IMPROVE- MENTS IN HYDRAULIC ENGINES TO ACT EITHER ALONE OR IN COMBINATION WITH STEAM AND STEAM ENGINES
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joseph Alexander Maxwell, of 53, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN HYDRAULIC ENGINES TO ACT EITHER ALONE OR IN COMBINATION
WITH STEAM AND STEAM ENGINES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joseph Alexander Maxwell
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 26th March 1860.
I, JOSEPH ALEXANDER MAXWELL, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County of
Middlesex, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN HYDRAULIC ENGINES TO ACT EITHER ALONE OR IN COM-
BINATION WITH STEAM AND STEAM ENGINES," to be as follows:-
My Invention relates to hydraulic engines working on the principle known
as Barker's mill. In carrying out my improvements I prefer to use only
one jet or outlet arm in connection with the column of water furnishing the
motive power, and instead of, allowing it at once to pass from the influence of
the rotating machine I attach a circular trough or tube of much larger capa-
city than the jet to the rotating part of the machine, being as it were a con-

page_text: tinuation of the jet pipe in a circular direction round the centre of motion;
this circular channel is inclined, & being a complete circle terminates imme-
diately under the jet aperture, where the water escapes from it. Thus the
fluid actuating the machine escapes first at the jet aperture of the arm, is
received in the circular channel before described, and passing once round
the machine & escaping finally into the receiver below. This receiving and
retaining the escaping fluid in the channel as described is attended with beni-
ficial results in the working of the machine, and enhances the power derived,
which is also increased by the use of one escape arm only.
This machine may either be used alone as a generator of motive power for
any purpose, or in combination with a steam engine in which the circular
channel with the body of water contained acts as a fly wheel, whereby the fly
wheel of the steam engine may be entirely or for the most part dispensed
with.
I also work my improved hydraulic engine in combination with steam, using
that fluid to form a vacuum by condensation in a suitable chamber or vessel,
whereby to raise the water to act again and again in the hydraulic engine.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Joseph Alexander Maxwell in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 26th September 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSEPH
ALEXANDER MAXWELL, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex,
Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-sixth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-third year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Joseph Alexander Maxwell, Her special licence that I, the said Joseph
Alexander Maxwell, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Joseph Alexander Maxwell, 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 Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN HYDRAULIC ENGINES TO ACT EITHER ALONE OR IN COM-
BINATION WITH STEAM AND STEAM ENGINES," upon the condition (amongst

page_text: others) that I, the said Joseph Alexander Maxwell, my executors or
administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of
their hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascertan 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 Joseph Alexander Maxwell, 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):-
My Invention relates to hydraulic engines working on the principle known as
the turbine or Barker's mill. In carrying out my improvements I prefer to use
only one jet or outlet arm in connection with the column of water furnishing
the motive power, and instead of allowing it at once to pass from the influence
of the rotating machine, I attach a circular trough or tube of much larger
capacity and capable of containing the full vertical column of water to run
down the incline, than the jet of the radiating arm of the machine, being as it
were a continuation of the jet pipe in a circular direction round the centre of
motion; this circular channel is inclined, and being a complete circle termi-
nates immediately under the jet aperture where the water escapes from it.
Thus the fluid actuating the machine escapes first at the jet aperture of the
arm, is received in the circular channel before described, and passes once
round the machine, and finally escapes into the receiver below. This receiving
and retaining the escaping fluid in the channel as described, is attended with
benificial results in the working of the machine, and enhances the power
derived, which is also increased by the use of one escape arm only.
This machine may either be used alone as a generator of motive power for
any purpose, or in combination with a steam engine, in which case the circular
channel with the body of water contained may be adapted to act as a fly wheel,
whereby the fly wheel of the steam engine may be entirely or for the most part
dispensed with.
I also work my hydraulic engine in combination with steam, using that fluid
to form a vacuum by condensation in a suitable chamber or vessel, whereby to
raise the water to act again and again in the hydraulic engine; or, the water
raised, after acting on the turbine, may be discharged from the vessel, & its
discharge so arranged and directed as to be instrumental in the propulsion of
the vessel.

page_text: Fig. 1 of the Sheet of Drawings annexed represents an elevation of a water-
power engine or turbine, constructed according to my Invention; Fig. 2, a
plan, and Fig. 3, a vertical section, of the same.
In this machine the water enters from below, and is conducted thereto by a
tube placed in connection with any suitable head or fall of water, which main-
tains a pressure in the tube equal to the height of the column of falling water.
In this machine a central spindle or axis is not absolutely necessary, but such
is introduced for the purpose of transmitting the power from the turbine, also
tending to keep it in position. This turbine consists of a wheel having a
hollow central nave or boss a connected to the rim by spokes c, of suitable
form and strength, the rim 6 may be the large water tube or channel d before
mentioned, or it may be an independent rim of metal, or other suitable mate-
rial, to which the circumferential water tube or channel is attached. The
spokes c have a rail ring e attached to them of a suitable diameter, which rail
rests on three wheels f,f, mounted in suitable fixed bearings g, which support
the weight of the turbine and at same time permits of its free revolution on
the ring e; h is the central shaft or axis mounted in bearings concentric with
the ring rail; on this shaft I place suitable riggers or it may be on the peri-
phery of the turbine, or fixed to the spokes c, in manner similar to the rail e;
k is the tube or channel by which the water is conducted to the turbine, this
being conducted under the machine and rising vertically under the centre of
the turbine; is a neck piece or short tube descending from the boss or centre
of the turbine with which the end of tube : coincides, and both being
turned or otherwise truly faced and enamelled at approaching points are
brought into very close proximity; thus the piece 7 forms a continuation of the
water channel k, while at the same time the one is fixed and the other
revolving. Any little escape of water that takes place at this junction of the
pipe k with will be of little moment, and will serve to lubricate their sur-
faces. If it is desired to prevent all escape of the water, the neck / may be
made to enter the end of k, and be further fitted with a suitable packing, to
prevent escape; I think, however, that this will be unnecessary. The neckl
may either open into the boss a, from which the channel m radiates, or it may
form a continuation of the radial channel m, by which the water passes to the
circumference; the extreme end of the arm m is bent at right angles or has
the escape orifice made in it at the side, so that water shall be emitted in that
direction, and so produce tendency to rotary motion in the turbine, as well
understood in like kinds of water-power engines. The water so escaping from

page_text: the radial branch m does not, however, escape from the turbine at this point,
but into a tube d, or it may be an open channel; if into a tube d, it must be
of at least twice the diameter of the channel m. This tube or channel dis
carried quite round the circumference of the machine in a helical form, and
terminates immediately under the opening of m thereto. This helical dis-
position of the tube or channel d forms an incline, producing a tendency to the
traverse and escape of the water, and must be such that at no time is the tube
d full of or choked with the water emitted from channel m. The water
escaping from d is received in a suitable circular trough n, or otherwise, and
passed away by any suitable duct. The impulse given to the turbine by the
water escaping from m is the same as in like machines, but the water whose
force is so utilized gives a further impulse to the turbine by its subsequent
escape from channel d, and moreover by the weight of its volume being the
amount of the whole vertical column contained therein, at all times equalizes
the momentum and velocity of the turbine. In order to take advantage of the
latter with the greatest possible effect, I sometimes combine my improved tur-
bine with a steam engine, coupling the steam engine and the turbine with a
main shaft, which is therefore common to both, and by which the turbine and
especially the weight of the water in d will have the effect of equalizing the
motion of the engine, and will in fact answer all the purposes of a fly wheel,
which may therefore be dispensed with altogether..
Fig. 4 represents a vertical section of a turbine constructed according to my
Invention, in which the turbine is mounted on a hollow central axis p, re-
ceiving the fall of water from the top, and the fall or column of water utilized
may be simply of the height of such central hollow axis, or it may be rendered
effective at greater heights by simply arranging the orifice of the channel con-
taining the greater height of fall with the top of the hollow axis p, as seen and
as described with reference to the column of water entering from below the
turbine, as in Fig. 1. In this case I support the turbine on a pivot and step q
below, and fit the vertical hollow axis p in suitable bearings r, r; power is
transmitted from this. machine by a wheel s on the axis p, whereby it may also
be connected with a steam engine, if desired. The action of this engine and
the arrangement of the other parts is precisely the same as before described
with reference to Figs. 1, 2, & 3, and therefore need not be repeated.
My improved turbines are particularly applicable for marine propulsion, in
which case they may be combined with a steam engine by connection with a
main shaft common to both, or the steam may be used only as a means of
raising the water to act on the turbine, in which case the steam engine, pro-
perly so called, may be dispensed with, and the water raised by using steam to

page_text: may
produce a vacuum, the water so raised being afterwards passed down through
the turbine, the power of which is employed in propelling the vessel by means
of paddles, screw, or otherwise. The water after escaping from the turbine
be further utilized in propelling the vessel by allowing it to escape stern-
wards, as well understood in propelling vessels by means of water jets. In
using this turbine in combination with a steam engine on board ship, the water
to act on the turbine may be that discharged from the condenser and raised by
the air pump, but I prefer the use of steam alone for that purpose. In
stationary engines a natural fall of water is of course of great additional
advantage.
Instead of these turbines having only one radial arm m, as before described,
two or more may be adopted, but each with a separate channel d carried
entirely round the circumference at an incline, and having the escape imme-
diately beneath the emission orifice of its separate radial arm, as before
explained.
Having described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of performing
the same, I declare that what I claim as my Invention to be protected by the
herein-before in part recited Letters Patent, is, the arrangement and construc-
tion of turbines or water-power engines generally, with the water channel or
channels d. to receive the water from the emission orifice of the turbine, as and
for the purposes herein-before described; and I further claim the particular
arrangement of water-power engine described with reference to Figs. 1, 2, & 3
of the Drawings annexed.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Alexander Maxwell, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-second day of September, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty.
Witness,
JOHN WELDON.
JOSEPH A. MAXWELL. (L.S.)