IMPROVED METHOD FOR DRIVING STEAM [&] OTHER MOTIVE POWER ENGINES AND MACHINES WHEREBY POWER IS CONCENTRATED AND ECONOMIZED AND SPEED GAINED
Year: 1882

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Hugh, Fuller, Maitland at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 3rd May 1882.
HUGH[,] FULLER[,] MAITLAND, [Clerk in Holy Orders] of Wargrave, Henley-on-
Thames, in the County of Berkshire, Clerk in Holy Orders, [AN] IMPROVED
METHOD FOR DRIVING STEAM [&] OTHER MOTIVE POWER ENGINES AND MACHINES
WHEREBY POWER IS CONCENTRATED AND ECONOMIZED AND SPEED GAINED
The object of this invention is to economize & concentrate power, in steam
& other motive power engines & machines, by the substitution of an endless band
motion for that of the ordinary crank motion. The invention is applicable, with
slight modifications, to all kinds of engines or machinery where cranks are now
employed.
Having thus stated broadly the nature of the invention, I will now proceed to
describe it as applied to an ordinary horizontal steam engine.
The piston rod has attached to it a short connecting rod, provided with a crank
pin, to act as a guide to travel with two endless bands or chains, parallel & opposite
to each other. These latter pass over two pulleys at one end, which are attached
to the shafts of two fly wheels, and over two dead pulleys at the other end.
When endless chains are used, the two chains are connected by a journal, which
is attached to the connecting rod-the two links to which the journal is attached,
and the journal, forming the crank pin hereinbefore referred to.
By thus
By this method of actuating or driving the piston rod, it will be seen that the
force is applied at the point of greatest efficiency, during the whole of several
revolutions of the fly wheels, instead of only touching that point, & immediately
losing it again, once or twice, (as the case may be,) in each revolution.
concentrating the power at the point of greatest efficiency, it will be seen that
a large amount of power, now wasted, will be economized and rendered effective.
An additional advantage of my invention is the possibility of an unlimited
length of piston stroke, with very little deviation from the direct line of work-
the deviation being not increased with increased length of stroke.
The invention is applicable to all kinds of machines where it is necessary to
convert a reciprocating rectilinear motion into a circular one, to increase speed,

page_text: and could be adapted to driving saws in saw mills, to propelling tricycles, to
actuating paddle wheels, as well as to driving steam, gas, air, hydraulic & manual
machines.
A modication of the above, allows an unlimited length of piston stroke, without
any deviation whatever, from the direct line of work.
In this case no connecting rod is needed.
One arm of the crank pin is attached to the upper part of one band, & the other
arm to the lower part of the other band-the two bands are thus made to rotate
in opposite directions.
A reversal of the relative positions of the two arms thus takes place at the end
of each stroke, & the piston rod being attached to the centre of the journal or
crank pin, is not thrown out of its direct line of work.