A PNEUMATIC ENGINE FOR PRODUCING MOTIVE POWER
Year: 1842

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
HENRY STUCKEY, of Saint Petersburgh, now of Upper North Place, in the
County of Middlesex, Esquire, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the Twelfth day of July, in the sixth year of Her reign, did, for
Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said William
Henry Stuckey, my exors, adññors, and assigns, Her especial licence, full power,
sole privilege and authority, that I, the said William Henry Stuckey, my
exors, adiñors, and assigns, and such others as I, the said William Henry
Stuckey, my exors, admors, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and
no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during the term of years
therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend,
within that part of Her said United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
called England, Her Dominion of Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-
Tweed, my Invention of "A PNEUMATIC ENGINE FOR PRODUCING MOTIVE POWER;"
in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso that I, the said William
Henry Stuckey, shall cause a particular description of the nature of my said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, under my
hand and seal, to be inrolled in Her said Majesty's High Court of Chancery
within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto
had, will more fully and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
William Henry Stuckey, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Inven-
tion, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully ascer-
tained and described in and by the following Specification thereof, reference
being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, that is to say :-
Figure 1 is a front view of my said pneumatic engine, partly in section; and
Figure 2, an end view of the principal parts thereof. A¹ and B' are two hori-
zontal cylinders, united at their inner extremities a, a, which rotate on
gudgeons that have their bearings C, C, in the upright standards D, D;
A and B are two pistons which work to and fro in these cylinders; E' and E³
are two hollow arms or tubes which radiate from the cylinder A¹, and
E, E, are two similar arms or tubes which radiate in opposite directions
from the cylinder B', each cylinder having an open communication with the
arms or tubes attached to it. F1, F2, F3, and F', are four other other cylinders,
which are affixed to a circular ring R, R, and open at top and bottom, that
is to say, open at top to the atmosphere, and open at bottom to the radial
tubes E', E², E³, E*, which are connected with them at their outer extremities in
the nanner shewn in the Drawings. G1, G2, G3, and G*, are pistons which work
in the cylinders F1, F2, F, and F, and H', H, H³, and H', are caps screwed
on to the flanges of the cylinders. The different parts thus herein-before
described, form, in their general connexion with one another, a wheel, which, on
being set in motion, rotates on the gudgeons in the bearings C, C. The motion is
produced as follows:-I adjust the wheel so that the tubes E¹ and Es shall be
in a vertical position; I then pour into the tube E', through the cylinder F,
withdrawing the piston G¹ for the purpose, as much mercury or other suitable
fluid body (previously determined by calculation) as will fill the tube from the
point of its connection with the inner cylinder A¹ up to the bottom (a, a,) of
the outer cylinder F¹. The mercury or other fluid body thus introduced flows
into the cylinder A' at the back of the piston A2, and presses that piston for-
ward to the extremity of its range, which is at that point where it comes into
contact with the mouth of the under tube E3, the piston G¹ being then
restored to its place in the cylinder F, and pressed close down on the mercury
or other suitable fluid in the tube E¹. I next turn the wheel till the tubes E
and E are in a vertical position, by which turning of the wheel and change of
position of the tube E¹ and inner cylinder A¹ the mercury or other suitable
fluid therein is forced into the tube E³, flowing down which it drives the
piston G³ of the cylinder F³ forward to the extremity of its range, leaving a
vacuum in the cylinder A' at O, equal to the difference between the heights
from which the mercury descends in the tubes E' and E³. I then fill the tube

page_text: E and cylinder B with mercury or other suitable fluid, to the same extent
and in the same way as I previously filled the tube E¹ and cylinder A', after
which I turn the wheel till the tubes E' and Es are once more in a vertical
position, whereby I obtain the like results as were effected by the like opera-
tion in the case of the other tubes; that is to say, I produce a vacuum in each
pair of tubes, and their intermediate cylinder, to the degree of the difference
before explained. To the four tubes there are attached four cocks K', K³, K³, K*,
which, after the vacua have been obtained in manner aforesaid, are closed, and
to the four rods of the pistons of the outer cylinders F, F, F, F, there are
attached four hanging or balance weights L', L, L, L, in such manner that
they shall co-operate with the atmospheric pressure on the said vacua in giving
rotation to the wheel. M¹, M2, M3, M4, are jointed levers, by which these
weights are connected at one end with the pistons G1, G2, G3, G4, and N¹, N³,
are cords or bands, by which they are suspended at the other end from stan-
dards P, P, projecting from the ring R, and bearing pullies, over which the
cords or bands pass, each cord or band serving to suspend the two weights
which are opposite to each other, for which purpose it is passed internally
across the wheel and over the exterior of one of the cylinders A¹ or B¹. The
cords or bands are attached to the weights at the lower ends thereof, and pass
over small pulleys close to the points of connexion, so that the cords or bands,
when pulled, may act the more effectually on the weights. From what has
been stated it will be readily understood that when any two of the tubes are in
a vertical position, and the mercury or other suitable fluid has descended to
the bottom of the lower tube, its pressure on the piston of the outer cylinder
G or G2, or G³ or G*, will cause the weight connected with that piston to turn
inwards towards the centre of the wheel, by which movement a strain is
exerted on the connecting cord or band N₁ or N, which throws up the oppo-
site weight at top, and causes it to force down the piston of the top cylinder,
or the surface of the mercury or other fluid in the upper tube, whereby any
excess of pressure at the bottom of the lower tube is transferred to the top
piston, where it acts in aid of the atmospheric pressure on the vacua obtained
in manner aforesaid. The four cocks K', K, K³, K4, have regulating rods
connected to them in the way common in steam and other engines, so that as
each tube comes into a vertical position the cock attached to it is opened, and
as it passes from that position towards the horizontal, is shut, so that the
mercury always retains its proper position in the tubes or cylinders, and is
acted on by the pressure of the atmosphere at those points only where such
pressure can be of service. The power of this wheel will be, of course, in
proportion to the vacua produced in manner aforesaid, and to the altitude of

page_text: the columns of mercury or other suitable fluid employed. The inner cylinders
might be dispensed with, and the tubes be made to communicate directly with
each other, but I prefer, for most purposes, the arrangement which I have
before described, with the two intermediate cylinders A', B'; where the inner
cylinders are dispensed with, I make use of eccentrics instead of the joined
levers before described, to enable the weights to turn to the extent of about
half a circle. The number of tubes also need not be limited to four, but
increased to any convenient extent.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and the manner
in which the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim is, the pro-
ducing of motive power by means of the pneumatic engine before described,
however such engine may be varied in the constructive details thereof, as long
as the same general system of action is followed, and the same elements are
employed to produce it.
WILLIAM HENRY (L.s.) STUCKEY.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Twelfth day of January, in
the year of our Lord 1843, the aforesaid William Henry Stuckey came before
our said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specifi-
cation aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in
form above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according
to the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Enrolled the Twelfth day of January, in the year of our Lord One thou-
sand eight hundred and forty-three.