CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN OBTAINING AND APPLYING MOTIVE POWER
Year: 1856

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by David Jones at the Office of the
Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 1st October
1856.
I, DAVID JONES, of Greenhill Villa, Ragland, in the County of Monmouth,
Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention of
"CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN OBTAINING AND APPLYING MOTIVE POWER," to be as
follows:
This Invention consists in obtaining motive power by the combined action
of air, water, or other fluids on each other by vacuum or pressure in appa-
ratus of the construction hereafter described. An important feature in this
Invention consists in so constructing and operating with the apparatus that
there is no appreciable friction of the principal parts thereof, and consequently
no wear of the material of which they are made, thereby effecting economy in
the expense of the apparatus; the power generated and maintained in the
apparatus for an indefinite period is also attended with no expense. The
nature of these improvements will be better understood by the following
explanation of the means by which they may be effected:-For example, I
take an open vessel of any convenient shape and size, into which I place
water; I then take a cylindrical-shaped vessel, and having discharged the air
therefrom I fill it with water, and place it upright or nearly so with the open
end downwards, taking care to keep this end immersed in the water which is
in first-named vessel; I then take a hollow collapsible sphere, to which is
fixed one end of an elastic tube formed with two outlets or branches, one of
which is fitted with a cock opening to the external atmosphere, and the other,
also fitted with a cock, is connected to a hollow vessel or cylinder, the upper
end of which is closed and fitted with a cock, and the lower end of said hollow

page_text: vessel which is open dips into water contained in any suitable shaped open
vessel. The top of the above-mentioned hollow vessel is connected by a rod
to the short arm of a vibrating lever or beam placed over the same, a weight
being attached to such short arm to assist the descent of the hollow vessel
beneath; to the other arm of the aforesaid lever or beam one end of a cord
or chain is attached, and passes under pulleys affixed to the bottom of the
first-named vessel, the other end of said chain or cord being affixed to the
before-mentioned hollow sphere.
The mode of operating with the above apparatus is as follows:-The
upright vessel being filled with water, and suspended in any convenient manner
in the water of the lower vessel, the collapsible sphere charged with atmo-
spheric air is then introduced into the upright vessel, thereby displacing an
equal bulk of water therefrom; the air cock in the tube being closed, as also
the cock in that part of the said tube situate between the suspended recipro-
cating hollow cylinder and the collapsible sphere, and the cock at the top of
the said cylinder being also closed, and a partial vacuum formed therein by
the raising of the said cylinder in the water in which it is immmersed; the
cock in the tube being then opened, the air from the hollow sphere will rush
into the vacuum in the cylinder, and thereby lift such said cylinder and weight
connected therewith, as before stated, the water supplying the place of the air
in the upright vessel. Before the cylinder has reached the extent of its
upward movement, the cock in the top thereof is opened and the othe cock
is shut, and the air cock opened to again charge the sphere with atmospheric
air; the effect of which is to allow the air contained in the cylinder to
escape therefrom, and the cylinder and weight to descend by the gravitating
power thereof, the long arm of the lever pulling down the hollow sphere until
the cylinder has reached the extent of its downward movement, by which
time the cock thereof must be closed and the air cocks in the tube be opened
to allow the air to pass from the sphere into the cylinder, as before stated';
and in this manner and by these means I produce and maintain, at no expense
whatever, reciprocating movement of the cylinder so long as water is in the
vessels, and I employ such motive power as a prime mover in any convenient
manner. The alternate opening and closing of the cocks of the apparatus is
rendered self-acting by the vibrating movement of the lever or other suitable
means.