IMPROVEMENTS IN MOTOR ENGINES TO BE WORKED BY WATER, STEAM, OR OTHER FLUIDS, WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE PARTLY APPLICABLE TO FLUID METERS
Year: 1878

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Frederick William Turner at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 5th April 1878.
FREDERICK WILLIAM TURNER, of St. Albans Iron Works, St. Albans, in the
County of Hertford, Engineer. "IMPROVEMENTS IN MOTOR ENGINES TO BE WORKED
BY WATER, STEAM, OR OTHER FLUIDS, WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE PARTLY APPLICABLE
TO FLUID METERS."
My Invention relates to engines whose motive power is produced by the pressure
of a fluid such as water, steam, air; and the said Invention comprises various novel
features of construction, as herein-after specified.
According to one part of my said Invention I construct an engine which is chiefly
designed to utilize the force of a head of water. This engine is provided with an
oscillating cylinder containing a piston, the rod of which is coupled to and actuates
a crank shaft. A fly wheel is necessary where a single cylinder is used.
One important feature of this part of my said Invention is the arrangement of
the centre of oscillation of the trunnions at or near the upper or crank end of the
cylinder instead of in the centre of the cylinder's length, as heretofore, in such
engines.
Another feature of this part of my Invention is the peculiar construction of the
trunnion through which the fluid is admitted to and exhausted from the said
cylinder. This trunnion is made in the form of a conical socket, which is fitted
and works to and fro on a hollow conical or taper plug, secured in any suitable
manner to the framing, and which forms the valve for regulating the admission and
exhaust of the fluid to and from the cylinder. Through the shell of this conical
part or plug I form two ports or apertures (when the cylinder is vertical) at the
upper side, and two at the lower side of the same leading into two separate com-
partments formed in the said conical plug. These compartments are separated from
each other by a partition or diaphragin extending throughout the length of the said
plug. One compartment and port form the admission passage and the other the
exhaust passage for the fluid. Instead of being at the top and bottom it is obvious
that these ports may be otherwise arranged if desired, but the admission and exhaust

page_text: ports must in all cases be separated from each other. In the face of the cylinder
trunnion at the parts which work over these ports or apertures I provide other
apertures or ports leading to the two ends of the cylinder, and by the oscillation
of the said cylinder these ports in the trunnion are moved to and fro over the said
admission and exhaust ports and the partition or diaphragm in the conical plug,
thereby alternately admitting and exhausting the fluid at both ends of the cylinder.
The motor above described can also be worked by steam or compressed air. Outside
of the said trunnion the plug or trunnion bearing has a cylindrical portion, which
passes through a gland packed with asbestos or other suitablo material.
this gland and the aforesaid ports I turn in and around the interior of the trunnion
a small groove or channel, from which longitudinal grooves extend into a space left
for clearance at the inner end of the said plug or valve, and I form a small hole
through the end of the valve plug on the exhaust side of the said diaphragm,
reaching into the exhaust compartment, the object being to provide means for the
escape into the exhaust passages of any water that may leak past the valve.
Between
The other trunnion of the cylinder in my improved engine works on a plain
cylindrical journal or bearing, which is supported on the engine framing and is
made adjustable endwise. By means of this adjustable bearing the conical trunnion
of the said cylinder may be forced more or less tightly upon its conical valve or
plug, and the wear or "slack" of these parts may thus be compensated or "taken
up.
Another part of this Invention relates to the adaptation of this engine to serve
as a fluid meter by attaching a suitable index or counter to the end of the crank
shaft.