IMPROVEMENTS IN OBTAINING MOTIVE POWER
Year: 1839

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I ARTHUR
PARSEY, of the Quadrant, Regent Street, in the County of Middlesex,
Artist, 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 Sixth day of June, in the second year of Her reign, did, for
Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said Arthur
Parsey, Her especial licence, that I, the said Arthur Parsey, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Arthur Parsey, my
executors, administrators, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no
others, from time to time and at all times during the term of years therein
expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within
England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN OBTAINING MOTIVE POWER;" in which said Letters Patent
is contained a proviso obliging me, the said Arthur Parsey, by an instrument
in writing under my hand and seal, particularly to describe and ascertain the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, and to cause the same 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 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
Arthur Parsey, do hereby declare the nature of my said Invention to consist
in obtaining power from an air cylinder into which compressed air is forced
in small quantities at a time from a smaller air cylinder or air pump, in such
manner that the alternate expansion and escape of portions of the said com-
pressed air from the said larger cylinder, without the necessity of creating
a vacuum, causes the rise and fall of rods connected with a cranked axle in
such manner as to produce a rotary motion in the said cranked axle, and
consequently in any shafts connected therewith for that purpose, by which
arrangement of machinery I obtain the following advantage or improvements,
that is to say I do away with the use of fuel, and produce a very light and
simple machine, compared with those now in use for similar purposes. And
in further compliance with the said proviso, I, the said Arthur Parsey, do
hereby describe the manner in which my said Invention is to be performed,
by the following statement thereof, reference being had to the Drawing
annexed, and to the figures and letters marked thereon (that is to say):-
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Figure 1 represents a side elevation in section of my said Invention, the
modification here shewn by way of example and illustration being such as
would make it applicable to a locomotive engine for railroads. A is an air
cylinder; B, a cover or telescope slide top to the same, moving up and down
like a piston rod; C is a cross head frame standing across the top, and fixed
to it in order to carry the side rods which move the cranked axles, better
shewn in the other Figures; D is a rod moving up and down with the cover
of the cylinder, opening an escape cock E for the compressed air to escape
when the cover is raised to its greatest height, and shutting it again when the
cover descends to its lowest point; F is an air passage and valve from the
smaller air cylinder or air pump G; the operator or engineer being at H
while. Figure 2 is a front elevation; and Figure 3 a back elevation of the
same locomotive, J, K, being the cranked axle; and as similar letters are
used to denote similar parts in all the Drawings, no further description of
these Figures will be necessary. Now, it results from this arrangement
of machinery that if air be pumped by the engineer at H from the air
pump G into the cylinder A, the cover B must be forced up, and the
rods L, M, will act upon the cranks J, K, and as soon as the cover has risen
sufficiently high for the rod D to open the cock E, sufficient of the com-
pressed air will escape to allow the cover to fall again to its former position,
and close the escape cock. A repetition of this alternating action will of course

page_text: propel the carriage. P is a small channel contrived to hold the oil necessary
to lubricate the sides of the cylinder A and cover B.
Now, whereas it is evident that the cranked axles, instead of being used
to drive wheels, may be used to drive shafts for mill work in general, and
the rest of the apparatus be then made stationary; and whereas air vessels
may be applied between the air pump G and the cylinder A, to equalize
the pressure, and fly wheels may be added to steady the action of the
apparatus generally; and whereas the cylinders may be doubled, and the
air-pump worked by a strap from a drum, or otherwise, and the appa-
ratus here shown may be modified in various ways to suit various purposes;
but whereas I claim as my Invention the acting upon a volume of con-
stantly compressed air by the means aforesaid, in such manner as to cause
its elasticity to work a cranked axle, as herein-before described, without the
necessity of creating any vacuum; and such my Invention being, to the best
of my knowledge and belief, entirely new, and never before used in that part
of Her said Majesty's United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland called
England, Her said Dominion of Wales, or Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed,
I do hereby declare this to be my Specification of the same, and that I do
verily believe this my said Specification doth comply in all respects, fully and
without reserve or disguise, with the proviso in the said herein-before in part
recited Letters Patent contained; wherefore I hereby claim to maintain ex-
clusive right and privilege to my said Invention.
In witness whereof, I, the said Arthur Parsey, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Sixth day of December, One thousand eight
hundred and thirty-nine.