CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM ENGINES
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Louis Henri Rousseau, of 29, Boulevart St. Martin,
Paris, in the Empire of France, Mechanician, for the Invention of
"CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM ENGINES."
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said Louis Henri Rousseau at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition and Declaration
on the 11th October 1860, pursuant to the 9th Section of the Patent
Law Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, LOUIS HENRI
ROUSSEAU, of 29, Boulevart St. Martin, Paris, in the Empire of France,
Mechanician, send greeting.
WHEREAS I am in possession of an Invention for "CERTAIN IMPROVE-
MENTS IN STEAM ENGINES," and have petitioned Her Majesty to grant unto me,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, Her Royal Letters Patent for the
same, and have made solemn declaration that I am the first and true Inventor
thereof.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Louis Henri Rousseau, do hereby declare
that the following Complete Specification under my hand and seal fully describes
and ascertains the nature of the said Invention, and the manner in which the
same is to be performed, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say :-

page_text: My Invention relates to an improved steam engine in which steam regene-
rated is acting upon the piston conjointly with saturated steam, without
thereby sensibly occasioning any counterpressure in the cylinder.
This Invention is represented in the annexed Drawings, Sheet I, where Fig. 1
shows the vertical transverse section of the fire-place, the vertical longitudinal
section of the same, and the longitudinal elevation of the distributing apparatus;
Fig. 2, the longitudinal vertical section of the engine, and an elevation of the
distributing valve; Fig. 3, the plan of the fire-place of the feed apparatus and
distributing apparatus; Fig. 4, the central vertical section through 7, 8,
(Fig. 3), of the distributing apparatus; Figs. 5, 6, 7, show vertical sections of
the distributing apparatus taken through the lines 1, 2, 5, 6, 3, 4; Fig. 8
shows an elevation of the feed apparatus; Figs. 9 & 10 the tube closing
bottoms of the feed apparatus; Fig. 11 a section taken through y', 1, of one of
the bottoms 9 or 10 showing an excavation; Figs. 4, 5, 6, 7, are drawn upon
a larger scale. In all these Figures similar letters of reference indicate the
like parts where they recur.
a, brickwork; b, man-hole in boiler c; d, d', e, e¹, ff, ends of the tube
over heaters g, h, i, U-curved and fitted in the fire-place of the boiler;
these tube overheaters have the same capaciousness as the steam cylinder,
and communicate by their ends with the distributor, serving to regenerate
successively each saturated steam cylinder; j, distributor, constituting the main
part of the system represented at Figs. 4, 5, 6, 7; it has the form of a cock, and
has imparted to it a continuous rotary motion. The plug of this distributor is
divided in three compartments, k, l, m; the compartment in the centre / con-
stantly admits through the tube n, and by means of a number of holes, formed
in the periphery of the plug, the steam escaped from the cylinder. The steam
passes out from through the openings o & p, p, p, into one of the compart-
ments 9, 9, 9, communicating with any of the tubes g, h, i, and on its way
through these tubes is regenerated, enters through the other branch the com-
partments r, r, r", arrives at m in passing through the openings o & s, s¹, s¹¹,
and is led into the steam cylinder through tube t; u, purging pipe, through
which escapes the surplus of steam which cannot be admitted at the same
moment when the steam piston reaches the end of its stroke; v, cast-iron plate,
where are joined the six ends of the three-tube overheaters; x, z, y, w, draught
holes for regulating the distribution; v, excavation leading the surplus of
steam into the purging pipe u.
Figs. 3, 8, 9, 10, & 11, show the apparatus for heating the feed water, and
consisting of a certain number of parallel pipes fixed to two cast-iron plates
(Figs. 9 & 10), into which excavations are formed (Fig. 11), for establishing

page_text: a communication between all the pipes. Cold water enters through tube c¹,
and passes out through tube d", after being put in ebullition during its
progress; a', 6', inlet and outlet pipes for the escaping steam. The plates or
bottoms (Figs. 9 & 10), can be easily removed, allowing thereby of an easy
cleaning of the tubes.
I will now describe the working of the improved engine. The saturated steam
passes from boiler C to a steam box where works a first cut-off valve, and
passes afterwards into a second steam chamber, where is also a valve which
leaves the openings unclosed during the up and down stroke of the piston in
order to permit of the free and constant getting in and out of the saturated
overheated vapours. The steam passes then through tube n into the dis-
tributor j, which has a continuous rotary motion and effects two revolutions in
the same time that the piston effects six strokes, so that the steam circulates
in and escapes from the tubes g, h, i, successively. A clack valve u placed
at the end of the box prevents the saturated steam from getting into the tube t,
giving at the same time passage to the regenerated steam when this has
acquired a sufficient pressure so as to overcome the pressure existing in the
steam cylinder. The introduction of the regenerated steam continues till the
steam piston arrives at the end of its stroke, at which time the inlet opening
closes and the outlet one opens and remains so during the whole length of the
stroke. The free escape pipe u leads the steam round the steam cylinder,
from which it escapes through the openings m¹, n', thence to enter through
tube a¹ (Fig. 3), the feed apparatus, where it heats the water to escape out
afterwards through tube into the atmosphere.
Sheet II. represents the same apparatus above described, but somewhat
simplified. Fig. 1 shows the vertical elevation and a longitudinal section of
the whole system; Fig. 2, the vertical transverse elevation of the same; and
Fig. 3 shows a plan of the distributing box.
In this simplified machine there are only two tubes over heaters g, h; the
tube a leads the escaping steam by the alternate opening of slide valves b, c,
into the clack valve box f divided in two compartments i, j, each of which
communicating with a regenerating pipe; in each pipe there is a valve k, for
the purpose of preventing too strong a counterpressure. The pressure of the
steam on its going through the tube will be increased by the vaporization of
the particles of water it carries along with it. This regenerated steam returns
to the cylinder by the opening of the clack valves placed at the end of the
tube overbeaters. The tube m, which is common to the two overheaters, is
provided with a clack valve n for preventing the saturated steam from entering
the tube at the moment of its admission into the steam box, and which only

page_text: opens to give passage to the overheated steam, when this has acquired a
sufficient pressure for acting efficiently on the piston.
Having thus described the nature and particulars of my Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be carried into effect, I desire it to be
distinctly understood that I do not confine myself to the precise details herein
given, nor to the strict form of any apparatus herein described, as such may be
varied or modified without departing from the principle of action thereof, but I
claim as being of my Invention the improved steam engine in which regene-
rated steam is acting on the piston conjointly with the saturated steam as and
for the purposes herein described; and I claim also the simplified apparatus I
have described and shown in Sheet II. of the annexed Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Louis Henri Rousseau, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Eighth day of October, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty.
L. H. ROUSSEAU. (L.S.)