AN IMPROVED BLOWING MACHINE
Year: 1825

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
POWELL, of Rockfield, in the County of Monmouth, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS His most Excellent Majesty King George the Fourth, did, by His
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of that part of tho United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Ireland called England, bearing date at Westminster, the
Seventh day of June, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and
twenty-five, and in the sixth year of His reign, give and grant unto me, the said
Charles Powell, my exors, adiñors, and assigns, His special licence, full power,
sole privilege and authority, that I, the said Charles Powell, my exors, adiñors,
and assigns, during the term of years therein mentioned, should and lawfully
might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of
Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "AN IMPROVED BLOWING MACHINE;"
in which said Letters Patent there is contained a proviso that if I, the said
Charles Powell, shall not particularly describe and ascertain 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 seal, and cause the same to be inrolled in
His Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent, that then the said
Letters Patent, and all liberties and advantages whatsoever thereby granted,
should utterly cease, determine, and become void, as in and by the same,
relation being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Charles Powell, do hereby declare the nature of my said Invention, and tho

page_text: manner in which the same is to be performed, which is particularly set forth
and ascertained by the following. description, thereof, reference being had to
the Drawings hereunto annexed (that is to say):-
My Improved Blowing, Machine is made in the form of a revolving drum,
its internal parts being divided into several air chambers or boxes, in each of
which a piston is placed in a position radiating from the centre, and as the
drum goes round, the air which is received into the chambers by valves opening
inwards, becomes expelled through valves that open outwards by the falling
of the pistons, which is caused by gravitation. The principle upon which this
machine is intended to act will admit of some variations in its construction
and detail; but the general form which I consider to be most eligible is shewn
in the Drawings hereto annexed.
Fig. 1 is a section of the machine, the side being removed for the purpose
of exhibiting the internal construction of the drum, with its partitions, and
the situations of the pistons within the several compartments. Fig. 2 is a
transverse section of the same, in which the valves and the discharge pipe are
shewn. This drum is mounted upon standards, and is made to revolve upon
its axle on one side, and upon its discharge pipe on the other, by means of a
winch, or by a band and rigger, actuated by a steam engine or other first
mover. a, b, c, d, e, f, are six pistons formed in the shape of wedges, and
vibrating upon axles or pivots near, the centre of the drum. g, h, i, k, l, m,
are six partitions, dividing the drum into the six, compartments n, o, p, q, ṛ, s.
The valves t, t, (see Fig. 2) opened inwards, and are placed in boxes on the
outside of the revolving drum for the purpose of admitting air to the chambers.
The valves u, u, are in the opposite side of the drum, opening outward,
through which the air is expelled into the external chamber. v, v, and thence
through the pipe w. On putting the drum in rotation, the several pistons are
successively brought into action. Supposing the piston a to rest against, the
partition 9, when that partition has reached a perpendicular position the
piston a will by its gravity fall over to the left, as shewn in Fig. 1, expelling
the air from the chamber n, through the valve u, at the partition h, and the
valve t, at the partition g, opening inwards, at the same time allows a fresh
supply of air to enter the chamber; n, behind the piston.. By the time that
the drum has proceeded one-sixth part of a revolution the piston a will have
fallen into the situation of the piston b, having nearly expelled, all the air,
through the valve u, from the chamber on that side which is below the piston,
and a fresh supply of air entering the chamber through the valve, t, at tho
partition 9, as above described, fills the chamber ready for the next action of
the piston. When the drum has proceeded two sixths of its revolution the

page_text: partition g will be in the situation of the partition i, and the piston a will have
fallen into the situation of c, and the pistons f and e will respectively have
advanced to the situation of a and b, each in its turn expelling the air from
its chamber in the manner above shewn. The further progress of the revol-
ving drum will bring up the pistons in succession into the situation shewn,
and each expelling the air from its chamber will cause that air to occupy the
external chamber v, v, and thence to proceed as a blast through the pipe w.
There is a double action of the pistons by which the drum is made to
discharge a double blast of air. Supposing any one of the pistons to be in
the situation of c,. bearing against the partition k, as the drum revolves
the partition will pass on to the situation of 1, when the force of gravi-
tation causing the piston to fall from the partition into the situation of
d, the air in the chamber will be expelled through the valve u, into the
external chamber v, as before, and the valve opening, admits air into the
chamber on the reverse side of the piston. In the same way all the pistons
in succession, as the drum revolves, produce the second blasts by their retro-
grade action, after passing their lower perpendicular position, and thus a
continuous blast is kept up as long as the drum revolves.
These are the principles upon which my rotatory blowing machine for giving
a double blast is constructed, but which is susceptible of some variations in
the detail of its parts; for instance, I do not confine myself to the precise
number of six chambers and pistons, as a greater or less number may,
according to the magnitude of the machine, be desirable, one piston being
made to act in each chamber in the manner shewn, and the edges of the
pistons being properly packed to prevent the escape of the air, though at the
same time so as to produce as little friction as possible. This apparatus may
also be adapted as an exhauster, which would be a very useful employment
of it, for drawing foul air from mines, holds of ships, and other situations
where an exhausting apparatus might be requisite. A section of this contri-
vance is shewn at Fig. 3, its internal construction and action being precisely the
same as that described in the two preceding Figures, excepting, for the purpose
of exhausting, a fixed chamber or box is placed at the outside of the drum with
a pipe leading from the mine or other place below containing the foul air into
the chamber. The junction of the fixed plate y, y, (that forms the face of the
box) to the drum is by means of a riin,, attached to the side of the drum,
which is to be packed in the usual way. Rotatory motion being given to the
drum, the valves t, t, receive their supply of air from the pipe x, and expel it
through the valve u, n, by the operations of the pistons, as above described. This
exhauster will act without tho box v and pipe w, by placing an axle upon

page_text: which the drum shall revolve, and the foul air will be expelled into the
common atmosphere.
A variation in the construction of this improved blowing machine is
shewn at Figures 4, 5, 6, and 7, which produces a single blast. It is
the combination of a series of bellows of the ordinary kind, placed radiently
round a central tube or hollow cylinder, upon which they are intended
to revolve as their common axle, and to act by gravitation in the following
inanner: The respective bellows are formed by two square boards, the
one fixed, the other moving upon a hinge joint as a flap, which boards aro
connected together on three sides by a flexible leather, as ordinary bellows,
producing an air-tight chamber within, of a wedge form, varying in its capacity
as the flap or moving board rises and falls upon its hinges. Fig. 4 is au
elevation or side view of the machine complete; Fig. 5 is a section of the
same, shewing the interior; and Fig. 6 is an external view, looking down
upon the machine; the respective letters referring to similar parts in these
three Figures. a, b, c, d, e, f, g, and h, are eight pair of bellows fixed at equal
distances apart to the central plate i, and to the outer rings k, k; the bottom
board of each bellows is made fast to the central plates and to the outer rings,
while the upper board or flap is allowed freely to rise and fall upon its hinge
joint. c is a hollow cylindrical tube fixed upon the standards m, m, (shewn
detached at Fig. 7), upon which fixed tube the machine revolves, being pre-
viously balanced. n is a rigger attached to the side of the machine, over which
a band passes from a steam engine or any other first mover. This band being
put in motion, causes the rigger and with it the machine to revolve upon its
stationary axle 7, and by means of gravity, the bellows are successively brought
into action. In Figs. 4 and 5, it will be seen that the bellows a hang in a
collapsed state out of action, but when, as the machine revolves, it has arrived
in the situation of 6, the gravity of the weight has caused the moveable board
or flap to recede from the fixed board, and the valve opening, enables the air
to occupy the interior. By the time that the bellows has arrived at the situa-
tion of c, the flap has opened nearly to its greatest angle, and the interior of
the bellows becomes filled with air. The bellows pass on as the machine
revolves to the situation of d and e, but when arrived at f, the weight begins
to press the flap down, and the air is now expelled through the nozzle into the
tube, there being an opening or slot in the tube through about one fourth of
its circumference, and equal in length to the width of the nozzle of the
bellows (seen more evidently in Fig. 7). As the machine proceeds in its revolu-
tion, the explusion of the air is continued, the upper board or flap descending
upon the lower board, as at g, and when the bellows has arrived at the

page_text: situation of h, the air has become entirely expelled, and it falls in the collapsed
state seen at a, as before mentioned. Thus a series of revolving bellows placed
radiently round a central tube, are in successsion made to fill themselves with
air, and to expel the air in a compressed state through the nozzle, for the
purpose of producing a powerful and continued blast of wind; the tube l, on
which the machine revolves, acting as a valve, so as to close the exit passages
of the several bellows and prevent the escape of the air, except at that part of
the revolution where they are intended to be brought into action.
I do not claim any novelty in the construction of the individual bellows of
which this last-described machine is constructed. They may be made square or
of any other form that may be deemed eligible; but square bellows I prefer, and
they may be constructed of wood and leather as usual, or of any other suitable
material. Neither do I confine myself to any particular dimensions, nor to
any precise number of bellows so combined; but I rest my claim, as respects
this kind of blowing machine, in so combining a series of bellows that they
may be made to revolve, and in so doing fill themselves with air, and by the
gravitation of heavy or weighted flaps to expel the wind with great force
through a tube as the machine revolves. And as respects the double blowing
machine first described, I claim the employment of the series of pistons acting
in a series of revolving air chambers by means of gravitation for the expulsion
of air in the manner above described, whatever be the number of those
chambers and pistons, and of whatever materials the same may be made.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Powell, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Seventh day of December, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and twenty fue