AN IMPROVED CALORIC PUMP AND MOTIVE ENGINE
Year: 1876

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Dirk Willem Van Rennes, of Utrecht, in the Kingdom of
the Netherlands, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED CALORIC PUMP AND
MOTIVE ENGINE."
Sealed the 1st August 1876, and dated the 27th March 1876.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Dirk Willem Van Rennes at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 27th March 1876.
DIRK WILLEM VAN RENNES, of Utrecht, in the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
"AN IMPROVED CALORIC PUMP AND MOTIVE ENGINE."
This Invention consists in the construction of an improved caloric pump and
motive engine, in which air condensed or not is alternately expanded and contracted
within a cylindrical vessel, within which moves a second cylinder acting as a
repeller, and which is placed partly in a furnace or is heated by a flame, and is
partly surrounded by a refrigerator, so as to allow the air contained within the
vessel alternately to expand and contract, so as to act directly on a liquid which is
to be raised on a piston in another cylinder which is to be moved, and when desired
on the furnace or the flame herein-before referred to.
This improved engine when employed as a pump for lifting liquids is constructed
of an iron cylindrical vessel composed of two separate parts, whose sides are of
different thickness. Within this vessel moves a repeller of wrought iron, which in
every double motion allows the air which may be previously condensed to rise and
descend within the cylinder, the lower part of which is heated in a furnace or by
means of a flame, the upper part being continuously cooled by means of a sur-
rounding water box.
I provide a box having three valves, one of which (the eduction valve) opens into
a pipe in which the water is repulsed by the pressure of the air in the said cylin-
drical vessel, while the other valve opens into a pipe through which the water may.
ascend into the box, and the third valve acts as a safety valve.
The repeller is caused to move alternately in the heated and cooled parts of the
cylindrical vessel by means of a regulator and a piston moving in another small
cylinder, and connected by a rod and crank to the driving shaft.
When the improved engine herein-before described is not intended to act as a
pump, but merely as a motive engine or motor for general purposes the valve box is

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Dirk Willem Van Rennes in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
21st September 1876.
DIRK WILLEN VAN RENNES, of Utrecht, in the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
"AN IMPROVED CALORIC PUMP AND MOTIVE ENGINE."
This Invention consists in an improved caloric pump and motive engine, in which
the alternate expansion and contraction of condensed or non-condensed air contained
in a cylindrical vessel or air cylinder within which moves an air repeller is caused,
as herein-after described, to act directly on any liquid which is to be raised or.
repelled, and on a piston in a small cylinder for operating a driving shaft, after
which the said air may be used to feed the furnace or flame employed for heating
the lower part of the said cylindrical vessel or air cylinder, the upper part thereof
being cooled by a refrigerator or cooling box, whereby the air contained in the
cylindrical vessel or air cylinder is alternately expanded and contracted, as herein-
after described.
When this improved engine is to be employed for raising or for repelling a liquid
it consists of three principal parts videlicet,
Firstly. An iron cylindrical vessel or air cylinder formed in two parts, whose
sides have a different thickness. Within this air cylinder moves a plunger or
repeller of wrought iron, which in each double stroke allows the air (which may be
previously condensed) to alternately rise and descend within the air cylinder, the
lower part of which is heated in a furnace or by means of a flame, and the upper
part of which is continually cooled by means of a surrounding refrigerator or cold
water box.
Secondly. A box provided with pipes and valves, one of which (the eduction
valve) opens on a pipe in which the liquid is repelled by the pressure of the air in
the said air cylinder, while another opens on a pipe through which the liquid may
enter the said box, and a third acts as a safety valve, and is placed in a tube con-
nected with the air cylinder. Two or more boxes of this description, each con-
nected with the air cylinder may be placed one above the other if required by the
height of the lift.
Thirdly. A motor or regulator moving the plunger or repeller alternately in the
licated and the cooled parts of the air cylinder by means of a piston moving in a
sinal oscillating cylinder, and connected by a rod and crank with the fly wheel
shaft.
But to make my Invention better understood I will now proceed to describe the
same by reference to the accompanying Drawing, in which Figure 1 is a side
elevation, partly in section, of my improved caloric pump and motive engine; and
Figure 2, an end elevation of the same.
T, t, is the air cylinder formed of two parts, the upper part t being of wrought
iron, and the lower part T of cast iron. Within the air cylinder is placed the
hollow and hermetically closed plunger or repeller X, which can freely ascend and
descend therein, leaving sufficient space for the circulation of the surrounding air;
D is the furnace, which is fed with fuel at b, b, and serves to heat the lower part T
of the air cylinder T, t. The air contained within this part is thus heated and
expanded. The furnace is provided with a suitable chimney, but if desired the
furnace may be dispensed with, in which case the cylinder would be heated by a
suitable flame. The upper part of the cylinder of wrought iron is provided with a
cover e having a stuffing box, and is surrounded by a water box t¹ for keeping this
part cool. This water box or cooler is screened from the furnace by an intervening
layer of air or of any suitable substance. When the repeller X reaches the upper

page_text: portion of its stroke the air which is underneath will be highly heated and expanded;
and when the repeller descends to the lower part of the cylinder the air will be
driven into the upper part t, where it will be cooled and contracted through the
action of the cold water which surrounds this part, so that if the repeller be made
to rise and descend in the cylinder the air contained therein will be alternately
heated and expanded, and cooled and contracted.
Provision is made so that the air contained within the cylinder is put into com-
munication with the outer air, both when the repeller reaches the highest and lowest
points of its stroke; this is effected by means of a hole and a slide valve on one
side of the small oscillating cylinder a. By this arrangement the expanded hot air
finds an outlet immediately after having acted on the liquid to be raised or repelled,
and after propelling the piston of the small cylinder a; while, on the contrary,
atmospheric air is admitted as soon as the repeller has reached the lowest point of
its stroke in the air cylinder T, t, in which case the atmospheric pressure exceeds the
pressure of the cooled air within the cylinder.
The valve box C with its ascension pipe and repulsion pipe combined with the
herein-beforé described air cylinder and with the motor or regulator A, forms a
pump when its pipes are placed vertically, as shewn in the Drawing; but when its
pipes are placed horizontally under the water level it forms a very practical pro-
peller for vessels on or under the water. The eduction valve n in the repulsion
pipe allows the water to rise into this pipe, but prevents its running back again.
The valve opens whenever the pressure of the air within the cylinder T, t, is higher
than the atmospheric pressure, and the pressure exerted by the liquid in the
repulsion pipe taken together. The valve is kept shut whenever the two pressures
are in a state of equilibrium. The inlet or admission valve opens whenever the
rarefaction of the air within the valve box C is sufficient, and then it will allow
the liquid to enter the valve box; it is shut whenever this action is suspended.
The valve m at the end of the pipe 7, being lighter than the liquid, prevents the
liquid from entering the cylinder T, t, which would otherwise happen at a very high
rarefaction of the air in the cylindrical vessel. In this manner the said valve may
be called a safety valve.
It will of course be understood that any other suitable arrangement of valves
may be employed for the same purposes.
The plunger or repeller X is caused to rise and fall within the air cylinder T, t, by
means of a regulator A. This regulator consists of an oscillating cylinder a, in
which works a piston a¹ connected by a rod and crank to the shaft of the fly
wheel S. A tube 8 allows the heated air of the cylinder T, t, to exert its pressure in
the upper part of the cylinder a, and to drive back the piston a'. When the air in
the cylinder T, t, is cooled the piston arises through the pressure of the atmospheric
air, which enters the cylinder a through a hole p in its lower cover. The repeller X
is connected by a rod e¹ to one end of the beam Z¹, the other end of the beam being
connected by a rod Z and crank with the fly wheel shaft. The velocity of this
motion may be regulated as required by partly closing the hole in the lower cover
of the cylinder a or by a valve, or in any other suitable manner.
By means of a tube combined or not with an air chamber the exhausted air may
be employed to feed the furnace or flame for heating the cylinder.
When the engine herein-before described is not intended to be employed as a
pump or as a propeller, but merely as a motor for driving machinery, the valve box
with its pipes are not required, and the action of the air is then mainly applied by
means of the piston a¹ to driving the fly wheel shaft. In this case, particularly
when the motor is of small size, the herein-before described slide valve and exhaust
pipe may also be omitted, provided that the relative position of the cranks con-
nected with the driving shaft be at the same time properly adjusted.
It will be understood that in order to increase the power two motors can be com-
bined in such a manner that a single cylinder may be used instead of two cylinders,
and that the expanded air of the two air vessels will act alternately on the upper
side and on the under side of the piston of this cylinder, one air vessel being

page_text: connected with the upper part of this cylinder, and the other air vessel with its
under part. This combination is more particularly advantageous in those cases in
which condensed air is employed.
Having thus described my said Invention, and the best means with which I am
acquainted for carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that I do
not confine myself to the precise details herein laid down, as the same may be
varied without departing from the peculiar character of my Invention; but what I
do claim is,
Firstly. The construction and employment of machines for raising liquids by the
direct action of expanded and contracted atmospheric or compressed air, as herein-
before described.
Secondly. The modification of the said machines or engines for rendering them
applicable to the propulsion of vessels by means of the aspiration and repulsion
exerted on the water.
Thirdly. The employment in combination with the air cylinder of a cylinder
within which moves a piston, and which is provided or not with a hole and a slide
valve by which the expanded and contracted air acts, so as to allow expanded air to
be exhausted, and atmospheric air to enter the cylinder, and with a hole and valve
or other arrangement for regulating the velocity, the said piston driving a fly wheel
shaft, the whole being combined or not with the valve box arrangement, and con-
stituting without the said valve box arrangement a complete motive engine, as and
for the purposes herein-before described.
Fourthly. The employment of the exhaust air for feeding the furnace or flame for
heating the air cylinder, as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Dirk Willen Van Rennes, have hereto set
my hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of September, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-six.
D. W. VAN RENNES. (L.S.)