IMPROVEMENTS IN ATMOSPHERIC EXCLUSA
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Newton; of the Office for
Patents, 66, Chancery Lanc, in the County of Middlesex, Civil
Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN ATMOSPHERIC
EXCLUSA communication
Sealed the 5th July 1853, and dated the 5th January 1853.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward
Newton at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 5th January 1853. .
I, WILLIAM EDWARD NEWTON, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN ATMOSPHERIC ENGINES" to be as
follows:-
The employment of atmospheric air as a motive agent, by causing it
to expand by the application of heat from the ordinary pressure of the
atmosphere to double its volume, has for some time been known. The
present Invention relates to an improved arrangement or construction
of engine, in which the moving power is produced by the application of
caloric to air while in a highly compressed state instead of at merely
atmospheric pressure.

page_text: One essential feature of the improved engine is keeping the pressure
in the receiver nearly uniform, and adapting the engine to any desired
expenditure of power by means of stop cocks operated above and below
the piston of the air pump.
Another point of novelty consists in combining an air pump and
receiver in which air is compressed and heated, and the pressure kept
nearly uniform at any desired degree, with the cylinder, such as the
cylinder of a steam engine, such combination constituting one of the
essential elements of the improved atmospheric engine for which I am
onniving for a Patent.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Edward Newton in the Great Seal Patent
Office, on the 5th July 1853.
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 Fifth day of January, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, in the sixteenth year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said William Edward Newton, Her special license
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 ATMOSPHERIC ENGINEF," being a communication from abroad, upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Edward Newton, by
an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, should particularly
describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what

page_text: 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,
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 letters and figures marked thereon (that
is to say):
It
This Invention of improvements in atmospheric engines relates to an
improved arrangement or construction of engine, whereby atmospheric
air may, by the application of heat and cold, be made to expand
and condense alternately, and thereby work an engine for obtaining
motive power. It is well known that ordinary atmospheric air, when
under the influence of about four hundred and eighty degrees of heat,
becomes expanded to double its original volume. The present Invention
or discovery consists in the application of caloric to air while in a highly
compressed state, by which means its expansive force will be greatly
increased by the same amount of heat (four hundred and eighty degrees)
as is required to double the volume of the ordinary atmosphere.
has been ascertained by practical experiment that if air be highly
compressed in a receiver, and then subjected to about four hundred and
eighty degrees of heat, that its expansive force will be increased to
double the amount exerted by the same prior to the application of heat.
Thus it will be perceived that by increasing the amount of air forced
into the receiver, the pressure which it exerts can be doubled by the
same and constant degree of heat above stated, whatever may be the
pressure exerted in the first place by the cold compressed air, the degree
of pressure which can be attained depending entirely upon the density
of the compressed air, while the amount of caloric applied remains the
same.
The most essential parts of the engine hereafter described consist of
a cylinder of the same construction as that of an ordinary steam engine,
an air pump, and a receiver for containing the compressed air, and to
which the heat is applied.

page_text: The Figures of the accompanying Drawings represent several views
of the improved engine. Fig. 1, is a plan or top view of the engine.
Fig. 2, is a plan of a modified arrangement of the same. Fig. 3, is a
vertical section of the air receiver, &c. Fig. 4, is a detailed sectional
view of one of the outlet valves of the air pump. a, a, a, in the several
Figures represents the bed piece of the engine; b, b, the cylinder with
supply and cut-off valves, which are worked respectively by the valve.
rods d, e, connected to the excentrics, g; h, is the piston rod; and i,
the connecting rod attached to the crank k, which operates the governor
1, 1, attached to an ordinary throttle valve, through the gears m, m, and
rods o, o. On a frame p, p, parallel to the frame a, a, is placed the air
pump q, q, which is of half the cubic capacity of the cylinder. The
piston and connecting rod of this pump are operated in a similar manner
to those of the cylinder b, b, by a crank r, attached to the main shaft
8, 8, on which is also the crank , the two cranks being arranged at
right angles to each other on the shaft s, s. A, A, is the air receiver
which receives the air forced from the air pump, and delivers it to
the cylinder b, b. The receiver A, A, is always kept at about a tem-
perature of four hundred and eighty degrees, or that amount above the
temperature of the air.
The operation of the engine is as follows:-The amount or about the
amount of heat above stated being applied to the receiver A, A, the
natural atmosphere in the said receiver will be expanded to double its
volume, and will be transmitted through the pipe f, t, into the cylinder
b, b, and operate the piston, thereby exerting a sufficient force to start
the engine. Motion is by this means imparted through the shaft s, s,
and crank r, to the connecting rod and piston of the air pump, q,
and a quantity of cold air proportionate to its capacity will be thereby
forced through the bent pipe u, u, which communicates
of the pump into a long cylinder B, B, which is filled with pipes that
are kept warm by the exhaust air passing round them, as will be herein-
after explained. The air passes through these pipes, and the pipe r, r,
into the coiled pipe or heater C, C, Fig. 3, and from thence into the air
receiver A, A. Heat is applied to the coil C, G, and receiver A, A, so
as to always keep them at the required temperature. The compressed
with. both ends

page_text: air thus forced through the hot coil and into the receiver becomes ex-
panded to double its original volume, and the increased pressure conse-.
quent upon this expansion is diffused through the receiver A. A. and
pipe t, t, to the piston head of the cylinder b. b, the supply of air being
cut off at the proper time to give it its greatest expansive force. The
time of cutting off depends upon the degree of compression of the air;
the cylinder valves operating in the usual mode practised in steam
engines. The more highly the air has been compressed, the earlier it
should be cut off. In case the expansion of the natural atmosphere in
the receiver A, A, is not sufficient to start the engine, an additional
quantity can be forced in by a hand
pump.
In order to equalise the pressure in the receiver, and prevents its
becoming too great, the Inventor of the present improvements has
adopted a peculiar arrangement of mechanical devices, as follows:-One
end of the hent sliding rod D, D, Fig. 1. (placed in proper bearings on
the side of the air pump) terminates in a piston E, which works in a
small cylinder F. This cylinder communicates by means of a pipe G, G,
directly with the air receiver A, A, so that the pressure in the said
receiver is constantly acting upon the piston E, in the cylinder F. When
a sufficient pressure is exerted in the receiver to overcome the resist-
ance of a spring H, (or its equivalent) placed near the end of the sliding
rod D, D, the air in the said receiver pressing against the piston E.
will force up the said piston in the cylinder F. thus moving the bent
sliding rod D, D. which gives a lateral motion to the small rods I, I.
These rods are thus made to abut against the stems K, K, of proper
supply valves, one of which is placed in each end of the air pump, and
thus open the said valves. The two supply valves being thus opened, air
will be drawn into the pump through one, and forced out through the
other, and vice versa, without being forced into the receiver, until the
surpius pressure is removed, when the valves are closed by the action of
the spiral spring 1, upon the bent sliding rod D, D. The pump is thus
saved from working, except to the exact extent required to keep up a
uniform pressure in the receiver.
The apertures in each end of the air pump which communicate with

page_text: the bent pipe u, u, are opened and closed at the proper times, so as to
allow the compressed air to pass into the receiver A, A, and then pre-
vent its return into the air pump by a peculiar arrangement of valves,
as shewn in Fig. 4. This valve T; is so constructed that the back pres-
sure from the receiver A, A, will not prevent it from opening, which
It
result would otherwise happen with an ordinary eduction valve,
will be seen by inspection of Fig. 4; that the valve is dish-shaped or
concave on the surface nearest the air pump, and that the two edges of
the said surface are brought to a point or a very thin edge U, U, so
that the valve will require a very small seat or bearing, and from its
peculiar shape will expose the same or about the same surface to the
pressure of air in the air pump as is exposed to the back pressure from
the receiver A, A, forming a balance valve; thus the pressure of air
in the pump will readily open the valve, which will be aided in closing
at the proper time by the spring V.
The hot "exhaust" air, instead of passing directly out of the engine into
the natural atmosphere, is conveyed by means of a pipe L, L into the
long cylinder B, B, and passes around the pipes in the said cylinder,
The exhaust air
which are thus kept warm and out off the passage M.
is prevented from passing through the pipes in the cylinder B, B, by
the partitions or heads N, N, as will readily be seen by inspection of
Figure 1. Thus the cold compressed air forced from the air pump
becomes partially heated as soon as it enters the pipes in the long
cylinder B, B, by means of the exhaust air which is made to circulate
about the said pipes and keep them warm, as above stated.
It will be seen from the above that in this mode of using the air as
a motive power the natural atmosphere; which exerts a pressure of
fifteen pounds to the square inch, is started with as a base, and that this
air is compressed to the required extent, and then expanded to double
its volume by the application of a certain degree of heat; the amount o
pressure thus obtained depending upon the density of the compressed
air. It will be evident that' if, instead of starting with air which exerts
a pressure of fifteen pounds to the square inch; or that of the natural
atmosphere, we commence with or take into the air pump more dense

page_text: or compressed air, which exerts a much greater pressure than the atmo-
sphere, that this extra pressure consequent upon the greater density of
the air first employed will be increased in the same ratio as in the first
instance by still further compressing this dense air in the air pump, and
then doubling its volume in the hot receiver.
It is often desirable to work an engine at a very high pressure, espe-
cially in locomotives; it is therefore a desideratum to employ a denser
medium to commence with than atmospheric air at the ordinary pres-
sure. This is effected by supplying the air pump from a reservoir or
receiver of compressed air instead of from the natural atmosphere, as in
the first-described mode. This arrangement is represented in Figure 2.
The air receiver A, A, and the long cylinder B, B, are arranged and con-
nected with each other, and with the air pump and cylinder, as in the
first instance; but the air pump, instead of drawing its supply from the
atmosphere, receives it (through the pipe O, and its branches P, P,
which communicate with the supply valves of the air pump) from a
reservoir Q, Q, into which air is first forced through the aperture at R,
by a small air pump, which may be operated by a band running from
the main shaft s, s, of the engine. The exhaust air, instead of passing
through the long cylinder around its pipes and out of the passage M, is
conveyed by means of a pipe S, out of the passage M, and into the
reservoir QQ; the pipe S, being passed through a water tank or
other similar device, so that the exhaust air shall be cold when it enters
the reservoir. A uniform pressure may be kept up in the reservoir in
the same manner as herein above described for regulating the pressure
in the receiver A, A; the air in the reservoir when exerting more pres-
sure than the engine requires acting upon a piston which slides, an arm
that opens both the supply valves of the additional air pump.
I am aware that atmospheric and gas engines of various descriptions
have long been known, and that in some instances heat has been ap-
plied to highly compressed air, and also to highly compressed gases
generated under pressure. I do not, therefore, claim the employment of
atmospheric air in a compressed state generally as a motive power; nor
do I claim its employment under the conditions of heating and cooling

page_text: or expanding and contracting with varying pressures, as in other air and
gas engines hitherto essayed; nor do I claim merely the heating and
cooling or expanding and contracting of highly compressed air for the
purposes of a motive power; nor do I even claim the heating of highly
compressed air to act as a motive power, except under the principles of
arrangement and operation as set forth in this Specification: but that
which I consider to be the distinguishing features of the present Inven-
tion are the following parts (viz): An air pump or pumps for con-
densing the air, a receiver for the condensed air, in which the air is to
be maintained at a uniform pressure, and a working cylinder of suit-
ablé construction with the necessary appendages of valves and parts to
operate the same, and using the air expansively, substantially in the
manner and for the purposes described.
I therefore claim as the 'Invention secured to me by Letters Patent
as aforesaid the mode or method herein set forth, or any mere modifi-
cation thereof, of using air as a motive power, such mode consisting in
the employment of a receiver in which air is to be highly compressed,
healed, and maintained at or about a uniform pressure, in combination
with a suitable working cylinder and piston with the ordinary appen-
dages, also an air pump or pumps worked by the engine for supplying
the receiver, and suitable devices for working the air expansively,
according to the degree of compression of the air.
I also claim (in addition to the mode of using the air as above de-
scribed) supplying the air pumps with dense or compressed air from a
reservoir filled by the exhaust" air, and by air forced in by an addi-
tional air pump, so as to work the engine at a high pressure when
desirable.
I also claim the contrivance for regulating the pressure of the air in
the receiver and economizing the power of the engine, such contrivance
consisting of the bent rod retracted by a spring or weight so acted upon
by the pressure of air in the receiver as to open or close the supply
valves of the air pumps, as above set forth.
I also claim the improved method shewn of constructing the eduction
valve of the air pump, the same consisting in forming it of a dish shape,

page_text: so as to require a very small bearing, thereby forming a balance valve,
so that the back pressure from the air receiver will not prevent the
valve from opening.
In witness whereof, I. the said William Edward Newton. have
hereunto set my hand and scal, the Second day of July, in
the year of our Lord. One thousand eight hundred and fifty-
three.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
W. E. NEWTON. (L.S.)