IMPROVEMENTS IN ROTARY STEAM AND WATER-POWER ENGINES
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Bennison, of Burrage Road, Plumstead, in
the County of Kent, and of Hobart Town, Tasmania, Gentleman, for
the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN ROTARY STEAM AND WATER-POWER
ENGINES." Partly a communication from abroad by Frederick, Arundel
Downing, of Hobart Town, Tasmania.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Bennison at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 1st
September 1864.
I, HENRY BENNISON, of Burrage Road, Plumstead, in the County of Kent,
and of Hobart Town, Tasmania, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN ROTARY STEAM AND WATER-POWER
ENGINES," to be as follows:-
My.Invention relates, first, to an engine to be actuated by a supply or fall.
of water, having the pressure from an elevated height and in less quantity
than is adapted for water wheels. If from a natural fall I enclose and confine
the water in a tube of suitable dimensions, and conduct it from the higher to
the lower level where the engine is situated, and where it will have a pressure

page_text: according to the height of the column.
The engine is somewhat like a rotary
steam engine in its action, but if water be the driving power, and a slight
escape of little or no consequence, it does not require such perfection of
fitting in the parts necessary when used as a steam engine. This engine has
a rotating wheel or centre piece mounted on a suitable axis, one-third of the
circumference of this wheel being enclosed by a case covering the periphery
and both sides. Between the extreme diameter of the case and the circum-
ference of the wheel or centre piece there exists a segment of an annular
space whose area is available for the pressure of the water. The centre or
wheel has three, four, or more pistons or pallets at equal distances apart which
are projected in succession, and drawn within the periphery of the wheel;
they are projected just after passing the water-pressure abutment that abuts
on the periphery of the wheel. These pallets are disposed radially in suitable
slots in the periphery of the wheel, and are supported by stems actuated by
projections on each side operating on a cam or cams fixed to the stationary
plates, enclosing the sides of the wheel or otherwise, which cams regulate the
pallets, that is, they are withdrawn within the periphery when required to
pass the abutment, and again projected at the proper time, or they may be
actuated by springs which allow the pallets to recede on passing over an
incline leading to the abutment, and project them so soon as that point is
passed; the springs must be sufficiently strong to overcome the pressure of
the water on the edges of the pallet. When á pallet or piston passes the
stationary abutment, and is projected into the segmental chamber, the pressure
of the water takes effect upon it, and so forces the centre or wheel round,
before the pallet escapes from the chamber (having completed a quarter revo-
lution, and supposing there are four pallets) the succeeding pallet will have
entered and receives the pressure of the water; so soon as this is the case,
the first pallet einerges from the chamber and allows the water to escape
which has acted upon it, and so on. The entire of the sides of the wheel may
be enclosed togetlier with that part of the periphery before mentioned, or
only part of the periphery, and the sides in the manner described.
I employ this same apparatus as a steam engine, but provide the rubbing
surfaces of the pallets with metallic or other packings, as also the contact and
rubbing surfaces of the wheel and case to prevent the escape of steam. The
water-power engine may also be furnished with packings in like manner, if
desired, 'to prevent all 'escape 'of water..

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Henry Bennison in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
28th February 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
BENNISON, of Burrage Road, Plumstead; in the County of Kent, and of
Hobart Town, Tasmania, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the First day of September, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-eighth year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Henry Bennison, Her special licence that I, the said Henry
Bennison, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Henry Bennison, my executors, administrators, and 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 "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN ROTARY STEAM AND WATER-POWER ENGINES," partly my own Inven-
tion, and partly a communication to me from abroad by Frederick Arundel
Downing, of Hobart Town, Tasmania, upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the-said Henry Bennison, my executors or administrators, by an
instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals,
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 1, the said Henry Bennison, 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 Sheet of Drawings hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
This Invention relates to apparatus applicable as a steam or hydraulic
motive-power engine. This improved apparatus consists of a wheel or disc
rotating concentrically within a fixed case of larger diameter, thereby pro-
viding an annular space constituting the pressure and piston chamber, in
which the pressure of the elastic or other fluid is exerted to produce the
motive power. The pistons or pallets are projected from and withdrawn

page_text: within the rotating wheel at certain points of the circumference, in order to
receive the pressure of the fluid and to pass an abutment, offering the resist-
ance to the fluid necessary to oppose and cause its force to be exerted upon
them. The pistons are supported and carried by stems supported in a radial
position on the rotating wheel, such stems being fitted in suitable guides to
permit of the motion towards and from the axis of the wheel, and are actuated
by suitable fixed cams or inclines, the one near the centre acting on the
'stems to project the pistons, the others at the periphery to thrust them
towards the centre, each at their proper periods in the revolution. The
periphery of the wheel is made of greater or less breadth according to the
power of the engine required. The pistons or pallets are of the same breadth
as the wheel, and with it fitted steam or water tight, or nearly so, between
the sides of the case. The pallets also fit tight, and are furnished with
packings in openings in the periphery through which they are projected, and
are of course of sufficient area to intercept the annular space before men-
tioned. The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in the several
Figures where they recur.
DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS.
Fig. 1 represents a lateral. vertical section of a steam or water-power
engine constructed according to this Invention, the section being taken
on the line C, D, of Fig. 2, which is a transverse vertical section of
same, while Figs. 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 represent several of the parts
detached. I, I, represents the stationary case mounted on standards K,
supported from a suitable bed plate L; the case I, 1, is furnished with
bearings M, M, to receive and support the main shaft N, carrying the disc
wheel O; this wheel O is separately represented in side view at Fig. 3 and in
section at Fig. 4 on line j, j, Fig. 3. This disc wheel has the edges or sides
of its peripheries faced and turned true on its axis N, and the interior of the
case I, I, is also truly surfaced so as to receive wheel O, and permit of its
working properly and steam or water tight therein. The bearings M of N
are furnished with stuffing boxes in order to prevent any escape from the
centre of the case in the event of any taking place from the annular pressure
chamber P; to obviate this as much as possible, it may be advisable to
furnish the rubbing surfaces of the wheel (the sides touching the case) with
metallic packings, in which case the stuffing boxes M may be dispensed with,
and simple bearings adopted. The disc O is furnished with two similar
pallets or pistons X, X', separately represented at Fig. 8 in side and edge

page_text: views; these pallets are mounted on stems R, fitting and sliding in bearings Y
(seen separately at Fig. 9) fixed to the sides O, and are free to slide towards
and from the axis N. The thicknesses of the pallets or pistons X are fitted
in recesses in the periphery of the wheel, in which it slides steam-tight by
reason of the packing 1, 2, which bear against the faces of the pallet, while
the breadth is adapted to occupy the annular space P, as seen in the section,
Fig. 2, in order to receive the pressure of the steam or fluid therein from
which the power is to be derived. The pallets or pistons X are controlled in
their position by two cams, the one S fixed in the centre, and the other T
at the circumference of the engine. The cam S is seen dotted in Fig. 1, and
separately in side and edge views at Fig. 7, while cam T is also separately
represented at Fig. 6 as seen in Fig. 1, and in plan at Fig. 5. Cam S is a
fixture to the side of the case I; the cam T, which occupies a space within
the outer circle of case I, is also a fixture thereto. The solid part T¹ of
cam T serves as the abutment for the pressure of the fluid; the openings U, U,
in the inclined parts serve as the inlet and outlet passages for the fluid. The.
extreme ends of the pallets X bear on the inclines of the cam T', and are con-
trolled in position thereby. The inner end of the stems R carrying pistons X
are furnished with arms 3, which bear on the cam S; this cam keeps the
pallets projected to the greatest extent and when they are not operated on by.
cam T, but allows them to recede under the influence of that cam; the two
cams Sand-T thus control the position of and hold. the pallets or pistons
during their traverse throughout the entire circumference. The arms 3 of R
carry wedge pieces 4 dovetailed therein, and furnished with a screw and nut 5,
by which the wedge is drawn up its incline, and so projecting its bearing
surface towards cam S, whereby any wear may be compensated, and the dis-
tance between the extreme end of the pisten and the arm 3 regulated as
required.
The parts of the engine are fitted and bolted together as usual, and as seen
in the Drawing, and will require no particular description. W is the inlet of
the water or steam, and Y the outlet. Water entering under pressure, and
as indicated by the arrow, finds a solid resistance in the abutment formed by
the part T, and therefore bears with all its force on the extended pallet X',
and impels it, and with it the wheel O, round in the direction of the arrow.
Motion so communicated to the wheel O is transmitted to the shaft N, from
which the power required may be derived. When the pallets X, X', arrive
at the horizontal position, that is, at right angles to the position shown, the
pressure of the water on the first one X will be cut off by the other X, which

page_text: now receives the motive force, while the first one, X', will begin to recede
within the periphery of the wheel by the action of the incline of cam T upon
it, and will so pass the abutment T'; so soon as the pallet passes part T', it is
again projected by the cam S, and receives the pressure of the water as before,
and so on, thus producing continuous rotary motion of the wheel O and
shaft N.
Instead of water being admitted to produce the rotation of wheel O,
it may be steam or other elastic fluid; the action will be precisely the
same, and need not be further described. For steam, as before mentioned,
it may be advisable to fit all the edges of the pallets and the rubbing sur-
faces of the wheel O with with metallic packings to render such parts sulli-
ciently tight.
1 In the lower part of Fig. 1. I have represented an arrangement of the
induction and eduction passages adapted for reversing the motion of the
engine, which is the case with the cams S and T. 7, 8, 9, are three taps,
8 being simply a stop tap on the channel from which the supply of water or
other fluid is derived, while taps 7 and 9 are adapted for changing the
induction passage to that of the eduction, and vice versa. (both these taps being
in connection with the supply and exhaust passages), as necessary for reversing
the motion of the engine. The levers 10, 10, of the taps 7 and 8 are con-
nected by a lever bar 11 so that they move simultaneously, the effect of the.
change being that water or fluid under pressure will enter and pass in a
direction in opposition to that of the arrows, when the engine will conse-
quently rotate in the opposite direction.
Fig. 10 represents in lateral vertical section a motive-power engine similar
to that represented at Fig. 1, but which, in addition, has the capability of
working in both directions, and will exert double power, having duplicate sets
of induction and eduction passages, which will be readily seen and understood
from the foregoing description, and will admit the inlet and escape of the
motive fluid simultaneously. For this purpose I provide three pallets or
pistons, as seen, each fitted as before described; two of these pallets are
always in action. The cams and abutments S, T, and T are in duplicate,
and somewhat modified in form, as represented in the Drawing, but which
will not require particular description, as their action will be readily under-
stood from the foregoing description of Figs. 1 and 2.
Having described the nature of this Invention, and the manner of per-
forming the same, I declare that what I claim as the Invention to be protected
by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is, the particular arrange-

page_text: ment and combination of parts herein-before described and represented in the
Drawings annexed, constituting a motive-power engine to be actuated by a
pressure of steam or water, as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Bennison, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-fifth day of February, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five..
HENRY BENNISON. (L.s.)