portion which projects on either side of the dise;
I also construct the said piston with guides as a further security against
such displacement. The pistons may be made of the same width as
the space between the admission and exhaust ports or apertures; the
said ports are made of the proper dimensions to allow the steam to
pass freely, and are radial to the centre of the main shaft or nearly so.