IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MEANS OF OBTAINING CONTINUOUS ROTARY MOTION BY MEANS OF A HYDROSTATIC ROTATORY MOTIVE-POWER ENGINE FOR THE PROPULSION OF MACHINERY
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Burrowes Willcocks Arthur Sleigh, of 7, Alfred
Place, Bedford. Square, in the County of Middlesex, Esqre., for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MEANS OF OBTAINING CONTINUOUS
ROTARY MOTION BY MEANS OF A HYDROSTATIC ROTATORY MOTIVE-POWER
ENGINE FOR THE PROPULSION OF MACHINERY."
.
Sealed the 14th March 1865, and dated the 23rd September 1864.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Burrowes Willcocks
Arthur Sleigh at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
his Petition, on the 23rd September 1864.
I, BURROWES WILLCOCKS ARTHUR SLEIGH, of 7, Alfred Place, Bedford
Square, in the County of Middlesex, Esqre., do hereby declare the nature
of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MEANS OF OBTAINING CON-
TINUOUS ROTARY MOTION BY MEANS OF A HYDROSTATIC ROTATORY MOTIVE-POWER
ENGINE FOR THE PROPULSION OF MACHINERY."
This Invention consists in a new mode of applying
new mode of applying hydraulic power,
whereby a continuous rotatory motion is obtained, by means of which all
manner of machinery may be worked and propelled.
I'erect two upright frames, one parallel to the other, to act as standards or
bearers, upon which and between which an axletree rests and revolves, upon
which is fixed a wheel cut on the outer circle into teeth, to act upon a smaller
wheel, also cut into teeth, which smaller wheel aids in obtaining speed, as the

page_text: larger wheel in revolving works into its teeth and drives it round with a
velocity in proportion as the smaller wheel is to the larger. Through the
smaller wheel an axletree passes, upon which this wheel is fixed, the axle
resting upon portions of the standards before mentioned at either side, which
axletree actuated by the rotation of the wheels drives other wheels, fly
wheels, and machinery which may be attached thereto. The power from
whence the motion is obtained is hydrostatic, and is applied as follows:-I
place upon the base or foundation, upon which rest the bearers or standards,
at a proper distance of interval, two hydraulic pumps of certain necessary
dimensions, regulated by the power required and size of the machinery to
bc-worked; the stroke of one pump drives water into a cylinder beneath a
piston, the piston case being of the necessary diameter and superficies of
contents according to the requirements of the length of piston; this piston is
screwed into a moveable socket, and as the water is driven by the pump into
the cylinder the piston is forced forward by a horizontal movement, and by
this presses upon a crank attached to the driving wheel to an extent by which
the wheel rotates a half circle, being the length of the piston rod; upon this
piston rod delivering the length and extent of its stroke a valve in the cylinder
below allows the cylinder to be at once emptied by the water passing out
through the valve, and the piston moves back to the bottom of the cylinder,
ready to be again driven forward, when the pump again acts upon it by its
propelling force. At the moment, however, of the first piston delivering the
full extent and length of its stroke, the second pump drives water into an
adjoining duplicate cylinder of the exact construction and size and contents,
with piston, socket, and rod, as in the first, and by means of the action of tho
pump the second piston is driven out, and propels, by the action of its crank,
the wheel another half circle, thus completing the rotation of the wheel one
entire circle; when the second piston has delivered its stroke, the piston rod
retires as described for the first, and the first piston stroke being ready the
wheel is in like manner, by the piston rod acting on the crank, driven another
half circle, when the piston again retires, and the second piston again presses
forward on its crank, and thus continues; rotatory motion and power is
-obtained and given to the cranks, wheels, axletrees, and machinery attached,
and this continues as long as the hydraulic pumps are retained at work. On
the foundation upon which my engine stands I place a tank to hold the
necessary supply of water for the pumps and cylinders, being connected
thereto by the necessary pipes and valves. I propose that the handle or
handles of the hydraulic pumps shall be attached by ordinary appliances,
and adaptation of levers and springs to the engine, by which means an

page_text: upward and downward movement would be given to the pumps by the engine
itself, instead of it being necessary to give the pump strokes by hand when
once the engine is set in motion.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Burrowes Willcocks Arthur Sleigh in the Great Seal.
Patent Office on the 23rd March 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM. THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, BURROWES
WILLCOCKS ARTHUR SLEIGH, of 7, Alfred Place, Bedford Square, in the County-
of Middlesex, Esquire, send greeting.
"
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-third day of September, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-eighth year.
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Burrowes Willcocks Arthur Sleigh, Her special license that I,
the said Burrowes Willcocks Arthur. Sleigh, executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Barrowes Willcocks Arthur Sleigh,
executors, administrators, or 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 THE MEANS OF OBTAIN-
ING CONTINUOUS ROTARY MOTION BY MEANS OF A HYDROSTATIC ROTATORY MOTIVE-.
POWER ENGINE FOR THE PROPULSION OF MACHINERY," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Burrowes Willcocks Arthur Sleigh,
executors' or 'administrators, by an instrument in writing under my 'hand and
seal, or under the hand and seal of one of them, 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 immediately after the date of
the said Letters Patent.
'
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Burrowes Willcocks Arthur Sleigh,
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, reference being had to the Plates of
Drawings hereto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked thereon, that
is to say
"

page_text: This Invention consists of a new mode of applying hydrostatic, power
whereby a continuous rotary motion is obtained, conveying the power of
propulsion, by means of which all manner of machinery may be, driven,
worked, and propelled, and the hydraulic element used to generate, produce,
and communicate the augmentation of hydrostatic power, having performed.
this office by pressing upon the rams which drive onwards the acquired increase
of power, passes out from the ram cylinders, which become emptied by the
pistons of the rams driving them to the bottom or ends of their chambers
into the-cylinders of pump plungers ready to be ejected forward again; nor is
a fresh supply of water required, for when once the cylindrical mechanisin of
this engine is charged with the required amount, no further-replenishment-is
necessary except to make np for evaporation or leakage; and thereby each,
series of rams and pump plungers having delivered their strokes no fresh
supply is required from an outside source, as the bases of the rams and pump
plungers are never while in work removed from a contact with the hydraulic
element, while the cups and valves of each series of cylinders charged with
water act as tanks or reservoirs for supply.
In order, however, that the nature of my Invention may be fully understood
I will now proceed to describe it by reference to the accompanying Sheets of
Drawings, in which-Sheet 1 is a plan; and Sheet 2 a side elevation of my
hydrostatic engine.
Upon a bed. plate of metal A, A; A, A, resting upon, if necessary, upright
standards or bearers, between which revolve and work those, parts of the
engine which are beneath the bed plate A, A, A, A, including greater and
lesser fly wheels, grooved wheels, crank shafts, and axletrees, levers, connecting.
rods, bell, cranks, and other parts of the engine, the bed plate slotted out on.
its surface for the reception and working of the various parts of the engine,
above referred to, and which are bolted down on this foundation, and portions
of which operate above as well as beneath the same, I place my engine in its
sectional parts as herein-after described... In the first place there are bolted.
down upon the above foundation plate A in a horizontal position four ram
cylinders, Nos. 1 and 2, 3 and 4, at the end, of which are attached their,
respective series of pump-plunger-cylinders 5 and 6, 7 and 8.- Nos. 1 and 2
ram and pump.plunger cylinders are placed with a space between parallel to
each other, as are also No. 3 and 4, only to the rear of the former. In each,
cylinder duly bored out for its reception is a ram of metal 9, 10, 11, 12, and,
each cylinder is for a space within its mouth grooved out in a recess so as to
form a stuffing box for the reception of suitable hydraulic packing, such as
leather collars air and water tight, through which the rams 9, 10, 11, 12,

page_text: pass outwards in giving their respective strokes, and then retire inwards after
delivering the same. One set of ram cylinders 1 and 2, with their rams 9
and 10, face a main crank shaft B, B, revolving through four plummer boxes
or bearings c, c, c, c, which are cast upon bed plate A, A, with caps and
brasses of metal. The ends of main crank shaft B, B, projecting at B, B,
outside bed plate; and said main crank shaft in rotating works or drives
machinery or wheels keyed thereon. Attached to the rams 1 and 2, 3 and 4,
are screwed metal lugs 13, 14, 15, 16, through the centre of which are drilled
holes, in which metal pins 17 traverse, fastening to forked levers D, d, D, d,
which stand vertically above and below surface of bed plate, to which they
are attached by suitable lugs or pins at 17. The vertical levers D, D, D, D,
in projecting below the bed plate, are at their fulcrums a, a, attached to
carriages or brackets hanging beneath and bolted under surface of bed plate:
Connecting rods c, c, are pinned or jointed from a, a, to bell-crank shaped
levers d, d, working at e, e, on their centres or stud brackets at e, c, which
form pivots, said brackets or carriages being bolted under bed plate. The
other end of bell cranks d, d, are connected.by pins at g, g, to forked connecting
rods h, h, the upper ends of which are connected to main B, B, and minor
B', B', crank shafts by metal butts and straps.
The object of this lever adaptation is that when No. 1 ram is propelled or
driven out from its cylinders it presses by means of the lug and pin fastened
through the lever D upon said lever, which being thus driven forward, the
lever draws the horizontal connecting rod e, bell-crank lever d, and forked'
connecting rod h backwards the necessary distance to obtain by this move-
ment a half throw of main crank driving shaft B, B, and thus causing a half-
revolution of said crank shaft. Instantaneously that this has been accom-
plished without a perceptible pause of time, ram No. 2 moves forward in like
manner, and ram No. 1 begins to retire into its cylinder. The forward pres-
sure of ram No. 2 drives the lever D, and lever attachments thereof, in like
manner as described of lever arrangement of ram No. 1, and thus causes.
by means of its stroke the second half revolution of the main crank driving.
shaft B, B, thus completing the entire circle of revolution. On the centre of
main crank shaft B, B, is keyed a fly wheel E, which revolves through a slot.
in the bed plate performing its revolutions. At the base of the ram cylinders
1 and 2, 3 and 4, are screwed in the series of pump plunger cylinders 5 and
6, 7 and 8, before referred to, and upon the top of the ram cylinders at E are-
moveable cup reservoirs H, which fit into screw holes drilled in the metal.
communicating with the interior of the cylinders. These cups at the.upper
ends are of glass, so as to allow the charge of water in the cylinders to be.

page_text: gauged, and contain self-acting valves, by which any deficiency in cylinders
can be replaced: When the cylinders are filled with water, these cups are
screwed in and also filled with water; a metal cap is then placed on the head
Pump plunger cylinders 5; 6; 7, 8,, consist of,,hollow cylindrical tubes of the
necessary thickness of metal and interior diameter and bore.. In those
cylinders, moving through similar hydraulic stuffing boxes as described of the
rams, there work solid metal pump plungers 18, 18, 18,18. Each series of pump
plungers are united together by metal cross beads k, h, k, k, in the centre of
--which are screwed guide rods 1,1,1,1, which work through guides m, m, m, m,
bolted to bed plate, and are attached to forked connecting rods, which forked
connecting rods are applied-to-the-minor-crank shaft B by means of metal
butts and straps. The revolutions of the minor crank shaft B₁ are caused by
the active working and pressure of the smaller rams No. 3 and 4, as, in
manner herein-after described, the pressure of these rams, being communi-
cated on the minor crank shaft B', B', by the intervention of a similar lever
arrangement, as described of rams No. 1 and 2. At each revolution of. the
minor crank.shaft upon which is keyed the fly wheel P, each half throw drives
inwards the pump plungers 5 and 6 of rams 1 and 2, and as the pump
plungers descend in their cylinders they press forward and eject under the base
of the rams 1 and 2 the water which was contained in each, and as this water
presses upon the base of the rams by the descending of the pump plungers to
the end of their stroke, so in proportion the rams press forward, upwards, and
onwards, conveying the augmentation of hydrostatic power thereby generated
upon the levers, causing, as before described, the rotation of the main crank
shaft B, B, whereby wheels and machinery attached thereto are driven and
worked. Parallel with the end of the pump plungers 5 and 6 of the rams 1
and 2, and with a space intervening, are bolted down upon the bed plate the
series of pump plunger cylinders 7 and 8, fastened into the base of the rams 3
and 4, also bolted down upon the bed plate. At the cross heads k, k, of the
pump plunger cylinders 7 and 8 of the rams 3 and 4, there are screwed on
lugs 1,,,, of metal, slotted out to receive the upper end of forked levers
S, S, S, S, which oscillate upon pins at t, t, placed through the centre of the
lugs The fulcrums-of-the-forked-levers work upon studs or pins fastened
at the base angle of hanging brackets bolted under bed plate. The upper
forked ends of the levers by their pressure forward drive by their alternate
action inwards the pump plungers 7, 8, which in their stroke eject from their
cylinders the water contained in each under the base of the rams 3 and 4,
which press forward in manner as before explained upon the minor crank
shaft B', which again performs its office as herein-before described. The

page_text: levers S, S, which work in brackets fastened under bed plate, thereby giving
pressure upon the cross heads h, k, k, k, of the pump plungers 7 and 8, are
driven backwards and forwards, thus pressing and retiring after delivering each
stroke by the action of two connecting rods running under-bed plate, which
are fastened to the levers S, S, and which in pressing forward and retiring.work
horizontally and parallel to each other beneath the bed plate. At the other.
end of the connecting rods they are attached by means of metal, butts: and
straps to the double throws of an auxiliary crank shaft G: The end of this
crank shaft, which is fastened beneath the bed plate, projects its shaft out
from beyond the bed plate, and upon this is fastened a V-grooved; wheel- B³, in
which works a gut band connected with an outside foreign power, by means
of which the engine is set in motion. Upon the main crank driving shaft
B, B, is keyed a double V-grooved wheel el upon the minor crank shaft B!,
and upon the auxiliary crank shaft, are also keyed single V-grooved wheels,
the three V pulley wheels following in vertical line with a gut band, passing
round each, by means of which is maintained the harmonious action and
alternate movement between the double systems of rams and pump plungers,
thus also equalizing and obviating loss of time between each throw of the
respective cranks, and further by this application an equitable upward and
downward movement is given, by the working of the engine itself to the
pumps, levers, and other portions without the necessity of regulating the same by
hand power. Once the engine is set in motion, I am enabled to multiply to anyt
number the rams of my engine, and to construct them and the punip plungers
of whatever diameter and length is necessary for the work and size of the
engine, in proportion thereto, and use only from one pump plunger for each:
I am further enabled to add at the cross heads of minor set of
pump plungers the slotted lugs in which the forked levers work intervening,
and these lugs screwed upon another set of cross heads, to which are attached
another series of pump plungers and cylinders screwed into another series of.
rams, by means of which, as the return strokes of the minor rams after causing
their balf circles of rotation upon the minor crank shaft draw backward the
pump plungers, the lever action in returning driving forward the pump
plungers of the fresh series, by which means the water contained in them is
ejected under the bases of the additional rams, which forces forward through the
medium of main lever and bell-crank action, the same as described respecting
the throw of the major series of rams, and thus on another séries of butts, and
bell straps fixed upon additional throws on the main crank; this additional:
power thus generated is communicated to the said main crauk driving shaft.
I can also on an extended bed plate on a level with and facing the existing bed
ram.
my

page_text: plate and main crank shaft, bolt down and attach an entire duplicate set of
rams and bydrostatic machinery attached thereto, thereby duplicating my
hydrostatic power on main crank and other shafts, as also duplicate my
machinery on other series of bed plates ad infinitum. I can drive my power
direct from the rams on to main and minor crank shafts if advisable, without
the intervention of the lever arrangement for securing a longer throw; I can, in
lieu of directly conveying the hydrostatic power upon driving shafts, do this
by attaching the pistons of my rams to cranks fixed on cut ratchet wheels,
-working on-a-lesser series, to secure thereby greater speed, and keyed on
driving axletrees.
Having described-the-different portions of the mechanical construction of
my engine as detailed in the two. Sheets of Drawings attached hereto, it
remains to conclude that I set the engine in motion by the rotation of the
V-grooved wheel which is attached to the auxiliary double-throw crank shaft,
which pulls backwards and drives forward alternately the levers. which work
by their forked heads in the lugs of the smaller series of pump plungers
screwed to the cross heads, thereby pressing by their levers alternately upon
the pump plungers which are driven to the end of their cylinders, ejecting as
they descend the water from them, under the base of the rams, whereby
the rams alternately press forward by the intervention of their levers upon the
cranks of the minor crank shaft, giving to it half circles, and by the two.
throws completing the revolution of whole circles, the cranks in those half-
circle revolutions press alternately upon the guiding rods, lugs, and cross
heads of the series of pump plungers attached to the larger series of rams,
thus conveying on these pump plungers the entire of the augmented hydrostatic
force generated and produced by the pressure of the smaller series of pump
plungers upon the bases of the lesser series of cains before alluded to. This
increased force pressing upon the bases of the major series of rams, drives
forward upon the levers thereof the whole force, and thereby the cranks of the
main driving shaft rotate upon their axles, and by that means communicate the
bydrostatic power for the driving of wheels and all manner of machinery, and
ensuring continuous rotatory motion. =
Having now described-the-nature of my Invention, and the manner in which
the same is to be carried into effect, I wish it to be understood that I do not
confine myself to the precise details of construction or of combination of the
several mechanical parts or appliances or their equivalents, provided I preserve
the principle of my Invention; but what I claim as my Invention, in addition to
the mechanical contrivances by which I have been enabled to carry my prin-.
ciple into effect, and intend to be protected by the herein-before in part recited-

page_text: Letters Patent is, the application of parallel hydrostatic forces or rams placed
horizontally or vertically to each other, pointing towards and pressing upon
main and minor double-throw crank shafts, and by means of alternate pressure
of each hydrostatic power or ram, rotation of half circles are secured in
succession, and by the working of the duplication of each series of rams upon
the throws of the cranks, these parallel forcers or rams complete by the two
half-circle revolutions of the throw cranks entire circles of revolution, and
thus causing by the intervention of the mechanism of my engine (as long as
the same is kept at work) continuous rotatory motion.
In witness whereof, I, the said Burrowes Willcocks Arthur Sleigh, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-first day of March, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.
Witness,
G. F. REDFERN,
4, South Street, Finsbury,
London.
B. W. A. SLEIGH. (L.S.).