AN IMPROVED ROTARY STEAM ENGINE
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George White, of 68, Queen Street, Cheapside, in
the City of London, Patent Agent, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED
ROTARY STEAM ENGINE."-A communication from abroad by Messieurs
Emile Sellier and Régis Fidèle Hermant, of 47, Rue des Tournelles,
Paris, France.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said George White at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition and Declaration,
on the 4th September 1866, pursuant to the 9th Section of the Patent
Law Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
WUITE, of 68, Queen Street, Cheapside, in the City of London, Patent Agent,
send greeting.
WHEREAS I am in possession of an Invention for "AN IMPROVED ROTARY
STEAM ENGINE," a communication to me from abroad by Messiours Emile
Sellier and Régis Fidèle Hermant, of 47, Rue des Tournelles, Paris, France,
and have petitioned Her Majesty to grant unto me, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, Her Royal Letters Patent for the same, and have made
solemn Declaration that it has been communicated to me from abroad by
Messieurs Emile Sellier and Régis Fidèle Hermant, of 47, Ruo des
Tournelles, Paris, Franco.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said George White, do hereby declare
that the following Complete Specification under my hand and seal fully describes
and ascertains the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, in and by the following statement :-
The Invention relates to an improved rotary steam engine combining the
advantages of great simplicity and cheapness of construction with very
efficacious working, the number of parts in this engine being almost reduced
to a minimum, whilst the rotary motion may be transmitted at once from the
main arbor by loose and fast pulleys and an endless belt by suitable gearing or
other suitablo mechanical means.
In the annexed Drawing, Fig. 1 represents a longitudinal elevation view of
this improved rotary steam engine, of which Fig. 2 shows a vertical cross
sectional view over the line X, X', of Fig. 1, whereas Fig. 3 represents a
horizontal sectional view over the line Y, Y', of Fig. 2.
The apparatus consists of a horizontal cylinder A of cast iron or other
suitable metal bored truly cylindrical in the interior, and solidly fixed to the
floor by means of two or more supports B and B'; the cylinder A is her-
metically closed at both ends by the plates C and C', fixed by screw bolts c
to the flanges of the cylinder A; in the centre of the plates C and C' are
provided stuffing boxes D and D', through which the main arbor E passes
steam-tight, which arbor is provided at one end with a fly wheel F and at the
other with the fast and loose pulleys H and H'. In the interior of the cylinder A
a suitable number of paddles or blades G are fixed at equal distances apart
in the periphery of the main arbor E; the length and depth or breadth of
these paddles must be such that when the said arbor is rotating their free
end is as near as possible in close contact with the inner surface of the
cylinder, though not actually touching the said surface, so as to prevent
friction between the said parts. Towards the middle of its length the cylin-
der presents a solid part provided with suitable tubular channels i and i in
communication with the pipes J and J', these latter opening into the cylinder
and serving for conveying in this latter, by means of the pipe L, the steam
arriving from any suitablo steam boiler into the steam chest or chamber K;
the top of the part I is well planed, and a plato M kept in steam-tight contact
with the top of the part I by means of a spring N pressing on this plate M,
is fixed to the spindle O, which latter is actuated from the outside of the
steam chest by a winch handle P for turning the plato as required, the latter
is provided with a circular perforation m corresponding in diameter with that
of each of the circular channels i and in such manner that by causing the
plate M to turn round so as to carry the opening m either above the aperture

page_text: of the channel i or above that of the one the steam in the first case will
be carried into the cylinder by the pipe J, as shown by the arrows 2, 3, and 4,
and in the latter case by the pipe J', as shown by the arrows 5, 6, and 7. In
the first case the impact of the steam on the blade or paddle opposite tho
arrow 4 will cause the set of blades, and consequently the arbor E, to move in
the direction shown by the arrow 8, whereas in the second case the blades
and arbor will be caused to turn in the opposite direction, as shown by the
arrow 9. In both cases the steam after having exerted its effect takes its
exit by the pipe or opening R situated at the lower part of the cylinder A.
If the steam requires to be shut off entirely from the cylinder the plate is to
be turned in such manner so as to make the opening m correspond neither
with the channel i nor with the one i¹.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of the
Invention, and the manner in which the same may be used or carried into
effect, I would observe in conclusion that I do not intend to restrict or confine
myself to the precise details of the above-described apparatus, as many varia-
tions may be made therefrom without deviating from the main features of the
said Invention; but what I consider to be novel and original, and therefore
claim as the Invention to be secured to me by the herein-before in part recited
Letters Patent is, the general arrangement and combination of parts of the
above-described improved rotary steam engine.
In witness whereof, I, the said George White, havo hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Third day of September, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six.
GEO. WHITE. (L.B.)