IMPROVEMENTS IN UTILIZING THE FORCE OF WIND AND RUNNING WATER TO PERFORM WORK ' AND APPARATUS THEREFOR PARTLY ADDLIG PLE MA MOMETER
Year: 1883

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Eugene Armand Roy of No 1 Lady Margaret Road,
Kentish Town, in the County of Middlesex for an Invention of IMPROVEMENTS
IN UTILIZING THE FORCE OF WIND AND RUNNING WATER TO PERFORM WORK
'
AND APPARATUS THEREFOR PARTLY ADDLIG PLE MA MOMETER
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Eugene Armand Roy at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 16th May 1883.
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EUGENE ARMAND ROY of N° 1 Lady Margaret Road Kentish Town in the
County of Middlesex "IMPROVEMENTS IN UTILIZING THE FORCE OF WIND AND;
RUNNING WATER TO PERFORM WORK AND APPARATUS THEREFOR PARTLY APPLICABLE
TO MOTIVE POWER ENGINES "1
According to the ordinary methods of utilizing wind and running water to
perform work such as driving mills and machinery the power must be used for
those purposes whilst the wind is blowing or the water running. Should the wind
or stream fail the mills or machines must stop,-moreover there is great loss of
available power if it happens that the wind is blowing or the stream running at
times when the mills or machines are not required to be driven.
Now my invention is designed to enable the force of wind and running water
to be utilized and a reservoir of force to be provided that shall be available for
use at such times as may be required, whether or not the wind be then blowing or
the water running. For this purpose instead of applying the force of the wind or
running water to drive the mills or machinery direct I apply it to operate
compressors to compress air into accumulators wherein it is stored, and whence it'
may be taken as and when required.
According to one arrangement the compressor, actuated by the pressure of the
wind against sails, or by the weight or pressure of the water against suitable
surfaces such as buckets, vanes or blades as well understood, is constructed with a
cylinder communicating with a chamber of circular section which oscillates upon
Prine 71

page_text: a hollow axis or tube serving as a valve. There is a longitudinal division in this
axis or tube that divides it internally into two chambers one communicating with
the outer air, and the other with the vessel in which air, is to be stored under
pressure. Thus by the action of the piston in the cylinder air is alternately drawn
into the cylinder through one chamber of the axis or tube and forced out of the
cylinder through the other chamber of the axis or tube. This arrangement may
be used for controlling the admission of actuating fluid to and from motors.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said Eugene Armand Roy in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
15th November 1883.
EUGENE ARMAND ROY of N° 1 Lady Margaret Road, Kentish Town, in the
County of Middlesex IMPROVEMENTS IN UTILIZING THE FORCE OF WIND AND
RUNNING WATER TO PERFORM WORK AND APPARATUS THEREFOR PARTLY APPLICABLE
TO MOTIVE POWER ENGINES
According to the ordinary methods of utilizing wind and running water to
perform work, such as driving mills and machinery, the power must be used for
those purposes whilst the wind is blowing or the water running. Should the wind
or stream fail the mills or machines must stop,-moreover there is great loss of
available power if it happens that the wind is blowing or the stream running at
times when the mills or machines are not required to be driven.
Now my invention is designed to enable the force of wind and running water
to be utilized and a reservoir of force to be provided that shall be available for use
at such times as may be required, whether or not the wind be then blowing, or the
water running. For this purpose, instead of applying the force of the wind or
running water to drive the mills or machinery direct apply it to operate
compressors to compress air into accumulators wherein it is stored, and whence it
may be taken as and when required.
According to one arrangement the compressor, actuated by the pressure of the
wind against sails, or by the weight or pressure of the water against suitable
surfaces such as buckets, vanes or blades as well understood, is constructed with
a cylinder communicating with and oscillating upon a chamber of circular section
(or a tube) serving as a hollow axis and valve. There is a division in this axis or
tube that divides it internally into two chambers one communicating with the
outer air, and the other with the vessel in which air is to be stored under pressure.
Thus by the action of the piston in the cylinder air is alternately drawn into the
cylinder through one chamber of the axis or tube and forced out of the cylinder
through the other chamber of the axis or tube. This arrangement may be used
for controlling the admission of actuating fluid to and from motors.
Referring to the accompanying sheet of drawings, Fig I illustrates an air

page_text: compressing apparatus according to my invention, consisting of compressing pump
and receiver.
Figs II II II II°, are longitudinal sections of a compressing pump at various
portions of its stroke, showing the details and the method of action of the apparatus
by which the inlet of air to the compressor and its exit from the compressor to the
receiver is controlled.
:
Fig III is an end elevation of the barrel of the compressor.
Fig IV is a section, and Fig V an elevation of the axis upon which the compressor
oscillates, and which also serves as a valve.
Fig VI is a detail view of the partition in the axis.
Referring to Fig I, CC are two compressors the pistons of which are driven from
the crank shaft A, which is actuated through any suitable intermediary by the
natural force which it is desired to utilise. This force will usually be either the
wind, or the force of running or falling water. The means for converting these
forces into mechanical power in the first instance, are well understood, and form
no part of my invention. The compressors utilise the power imparted by the
natural force (whatever it may be) to the crank shaft to draw in air, which air
they discharge into the receiver F where it is stored under pressure, and from
whence it can be drawn off to be applied to any suitable purpose, such as the
production of power, as may be desired.
The crank shaft is divided into three parts A' A" A¹ the two lower of which
are supported in the bearings b b b. The upper one clutches the second as shewn
in the drawing; the second and third may be coupled and uncoupled by means of
the box-coupling A* and the lever l. The shaft is shewn as placed vertically_and
receives a rotatory motion in the direction of the arrow, from the natural force
which, in this instance, is supposed to be the wind.
CC are the compressors, It is advisable that the cylinder of the one nearest to
the source of power should be of smaller diameter than the other. The details of
their construction are shewn in Figs II to II°. DD are hollow axes or tubes
which I shall call feed-boxes, fixed to and communicating with the receiver F. On
these the compressors are made to oscillate, and air is forced through them into the
receiver through the pipes EE
'
Fig III is a view of the bottom of one of the compressors shewing an oblong
opening or port o cut in the direction of its diameter and parallel to the centre
on which it oscillates and to the shaft. The width of this opening should, in
theory, be equal to the space between two openings. in the feed-box, to be presently
described, but practically, not quite so wide.
Fig IV is a vertical section of one of the feed boxes D D upon which the
compressors oscillate together with the pipe of communication with the receiver.
It is divided into two compartments c¹ and c¹ by the partition p, shown also in
perspective Fig VI. On each side of the central portion of this partition is an
oblong opening or port d' du Fig IV and V The width of the space between these
openings should be, theoretically, equal to that of the opening above mentioned in
the compressor, but practically a trifle wider. One of these openings d' com-
municates with the outer air through the compartment c¹ Fig IV, and the other d",
with the receiver through the compartment c" Fig IV. v Fig IV is a non-return
valve covering the upper opening of the feed-box, and allowing air to pass from
compartment ce only in the direction of the receiver.
F represents the receiver into which air is compressed and stored. It is divided
into two or more compartments fƒ, f, fz (I have shewn three) which communicate
with each other through the valve boxes f¹f" each of which is in communication
with two con partinents. Between the compartment f* and the valve box f' there are
two valves gaud h¹. The valve g¹ should be loaded so as not to lift until some
definite pressure is attained in that compartment considerably greater than that
required to perform the work to which the compressed air is to be applied. The
other valve h is merely a non-return valve opening towards the compartment f
There is free communication between the valve box f' and the compartment f

page_text: to
The valve box f¹¹ communicating with the compartments f* and fz is similar
the one just described. The outlet from which the compressed air passes when
required for use, is shewn at s, but it may, of course, occupy many other positions.
Fig I is a safety valve fixed to the last compartment of the receiver.
The method of operation of the apparatus is as follows:-
Before action commences, the compressors being in the position indicated at
Fig II and the receiver charged with air at the atmospheric pressure, the opening o
at the bottom of each compressor will be closed by the bar or partition p (Figs II
and V) between the openings of the feed boxes; and the feed box openings d¹ d
by the solid portions m m of the compressor. In this position no air can pass
through any of these openings.
MY
As the shaft rotates each piston will be drawn up and the cylinder of the
compressor will oscillate in the direction of the arrow. As it does so the opening
or port o of the compressor will gradually pass over the opening or port d' of the
feed-box, and air will be admitted from the outside into the space below the piston.
When the compressor having passed through position shewn in Fig IIa, has reached
position Fig IIb the openings will again be closed and the cylinder will be full of.
air at the atmospheric pressure. As the piston descends the opening or port'o will
pass over the other port d¹¹ of the feed-box until the starting position at Fig II is
again reached. The air contained in the two compressors will then have been
forced through the compartment c¹¹ (Fig IV) of the feed boxes and an amount of
air, equal to the capacity of the two compressors, will have been added to the
contents of the first compartment fx of the receiver.
During the upstrokes the only sensible resistance to the action of the pistons will
be caused by the friction of the machinery. During the first down stroke a slight
resistance will be caused by the pressure of the air; the amount on each piston
being in the ratio of the square of its diameter. Thus supposing the lower piston
to be twice the diameter of the upper one, the resistance to its downward stroke
will be four times as great.
As the action goes on and the amount of air stored increases, the resistance will
also increase until it equals the power exerted on the two compressors, when action
will cease. If the lower compressor be then put out of gear the resistance will be
diminished by four fifths and air will continue to be forced into the receiver by the
small compressor alone.
The amount of air accumulated in the receiver will of course depend on the
amount of power which had been exerted, whether that of a gale or of a mere
breeze, on the relative dimensions of the sails or vanes exposed to the wind, on
the length of stroke and on the diameter of the compressors. With the same force
of wind and the same amount of vane surface, the smaller the diameter of the
compressor and the shorter the stroke, the greater will be the amount of air
compressed before a state of equilibrium is attained. With a large vane surface
and a compressor of small bore a pressure could be attained only limited by the
strength of the receivers and of the machinery. The object of forming the
receiver of more than one compartment is to obtain, by filling one compartment
first, a sufficient supply of compressed air for working purposes in a shorter time
than could otherwise be done. A glance at one of the valve boxes, say f¹, will
show how this is effected. Air forced into compartment fx will accumulate there
until it has acquired sufficient density to lift the valve g¹. The surplus air will
then pass through that valve and the passage into the compartment fy, the
density in compartment fx remaining the same. Air will then accumulate in
compartment f until dense enough to lift the valve g² and pass into compart-
ment fa in a similar manner.
In the drawings I have not shewn a fly-wheel, which, however, would be
required to equalize the rate of action of the machinery which would, otherwise, be
very irregular on account of the difference of resistance to the pistons of the
compressor during the up and down strokes
Having thus described the nature of the said invention and the manner in which
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page_text: it is to be performed I would have it understood that what I consider to be
novel and original and therefore claim as secured to me by the Letters Patent
herein before in part recited is :-
1 The apparatus hereinabove called a compressor, consisting of a pump barrel or
cylinder provided with a port and oscillating upon a hollow axis or tube serving as
a valve, the whole substantially as described.
2. The use for the generation of motive power by fluid pressure of an apparatus
consisting of a barrel or cylinder provided with a port and oscillating upon a
hollow axis or tube serving as valve, the whole substantially as described.
3. The use for storing and utilising the forces of nature, such as wind and falling
or running water, of apparatus arranged and operating substantially as described
whereby the said natural forces are made to compress air which is stored in one or
more receivers until required.
4 Utilizing the force of wind by causing it to compress elastic fluid such as air,
storing such elastic fluid in receivers to be available for use as above set forth.
In Witness whereof I the said Eugene Armand Roy have hereunto set my hand
and seal this fifteenth day of November in the year of our Lord one thousand
eight hundred and eighty three.