Iм- PROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR OBTAINING A CIRCULAR MOTIVE POWER
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Nasmyth, of No. 31, Rue de l'Etoile, Brussels,
in the Kingdom of Belguim, Civil Engineer, for the Invention of "Iм-
PROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR OBTAINING A CIRCULAR MOTIVE POWER"
Sealed the 8th July 1862, and dated the 19th February 1862.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Nasmyth at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 19th
February 1862.
I, JAMES NASMYTH, of No. 31, Rue de l'Etoile, Brussels, in the Kingdom
of Belgium, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR OBTAINING A CIRCULAR MOTIVE
POWER," to be as follows:-
I place a tube or any substance of a circular form in a cylinder. Either
the tube, the circular substance, or the cylinder is fixed. In the space between
the cylinder, and the tube, or circular substance I put a piston with an arm,
a rod, or any instrument serving the purpose of a piston, and bring steam, or
any other elastic, or non-elastic substance on the surface of the piston, or
other instrument serving as piston, by which means a circular motive power
is obtained, which I apply to useful purposes.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said James Nasmyth in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 8th
August 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
NASMYTH, Civil Engineer, residing at Brussels, in the Kingdom of Belgium,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-fifth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said James Nasmyth, Her special licence that I, the said James Nasmyth,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as the said
James Nasmyth, 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
APPARATUS FOR OBTAINING A CIRCULAR MOTIVE POWER," upon the condition,
(amongst others,) that I, the said James Nasmyth, my executors, or adminis-
trators, 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 Inven-
tion, 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 James Nasmyth, 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, that is to say:-
My Invention consists in placing in the centre of a stationary cylinder a
socket, in which turns a rod or shaft passing through the cover of the cylinder.
At a suitable distance from the centre of the cylinder I place in it a moveable
solid circular substance, or a moveable tube with an arm or arms fixed in the
shaft, which shaft passes through the cover of the cylinder. The moveable
solid circular substance, or the moveable tube with its arm or arms, circulates
steam-tight between the top and bottom of the cylinder. In the space between
the cylinder, and the said moveable solid substance, or the said moveable tube,
I place a plate of any appropriate material, which plate I call a piston, and
fix it to the said solid circular substance, or the said moveable tube, I then

page_text: introduce steam or any elastic or non-elastic substance on the surface of the
plate or so called piston, by which the said moveable solid circular, substance.
or a moveable tube, with its arm or arms. moves insides the.cylinder through a
door attached by hinges, or other means to the cylinder, which door. is opened.
by the piston as it passes, and is shut, and kept shut by a spring fixed in
recess of the cylinder, or by the pressure of steam.
a
In order.that my Invention may be clearly understood I have annexed. hereto
a Sheet of Drawings.in which Figure 1 is a plan view with the cover removed
of a circular or rotary.engine constructed according to my improvements,
Figure 2 is a transverse. vertical.section of same. A is the stationary cylinder ;.
B is the moveable tube placed in, the cylinder A; E is the. shaft..turning in.
the socket, which socket is placed in the centre of the cylinder. A. (The
construction of this shaft will be best understood upon referring to the sectional
view, Figure 2, where it will be seen that the. shaft A turns in the socket S.
(or turns on a pivot or pivots,) which socket is placed in the centre of. the:
bottom of the cylinder A, and the shaft passes through the top M of the
cylinder A.) To this, shaft E is fixed the moveable tube B, by the two
arms G and F. In the space between the cylinder A, and the moveable tube B
I place two plates C and D of any appropriate material, which I call pistons,
and I fix these two plates or pistons to the moveable tube B, opposite one
another; H is the door dividing the space between the cylinder A, and the
Inoveable tube B into two parts, this door works on hinges P, and is opened
by each piston as it passes, and: is shut, and kept shut by a spring R,
fixed in the recess T of the cylinder A; J is the steam inlet valve; K is the
steam outlet valve.
Figure 2 is a transverse vertical section of this machine. A is the cylinder;
B is the moveable tube; E is the shaft working in the socket S placed in the
centre of the bottom O of the cylinder A; M is the cover of the cylinder A
through which the shaft E passes; F is one of the arms attaching the move-
able tube B to the shaft E; D is one of the plates or pistons fixed to the
moveable tube B, and placed in the space between the cylinder A, and the
moveable tube B; W is tho fly wheel. To set this engine in motion I intro-
duce steam or any elastic or non-elastic substance through the inlet valve J,
on the surface of the plate or piston C, by which the plate or piston C, the
moveable tube B, and the shaft E are driven round in the direction of the
arrows, and the plate or piston D passes through the door II, and as the
plate or piston D passes the inlet valve J the steam is let out through the
outlet valve K, the steam continuing to issue from the inlet valve J, the
plate or piston D, the moveable tube B, and the shaft M, continue to move

page_text: round in the direction of the arrows. By these means I obtain a circular or
rotary movement, which I apply by a wheel fixed on the revolving shaft, or by
other well known means. The inlet valve J, and the outlet valve K may be
constantly kept open or may be 'alternately opened and shut in the usual
manner by a movement from the shaft or otherwise. When advisable I also
construct this engine with several pistons, and doors, and valves accordingly.
Having now described my Invention of improvements in obtaining motive
power by rotary or circular movements I would observe that although I have
described the same to the best of my means, I do not mean nor intend to
confine myself rigidly thereto as they may doubtless be varied without departing
from the nature and object of my Invention, I claim for this apparatus wholly
or in all its parts, and particularly for the moveable tube with its arm or arms
fixed in a vertical shaft working on a pivot or in a socket fixed in the
centre of the stationary cylinder, or for a solid circular substance working on
a pivot.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Nasmyth, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Twenty-seventh day of July, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.
JAMES NASMYTH. (L.S.)
THOMAS NASMYTH.