In- PROVEMENTS IN OBTAINING MOTIVE POWER AND IN THE MACHINERY OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREFOR
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Henry Johnson, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields,
in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman, for the Invention of "In-
PROVEMENTS IN OBTAINING MOTIVE POWER AND IN THE MACHINERY OR
APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREFOR."-A communication from abroad by
Charles Faivre, of Paris, in the Republic of France.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Henry Johnson
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 4th November 1874.
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 OBTAINING MOTIVE POWER AND IN THE
MACHINERY OR Apparatus EMPLOYED THEREFOR,” a communication to me from
abroad by Charles Faivre, of Paris, in the Republic of France, to be as
follows:-
=
This Invention relates to the production of motive power by. means of

page_text: compressed air, and consists in utilizing the weight from the traffic of
passengers and vehicles over footways, roads, railways, and other surfaces
for compressing the air to be stored up for use as and where required.
In carrying out this Invention it is proposed to employ plates, slabs,
or boards, which are laid down on a level with the ground where the
traffic occurs, and are connected to the adjoining portions of the footway,
roadway, or other surface by hinged flaps or other suitable means, so as
to admit of their vertical motion. These plates, slabs, or boards, which
are mounted on cross rods, meeting at the centre and attached at their
lower extremities to suitable supports, are provided on their under side
with any suitable number of rods carrying pistons, which are free to
work up and down corresponding cylinders, when the compressing plate,
slab, or board is acted upon and depressed by the traffic, springs being
provided for the purpose of re-elevating the plates, slabs, or boards from
the tops of the cylinders (where they are supported in their depressed
position) when the weight or pressure is removed. The cylinders are
each provided at their lower end with a valve opening outwards, through
which the compressed air is forced, whence it is conducted through
pipes into the valve box of a cylinder, and employed in driving an air
pump, and the pistons are fitted with suction valves for drawing in a
fresh supply of air to replace that which has been discharged under the
action of the weight or pressure. The air pump is arranged to draw air
from the surrounding atmosphere and force it into a reservoir, in which
such compressed air is to be stored up for use.
The proportions of the piston and its stroke are so calculated in
relation to the weight for which the plate, slab, or board is constructed
as to obtain a given pressure of a certain number of atmospheres in the
reservoir. When therefore the pressure on the plate, slab, or board is
below the maximum which it is intended to bear the air will be less
compressed and the operation of the pump will be of less duration, but
if the pressure in the interior of the reservoir is low the pump will
continue to work for a longer period, forcing a larger quantity of air
into the reservoir, so that the working of the pump will be regulated
by the difference between the pressure on the plate, slab, or board and
the pressure of the compressed air in the interior of the reservoir.
It is proposed to employ two reservoirs for any given district, one of

page_text: which reservoirs is charged to the required pressure for supplying the
compressed air for use, whilst the other reservoir is in the process of
being charged. Each reservoir consists of a tube, which is firmly
supported inside a shaft or pit containing water, and is closed at its
upper end and open at its lower end, which dips into and is sealed by
the water contained in the shaft or pit, pipes and cocks being provided
for the inlet and outlet of the air, and a safety valve for admitting of the
escape of any undue pressure.
When air is forced into the tube an equivalent quantity of water is
forced out and rises in a column in the shaft or pit around the tubc,
and the dimensions of the shaft or pit are so arranged that the height of
such liquid column will indicate approximatively the pressure of the air
in the reservoir.
If desired the tube may be so fitted to the reservoir as to be capable
of vertical motion, so that such tube will rise and fall respectively when
the air is forced in and discharged. In this case the reservoir may
consist of an external tube, to which the air tube is adapted, so as to be
capable of moving with but slight friction, the weight of the tube being
previously regulated for a given pressure, but the arrangement firstly
heroin-before described is preferred.
The compressed air is conducted from the reservoir through pipes
wherever it is required for use, and may be employed in driving engines,
and machinery working fire engines, and generally for all purposes for
which it is available.
25 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 4th May 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of Middlesex,
30 Gentleman, send greeting.

page_text: year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in the
thirty-eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said John Henry Johnson, Her
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 OBTAINING MOTIVE POWER AND IN THE
MACHINERY OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREFOR," a communication to me
from abroad by Charles Faivre, 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 calender 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 the production of motive power by
means of compressed air, and consists in utilizing the weight from the
traffac of passengers and vehicles over footways, roads, railways, and
other surfaces for compressing the air to be stored up for use as and
where required.
The Invention is based upon the following principles, viz. :-At each
step he takes a man generates his force equal to his weight. Every
body when displaced to the extent of the surface of its base generates
a force equal to its weight, it follows from the foregoing that every
motion of translocation of beings or things produces a force; this force

page_text: is equal to as many times the weight displaced as the surface of the base
is included in the ground travelled over. Traffic is an inexhaustible
source of force or power as it is continuous. This force is imperceptible;
it may however be utilized with facility by the aid of apparatus of simple
construction for obtaining and containing the product of its use. This
product (which is compressed air) when stored up constitutes a motive
power, which may be distributed in any direction, at any height, under
any temperature, and to any required distance. The agent itself is
absolutely costless, whilst the apparatus may be constructed at a
relatively trifling expence.
By providing compressing tables for the reception of the traffac the
force generated by weights in motion will have the effect of compressing
the air every time the weight acts upon a table.
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 Sheet of Drawings, the
same letters of reference indicating corresponding parts in both the
Figures.
Figure 1 is a longitudinal section of apparatus constructed upon the
above principles for carrying out the said Invention, and Figure 2 is a
horizontal section of a portion of the said apparatus.
A is a table, which is mounted in a somewhat similar manner to a
weighbridge by the aid of cross stays c, which rest upon the supports C
of dimensions suitable to the purpose for which they are intended. These
tables, which are arranged on a level with the surface of the ground, are
connected by rods to pistons F working in the columns or cylinders I,
and they are also connected at each end with the roadway or footway by
flaps B, B¹, respectively, as shewn.
As many cylinders of cast iron I as are required for the size of a
table A are arranged in the ground at the proper level upon suitable
foundations or blocks; they form pump cylinders, and are bored to
receive the pistons F, which are attached to the table A, and which work
with but slight friction in such cylinders. A. valve J is provided at the
bottom of each pump cylinder, which valve opens externally into a pipe
connecting each cylinder with a closed tube K.

page_text: A suitable arrangement of springs E, the force of which is slightly in
excess of the weight of the table A, is employed in order to maintain
the table elevated a short distance above the head of the cylinders I, and
a distance equal to this height separates the piston F from the bottom
of the pump cylinder I. The weight supported by the table at the time
the traffic is passing over it causes the springs E, E, to yield and admit
of the descent of the table upon the head of the cylinder. By this
vertical motion each piston on descending compresses the atmospheric
air contained in the space through which it passes, and causes the
valve J to open and allow the air to enter the tube K. When the weight
which has caused the table to act is removed the springs E raise the
table again to its normal position, but the air that has entered the pipe
is prevented from returning. The raising of the table causes a suction
valve G, which is fitted in the piston, and which was closed by the
internal pressure to open and admit air, by which means the space
between the piston and the bottom of the cylinder is refilled with
atmospheric air, while the compressed air enclosed in the pipe exercises
its pressure against the valve by which it was admitted. The pistons
should be made of a diameter proportionate to the weight for which the
table is constructed. The tube charged with compressed air supplies the
same to a motive-power engine L, consisting of a cylinder and slide
valves, which engine works a pump O, drawing in atmospheric air and
forcing it into a pipe R, which conducts it to the reservoir S. The size
of the piston and the length of its stroke are so arranged relatively to
the weight for which the table has been constructed as to obtain a given
pressure of two, three, four, or more atmospheres in the reservoir. When
the pressure upon the table A is less than the weight for which it has
been constructed the air will be less compressed, and the pump will not
work so long a time. When the pressure inside the reservoir is low the
pump will work for a longer period, supplying a greater quantity of air
to the reservoir. The working of the pump will therefore be regulated
by the difference between the pressure of the table, and the pressure of
the compressed air inside the reservoir.
Tables may be laid down for the following purposes, viz³. :—

page_text: For vehicles in the roads, streets, or ways.
For railway trains, in stations, on the lines, or wherever it is
desirable.
In the case of isolated factories, where the traffic is but small, it may
be directed over an iron tramway constructed to carry any desired
weight. Neither danger nor difficulty is incurred in establishing tables
upon tramways of this description, as no steep incline is necessary any
more than in the tables for vehicles, for the force of the springs which
sustain the tables at their slight elevation is but little in excess of the
weight of the tables.
The products of a set of pumps of one district is to be stored up
alternately in one of the reservoirs. The traffic being irregular it is
desirable to construct two reservoirs, one of which, charged to the
required degree of pressure, will serve to supply the compound air for
use while the other is in course of being charged.
The reservoirs are each composed of a tube S dipping in a shaft or
pit S', which is made of a depth proportionate to the required number of
atmospheres of pressure, and contains water, the quantity of which is
determined so as to prevent loss under the greatest pressure. The
reservoir tube S is closed at its upper end; its diameter is optional, but
its length, like the depth of the shaft, is determined by the pressure for
which it is constructed. It is placed in the shaft open at the bottom
end, and is firmly secured to the masonry of each shaft in order to resist
the pressure to which it is to be subjected. Two tubes R, T, com-
municate with its interior, the one R admitting the compressed air, and
the other T supplying it as required by opening a cock.
When the air is admitted the water is forced out, and rises in a
column in the shaft. When on the contrary the air is discharged the
column is lowered, and acts upon the compressed air with a force equal
to its height.
The diameter of the shaft is regulated so that the quantity of water
forced out by the pressure may rise to a height equivalent to each.
atmosphere of pressure.
The height of the column of water in the shaft shows the pressure
•

page_text: Reservoirs may also if necessary be constructed with a moveable tube,
the weight of which may be previously regulated for a certain pressure.
In this case the tube is raised on the introduction of the air, but it will
only allow of a pressure greater than its own weight, so that weights
less than that required will pass over the table without producing their 5
useful effect. When the compressed air is being consumed the tube
descends by its own weight, which continues to press the air. The tube
is arranged so as to move with but slight friction in a framework, which
forms a sleeve or socket for such tube; but in large reservoirs the
difficulty and expense of adjusting large pieces render the arrangement 1
firstly herein-before described preferable. The latter arrangement can
only offer advantages when the diameter is limited, and in the case of
reservoirs of small dimensions.
The compressed air is directed to the works, for example, from the
supply reservoir by subterranean or other conduits, in any direction, at 1
any depth or height, as may be desired. It will be simply necessary to
provide a prime mover in the factory to utilize the force directed to it.
As an example of one of the applications of this system fire engines
may be supplied with motive power in the streets as they are now
supplied with water. The passago of a greater weight than that for 2
which the table is constructed when the pressure in the reservoir is at
its maximum will increase that pressure to the extent of its surplus
weight. In order to guard against accidents therefore, which might be
caused by a surcharge in this case, the reservoir is furnished with safety
valves.
2
As each table supplies a pressure equal to the weight it receives it is
evident that the total amount of work done will be augmented in the
proportion of the number of tables employed. A vehicle passing over
twenty tables will produce twenty times its available pressure. A table
of the length of a railway train will impart a considerable pressure by 3
the passage of a goods train over it. By increasing the number of
tables it becomes apparent that an indefinite amount of pressure will
result. The motion of the traffic in a large railway station will alone
suffice to supply an enormous power without involving any expense in
.generating it.
T
3

page_text: 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 utilization
of the weight from the traffic of passengers and vehicles for compressing
air for the purpose of obtaining motive power, substantially as herein-
before described and illustrated by the accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Henry Johnson, have to this
my Specification set my hand and seal, the Third day of May,
One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five.