AN ENGINE PRODUCING A FORCE BY THE IMPETUS WHICH THE PARTS OF A FLUID BODY HAVE TO AN EQUAL ALTITUDE, APPLICABLE TO THE WORKING OF ALL SORTS OF MACHINERY
Year: 1804

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDWARD
STEERS, of the Inner Temple, London, Esquire, send greeting.
WHEREAS His present most Excellent Majesty King George the Third, in
and by His Letters Patent under His Great Seal of the United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Nineteenth day of
December, in the forty-fifth year of His reign, for Himself, His heirs and
successors, did give and grant unto me, the said Edward Steers, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, His especial licence, full power, sole privilege and
authority, that I, the said Edward Steers, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, and every of them, by myself and themselves, or by my and their
deputy or deputies, servants, or agents, or such others as I, the said Edward
Steers, my executors, administrators, 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, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and
vend, within that part of His Majesty's United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland called England, His Dominion of Wales, and the Town of Berwick-
upon-Tweed, my Invention of "AN ENGINE PRODUCING A FORCE BY THE IMPETUS
WHICH THE PARTS OF A FLUID BODY HAVE TO AN EQUAL ALTITUDE, APPLICABLE TO
THE WORKING OF ALL SORTS OF MACHINERY;" in which said Letters Patent there
is contained a proviso obliging me, the said Edward Steers, by an Instrument

page_text: in writing under my hand and seal, particularly to describe the nature of my
said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, and to cause
the same to be inrolled in His Majesty's High Court of Chancery within
one calendar month next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent, as in and by the same, relation being thereunto had, will more fully
and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Edward Steers, do hereby declare and describe my said Invention to be an
engine which contains a new method of giving activity to a body of water,
or other liquid contained in it, so as to produce a force from the well known
property of the pressure of liquids in all directions, which may be conve-
niently applied to the purpose of working machinery.
The method consists in suddenly producing or increasing an inequality in the
altitude of the parts of the fluid body contained in the engine by the descent
and ascent of a pipe, cylinder, or other vessel capable of holding liquid by
either turning on a hollow projection, -joint, or water way, which connects it
with another cylinder or vessel, as in the Drawing, Figure 1, or by turning in
an orifice of the other cylinder or vessel, or by having a flexible pipe or sliding
pipes (similar to the joints of a telescope), or other water way connecting it
with the other cylinder or vessel, so that it can be raised and lowered, us
represented by Figure 5.
Description of Figure 1.-A is a cylinder open at the top, B is another
cylinder closed at each end, which exactly fills the cylinder A with respect to
its width, so that no liquid can pass between them. C, O, is a long pipe,
curved at the end C, to prevent the escape of liquid, the end O turning on D,
a hollow joint or water way into the cylinder A. Perhaps it would be better
to have the end O of the pipe straight, and inserted in an orifice of a box or
chamber made to turn on the water way D. E is a support, with a hole in
it to receive a pin fixed at the lower end of the pipe C, O (or in a box or
chamber in which the end O of the pipe is inserted), that it may the more
csily turn on D. F, F, F, are supports for the whole. Let the pipe C, O, be
lowered to a horizontal position, and let water be poured in at the end C, 'till
the pipe be full; then if it be raised again perpendicular, the water will run
into the cylinder A, and by its pressure raise the cylinder B with a very
powerful force, which may be applied to the working of all sorts of machinery.
When the pipe C, O, is again lowered to a horizontal position, the water will
run from the cylinder A, into the pipe, and the cylinder B, if no air can get
under it, will be pressed down with some force by the atmosphere, but a weight
or spring should be applied to the top of it to make the pressure down equal-

page_text: to the upward pressure, that the working power (the cylinder B) may have an
alternate motion of equal force applicable to the working of machinery. Or two
engines may be made use of, one to act upon the top of the other by means of
a lever; or if placed so that the working power may move horizontally, one
may act upon the other by means of a straight box, as represented by Figure 8.
It may be seen that the cylinders A and B above described (see Figure 1)
are similar to the figures of the machines represented in Nicholson's Treatise
on the Science of Hydrostatics, to shew the upward pressure of fluids. And
that the bag with boards at each end, described hereafter, is similar to the figure
of the machine which Ferguson, in his Lectures on Hydrostatics, calls the
hydrostatic bellows. The pipe, cylinder, or other vessel being made to descend
and ascend is the Invention which, by occasioning a body of liquid to flow in
and out of the above mentioned machines, renders them engines applicable to
the purpose of working machinery by the liquid contained in the said engines
without requiring a constant external supply. If it be requisite the engine
may be made with two or more pipes, cylinders, or other vessels to ascend
and descend. It may sometimes be found an advantage to have the working
power acted upon by air instead of liquid, which may be managed in the way
represented by Figure 2. The pipe C being raised perpendicular the liquid
runs from it into the vessel D, the air from which passes through the channel E
into the cylinder A, and forces up the working power B. It will be necessary
to have a frame containing a lever fixed to the pipe C, O (see Figure 1) for
the purpose of easily lowering and raising it, and also a weight to counteract
the weight of the pipe when filling with water in' its descent, which may be
made similar to the following, so as nearly, if not exactly, to balance it.
Figure 3 A, A, may be made of wood or any other material proper for the
purpose, with a groove from one end to the other to receive the pipe C, O (see
Figure 1), which may be fastened to it by a rope. B is a lever fixed to A, A,
and if the end O of the pipe C, O, be inserted in a box or chamber (as before
described), the chamber may be made with a long arm, which may be fastened
by screws to the lever B. D, a stay to strengthen the frame; E, another stay
which may be a rope; F, F, F, a rope; G, a pulley; H, a pulley; I, a hook
and ring; K, a vessel filled with water; L, a weight, which should be of rather
more than the specific gravity of water and of sufficient weight to balance the
pipe C, O, (see Figure 1,) when horizontal and full of liquid. If the lever B
be raised the pipe C, O, (see Figure 1,) fastened to A, A, will be lowered and
gradually fill with water, and its weight of course gradually encrease, but it
will be counteracted by the weight L, which is also an increasing weight, for
as it rises the part out of the water becomes a weight in air, and consequently

page_text: has more preponderancy than it had in water. The shape of the weight L wil
regulate the force necessary to counteract the increasing weight of the pipe C, C
(see Figure 1,) when filling with water in its descent, which will be clear b
viewing Figure 3, and considering that as the weight rises out of the water i
increases in preponderancy more the second inch than the first it rises; so does the
weight of the descending pipe C, O, the second inch it falls than the first. The
shape that may be requisite cannot here be stated, as it will depend upon the
dimensions of the pipe C, O. Another way of balancing the decreasing and
increasing weight of C, O, in its ascent and descend is shewn in Figure 4
where A, A, is represented in a horizontal position, C, O, is supposed to be
fastened to it, and full of water. By inspecting the Figure, it is evident that
the pendulum G does not act at all on the lever B, but the pendulum F does
with all its weight. If the lever B be lowered towards D, the pendulum F
will fall towards G, and the pendulum G will rise towards D, till the pendulums
become in equilibrium, when the pipe C, O, will be sufficiently raised, the
water having run from it. The ball G is intended to regulate the force which
is necessary to act upon the lever B, which it will do, as it shall be placed
nearer or further from the fulcrum, for which purpose the bar to which it is
attached may be made to pass through its centre, so that it may be fixed by a
screw to any part of the bar. Another kind of balance for the weight of the
pipe C, O, may be made by a wheel similar to the chain wheel of a watch, with
a rope and weight attached to it. This engine may be made in the following
way Suppose a bag made of thick leather or other material capable of
holding liquid, kept open by hoops at any convenient distance from each other,
and closed at each end by boards, so as to prevent the escape of any liquid,
except at an orifice to admit the water way D (see Figure 1); just above the
lower board it will then open and close like a paper lantern, and may supply
the place of the two cylinders A and B, described in Figure 1, for the other
parts of the engine being the same as described in Figure 1, and the hollow
joint D inserted in the orifice just above the lower board, if the pipe C, O, be
placed in a horizontal position, and filled with water, upon it being raised per-
pendicular, the water will run into the bag and press up the upper board as it
did the cylinder Bin Figure 1. The pipe being again lowered to a horizontal
position, will occasion the water to quit the bag, and the upper board will be
depressed.
Figure 5. The vessel Z having been raised, the water has run from it
through the flexible pipe Y into the cylinder X, and pressed up the inner
cylinder W. Now, if the lever V be pressed down, it will raise the pendulum
T, which is a balance for the vessel Z. Z will be lowered and filled with

page_text: water from X, and the cylinder W will be depressed as the cylinder B, in Figure
1, was described to be.
Figure 6 shews the Figures 1 and 4 united. The pipe being horizontal,
ready for filling with water.
Figure 7 represents a mode of producing a rotatory motion by an alternate
one, which may be made use of when a circular motion is required for the
working of machinery by this engine. As the frame A, A, rises by the up-
ward pressure of the cylinder B, the catches on the right hand side of the
frame take the cogs on the right hand side of the wheel C, while the catches
on the opposite side of the frame give way to the left hand cogs of the wheel C.
When the frame falls with the cylinder B, the reverse takes place with respect
to the catches and cogs, by which double operation the wheel C is constantly
pressed round the same way. At the back of the catches are springs to restore
them to their situation after having given way to the cogs, and in the front of
them are pins to prevent their passing that way. If it be found that the
catches do not take hold of the cogs sufficiently quick, another set of catches
may be placed at the back of the frame A, A, to take the cogs of another
wheel fixed on the same axletree, in such a way that the cogs of one wheel
may be opposite to the spaces of the other.
Figure 8. This Drawing represents two engines, the working powers acting
upon each other horizontally. The two pipes A and G being filled with water, if
the pipe A be raised perpendicular the water will run into the cylinder B, and
by its pressure upon the end of the cylinder C force it forward, when the
cylinder D, being attached to C by the bar E, will be forced into the cylinder F.
Then if the pipe G be raised, and A lowered at the same time, the water will
run into the cylinder F, and out of the cylinder B, and the reverse will take
place with respect to the cylinders C and D. The alternate motion of the
bar E will be a force applicable to the working of machinery. The pipes A
and G may be made to rise and fall alternately by means of three cog wheels,
one in the middle to work into the two others. The bars H, II, of the frames
attached to the pipes A and G being axletrees for the two outside wheels.
Suppose one of the pipes horizontal, the other perpendicular, then if the
niddle wheel be turned one quarter round it will rise one pipe perpendicular
and lower the other to a horizontal position.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Twenty-fourth day of December,
in the year above mentioned, the aforesaid Edward Steers came before our
Lord the King in His Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification afore-
said, and all and every thing therein contained, in form above written. And
also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the tenor of the
Statute in that case inade and provided.