IMPROVEMENTS IN OBTAINING MOTIVE POWER
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Edward Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer,
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN OBTAINING MOTIVE POWER."-A
communication from abroad by Albert Borach Bloch, of Paris, in
the Republic of France.
Sealed the 15th April 1873, and dated the 24th October 1872.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Edward Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 24th October 1872.
I, HENRY EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery
5 Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN OBTAINING MOTIVE
POWER," to be as follows:-
This Invention consists of a novel or improved construction of
hydraulic wheel, whereby motive power may be obtained from a constant

page_text: "supply of water. The hydraulic or water wheel consists of a number of
buckets, which are suspended from pivots fixed in the side frames of the
wheel in such a manner that they are capable of swinging thereon, so
that they may be turned in either direction according to the direction in
which it is desired to move the hydraulic wheel.
In order to facilitate the shifting of the position of the buckets these
latter are connected by studs or pins at each end to rings or circular
plates, which are mounted loosely on the axle of the wheel, so that by
moving these rings or plates without moving the wheel the buckets may
be shifted on their suspending studs and thereby brought into the desired
position. Water is supplied to the buckets from a series of taps or jets
connected with a channel, into which water is pumped from below by
means of pumps or belts actuated by springs or weights. There are two
water channels, two sets of jets or taps, and two supply pumps. One
set is to drive the wheel in one direction, and the other in the other
direction. As the buckets on one side of the wheel become filled with
water from their taps the wheel will move round and communicate
motion to its axle, and this motion can by suitable gearing be
transferred to any machinery that requires to be driven. As the wheel
moves round the buckets will empty themselves into a vessel below, a
from which it will be drawn by means of a pump or bell, which will be
lifted by means of a toothed rack and sector. The bell full of water may
be kept in an elevated position by means of a catch, and if it is desired
to force the water into the channels above the catch may be detached
and then the bell or piston of the pump will be forced down by the a
spring or weight above, and the water will be forced up a pipe into the
water channel and from thence it will run through the taps into the
buckets of the wheel, and thus continue the rotation of the same.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Henry Edward Newton in the Great Seal Patent 30
Office on the 24th April 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
EDWARD NEWTON, of 66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex,
Civil Engineer, send greeting.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of October, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the thirty-
sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Henry Edward Newton, Her special licence,
that I, the said Henry Edward Newton, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said Henry 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 OBTAINING MOTIVE POWER," being a communication to me from abroad
by Albert Borach - Bloch, of Paris, in the Republic of France, upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Henry 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 Henry Edward Newton, do hereby
declare the nature of the 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 Drawing here-
unto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to
say) :-
This Invention consists of a combination of divers mechanical parts
which act upon one another and form together an hydraulic motive
engine. The motive agent (water or other liquid) need not be renewed.
It is collected as soon as it has produced the required effect upon the
motor, and is forced back by means of spring pumps or weights arranged
for this purpose. The motor, which receives the impulse of the water,
is an hydraulic wheel, which is furnished with buckets capable of
turning in one direction or the other, according to the position in which

page_text: In the accompanying Drawing will be seen the construction and mode
of operating the improved apparatus..
Fig. 1 is a longitudinal section of the apparatus; Fig. 2 is a plan
seen from above; Fig. 3 is a transverse vertical section taken in the
line 1, 2, of Fig. 2.
The hydraulic wheel above mentioned is mounted upon an axle A,
which carries the pulley p', which is intended to transmit motion to
bevil wheel gearing according to the importance of the apparatus, and
it is composed of a series of superposed buckets a, which are suspended
by means of pins or axles 6 to the rims of two discs or wheels C, C¹,
keyed upon the shaft A, as usual. On the inside of each of these discs
or wheels is a plate D having grooves d corresponding in number to
the number of buckets, and into which take the pins e with which the
buckets are provided. Each plate D is mounted loosely upon the middle
of the corresponding disc or wheel so that an angular motion may be
imparted thereto. The object of this motion is to reverse with precision
the direction of the buckets so as to reverse the direction of rotation of
the wheel; thus by moving the plates D in the direction of the arrow
in Fig. 3 the grooves of the said plates D will carry forward the pins e,
and will cause the buckets to turn upon their axles 6 until they reach
the position shewn by red lines. The motion to be given to the plates D
is but slight, and it may be obtained by affixing thereto either a threaded
rod, the bolt of which would be mounted upon one of the arms of the
wheels C, C¹, or by means of a straight or curved rack, the pinion of
which would also have its axle in one of the arms of the wheel or by
any other suitable means.
Water is applied to the hydraulic wheel by means of taps R or R',
Fig. 3, according as they are turned in one direction or the other. These
taps are adjusted in a brass casting B, which is pierced with two longi-
tudinal holes or channels o, o¹, which each communicate (by means of
a special tube) with the two pumps P and P¹. Each channel o and o¹
receives eight taps, four of which serve to give motion in either direction.
This arrangement permits of the pumps P, P¹, being used alternately
without interrupting the action of the motor.
The multiplicity of taps has for object the easy regulation of the speed
of rotation of the wheel. Thus on onening or shutting one or more of

page_text: these taps the force of the liquid will be augmented or diminished, and
with it the force obtained. The water having produced the desired effect
on the wheel will fall into the tank C³, which is furnished at its lower
part with two taps D¹, D³, which will let off the water alternately to one
5 or other of the pump chambers. These pumps act in a simple manner,
and force back the water which they may contain into the brass
casting B. They consist each of a cylindrical chamber in which works
a piston p formed of hammered leather, which is held fast between
two metal plates. Each chamber of the pump communicates with a
bucket a by means of an opening b', and these buckets receive water
from the taps D¹ and D². Each piston is furnished with a toothed rod
which forms a rack, and having a cylindrical prolongation, around which
is coiled a spiral spring r. This spring bears against the upper stay of
the framing E which serves as a guide for the rod, and in a shoulder
3 on the said rod. This spring exerts a downward pressure upon the
piston, and forces back the water contained in the pump chamber. To
lift the piston when it has finished its downward travel pressure is
applied to the lever L, which is furnished with a tooth sector / which takes
into the rack T. This motion has for effect to collapse the spring r
at the same time the levers L and L' can be held by means of spring
latches when they are in a position corresponding to the raised piston.
rj
The divers parts of the apparatus being thus combined and arranged
it will be easy to understand how it will work. Supposing the pump P
to be full of water and its piston lifted, the tap D¹ which corresponds
thereto is shut, and the tap D* after having lifted the piston of the
pump P¹ is opened so as to allow the chamber of the pump to receive
the water which is about to flow from the tank C. The lever L' will
be held down and the lever L disengaged. The pump P will now be
brought into action, and will force back the water through its pipet to
the channel o, which corresponds with one of the ranges of taps. A
suitable number of taps in each range are previously opened according
to the force required and the direction in which it is desired to turn the
wheel. The water falls from the open taps, and communicating with
the channel o falls into the buckets of the wheel and puts it in motion;
but at a given moment the chamber of this pump is empty, and the
water which it has forced back returns to the chamber P' which is
thereby filled. The lever L' is then disengaged, the tap D2 closed, and
this pump in its turn comes into action. The water which it forces

page_text: back rises through the pipe into the channel o¹, and flows off by the
open taps which are in communication with this channel, and the
The same
hydraulic wheel continues its rotation without interruption.
effects are produced successively, and in order to keep up the motion of
the hydraulic wheel it only suffices (as will be seen) to lower alternately
the levers L and L', according as their respective pump chambers are
without water.
It will be understood that the different parts of the apparatus just
described may be modified without effecting the principle of its working.
Thus the fall of the water out of the hydraulic wheel may be effected by
means of a system of flood gates, such as those at present in use, and
which consist, for example, of a series of orifices opening in a given.
direction, and actuated at will by a sliding gate. The working of the
taps D¹, D³, may also be effected automatically by means of a mechanism
which will be easily understood, and which will act at the moment at
which the corresponding piston will be raised. The pressure upon the
piston may be imparted by means of a series of combined springs by
a weight upon the rod, as indicated by the red line Fig. 1, the said
weight being employed either alone or in combination with the springs.
The relative proportions of the pump chambers, and the necessary
outflow to put the wheel in motion are also variable, according to the
power desired to be attained and the results required, so that it is only
necessary to lower the levers L, L', at intervals corresponding to the stop
of the work. The length of these levers must also be in the ratio of the
power to be developed.
The number of the pump barrels may be 3, 4, 5, or more; there must
then be as many channels o as there are pumps, and each pump must
have a feed tap D¹.
The liquid employed may be either mercury, oil, or other liquid instead
of water.
Having now described the Invention which has been communicated
to me from abroad, I claim as the Invention secured to me by Letters
Patent as aforesaid, the combination, construction, and arrangement of
parts as above described, and comprising the necessary elements for the
development of power, so that such power may be utilized without

page_text: waste of water or heat, its motion being kept up by simply the lowering
of levers of suitable length at longer or shorter intervals, as may be
desired.
I also claim the use by itself of the hydraulic wheel furnished with
moveable buckets for any purpose where water is available, the other
parts of the apparatus being only necessary when the motive fluid is
wanting or is not abundant.
'
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Edward Newton, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, the Twenty-fourth day of April,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
three.