CERTAIN IMPROVE- MENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION AND APPLICATION OF ROTARY ENGINES
Year: 1842

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, BENJAMIN
BIRAM, of Wentworth, in the County of York, Colliery Viewer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Eighth day of February, in the fifth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Benjamin Biram, my exors, adiñors, and assigns, Her especial licence, full
power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said Benjamin Biram, my
exors, admors, and assigns, and such others as I, the said Benjamin Biram,
my exors, adiiors, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others,
from time to time and at all times thereafter during the term of years therein
expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within
that part of Her Majesty's United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
called England, Her Dominion of Wales, the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, the
Islands of Guernsey, Jersey, Alderney, Sark, and Man, and also in all that Her
Majesty's Colonics and Plantations abroad, my Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION AND APPLICATION OF ROTARY ENGINES;" in which
said Letters Patent there is contained a proviso that I, the said Benjamin
Biram, shall cause a particular description of the nature of my said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, under my hand and
seal, to be inrolled in Her Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six
calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said in part
recited Letters Patent, as in and the same, reference being thereunto had, will
more fully and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Benjamin Biram, do hereby declare that my said improvements have relation
to that clase of engines which either act by a rotary motion derived from wind
or water or other fluid, or act upon wind or water or other fluid by a rotary
motion derived from some third source, as steam or animal power; and that
the nature of the said improvements, and the manner in which the same are
to be performed, are fully set forth and ascertained in and by the following
Specification thereof (that is to say):-
:-
The first branch of my said invented improvements consists in giving a
better form and position to the vanes and floats of those rotary machines which
are moved by currents of wind or water or some other fluid, acting upon or
against such vans and floats; for whereas the vanes of windmills, and other
similar machines propelled by currents of air, consist commonly of plain
surfaces set obliquely to the planes of motion of the machines, but set at
angles generally determined by guess, and often exceedingly inappropriate;
and whereas also the floats of water wheels and other similar machines acted
upon by water consist commonly of plain surfaces placed directly in the line of
motion of the fluid; now I have ascertained by numerous experiments that
there is a certain curved form which may be given to the vanes or floats, or
other similar agents of both those classes of machines, or, in other words,
a certain gradual reduction in the angle of obliquity, in proportion to the
distance from their axis, by which in most cases a greater amount of useful
effect can be obtained from them than by or from any other. For example,
let A, C, B, of Figure 1 of the Drawings hereunto annexed, represent the
sixth part of a circle described by the revolution of a windmill; in which case
the chord C, B, of the arc A, B, will be equal to the radius A, C; and let the
lines A, C, and C, B, be divided into six equal parts, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, so that
the chord of the are at each of the divisions 55, 44, 33, 22, and 11 shall be
respectively equal to the distances C5, C4, C3, C2, and C1; then, to ascertain
the angle which a vane or sail should make with the plane of motion at any
other distance from the axis C (the angle at the extremity on any other point
being given), I construct the vertical section, Figure 2, in which the line A, B,
is equal to the radius A, C, or chord A, B, of Figure 1, and divide it into
six equal parts, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6; 1 draw a perpendicular, C 6, of an indeter-
minate length; I then set off the given angle C, A, B, if it bo that of the
extremity, or C3 B, if of the middle of the sail, and continue the line until
it intersects the perpendicular C6; the distance from this point of inter-
section, C to 6, gives the depth of the cylinder or space in which the sails
may be said to revolve; that is to say, if viewed edgewise, and supposing the

page_text: wheel to have six vanes, and to be so made as to intercept the whole cylinder
of wind. If the depth of the cylinder be required of a different proportion, or
if the size of each vane be other than the sixth part of a circle, a line
drawn parallel to A, B, through such proportionate length of C, B, will give
the depth of the cylinder required. I then draw the oblique straight lines
C1, C2, C3, C4, and C 5, from the point of intersection C, found as above
described, and the angles C 1B, C2 B, C 3 B, C 4 B, and C 5 B, will be those
which the sail should form with the plane of motion at the distances 1 B,
2 B, 8 B, 4 B, 5 B, from the centre point B (Figure 2) representing the
axle or centre of the sails. For, supposing the axle C, A, B, Figure 2, to be
equal to the angle of the sail with the plane of motion at the extremity, or
A, B, Figure 1, and the wind in the direction D 3, it will strike the sail at the
extremity A, B, Figure 1, at the angle A, C, B, Figure 2, which will recede
from the impulse of the wind in the same time as the points 5 5, 44, 83, 22,
and 11, at the corresponding angles C 1 B, C 2 B, C 3 B, C 4 B, and C 5 B,
which (assuming the machine to be unloaded, and without friction,) will be in
the same time that the wind passes through the distance C, B, Figure 2;
whereby it is evident each portion of the sail will present no more than its
proportionate resistance to the wind, and recede from its action with that.
velocity exactly which offers the least interruption to the wind's onward pro-
gress. The different velocities resulting from placing the vanes or sails at
different angles may be usefully illustrated by employing water as the medium
in which they revolve. Let A, B, C, D, Figure 3, represent a parallelogram
equal to the circumference of a cylinder or wheel W, Figure 4, formed by the
revolution of the sails, and the oblique straight lines C 1, C 2, C 8, and C 4,
different angles, which the extremities of the sails make, with a plane of
motion, as fourteen degrees, twenty-six degrees and two thirds, forty-five
degrees, and fifty-six degrees and one third. Now, supposing the sails to be
placed at the angle C 4, equal to fourteen degrees, the wheel will make one
revolution in the distance D, E, which is but one fourth of its own circum-
ference; while, if they are placed at the angle C 3, equal to twenty-six degrees
and two thirds, it will take from D to F, or twice the distance; and if, at the
angle C2, equal to 45 degrees, it will take from D to G, or four times the
distance, to perform one revolution. Or, to express these results in measures
of time, a wheel, with the sails at the angle of C 4, equal to fourteen degrees,
will make four revolutions in the same time that it performs two revolutions
with the sails at an angle of twenty-six degrees and two thirds, or one revolu-
tion with them at an angle of forty-five degrees; and if the angle be greater
than forty-five degrees, as C 1, equal to fifty-six degrees and one third, the

page_text: rotation of the wheel upon its axis will be slower than the advance in a lateral
direction, that is to say, it will make but one revolution while advancing ono
and a half times the distance of its own circumference. It will be evident,
however, that if the angle of the wheel be at C 4, equal to fourteen degrees,
the quantity of water which must pass through it to cause one revolution of
the wheel will be equal to the contents of a cylinder of the wheel's diameter
and the depth E, D, and that if the angle of the vano bear the direction C 3,
then double the quantity of water will be required to produce one revolution.
Again, if the wheel were to have double the number of floats (which it ought
to have, in order that the water may act upon the whole area of the cylinder or
wheel), then it may be inferred that double the power will be exerted, but at
only half the velocity, so that the angles which will give the greatest maximum
result appear to have a much wider range than with sails of the ordinary con-
struction, or than has generally been supposed. The difference between the
vanes of a windmill, when set at the angles hitherto most commonly observed,
and set at the progressively decreasing angles determined by the method I
have before pointed out and recommended, or so curved as to present these pro-
gressively decreasing angles, is shewn in the following tabular view. The radius
is supposed to be divided as before into six equal parts, and the sail is supposed
to form at its extremity an angle of seven degrees with the plane of motion.
Weather angles at each of the six]
points according to the common
plan
18° 19° 18° 16° 12° 7°
Do. do. do. do. do.
improved plan
to my
87 20 14° 10° 81° 7°
Middle.
Extremity.
And the same angles or curves which may be found best adapted for the vanes
of windmills will. I consider, be also better adapted than any other for the
vanes or floats of all other machines propelled by the force of currents of air
or water, or any other fluid, when the propelling fluid strikes the wheel in a
direction perpendicular to the plane of motion. A convenient method of
ascertaining the proper angles to be given to vanes or floats at any required
distance from the centre, when the angle at any one distance has been given,
is shewn in the diagram, Fig. 11. The line B, C, represents the centro line
of the wheel D, E, the circumference a, b, c, d, e, and f, radial lines drawn at
distances in respect to each other, corresponding with angles to the centre
of 14° 2′, 26° 14', 45°, 56° 19′, and 63° 26', as represented by the oblique

page_text: lines Cb, C, Cd, C e, C f; g, h, i, k, l, m, n, o, p, q, r, s, t, u, the other
oblique lines, representing the various angles to the centre marked thereon,
and 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, vertical lines parallel with the centro line, intersecting at
equal distances the different radial and oblique lines. Now the angle which
any vano with a given terminal angle should have at any point nearer to the
centre, as 5, 4, 8, 2, or 1, will be the same as that of the obliquo line, which
is intersected at that point by one or other of the vertical lines 5, 4, 3, 2,
or 1. For example, a van whose extremity is at an angle of 45°, if con-
At one sixth an angle of
-
80° 32'
-
71° 34'
63° 26'
-
56° 19'
-
-
50° 11'
"
Two sixths
"
"
Three (or middle)
"
37
Four
"
Five
"
structed according to the
diagram, Fig. 11, will present
at the distances from the
centro of the wheel stated in
the margin the angles set
opposite thereto. And that
these angles are in reality those which will produce the best practical effect may be
thus demonstrated:-By reference to the Figure it will be seen that the oblique
line Cd, which represents the angle of 45°, intersects the two radius lines
above it (c and 6), representing the base lines of angles of 26° 34′, and 14° 2′,
respectively, the one at the middle of its length, and the other at one fourth of
its length (from the centre). Hence it follows that a vane or float having an
angular extremity of 55°, if at present one half the diameter of one of 26° 31',
or one fourth the diameter of one of 14° 2′, will traverso the same distance in
ono revolution as either of the others; and what is true of any one angle will
be equally true of all others, so that the following general rule may be
laid down as of universal application. Rule:-To find the angle of a float
or vane at any required distance on the radius, the angle at some other distance
being given from the point C on the radius line C a, set off the angle of the
given distance, and draw a line parallel to C, B, from the given distance on
the radius line Ca, then draw through the angle of the given distance another
oblique line until it intersects the parallel line to C, B, and from the point of
intersection draw a perpendicular to the line C, B, on which set off the
required distance. The distance from C to B, intersected by the last found
line, divided by the length of the required distance, will give the tangent of the
angle required, and from that tangent the angle required may be found
by reference to any table of natural sines. For example, take the intersection
of the horizontal line 9, and the vertical line 3, then 9 ÷ 3 = 3, which is
nearly the tangent of the angle 71° 34'.
That vanes or floats having such curvilinear surfaces, or presenting such
angles as before specified, are calculated to act with superior efficiency, may be

page_text: readily shown by a very simple experiment. Let a vessel of water, of any
sufficient capacity, be sprinkled over with small bits of paper, or any other
light boly of about the same specific gravity that will float in it, and let a
model of a wheel, constructed according to my said Improvements, be just
submerged in it, and moved forward in the direction of its axis, the wheel
will then revolve freely, but without causing any material agitation, either in
the water or among the particles floating in it, both of which will remain
stationary, those particles of floating matter only being acted upon which come
in contact with the edges of the floats during rotation, showing clearly that
the water produces the rotating action with the least possible disturbance to
itself. But let the same experiment be made with a model wheel constructed
according to any of the common plans, with floats having plain surfaces, and
set in any other position to the line of motion than I have prescribed, there
will then be, more or less, surging of the water in front of the wheel, and the
floating particles more or less agitated and tossed about, shewing no less clearly
that the different form and position of the floats has caused an unnecessary
obstruction to the passage of the water. From the preceding experiment it
may be concluded that the water wheels of my said improved construction
may be applied with great advantage to the obtaining of a motive power for
the working of machinery from slow running streams that would not turn
wheels of the ordinary construction without the aid of dams, or from tidal
waters, which would equally propel the wheel whether the tibe ebbed or
flowed.
The second branch of my said Improvements consists in applying rotary
engines or wheels, with vanes or floats set at angles found or determined by
the rule or rules before expressed, to registering the velocity of bodies pro-
pelled through water, or of the wind. The manuer of such application will be
readily understood from the following description of the means to he adopted.
in the case of registering the velocity of a vessel at sea. Let the wheel be
attached to the outside of the vessel with its axis parallel to the vessel's
linc of motion, as represented in Figures 5 and 6 of the Drawings here-
unto annexed. Let the circumference of the wheel (C) be such as to
form an integral portion of a mile or league, and let the floats be placed at
such an angle that the wheel will make one revolution, or one revolution and
some determinate portion of another, or any determinate number of revolutions,
in the same time that the vessel advances a distance equal to the circumference
of the wheel. Let the axle of the wheel C (prolonged a little for the purpose)
have a worm or endless screws affixed to it, and let this screw work into a
toothed wheel D, placed at right angles to C, and armed with such a propor-

page_text: tionate number of teeth that it shall make one revolution for every one hundred
or any other determinate number of revolutions made by the axle of the
wheel C. The axle of D, being carried through the side of the vessel into the
interior, may then be connected with a system of multiplying wheels (such as
is commonly employed for such registering purposes), which will indicate
to observation the exact distance traversed by the vessel. Some correction
must be made for the friction of the different wheels and axles; but this may be
accomplished in various ways, as, for example, by giving the vanes of the wheels
an angle a little less than that which is required to produce the necessary
number of revolutions of the wheel C. The whole of the apparatus which is
outside the vessel may be enclosed in a water-tight case, by causing the axle
of C to work through a stuffing-box.
The third and last branch of my said improvements relates to those rotary
machines, such as the propellers of steam vessels, ventilators of mines, &c.,
which are employed to act upon water or air or other fluid, instead of the
water or air or other fluid acting on them, and which derive their motion
from some third source, as steam or animal power. In the case of propellers
of vessels applied at the stern, and rotating in a plane perpendicular to the
vessel's path, the useful effect produced by one revolution of the wheel may be
said to be increased the more the angles of the vanes or floats with the plane
of motion is increased, within certain limits, which may also be illustrated by
reference to Figures 3 and 4, before described; for if the vanes of the wheel W
are at an angle of fifty-six degrees and one third, a cylinder of air or water
will pass through it in one revolution equal to the depth of the column H, 1);
whereas, at forty-five degrees only, the depth of the said column would be only
equal to G, D, or the height of the wheel's circumference. In Figure 7 I have
given a representation of a pair of stern propellers constructed according to
these conditions, and intended to be worked entirely under water. The floats
present at their extremities an angle of about fifty-six degrees (those of the
two wheels being inclined reverse wise to each other), and are confined to their
position by two rings, B, B, upon their peripheries. Each propeller or wheel
is one fourth less in diameter than the ordinary paddle wheel hereafter to be
described (Figure 9), and only of one fourth the width. The result of several
they are as nearly as
experiments made with these stern propellers shew that
may be of equal power with the common paddle wheel of larger dimensions,
besides possessing the advantage of being worked under water, and at a part of
the vessel where they do not interfere, as at the sides, with her sailing capabi-
lities. In Figures 8' and 82 of the Drawings hereunto annexed, I have given
side and end views of a paddle wheel to be applied to the sides of vessels

page_text: constructed according to the preceeding conditions. A, A, are two metal frames,
having six arms and two concentric rings, which are fastened upon the axles
on each side. The arms are fixed in an oblique position with regard to each
other, those on the reverse side of the wheel being represented by a, a,
Figures 8 and 83. B, B, are six side plates, which enclose the wheel on each
side between the concentric rings of the frame, to the extent shewn by the
shaded parts, and are screwed or rivetted to the frames A, A. The shaded parts,
representing the said plates, together with the projecting ends of the paddles
marked C, also shew the outline of the paddles when viewed sideways, as in
Figure 8. The paddles or floats C, C, which are also screwed or rivetted
to the frames A, A, are placed diagonally across the shaded parts of the wheels,
and their extremities present an angle of forty-five degrees with the side of
the wheel, and each point of the extremity radiating to the centre of the wheel
in lines parallel to the side, so that the angle which the paddle makes with
the side of the wheel is constantly increasing from the extremity inwards, and
would be at the inner ring about sixty-eight degrees. The better to illustrate
the form of the wheels, I have given in Figures 8 and 8' diagrams of
the side and end views of one of these paddles. In Figure 8' (in which
the obliquity of the paddle is shewn the reverse way to that intended to
be represented by Figures 1 and 2), A. B, represents the angle at the
inner ring, corresponding with C, D, Figuro 8. By the side of the
improved wheel just described, I have given in Figure 9 a representa-
tion of the ordinary paddle wheel, of the diameter represented by the outer ring
of Figure 8. This wheel is twice the width and has double the number of
floats of the improved wheel, Figure 8', but the diameter of Figure 8' is increased
by the depth of the floats of Figure 9; each individual float therefore presents
the same area to the action of the water as in the common paddle wheel; and
I have found by several experiments that as great a propelling power is obtained,
although the total area of the floats and the breadth of the paddle wheel is
reduced one half. The tremulous motion so often complained of in steami
vessels is also hereby altogether obviated, or nearly so, in consequence of the
oblique manner at which the paddles enter the water, and their reduced
number. The form which I recommend for the ventilation of mines would be
one of those represented in Figure 7. The power to be applied to give them
the requisite velocity would be governed by local circumstances; but in some
situations the following suggestions may be worth attending to. When applied
at the bottom of a shaft down which there may happen to be a considerable
full of water, I would recommend that the water should be collected in a pipe,
and made to impinge on inclined vanes at the extremity of the wheel (which

page_text: will give it a great velocity); but the water vanes must be curved in the oppo-
site direction to the vanes of the ventilator, and at the top side they should be
so enclosed as to prevent the air being forced through them, which would have
a counteracting effect. When the ventilator is to be fixed at the top of a shaft,
it will be found of advantage to have a revolving cap with sails over the pit's
mouth, on the same principle exactly as the self-regulating revolving caps of
windmills, and on the sides of this cap, opposito to the wind, to have a circular
opening in which the ventilator may be placed. Such an apparatus would
always act well when there was wind; and when the weather was calm the
ventilator might be set in motion by connecting it with a heavy weight allowed
to descend the shaft, and raised from the bottom of it from time to time by
means of horse or some other power. To give the helical paddles or vanes
their proper curvature in every case, I propose that they should be formed on
blocks of some solid material, as wood or metal, the moulds for which blocks,
if formed of metal, may be cast in the following manner-Let there be a
cylindrical pin A (Figure 10) fixed perpendicular to the base of the mould,
and occupying the position of the axle of the wheel. On this pin let a hollow
cylinder, B, be accurately fitted, but so as to revolve easily, or rise or fall upon
the centre pin. To the hollow cylinder should be attached an arm c, at right
angles with the centre pin, and of a length equal to or rather exceeding the
radius of the wheel to be constructed; the under side of this arm should form
a straight line pointing to the centre of the wheel, and might be of the
form of which a is the section. At the distance of the radius of the wheel
there should be fixed an inclined plane, at such angle as might be intended for
the extremity of the vane or paddle, and rising to the right hand or to the left,
as the case required, the perpendicular of the inclined plane being equal to the
proposed breadth of the wheel. Things being thus arranged, if the extremity
of the revolving arm above described be made to ascend or descend the inclined
plane, the other end will rise perpendicularly upon its centre, and the curved
line described by the under side will be the helical curve required, and to which
the moulding sand should be arranged. If from the mould so formed two
blocks be cast, and the curved sides placed upon each other, they will, if pro-
perly made, to found to fit exactly.
And having now described the nature of my said invented improvements,
and the manner in which the same are to be performed, I declare that what I
claim in respect of the first branch thereof is the employment for rotary engines
of the class which are moved by the action of currents of wind or water,
or some other fluid, of vancs or floats having surfaces of the curvilinear form
herein-before described, or with an obliquity gradually decreasing from their

page_text: axles in the degrees or proportions herein-before set forth; and that what I
claim in respect of the second branch of my said improvements is the applica-
tion of rotary engines or wheels, with vanes or floats of the said description, to
registering the velocity of bodies propelled through water, or of the wind; and
that what I claim in respect of the third and last branch of my said improve-
ments is the employment for paddle wheels, stern propellers, and other rotary
engines which act upon water or air or other fluids, and derive their own
motion from some third source, as steam or animal power, of vanes or floats
having curvilinear surfaces of the form herein-before described, and presenting
at their extremities angles of not less than forty-five degrees to their planes of
motion, and inclosed, more or less, either at the sides or round their peripheries,
according to the purpose to which they are applied, all as herein-before parti-
cularly explained.
In witness whereof, I, the said Benjamin Biram, have hereunto set my
hand and seal. this Third day of August, in the year of our Lord One
BEN. (L.G.) BIRAM.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Third day of August, in the
year of our Lord 1842, the aforesaid Benjamin Biram came before our said
Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification afore-
said, and all and everything therein contained and specified, in form above
written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the
tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Inrolled the Eighth day of August, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and forty-two.
NOMY