Year: 1886

page_text: Date of Application, 27th Nov., 1886
Complete Left, 25th July, 1887.
Complete Accepted, 26th Aug., 1887
We CHARLES FRAMTON SLEIGH (Machinist) HARRIE VERNON SMITH (Clerk) and
WILLIAM WOLFE SMITH (Office Clerk) all of Parkersburg in the County of Wood
and State of West Virginia United States of America do hereby declare the nature
of this invention to be as follows:-
1
This invention relates to rotary engines which are of simple construction.
The Invention consists of an elongated piston turning in a cylinder in which slide
two gates operated from a cam on the piston of steam inlet and outlet ports
entering the cylinder through the piston, and of a device for reversing the engine.
The piston consists of a pair of hubs having their bearings in the cylinder wall and
in the cylinder head, and of side flanges united by a partition. The side flanges fit
closely against the cylinder wall and the cylinder head respectively and the upper edge
of the partition fits against the periphery of the cylinder and may be provided with
any suitable packing so as to form a steam tight contact. The steam ports are
formed in the hubs, and connect with pipes projecting from the hubs and opening
inwardly into the cylinder on each side of the partition between the said flanges.
The pipes are connected at their outer ends by couplings with stationary pipes
which communicate with the steam and exhaust pipes and are provided with a
cylindrical valve having ports by which either of them may be put in communication
with the steam supply and exhaust. In the cylinder are formed, diametrically opposite
each other, guide ways in which slide the gates, each gate being provided with a
rod having its bearing in a gland on the cylinder and carrying on its outer end a bent
on which are mounted anti-friction rollers operated by an egg-shaped cam
secured to the outer edge of the hub of the piston. On the rod is a coiled spring
confined between an adjustable nut on the rod and the bent arm.
arm
The steam admitted to the inlet pipes passes into the cylinder by the inlet port on
one side of the partition and exerts its pressure against said partition as the gate
prevents the steam from passing to the other side of the partition thereby rotating
the piston. The gates move correspondingly with each rotation of the piston as the
shape of the cam corresponds with the shape of the piston, and when the partition

page_text: in the piston has passed one of the gates the live steam from the inlet port passes
into the cylinder between the said gate and the partition and thus compels the piston
to continue its rotation. The exhaust steam in the front of the piston passes out
through the other port and into its corresponding pipe and is discharged through the
throttle valve to the exhaust pipe.
It will be seen that the gates are operated indirectly from the piston by means of the
cam secured to the latter on its outside hub.
The engine may be reversed by turning the valve, so as to admit steam to the
cylinder by the port on the other side of the partition. Power is taken from pulleys
mounted on the pipes projecting from the hubs of the piston.
Dated this 27th day of November 1886.

page_text: We CHARLES FRAMTON SLEIGH Machinist HARRIE VERNON SMITH Clerk and
WILLIAM WOLFE SMITH Office Clerk all of Parkersburg in the County of Wood and
State of West Virginia United States of America, do hereby declare the nature of
this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
The object of our invention is to provide a new and improved rotary engine which
is simple and durable in construction effective in operation and is reversible.
The Invention consists of an elongated piston turning in a cylinder in which slide
two gates operated from a cam on the piston, of steam inlet and outlet ports entering
the cylinder through the piston and of a device for reversing the engine.
The Invention also consists of various parts and details and combinations of the
same, as will be fully described hereinafter and then pointed out in the claims.
Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this
specification in which figure 1 is a side elevation of our improvement. Figure 2 is an
end elevation of the same, parts being broken out. Figure 3 is a sectional plan
view of the same on the line x-x of figure 2. Figure 4 is a side elevation of the
same with the cylinder head removed, and figure 5 is a perspective view of the piston.
Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.
The steam cylinder A is provided with a base B secured to a suitable frame or
foundation. In the cylinder A operates a piston C consisting of the hubs D and D¹
having their bearings in the cylinder wall A' and in the cylinder head A³, and of side
flanges E and E united at their upper edges by a partition F. The side flanges E
and E' fit closely against the cylinder wall and the cylinder head respectively and the
upper edge of the partition F lits against the periphery of the cylinder A and may be
provided with any suitable packing so as to form a steam tight contact. The steam
ports G and G formed in the hubs D and D', connect with the pipes H and H¹
projecting from the hubs D and D₁ and open inwardly into the cylinder A on each
side of the partition F between the said flanges E and E. The pipes H and H' have
their bearings in the standards I and are connected at their outer ends by the
couplings J with the stationary pipes K and K' which terminate in the throttle valve L
provided with the steam inlet pipe L' and the exhaust pipe L' and also having the
valve M provided with the passage ways M and M² connecting the pipes L' and L2
with the pipes K and K respectively. In the cylinder A are formed diametrically
opposite each other, guide ways N and N¹ in which slide the gates 0 and 0
respectively, each gate being provided with a rod P having its bearing in a gland R
on the cylinder A and carrying on its outer end a bent arm S on which are mounted
anti-friction rollers T operating on the egg-shaped cam U secured to the outer edge
of the hub D of the piston C. On the rod P is a coiled spring V confined between
the adjustable nut P¹ fixed on the rod P and the arm S.
The operation is as follows:-The steam admitted to the inlet pipes L' and K passes
into the cylinder A by the inlet port G on one side of the partition F and exerts its

page_text: pressure against said partition and the piston C as the gate O prevents the steam from
passing to the other side of the partition F, thereby rotating the piston C in the
direction of the arrow a¹, see figure 4. The gates 0 and 0 move correspondingly
with each rotation of the piston C as the shape of the cam U corresponds with the
shape of the piston C and when the partition F in the piston C has passed the gate O'
the live steam from the inlet port G passes into the cylinder A between the gate 01
and the partition F and thus compels the piston C to continue its rotation in the
direction of the arrow a'. The exhaust steam in front of the piston passes into the
port G and into the pipe H and is discharged through the throttle valve by
the passage way M2 and the exhaust pipe I. It will be seen that the gates O and O¹
are operated indirectly from the piston C by means of the cam U secured to the latter
on its outside hub Dand the shape of the cam U corresponds to the shape of the
piston C.
The engine is reversed by turning the valve M. so that the passage M² connects the
inlet pipe L' with the pipe K and the passage way M connects the exhaust pipe L²
with the pipe K. The steam then enters the cylinder A by the port G³ on the other
side of the partition F and thereby causes the piston to turn in the inverse direction
of the arrow a¹. The driving pulleys W mounted on the pipes H and H' with the
piston C transmit the rotary motion of the piston C in any desired manner.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we claim is -
1. In a rotary steam engine, the combination with the cylinder of the piston having
ports connected with a reversible valve and the gates operated by a cam applied
directly to said piston, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
2. In a rotary engine, the combination with the cylinder A having the guide
ways N and N¹ of the piston having the ports G and G and provided with the
flanges E and E' and the partition F, the cam U secured to the said piston on the
outside of the cylinder A, the anti friction rollers T operating on the said cam and
mounted on the arms S and the gates O and O¹ sliding in the said guide ways N
and N¹ and connected with the said arms S by the rods P, substantially as shewn and
described.
3. In a rotary steam engine, the combination of the cylinder A with the piston C
having the ports G and G¹ and provided with the side flanges E and E¹ and the
partition F, the gates O and O' sliding in the said cylinder A and operated by a cam U
secured to the hub D of the said piston C substantially as shewn and described.
Dated this 25th day of July 1887.