IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR OBTAINING MOTIVE POWER FROM AIR
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Newton, of the Office for Patents
60, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for
the Invention of "IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR OBTAINING MOTIVE POWER
FROM AIR." A communication from abroad by George Marshall, of New
York, in the United States of America.
00, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for
the Invention of "IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR OBTAINING MOTIVE POWER
FROM AIR."--A communication from abroad by George Marshall, of New
York, in the United States of America.
Sealed the 3rd May 1861, and dated the 7th November 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward
Newton at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 7th November 1860.
I, WILLIAM EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery
Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR OBTAINING MOTIVE
POWER FROM AIR," to be as follows:-
This Invention of improved apparatus for obtaining motive power from air
relates to a novel arrangement of apparatus on which atmospheric air may be
heated and conducted in a heated state into a high-pressure engine, in which
the expansive force of the air may be used to actuate the piston of the engine,
and thereby obtain motion. The apparatus consists of any convenient nuniber
of tanks made sufficiently strong to resist a considerable internal pressure.

page_text: These tanks communicate by means of pipes provided with suitable valves
with an air pump, whereby air may be compressed and forced under pressure
into the tanks, which are provided internally with apparatus for heating the
compressed air. The beating apparatus consists of a burner provided with a
large number of holes, from which hydrogen gas under pressure escapes, and
is ignited by means of an electric spark, produced by means of a battery com-
municating with wires placed inside the tank and contiguous to the burner.
Oxygen gas may also be supplied by means of a separate pipe for the purpose
of increasing the intensity of the flame, and consequently the heat given off
therefrom. The compressed air is heated by these means to a very high tem-
perature, and is then conducted through pipes, provided with suitable valves to
the cylinder of a high-pressure engine where it will exert its elastic force on
the piston. It will be found convenient to use the heated compressed air from
two or more tanks in combination so that the pressure may be equallized. The
air pump will be kept constantly at work, pumping air into the tanks in suc-
cession, and a connection by means of pipes and valves is established between
the tanks, and is so arranged that when one tank is exhausted or nearly so,
another may be put in communication, and the exhausted one cut off.
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 7th May 1861.
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 Seventh day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-fourth 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

page_text: "IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR OBTAINING MOTIVE POWER FROM AIR," being a com-
munication 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 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 Drawing hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say) :-
This Invention of "Improved Apparatus for obtaining Motive Power from
Air," relates to a novel arrangement of apparatus in which atmospheric air
may be heated and conducted in a heated state into a high-pressure engine, in
which the expansive force the air may be used to actuate the piston of the
engine, and thereby obtain motion. The apparatus consists of any convenient
number of tanks made sufficiently strong to resist a considerable internal
pressure. These tanks communicate by means of pipes provided with suitable
valves with an air pump, whereby air may be compressed and forced under
pressure into the tanks which are provided internally with apparatus for heat-
ing the compressed air. The heating apparatus consists of a burner provided
with a large number of holes from which hydrogen gas under pressure escapes,
and is ignited by means of an electric spark, produced by means of a battery
communicating with wires placed inside the tank and contiguous to the burner.
Oxygen gas may also be supplied by means of a separate pipe for the purpose
of increasing the intensity of the flame, and consequently the heat given off
therefrom. The compressed air is heated by these means to a very high tem
perature, and is then conducted through pipes provided with suitable valves to
the cylinder of a high-pressure engine, where it will exert its elastic force on
the piston. It will be found convenient to use the heated compressed air from
two or more tanks in combination, so that the pressure may be equalised. The
air pump will be kept constantly at work pumping air into the tanks, in suc-
cession, and a connection by means of pipes and valves is established between
the tanks, and is so arranged that when one tank is exhausted, or nearly so,
another may be put in communication, and the exhausted one cut off.
In the accompanying Drawing Fig. 1 is a plan view of one arrangement of

page_text: apparatus constructed according to the present invention. In this arrangement
there are four hot air tanks or cylinders, with their pipes and other accessories.
Fig. 2 is a transverse section of the same showing the interior arrangement
of the cylinders or tanks. Fig. 3 is a vertical longitudinal section of one of
the cylinders or tanks.
A, A, A, A, are the air tanks or cylinders; B represents an air pump for
forcing air into the tanks; C, C, are pipes for conveying carburetted hydrogen
gas to burners E, placed in the interior of the cylinders or tanks, and D, D.
are pipes for conveying oxygen gas to other burners G, G, in the interior of
the tanks or cylinders. The hydrogen gas burners E are provided with
numerous holes, so as to produce numerous jets of flame; H, H, are pipes to
convey the air from the air pump B to the cylinder or tanks; A, A, and I, I,
are pipes to convey the rarefied air from the tanks A to the working cylinder
of a high-pressure engine. These pipes I, I, communicate with a common
pipe J through a valve at O; K, K, are wires, connected at one end with the
poles of a galvanic battery; the other ends of these wires are introduced into
the air cylinders A, A, and are brought near together in the vicinity of the
jets of gas. The hydrogen gas pipe C, and the oxygen gas pipe D, are respec-
tively provided with valves or cocks, which are worked by cranks L and M.
A safety valve N is placed on the top of each air tank or cylinder A, A.
Beneath the pump B (Fig. 1) is a valve box, constructed and arranged to
connect the pump with one tank or cylinder at a time in order to fill the same.
The engine to be used in connection with the above-described hot air
apparatus is a common high-pressure engine, into the cylinder of which hot
air is admitted from the tanks A at a high pressure instead of steam. Two,
four, or six tanks or cylinders may be used for the air; the larger the number
of air tanks that are used in combination the better: four is a convenient
number. The air pump is worked by the high-pressure engine in order to
keep the tanks A filled, but I would remark that the pump must work at one
only of the air cylinders or tanks at a time. The change of communication
between the air pump and the different air tanks is effected by a valve actuated
by means of cams or excentrics, or any other convenient mechanical con-
trivance. The air is heated in the tanks or air cylinders by the ignited gas
inside, but it may also be heated from the outside.. The gas pipes which
enter the air tanks are provided with burners having numerous. jets, as above
mentioned, and these gas pipes are provided with valves that are worked by
the engine through the intervention of proper apparatus, so that the gas may
be admitted when required, and shut off at the proper time, and turned on to

page_text: the next air tank or cylinder. The pipes D convey oxygen gas beneath or
near to the flame of the hydrogen gas, and are provided with proper valves,
whereby it is admitted at the same time with the other gas. The conducting
wires K, K, from the galvanic battery are for the purpose of igniting the
hydrogen gas at the bottom of the burner E. The two gases are admitted by
their valves L and M at the same time, and the wires of the battery are at the
same time brought together so as to complete the electric circuit, and create a
spark in the tank so as to ignite the gas. By these means a flame which
gives off an intense heat is produced in the middle of the tank, so as to heat
the compressed air. The oxygen gas may, if desired, be dispensed with
generally, as the flame when burning in the compressed air will be sufficiently
supplied with oxygen without it, and then the oxygen can be turned on to
intensify the flame when more power is required. Of course the cut-off valves
must be so arranged that the engineer or attendant can admit to the tanks
whatever quantity of gas he requires, as the power obtained will be in pro-
portion to the quantity of gas consumed. In the working this air power the
tanks are all filled at first with air, say, at twenty pounds pressure to the
square inch, then one of the tanks is pumped to a pressure of say forty pounds
to the inch. The apparatus is then ready to work; the engineer or attendant
then turns on the gases, and ignites them by means of the electric spark. This
is all one operation, and in a second or two the engine can be set in motion.
The attendant admits the hot air to the cylinder of the engine, and the pump
works to fill the air tank which is next to be heated, and so on. The air is
heated in each tank, say to one hundred pounds to the inch, and is worked
down to twenty pounds pressure. When a few strokes of the piston have
been made, the valve of the next tanks is to be opened, and the air in the
second tank at one hundred pounds pressure is worked with that of the first
tank, which is now reduced in pressure. By the time the first tank has been
worked long enough the air in the third tank is used in combination with that
in the second tank, and so on. The apparatus should be so arranged that when
four tanks are used two of them should always be supplying the air to the
engine in connection in order to equalize the elastic force and the power as far
as possible. If there were six or eight air tanks, then three or four tanks
should be used in connection with one another. The air pump forces into
each tank (one at a time, and just after such tank has done supplying air to
the engine), the same quantity of air which has been supplied to the engine.
This air must, of course, be supplied in a cold state.
Having now described the Invention of "Improved Apparatus for obtaining

page_text: "Motive Power from Air," and having explained the manner of carrying the
same into effect, as communicated to me by my foreign correspondent, I claim,
as the Invention secured to me by Letters Patent as aforesaid, the mode of
and apparatus herein-before described for increasing the elastic force of atmos-
pheric air so as to obtain power therefrom to drive an engine.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal the Seventh day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
W. E. NEWTON. (L.S.)