AN IMPROVED PISTON
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Robert Evans Peterson, of Tottenham Court
Road, in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman, for the Invention
of "AN IMPROVED PISTON."-A communication.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Robert Evans
Peterson at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 1st April 1853.
I, ROBERT EVANS PETERSON, of Tottenham Court Road, in the
County of Middlesex, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "AN IMPROVED PISTON " to be as follows:-
This Invention consists in a mode or modes of forming pistons for
steam, hydraulic, pneumatic, and other engines, of a flexible or elastic
material, fixed in or to any suitable chamber or apparatus, and con-
structed of vulcanized india-rubber, or of canvas combined with
vulcanized india-rubber, or of any other suitable flexible or elastic
material. It is preferred that the piston should be conical or hemi-
spherical, with or without a flange or lip for fixing the same, but any
curved, dished, or other form may be employed if preferred.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Robert Evans Peterson, in the Great Seal
Patent Office, on the 1st October 1853.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
ROBERT EVANS PETERSON, of Tottenham Court Road, in the County
of Middlesex, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the First day of April, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, in the sixteenth year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said Robert Evans Peterson, Her special licence
that I, the said Robert Evans Peterson, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said Robert Evans Peterson, my
executors, administrators, and 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
"AN IMPROVED PISTON," communicated to me by a foreigner residing
abroad, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Robert
Evans. Peterson, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal,
should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Inven-
tion, 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 Robert. Evans Peterson, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement, reference being had to the
drawing hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked
thereon, that is to say:
This Invention consists in forming a piston for steam, hydraulic,
pneumatic, or other engines, of a flexible or elastic material, of a hollow,
hemispherical, or conical shape, provided with a rim or flange around

page_text: its outward edge, which flange is held fast by screw bolts between the
flanges of two hollow metal hemispherical shaped vessels, which form
the cylinder; and within the upper cylinder, the flexible piston is
enclosed, so as to form a steam-tight chamber between its upper surface
and the inner surface of the metal hemisphere. The flexible hemi-
spherical or other shaped piston must be constructed of any suitable
non-conducting substance, as vulcanized india-rubber, or canvas
united to vulcanized india-rubber, and afterwards being inclosed within
the hollow metal cylindrical vessel as before described; the piston rod
passes and works through a stuffing box attached to the top of the
upper metal hemisphere, and is also passed through the upper part of
the flexible hemispherical piston, to which it is securely fastened by
means of two wooden washers, which are made to press and bind
against the upper and under surface of the top of the flexible piston, by
the screw and nut at the bottom of the piston rod acting against them.
When this Invention is used as part of an hydraulic engine, it is
evident, by the admission of steam into the chamber between the flexible
piston and upper metal hemisphere, that the piston will become inverted
and have a downward direction, displacing the body of water in the
cylinder beneath the lower surface of the piston. For the upward
stroke of the piston, it is only necessary to produce a vacuum in the
steam chamber by the ordinary means, when the piston will return to
its original position.
The results derived from the use of the flexible non-conducting
piston are, that it requires no packing, and can be kept perfectly
steam-tight, whilst it prevents the condensation of steam in the steam
chamber when the cold water is admitted into that portion of the
cylinder beneath the piston.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Figure 1A A represents a vertical section of a metal cylindrical

page_text: rim or flange, which is securely held between the flanges of the two
metal hemispheres by screw bolts and nuts, and thereby forming a
steam-tight chamber between the upper surface of the piston and the
inner surface of the upper hemisphere. .C, is an ordinary stuffing box;
D, the piston rod; E, E, two wooden washers made to press and bind
against the upper and under surface of the top of the piston, by the
screw and nut, on the end of the piston rod; F, F, the flanges on the
metal hemispheres for holding securely between them the flange of the
non-conducting piston, by means of the screw bolts G, G; H, H,
position of the piston represented by dotted lines in the drawing when
the piston has become inverted after its downward stroke; I, water
supply pipe; J, outlet pipe; K, K, valves in the supply and outlet
pipes; L, pipe for supplying steam to steam chamber.
Having now described the nature of this Invention, and the manner
in which it is to be carried into effect, I wish it to be understood that I
do not confine myself to the precise form of piston and arrangement of
parts herein described, as other modifications of the same may be
adapted to attach the piston, and thereby form a steam-tight chamber
between it and the upper surface of the piston and the inner surface of
the cylinder, whether the form of the piston be hemispherical, conical,
curved, or dished; but rest my claim to novelty solely in the application
of a non-conducting material for the formation of a flexible piston for
steam, hydraulic, pneumatic, or other engines, as herein set forth and
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Robert Evans Peterson, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Thirty-first day of May, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-
three
ROBT E. PETERSON. (L.S.)