IMPROVEMENTS IN ENGINES FOR OBTAINING MOTIVE POWER BY MEANS OF STEAM, AIR, GABES, OR FLUIDS
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Newton, of the Office for
Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil
Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN ENGINES FOR
OBTAINING MOTIVE POWER BY MEANS OF STEAM, AIR, GABES, OR FLUIDS."-
A communication from abroad by Claude Ferdinand Lacombe, of
Chelons sur SaAne in the Empire of France.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward
Newton at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his.
Petition, on the 27th March 1868.
I,. WILIAM EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery
Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN ENGINES POR
OLTAINING MOTIVE POWER BY MEANS OF STEAM, AIR, GASES, OR FLUIDS," to be
as follows:-
This Invention relates to an improved arrangement or construction
of motive engine to be used either for locomotive or stationary purposes,
or for propelling vessels, the peculiar features of which are,-

page_text: 1st. That all the working parts are situate around or immediately
outside the shaft to be driven.
2ndly. The cylinder or body of the engine is made to rotate con-
tinuously with the main shaft.
And, 3rdly. An improved arrangement of feed or cut-off is obtained.
The engine consists of a hollow cylindrical casing, which is mounted
on the shaft to be driven. Inside this casing two short cylinders are
mounted opposite to each other, and in them reciprocating pistons are
adjusted and work; these pistons are acted upon alternately by the
steam or other motive agent, as the casing containing them and their
cylinders rotates and brings them alternately opposite to the feed and
exhaust ports of the steam chest. The shaft to be driven, which is
double cranked, is situated between the two pistons, which are connected
by cross pieces, and are thus rendered rigid, like a single piston.
Between the two back sides of these pistons and upon the crank axle
is a friction ring or wheel or other similar intermediate piece between
the pistons and the crank axle. The two short cylinders are adapted
to the pistons and are united by means of metal bearings fitting on to
the shaft, so as to constitute one cylinder enclosing all the above-named
working parts concentric to the shaft. A steam chest is adapted to one
side of the cylinders having induction and eduction pipes at right
angles to each other, the cut-off being regulated by means of a seg-
mental plate worked by a segment rack and a pinion taking into it
actuated by a hand wheel on its shaft.
The action of the engine is as follows:-The central shaft being held
fast at one or both ends upon its framing, or otherwise, and its crank
pin or axle being the fulcrum of the pistons the steam or other motive
agent acting upon the interior bases of the cylinders and upon the
pistons will cause the former to move round the axle, and at the same
time will impart a reciprocating motion to the pistons, the heads of
which by acting alternately upon the ring enclosing the crank axle will
carry this latter round the axis of rotation, and by the cylinders revolving
at the same time their ports will come alternately into coincidence with
the induction and eduction passages, and thus a continuous alternation
of supply and exhaust being established a continuous rotary motion will
be imparted to the main shaft of the engine.
The Invention is applicable either to stationary or locomotive engines.
In the latter case the crank shaft is connected by arms to an outer

page_text: wheel or wheels, which may be running wheels, and within the cir-
cumference of which the whole of the working parts of the engine are
placed.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Edward Newton in the Great Scal
Patent Office on the 26th September 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of March, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the thirty-
first year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said William Edward Newton, Her special
licence that I, the said William Edward Newton, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William
Edward Newton, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN ENGINES FOR OBTAINING MOTIVE POWER BY
MEANS OF STEAM, AIR, GASES, OR FLUIDS," being a communication to me
from abroad by Claude Ferdinand Lacombe, of Chalon-sur-Saone, in the
Empire of France, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said William Edward Newton, my executors or administrators, by
an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands
and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature
of the said Invention, 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 William Edward Newton, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner

page_text: the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement, reference being had to the Drawing
hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that
is to say)-
This Invention, as communicated to me by my foreign correspondent,
consists of a peculiar arrangement of motive engine or machine, the
characteristic features of which are,-
First. The whole of the moving parts are grouped around its central
axis.
Second. The cylinder has a rotary motion, and inside this cylinder
twin pistons have an alternating motion.
Third. A novel arrangement of supplying the steam.
This improved engine may be worked by means of vapors, gases, or
liquids under pressure, and may be applied to industrial and manufac-
turing purposes, also for propelling vessels and working pumps, also for
propulsion upon railways and common roads, and for any other tractive
purposes. As this engine is susceptible of various modifications in its
construction a general description of one arrangement will be here given,
so as to set forth clearly the principle of construction. An iron shaft
or axle cranked at a certain distance from the point where it is firmly
held passes between two pistons united by cross pieces which hold them
rigidly between the two hinder faces of those pistons, and upon the arm
of the crank or cranks is a bowle or other suitable intermediate piece
between the pistons and the crank arm. Two segments or half cylinders
of cast iron are set upon the said pistons and are united by enclosing
the shaft in brass bearings, so as to form only a single cylinder, which
then encloses the above-described parts. Concentrically to the axis
upon one or both sides of the cylinders is a kind of steam box carrying
the induction and eduction pipes and a simicircular plate or a suitable
piece, as slide valve, adjusted in this box serves to close the induction
orifice more or less. Lastly, the engine is provided with a fly wheel
which according to the arrangement or application of the engine is
carried either by the cylinder or by the twin pistons, as will be understood
by the description of the Drawings.
The following is the mode of operation of the engine:-The central
shaft or axle being held fast at one or both ends upon a framing, or
otherwise, and its arm (forming the fulcrum of the pistons) being in an

page_text: excentric position the motive power (air, gas, vapor, or liquid) acting
on the interior of the ends of the cylinder and upon the pistons causes
the cylinder to rotate and impart during this time a reciprocating motion
to the pistons.
The induction of the motive agent is effected as follows:-Upon the
face or faces of the cylinder, and connecting the steam box or boxes, are
orifices which pass when the engine is brought to its starting point or
when it is in motion before the feed orifices leading to the opposite box
or boxes, induction and eduction then take place at suitable intervals
by means of the slide valve piece, which may be moved at pleasure;
the cut-off to the cylinder may be effected at any point of the stroke.
The construction and operation of the engine thus briefly explained
will be better understood by the following description of the Drawing
hereunto annexed, in which Fig. 1 is a longitudinal vertical section of
the engine; Fig. 2 is a horizontal section taken in the line 1, 2, of
Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a transverse section taken in the line 3, 4, of the same
Figure; Fig. 4 is an outside view of the face of the motive cylinder
taken at the side of the feed; Fig. 5 is a front view of the feed box;
Fig. 6 represents a vertical section of a modification taken through the.
axis of the engine.
In these Figures B is the box, which may be made of wrought
or cast iron, and which acts as a feed box. The axle or shaft C and
this box are rendered dependent upon each other by being keyed or
fastened together in any convenient manner. The shaft may have
applied to it direct at D one of the suspension springs, as shewn by red
lines in Fig. 3. The box B is provided with two pipes, the one f for
the induction of the steam, air, or gas, and the other g for its escape.
At the centre of the box B is the shaft or axle C, which has two cranks
united by an excentric arm h, upon which is mounted the bowle N;
this is the fulcrum of the power. Against the bowle N two metal
heads G bear, which are adjusted in any suitable manner upon the
hinder part of twin pistons F and F, which are maintained at a fixed
distance from each other by means of fixed arms t, so as to allow the
two pistons to play round the bowle N. The pistons work in the two
truncated cylinders A, A', (which in reality form but a single cylinder)
having a closed end; they are attached at their open ends to the piston
and united together by bolts, at the same time the two trunks enclose
the shaft C, which turns in brass bearings E. The feed of the motive

page_text: fluid is effected in the following manner: -Perpendicularly to the
shaft C the cylinder has a plane surface d, Figures 2 and 4, in which
are the orifices e; this surface is in contact with a face of equal diameter
appertaining to the feed box B, and upon this face are made openings
which correspond to the induction and eduction pipes fand g. During
the rotary motion of the cylinder the orifices e come opposite to the
openings and g, and induction and eduction then take place; com-
munication ceases at suitable points, say, at the breaks and m without
interfering with the escape. By means of the semicircular plate p,
Figures 2 and 5, set between the face of the box B and the washer K,
the induction orifice f may be closed at any point of the stroke, and
thus effect more or less the cut-off of the steam or other motive fluid.
The plate is worked in the following manner :-A rack z, shown by
dots in Fig. 5, is set in this plate and is intended to take into the
pinion, Fig. 5, the shaft I of which carries at its top a small hand
wheel; by turning this wheel the plate p will be made to turn con-
centrically with the surface d, and more or less close the induction
orifice by means of the plain part p¹, Fig. 5. The shaft C and its crank
arm being fixed the motive force by acting upon the pistons F and F',
and upon the ends of the cylinder A, A', causes this latter to rotate
with the wheel a, Figures 1 and 3 (carried by the engine) and at the
same time communicates reciprocating motion to the twin pistons inside
the cylinder. In applying the engine to locomotive or tractive purposes,
as shewn in the Drawing, the pistons have arms b extending from the
cross picces and rods b', the whole being cast together. At the
extremity of these arms and rods circular bands of wrought iron are
fixed and bolted for the reception of the felloe of the wheel a. In order
to
vary
the mode of action of the motor the piece or ring N may be
placed more or less excentrically upon the arm 1, the cylinder is con-
sequently cut away to allow the said arms and rods to pass. One or
more rods may be adapted to each piston, ordinary packing being
employed, as at q, to keep the parts steam-tight. In certain cases, as
for a stationary engine for example, each portion of the cylinder may
be cast with sockets or sleeves, either at the side or the centre, in which
iron spokes are adjusted to the felly of the hand wheel. Instead of one
steam box two may be employed, one on each side, which will serve to
counterbalance any injurious pressure. In cases where it is more
suitable for the shaft not to extend beyond the cylinder this latter may
have adapted to it another shaft C (Fig. 6) which may be supported by

page_text: ordinary bearings; this shaft receives motion from the cylinder, but the
first shaft is always fixed and only supports the cylinder on one side,
whilst the second supports it on the other. This arrangement. is
specially suitable for driving propellers for vessels or for actuating
machinery.
The above-described engine, which the Inventor calls. "the Lacombe
motor," may be constructed so as to constitute,—
First. A locomotive engine.
Secondly. In a modified form it may be applied to various industrial
purposes for driving machinery.
Thirdly. Another modified arrangement may be applied to the pro-
pulsion of vessels and other purposes.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Newton, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, the Twenty-fifth day of
September, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred
and sixty-eight.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
W. E. NEWTON. (L.S.)