CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR EXERTING MOTIVE POWER AND FOR RAISING AND FORCING FLUIDS
Year: 1848

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
HORNBLOWER, late of Dalgleish Place, Commercial Road, in the County of
Middlesex, but now of Devons Lane, Bromley, in the same County, Engineer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Twenty-fifth day of January, in the eleventh year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Henry Hornblower, Her especial license, full power, sole privilege and
authority, that I, the said Henry Hornblower, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, and such others as I, the said Henry Hornblower, my executors,
administrators, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others,
from time to time and at all times during the term of years therein
mentioned, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within
England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and in all Her
Majesty's Colonies and Plantations abroad, and in the Islands of Jersey,
Guernsey, Alderney, Sark, and Man, my Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS
IN MACHINERY FOR EXERTING MOTIVE POWER AND FOR RAISING AND FORCING
FLUIDS; in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso obliging me,
the said. Henry Hornblower, by an instrument in writing under my hand
and seal, particularly to describe and ascertain the nature of my said Invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed, and to cause the same to

page_text: be enrolled in Her Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar
months next and immediately after the date of the said in part recited
Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will
more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Henry Hornblower, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to-be-performed, is-particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following description thereof, reference being
had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked
thereon (that is to say):-
My Improvements in Machinery for Exerting Motive Power, and for Raising
and Forcing Fluids, relates to that kind of engine and pump which is constructed
on the rotary principle, and which is known as the rotary engine or rotary
pump. In all the varieties of rotary engines or rotary pumps hitherto con-
structed, or with which I am acquainted, there is a considerable loss of power
resulting from the great amount of friction caused by the grinding of the
ends of the piston or pistons against the end plates of the engine. Various
plans have from time to time been devised for correcting this evil, but still a
considerable and injurious amount of friction exists in all cases where the
ends of the piston or pistons, whilst rotating, are in close contact with the
inner face of the stationary end plates. For, in order to keep the ends of the
piston or pistons steam or water tight; it is necessary in the present construc-
tion of engines to have the end plates fitting tightly against the ends of the
piston or pistons. To obviate the inconvenience arising from the friction of
rötation between the ends of the pistons and the end plates of the engine,
I cause the ends of the pistons to work in guides made in moveable discs
which I shall denominate the rotary end plates, as they, in fact, act as the end
plates of the engine, the ordinary end plates merely serving as covers."
"
In the accompanying Drawings I have shewn my improvements as applied
to an engine for raising or forcing water or other liquids, and also as an enginė · ‹
for exerting motive power derived from the expansive force of steam, air, or
gases.
:
Fig. 1 represents a side elevation of an engine or pump for raising or forcing
water or other liquids constructed upon my improved plan, the ordinary end
plate or cover, and also my additional rotary end plate, being removed, in order
that the internal construction and arrangement of the parts of the engine or
pump may be clearly seen.
.
Fig. 2 is a front view of the working parts of the engine or pump removed
from the outer casing or cylinder, a detached portion of which is shewn in

page_text: section at Fig. 3. a, a, a, a, Figs. 1 and 3, represent the outer casing or
cylinder. b, b, Figs. 1 and 2, represent, an inner drum or cylinder which
carries the pistons c, c, c, c. The ends of these pistons are made to work in
grooves cut in the inner face of the rotary end plates d, d, one of which is
shewn detached at Fig. 4, The peripheries of these rotary end plates are
furnished with proper packing, either hempen, leather, or metallic, as shewn in
end view at Fig. 2, and in section as Figure 2*, in order to render them
steam-tight. In order to force out the packing and make the end plates fit
the cylinder, I apply an annular plate d*, to the outer face of the end
plates, and attach it thereto y screws, by tightening which the hempen, leather,
or other packing substance will be thrust. against the cylinder of the engine,
and form a secure steam or water tight packing. e, e, is a cam piece or
excentric, placed in the cylinder for the purpose of forcing back the pistons
c, c, when required. This excentric or cam piece is furnished with an adjustable
stop piece f, which is packed in any suitable manner so as to form a steam or
water stop. This steam or water stop is shewn by dots in Fig. 1, but is
clearly shewn in Fig. 3. The pressure of the packing or adjustable part of
the steam stop is regulated by a screw 9.. The pistons c, c, fit into recesses
made in the drum 6, so that as the drum rotates and brings the pistons
severally in contact with the cam piece or excentric e, e, they are caused to
recede into their recesses as shewn in Fig. 1. The pistons are arranged, in
pairs in such a manner that they may act on- one another by means of a rod
h, h, which passes through the main or central shaft j of the engine or pump,
so that when one of the pistons is, by coming into contact with the cam
piece e, e, pressed back into its recess, the corresponding one opposite will, by
the rod h, be forced outwards into contact with the internal surface of the
cylinder or outer casing a, a.
The peculiar construction of these pistons will be best understood by re-
ferring to the several Figures 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9, which represent various, views
of the piston detached from the pump or engine. At each end of the piston
there are two projecting edges (as seen best in the plan view, Fig. 9, and. in
Fig. 2), which projecting edges fit. into and work in corresponding grooves
made in the rotary end plate d, Fig. 4. The upper edge and ends of the
pistons are furnished with leather packing i, i, i, which forms a water or
steam tight joint, not only against the internal surface of the cylinder, but
also against the rotary end plates d, d. The pistons, for a pump or for an
engine that is required to work in only one direction are furnished. with ears,
k,,k, for the purpose of. assisting them in their inward motion when they come
against the cam piece e, as seen in Fig. 1.
:

page_text: In engines which are required to work in both directions, the pistons should
have an ear on each side, as shewn in Figs. 10 and 11, which represent an
engine for exerting motive power. The inner or under side of the pistons is
furnished with a flat spring 7, by means of which they are kept constantly up
to their work and yet have a sufficient degree of elasticity to allow them to
work with facility and without creating an injurious amount of friction.
Fig. 5 represents a side elevation of one of the pistons with its spring !
attached. Fig. 6 is a side elevation, with one of the side plates of the piston
removed, and shewing the arrangement of the packing; Fig. 7 is a longi-
tudinal vertical section; Fig. 8 is a view of the opposite side of the piston to
that shewn at Fig. 5, and shewing ears k, k, on this side also, as would be the
case for a steam engine; and Fig. 9 is a plan view, shewing ears on both sides
and the packing in the centre.
Fig. 10 is a side elevation of a rotary engine, to be worked by steam or
other elastic vapor, and constructed according to my improvements, the end
plate or cover being removed in order that the internal construction may be
more clearly seen. Fig. 11 is a longitudinal vertical section of the same,
taken through the centre of the engine and steamways. The engine is similar in
construction to the pump already described, with the exception that the steam-
ways are not so large as the ports for admitting water into the interior of the
engine shewn at Fig. 1; and, as steam engines are frequently required to work
in either direction, suitable provision must be made for allowing them to do so.
The cam piece or excentric e, e, is therefore somewhat different in construction
to that already described, both ends of it being inclined in order to admit of
the pistons moving in either direction; and the pistons in this instance are
furnished with ears k, k, on each side. The steam or other elastic vapor is
admitted into the engine by the pipe m, and after passing through the engine
and exerting its elastic force on the piston c, c, it escapes through the pipe n.
The direction of the engine may, however, be instantly reversed by turning
the cock o, so as to let the steam into the engine on the opposite side. As
all the other parts of the engine are similar to those in the pump above
described, and as similar letters of reference are placed on corresponding parts
in all the Figures, it will not be necessary to give any further or more detailed
explanation thereof.
Having now described my Invention, and the manner of carrying the same
into effect, I would observe, in conclusion, that I am aware that rotary engines
or rotary pumps have heretofore been constructed, in which the pistons are
made to slide in and out of an inner cylinder or drum, and that such pistons
have been assisted in their motions by means of short rods or bars passing

page_text: through the centre shaft and made to act on the inner sides or backs of the
pistons. I do not, therefore, mean or intend to claim this as constituting any
part of my improvements; but that which I consider to be new, and therefore
wish to claim as the Invention secured to me by the herein-before in part
recited Letters Patent, is,-
First, the application to machinery for exerting motive power and for raising
and forcing fluids, of moveable or rotary end plates, which revolve with the
pistons and form guides against which the ends of the pistons work, while
at the same time they securely close up the ends of the casing of the engine,
and, with the casing, form the chamber into which the steam, water, or other
fluid enters.
Second, constructing the pistons in the manner herein shewn and described,
whereby their action is rendered more smooth, easy, and certain.
In witness, whereof, I, the said Henry Hornblower, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-fourth day of July, One thousand eight
hundred and fort nicht
Inrolled the Twenty-fifth day of July, in the year above written.