IMPROVEMENTS IN AIR ENGINES
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joseph Laubereau, of Paris, in the Empire of
France, Civil Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN AIR
ENGINES."
Sealed the 22nd July 1859, and dated the 24th January 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joseph Laubereau at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 24th
January 1859.
I, JOSEPH LAUBEREAU, of Paris, in the Empire of France, Civil Engineer,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
AIR ENGINES," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists in arrangements of machinery for producing the
alternate expansion and contraction of air, and in causing the stroke of a
piston to be effected by the expanded air, while the return is effected by the
pressure of the atmosphere, aided by a partial vacuum obtained at the back of
the piston. I form a heating chamber with double sides and communication
between them; I form them by preference in the shape of a n, which is placed
in a cylinder or chamber round the upper part of the sides, and at top of
which is a chamber for containing cold water or other cooling agent.. In the
5 space formed between the sides of the cylinder and the sides of the heating
chamber, and extending across the top of the chamber, I place a grooved
piston of a shape, and form it of some metal of high heat conducting

page_text: power, such as bronze. This piston is so carried that it does not touch the sides
of the cylinder nor of the beating chamber, there being space for a thin layer
of air between it and them. On the top of this piston I form a chamber, and
fill it with some very bad conductor of heat, such as lampblack, and again
place on the top of this chamber a cushion of cotton or other like non-
conducting material. The piston chamber and cushion are all attached to a
central rod, which works through a stuffing box in the top of the cylinder and
through the water space. The non-conducting chamber is kept from touching
the sides of the cylinder, a pipe communicates from the bottom of the cylinder
to the working cylinder, in which an ordinary piston is placed, and conveys
the air to and from the working cylinder and that in which the air is expanded
and contracted. Connecting rods and other agents are employed so as to
give motion to the piston in the expanding and contracting apparatus at the
dead points of the working piston. The working of the engine is as follows:-
Fire being lighted and the piston in the expanding chamber being drawn up,
the cold air is driven out of the upper part of the expanding and contracting
cylinder, and simultaneously the air in the space and the bronze "piston
between the fire chamber and side of the cylinder become heated, and the air
expanding rushes from the expanding chamber into the working cylinder, and
drives up the working piston. Immediately before the working piston reaches
the top of its stroke, the bronze piston has attained the end of its down stroke,
and the air in the upper part of the. contracting cylinder having become cool
by contact with the cold sides and top thereof,, a partial vacuum is formed,
and atmospheric air entering through openings in the cover of the working
cylinder by the aid of the pressure of the atmosphere aided by the partial
vacuum, the return stroke is effected, and so on successively...
I have only described my Invention as applied to an ordinary reciprocating
piston, and to a single cylinder, but with slight modifications, it is equally
applicable to double cylinders or double-acting engines, and to rotary engines.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed 30
by the said Joseph Laubereau in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
23rd July 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, 'JOSEPH
LAUBEREAU, of Paris, in the Empire of France, Civil Engineer, send greeting...
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters 35
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of January, in the year of our

page_text: Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-second year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Iler heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Joseph Laubereau, Her special licence that I, the said Joseph
Laubereau, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Joseph Laubereau, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at
any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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
AIR ENGINES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Joseph
Laubereau, 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 Joseph Laubereau, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement thereof, reference being bad to the Drawings hereunto
annexed, that is to say:-
.!
My Invention consists in constructing certain arrangements of machinery for
producing the alternate expansion and contraction of air, and in availing
myself of the pressure and partial vacuum thus obtained to give motion to
engines either single or double acting.
My Invention will be understood on reference to the two Sheets of
Drawings hereunto annexed, in which Sheet 1 represents a single-acting
engine, and Sheet 2 a double-acting one.
SINGLE-ACTING ENGINE, SHEET 1:
Figure 1 is a plan of the engine complete; Figure 2, a sectional elevation
or front view; and Figure 3, an elevation of the back of the engine.
a is the foundation plate;-b, b, are the side frames; c is the external case
of fire box; d, the fire box cover; e, the smoke pipe; f, the fire box; g, the
space occupied by the parts i and i', and which, when they are drawn out,
forms the hot chamber; h, the cold or vacuum chamber; i, travelling' cap,'
the internal surfaces of which act as heating agents; ', a box formed on the
extremity of travelling cap filled with non-conducting substances, such as
lampblack;, a cushion or pad composed of elastic substances; ³, a. rod,
:

page_text: which communicates an intermittent reciprocating motion to the parts i, i",
and 2, which roll on the wheels u, u, attached to the sides of the cap i;
j, an external case containing cold water or other cooling agents; k, the
cylinder; 1, the piston travelling in said cylinder; l', the piston rod; m, the
hot-air pipe, the lower extremity of which is in direct communication with
the hot chamber, from which the hot air is conducted into the cylinder at the
back of the piston; m', a clack valve admitting the hot air, but intercepting.
the return of the cold or contracted air; m², vacuum pipes, one extremity of
which communicates with the cold or condensing chamber h, and the other:
with the back of the piston, and which pass through the cooling agent in the
case j. In order to divide the air entering the chamber h, I cover the orifices
of these pipes with metallic wire gauze; m³, a clack valve allowing the egress;
of condensed air; m', a box bolted to cylinder bottom, through which the
contracted air circulates from the clack valve m³ to the pipes m²; n, the con-
necting rod; o, the main shaft and crank; p, a cam plate keyed on shaft o;
p', the cam bolted to plate p; p², the cam frame or box; q, a vertical oscillating
lever; q', the fulcrum point on which the lever oscillates; r, a rod connecting
the lower extremity of lever q to the travelling cap, and which is provided.
with a right and left hand nut in order to lengthen or shorten the said rod;
u, u, wheels attached to the travelling cap i, on which it rolls backwards and.
forwards in order to diminish the friction.
OPERATION OF SINGLE ENGINE, SHEET 1.
Fire is lighted in the box f, whilst the travelling cap i remains in the position
indicated in the Drawing until it has been sufficiently heated, then it is drawn
back, and the air contained in the chamber h rushes through the space left all
round the said cap and the external case c into the chamber g, where it is imme-
diately expanded, and rises through the pipe m, throws back the valve m', and
exerting its pressure on the back of the piston 7, drives it forward; shortly
before arriving at the extremity of its stroke, the cam p¹ in its revolution
pushes back the frame p², and reverses the lever q, which by means of the rods r
and drives back the travelling cap i, which again covers the fire box cover d;
during this action the piston has terminated its forward stroke, and the
expanded air, which by pressure had propelled the piston forward being in
communication with the cold chamber h, through the pipes m², the valve m³,
and the box m', contracts, thereby forming a partial vacuum at the back of the
piston, which is then forced back by the pressure of the atmosphere acting on
the front of the piston, to which it has access through apertures in the cylinder
cover; a constant rotary motion is thus obtained,

page_text: .
DOUBLE-ACTING ENGINE, SHEET 2.
Figure 1 is a plan of the engine, the cylinder being removed and one
generator shewn in section; Figure 2 is a front elevation partly in section;
Figure 3, an end view of engine complete; and Figure 4, a section of part
of a generator relating to an improvement in the means of perfecting the
vacuum.
a is the foundation plate; b, b, are the side frames; c, c, are the external
cases of fire boxes; d, d, the fire box covers; e, e, the smoke pipes; f, f, the
fire boxes; 9, 9, the hot chambers; h, h, the cold chambers; i, i, the travelling
caps;,, the boxes containing non-conducting substances; 2, 3, the cushions
or pads;,, the travelling cap rods; j, j, the external cases containing cold.
water or other cooling agents; k, the cylinder; 1, the piston travelling in the
said cylinder; 1, the piston rod; m, the hot-air pipe, the lower extremity of
which is in direct communication with the hot air chamber of one of the
generators, & from which it is conducted into the cylinder at the back of
the piston; m²; the clack valve admitting the hot air, but intercepting the
return of the cold or contracted air; m², the vacuum pipes communicating.
from the back of the cylinder to the cold or condensing chamber h of the same
generator; m³, the clack valve, allowing the egress of the condensed air;
mt, the box bolted to cylinder bottom, through which the contracted air
circulates from the clack valve m³ to the pipe m²; n, the connecting rod;
o, the main shaft and crank; p, the cam plate keyed on shaft o; p¹, the cam
bolted to the plate p; p², the cam plate or box; q, the vertical oscillating
lever; q', the fulcrum point on which the lever oscillates; r, the rod con-
necting the lower extremity of the vertical lever to the lever s3 8, double
horizontal lever communicating an intermittent reciprocating motion to the
travelling caps i, i; t, the fulcrum on which the lever & oscillates; u, u, wheels
attached to the sides of the caps i, i, and on which they roll in order to
diminish the friction; a, a hot air or pressure pipe, the lower extremity of
which is in communication with the hot-air chamber of the other generator,
and from which it is conducted into the cylinder at the front of the piston ;
a', a clack valve admitting the hot air, but intercepting the return of the cold
or contracted air; a, vacuum pipes communicating from the front of the
cylinders to the cold or condensing chamber h of the same generator,
passing through the cooling agent contained in the case j; a³, a clack valve
allowing the egress. of the condensed air; a', a box bolted to cylinder cover,
through which the contracted air circulates from the clack valve
Dines a
to the

page_text: The power is obtained in the same way as in the single-acting engine
herein-before described, and is transmitted through the agency of the saine
parts; it differs from it in the use of two generators instead of one, and one of
these, generators transmitting pressure and vacuum alternately to the back
of the piston by means of the parts m, m³, m³, m³, and m', and the other
producing the sanie effects on the front of the piston by means of the parts
, a, a, a, and, the cylinder cover being in this case a closed one. It
will thus be seen that by the simultaneous motion of the two travelling
caps i, i, worked by the double levers, that whilst the piston is being pro-
pelled forward by the expanded air from the hot chamber of one of the
generators, it is also solicited to move in the same direction by the action of
the dilated air or partial vacuum formed on the other face of the piston in
communication with the cold chamber of the other generator, and vice versâ,
at each successive stroke of the piston. The action of the cam p¹ in each
engine is such that the travelling caps i, i, remain stationary either in the cold
or the hot chambers during the greater part of the stroke, the change of
position being effected each time that the crank passes the dead centres.
An improvement applicable to both these kinds of engines consists in the
addition of the cups v (Figure 4, Sheet 2,) attached to face of chamber i,
having corresponding recesses in the external cooling cases j, whereby the
surface of the cold chamber is augmented and a more perfect vacuum
obtained.
;
.
And having now described the nature of my said improvements and the
best means that I am acquainted with for putting them into practice, I declare
that I-claim,
First, the combination and use of the fire box f, and the cover d, the heat
generated by combustion in f passing through the holes in its upper face (see
Sheet 1, Figure 2,) circulating between the outside of said fire box and the
interior of the cover, and from thence through the pipe e to the chimney,
essentially as herein-before described and illustrated in the Drawings hereunto
annexed. (The fire box f can be made of cast iron, brick, or refractory clay
mixed with amianthus.)
Second, the combination and arrangement of the travelling caps i, i, (which
can be of brass or any other good conducting metal, fluted internally in order
to augment the radiation of heat therefrom,) essentially as herein-before
described and illustrated in the Drawings hereunto annexed.
Third, the use of the non-conducting boxes it, covered with the cushions or

page_text: pads, the whole being propelled backwards and forwards on wheels or
otherwise, essentially as herein-before described and illustrated in the Drawings
hereunto annexed.
Fourth, the means of augmenting the cooling surfaces by the addition of
any required number of cups v, as well as the augmentation of the heating
surfaces by supplying each generator with the same sort of cups and with
several fire boxes, covers, and travelling caps if required, essentially as herein-
before described and illustrated in the Drawings hereunto annexed.
Fifth, the use of the pipes m³ and a³, forming a separate passage for the
return of the condensed air to the cold chamber, and their passage through
the cold water or other cooling agents contained in the cases j, essentially as
herein-before described and illustrated in the Drawings hereunto annexed>>
The principal features of this Invention can be applied to rotary engines as
well as to engines composed of cylinders and pistons working with rectilinear
motion.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Laubereau, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twentieth day of July, One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-nine.
J. LAUBEREAU. (L.S.)