AN IMPROVED ROTARY PUMP AND ENGINE
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Heppel, of Preston, in the County of
Lancaster, Gentleman, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED ROTARY PUMP
AND ENGINE." A communication from John Mortimer Heppel, of Coire,
in Switzerland.
Sealed the 5th June 1855, and dated the 21st February 1855.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Heppel at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
21st February 1855.
I, GEORGE HEPPEL, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"AN IMPROVED ROTARY PUMP AND ENGINE" to be as follows:-
In the axis of a cylindrical case or vessel, closed at each end, is placed a
central shaft or spindle, on which are four radial plates or pistons which move
in contact with or in close proximity to the inner surface of the cylinder.
These plates or pistons are not fixed to the shaft, but each piston is capable
of turning freely and separately upon it, so that they may be made to approach
and recede from each other by the following means, or by any other contrivance
producing a similar effect. In one end of the cylindrical case is a circular
recess, of smaller diameter than the cylinder, and placed excentrically to it.
A circular plate or disc is fitted into this recess, and is connected to a shaft

page_text: passing through the case. On this circular disc are four studs or pins, which
are connected by connecting rods to the four pistons. When the disc revolves
the pistons will be caused to approach each other as they move towards one
side of the cylinder, and to recede from each other as they move towards the
other side of the cylinder, and the extent of this relative motion of the pistons
will depend on the excentricity of the disc and the proportions of the parts.
An aperture is made by the removal of a portion of that side of the cylinder
at which the receding or separation of the pistons takes place, and this aper-
ture is connected with a pipe, which is the induction pipe. Another aperture
connected with the eduction pipe is made by-the removal of a portion of that
side of the cylinder at which the approximation of the pistons takes place.
If the induction pipe be inserted into a vessel of water and the excentric shaft
be caused to revolve, the water will rise to fill up the partial vacuum caused
by the receding of the pistons from one another, and being carried round by
the pistons, will be expelled into the eduction pipe by the approximation of the
pistons to cach other. The apparatus thus acts as a pump, and forces up a
continuous stream of water. The apparatus may thus be used for a fire
engine, and generally for raising, pumping, or forcing water or other liquids,
and also for pumping, exhausting, or condensing air and other elastic fluids.
This rotary pump or engine may also be employed as a propeller for ships,
being applied to draw in the water, and pump or drive it out in a jet or jets in
a similar manner to that in which other descriptions of pumps have 'been
heretofore employed. If a current of water, or of air, or steam, or other fluid,
be introduced at the induction pipe, the pistons and excentric shaft will be
caused to revolve, and the engine is thus adapted for obtaining motive power
from such fluids, and also for measuring the quantities of such fluids which
pass through it. By reversing the direction in which the fluid is introduced,
the motion of the shaft will be reversed, and in a similar manner by reversing
the motion of the shaft the direction of the current of fluid will be reversed.
The case has been described as being of a cylindrical form, but it may be made
of the form of a zone, of a sphere, or of other suitable form, generated by the
revolution of a plane round an axis. The number and shape of the pistons may
also be varied, but there must always be two in contact or in close proximity
to the case at the same time and on opposite sides, so as to form the separation
between the induction and eduction sides of the engine.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said George Heppel in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
27th July 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
HEPPEL, of Preston, in the County of Lancaster, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of February, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the eighteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said George Heppel, Her special licence that I, the said George Heppel,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
George Heppel, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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 ROTARY PUMP AND ENGINE," Communicated to me by John Mortimer
Heppel, of Coire, in Switzerland, upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said George Heppel, 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 George Heppel, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the sanie is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the fol-
lowing statement thereof, reference being had to the accompanying Drawing,
and to the figures and letters marked thereon, that is to say :-
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawing is a vertical section, and Figure 2
is a transverse vertical section, of a pump or engine constructed according to
the Invention. The same letters refer to similar parts in each Figure.
A is a cylindrical case of cast iron, turned or bored on the inside; and at the
end it has two openings, communicating respectively with the suction pipe
N and the force pipe O. B is the cylinder cover, turned and fitted to the
cylinder A, and having a shallow cylindrical excentric recess b; C is a circular
plate or disc, which fits into the recess 6, and is mounted on a shaft I, which
passes through the cylinder cover. The disc C carries four cylindrical studs
D, D, D, D, which are firmly attached to it. Four links or connecting rods

page_text: E, E, E, E, connect these studs D with four rings or pistons F, F, F, F, which
are free to turn upon a cylindrical pin or stud G, which is fixed in the centre of
the end of the cylinder A. Each piston F has two rings or collars f, f, which
fit the pin G. These collars f.f, are so placed on their respective pistons that
they all lie close to each other along the pin G, so as to prevent the passage
of water or other fluid from the force pipe O to the suction pipe N, or vice
versa, when the machine is at rest.
The suction pipe N being immersed in water and the pump being full of
water, the shaft I and disc C are set in motion in the direction of the arrow.
Owing to the excentric position of the shaft I, the pistons F, F, will be found to
approach each other on that side of the machine on which the shaft is placed,
and to recede from each other on passing to the opposite side of the machine
which in Figure 1 is the right-hand side; the consequence is, that the
increased space between the pistons on the right side of the machine is
filled with water from the suction pipe N, and this excess or surplus portion
is forced into the force pipe O by the pistons again approaching each other
on returning to the left side of the machine. In the machine represented in
the Drawing the space between the pistons on the left side of the machine
is about one-sixth of the contents of the cylinder, while on the right side the
space is equal to about two-sixths or one-third of the contents of the cylinder.
The difference, or about one-sixth of the contents of the cylinder, is expelled
from each space at each revolution of the shaft I, and as there are four pistons
and consequently four spaces between them, the total quantity of water raised
by one revolution of the shaft I is about two-thirds of the contents of the
cylinder. The relation between the maximum and minimum spaces may be
varied by varying the proportions of the parts and the excentricity of the
shaft I. In each case the volume discharged at each revolution will be equal
to the difference between the maximum and minimum space multiplied by
the number of spaces or pistons.
In order to keep the machine full of water when out of action, a valve L
opening upwards is placed in the suction pipe N. This valve remains open
when the machine is at work, but closes when it is not in action, and thus
prevents the pistons from running backwards and letting down the column of
water in the pump and pipes, and it also prevents the leakage which might
arise from imperfection in the fitting of the parts.
The openings in the cylinder A, which communicate with the pipes N and
O, are so placed and proportioned that cach piston may enter upon the
cylindrical part or segment as the piston in advance of it is leaving the sanie
segment; there are thus always two pistons in contact with the two opposite

page_text: segments of the cylinder, but there are never two pistons in contact with the
same segment except just at the time when one piston is entering and the other
leaving the segment.
Figure 3 is a vertical section, and Figure 4 is a horizontal section; of another
pump constructed according to the Invention, and similar in most of its parts
to that shewn in Figures 1 and 2. The same letters indicate similar parts in
these Figures. The pistons F are provided with packing pieces d, d, which are
attached to them by screws or bolts and nuts, and which can be adjusted from
time to time as they become worn from use. The pistons F are formed with
recesses, in which the links or connecting rods E are jointed, so that there is
no aperture, and consequently no leakage, through the pistons at these parts.
The iron stud G on which the piston's turn is surrounded by a tube or collar
of brass g, to reduce the friction and protect the stud from corrosion. i is
another brass collar or bearing in which the shaft I revolves; Q is a toothed
wheel, fixed on the shaft I, and driven by another toothed wheel R on a
shaft S, which carries a fly wheel T and a winch U for working the pump by
hand; L is the valve, fitted on an intermediate piece M, which communicates
with the suction pipe N; O is the force pipe, as before. If the valve L be
removed and a stream of water introduced into the pipe O, the pistons and
the shaft I will revolve in the contrary direction to that shewn by the arrow,
and the machine may thus be used in lieu of a turbine or water wheel
for obtaining motive power from a descending column or stream of water.
By connecting a counter with a series of registering indices or dials to the
shaft I, the machine serves as a meter for measuring water or other fluid.
The machine may be driven by steam or other elastic fluid, or by other
liquids than water, or it may be employed to pump air or other elastic fluids
or other liquids than water. When employed with elastic fluids at a considerable
difference of pressure on the two sides, the various parts must be well fitted or
packed, so as to render them as air-tight as possible, which is not of so much
importance when the machine is employed with water or other liquids. The
shape of the pistons may be varied, and they may be made of such form as to
fill up a considerable portion of the space which is left between them in the
position in which they are closest together; the number of the pistons may
also be varied. The various parts of the machine may be constructed of any
suitable material.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that what I claim is,
the constructing rotary pumps and engines with pistons revolving within
and around the axis of a circular casing, and caused to approach and recede

page_text: from each other by means of links or connecting rods connected to pins or
pivots on a circular plate or disc which revolves in an excentric recess at one
end of the circular casing, as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Heppel, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-seventh day of July, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.
Witness,
CHARLES COWPER,
20, Southampton Buildings,
Chancery Lane, London.
GEORGE HEPPEL. (L.S.)