IM- PROVEMENTS IN APPLYING HYDRO-PNEUMATIC AGENCY FOR OBTAINING MOTIVE POWER
Year: 1852

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Noble Seward, of Caherconlish, in the
County of Limerick, Gentleman, for the Invention of "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN APPLYING HYDRO-PNEUMATIC AGENCY FOR OBTAINING
MOTIVE POWER."
Sealed the 3rd June 1853, and dated the 3rd December 1852.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Noble Seward
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 3rd December 1852.
I, NOBLE SEWARD, of Caherconlish, in the County of Limerick,
Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN APPLYING HYDRO-PNEUMATIC AGENCY FOR OBTAINING
MOTIVE POWER" to be as follows:-
I construct a strong air-tight chamber or chambers, capable of
bearing any given pressure, and to be placed at low water mark
at any place where the tide flows, or where there is a head of water,
and so contrived that the pressure of the external water causes a

page_text: considerable compression of the contained air, the quantity of which
is to be regulated by having sufficiently capacious air reservoirs to
be employed for twelve hours or thereabouts, after which period
the compression of the air within the chamber or chambers will be
renewed constantly by the action of the flow of the tide or fall of
water. Thus may be continuously worked
any mechanical operations
to which compressed air or water elevated thereby can be applied,
with great regularity and certainty, the wear of materials alone
excepted. And the same is described and ascertained in the de-
scription following, having reference to the figures and letters
marked on the Drawing hereunto annexed.
Fig. 1, is a vertical section of two chambers A, and B; B, has a
slide valve at a, raised and lowered by the rod and lever a¹; b, an
aperture for the entrance of the water; c, an opening communicating
with the chamber A, the chamber B, only serving to increase the
power of A. The chamber A, is divided into upper and lower
compartments by the partition or floor d, in which is a valve e,
opening upwards; f, is a water tube descending to nearly the
bottom of the chamber, and attached air tight to the floor d, and
also to the top or roof at g; h, is an air tube fixed air tight into
the roof g, and opening immediately into the chamber A. From
the tube h, communication may be made to any furnace or ma-
chinery required to be operated on by air, or the water tube f, g,
may be made to communicate with any fountain, reservoir, or
machinery required to be supplied or worked by water, the
supply of each being regulated by the stop cocks or slide valves
i, j, using i, for cutting off the flow of air when water is employed,
or closing j, for stopping the flow of water when air is employed.
C, is the line of low water mark, and D, the line of high water
mark.
I would observe that the chamber A, alone may be used, B, being
only supplementary; when, however, they are used in conjunction
I propose to increase the power by exploding gunpowder or other
combustible matter or gases in the chamber B, thereby causing
greatly increased pressure on the contained water, which being

page_text: forced into the chamber A, through c, will compress the air therein
to any amount required.
I claim the employment of air chambers or reservoirs, wherein
the air is compressed by the natural elevation of water in tidal
situations, or caused by a fall of water, without confining myself to
any particular size, form, or number of or materials for the con-
struction of such chambers or reservoirs, or to any particular kind
of work to be performed by the air thereby compressed, or the water
raised by such compressed air.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters
Patent, filed by the said Noble Seward in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 3rd June 1853.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
NOBLE SEWARD, of Caherconlish, in the County of Limerick,
Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Third day of December, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-two, in the
sixteenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said Noble Seward, Her
special licence that I, the said Noble Seward, my executors, admi-
-nistrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Noble Seward,
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 APPLYING HYDRO-PNEUMATIC AGENCY FOR OBTAINING
MOTIVE POWER," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Noble Seward, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal,
should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said
Invention, and in what manner the same was to be performed, and

page_text: cause the same to be filed in the Great Scal Patent Office within six
calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Noble Seward, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement, reference being had
to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters
marked thereon (that is to say):
My Invention consists in a peculiar construction of air-tight
chamber or of air-tight chambers, capable of bearing any desired
pressure, and to be placed at low water mark at any place where
the tide flows, or where there is a head of water, and the application
of the hot air chest B', for the purpose of increasing the power of
air or steam by means of the apparatus contained in the interior of
it, and the use of those chambers with air and water, even when there
is no tide or head of water; and is further so contrived that the
pressure of the external water causes a considerable compression of
the contained air, the quantity of which is to be regulated by having
one or more sufficiently capacious chambers or air reservoirs to be
employed for twelve hours or thereabouts, after which period the
compression of the air within the chambers or reservoirs will be
renewed constantly by the action of the flow of the tide. And thus
may be continuously worked any mechanical operations, to which the
power of compressed air or of water elevated thereby can be applied,
with regularity and certainty, the wear of materials excepted.
And for the better understanding of my said Invention, I shall
now proceed to describe the same, reference being had to the
Drawings annexed hereunto. Figure 1, is a longitudinal vertical
section of 3 chambers or air reservoirs A, B, C, constructed ac-
cording to my Invention; A', is a tube passing from the condensed
air chamber C, and projecting B', to any distance in proportion to
the size of apparatus, but, for the sake of illustration, I shall say to
three inches. The end of this tube is ground air tight, and on the
outside provided with packing rings, thus acting as a fixed piston.

page_text: B', is a hot air chamber, the heat of which may be kept up by a
suitable furnace placed underneath it; C¹, C¹, C¹, is a cylinder
ground, inside and outside, air tight, and on the outside provided
with packing rings; it has an aperture in each side about one inch
from the lower end, which is closed, and provided with a guide
rod; when this cylinder is pressed home on the piston A¹, the
apertures are closed on their inner side. D¹, is a hollow cylinder
open at both ends, one end has a flanch, which is provided with
bolt holes, by this flanch it is bolted to the inside of hot air chest
B', and it is, say four inches long, and between it and the piston
A¹, the cylinder C, freely works, but air tight. The interior of this
hollow cylinder D, is ground air tight, and has an opening in each
side one inch from end. Now the action of this machine is as
follows: condensed air having a pressure, say of thirty pounds on
the square inch, passes from the condensed air chamber, through
tube A¹, this strikes on the inner end of C¹, and forces it off one
inch; it is prevented going further by a check fastened in the
interior of the hot air chest B₁, and in which the guide rod of c',"
works. This guide rod is square and keeps the holes in C¹, always in
the same line. When the piston c³, is forced off A¹, the one inch the
holes in C, and D, are brought opposite to each other, and the
condensed air escapes into the hot air chest B¹; but as the diameter
of C, is twice as large as the end of piston A', once the pressure on
C¹, exceeds fifteen pounds on the square inch, it is immediately
forced back on the piston A¹, and the apertures between C¹, and D,
closed, heat is applied under hot air chest, and the condensed air,
which had only a pressure of fifteen pounds, increased to any.
amount. This hot air is now applied to work machinery, and as fast
as expended a fresh supply is constantly obtained from condensed air
chamber, as soon as the pressure in the hot air chest is lowered to
fifteen pounds. The hot air chest is provided with a safety valve,
which lifts at any given pressure. I propose increasing the con-
densation of air by means of gunpowder or other combustible matter
as follows:--I have three chambers A, B, C; there is an opening a,
at the bottom of A, with a valve b, opening inwards, and through

page_text: .which the tide is allowed to flow in; there is also an opening c, at
the bottom of the partition dividing the chambers A, and B, through.
which the tide also flows from A, into B, but requiring no valve..
The chambers A, and B, are provided with tubes D¹, E, which
proceed. some distance both into and out of the chambers. Those
tubes are provided with stop cocks d, e, which are connected with
float rods f, g, to be hereafter described. Two wires h, i, for trans-.
mitting electricity pass through the upper part of A; at j, in which
there is also an opening, into which gunpowder or other combus-
tible matter is put, and the small vessel containing it fastened in by
means of bolts or otherwise. Between the chambers B, and C, there
is a bent connecting pipe F, with a valve F¹, opening inwards to C.-
In chambers A, and B, are floats A, B, with rods f, g, attached
which pass through stuffing boxes k, l, in the top of each. Those
rods are graduated for the purpose of showing the quantity of water
in each chamber, and each rod is connected with its corresponding
stop cock a, e, which it opens or shuts when necessary. This appa-
ratus acts in the following manner: Suppose chambers A, and B,
each half filled with water, C, is full of air, a rocket composed of
gunpowder and other combustible matter, or gunpowder or other
combustible matter, is put into A, at j', and ignited by electricity
or otherwise. Gunpowder, when exploded, expands into something
about one thousand times its volume; suppose each chamber to
contain sixty gallóns, let A, and B, be half full of water, the other
half air,
- that is, let each of those vessels contain thirty gallons
water and thirty gallons air; now one naggin of gunpowder (inade
into a rocket to prevent the two sudden expansion of the gases)
exploded in A, ought to generate thirty gallons of gas; besides, the
heat caused by the combustion ought to considerably expand the
air previously contained in A. This expanded air and the gases
generated by the gunpowder press on the thirty gallons of water
contained in A, and through the communicating aperture between
it and B, force it into B, which in its turn compresses the air con-
tained in the upper part of B, and forces it into C, from which it is
prevented returning by the valve F, and is now ready to be passed

page_text: into the hot air chest B₁, previously described. At the moment the
float A", in A, descends to within one inch of the bottom, by a con-
nection between its rod f, f, and the stop cock d, the latter is opened,
and all pressure removed by a similar connection between the rod
of the float B, in B, and stop cock e. When the water rises to within
one inch of the top of chamber B, the stop cock e, is opened and atmos-
pheric air allowed to enter, which, acting on the water in B, forces
it back into A, all resistance having been removed by the opening
of the stop cock d. When the float rises half way in A, by its rod,
the cock d, is again closed, as is also the cock e, when the float in
B, falls to one half, and the water is now ready to be acted on by
the gunpowder as at first, and afford a fresh supply of air to
chamber C, and there must be a safety valve on chamber C, and
hot air chest B'.
I do not limit myself to any number of chambers for the
purpose of charging C, with condensed air, or to any particular
application of my said Invention. I wish it to be understood
that I do not claim any of the parts singly here described, nor
any particular material for the construction of the chambers, or any
particular form of galvanic battery, or composition for an explosive
compound; but I do declare that what I claim as my Invention is,
The employment of air chambers or reservoirs, singly or combined,
wherein the air is compressed by the natural elevation of water in
tidal situations, or by a fall of water, or wherein the same is ex-
panded by igniting explosive mixtures, in either case producing
motive power, applicable to useful purposes, as herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Noble Seward, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Third day of June, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three.
NOBLE SEWARD.
(L.S.)