IMPROVEMENTS IN OBTAINING AND APPLYING MOTIVE POWER
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Pierre Hugon, of Paris, in the French Empire,'
Civil Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN OBTAINING AND
APPLYING MOTIVE POWER."
Sealed the 3rd September 1860, and dated the 6th March 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Pierre Hugon at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 6th March
1860.
I, PIERRE HUGON, of Paris, in the French Empire, Civil Engineer, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
OBTAINING AND APPLYING MOTIVE POWER," to be as follows:-.
My Invention is applicable to cylinder engines, to machines of all sizes, to
wheels and hydraulic turbines for the elevation and exhaustion of liquids. It
utilizes with advantage the expended force and the vacuum resulting from the
combination of pure hydrogen or of different kinds of gas (such as gas from
water, coal, peat, schist, or wood,) when they are mixed with air or oxygen in
variable proportions..
In order to apply this motive power I take a bent tube A, B, C, D, E, the
tope of the tube A is closed by a cap a, on which two taps F, G, are placed.
The passage D carries at its extremity a valve H, which remains closed either
by its own weight or by a slight spring; this valve is submerged in a basin I.
At a certain part of the passage D, a branch E, is attached, which is also
atached to the machine to be moved, or at the level of the water to be raised.

page_text: The machine A", which I shew as a specimen, is somewhat similar to the
ordinary steam engine cylinders, but the cylinders have one or several orifices
by which liquid enters and leaves; four or more valves B¹, B", B, B1, are
fitted to these orifices, surmounted by tubes B, B, B7, B³, serving to open
and shut the passage for the liquid. This machine. transmits motion to the
apparatus C, D', which may be replaced by a double pump. This apparatus
is composed of a beam Es; at each extremity of which four small gas-holders
,,, are placed submerged in the case C, C. Two of these gas-
holders represent a capacity varying according to the density of gas employed
between the third and fifth, or more of the volume of 6 and b. The total
capacity of these gas-holders represents the necessary volume to make from
one to thirty revolutions of the machine. In the centre and interior of these
gas-holders are four tubes G2, G3, G4, G, furnished with taps K, K1, K2, K³,
K, K, by which the mixture is introduced and drawn off into a bent mixing
tube H2, in the interior of which small plates are placed full for half of their
circumference,, and pierced with holes the other half. These plates are
arranged at a certain distance one from the other, and placed in such manner
that the full part of the one plate is opposite the perforated part of the other
plate, and so on for all. This tube is attached to the tube placed in the
interior of the vessel J, which is placed in the case J', and fixed to it, but in
the lower part it is cut away at different points, in order to allow entrance
and exit to the water according to the pressure given to the mixture. This
vessel J also contains another tube 1", which is connected to the introduction
taps or valves F, F, of the tubes A, B, C, D, E, A, B, C, D, E¹.
Having described the principal parts of this machine I will now show how
those parts operate.
In the first place the cylinder of the machine A" is filled with water as well
as the tubes and slide valves B', B, B; B, B, B, B', B³, parallel with
that in the tubes A, B, C, D, E, and A, B, C, D, E¹. The water must be
on a level with the flat flange of the tubes A and A'; the water in the basin I
must completely cover the valves H, H'. If a certain quantity of explosive
mixture is then run by the tap F into the tube A, and electricity, or a wire of
incandescent platina, or any other inflammable body be introduced, a com-
bination of the oxygen with the air and the hydrogen will take place, and an
enormous heat be produced.'
The vapour produced by this combination will be instantly carried to a
great heat, as well as the gas which is not combined, and consequently it will
expand and produce a great force which will drive a certain quantity of water
from the tube A, B, C, D, E, by the safety valve H, into the basin I, but

page_text: after a short time, the duration of which appears to be in proportion to the
quantity of air and density of gas introduced into the mixture; the gas
remaining from the combustion cools the steam, condenses, and a vacuum
will be produced sensibly proportional to the quantity of mixture introduced
at all events within certain limits. The vacuum can be varied. If the slide
valve or safety valve B', corresponding to one of the faces of the piston, and
the safety valve B", corresponding to the other face, and in communication
with the basin I, are opened, there will be on the face of the pistons corres-
ponding with the slide valve, a pressure which will exert a force equal to the
vacuum produced in the tube A, B, C, D, E. The motion of the piston
causes the water contained in the cylinder A", to replace that which has been
expelled from the tube A, B, C, D, E, at the time of the combination of the
explosive mixture. During this time a certain quantity of the mixture has
been introduced, into the other tube A, B, C, D, E, it will be there mixed
and in driving the water a vacuum will be produced. The safety valves B³
and B, will open, and the pistou reaching the end of its course will be again
acted on in the same manner as before, and so on indefinitely. In order to
regulate in as complete a manner as possible a sufficient introduction of
water into the tubes A, B, C, D, E, and A, B, C, D, E'; when the piston
of the machine has finished its course, the safety valve H or H, rises, which
opens the taps or escape valves G or G', and another tap N or N', correspond-
ing to the small basin M, containing water to a certain height. The valve in
rising is intended to liberature the pressure in the tube A, B, C, D, E, or in
the tube A, B, C, D, E, and to facilitate the, expulsion of the residual gas
by the tap or valve G or G'. The tap N or N', allows the water to enter or
escape in order to maintain it at a constant level, in case when, by the
explosion, the quantity expelled has been more or less great than that drawn
by the machine during its operation. The apparatus C', D', is intended to
replace advantageously the pumps as the valves do not always work regularly
when they act on the air or gas, and consequently create a difficulty in
regulating with certainty the quantity of gas and air desired to be mixed.
The vase J, receives tho quantity of mixture that leaves the apparatus C', D',
by the tube I. The pressure is there regulated, as well as in the apparatus
C', D', by the quantity of water placed in the cases J, c, c¹, regulated by the
taps j, j',,,,. The motion of the machine by my system of
apparatus takes place in a regular and simple manner, the speed can be easily
regulated by distribution cams. o, o', o", o, and this speed can be increased
by doubling or tripling the tubes A, B, C, D, E, or A, B, C, D, E'.
The apparatus or generator before described can be applied for working all

page_text: kinds of machines called steam engines, whether they be fixed, moveable,
horizontal, inclined, vertical, rotary, oscillating, locomotive or marine, also for
exhausting or raising water for irrigation or for driving any kind of hydraulic
wheel, turbine, or bucket wheel, by merely prolonging the tube before
described to the level of the water to be raised. This apparatus or generator
does not require in its motion any assistance from the machines before men-
tioned, and it permits of making use advantageously of the vacuum produced
in the tubes A, B, C, D, E, by substituting water for air in the machines
called steam engines, and especially machines desired to be moved by this
means, for if, when the vacuum is produced in the 'tubes A, B, C, D, E, the
communication with the machine A" is opened, it fills with water instead of.
air. Instantly and without the machine moving the space is diminished in
the tube A, B, C, D, E, in proportion to the volume of air contained in the
machine A. This does not take place when the machine is filled with
water, the vacuum then remains the same if the machine does not move, and
diminishes only in proportion to the motion of the piston.
I intend then to claim the apparatus before described for producing and
utilizing the vacuum in all the arrangements and parts that constitute it, and
specially for the new means by which I substitute water for air in steam
engines generally, and machines for which my apparatus is especially intended
to be the mover for its application to hydraulic engines, for the elevation of
'water for irrigation, and for the exhaustion of water. The wheels, levers, and
cams constituting the accessories for the transmission of motion will be well
understood on reference to the drawings.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Pierre Hugon in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
6th September 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, PIERRE
HUGON, of Paris, in the French Empire, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Sixth day of March, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-third year of Her reign,
clid, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Pierre Hugon, Her special licence that I, the said Pierre Hugon, my exc-
cutors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Pierre Hugon,
iny executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and

page_text: 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
OBTAINING AND APPLYING MOTIVE POWER," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Pierre Hugon, my executors or administrators, by an instru-
ment 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 im-
mediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Pierre Hugon, 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 had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, that is to say:-
My Invention is applicable to cylinder engines, to machines of all sizes, to
wheels. and hydraulic turbines for the elevation and exhaustion of liquids, it
utilizes with advantage the expended force and the vacuum resulting from the
combination of pure hydrogen or of different kinds of gas (such as gas, from
water,, coal, peat, schist, or wood,) when they are mixed with air or oxygen in
variable proportions. The Drawings hereunto annexed show the manner in
which I carry my Invention into effect.
my
Figure 1 is a longitudinal section of the machine constructed according to
Invention taken on the line 1, 2, 3, 4 of the plan Figure 2; Figure 3 is
a view of part of the machinery taken on the line 5, 6 (Figure 2), of the
cylinder marked X, and showing the action of the piston marked O. To
construct my apparatus I take two or more bent tubes A, A'; the top of the
tube A is closed by a cap a, on which two taps F, G, F, G, are placed. The
tubes A, A', carry at their other extremity two valves H, H', which remain
closed either by their own weight or by a slight spring. These valves are sub-
merged in a basin I. A branch E is attached to the tube A, A', which is also
attached to the machine to be moved, or at the level of the water to be raised.
The machine which I show as a specimen is somewhat similar to the ordinary
steam engine cylinders, but the cylinders have one. or several orifices Y, by
which liquid enters and leaves; four or more valves B¹, B", B3, B4, are fitted to
these orifices surmounted by tubes B5, B6, B', Bs, serving to open and shut the
passage for the liquid, as shown in the plan Figure 2. This machine transmits the
motion which it receives from the driving piston O through the connecting rod O¹
and the driving shaft K to the apparatus C, D, which draws and delivers the

page_text: quantity of air and gas required for the mixture. This apparatus is composed
of a beam E¹, at each extremity of which four small gas-holders b, b², 61, f¹¹1,
are placed submerged in the case .c, c¹. Two of these gas-holders 61, 6",
represent a capacity varying according to the density of gas employed between
the third and fifth or more of the volume of 6" and b. The total capacity of
these gas-holders represents the necessary volume to make from one to thirty
or more revolutions of the machine. Each gas-holder is furnished with a tap
for delivering the gas. In the centre and interior of these gas-holders are four
tubes G furnished with taps K, by which the mixture of air and gas is
introduced and drawn off into a bent mixing tube H³. In the interior of this
tube small plates h are placed full for half of their circumference, and pierced
with holes the other half. These plates partly seen in Figure 1 are arranged
at a certain distance one from the other, and placed in such manner that the
full part of the one plate is opposite the perforated part of the other plate, and
so on for all. This arrangement is intended to effect the mixture of the
atmospheric air and the gas. The mixing tube H" is.attached to the tube I',
placed in the interior of the vessel J, the latter is placed in the case J', where
the orifices allow the water in the case J to circulate into the vessel J¹. This
vessel J contains another tube I, which is connected to the introduction
taps or valves F, F of the tubes A and A'. Each tube A or A¹ is in com-
munication by the basin I with the cylinder piston O. Thus the tube A draws
back water by the valve B³, and a vacuum being immediately formed this
water is retaken by the valve B' after having acted on the cylinder in a
certain direction. The same action is repeated in a contrary senso by drawing
back the liquid in the tube A' and its suction by the two valves Band B'.
'The driving or transmission shaft K can carry a fly wheel K', a pulley or cog
wheels.
Having described the principal parts of this machine, I will now, show how
those parts operate.
In the first place the cylinder X of the machine is filled with water as well
as the tubes A, A!, and: slide valves B, B", B, B. The water in the basin I
covers the two valves Hand II'. If a certain quantity of mixture (gas and
air) is then introduced into the tube A, and electricity or a wire of incan-
descent platina m, or any other like inflaming body is also introduced, 4
combination of the oxygen with the air and the hydrogen will take place, and
an enormous heat will be produced. The vapour produced by this combination
will instantly be carried to a great heat, as well as the gas which is not com-
bined, and a vacuum will be produced in the tube A. If the slide valve or
safety valve B' corresponding to one of the faces of the piston O, and tho

page_text: safety valve B corresponding to the other face, and in communication by the
tube B' with the basin I are opened, there will be on the face of the pistons
corresponding with the slide valve B', a pressure which will exert a force
equal to the vacuum produced in the tube A. The motion of the piston O
causes the water contained in the cylinder X to replace that which has been
expelled from the tube A at the time of the combination of the explosive
mixture. During this time a certain quantity of the mixture has been intro-
duced into the other tube A'; it will be there mixed, and in driving the water
a vacuum will be produced. The safety valves B and B will open, and the
piston reaching the end of its course will be again acted on in the same
manner as before, and so on indefinitely. The opening and closing of the
valves B', B", B3, B4, is effected through cams L receiving motion from the
shaft K". In order to regulate in as complete a manner as possible a sufficient
introduction of water into the tubes A and A', when the piston of the machine
has finished its course, the safety valve H or H' rises, which at the same
time opens the taps or escape valves G or G', and another tap N or N¹ corre-
sponding to the small basin M, containing water to a certain height. The
valve H or H' in rising is intended to liberate from the pressure the water in
the tube A or A', and to facilitate the expulsion of the water in the said tubes.
The tap N or N¹ is intended to maintain the water at a constant level in the
tubes A or A'. The introduction and exit taps F, F, G, G¹, can be replaced
by registers or slide valves. The motion of the apparatus is regulated by
distribution cams. The apparatus C, D, is intended to replace advantageously
the pumps, as the valves do not always work regularly when air or gas is used.
The vessel J receives the quantity of mixture that leaves the apparatus C, D.
The pressure is there regulated as well as in the apparatus C, D, by the
quantity of water placed in the cases J', c, c', regulated by the taps j.
I do not limit myself to the particular form of apparatus before described,
as, for example, the tubes A, A', may have a different form given them,
as, for instance, that shown at Figure 4. The liquid which is driven by
introduction of the mixture partly passes by one or several valves and enters
the receiver Y¹, which is made by preference of sheet iron, open to the
atmosphere at the upper part. This receiver can be made round, square, or
of any other desired form. A dome also made of cast iron supported by
girders at some distance from the sides of the receiver Y', prevents the
water from being thrown outwards. The excess of liquid introduced into the
receiver Y¹ by the valves r, r, enters the basin I, which is arranged in a
similar manner to the basin I before described.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what

page_text: manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim as my improve-
ments in obtaining and applying motive power,-
First, the employment of a volume of water or other fluid or of uninflammable
gas in a tube or reservoir of any suitable form, in the manner and for the
purposes herein-before described.
Second, the method of introducing a mixture of atmospheric air and
hydrogen gas or other inflammable gas to act on the liquid fluid or unin-
flammable gas, in the manner and for the purpose herein-before described.
Third, the method of causing the expansion of the mixture by introducing
thereinto a wire of incandescent platina or an electric spark, or other body
producing a like effect, in the manner and for the purpose herein-before
described.
Fourth, the method of imparting motion to the piston by any liquid or fluid
or fluids acting through tubes or reservoirs on the said piston, in the manner
and for the purpose herein-before described.
Fifth, the method of mixing atmospheric air with hydrogen gas or other
inflammable gas by means of the apparatus marked C, D, in the manner
and for the purpose herein-before described.
Sixth, the general arrangement of apparatus herein-before described and
illustrated at Figures 1 and 2 of the Drawings hereunto annexed.
Seventh, the modified form of tubes as arranged and illustrated at Figure 4
of the accompanying Drawings. ··
In witness whereof, I, the said Pierre Hugon, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twentieth day of August, One thousand eight
hundred and sixty.
Witness,
CH. ARMENGAUD, Jo., Ing". Civil,
Boulevd de Strasbourg, No. 23,'
à Paris..
P. HUGON. (L.S.)