Improvements in Apparatus for Propelling or Forcing, or for Exhausting, Air or Gas.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 2nd Mar., 1894-Accepted, 7th Apr., 1894
CUMT DELE
Improvements in Apparatus for Propelling or Forcing, or for
Exhausting, Air or Gas.
We, CHARLES GROOMBRIDGE, Inventor, and WILLIAM ALFRED SOUTH,
Veterinary Surgeon, both of 40 New Bond Street, in the County of London, do
hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, reference being had to the accompanying drawings and to the letters and
figures marked thereon, that is to say :-
Our invention relates to improvements in apparatus for propelling or forcing, or
for exhausting, air or gas, and is designed to provide an apparatus which shall be
capable of exerting great propelling or forcing, or great exhausting, power.
For this purpose, the apparatus is provided with a rotary disc having apertures
in which are mounted feathering or swivelling vanes, acting as pistons, and working
in an annular casing or chamber formed with a diaphragm or partition for preventing
the return to the inlet of the air drawn into the apparatus. The vanes are mounted
on spindles provided with cranks or arms which engage in a cam groove or path
formed in the cylindrical surface of a stationary boss arranged concentrically with
the annular disc. The shape of the cam groove or path is such as to keep the vanes
at right angles to the disc during a portion of each revolution, but to cause them to
feather or swivel, and lie flush with the surface of the disc in the apertures therein,
and so enable them to pass through the said diaphragm or partition.
The annular casing is preferably formed in two parts, or halves, which are
situated on opposite sides of the disc, and the diaphragm, which is preferably of
V shape, in cross section, consists of two internal projections cast one on each of the
said parts or halves, so that when the casing is fitted together a gap or space is left
between them to allow passage to the disc and vanes in their movement of rotation,
but which gap or space is, in reality, always filled by the rotary disc or a vane
therein, and so prevents the air returning to the inlet.
And in order that our invention may be readily understood, we will describe the
same fully with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which :-
Fig. 1 is a side elevation of an apparatus constructed according to our invention,
one of the halves of the casing being removed to clearly show certain of the internal
parts.
Fig. 2 is a vertical central section thereof in which certain of the parts are shown
in elevation.
Fig. 3 is an edge view of one of the vanes to a larger scale.
Fig. 4 is a part section, on the line x, x, of Fig. 1, showing the arrangement of
the diaphragm or partition.
Fig. 5 is a detail view, also to a larger scale, showing the spindle of one of the
vanes with its crank or arm for effecting the feathering or swivelling motion.
a is the rotary disc which is carried by arms a' extending from a boss a' keyed
upon the driving shaft a³ of the apparatus, near one end thereof. This disc is
situated between the two parts b, 6, of the annular casing or chamber, and is
provided with machined flanges a', and circular ribs a' which fit closely, but without
contact, against corresponding edges 63, 3, of the said casing.
e are the vanes which may be advantageously made of aluminium. They corre-
spond in shape to the cross section of the annular casing or chamber, formed by

page_text: the parts b, b; and the outer part of this casing has a spherical curvature to permit
the vanes to feather or turn on their spindles c¹. These spindles extend across
apertures a in the disc a, and are formed, at their outer ends, with pivots c² which
take into the outer edges of the said disc.
is the diaphragm or partition which, as shown, is of V shape in cross section,
one half thereof being cast on the part b, and the other half on the part 6' of the
casing, a gap or space being left between the halves for the passage of the disc
and its vanes.
This diaphragm is situated between the inlet and the outlet 6º,
but near to the latter, as shown, and the gap or space is, as stated, always filled
by the disc (or by one of the vanes mounted therein) in order to prevent the
passage of air through the same. The vanese are somewhat tapered at one end,
as shown in Fig. 3, to enable them to readily pass into and through the gap or
space formed by the diaphragm.
On the inner edge of the disc, bearings c³, having caps c', and lubricators c³, are
provided for the spindles.
care the bent arms or cranks with which the spindles are provided, and
through the medium of which the vanes are caused to feather. These arms or
cranks are arranged, as shown more clearly in Fig. 3, at an angle of 45°, or there-
abouts, relatively to the vanes, and carry friction rollers & adapted to work in the
cam groove or path d in the boss d'. This boss has a flange d² by which it can be
bolted to a corresponding flange 67, having strengthening ribs 6 formed on the
part of the casing, and the said boss projects through the opening in the disc a
concentrically therewith. A central tubular portion ³ on the boss constitutes the
bearing for the driving shaft a³. The cam groove d is provided with raised
edges to prevent the rollers of the cranks or arms leaving the groove when they
turn in the feathering or swivelling movement of the vanes.
The base of the apparatus is, or may be, cast or formed in a piece with one of
the parts of the casing, for example the part b; and suitable lubricators are
provided where necessary.
The working of the apparatus is as follows:-
The disc being set in motion in the direction of the arrows, Fig. 1, the vanes
are caused to travel around the annular chamber or casing, and are guided by the
cam groove into a position at right angles to the disc and transversely to the said
annular chamber or casing, and are caused by the cam groove, at the proper time,
to feather and turn flush with the disc so as to pass through the diaphragm, after
which they return to their former position, so that as they pass the inlet they
occupy a position at right angles to the disc. In this way, air, or gas, is drawn in
and carried round the annular casing or chamber by the vanes, which act as
pistons; and this air, or gas, meeting the diaphragm is forcibly ejected through the
outlet.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is :-
'
1. Apparatus for propelling or forcing, or for exhausting, air or gas, wherein
the air or gas is carried around an annular channel by a series of feathering vanes,
acting as pistons, and mounted in a rotary disc, so that the air, or gas, on reaching
the outlet, strikes against a diaphragm or partition and is forcibly ejected through
the outlet by the vanes approaching such outlet, substantially as set forth.
2. In apparatus of the kind above claimed, a rotary annular disc having apertures
in which are mounted feathering vanes carried by spindles having cranks or arms
adapted to engage in a cam groove or path formed in a stationary boss arranged
concentrically with the disc, and which vanes work in an annular chamber or casing
between the inlet and outlet of which is arranged a diaphragm or partition having
a gap or space to permit the passage of the vanes when feathered, and which gap
or space is continually filled by the disc, or by one of the vanes, substantially as
described and for the purposes set forth.

page_text: 3. Our improved apparatus for propelling or forcing, or for exhausting, air or
gas, constructed, arranged, and combined to operate substantially as hereinbefore
described and as shown with reference to the annexed drawings.
Dated this 2nd day of March 1894.
ERNEST DE PASS,
Chartered Patent Agent,
78, Fleet Street, London, and 6, Victoria Street, Nottingham,
Agent for the Applicants.