Year: 1886

page_text: I, WILLIAM HENRY MURCH of Burwood Road, Hawthorn, in the Colony of
Victoria, Mechanical Draughtsman do hereby declare the nature of this invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed to be particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following statement:―
The improved rotary engine of which this invention primarily consists has been
designed so that it may be worked either by steam, air, or water, or it may be
used as a rotary pump by dispensing with the reversing gear and making the inlet
and outlet passages of a suitable size. The engine may be used either for a loco-
motive, or as a marine or stationary engine. Its main parts consist of the cylinder
or piston-chamber, the sliding abutments, the piston with its supporting disc, and
the grooved drum. This latter is attached to the supporting disc and actuates said
sliding abutments. The grooved drum and piston disc are secured upon the engine
shaft. The cylinder or piston-ehamber is formed by bolting together two cheeks,
each half of which has a semi-circular or approximately semi-circular recess in it,
so that when bolted together they leave an annular space or chamber of circular or
approximately circular section between them in which travels the piston which
projects outwards from and at right angles to its supporting disc. One of said
cheeks has also formed on it a cylindrical chamber of a lesser diameter than said
annular recess, and in this chamber the grooved drum works. The other side cheek
is plain, but both are provided with central bearings for the engine shaft. Arranged
transversely across the cylinder or piston chamber and parallel with the face of the
piston are chests in which the sliding abutments work, and these chests have
passages in them which are connected with the steam supply and exhaust pipes
which are furnished with a slide or plug valve to enable the engine to be
reversed.
In order that my invention may be clearly understood I will now refer to the
drawings hereto attached which illustrate it adapted for use as a reversible steam
atmospheric or water engine, and in which drawings,
Figure 1 is a front elevation, and
Figure 2 a side elevation.
T

page_text: Figure 7 is a side elevation of my engine provided with only one sliding abut-
ment. This form is designed for travelling at high speeds.
Figure 8 is a transverse section of same on the centre line c c in Figure 7.
Figure 9 is a front elevation of the top portions of this form of my engine.
Figure 10. is a cross section on the line d d in Figure 9.
Figure 11 is a plan and end view of the alternative construction of sliding
abutment used with this form of my engine.
Figure 12 is a side elevation of the grooved drum shewing how the groove meets
in a straight length on the same side as the piston..
.
In Figures 1 to 6, A and A¹ are the cheeks secured together by the bolts A²
A³ is the "cylinder" or piston-chamber between them. A'is a cylindrical casing cast
or formed upon cheek A', in which to enclose the grooved drum B. A5 are stuffing
boxes formed upon said casing and upon the cheek A. A are their glands which
together form the bearings for the engine shaft A7 A8 is a wearing ring seated in
a suitable recess in cheek A, and provided with adjusting screws A³. C is the
piston projecting radially from the outer periphery of the disc C¹, which is keyed
upon the engine shaft. C is the spring piston ring secured in position by the junk
ring C³, which is bolted to said piston. B is the grooved drum keyed upon the
engine-shaft, and having a groove B¹ formed.in.it, the one half of which is parallel
with the piston disc C, while the other half of said groove traverses each way
towards the other end of the drum in the form of helical curves, which meet in a
short length of the groove which is again parallel to the piston disc (as shewn in
Figure 12). E are the rollers which work in said groove and are centred upon the
sliding abutments E¹ which work within the casings A10 formed upon or secured
to the cheeks A and A¹ and to the drum casing A*. All are covers for said casing
having recesses formed in them to receive the spring E' which has blocks affixed
to it to work upon the edge of the sliding abutments. The tension of these springs
is adjusted by the set screws A". The sliding abutments which are of a tapering
thickness have a hole E³ in them at one end to allow the piston to pass through,
and at their other end they have the recesses or ports E' and E³ formed in them
on opposite faces of the abutment which act either as ingress or egress passages
for the steam air or water according to the direction the engine is working.
F and F¹ are circular pipes which convey the steam to and fro from the plug
valve G to the passages A13 and A which lead to the recesses in the sliding
abutment. The means provided for reversing the engine consist of a plug valve
casing G having two branches for connection to the pipes F and F¹, and two
branches to which are connected the steam or supply pipe G¹ and the exhaust
pipe G. G³ is the plug valve within it, the top of which is actuated by the
handle G, which may be secured at the desired position to the quadrant plate G³
by the lock bolt Go.
Referring to Figures 7 to 12 which shew my rotary engine constructed for
travelling at bigh speeds. It is provided with only one sliding abutment and is
shewn with an alternative reversing gear. Similar letters of reference in these
figures will indicate similar parts to those already referred to.
The sliding
abutment E' in this engine is made without the end carrying the hole E³, and is
held in position by the bar E' against which the two springs E7 are compressed.
The side passages A¹³ and A¹ lead to the valve face in the steam chest H in which
the slide valve H¹ works, and it has teeth on its back, which gear with the
segment H affixed upon the spindle H³, which is actuated by the hand lever H
furnished with a lock bolt H5, which secures said lever at the desired position to
the quadrant plate H6.
The action of the engine when worked with two slides is as follows when used
as a steam engine. The plug valve G³ is placed in position to admit steam to the
pipe F from whence it finds ingress into the passages A, and one of the sliding
abutments E being across the cylinder A³, the port E' in said abutment is in
proper position to allow the steam to enter it and so exert its force between the
underside of said abutment, and the piston C which is consequently caused to

page_text: rotate and take with it the grooved drum B, the groove B¹ in which allows this
slide to remain for the time being stationary and so actuates the opposite,sliding
abutment as to gradually slide it into position to allow the piston to travel through
the hole E' in it when the slides will assume the position shewn in Figure 4.
After the piston has passed through the slide it is caused to travel again to its
position across the cylinder A³, so as to allow a fresh supply of steam to be
admitted to it through the upper passage A
Simultaneously with the steam being admitted to the cylinder A³, the steam on
the opposite side of the abutment is exhausting from it and finds egress through
the ports E on the opposite faces of said abutments into the passages A¹s and
pipe F, and thence through plug valve G to exhaust pipe G', and thus a rotary
motion is imparted to the engine. By setting the valve to admit steam to the
pipe F¹ and allow it to exhaust through pipe F a reverse motion of the engine is
obtained. It may be here noted that the only time during which steam is admitted
to and exhausts from the cylinder is when the ports D' and D' in the sliding
abutments E', connect the passages A¹³, and A¼ with the cylinder. The "cut off"
or duration of this operation can be regulated by the length of that portion of the
groove B¹ which is parallel with the disc of the piston.
The action of the engine when worked with one sliding abutment is similar to
that described for the two-slide engine with the exception that the cylinder only
receives its supply and exhausts once in every revolution, the movement of the
sliding abutment is also similar, but as I have shewn it only half the length of the
one shewn for the other engine, the piston simply travels by and so it does not
require a hole Es through it as before. For the reversing gear I have shewn a
slide valve H which is well understood.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what
I claim is:
1. The construction of rotary engines with an annular piston chamber or
cylinder of circular or approximately circular section (A³) in combination with a
piston such as C, a disc such as C¹, and a shaft such as A7, such chamber to be
furnished with suitably actuated abutment slides connected with supply and
exhaust pipes substantially as herein described and explained and as illustrated in
my drawings.
2. The grooved drum B B¹ affixed on shaft A', and attached to disc piston C¹,
and enclosed within casing A¹, A* and used as the means for imparting the
necessary motions to the sliding abutments E¹ substantially as herein described
and explained and as illustrated in my drawings.
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3. The sliding abutments formed as referred to by the letters E, E¹, and E³ to E³,
and spring E (Figures 4 and 5) or formed as referred to by the letters E, E¹, E',
and E, and bar E, and springs E' (Figures 8 and 11) in combination with the
suitable chest A10, A" having passages A¹³ and A" and attached to casings A, A¹,
and A substantially as herein described and explained and as illustrated in my
drawings.
1-
A