A NEW OR IMPROVED FRICTION ENGINE FOR PRODUCING MOTIVE POWER
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Srigley, of Burbage, near Buxton,
Derbyshire, Agent, for the Invention of "A NEW OR IMPROVED
FRICTION ENGINE FOR PRODUCING MOTIVE POWER."
Sealed the 10th May 1870, and dated the 16th November 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Srigley at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 16th November 1869.
I, WILLIAM SRIGLEY, of Burbage, near Buxton, Derbyshire, Agent,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "A NEW OR
IMPROVED FRICTION ENGINE FOR PRODUCING MOTIVE POWER," to be as
follows:-
I propose to obtain power by producing friction on the rim of a fly
wheel by causing a tube to be carried a series of times round the rim,
the said tube being filled with porous substances, and by forcing a
current of air or other fluid through the circuitous route of the tube
going to and from the rim by way of the axle.

page_text: I do not confine myself to the shape or configuration of the engine
but to the principle of its construction, and I will state one way which
in my opinion is the best for carrying the said principle out into general
practice. Where great pressure and power is required I use a large fly
wheel having a small driving wheel attached to it. The fly wheel may be
of any convenient diameter according to the power required, the rim of
the wheel to be wider than the common fly wheel and composed of
metal plates made slightly taper or wedge-formed so that a number
placed together will complete the circle of the rim. In each plate there
are to be pierced a number of holes about one quarter inch in diameter
and in number about one to each superficial inch. India-rubber sheets
must be made with the same number of holes and in the same order,
with this exception that the holes in the india-rubber sheet are to be a
little larger. A sheet of fine gauze is to be placed between two of the
india-rubber sheets, and they are placed between two metal plates, and to
form the rim of the wheel they are placed together in regular succession.
The sheets of gauze, india-rubber, and metal plates are to be screwed
together air-tight and thus form a series of circular or annular tubes,
and in order to connect these into one tube before finally closing the
rim it must be turned a little sideways so as to allow one row of holes
in the metal plates at each side of the rim to project outwards. A
tube is carried from the bottom hole at one side down to the shaft and
conducted through the shaft to a packing box at the bearing. A similar
tube is carried from the top hole at the opposite side of the rim and
conducted in like manner to the opposite extremity of the shaft to
another packing box at the bearing. The remaining holes left open at
each side of the rim are to be connected by a similar number of short
tubes leading from the holes in one side to the holes in the other and
placed in their proper order for connection; by such an arrangement all
the tubes are formed into one tube and each extremity of the tube is at
the two packing boxes, and each end leads to two air chests, con-
taining compressed air, the other to act as a vacuum chest to receive
the compressed air through the circuitous route of the rim, or the
vacuum chest may be used without the compressed air chest by taking
its air direct from the atmosphere, or the compressed air chest may be
used without the vacuum chest by the exhaust pipe leading direct into
the atmosphere. The air pump can be connected with the second
motion. Taps are to be placed and communication made so that air can
be sent either way round the rim, To prevent dust collecting in the

page_text: tubes air filters may be used. The friction of the air, water, or other
fluid in passing through the series of circular or annular tubes in the
rim will cause the wheel to revolve and thus the motive power is
obtained. Water being more dense than air will produce more friction,
but as each has its advantages it will be a matter of choice which of
the two elements is used. The friction engine will require a pressure
of air to be got up in the chest before the engine can commence
working as in the steam engine steam has first to be got up before the
engine can work, but the friction engine will have the advantage over
the steam engine that the air will not condense as in the steam boiler.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Srigley in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 16th May 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAMÍ
SRIGLEY, of Burbage, near Buxton, Derbyshire, Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Sixteenth day of November, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the
thirty-third year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said William Srigley, Her special license,
that I, the said William Srigley, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said William Srigley, 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 "A NEW OR
IMPROVED FRICTION ENGINE FOR PRODUCING MOTIVE POWER," upon the.
condition, amongst others, that I, the said William Srigley, 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 Patcut.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Srigley, 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 and accompanying Drawings, that is to say:
My Invention has for its object to obtain motive power by producing
or generating friction on the rim of a fly wheel. For this purpose I
form a tube or passage extending a number of times around the
central axis of the said fly wheel, the said tube being filled with porous
substances or otherwise so formed as that a considerable frictional
resistance shall be offered to the passage of air or other fluid through
the said tube. The said air or other fluid is forced through the said
tube or passage, and by reason of the said frictional resistance causes
the said fly wheel to revolve on its axis,
The method of constructing the said engine which I prefer to employ
may be described as follows:-I construct the said fly wheel of a
suitable size according to the power required, and I make the rim of the
said wheel comparatively wider than is usual, the said rim being com-
posed of layers of metal plates, caoutchouc packings, and wire gauze,
Each of the said metal plates is made of a slightly taper or wedge form,
and is perforated with a number of holes, say, for example, one quarter
of an inch in diameter and spaced about one inch apart. Tho caoutchouc
packings are also formed with perforations slightly larger in diameter
than those in the metal plates. The rim of the fly wheel is built up of
the said plates, packings, and wire gauze in the following order, namely,
between two of the said packings is placed a sheet of wire gauze, and the
said packings and gauze are placed between two of the said metal plates,
phere being thus a metal plate, then a packing, then a sheet of wire
gauze,. then a second packing, then a second metal plate; and so on
entirely around the rim of the fly wheel. As thus arranged the per-
forations in the plates and the packings would form a series of annular
tubes, and in order to connect these into one continuous passage the
continuity of the said annular passages is broken at one part of the
circumference of the wheel, so that, for example, at the said part the
first row of perforations in one plate is made to coincide with the second
row of perforations in the next plate, the first row in one plate and the
last row in the other being exposed and projecting from the side of the
rim of the fly wheel. A tube extends from the innermost perforation in
one of the said projecting rows to a gland or stuffing box coinciding

page_text: with the axis of the fly wheel, a second tube extending from the outer-
most perforation in the other of the said projecting rows to a similar
gland at the other end of the said axis. The remaining perforation's
exposed as aforesaid are connected by means of tubes extending from
the perforations on one side of the rim to the perforations on the other
side thereof, the connections being so arranged as that a current of air or
other fluid on being forced into one of the aforesaid annular tubes or
passages will flow through the entire number of the said annular
passages before being discharged, the said flow continuing in one direction
around the axis of the fly wheel. When air is used each of the afore
mentioned glands is in communication with an air chest, and air is
forced into one of the two air chests, and after flowing through tho
annular passages is exhausted from the other air chest or is discharged
into the atmosphere, or a partial vacuum may be maintained in one air
chest, the air being allowed to flow directly from the atmosphere into the
opening leading to the said annular passages. Suitable arrangements
are made for enabling the direction of motion of the air when flowing
through the said annular passages to be reversed. The pressure of air
may be furnished by air pumps driven by the fly wheel, the friction of
the air or of the water or other fluid used in place of the said air when
flowing through the said annular passage causing the fly wheel to
revolve and thus furnishing the motive power.
:
In order that the said Invention may be better understood, I have
attached hereunto a Sheet of Drawings marked with letters of reference,
to which I will in this place refer.
Fig. 1 represents a perforated metal plate; Fig. 2 represents a section
of the rim of the fly wheel shewing how the same is built up; Figs. 3
and 4 illustrate the method of connecting the annular passages into one
continuous passage, all the said Figures being drawn about one half of
the full size, the dimensions of the parts shewn as broken being indicated
lierein-after.
:
Figure 5 is a side elevation of the engine drawn to á smaller scale
than the other Figures. The metal plates are perforated with holes
shewn as arranged in vertical and horizontal rows, there being for
example fifty holes in each horizontal row and six in each vertical row,
there being thus three hundred holes in each plate. It will be under-
stood that the number and disposition of the perforations and the
dimensions and configuration of the parts may be considerably varied

page_text: without departing from the principle of the Invention. The sheets of
caoutchouc are of the same size as the said metal plates, and are formed
with holes corresponding to those in the said plates but a little larger
in size. In Fig. 2 a section of the rim of a fly wheel about eighteen
feet in diameter is shewn. The body of the said wheel may be of any
construction suitable to carry the ring of plates and packings which
extend entirely around the rim of the said wheel.
The metal plates are shewn at a, a, the caoutchouc packings at b, b,
and the wire gauze sheets at c, c. The plates and packings are so arranged
and placed together as that the perforations shall coincide so as to form
three hundred annular passages extending around the fly wheel. The
attachment to the fly wheel may be effected by arranging the plates,
packings, and sheets of gauze in their proper order around the. said
wheel, but at a short distance therefrom. Metal clamps such as shewn
at are then to be placed around the ring thus formed, and tightened
so as to contract the diameter of the circle until the ring bears on the
rim of the fly wheel, the compression of the packings effecting the
necessary isolation of the annular passages.
At a part of the rim shewn in cross section at Fig. 3, the first
vertical row from the edge of one plate is made to coincide with the second
vertical row in the next contiguous plate. The effect of this arrange-
ment is that when air is forced through the tube d and enters the first
annular passage it will flow through all the annular passages in the
lower horizontal row until it emerges at the fifticth, from whence it
passes through the tube e to the first passage in the second horizontal
row. Similar tubes e, e, convey the air from the end of each row to
the commencement of the next row, until the air flows into the tube f
having in its course flowed three hundred times around the fly wheel.
Another method of effecting this guidance of the air is illustrated by
Fig. 4, which represents a section through a metal plate n, which is to
be substituted for one of the ordinary plates. It will be seen that the
air after flowing through the first passage is conveyed into the second
passage, and from that one to the third, and so on until the last passage
in the row is reached, when the air is conveyed to the next horizontal
row by a similar short passage curving upwards or downwards instead of
horizontally, as shewn in the Drawing.
In Fig. 5 the fly wheel is shewn as mounted on a shaft revolving
in bearings h, h, and fitted with pulleys i, i, for the transmission of

page_text: power to the machinery to be driven. The glands which are in com-
munication with the aforesaid air chests are shewn at 1, 2. In order to
shield the engine a casing m entirely surrounds the fly wheel, and J
prefer that this casing shall be so suitably made as that a vacuum may
be maintained therein. The air pumps may receive their motion from
the fly wheel shaft in any suitable manner.
Although air has been herein mentioned as the acting medium,
steam, gas, water, or other fluid may be employed in lieu of the said
air if preferred. I prefer that the acting medium, as for example air,
be filtered in order to prevent the deposit of impurities in the passages.
Other means than the herein described engine will have to be employed to
obtain a pressure of air or other acting medium when the said engine has
to be started. It is intended that the force stored up in the acting medium
shall be exhausted during the passage through the rim of the wheel, and
shall be absorbed by the said rim, thus causing the wheel to rotate, and
the rim of the said wheel acting as a lever I expect to obtain a great
increase of power as compared with the power necessary to obtain the
pressure of air.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and means
for carrying the same into practical effect, I would have it to be under-
stood that I do not confine myself to the precise details as herein
described; but that I desire to claim the obtaining of motive power by
forcing air, gas, water, or other fluid through a passage or through
passages winding a number of times around a central axis, for the
purpose as hercin-before set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Srigley, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of May, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy.
WILLIAM SRIGLEY. (L.s.)