A NEW OR IMPROVED MOTIVE. POWER ENGINE."
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Stuart Johnstone, of the Town and County
of Ayr, North Britain, for the Invention of "A NEW OR IMPROVED
MOTIVE. POWER ENGINE."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Stuart Johnstone
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 3rd March 1870.
I, JOHN STUART JOHNSTONE, of the Town and County of Ayr, North
Britain, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "A NEW
OR IMPROVED MOTIVE-POWER ENGINE," to be as follows, that is to say :-
This Invention, which relates to a new or improved motive-power
engine, is based upon the following principle, that a falling body at any
particular instant of time is moving at a velocity greater than the number
of units of distance through which it has passed, and it consists in the
arrangement and construction of mechanism for utilizing as a motive
agent the surplus force so generated.

page_text: The mechanism consists under one modification of a series of weighted
levers arranged in a framework, each lever being connected with a spring
balance. By means of suitable mechanism the levers are raised in suc-
cession through a certain height, from which they are allowed to fall, and
in falling they act upon the spring balance in such a way as to depress it;
the surplus force above referred to is transmitted so as to lift or raise
corresponding levers and also to act upon stop wheels for driving a
revolving shaft. There being a series of levers and spring balances, the
operations herein-before referred to are performed in succession throughout
the series so that a certain amount of the momentum generated by the
falling weights is used in raising other weights of the series to the height
from which they originally fell, whilst the surplus of force remaining
after the weights have been again raised is employed in overcoming the
friction of the moving parts and in driving the revolving shaft with
machinery-which it is or may be employed to actuate.
For the purpose of gathering up the momentum of the falling weights
a second revolving shaft provided with a fly wheel and geared by
spur gearing with the first revolving shaft herein-before referred to is
employed.
In place of arranging the engine with one set of spring balances as
herein-before described, it may under a second modification be arranged
with a second set of spring balances, which by means of connections is
caused to act in opposition to the first set of spring balances, so that
both sets of the said spring balances whilst thus acting opposite to each
other also operates one and the same set of levers.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Stuart Johnstone in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 3rd September 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
STUART JOHNSTONE, of the Town and County of Ayr, North Britain, 3
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Third day of March, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the 33rd year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant a

page_text: unto me, the said, John Stuart Johnstone, Her special license that I,
the said John Stuart Johnstone, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Jolin Stuart Johnstone, my exe-
cutors, administrators, or 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 MOTIVE-POWER ENGINE," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said John Stuart Johnstone, by an instrument in writing under
my hand and scal, 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 John Stuart Johnstone, 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, reference being had to the accompanying
Drawings, and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to
say:-
My said Invention, which relates to a new or improved motive power
engine, is based upon the following principle, that a falling body at any
particular instant of time is moving at a velocity greater than the
number of units of distance through which it has passed, and it consists
in the arrangement and construction of mechanism for utilizing as a
motive agent the surplus force so generated.
The mechanism consists under one modification of a series of weighted
levers arranged in a framework, each lever being connected with a
spring balance. By means of suitable mechanism the levers are raised
in succession through a certain height, from which they are allowed to
fall, and in falling they act upon the spring balance in such a way as to
depress it; the surplus force above referred to is transmitted so as to
lift or raise corresponding levers, and also to act upon stop wheels for
driving a revolving shaft. There being a series of levers and spring
balances, the operations herein-before referred to are performed in suc-
cession throughout the series so that a certain amount of the momentum
generated by the falling weights is used for raising the other weights of

page_text: the series to the height from which they originally fell, whilst the surplus
of force remaining after the weights have again been raised is employed
in overcoming the friction of the moving parts and in driving the
revolving shaft with machinery which it is or may be employed to
actuate.
For the purpose of gathering up the momentum of the falling weights
a second revolving shaft provided with a fly wheel and geared by
spur gearing with the first revolving shaft herein-before referred to is
employed.
In place of arranging the engine with one set of spring balances as
herein-before described, it may under a second modification be arranged
with a second set of spring balances, which by means of connection
are caused to act in opposition to the first set of spring balances so that,
both sets of the said spring balances whilst thus acting opposite-to-cach-
-other-also-operate one and the same set of levers.
And in order that my said Invention may be properly understood I
now proceed more particularly to set forth the system, mode, or manner
in or under which the same is or may be used or practically carried into
effect, that is to say :-
The Figure on Sheet 1 of the Drawings hereunto appended represents
a front elevation of the motive-power engine which constitutes this
Invention, and the Figure on Sheet 2 of the Drawings- is an elevation of
one end of the same. In these two Figures corresponding parts are
indicated by the same letters of reference.
The engine consists of two end framings A, A, to which a series of
weighted levers, B are attached by means of brackets C as shewn in end
elevation on Sheet 2. Each of the levers B is attached to two spring
balances D and E respectively above and below it by means of the
link F and rods G, and these spring balances are supported by adjustable
framings H attached to the upper and lower ends of the main framing A,
as shown. The position of the framings H and the spring balances D
and E is adjusted by means of screws I, one of the ends of each of
which is screwed into a block a placed in the framings H, and the other
ends are provided with spur wheels J, which are rotated by an attendant
actuating the intermediate spur pinions K, through the intervention of
the handles a. By means of this arrangement of mechanism the
tension on the springs in the spring balances D and E and consequently
the power transmitted through the machine may be regulated as required,

page_text: On
On
such tenison being indicated by the pointers t, shewn on Sheet 2.
studs b, b, fixed at each end of the framing A two pairs of antifriction
wheels Land M respectively are placed, as more particularly shown on
the end elevation on Sheet 2, and these wheels act as bearings for the
revolving shafts N and O. On the shaft O a drum P is placed provided
with a series of cams or tappets c (herein-after termed tappets to dis-
tinguish them from other cams S which are placed on the shaft N as
shown). The tappets c are arranged spirally around the drum, as shown
in dotted lines on Sheet 1, and the number of these tappets is regulated
by the number of weighted levers in the machine, eight tappets being
provided to actuate each lever, one of which acts during one lifting of
the lever, the other seven as the drum P revolves acting on the same
lever in succession. In place of arranging all of the tappets c on one
drum each such set of tappets may be carried on a separate drum.
one end of the said shaft O a spur wheel Q is fixed which gears with
and is actuated by a corresponding pinion R placed upon the corre-
sponding end of the revolving shaft N, which is situated immediately
above the shaft O as shown. On the shaft N a series of cams S
are placed, the number of which is also regulated by the number of
levers B, a cam being provided for each lever, and on the example
shewn on the two explanatory Sheets of Drawings hereunto annexed
32 such levers B, cams S, and sets of tappets c, and other details of
mechanism connected with the levers B are employed. The shaft N is
also provided with a fly wheel T and stop wheel U, as shown on Sheet 1,
and from the wheel U or its equivalent motion is transmitted to any
apparatus which the motive-power engine may be employed to actuate.
The spur wheel Q and corresponding pinion R are so constructed that
for every revolution of the pinion the wheel Q moves through one-
sixteenth part of a revolution, and as the pinion R is caused to revolve
sixteen times by the continuous action of the 32 levers, as is herein-after
made more particularly apparent, the spur wheel Q revolving the shaft O
and tappet drum P attached thereto makes during that period one
revolution, thereby rendering the action of the weighted levers.
continuous.
The machine is actuated in the manner now about to be set forth.
When it is desired to set the engine in motion the weighted end of.
one of the levers B is depressed below the horizontal position, this has
the effect of depressing the link F to which the said lever is coupled and

page_text: consequently of extending the spring in the upper spring balance D, the
upper end of the link F being connected thereto by the rod G. The
extension of the spring and depression of the link causes the roller m on
the rod d to come in contact with the cam S which is provided for that
lever B, and depresses the said cam with sufficient force to cause the
shaft N to move through a portion of a revolution, at the same time the
tappet drum P being caused to revolve by the spur pinion R and wheel Q,
the tappet c which actuates the next lever of the sèries comes in contact
with the heel of the lever 1, as shewn on Sheet 2, one end of which lever is
attached to one of the links F, the lower end of the link being made by
preference forked to receive it, and by the tappet c raising the lever r
and link Fit elevates the weighted end of the lever B attached thereto
by the link G, and thereby distends the spring in the balance E attached
to the lower end of that lever. At the same_time_this-action-permits of
the recoil of the spring in the corresponding balance D at the upper
part of the framing, and immediately the tappet c passes out of contact
with the heel of the lever the spring in the balance E is allowed to
recoil by the falling of the weighted lever B, which at the same time
distends the spring in the balance D, and brings the roller m of that
lever B into contact with its cam and thereby continues the motion
throughout the whole series of levers. The operations above described
being performed in succession throughout the series a certain amount of
the momentum generated by the falling weight of one lever is employed
in raising the weighted end of the next lever of the series to a fraction
of the height from which it originally fell, whilst the surplus of force
remaining after the weights have been again raised is employed in
overcoming the friction of the moving parts, and in driving the
revolving shaft N from which motion is imparted to any machinery
which it may be employed to actuate, as herein-before set forth. The
cams S are so arranged on the shaft N that each of them will come into
the proper position for being acted upon by their respective rollers m
at the required instant of time, and they are provided with cheeks 8, in
a hollow between which checks the bearings of the rollers m rest during
that portion of the revolution in which they are caused to act by the
falling of the weighted lever B, as shown in end elevation on' Sheet 2.
The rods which support the various tappet discs are hinged to the
links F by pins or pivot joints as shown, so that as the parts of greater
radius of the cams S come in contact with the rollers m the suspending
rod thereof is thrown at an angle from its vertical position, and the point o

page_text: of the cam scen on Sheet 2 is allowed to pass, and immediately there-
after the rod is brought back to its vertical position by means of the
spiral spring n, at which instant of time its weighted lever B falls and
again brings it into contact with the cam S. Each of the levers 7 is
adjustable in a horizontal direction so that the tappets on the drum P
may have a greater or less hold on them as required, and this is accom-
plished by providing the levers with plate springs v, as shown on Sheet 2,
the tendency of which spring is to bring the levers closer to the links F,
and the springs are counteracted by screws K tapped through the links
and acting against the backs of the levers so that they may at any time
be adjusted to any required position. As each of the weighted levers B
is raised to its highest position it is retained therein (until relieved by
its tappet on the drum P) by the catch w, the point of which enters into
one of the notches of a rack P formed for that purpose on the end of the
lever B, as shown on Sheet 2. Each catch to is attached to the
framing A by a universal joint, as shown at e, Sheet 2, so that it may
move backwards and forwards, and also with a sideward movement, and
the point thereof is formed with a small pin (not shewn on the Drawings)
projecting at right angles therefrom, which presses against one side of
the lever as it is falling and against the other side as it is being raised,
thereby preventing the point of the catch from entering the notch until
the lever is at the height required, at which time the point of the catch
is thrown forward by the action of the spiral spring u on the other end
of the catch, and the lever B is retained in that position until relieved
by the action of the tappet c on the lever r, or the levers may be retained
by any other suitable contrivance, it being understood that I do not
confine myself to the particular arrangement or construction of me-
chanism herein-before described and shown on the two Sheets of
Drawings hereunto appended, as such mechanism may be considerably
modified, nor do I confine myself to employ any number of weighted
levers, and the other details of mechanism connected therewith, as the
machine may be actuated by any other suitable number of the said levers,
the other working parts being correspondingly modified, and in lieu of
employing two spring balances in connection with each weighted lever
as herein-before described and shewn the lower set of such spring
balances may be dispensed with.

page_text: or practically carried into effect, I would observe in conclusion that what
I consider novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention
secured to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is, the
arrangement and construction of motive-power engines wherein the
motive force employed is that due to the surplus units of velocity of a
falling weight over and above the unit of distance through which it has
fallen in any given time and caused to act upon spring balances, which
in turn effect the reactions herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Stuart Johnstone, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Thirtieth day of August One
thousand eight hundred and seventy.
JOHN STUART JOHNSTONE. (L.S.)