AN IMPROVED PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR UTILIZING MERCURY FOR OBTAINING MOTIVE POWER
Year: 1877

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LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake,
& Co., Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, for the Invention of
"AN IMPROVED PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR UTILIZING MERCURY FOR
OBTAINING MOTIVE POWER." A communication from abroad by Thornton A.
Shinn, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States of America.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Robert Lake at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 19th November 1877.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London. "AN IMPROVED PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR
UTILIZING MERCURY FOR OBTAINING MOTIVE POWER." [A communication from
abroad by Thornton A. Shinu, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States of
America.]
The said Invention relates to a novel method of obtaining motive power by
sublimating mercury, conducting the vapours to the required height, precipitating
them, then utilizing the weight of the mercury upon the motor apparatus or engine,
and finally returning it to the sublimating retort to be re-used.
In carrying this process into effect, I provide a suitable retort of any desired size
or shape, or that may be used for sublimating or fusing mercury, with an attach-
ment, at the top of the retort, of an elongated pipe bent in a zig-zag or similar
direction, and leading from said retort through a trough containing water or other
cooling material. At the end of the said elongated pipe a wheel is to be suspended.
Around the periphery of this wheel I place a series of buckets to catch the mercury
that falls from the said pipe, having been precipitated in its passage through the
same. This wheel is partially or entirely enclosed in a sheathing for the purpose
of catching and conducting the mercury back through a pipe into the base of the
retort again. In this pipe a trap or bend is constructed to prevent the escape of the
fumes at the point of supply.

page_text: Instead of the above, other mechanical devices may be employed, but the
mechanical device of the sublimating retort, precipitating pipe, overshot wheel, and
return sheathing, form very advantageous means for carrying the said Invention
into practice.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by the
said William Robert Lake in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 18th May
1878.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London. "AN IMPROVED PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR
UTILIZING MERCURY FOR OBTAINING MOTIVE POWER." A communication from
abroad by Thornton A. Shinn, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States of
America.
The said Invention relates to a novel method of obtaining motive power by
sublimating mercury, conducting the vapours to the required height, precipitating
them, then utilizing the weight of the mercury upon the motor apparatus or engine,
and finally returning it to the sublimating retort or vessel for further use.
In carrying my Invention into practice, I provide a suitable retort, constructed of
any material and of any required size or shape that may be used for sublimating or
fusing mercury. To the top of this retort is attached an elongated pipe bent in a
zig-zag direction, or otherwise suitably arranged, leading from the said retort through
a trough containing water or other cooling material. At the end of the said elon-
gated pipe a wheel or equivalent device is suspended. Around the periphery of
this wheel I arrange a series of buckets to catch the mercury that has been pre-
cipitated in its passage through the pipe and falls therefrom. This wheel is enclosed,
or nearly so, in a sheathing for the purpose of catching and conducting the mercury
back through a pipe into the base of the retort. In this pipe a trap or bend is
constructed to prevent the escape of the fumes at that point of supply, as shewn in
the Drawing, in which,-
Figure 1 is a longitudinal vertical section of the said apparatus; Figure 2 is a
horizontal section on the line x, x, Figure 1.
a is the sublimating retort; b, the precipitating pipe; c, the condensing trough or
box; d, the overshot wheel; e, the protecting or enclosing sheathing; and f, the
return pipe provided with a trap.
Instead of the apparatus above described, a multiplicity of mechanical devices
may be employed, but the aforesaid sublimating retort, precipitating pipe, overshot
wheel, and return sheathing form very advantageous means for carrrying the said
Invention into practice.
Having thus fully described the said Invention, as .communicated to me by my
foreign correspondent, and the manner of performing the same, I wish it understood
that I claim,
First. The method of obtaining motive power, consisting in sublimating mercury,
conducting the vapors to the desired height, precipitating them, then utilizing the

page_text: weight of the mercury upon the motor, and finally returning it to the sublimating
retort to be re-used, as above described and for the purpose set forth.
Second. The combination of parts comprising the retort, the precipitating pipe,
the condensing trough or box, the overshot wheel, the sheathing, and the return
pipe provided with a trap, as above described and for the purpose set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Robert Lake, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Eighteenth day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and seventy-eight.
W. ROB. LAKE. (L.S.)