IMPROVEMENTS IN ROTARY ENGINES OR APPARATUS, APPLICABLE ALSO AS A PUMP BLOWER OR LIQUID METER
Year: 1868

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Alexander Melville Clark at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 25th May 1868.-A communication from abroad by Henry
Guillemaut Despecher, Gentleman, Ex-manager of Gas Works, of
13, Boulevart St. Martin, Paris.
I, ALEXANDER MELVILLE CLARK, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Patent Agent, do hereby declaro the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN ROTARY ENGINES OR APPARATUS, APPLICABLE
ALSO AS A PUMP BLOWER OR LIQUID METER," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to an improved rotary engine also applicable
as a pump or blower or for regulating the flow of liquids; the apparatus
may be used with especial advantage for the latter purpose, even sup-
posing the liquid to be impure and turbid, and as at each half revolution
of the axis all the interior parts of the machine are in contact with the
piston, while the axis itself is also in contact with the cylinder at a
certain point, no deposit can consequently take place, thus obtaining a
meter of invariable capacity.

page_text: The chief features of novelty in the rotary engine of this Invention
consist, 1st, in the peculiar construction and arrangement of the piston
⚫on an entirely new principle; 2ndly, in the mode of reversing by means
of a simple arrangement. The piston is constructed as follows:-I
describe two circles, the one true and the other slightly elongated, and
give them a common centre and an equal diameter. I divide the true
circle into a certain number of parts, from which I draw radial lines, and
by increasing the length of these lines to a certain extent for one half
the circumference of the circle and diminishing them on the opposite
half of the circumference to an equal extent I obtain a heart-shaped
curve having the same diameter as the true circle. If in a circle thus
formed 1 place a piston having a length equal to the diameter of said
circle it may be made to follow in its motion the outline of the curve
and so produce a combined rotary and to-and-fro motion. The reversing
motion is obtained in this apparatus by means of a slide
ports so as to alter the admission and escape of the steam.
provided with
This improved apparatus is represented in the accompanying
Drawings.
2
Figures 1 and 2 are Diagrams showing the two extreme positions of
the piston, and also the mode of constructing the same; Figure 3 is a
side elevation and Figure 4 a front view of the rotary engine of this
Invention; Figure 5 is a horizontal section of the apparatus on the line
C, D, Figures 3 and 4; while Figure 6 is a vertical section on line A, B,
Figure 3. The same letters apply to all the Figures.
a, framing of the apparatus, on which is cast a cylinder b, the interior
chamber having a heart-shaped form; c, hollow axis passing through
cylinder b and mounted at each end in stuffing boxes d; f, piston
working in the interior of cylinder b, having both a rotary and
to-and-fro motion on axis c; g, inlet and outlet passages for the steam,
gases, or liquids; h, slide provided with ports i serving to reverse or
stop the engine.
The action of the apparatus is as follows:-The steam, gas, or other
motive agent employed is admitted at one of the ports i so as to act on
the piston f which imparts rotary motion to cylinder or axis c, and after
performing half a revolution the other end of the piston receives on its
opposite face the action of the steam or other agent employed, so that
there will not be any dead point, and after the steam has acted, either
at full pressure or expansively, it is discharged at the opposite port i.

page_text: The apparatus shown in the Drawing merely serves as one illustration
of the Invention, but the piston or the cylinder would be provided with
a suitable packing. By coupling two apparatus together, and placing
the pistons at right angles, the pressure on the two surfaces may be
rendered constant, producing great regularity in the motion.