An Improved Steam or other Fluid Engine.
Year: 1897

page_text: An Improved Steam or other Fluid Engine.
I, ADRIANUS ANTHONY WILTON VAN REEDE, of Papendrecht, near Dordrecht, in
the Kingdom of Holland, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention
to be as follows:-
This invention relates to a steam or other motive fluid engine wherein the
rectilinear motion of one or more pistons operated by the steam or other fluid
under pressure is converted into rotary motion without the intervention of con-
necting rods or cranks.
According to my invention I provide a cylinder having one or more pistons
the rod or rods of which is or are adapted to act, by a thrust force, upon discs or
plates obliquely fixed to a rotatable shaft in such a manner that the thrust of
the piston rods causes the discs to slide against the ends of the rods and thus
rotate the shaft upon which they are fixed.
In a suitable arrangement for carrying out my invention I provide a main
cylinder through which passes a shaft carrying two elliptical plates or discs upon
which a number of pistons, for instance four, act through the medium of feet
which are fitted to the piston rods in such a manner that they can turn therein.
The pistons, which are provided with packing rings, move in inner cylinders
closed at the ends by cylinder covers the tightness of the joints of which-with
the piston rods is ensured by rings similar to the piston rings. These covers are
provided with ports, the opening and closing of which ports may be regulated,
for instance, by means of a circular valve mounted upon the shaft and effecting,
as hereinafter described, the necessary communication either, in the case of
admission, between the ports and the chambers in which the discs turn or, in the
case of exhaust, between the said ports and an annular passage formed around
the shaft in the ends of the inner cylinders. This annular passage communicates
freely by a series of passages with a large annular passage in direct communica-
tion with the exhaust or discharge pipe.
As will be easily understood from the above explanation the steam or other
fluid entering the disc chambers passes through the ports into the inner cylinders
and drives forward the pistons which effect the displacement of the discs or
plates in the above described manner and thereby rotate the shaft; the said shaft
carries with it the circular valve which, according to its adjustment, closes the
ports more or less soon, to open, as soon as the piston has reached the end of its
stroke, communication between the said ports and the annular passage through
which the steam; or other fluid escapes into the discharge pipe.
Motors constructed as above described have the advantage that only a small
piston displacement is necessary, that friction is considerably diminished, lubri-
cation simplified, the said lubrication being effected for example for all parts
of the machine by means of a single lubricator which lubricates the steam before
its introduction into the engine and also that they can be adapted without difficulty
to single or double acting engines, to multi-cylinder engines or to multiple-

page_text: expansion engines. The external appearance is generally reduced to that of a
simple cylinder provided with two or more pipes.
Furthermore the cost of transport and erection is very considerably reduced,
the engine being of minimum weight and not necessitating any complicated and
costly foundation.
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, Finsbury, London, Agents for the Applicant.
An Improved Steam or other Fluid Engine.
I, ADRIANUS ANTHONY WILTON VAN REEDE, of Papendrecht, near Dordrecht, in
the Kingdom of Holland, Engineer, 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: —
This invention relates to a steam or other motive fluid engine wherein the
rectilinear motion of one or more pistons operated by the steam or other fluid
under pressure is converted into rotary motion without the intervention of con-
necting rods or cranks.
In the accompanying drawing:
Figures 1 and 1 are diagrammatic views illustrating the method of transform-
ing the rectilinear motion of a piston into rotary motion:
Figure 2 is a longitudinal section of a steam engine made according to the
invention;
Figure 3 is a sectional end elevation thereof; and
Figure 4 illustrates a detail.
Referring to Figure 1 a is a shaft upon which is obliquely keyed a plate or
disc P; a force F acting parallel to the shaft a and being applied at a given
point in the said plate which is in the position indicated, will act in a plane
normal to that of the disc P and could if it passed a certain limit rupture the
material of which the disc is made. But if the shaft be caused to turn slowly
the disc P, which is rigidly fixed to the said shaft, changes its position with
respect to the direction of the force F (as shewn in Figure 1 in which the shaft a
is supposed to have made a quarter of a revolution) so that this force will act
upon an inclined plane upon which it will tend to slide. In the present case
the force being applied to the disc P through the medium of a piston rod
which cannot move relatively to the disc, it is the disc which will move and
carry with it the shaft a which is thereby rotated.
As will be easily understood from an examination of Figure 1 the position of
the plate P indicated in this figure will correspond to one of the dead points of
the engine; during the first half rotation of the shaft a the force, or more cor-
rectly speaking the piston F, will exert its power upon the plate; the next half
rotation, on the contrary, will correspond to the movement of the piston in the
reverse direction during which the said piston will exert its pushing force, in the
case of a double acting engine, upon a second elliptical plate or disc arranged
concentrically with respect to the plate P. It is furthermore evident that it is
possible to provide as many pistons as desired to obtain a predetermined force; for
this purpose it is only necessary to arrange them around the shaft a preferably
in a direction parallel to that of the said shaft.
In the arrangement shewn as an example of the invention I provide a main

page_text: cylinder 6 through which passes a shaft c carrying two elliptical plates or discs a
upon which a number of pistons, (in the drawing four), act through the medium
of feet e which are fitted to the piston rods in such a manner that they can turn
therein. The pistons, which are provided with packing rings move in inner
cylinders closed at the ends by covers g the tightness of the joints of which
with the piston rods is ensured by rings y similar to the piston rings. These
covers g are provided with admission and exhaust ports i, the opening and closing
of which ports may be regulated, for instance by means of a circular valve S
mounted upon the shaft and effecting, as hereinafter described, the necessary
communication either, in the case of admission, between the port and the
chambers B in which the discs turn or, in the case of exhaust, between the said
port and an annular passage K formed around the shaft c in the ends of the
cylinders f. This annular passage K communicates freely by a series of pas-
sages K¹ with a large annular passage K" in direct communication with the
exhaust or discharge pipe U.
As will be easily understood from the above explanation the steam or other
fluid entering the disc chambers B passes through the ports into the cylinders f
and drives forward the pistons d which effect the displacement of the discs or
plates a in the above described manner and thereby rotate the shaft c; the said
shaft carries with it the circular valve S which, according to its adjustment,
closes the ports i more or less soon, to open as soon as the piston d has reached
the end of its stroke, communication between the said ports and the annular
passage K through which the steam or other fluid escapes into the discharge
pipe U.
Motors constructed as above described have the advantage that only a small
piston displacement is necessary, that friction is considerably diminished, lubri-
cation simplified, the said lubrication being effected, for example, for all parts
of the machine by means of a single lubricator which lubricates the steam before
its introduction into the engine, and also that they can be adapted without difficulty
to single or double acting engines, to multi-cylinder engines or to multiple-
expansion engines. The external appearance is generally reduced to that of a
simple cylinder provided with two or more pipes.
Furthermore the cost of transport and erection is very considerably reduced,
the engine being of minimum weight and not necessitating any complicated and
costly foundation.
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. A motor wherein the rectilinear motion of pistons operated by the expansion
of steam or other motive fluid under pressure, is transformed into circular motion
through the medium of elliptical plates or discs fixed obliquely upon the motor
shaft and upon which the thrust of the pistons acts, substantially as hereinbefore
described.
2. In a motor wherein the rectilinear motion of pistons operated by a motive
fluid is transformed into circular motion by the action of the said pistons upon
elliptical plates or discs arranged obliquely upon the motor shaft, the arrange-
ment of one or more cylinders f in which pistons move in the direction of the
axis of the motor shaft and of a large cylinder forming chambers B at the ends
of the piston cylinders of the said chambers B being separated from the interior
of the piston cylinders f by covers provided with packing rings g¹ and pas-
sages i for the admission of the motive fluid into the piston cylinders and for the
escape of the said fluid from the said cylinders, substantially as hereinbefore
described and illustrated.
3. The combination with the covers g of the piston cylinders of a motor of the
kind described in Claim 2, of circular valves mounted upon the motor shaft and

page_text: moving against the faces of the said covers so as to provide, in the case of the
admission of the motive fluid, communication between the chambers B and the
passages, and in the case of exhaust, communication between the said
passages and annular passages K formed in the ends of the cylinders f and
communicating by radial passages K' with a common exhaust passage K, sub-
stantially as herein before described and illustrated.
Dated the 6th day of June 1898.
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, Finsbury, London, Agents for the Applicant.