IM- PROVEMENTS IN OSCILLATING ENGINES, WHETHER FOR STEAM, AIR, WATER, OR PUMPING
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Morgan Brown, of 13, Rue Gaillon,
Paris, France, but now residing at 3, Albion Road, Hampstead, in
the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for the Invention of “IM-
PROVEMENTS IN OSCILLATING ENGINES, WHETHER FOR STEAM, AIR, WATER,
OR PUMPING."-A communication from abroad by John Goulding, of.
Worcester, in the State of Massachusetts, United States of America.
Sealed the 4th August 1871, and dated the 3rd May 1871.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Morgan Brown
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 3rd May 1871.
I, WILLIAM MORGAN BROWN, of 13, Rue Gaillon, Paris, France,
but now residing at 3, Albion Road, Hampstead, in the County of
Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN OSCILLATING ENGINES, WHETHER FOR STEAM,
AIR, WATER, OR PUMPING," to be as follows:-
The Invention relates to an improved organization of an oscillating
engine, which Invention is applicable to steam engines, air engines,
water engines, and pumping engines.

page_text: The Invention consists in combining with the oscillating engine
cylinder, mounted on trunnions, steam chambers upon opposite sides of
the cinder, and between which steam chambers the cylinder oscillates.
The cylinder has at each end and at opposite sides two ports; the upper
.part of the steam chamber on both sides is fitted with inlet ports, and
the lower part of the steam chambers, on both sides (divided off from
the upper part) is fitted with outlet ports. The cylinder oscillating up
and.down between the vertical walls of the steam chambers the two
ports..at. either end of the cylinder are respectively brought into com-
munication with the inlet and outlet ports of the steam chambers on
.each side. As the valve or port closers attached to the cylinders are
receiving, exactly equal pressure from both sides of the steam chambers
.at. the same time the valve surfaces or port closers work relieved from
the pressure of the steam or other motive fluid.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Morgan Brown in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 31st October 1871.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
MORGAN BROWN, of 13, Rue Gaillon, Paris, France, but now residing at
3, Albion Road, Hampstead, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer,
send.greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Third day of May, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the thirty-fourth
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said William Morgan Brown, Her special licence
that I, the said William Morgan Brown, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Morgan Brown, my
executors, administrators, and 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
OSCILLATING ENGINES, WHETHER FOR STEAM, AIR, WATER, OR PUMPING," being
a communication to me from abroad by John Goulding, of Worcester, in

page_text: the State of Massachusetts, United States of America, upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said William Morgan Brown, my executors
or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one
of their hands and seals, 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 calendar months next and immediately after the date
of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Morgan Brown, 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 Drawing hereunto
annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say) :-
This Invention relates to an improved organization of an oscillating
engine, (the improvement being alike applicable to air-compressing
engines, pumping engines, and steam engines,) the Invention consisting
in combining with the engine cylinder (mounted by means of trunnions
upon suitable bearings) steam chambers upon opposite sides of the
cylinder, the cylinder having at each end and at opposite sides two
ports or steam passages, each of which communicates at proper times
or as the cylinder oscillates with an inlet port and an exhaust port, the
ports on both sides of the cylinder communicating at the same time
with the inlet ports of the opposite steam chambers, and the surfaces
of the adjacent valves or inlet port covers on both sides of the cylinder
being at all other times opposite the inlet ports, so that the pressure of
the steam or other motive fluid pressing upon both sides equally relieves
the surfaces of the valves or port closers from friction, and enables the
engine to work with greater ease and more power than is attainable by
any other construction, the only friction of any moment being the
friction of the trunnions upon the bearings.
The Drawing represents an engine embodying the Invention.
Fig. 1 shews the engine in plan; Fig. 2 is a vertical section through
one of the steam chambers and the adjacent exhaust chamber; Fig. 3.
is a section on the line x, x, reduced to a plane.
a denotes the oscillating cylinder, having trunnions b, b, rocking in
suitable bearings; c is the piston; d, the piston rod, the rod being directly
jointed to the crank e. On each side of the cylinder is a steam ohamber
with which the boiler is connected by a suitable pipe g, and below each

page_text: chamber is an exhaust chamber h. The chambers f, h, may be
separated by suitable partitions i, and each two chambers f, h, may
be made in the form of annular spaces concentric with the trunnions
of the cylinder. The cylinder is provided at each end with two ports k, l,
on the diametrically opposite sides. At the upward oscillating move-
ment of either end of the cylinder these two ports k, l, are brought into
connection with two inlet ports m, n, of the two opposite steam chambers,
and at the downward oscillating movement of either end of the cylinder
the ports k, l, are brought into connection with two opposite exhaust
ports o, p, of the exhaust chambers. To provide for closing the exhaust
and inlet ports each end of the cylinder is furnished upon cach side
with wing plates, valves, or port closers q, r, (for closing the inlet ports)
and 8, t, for closing the exhaust ports.
The operation of the engine is as follows:-Suppose the cylinder
piston and crank to be in the position shown at Fig. 2. The exhaust
ports o, p, will be open, and just beginning to close, and the inlet
ports m, n, at the opposite ends will be open and just beginning to
close. As the crank pin passes the centre the inlet ports m, n, begin
to open, and the exhaust ports o, p, at the opposite end of the cylinder
begin to open, the action of the steam upon one side of the piston and
the exhaust of steam at the other side of the piston being the same as
in some other oscillating engines. But it will be observe that after the
inlet ports are closed by the sliding port covers q, r, the pressure of the
steam is upon the covers at both sides of the cylinder, thus neutralizing
the pressure, no weight or spring being therefore necessary to hold the
cover to the port, and all force required in other engines to hold the
valve to its seat being saved by this construction, where the cylinder, in
fact, oscillates between two walls, and the ports are covered by lateral
projections from the cylinder.
The construction and action of the apparatus as a pumping engine are
precisely the same, and as an air compressor the only change required is
the addition of any suitable kind of reactionary valve (poppet, flat, or
other kind,) in the compress air reservoir, which valve yields when the
air is compressed beyond the pressure of the condensed air behind it, and
self closes when the piston starts.back. Any suitable cut-off mechanism
may be combined with the mechanism, as described. Each inlet and
exhaust port l, m, n, o, is preferably surrounded by a suitable packing
ring, against which the port closer slides, and such ring may be kept

page_text: 5 Witness,
A. H. BRANDON,
of 13, Rue Gaillon, Paris.
W. MORGAN BROWN. (L.S.)