CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN STEALI ENGINES, BOILERS, AND PROPELLING MACHINERY
Year: 1843

page_text: OF ALTERATIONS.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, PETER
BORRIE, of Prince's Square, Saint George's in the East, in the County of
Middlesex, Engineer, and MAYER HENRY, of Crutched Friars, in the City
of London, Merchant, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the Third day of August, in the seventh year of Her reign, did, for
Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the said Peter
Borric and Mayer Henry, our exors, adñiors, and assigns, Her especial licence,
full power, sole privilege and authority, that we, the said Peter Borrie, our
exors, adñiors, and assigns, and such others as we, the said Peter Borrie, our
exors, admors, or assigus, 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, and Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed,
my Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN STEALI ENGINES, BOILERS, AND
PROPELLING MACHINERY;" in which said Letters Patent there is contained a proviso,
that we, the said Peter Borrie and Mayer Henry, or one of us, shall cause a
particular description of the nature of our said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, under our hands and seals, or under the hand
and seal of one of us, to be inrolled in Her said Majesty's High Court of

page_text: Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of
the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being
thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said Peter Borrie and
Mayer Henry do hereby declare that the nature of the said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, are fully set forth and described in
and by the following Specification thereof, reference being had to the Sheets of
Drawings hereunto annexed, marked A, B, C, D, E, that is to say :-
The said Invention consists, firstly, in certain improvements in revolving
engines, which are represented in Sheet A of the Drawings hereunto annexed.
Figure 1 is a longitudinal section of a condensing engine constructed according
to these improvements. Figure 2 is a transverse section of the same through
the cylinders. Figure 3 is a side elevation. Figure 4 is a transverse section
through the air pump, with some of the other parts of the engine; and Figure 5,
a plan of the whole. a is a fixed cylinder or case mounted on a bed plate or
foundation f, and b an inner and smaller cylinder which revolves within the
other, but on a shaft c placed so far above the centre of the outer cylinder that
while the inner cylinder touches or nearly touches the outer one at the summit
point b', it is at a continually increasing distance from the point & down to the
opposite or lowest point 62. The shaft c passes through steam-tight stuffing
boxes in the two covers d, d, of the outer cylinder a, and rests externally on
two standards e, e, which rise from the common bed plate f; the inner cylinder
b may be either cast on the shaft c or keyed to it. Two pistons g, g, consisting
each of two arms whose joint length is exactly equal to the diameter of the
outer cylinder a, and whose width is the same as that cylinder, slide freely to
and fro at right angles to each other in passages made for the purpose through
the inner cylinder b and the shaft c (see Figure 2); so that supposing the inner
cylinder and shaft to revolve in the direction of the arrows, or the contrary, the
pistons will revolve with them, and each piston will in the course of every
revolution be continually pushed inwards on one side of the points b¹ and b
(that is, on the ascending side, whichever that may be,) by the pressure of the
internal circumference of the cylinder upon it (arising from its eccentric position
in regard to the inner cylinder b), and pushed outwards on the opposite side to
precisely the like extent, whereby the two arms will always fill exactly the
spaces which they respectively traverse on either side. Side views of both
these pistons are given separately in Figures 6 and 7. In the former the outer
plates of the arms are supposed to be removed, in the latter they are left on.
From these views, with the help of the cross sectional view given in Figure 2,
it will be seen that each arm consists of two plates, with a space between, into

page_text: 22, 0, are
which inetallic packing is inserted (in the manuer shewn in Figure 6) to keep
the piston steam-tight at the edges; but that in one of the pistons (Figure 6)
the arms are connected in the middle by plates g of the same width, while in
the other (Figure 7) they are connected by rods g', g³, which pass through
hollow spaces g, g, in the connecting plates g of the other piston, whereby the
two pistons, besides moving at right angles to each other, inove also through
or upon one another. To keep the pistons steam-tight on their faces, each
arm is passed through a stuffing box h, fixed in the inner cylinder. To keep
the inner cylinder also steam-tight, it projects at the two ends into metallic
packing boxes jj, in the outer cylinder; and at the summit point b', where the
inner cylinder comes into contact, or nearly so, with the outer one, there is a
stuffing box k, which prevents the passage of the steam to either side.
two ports in the outer cylinder a, which are used for the admission or escape of
the steam, according to the direction in which the working shaft (c) is required
to revolve. p is a passage leading from the induction pipe ¹ to the port n;
and på, a similar passage leading to the port o. p³ is a slide by which the pas-
sages p' and p² may be respectively opened or closed to the induction pipe q
and eduction pipe r, which lead to the condensers. 1, 1, are slide valves which
shut and open two supplementary ports m¹, m², in the outer cylinder, which
may be used or not, according as it is desired to accelerate or retard the escape
of the steam. q is a slide valve which controls the admission of the steam
through the induction pipe, and by which, therefore, the speed of the engine
can be regulated at pleasure. In combination with this engine, we propose to
make use of a double-acting air pump t, constructed in the manner particularly
shewn in the transverse section of it given in Figure 4, and to be worked by a
crank pin from the shaft c. We call it double-acting, because it is made to act
both in its up and down strokes. The bilge pump (supposing the engine to
be employed for marine propulsion), and feed pumps v, v, are worked from the
air-pump cross-head w. a is the valve chest for the feed pumps, y the hot well,
and z the discharge pipe. From the description which has been now given of
this engine, it will be readily understood that in whatever direction the working
shaft (c) is required to be turned, and whether the steam is admitted into the
outer cylinder by the passage p' on the one side, or the passage på on the other,
it acts with a continually expanding force on the piston arm with which it
comes into contact to the end of the stroke, because, as the arm revolves and
carries round with it the inner cylinder b and shaft c, the area it has to traverse
is continually increasing to the end of its stroke, and the area of the arm is
also simultaneously increased in exactly the same ratio through the pressure
of the circumference of the inner cylinder on the opposite arm, and the corre-
26

page_text: sponding protrusion of the arm against which the steam is acting. The full
effective force of the engine is thus obtained, with as great an economy in the
use of steam as is probably obtainable; and although the engine by which we
have thus exemplified our improved mode of constructing revolving engines is a
condensing one, we declare that we do not confine ourselves to that mode of
application, inasmuch as a high-pressure or non-condensing engine may by
several obvious modifications be readily constructed on the same plan.
And we declare that what we claim under this first head of our Invention is,
the construction in manner before described of revolving engines with two
cylinders of different diameters, one fixed, and the other revolving within it on
a different centre, with two double-armed sliding pistons, the arms of which
are caused, by the relative positions of the two cylinders, to expand in exact
proportion to the increase of the area which they have to traverse.
Secondly, the said Invention consists in the improvements in oscillating
engines represented in Sheet B of the Drawings hereunto annexed. Figure 1
is a transverse section of the hull of a steamer fitted with a pair of oscillating
engines embracing these improvements, the Figure exhibiting an external
elevation of the engines, with the exception of one of the cylinders and the air
pump, which are shewn in section. Figure 2 is a plan of the engines. Figure 3
is a section of one of the cylinders through its oscillating centre; and Figure 4
a plan of the gearing for working the slide valves. a and b are the cylinders,
which oscillate on centres c, c, supported by bearings 1, 1, the steam entering at
one side of these centres by the induction pipes h¹, h¹, and passing off at the
other by the eduction pipes h2, h3, to the condenser k (see Figure 2). d, d, are
the piston rods, which are directly connected by socket and straps e, e, to one
crank pin o, the shaft of which n is supported by the framing m, m. In the
Figures, the piston of the cylinder a is represented as having arrived at the
termination of its down stroke, and the piston 6 as at half stroke. When they
are in this position the angles which the cylinders make with one another is
about ninety degrees, and the average angle throughout each stroke is about
seventy-six degrees, but the angle may be varied to suit any convenient length
of stroke or height of shaft. By working the two cylinders at these angles
with respect to one another, the crank is made to turn over its centres with as
much ease as if there were two cranks, one to each cylinder, while at the same
time a long stroke is obtained with a small height of shaft. p, p, are eccentrics
for working the slide valves, which, with their appendages, are separately
represented in Figure 4. f is a double-acting air pump placed between the
engines, and worked by an eccentric g attached to the crank pin. If the
motion were taken directly from the pin, the stroke of the air pump would be

page_text: the same as that of the cylinders, but by the interposition of the eccentric the
length is reduced. The same object may be also effected by bending in the
outer point of the crank pin towards the centre of the shaft, say, as far in as
the excentric g. In the Drawings the engines are represented as fixed athwart
the vessel, with the working shaft running fore and aft, and this will be found
the most convenient position when the vessel is fitted with stern propellers, but
when paddle wheels are used, the more convenient arrangement is to place the
cylinders fore and aft, with a boiler on cach side. And in respect to this second
head of our Invention, we declare that we do not claim any one of the parts of
the oscillating engines last herein-before described as in and by itself new, but
that what we claim is, the general arrangement and combination of these parts
in the peculiar manner before described.
Thirdly, the said Invention consists in the improved form of tubular boiler
represented in Sheet C of the Drawings hereunto annexed. Figure 1 is an
elevation partly in section of a pair of boilers of this improved form. Figure 2
is a longitudinal section of one of these boilers; Figure 3, a plan of the same
on the line a, b, of Figure 1; Figure 4, a plan on the line c, d, of Figure 1;
and Figure 5 a back end view. A, A, are the fire-places; B, B, sets of tubes
leading therefrom to the common chimney D; and C, C, the water spaces sur-
rounding the fire-places and tubes. We lay no claim to any one of the parts
of which this improved tubular boiler consists as in and by itself new, but we
claim as new the general arrangement and combination of the parts in the
peculiar manner represented in the Sheet of Drawings marked C, and before
described.
Fourthly, our Invention consists in the safety friction wheel for disconnecting
paddle wheels or other propelling machinery, represented in Sheet D of the
Drawings hereunto annexed. Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of this wheel
as applied to a steam vessel, with part of the paddle shaft, crank, and engine
framing; Figure 2, a front view of the wheel alone; and Figure 3, a back view.
a is a cast-iron wheel, which is keyed to the paddle shaft. 6 is a friction strap
which goes round the periphery of this wheel, and terminates at top in an eye]
piece p, into which the outer end of the crank pin t is inserted, as shewn in
Figure 1. c is a ring which is slipped over the boss of the wheel a.
9, a bevil
wheel attached to this ring, and which turns round when out of gear, indepen-
dent of the wheel a. f,f, short pinions fixed on spokes projecting from the boss
of the wheel a, which work into the teeth of the bevil wheel a. d, d, are five
brass plates which are inserted in recesses formed partly in the periphery of the
wheel a, and partly on the inside of the strap b. e, e, are screw rods which are
connected at one end to the pinions, and when acted on in manner to be herein_

page_text: after explained, press at the other end against the plates d, d. h, h, are collars
by which the screw rods e, e, are enclosed (to prevent them rising out of their
places), consisting each of two semi-cylindrical pieces connected together by
hinges, so that they can be taken off when it is required to adjust the screws.
The friction strap b, when in gear (as shewn in the Drawings) is attached at
the back to the ring c, by means of a link k, which is secured at one
end by a pin, on which it turns freely, to the strap, and catches hold
at the other by a spur of one or two studs m, projecting from the ring c.
When out of gear, the link k is kept extended by a spring link n, which
takes hold of a projecting stud on the face of the strap b. The operation
of the apparatus is as follows:-The friction wheel a and strap b, being con-
nected to the crank pin by the eye-piece p, move round with the paddle shaft;
when it is desired to disconnect the paddle wheels, that is, to liberate them
from the position in which they are represented in the Drawings, a catch is to
be thrown in from some part of the engine framing (which catch may be either
worked from the engine room, or from any convenient station on deck), to take
hold of the link k at the back of the friction strap bas it turns round. The
link will be thus thrown out of gear, but the catch coming immediately after-
wards in contact with the second projecting stud m of the ring c, will lay fast
hold of that ring c and the bevil wheel g, when the friction wheel continuing
to go round, the bevil wheel g will turn the pinions f, f, and the pinions f, f,
turn the screws e, e, which press outwards against the plates d, d. All these
pressing in their turn against the friction strap b, ultimately disconnect it from
the friction wheel, and withdraw the crank pin from the eye-piece p. When
it is desired to connect the paddle wheels again with the engines, this may be
done with the greatest readiness, even when the engines are going at full speed.
Let a catch lie thrown in from the engine frame to release in the first place
the spring catch n, and then to bring the link & into gear, which taking the
wheel ground along with it, the wheel a (through the medium of the bevil
wheel g and pinions f, f, turns round the screw rods e, e, until there is a suffi-
cient pressure on the friction plates d, d, to carry round the whole. From the
description which has been thus given, it will be readily understood that no
more pressure can be exerted on the screw rods e, e, than is necessary to carry
round the friction wheel a with its strap b, for as soon as there is a sufficient
friction on the screw rods, the friction wheel a, by moving at the same rate as
the bevil wheel g, ceases to turn the screws. In Figures 1, 2, 3, we have
represented the friction wheel as having five friction plates d, d, which is a
number corresponding to a five-feet stroke of piston, but the number of plates
may be varied, observing always the like proportion. Figures 4, 5, and 6

page_text: shew the wheel as adapted to engines of seven feet stroke. In respect of this
fourth head of our Invention, we lay no claim to any one of the parts of which
the said connecting and disconnecting apparatus consists; but what we claim
is, the general arrangement and combination of these parts in the peculiar
manner represented in the Sheet of Drawings D, and before described.
Fifthly, our said Invention consists in the improved stern propeller, repre-
sented in Sheet E of the Drawings hereunto annexed. Figure 1 is a front
elevation of this propeller as fixed on to its shaft. Figure 2 is a plan of the
propeller and shaft. Figure 3 is a side elevation of the propeller and shaft,
with the driving gearing by which they are connected to the moving power.
Figure 4 is a front elevation of the driving gear by itself. Figure 5 is an end
view of two propellers on this plan working in combination; and Figure 6, an
elevation of the driving gear for working two propellers. The propeller (see
Figure 1, consists of three blades, a, b, c, of equal area and the like pitch, keyed
separately upon a shaft d, each of which blades is a portion of a triple helix,
that is to say, a portion of three inclined planes wound spirally round a cylinder,
and increases gradually in breadth from the shaft towards the circumference,
where the velocity is greatest, and where, therefore, the greatest amount of
surface is required to act upon the water. The blades may be formed of metal
or any other suitable material, but for the sake of strength, as well as for
keeping them the more apart from each other, they are made thicker at the
neck than elsewhere. The propeller so formed is proposed to be placed in the
after part of the vessel, immediately before the stern post; but to keep the shaft
d of the propeller free of the stern post, it is to be overhung at the outer end
from a bearing at e, and supported at the inner end on the bracket f. Ate
there is a water-tight stuffing box, through which the shaft d passes. g is the
engine shaft, which rests also in the bracket f. 1 is a drum, which is keyed
on to the engine shaft g. m, another drum, which is keyed on the propeller
shaft d. w, w, a gut band, which passes round the two drums, and by which
the motion of the engine shaft is transferred to the propeller shaft. h and k
are bell cranks affixed to the bearing f, one at each side, to the upper arms of
which cranks are attached pullies 0, 0, which press against the band w to keep
it tight, and to the lower weights n, n, which serve to regulate that pressure
according to the direction in which the engine drum 7 moves. Supposing that
drum to move in the direction of the arrows in Figure 4, then the band would
be tight at h and slack at k, as shewn, and the pullies would assume the posi-
tions there shewn; but if the drum were to move in the opposite direction,
then the position of the pulleys would be also reversed. Instead of one such
propeller as has been described, two may be used, one on
each side of the dead

page_text: wood of the vessel, with a separate drum to each, as represented in Figures 5
and 6; but to cause the shafts of the two propellers to move always at the same
rate, and so prevent their blades from coming in contact, they must have wheels
p, p, attached to them, and gearing into one another; and instead of the band
which connects the drums on the propeller shaft with the drum of the engine
shaft being kept tight by the means before described, it must for that purpose
be passed over the drums on the propeller shafts, and a single intermediate
pulley t, in the manner shewn in Figure 6, and the pulley be raised or lowered
so as to press more or less against the band by means of the screw u.
And in respect of the said propeller, we declare that we lay no claim to the
propelling of vessels from the stern, or to any particular mode of communicating
the power of the engine to the propeller or propellers employed; but that what
we claim is, the employment of a propeller consisting of three blades, of the
form and fixed in the manner before described, whereby each blade of the
propeller revolves in a different plane from the others, and increases in area
towards the point of greatest velocity.
In witness whereof, I, the said Peter Borrie, on behalf of myself and the
said Mayer Henry, have hereunto set my hand and seal, this Thirtieth
day of January, One thousand eight hundred and forty-four.
PETER (L.S.) BORRIE.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Thirtieth day of January, in
the year of our Lord 1844, the aforesaid Peter Borrie 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.
Enrolled the Third day of February, in the year of our Lord One thousand

page_text: En the Matter of a Patent granted to Peter Borrie, of Prince's Square,
Saint George's in the East, in the County of Middlesex, Engineer,
and Mayer Henry, of Crutched Friars, in the City of London,
Merchant, for "Certain Improvements in Steam Engines, Boilers,
and Propelling Machinery," bearing date at Westminster, the
Third day of August, One thousand eight hundred and forty-three.
MEMORANDUM OF ALTERATION entered by the said Peter Borrie and
Mayer Henry, with the clerk of the Patents of England, pursuant to an
Act passed in the fifth and sixth year of the reign of His late Majesty
King William the Fourth, intituled "An Act to amend the Law touching
Letters Patent for Inventions."
We, the said Peter Borrie and Mayer, do hereby declare that in describing
the first head of the said Invention, which consists in certain improve-
ments in revolving engines, we speak of "the pistons 9, 9, as consisting
each of two arms whose joint length is exactly equal to the diameter
of the outer cylinder a," whereas it was our intention to describe the joint
length of the pistons as only nearly equal thereto. Now, therefore, we leave
out the said word " exactly" and substitute therefor the word "nearly."
And farther, in order that it may not be supposed that the shaft and arms of
the revolving engine described under the first head of the said Specification
can only be made and connected in the particular mode there pointed out, we
insert immediately after the conclusion of the description of the said first head
of the Specification, and just before the claiming part thereof, the words
following: "And
we declare further, that instead of the shaft and arms
being made and connected as aforesaid, the shaft may be made solid, and
the two arms of each piston connected together by rods passing on both sides
of it."
In witness whereof, I, the said Peter Borrie, on behalf of myself and the
said Mayer Henry, have hereunto set my hand, this Twenty-eighth
day of March, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred
and forty-four.

page_text: To the Clerk of the Patents of England.
This is to certify, that the above-named Peter Borrie, of Prince's Square,
Saint George's in the East, in the County of Middlesex, Engineer, & Mayer
Henry, of Crutched Friars, in the City of London, Merchant, have applied to
me for leave to enter with you the above written Memorandum of Alteration
of part of the Specification of a certain Invention, for which Letters Patent
were granted to them under the Great Seal of Great Britain, dated at
Westminster, the Third day of August 1844. And having considered of the
said application, and no objection having been made to the same, I have
accordingly granted leave to the said Peter Borrie & Mayer Henry to file
their said Memorandum of Alteration, pursuant to the Statute passed in the
fifth & sixth years of the reign of His late Majesty King William the
Fourth, entituled "An Act to amend the Law touching Letters Patent for
Inventions."
Temple, April 2d, 1844.
FRED. POLLOCK.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Twenty-ninth day of March, in
the year of our Lord 1844, the aforesaid Peter Borrie came before our said
Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Memorandum of
Alteration aforesaid, and all and everything therein contained and specified
in form above written. And also the Memorandum of Alteration aforesaid
was stamped according to the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Enrolled the Third day of April, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and forty-four.

page_text: OF ALTERATIONS.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, PETER
BORKIE, of Prince's Square, Saint George's in the East. in the County of
Middlesex, Engineer, and MAYER HESRY. of Crutched Friars, in the City
of London, Merchant, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the Third day of August, in the seventh year of He reign, did, for
Herself, Ter heirs and successors. give and grant unto the said Peter
Borrie and Mayer Henry, our exors, adiiiors, and assigns, Her especial licence,
full power, sole privilege and authority, that we, the said Peter Borrie, our
exors, adiiors, and assigns, and such others as we, the said Peter Dorrie, our
exors, adors, or 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, skok and lawfully night make, use, exercise, and vend, within
that part of Her Majesty's United! Kingdom of Great Britain and heland
called England. Her Dominion of Wales, and Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed,
my Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVANS IN STEAM ENGINES, BOILERS, AND
PROPELLING MACHINERY;" in which said Letters Patent there is contain. da proviso,
that we, the aid Peter Barrie and Mayer Henry, or at of us. all couse a
particular description of the nature of our said Invention, and in what numer
the same is to be performed, up our hands and seals, or under the berd
of
and seal of one of us, ie inrolled in Her sail Majesty's High Curt

page_text: Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of
the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being
thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said Peter Borrie and
Mayer Henry do hereby declare that the nature of the said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, are fully set forth and described in
and by the following Specification thereof, reference being had to the Sheets of
Drawings hereunto annexed, marked A, B, C, D, E, that is to say :-
The said Invention consists, firstly, in certain improvements in revolving
engines, which are represented in Sheet A of the Drawings hereunto annexed.
Figure 1 is a longitudinal section of a condensing engine constructed according
to these improvements. Figure 2 is a transverse section of the same through
the cylinders. Figure 3 is a side elevation. Figure 4 is a transverse section
through the air pump, with some of the other parts of the engine; and Figure 5,
a plan of the whole. a is a fixed cylinder or case mounted on a bed plate or
foundation f, and an inner and smaller cylinder which revolves within the
other, but on a shaft c placed so far above the centre of the outer cylinder that
while the inner cylinder touches or nearly touches the outer one at the summit
point, it is at a continually increasing distance from the point & down to the
opposite or lowest point . The shaft c passes through steam-tight stuffing
boxes in the two covers d, d, of the outer cylinder a, and rests externally on
two standards c, c, which rise from the common bed plate f; the inner cylinder
may be either cast on the shaft c or keyed to it. Two pistons g, g, consisting
each of two arms whose joint length is exactly equal to the diameter of the
outer cylinder a, and whose width is the same as that cylinder, slide freely to
and fro at right angles to each other in passages made for the purpose through
the inner cylinder 6 and the shaft c (see Figure 2); so that supposing the inner
cylinder and shaft to revolve in the direction of the arrows, or the contrary, the
pistons will revolve with them, and each piston will in the course of every
revolution be continually pushed inwards on one side of the points and b
(that is, on the ascending side, whichever that may be,) by the pressure of the
internal circumference of the cylinder upon it (arising from its eccentric position
in regard to the inner cylinder b), and pushed outwards on the opposite side to
precisely the like extent, whereby the two arms will always fill exactly the
spaces which they respectively traverse on either side. Side views of both
these pistons are given separately in Figures 6 and 7. In the former the outer
plates of the arms are supposed to be removed, in the latter they are left on.
From these views, with the help of the cross sectional view given in Figure 2,
it will be seen that each arm consists of two plates, with a space between, into

page_text: which metallic packing is inserted (in the manner shewn in Figure 6) to keep
the piston steam-tight at the edges; but that in one of the pistons (Figure 6)
the arms are connected in the middle by plates g of the same width, while in
the other (Figure 7) they are connected by rods ',, which pass through
hollow spaces g', g', in the connecting plates of the other piston, whereby the
two pistons, besides moving at right angles to each other, move also through
or upon one another. To keep the pistons steam-tight on their faces, each
arm is passed through a stuffing box h, fixed in the inner cylinder. To keep
the inner cylinder also steam-tight, it projects at the two ends into metallic
packing boxes j. j. in the outer cylinder; and at the summit point U', where tho
inner cylinder comes into contact, or nearly so, with the outer one, there is a
stuffing box &, which prevents the passage of the steam to either side. 27, 0, are
two ports in the outer cylinder a, which are used for the admission or escape of
the steam, according to the direction in which the working shaft (c) is required
to revolve. is a passage leading from the induction pipe to the port n;
and p, a similar passage leading to the port o. p is a slide by which the pas-
sages p' and may be respectively opened or closed to the induction pipe
and eduction pipe r, which lead to the condensers. 1, 1, are slide valves which
shut and open two supplementary ports m³, m², in the outer cylinder, which
may be used or not, according as it is desired to accelerate or retard the escape
of the steam. is a slide valve which controls the admission of the steami
through the induction pipe, and by which, therefore, the speed of the engine
can be regulated at pleasure. In combination with this engine, we propose to
make use of a double-acting air pump t, constructed in the manner particularly
shewn in the transverse section of it given in Figure 4, and to be worked by a
crank pin from the shaft c. We call it double-acting, because it is made to act
both in its up and down strokes. The bilge pump u (supposing the engine to
be employed for marine propulsion), and feed pumps v, v, are worked from the
air-pump cross-head w. is the valve chest for the feed pumps, y the hot well,
and the discharge pipe. From the description which has been now given of
this engine, it will be readily understood that in whatever direction the working
shaft (c) is required to be turned, and whether the steam is admitted into the
outer cylinder by the passage p¹ on the one side, or the passage on the other,
it acts with a continually expanding force on the piston arm with which it
comes into contact to the end of the stroke, because, as the arm revolves and
carries round with it the inner cylinder & and shaft c, the area it has to traverse
is continually increasing to the end of its stroke, and the area of the arm is
also simultaneously increased in exactly the same ratio through the pressure
of the circumference of the inner cylinder on the opposite arm, and the corre-

page_text: sponding protrusion of the arm against which the steam is acting. The fail
effective force of the engine is thus obtained, with as great an economy in the
use of steam as is probably obtainable; and although the engine by which we
have thus exemplified our improved mode of constructing revolving engines is a
condensing one, we declare that we do not confine ourselves to that mode of
application, inasmuch as a high-pressure or non-condensing engine may by
several obvious modifications be readily constructed on the same plan.
And we declare that what we claim under this first head of our Invention is,
the construction in manner before described of revolving engines with two
cylinders of different diameters, one fixed, and the other revolving within it on
a different centre, with two double-armed sliding pistons, the arms of which
are caused, by the relative positions of the two cylinders, to expand in exact
proportion to the increase of the area which they have to traverse.
Secondly, the said Invention consists in the improvements in oscillating
engines represented in Sheet B of the Drawings hereunto annexed. Figure 1
is a transverse section of the hull of a steamer fitted with a pair of oscillating
engines embracing these improvements, the Figure exhibiting an external
elevation of the engines, with the exception of one of the cylinders and the air
pump, which are shewn in section. Figure 2 is a plan of the engines. Figure 3
is a section of one of the cylinders through its oscillating centre; and Figure 4
a plan of the gearing for working the slide valves. a and b are the cylinders,
which oscillate on centres c, c, supported by bearings 1, 1, the steam entering at
one side of these centres by the induction pipes h¹, h', and passing off at the
other by the eduction pipes h², h, to the condenser (see Figure 2). d. d, are
the piston rods, which are directly connected by socket and straps e, e. to one
crank pin o, the shaft of which is supported by the framing m. m. In the
Figures, the piston of the cylinder a is represented as having arrived at the
termination of its down stroke, and the piston b as at half stroke.
When they
are in this position the angles which the cylinders make with one another is
about ninety degrees, and the average angle throughout each stroke is about
seventy-six degrees, but the angle may be varied to suit any convenient length
of stroke or height of shaft. By working the two cylinders at these angles
with respect to one another, the crank is made to turn over its centres with as
much ease as if there were two cranks, one to each cylinder, while at the same
time a long stroke is obtained with a small height of shaft. p. p, are eccentrics
for working the slide valves, which, with their appendages, are separately
represented in Figure 4. f is a double-acting air pump placed between the
engines, and worked by an eccentric g attached to the crank pin. If the
motion were taken directly from the pin, the stroke of the air pump would be

page_text: the same as that of the cylinders, but by the interposition of the eccentric the
length is reduced. The same object may be also effected by bending in the
outer point of the crank pin towards the centre of the shaft, say, as far in as
the excentric g. In the Drawings the engines are represented as fixed athwart
the vessel, with the working shaft running fore and aft, and this will be found
the most convenient position when the vessel is fitted with stern propellers, but
when paddle wheels are used, the more convenient arrangement is to place the
cylinders fore and aft, with a boiler on each side. And in respect to this second
head of our Invention, we declare that we do not claim any one of the parts of
the oscillating engines last herein-before described as in and by itself new, but
that what we claim is, the general arrangement and combination of these parts
in the peculiar manner before described.
Thirdly, the said Invention consists in the improved form of tubular boiler
represented in Sheet C of the Drawings hereunto annexed. Figure 1 is au
elevation partly in section of a pair of boilers of this improved formn. Figure 2
is a longitudinal section of one of these boilers; Figure 3, a plan of the same
on the line a, b, of Figure 1; Figure 4. a plan on the line c, d, of Figure 1;
and Figure 5 a back end view. A, A, are the fire-places; B, B, sets of tubes
leading therefrom to the common chimney D; and C, C, the water spaces sur-
rounding the fire-places and tubes. We lay no claim to any one of the parts
of which this improved tubular boiler consists as in and by itself new, but we
claim as new the general arrangement and combination of the parts in the
peculiar manner represented in the Sheet of Drawings marized C, and befor
described.
Fourthly, our Invention consists in the safety friction wheel for disconnecting
paddle wheels or other propelling machinery, represented in Sheet D of the
Drawings hereunto annexed. Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of this wheel
as applied to a steam vessel, with part of the paddle shaft, crank, and engine
framing; Figure 2, a front view of the wheel alone; and Figure 3, a back view.
a is a cast-iron wheel, which is keyed to the paddle shaft.
bis a friction strap
which goes
round the periphery of this wheel, and terminates at top in an eye
piece p, into which the outer end of the crank pin t is inserted, as shewn in
Figure 1. c is a ring which is slipped over the boss of the wheel a.
g, a bevil
wheel attached to this ring, and which turns round when out of gear, indepen-
dent of the wheel a. f, f, short pinions fixed on spokes projecting from the boss
of the wheel a, which work into the teeth of the bevil wheel a. d, d, are five
brass plates which are inserted in recesses formed partly in the periphery of the
wheel u, and partly on the inside of the strap b. e, e, are screw rods which are
connected at one end to the pinions, and when acted on in manner to be herein.

page_text: after explained, press at the other end against the plates d, d. h,h, are collars
by which the screw rods c, e, are enclosed (to prevent them rising out of their
places), consisting each of two semi-cylindrical pieces connected together by
hinges, so that they can be taken off when it is required to adjust the screws.
The friction strap b, when in gear (as shewn in the Drawings) is attached at
the back to the ring c, by means of a link k, which is secured at one
end by a pin, on which it turns freely, to the strap, and catches hold
at the other by a spur of one or two studs m, projecting from the ring c.
When out of gear, the link is kept extended 'y a spring link n, which
takes hold of a projecting stud on the face of the strap b. The operation
of the apparatus is as follows:--The friction wheel a and strap b, being con-
nected to the crank pin by the eye-piece p, move round with the paddle shaft;
when it is desired to disconnect the paddle wheels, that is, to liberate them
from the position in which they are represented in the Drawings, a catch is to
be thrown in from some part of the engine framing (which catch may be either
worked from the engine room, er from any convenient station on deck), to take
hold of the link k at the back of the friction strap b as it turns round. The
link will be thus thrown out of gear, but the catch coming immediately after-
wards in contact with the second projecting stud m of the ring c, will lay fast
hold of that ring c and the bevil wheel 9, when the friction wheel continuing
to go round, the bevil wheel g will turn the pinions f, f, and the pinions ff
turn the screws c, e, which press outwards against the plates d, d. All these
pressing in their turn against the friction strap 6, ultimately disconnect it from
When
the friction wheel, and withdraw the crank pin from the eye-piece p.
it is desired to connect the paddle wheels again with the engines, this may be
done with the greatest readiness, even when the engines are going at full speed.
Let a catch lie thrown in from the engine frame to release in the first place
the spring catch n, and then to bring the link k into gear, which taking the
wheel ground along with it, the wheel a (through the medium of the bevil
wheel and pinions ff, turns round the screw rods e, e, until there is a sufli-
cient pressure on the friction plates d, d, to carry round the whole. From the
description which has been thus given, it will be readily understood that no
more pressure can be exerted on the screw rods e, e, than is necessary to carry
round the friction wheel a with its strap b, for as soon as there is a sufficient
friction on the screw rods, the friction wheel a, by moving at the same rate as
In Figures 1, 2, 3, we have
the bevil wheel g, ceases to turn the screws.
represented the friction wheel as having five friction plates d, d, which is a
nuniber corresponding to a five-feet stroke of piston, but the number of plates
may be varied, observing always the like proportion. Figures 4, 5, and (
I

page_text: shew the wheel as adapted to engines of seven feet stroke. In respect of this
fourth head of our Invention, we lay no claim to any one of the parts of which
the said connecting and disconnecting apparatus consists; but what we claim
is, the general arrangement and combination of these parts in the peculiar
manner represented in the Sheet of Drawings D, and before described.
Figure 5 is an end
and Figure 6, an
Fifthly, our said Invention consists in the improved stern propeller, repre-
sented in Sheet E of the Drawings hereunto annexed. Figure 1 is a front
elevation of this propeller as fixed on to its shaft. Figure 2 is a plan of the
propeller and shaft. Figure 3 is a side elevation of the propeller and shaft,
with the driving gearing by which they are connected to the moving power.
Figure 4 is a front elevation of the driving gear by itself.
view of two propellers on this plan working in combination;
elevation of the driving gear for working two propellers. The propeller (sec
Figure 1, consists of three blades, a, b, c, of equal area and the like pitch, keyed
separately upon a shaft d, each of which blades is a portion of a triple helix,
that is to say, a portion of three inclined planes wound spirally round a cylinder,
and increases gradually in breadth from the shaft towards the circumference,
where the velocity is greatest, and where, therefore, the greatest amount of
surface is required to act upon the water. The blades may be formed of metal
or any other suitable material, but for the sake of strength, as well as for
keeping them the more apart from each other, they are made thicker at the
neck than elsewhere. The propeller so formed is proposed to be placed in the
after part of the vessel, immediately before the stern post; but to keep the shaft
d of the propeller free of the stern post, it is to be overhung at the outer end
from a bearing at e, and supported at the inner end on the bracket f. At e
there is a water-tight stuffing box, through which the shaft d passes. g is the
engine shaft, which rests also in the bracket f. is a drum, which is keyed
on to the engine shaft g. m, another drun, which is keyed on the propeller
shaft d. w, w, a gut band, which passes round the two drums, and by which
the motion of the engine shaft is transferred to the propeller shaft. and k
are bell cranks affixed to the bearing f, one at each side, to the upper arms of
which cranks are attached pullies 0, 0, which press against the band w to keep
it tight, and to the lower weights n, n, which serve to regulate that pressure
according to the direction in which the engine drum 7 moves. Supposing that
drum to move in the direction of the arrows in Figure 4, then the band would
be tight at h and slack at k, as shewn, and the pullies would assume the posi-
tions there shewn; but if the drum were to move in the opposite direction,
then the position of the pulleys would be also reversed. Instead of one such
propeller as has been described, two may be used, one on each side of the dead

page_text: wood of the vessel, with a separate drum to each, as represented in Figures 5
and 6; but to cause the shafts of the two propellers to move always at the same
rate, and so prevent their blades from coming in contact, they must have wheels
P.
p. p, attached to them, and gearing into one another; and instead of the band
which connects the drums on the propeller shaft with the drum of the engine
shaft being kept tight by the means before described, it must for that purpose
be passed over the drums on the propeller shafts, and a single intermediate
pulley t, in the manner shewn in Figure 6, and the pulley be raised or lowered
so as to press more or less against the band by means of the screw u.
And in respect of the said propeller, we declare that we lay no claim to the
propelling of vessels from the stern, or to any particular mode of communicating
the power of the engine to the propeller or propellers employed; but that what
we claim is, the employment of a propeller consisting of three blades, of the
form and fixed in the manner before described, whereby each blade of the
propeller revolves in a different plane from the others, and increases in area
towards the point of greatest velocity.
In witness whereof, I, the said Peter Borrie, on behalf of myself and the
said Mayer Henry, have hereunto set my hand and seal, this Thirtieth
day of January, One thousand eight hundred and forty-four.
PETER (L.s.) BORRIE.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Thirtieth day of January, in
the
year of our Lord 1844, the aforesaid Peter Borrie 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.
Enrolled the Third day of February, in the year of our Lord One thousand

page_text: En the Matter of a Patent granted to Peter Borrie, of Prince's Square
Saint George's in the East, in the County of Middlesex, Engineer,
and Mayer Henry, of Crutched Friars, in the City of London,
Merchant, for "Certain Improvements in Steam Engines, Boilers,
and Propelling Machinery," bearing date at Westminster, the
Third day of August, One thousand eight hundred and forty-three.
MEMORANDUM OF ALTERATION entered by the said Peter Borric and
Mayer Henry, with the clerk of the Patents of England, pursuant to an
Act passed in the fifth and sixth year of the reign of His late Majesty
King William the Fourth, intituled "An Act to amend the Law touching
Letters l'atent for Inventions."
We, the said Peter Borrie and Mayer, do hereby declare that in describing
the first head of the said Juvention, which consists in certain improve-
ments in revolving engines, we speak of the pistons g, g, as consisting
each of two arms whose joint length is exactly equal to the diameter
of the outer cylinder a," whereas it was our intention to describe the joint
length of the pistons as only nearly equal thereto. Now, therefore, we leave
out the said word "exactly" and substitute therefor the word " 'nearly."
And farther, in order that it may not be supposed that the shaft and arms of
the revolving engine described under the first head of the said Specification
can only be made and connected in the particular mode there pointed out, we
nsert immediately after the conclusion of the description of the said first head
of the Specification, and just before the claiming part thereof, the words
ollowing: "And we declare further, that instead of the shaft and arms
being made and connected as aforesaid, the shaft may be made solid, and
he two arms of each piston connected together by rods passing on both sides
f it."
In witness whereof, I, the said Peter Borrie, on behalf of myself and the
said Mayer Henry, have hereunto set my hand, this Twenty-eighth
day of March, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred
and forty-four.
PETER BORRIE.
PETER BORRIE

page_text: To the Clerk of the Patents of England.
This is to certify, that the above-named Peter Borrie, of Prince's Square,
Saint George's in the East, in the County of Middlesex, Engineer, & Mayer
Henry, of Crutched Friars, in the City of London, Merchant, have applied to
me for leave to enter with you the above written Memorandum of Alteration
of part of the Specification of a certain Invention, for which Letters Patent
were granted to them under the Great Seal of Great Britain, dated at
Westminster, the Third day of August 1844. And having considered of the
said application, and no objection having been made to the same, I have
accordingly granted leave to the said Peter Borrie & Mayer Henry to file
their said Memorandum of Alteration, pursuant to the Statute passed in the
fifth & sixth years of the reign of His late Majesty King William the
Fourth, entituled "An Act to amend the Law touching Letters Patent for
Inventions."
Temple, April 2d, 1844.
FRED. POLLOCK.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Twenty-ninth day of March, in
the year of our Lord 1844, the aforesaid Peter Borrie came before our said
Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Memorandum of
Alteration aforesaid, and all and everything therein contained and speciñed
in form above written. And also the Memorandum of Alteration aforesaid
was stamped according to the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Enrolled the Third day of April, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and forty-four.