Year: 1886

page_text: Date of Application, .16th Mar., 1886.
Complete Left, 15th Jan., 1887.
• Complete Accepted, 15th Feb., 1887.
I, THOMAS HOLLINGS, of No. 2 Stawell Street, West Melbourne, in the colony of
Victoria, Marine Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows
This invention is designed to be used either as a single-acting or as a reversing rotary
engine, the difference being that in the latter case it requires to be furnished with two
of the cylindrical valves which regulate the admission of steam to the cylinder,
whereas if it is only to be a single-acting engine, only one of such valves is.required.
The principle is based upon the fact of having two dises or barrels working upon one
another, the lower one being furnished with an arm piston which extends outwards to a
diameter just sufficient to clear the boss of the upper disc and in which disc is an
aperture, to allow of said piston working through it, and the diameter of said arm
piston determines the diameter of the cylinder.
It is constructed by having a suitable cylinder, within which upon the engine shaft
is a concentric disc to which is secured an arm piston having its working edges
furnished with suitable packing strips seated upon coiled springs, while the inner
faces of the cylinder ends are similarly furnished with packing rings, thus insuring of
their being retained steam-tight. The cylinder has an opening in it at its top to allow
of the upper dise working through it to rotate upon the main disc and thus to form an
abutment for the steam when the arm piston is not passing through an aperture or
gap formed in said upper disc to receive it. This upper disc is secured upon a shaft
supported in adjustable bearings in the cylinder covers and motion is imparted to it.
from the engine shaft by a pair of spur wheels which are secured upon said shafts
outside of the cylinder end or cover. The cylindrical valves which regulate the
admission of steam to the cylinder are actuated by a lever from a variable cut-off cam,
which is secured by a sliding feather upon the upper cam shaft, and the position of
the variable cam is determined by a governor of peculiar construction which I employ
and which is in the form of a screw fan upon the engine shaft, and said governor
pushes a lever outwards against the pressure of a spring as the speed of the engine
increases and which lever is connected by parallel bars with the variable cam.
The

page_text: chest or cover for the upper disc is adjustably secured in position and the steam which
is necessarily admitted into the aperture of the upper disc as it revolves is permitted to
escape through a suitable pipe which leads the steam to the back of the advancing
piston in the cylinder and enables the steam to work expansively until the time when
the said aperture opens to the exhaust at the opposite side of the piston.
The main cylinder and the covers are formed with steam jackets, and further jackets
are formed around the shaft bearings and around the spur gearing to receive heated
'water or other liquid which is suitable for lubricating the bearings and thus preventing
any possibility of their becoming heated when the engine is running at high speeds.
When used as a reversing engine I furnish the upper cover or easing with an escape
valve which permits the steam from the aperture of the revolving barrel to escape to
the exhaust pipe and said valve is held down by a suitable spring.
THOMAS HOLLINGS.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
An Improved Rotary Engine.
I, THOMAS HOLLINGS, of No. 2, Stawell Street, West Melbourne, in the Colony of
Victoria, Marine Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in
and by the following statement :-
This invention is designed to be used either as a single-acting or as a reversing
rotary engine. The principle is based upon the fact of having two barrels working
upon one another within suitable casings or cylinders, the lower barrel being furnished
with an arm-piston which, extends outwards to a diameter just sufficient to clear the
boss of the upper barrel in which is an aperture or gap to allow of said arm-piston
working through it and the diameter of said arm-piston determines the diameter of
the lower casing or cylinder proper.
It is constructed by having a suitable cylinder, within which upon the engine
shaft is a barrel to which is secured an arm-piston having its working edges furnished
with suitable packing strips seated upon springs to ensure of their being retained
steam-tight. The cylinder has an opening in it at its top to allow of the upper barrel
working through it to rotate upon the main barrel and thus to form an abutment for
the steam when the arm-piston is not passing through the aperture or gap formed in
said upper barrel. This upper disc is secured upon a shaft supported in adjustable
bearings in the cylinder covers and motion is imparted to it from the engine shaft by
aid of spur wheels and a connecting rod.
The valves which regulate the admission of steam to and from the cylinder are
actuated by valve rods from a variable cut-off cam which is secured by a sliding
feather upon the upper barrel shaft and the position of the variable cam is determined
by a suitable lever while I sometimes employ a governor to regulate its speed,

page_text: Keferring to the accompanying drawings :-
Figure 1 is a side elevation of my improved rotary engine;
Figure 2 a central transverse section on line a, a, Figure 1;
Figure 3 a transverse section on line b, b, Figure 2:
Figure a side view of the cylinder end or cover with the linings off and shewing
the method of securing the bearings therein;
Figure 5 a part section at the line c, c, Figure 4 shewing the method of bolting the;
bearings to the cover
Figure 6a front view and cross section of the valve;
Figure a side and end view of the valve rod;
Figure 8 an end view of the arin-piston.
In these Figures, A is the cylinder and A₁ the engine shaft working in bearings A² at
its ends. Upon such engine shaft is secured the lower barrel, which consists of the
outer metal ring A³ keyed on the inner metal disc boss A and which itself is keyed
on the shaft and further secured by the circular nut A which is upon the engine shaft
and forms one of its journals. The journal at the other side of cylinder being formed of a
solid collar of a similar diameter to the said nut. A are packing rings at ends of:
barrel, to the back of which steam is admitted through the holes are ports A'. A8 is
the arm-piston bolted or rivetted to the ring A3 of the barrel; and its end is furnished.
with the metal cap A³ which is seated on the waved or other spring A, such cap being
secured in position by the transverse pins or keys A; while at its ends the arm-.
piston is furnished with the end packing strips A seated on the springs A¹³, such
strips being held in position by aid of the screw studs A. The bearings A2 at ends of
cylinder for engine shaft are made in halves secured together by the bolts A1, while
the bolts A secure them to the cylinder ends; such bearings are lined with patent
metal A and furnished with the oil cups A¹s. Further, a conduit or water-way A
is formed through the thick metal of the bearing, the water being fed through tap A2
and, after circulation, finds exit by tap A". The cylinder ends or covers are bolted
to the cylinder casting A and also to the lower bed-flange through the bracket A22,
while the spaces between the ribs or feathers of the covers are filled in with non-con-
ducting material and covered with an outside liner A23 which is secured to the cylinder
ends by means of the screws A". The hollow spaces in the cylinder barrel between
the outer ring and the disc boss are also filled in with non-conducting material A.
2
The upper barrel B is formed in one piece with the gap B¹ in it, through which the
arm-piston travels; it is secured on the shaft B between the solid collar B³ and the
screwed nut B and which collar and nut, as in the engine shaft, form its journals
supported in the bearings B5 which are constructed and secured in a manner similar
to the engine shaft bearings. The upper portion of the top casing B is secured to
the cylinder casting A by the studs or bolts B' and its cover is secured to it by bolts Bª;
such upper barrel or casing having a close working surface in the casing at the one
side only, the remaining portion simply having a central and edge rib bearings between
which is a passage for the steam as shewn in Figure 3. The ends of said upper
barrel abut against wearing rings B' fitted in suitable grooves in the end covers,
such rings being seated on springs B. The engine shaft A' has secured to it at its
one end the spur wheel which gears with another spur wheel C¹ of a similar
diameter which is secured upon the spindle of a crank disc C² supported in bearings
in a suitable bracket C3; while the pin of such crank disc carries the one end of a
connecting rod C, the other top end of which is upon the pin of a crank disc B¹
formed or secured on the end of the upper barrel shaft B². D are the valves working
within the cylindrical chests D' and supported therein by the valve rods D², the
further ends of which are supported in a solid end bearing, while the near ends project
through suitable stuffing box and gland, so that they may be attached to the valve
gear. Each valve casing has three openings leading from it; the upper ones D³ leading
to a passage which enters the exhaust pipe D', the central ones Ds leading to the
cylinder, and the lower ones De leading to the steam-belt D which is around the
cylinder and into which the steam is supplied through the steam cock Ds. The valves
are actuated from a cam E on shaft B², its face being graduated for a variable cut-off

page_text: or travel of the valves. It slides on a feather on the shaft and is retained at the
.desired position by the lever E' which is held in position by a spring catch E. To
regulate the speed of the engine, I attach to the cam a governor, preferably of the
description known as "Pickering's governor," as shewn. The cam shewn has simply
one gap in it which gradually lessens towards the outer edge of the cam by reason of
its decreasing diameter, so that its position may be adjusted to suit the desired travel
of the valves. The valve gear shewn is regulated from the reversing hand lever F,
which has the spring catch F attached to it to enable it to be secured at the desired
position on the quadrant plate F². This lever is attached to the rod supported in
the sleeve and such rod has two fingers F on it, one at each end; and these
fingers are designed to abut against fingers F on the cam rods F7, the outer ends of
which are centred on the crank levers FB at ends of crank rods; while at their inner
ends, which.abut against the cam, they are supported in a guide bracket F. Further,
such cam rods are furnished with studs or projections F against which a spring Fu
compresses, so that the tendency of the cam rod is always to abut against the cam.
The mode of operation is as follows:-The direction of travel of the engine being
regulated by the position of the reversing lever, if the reversing lever be at its central
position both valves are closed, as shown in Figure 3, and consequently the engine is
at rest; but if the lever is pulled over and its catch secured in the notch of quadrant,
then one valve will be opened and remain permanently open to allow the steam to
exhaust, while the other valve is freed and brought into contact with the with the cam E
by the spring F", so that during the revolution of such cam the valve is opened to
allow the supply of steam to enter the cylinder, such supply being cut off at the
desired point by the cam to allow of the steam working expansively. When the
steam enters the cylinder, the top barrel B forms an abutment for the steam, which.
thus exerts its pressure against the arm-piston A8 and so causes it to rotate until it has
completed its revolution, whereupon the steam exhausts through the passage D' and
through the valve chest to the exhaust pipe D'.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim is :-
First My improved rotary engine consisting essentially of the arrangement of an
upper and a lower barrel of equal diameter on shaft within a suitable cylinder or
casing, the lower one being furnished with an arm-piston and the upper one with a
gap through which said arm-piston works, said casing being furnished with suitable
valves, ports and passages, substantially as described and as illustrated in my drawings.
Second-The special arrangement of valve gear with a two-valve rotary engine
having its upper barrel shaft furnished with a cam for a variable cut-off, substantially as
described and as illustrated in my drawings.
Third The general combination and arrangement of all the parts forming my
two-barrel rotary engine, substantially as described and as illustrated in my drawings.
THOMAS HOLLINGS.
Per G. G. M. Hardingham,
Agent.