A NEW AND USEFUL REPEATING ROTARY ENGINE
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Monson, of the State of Connecticut, of the
United States of America, for the Invention of "A NEW AND USEFUL
REPEATING ROTARY ENGINE."
Sealed the 11th November 1862, and dated the 22nd August 1862.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said Charles Monson at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition and Declara-
tion, on the 22nd August 1862, pursuant to the 9th Section of the
Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852..
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, BE IT
KNOWN that I, CHARLES MONSON, of the State of Connecticut, of the United
States of America, have invented "A NEW AND USEFUL REPEATING ROTARY
ENGINE," and I do hereby declare that the nature of the said Invention, and the.
manner in which the same is to be performed, to be particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following Specification and the accom-
panying Drawings, of which Figure 1 denotes a side elevation, Figure 2 &
longitudinal section, and Figure 8 a transverse section of it.
The principle on which my Invention is based is that the same current,
which when confined under pressure, will revolve, one wheel or instrument may
be caused to so operate a larger number successively or consecutively that.

page_text: the aggregate power of the whole or the useful effect thereof shall be increased,
such current being either of a liquid, aeriform, or a gaseous character.
The nature of my Invention therefore will be found in a series of arms, wheels,
or their mechanical equivalents confined within tight chambers or enclosures,
and applied to either one or a number of shafts, and so provided with passages
of connection and discharge that the motive element under pressure, (as steam,
for instance,) after having entered or acted on and put in rotation the first
instrument of such series, shall be caused to pass out of the enclosure of the
said first instrument and so operate on each of the other instruments of the
series consecutively as to induce rotation of it. This consecutive operation, or
rather this simultaneous operation upon consecutive instruments by the same
jet or current of steam, is characterized I believe by this peculiar novelty,
viz., that no one of the several instruments or motors can be any obstruction to
the course of the current except simply by friction through the passages of
induction and eduction. In this respect my Invention is peculiar. A series of
bucket wheels arranged in a stream would not be like it, for they would be
such obstructions to the current that, provided the first of the series were
loaded to the extent it would carry, all of the other wheels would be useless.
In my plan, on the contrary, the current is effective throughout, even though
the first of the series should be overloaded. This can be proved by an arrange-
ment of shafts as herein indicated.
In my engine I contemplate the use of steam expansively (by a progressive
enlargement of the bore or capacity of the arms), and presume it can be so
employed with as much advantage as in most other engines; and although I
have hereafter shown one construction or mode of carrying out my Invention,
this may be varied without changing the principle, combination, or character
of my Invention, by which it is distinguishable from others, it consisting in one
or more chambered shafts, a series or succession of wheels, arms, or equivalent
devices, and a series of air-tight boxes or chambers so combined and arranged
and provided with passages of induction and eduction, that one and the same
current of fluid under pressure shall be made repeatedly available for mechanical
power substantially as set forth.
In the Drawings, A, A1, A2, represent a series of cylindrical vessels or
chambers piled or placed together end to end, and provided with a tubular
shaft B, extending through all of them axially. This shaft is to be so applied
to the several chambers or vessels as to be capable of being freely revolved
on its axis. Within each chamber two or any other suitable number of curved
arms C, C, are made to project from the shaft or from a hub D encircling

page_text: it and fastened firmly to it. A steam chest or auxiliary chamber E is
fixed on the outer end of the first chamber of the series, and surrounds the
shaft and receives a lateral induction pipe F. That part of the shaft which
is within the chest E has one or more holes or passages a made through it, so
as to enable steam to pass from the chest into the bore of the shaft. In rear
of such hole or holes the hollow shaft has a partition 6 extended across it.
There are also certain other partitions c, c¹, &, carried transversely across the
bore of the shaft, and so as to divide the shaft into a series of chambers d, d', d².
The chambers d, d', d, are respectively encompassed by the chambers A, A1, A²,
and each of the arms C opens at its inner end directly into the shaft chamber,
which is surrounded by its hub. Furthermore, there are one or more holes e
leading out of each of the two shaft chambers d', d, and into the chambers A, A¹.
There are also one or more eduction pipes f leading out of the chamber A².
A series of pins 9, 9, 9, is arranged in a circuler row within each of the
chambers A, A1, A2, and next to its circumference, and finally the shaft B is
stepped or pivotted against the head of the last chamber A2 of the series.
Each of the hollow arms C, C, is curved or should be constructed in such
manner that the force of effluent steam when discharged out of it shall tend
to produce a rotary motion of the shaft, and particularly in consequence of
the reaction of the steam against a series of the pins 9, 9, 9. When steam is
let into the induction pipe of the engine above described, it will rush through
the shaft chamber d, and from thence into and out of the first pair of arms C,
from whence it will flow into their vessel or chamber A; from this chamber A
the steam will pass into the second shaft chamber d¹, and from it will rush into
and through the second set of arms C, and be received into the chamber A¹,
from the chamber A¹ it will escape into the third shaft chamber d², and finally will
rush through the third series of arms C and into the last chamber A³, and out of
the latter through the induction pipe or pipes f. In passing out of each of the
curved arms of the three sets of arms the steam by its reaction will exert a force
on the shaft tending to put it in revolution. The machine above described may
be somewhat varied in construction and yet be made to operate substantially as
specified; for instance, its main chambers may be separated so that there may
be spaces between them, and there may be a shaft to each chamber and pair
of arms, there being a pipe or conduit leading from each chamber into the
shaft of the succeeding chamber. On each of these shafts there may be a
gear to connect with and put in operation the driving gear of any mechanism.
Instead of each of the several series of arms C, C, C, a hollow wheel may be
used, provided it be so made that while discharging steam out of its periphery
or other part such shall put the wheel in revolution.

page_text: I claim a repeating rotary engine constructed in manner or so as to operate
substantially as described, viz., of two or more sets of curved arms (C) or their
mechanical equivalents, a series of two or more tight vessels or chambers
(A, A, A,) and a shaft or its equivalent divided into separate chambers and
provided with induction and escape passages, the whole being arranged sub-
stantially as set forth.
In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal, this Second