IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM ENGINES, ATMOSPHERIC ENGINES, IN DISTILLING AND IN PUMPING WATER
Year: 1847

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I JOHN
AITKEN, of Russell Street, Bermondsey, in the County of Surrey, Leather
Dresser, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Twenty-second day of May,
One thousand eight hundred and forty-seven, in the tenth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
John Aitken, my exors, adññiors, and assigns, Her especial licence, full power,
sole privilege and authority, that I, the said John Aitken, my exors, adiñiors,
or assigns, or such others as I, the said John Aitken, my exors, adñiors, or
assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and
at all times during the term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully
might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town
of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM ENGINES,
ATMOSPHERIC ENGINES, IN DISTILLING AND IN PUMPING WATER;" in which said
Letters Patent is contained a proviso that I, the said John Aitken, shall
causo a particular description of the nature of my said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, by an instrument in writing under
my hand and scal, to be inrolled in Her said Majesty's High Court of Chan-
cery within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the

page_text: said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being
thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
John Aitken, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and the
manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement thereof, that is to say:―
My Invention relates, first, to improvements in steam engines, whereby I
obtain greater power from the steam employed.
Secondly, my Invention relates to improvements in atmospheric engines,
whereby I obtain power by rendering atmospheric pressure more efficient.
Thirdly, my Invention relates to distillation, whereby the products are
improved, time and fuel saved.
Fourthly, my Invention relates to the saving of power in pumping water.
The first part of my Invention has for its object a mode of supplying the
condensing water to the-condenser-of steam engines, and at the same time
obtaining power by so doing; and this part of my Invention consists in
applying a cylinder, a piston, and piston rod, similar to those of the steam
engine, the cylinder being of a size suitable for containing as much water as,
when thrown into the condenser, condenses the steam coming from the steam
cylinder, the additional cylinder having a valve on the top and a valve or slide
to induction and eduction ways, the eduction way opening into the condenser
so that the water may be thrown into the condenser so as to condense the
steam as it comes from the steam cylinder, the induction way opening into a
tank or the source of the water. By this arrangement, supposing the induction
way to be opened by an eccentric, the water will be admitted into the cylinder,
and the pressure of the atmosphere will be received by the piston; as soon as
the piston reaches the end of the stroke, the induction valve is closed, and the
eduction valve is opened by an eccentric; the water in the additional cylinder
then passes into the condenser, and the piston is brought back without any
resistance, leaving a vacuum behind, and thus the additional cylinder gives
power to the steam engine in ordinary cases equal to the discharge of the air-
pump, and also improves the vacuum in the condenser by extracting air from
the water on its way to the condenser. The first part of my Invention also
relates to improvements in the condenser and air pump by a pipe or tube
denominated by me a vacuum tube, whereby greater power is obtained from
the steam in steam engines by means of a pipe or tube, with a valve in it,
communicating between the condenser and the upper part of the air pump,
by which means a portion of the vapour in the condenser is conveyed to
the vacuum formed by the descent of the air-pump bucket, and the vacuum

page_text: in the condenser is thus improved. The first part of my Invention also relates
to an increased power of the steam in marine engines in assisting in propelling
vessels by means of a tube denominated by me a propulsion tube, which is a
continuation of the discharge pipe of the air pump turned downwards into the
water, and bent horizontally towards the stern, whereby the power now used
in discharging the water from the air pump into the atmosphere, and then
wasted, is directed against the water and assists in propelling the vessel. The
first part of my Invention also relates to an encrease of the power of the steam
of the non-condensing engine by adding to the engine that which is commonly
called the rotary engine; thus, upon the eduction pipe of the non-condensing
engine, or upon the chimney of a locomotive engine, is placed the centre of the
rotary engine, and the steam issuing from the eduction pipe through the tubes
of a rotary engine, and passing into the atmosphere, yields additional power.
The object of my second Invention relates to a new application of atmo-
spheric pressure in atmospheric engines, and this part of my Invention consists
in using a tank containing water, in which is placed a vertical pipe having
openings at the bottom, in height under thirty feet, the top bent down; to this
pipe a descending pipe of a smaller area is attached, and the lower end connected
with a valve box or side pipes containing induction and eduction valves or
slides, and these valves or slides are connected with a cylinder and piston, such
as are used in steam engines; on the eduction pipe are placed four rotary
tubes so as to revolve from pressure given by the piston on the water, and
these revolving tubes return the water into the tank. The piston rod of the
cylinder is attached to a beam or shaft, such as are used in steam engines in the
usual way. On the top of the vertical tube is an opening into which a small
pipe is inserted, which is carried thirty-four feet above the water in the tank, is
bent down and connected with an air pump worked by the engine, 'such pump
being suitable to withdraw the air which would otherwise accumulate at the bend
of the pipe, and power is obtained in the following manner:-When the tubes
are full of water, suppose the piston moved by external power, or a portion of
water withdrawn from the descending tube, and the induction valve opened,
the water in the descending tube will fall, and the impetus or momentum of
this falling water will force the piston down, and the valves being changed, the
motion of the engine will be continued, as the pressure of the atmosphere will
cause water to supply the place of water that has fallen, and thus there is
gained by this machine the power or momentum of the falling water, and the
lessened resistance of the atmosphere to its discharge produced by centrifugal
force of the revolving tubes.

page_text: The object of my third Invention is an improvement in distillation by the
use of a pump, the application of which is as follows:-In the case of the dis-
tillation of spirits, there is an air-tight vessel attached to the discharge end of
the worm into which the spirit enters, and thence the spirit is removed by the
pump; and in the case of the destructive distillation resorted to in the manu-
facture of gas, a pump is attached to the pipe leading from the clearing or
purifying apparatus to the gasometer, by means of which pumps, in either
case, quicker distillation is obtained, the products are improved, and fuel is
saved.
The object of my fourth Invention is to effect a saving in the power used in
raising water in certain cases, and is attained by a machine called by me an
equilibrium pump, which, when applied to a steam engine, is a cylinder with
piston and lid-suction pipe, and a pipe to take back the discharged water to
the level from which it originally came; in order that the same may be dis-
charged into a river or other receptacle at that level, a pipe to the cistern and
a pipe to the "hot well;" each pipe has a valve; those on the discharge pipe
and on the pipe from the hot well worked by the engine, the others self-acting;
and which pump, when applied in such cases as a coffer-dam, has only a valve
in the suction pipe, and valves in the piston or bucket. The action of the
pump is thus-Supposing it is applied to raise condensing water for a steam
engine, the steam engine raises the piston, and the water ascends under atmo-
spheric pressuro till the piston reaches the top; the valve from the hot well
opens, and also the valve to the cold-water cistern; the. hot water enters the
pump under the pressure of the atmosphere, and is equal to the discharge of the
cold water, less friction; the pump is now full of hot water, the piston ascends,
the valves to the hot water and the cold water close, the valve on the discharge
pipe opens and the water descends. In the other applications, supposing it
applied as in a coffer-dam, the piston is raised by external power, the water
rises under atmospheric pressure, and is discharged through the discharge pipe;
this, the power under the piston or bucket being atmospheric pressure less
the column of water, and the opposing power being the atmosphere less the
descending column of water, the only working power required is that for
friction.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Aitkin, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this 22nd day of November, in the year of our Lord One
Ahousand nicht hundial and Luber HAR
JOHN (L.s.) AITKEN..

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Twenty-second day of Novem-
ber, in the year of our Lord 1847, the aforesaid John Aitken came before
our said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specifi-
cation aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in
form above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped accord-
ing to the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Enrolled the Twenty-second day of November, in the year of our Lord
. One thousand eight hundred and forty-seven.