IMPROVEMENTS, IN OBTAINING MOTIVE POWER BY MEANS OF HEATED GA
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Prix Charles Jean Baptiste Sochet, of Paris,
France, and of 4, South Street, Finsbury, London, Gentleman,
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS, IN OBTAINING MOTIVE POWER
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Prix Charles Jean
Baptiste Sochet at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,
with his Petition, on the 28th November 1853.
I, PRIX CHARLES JEAN BAPTISTE SOCHET, of Paris, France, and of
4, South Street, Finsbury, London, Gentleman, do hereby declare the
nature of the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN OBTAINING MOTIVE POWER
BY MEANS OF HEATED GASES" to be as follows:-
My Invention consists in constructing apparatus for effecting the
expansion of gases for the purpose of obtaining motive power.
I make use of a closed generator heated by a furnace alimented with
coals, and in this generator expansion of air and steam torming a gas is

page_text: produced. Reference being had to the Drawing, and to the letters and
figures marked thereon.
Figure 1, represents the furnace with a contrivance for continuous
feeding.
Figure 2, is a vertical elevation of the reacting tube with a counter
weight..
Figure 3, a plan of a double re-acting tube..
Figure 4, a metallic cloth tube, with joints for the heated and cold
air and the moving cylinder.
Figure 5, represents a heating tube, with another internal tube.
Figure 6, plan of a heating air apparatus.
Figure 7, is a vertical elevation of the same; in these two Figures
the same letters of reference indicate parts which are similar. A, the
furnace; B, B, metallic cloth cylinder; C, working cylinder; D,
refrigerator; E, main shaft; F, fly wheel.
The generator may be constructed of metal and of any desired form;
the fire place and roof may be lined with clay, bricks, or masonry
work.
The generator can also be made of a double casing and be filled with
water. The grate can either be fed with combustible by an apparatus
direct, or by the hand, through an orifice closed by a door.
A blasting apparatus may also be employed and made independant
of the machine. I can also use a current of steam or air at high
pressure. The steam is produced by the double casing, Figure 5, or by
a simple boiler, and the air is heated by one or more separate apparatus.
The heated gases are made to escape from the generator at a high
temperature and at a high pressure by means of openings and reacting
tubes, Figures 2 & 3, which can be easily replaced when the blasting
apparatus is not at work; I cause the gases to act on the water or air
in permanent or moveable apparatus, such as water or reacting
wheels.
I prefer making use of a tube when the gases are made to act on
re-acting wheels; the tube is regularly curved, as in Figure 3, similarly
to the segments of a circle, and placed in juxtaposition, terminating
within two planes at right angles. I place this tube on a vertical axis,
Figure 2, which, by its prolongation serves as the axis of one of the

page_text: extremities of the tube, the other extremity is placed outside at right
angles; the heated air tube reaches the middle of the former tube
opposite the rotating axis. Instead of segments I can make use of
curves. I use eduction pipes, having convergent, parallel, or divergent,
single, or multiple sides, according to circumstances.
I also construct the apparatus with an open fire-place and inject into
the middle of the flame over-heated steam to utilize the whole of the
caloric.
Another mode consists in heating the air in close chambers by means
of an external fire-place or a balneum mariæ, prepared with a solution
of carbonate of potash or chloride of calcium, the air being condensed
by a bath of cold water. I use metallic cloth, having the property of
absorbing the caloric of the heated air in one direction and discharging
it in a cold state in the other direction.
I transmit the motion by means of one or more vertical, horizontal,
or oblique cylinders, having pistons and the other usual accessories. If
I use but one cylinder it is necessary to submit the piston to successive
pressure and contraction; these variations of pressure are obtained by
causing a constant communication to exist between the cylinder and
the top of an auxiliary vertical cylinder, heated at its lower part and
cooled at its upper extremity; this cylinder should contain another long
cylinder provided internally in the whole of its elevation with metallic
cloth, by which means when the piston is at top all the air in the
cylinder will be heated with a maximum pressure, and when the piston
is down the whole of the air will be cooled with a minimum pressure.
To work the motive piston I cause the piston of the auxiliary cylinder
to ascend or descend alternately by impulses. The same motion can
be obtained by an excentric or a cam fixed on the main shaft. The
apparatus serving to heat or cool the lower part of the auxiliary
cylinder consists of straight or curved tubes of a small diameter: their
extremities are made so as to facilitate the ingress or egress of the air
at each stroke of the piston. To have the piston with double action
I use two auxiliary and equilibrating pistons, set simultaneously in
motion and in a contrary direction by means of a single lever and
excentric.

page_text: The unavoidable escape of air is provided for by employing a foreing
pump, and the apparatus will work at high pressure...
The motion, is given in the desired direction by the usual means..
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Prix Charles Jean Baptiste Sochet in the Great
Seal Patent Office on the 19th May 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
PRIX CHARLES JEAN BAPTISTE SOCHET, of Paris, France, and of 4; South
Street, Finsbury, London, Gentleman, send greeting..
..WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-eighth day of November;
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred fifty-three, in the
seventeenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors;
give and grant unto me, the said Prix Charles Jean Baptiste Sochet,
Her special license, that I, the said Prix Charles Jean Baptiste Sochet,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Prix Charles Jean Baptiste Sochet, 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 OBTAINING
MOTIVE POWER BY MEANS OF HEATED GASES," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Prix Charles Jean Baptiste Sochet, 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 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 Prix Charles Jean Baptiste
Sochet, do hereby declare the nature of my said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described

page_text: and ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, reference
being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the figures and
letters marked thereon, that is to say:
My Invention consists in certain processes, and in the construction of
novel apparatus for effecting the dilatation of gases at high or low
temperatures, and the application of the same to the production of an
economical motive power.
.
The processes, and apparatus may be divided into two classes. In
the first class I make use of over heated steam at a high pressure, or
compressed heated air, which I cause to re-act either in air.or water, or
on the surface of liquids or molten metallic alloys, by means of fixed
or rotatory apparatus, as herein-after described.
To generate over-heated steam I preferably make use of straight
or spiral metallic tubes, in which I inject a small. stream. of water;
I also employ steam generated, in any high pressure boiler::
To obtain compressed heated air I make use of a closed fire bo
which I supply with air for the combustion by means of blowing
apparatus.
The closed fire box shewn at Figure. 1, can be lined internally with
fire. bricks or stone, and may be formed of a double metallic envelope,
enclosing water. The combustible may be supplied intermittently through
a lid a, or of two moveable valves, separated by a space for the intro-
duction of fuel, or the fuel may be supplied spontaneously by means of
a separate chamber equally well closed. The gases escaping from the
fire box through one or several apertures are received in pipes or other
suitable recipients adjusted to it, and which may also be surrounded
by. water.
The blowing apparatus may be independent of the fire box, and in
lieu of the ordinary means a current of air might be forced in by a jet
of steam or gas. For this purpose steam, may be generated in the
envelope of the fire box or in a separate boiler; the gas may be
produced by a separate close furnace, of a similar construction to that of
Figure 1.
The velocity of egress and volume of the elastic fluids being in rela-
tive proportions to their temperature, the degree should be carried as

page_text: high as possible without inconvenience. When I employ fixed re-action
machines the re-action takes place either in the atmosphere or water, or
on a liquid. An apparatus of simple construction would consist of two
chambers, in which the water entering through valves at the bottom
would be ejected through a pipe by the intermittent action of steam
and heated gases. If the re-action takes place in the atmosphere one
or several bent tubes, similar to Figure 2, are employed, in which the
re-acting gas enters at A, and egresses at B, in a reverse direction tɔ
that in which the motion is to be given.
In moveable re-acting machines a set of tubes bent round at right
angles, as shewn in elevation at Figure 3, and in plan at Figure 4, is
employed, the number of which is variable. The arms B; may have a
conical diverging form inside to moderate the speed and produce the
expansion of the gases. To reduce the velocity transmitted to the fluid
or gas in similar reacting apparatus the conduct pipes of the air or
steam are made to blow into an open pipe of larger diameter, so as to
attract the surrounding air, thus compensating for the loss of speed by
increase of volume.
Instead of air, flame or heated gases may be the fluids attracted. The
relative proportion between the heating properties of the said gases
may be easily ascertained by experiment, and lead to the choice of the
gas suitable for obtaining the required temperature.
Instead of a single pipe two or more pipes acting successively on
cach.other may be employed.
In the second class I do not generally employ so high a temperature
as in the first class, but cause the degree to vary rapidly between two
given limits. I use for that purpose a displacing piston simultaneously
with a motive piston; the motive piston is similar to that of steam
engines, and its motion is regulated according to the variations of
temperature of the heated gases. I make use of atmospheric air or a
mixture of air and water, steam, or vapours of volatile liquids, such as
ether and chloroform. If a pressure higher than that of the atmosphere
be required the air may be supplied by a force pump. The air is
heated either directly by a furnace externally, as in Ericson and
Sterling's systems, or preferably in separate, straight, or spiral metallic

page_text: tubes. I also introduce square or round iron bars into the middle of
the tubes, by which means I obtain a larger heating surface with
apparatus of a small volume. I also employ over-heated steam or a
balneum marix, and use liquids that only boil at high temperatures,
such as chloride of calcium and chloride of zinc. I preferably heat the
air by injecting into it over-heated water steam in quantities pro-
portionate to the temperature required, having found this means the
most certain and expeditious.
For cooling the gases I either set pipes containing cold water in the
middle of the heated gases, or I cause the heated gases to circulate
through pipes surrounded by cold water. The gas tubes may be
provided internally with bars, as in the heating process. I also effect
the cooling by the injection of cold water, or in certain cases by causing
a small quantity of compressed warm air to escape when the motive
piston is near the end of its stroke, and replacing it directly afterwards
by the introduction of cold atmospheric air, which may be effected by
valves or slides driven by an excentric set on the main shaft. In order
to effect a more rapid dilatation of the gases I employ wire cloth or
other good conductor of heat, finely divided, and capable of instanta-
neously absorbing the caloric of the heated gases when flowing in a
certain direction, and directly giving it up to cold gases flowing in the
opposite direction. I either take a cylinder with a solid piston com-
municating at its two extremities with a chamber provided with sheets
of superposed metallic wire cloth, or I employ a cylinder with a long
hollow piston, provided internally with wire cloth, through which the
gases are made to circulate. It is evident in both these contrivances
that if the air is constantly heated at one end of the piston and
cooled at the other end, the metallic cloth will also be heated at one
end and cooled at the other, and give rise to the alternate motion
of the motive piston.
The regulating heated gas piston possesses the advantage of not
requiring steam-tight packings, as it merely serves to set the gases in
inotion.
To utilise the alternate pressure and depressure of the gases they
must be caused to act either on liquids by a fixed alternate re-action

page_text: apparatus, such as that before described, or on the piston of a steam
engine. In the latter case I obtain a single acting expansion engine.
To obtain a double acting engine two separate metallic cloth chambers
must be employed, each of them acting on the opposite end of the
piston. The general arrangements and details of construction are
similar to those of common steam engines. When two pistons with
metallic cloth are employed they may be connected to the extremities
of the beam. The pistons may be placed at an angle of. forty-five
degrees in advance of the driving piston, as for slide valves of steam
engines.
Figure 5, is an elevation of a hot-air single-acting engine; Figure 6,
is a plan of the same. The air is heated by the injection of over-heated
steam, and cooled by the expulsion of a certain amount of air and the
substitution of cold atmospheric air. A, is an over-heating steam boiler,
the educt tap being open and in communication with the lower part of
the hot-air cylinder during the action of dilatation; B, hot air cylinder,
provided with a thin, round, or square piston formed of two pieces of
sheet iron, with charcoal or other non-conducting substance between
them; C, metallic cloth chambers communicating top and bottom with
the cylinder B; D, cylinder, with its motive piston; E, main shaft;
F, crank, giving motion to the piston D; G, slides driven by excentrics,
opening before the piston has reached the top.of its stroke and closing-
when the piston descends, so as to regulate the supply of cold air; H, is
a fly wheel; I, I, frame of the engine.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the means
I employ to carry out the same, I wish it to be understood that I'do
not restrict myself to the precise details herein laid down; but what
I claim is,
First, the processes and apparatus for obtaining gases at a high
temperature and pressure, and applying the same to the obtainment of
direct or re-acting motion, as herein-before described and referred to in
the Figures of the Drawing.
Secondly, the mixing cold air, smoke, or flame with heated gases or
over-heated steam, for working and regulating the motion of fixed or
Hoveable re-action engines, as herein-before described.

page_text: Thirdly, the peculiar construction of re-action tubes, as herein-before
described and referred to in Figures 2, 3, and 4, of the annexed
Drawing.
Fourthly, the application of metallic wire cloths superposed in closed
chambers, heated at one end and cooled at the other end, for obtaining
a quick variation of temperature and pressure of air and steam, either
alone or mixed together, under the ordinary pressure of or higher
pressure than the atmosphere, as herein-before described and shewn in
Figure 5 of the Drawing.
Fifthly, the heating of gases, directly or indirectly, by means of fire
or a balneum mariæ, or by the direct injection of over-heated steam or
heated gases into the lower part of the wire cloth chamber, as herein-
before described.
Sixthly, the cooling the said gases by means of a current of water
at a low temperature, acting directly or indirectly by the injection
of a small jet of water, or by the successive expulsion and suction
of air, as herein-before described and referred to in Figure 1, of the
Drawing.
In witness whereof, I, the said Prix Charles Jean Baptiste Sochet,
have hereunto set my hand and seal, this Tenth day of May,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-
four.
Witness,
HY GILBEE.
P. CH. JN BTE SOCHET. (L.S.)