Improvements in Fluid Pressure Engines or Motors.
Year: 1898

page_text: Improvements in Fluid Pressure Engines or Motors.
HERBERT AKROYD STUART, Akroydon, Kings Road, Reading, Berkshire,
Mechanical Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:
-
This invention relates to an improved engine or motor, which is worked by the
expansion of fluids, such as steam, air &c. &c.
The object of this invention is to construct simple mechanism; by which
arrangement I dispense with the connecting rod and crank as heretofore used to
obtain a rotary motion from the piston or pistons in the engine or motor cylinders,
whilst at the same time I gain an efficiency in the working of such engine or
motor.
By my improved method I am enabled to use cylinders of considerable length,
and I find in practice that cylinders of from twenty to thirty feet long may be
used to great advantage, but of course the length of the cylinders may be
varied.
In carrying my invention into practice, I employ two fly wheels, which are suit-
ably supported in bearings, one fly wheel near one end of the cylinders the other
fly wheel near the other end of the cylinders; these cylinders are arranged paralell
to one another, and in a line with the endless wire or belt (or their equivalents) as
hereinafter described. Around these fly wheels I arrange the said endless wire or
belt, which passes through the center of each cylinder and arround the perhiffery
of each fly wheel, in a similar manner as an ordinary belt arround two pulleys.
To this endless wire or belt I attach the working pistons in any suitable manner
so that they move together, and they are propelled first through the one cylinder
and then round one Hy wheel, and then through the other cylinder and arround
the other fly wheel & so on-the distance these cylinders are apart is about the
diameter of the flywheels used. I prefer to use cylinders of a small diameter in
order to get with safety a greater piston velocity.
One end of each cylinder is provided with a valve arrangement which also acts
as a cylinder cover, this valve is actuated in due course to allow each piston in
its turn to enter its cylinder as it leaves the perhiffery of the flywheel. When
the piston has entered the cylinder the valve or cylinder cover is closed arround
the small endless wire or belt, the piston is then forced forward through the
cylinder drawing with it the endless wire or belt, this wire or belt has a sufficient
grip on the perhiffery of the flywheels to make them revolve; as the piston nears
the other end of the cylinder or the end of its stroke, the pressure which has
pushed it forward escapes as exhaust: each piston in turn attached to the endless
wire or belt is propelled through each cylinder in the same way, thereby the
endless wire or belt is kept constantly moving and giving rotary motion to the
fly wheels. For economy the pressure employed to propell the pistons may be
cut off at any portion of the stroke of the piston.

page_text: It will be seen from the arrangement described herein that the force acting on
the pistons is transmitted as a direct pull on the perhiffery of the fly wheels.
Dated this 18th day of February 1898.
Improvements in Fluid Pressure Engines or Motors.
I, HERBERT AKROYD STUART, of Akroydon, King's Road, Reading, in the
County of Berks., 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 relates to an improved engine or motor which is operated by the
pressure of a fluid, such as steam, air, or the like, the object being to provide a
more simple and efficient engine or motor than has hitherto been made."
According to the invention provide a number (preferably two) of cylinders
advantageously of small diameter and considerable length, the said cylinders
being arranged parallel to one another in the same plane, and in connection with
the said cylinders I provide two fly wheels arranged at each end of the pair of
cylinders and in the same plane therewith. An endless wire or its equivalent
passes around the fly wheels and through the cylinders and is provided with a
number of pistons adapted to be driven through the cylinders by the pressure of
steam, air or another suitable fluid as hereinafter more particularly described,
suitable valves being provided at one end of each of the cylinders to allow the
piston to enter the cylinders and at the same time to act as covers to the said
cylinders.
The cylinders, fly-wheels etc., are advantageously arranged within a hermeti-
cally closed casing.
To enable the invention to be fully understood I will describe it by reference
to the accompanying drawings, in which:
Figure 1 is a side elevation of a motor constructed according to the invention,
the cover of the casing being removed to shew the interior:
Figure 2 is a sectional plan thereof;
Figure 3 is a longitudinal section of one of the cylinder valves drawn to a
larger scale:
Figure 4 is a section on the line 4-4 Figure 3:
Figures 5 and 6 are a plan and front view respectively of the valve plug or
nipple; and.
Figure 7 is a view of one of the pistons drawn to a larger scale.
a is the casing, the said casing being provided with lugs a¹ whereby it can be
bolted to any suitable support and with a cover b adapted to be hermetically secured
to the casing a by studs and nuts 61 and furnished with a door 62 which is hinged,
as shewn at 63, to the cover b and is normally bolted thereto by the screw 64.
c. c are the cylinders, the said cylinders being shewn two in number and arranged
parallel to one another in the same plane: in practice I have found that cylinders
of from 20 to 30 feet in length give very good results but I wish it to be under-
stood that I may employ cylinders of any other length which may be found
suitable.
de are the fly wheels, the said fly wheels being arranged at the two ends of the
pair of cylinders c. c and in the same plane therewith and being rotatably
mounted in the casing as hereinafter described. f is the endless wire (or its
equivalent) which is passed around the fly wheels d, e and through the cylinders c, c

page_text: in the centre line thereof and g, g are the pistons with which the said endless
wire fis provided, the said pistons being of any suitable construction or material,
but being preferably formed of spring wire as illustrated in Figure 7.
is
As above mentioned one end of each of the cylinders c, c is provided with an
inlet valve for the pistons g the said valve being, however, so constructed that after
a piston has passed therethrough it is closed by the pressure of the steam or other
fluid which is admitted to the cylinder so as to force the said piston forward
through the cylinder. A valve which I advantageously employ for this purpose
shewn in Figures 3, 4, 5 and 6 and consists of a plug or nipple h the inner end
of which is bevelled as shewn at ' and which is screwed
or otherwise
secured to an annular fitting screwed or otherwise secured to the
end of the cylinder. Two spring flaps j, j are fastened, for example by
screws, to the inclined faces forming the bevelled end of the plug h, the
said flaps being so arranged that they are normally closed as indicated in full
lines in Figures 3 and 4 thus closing the orifice through the plug h. With this
arrangement when a piston g enters the nipple h it opens the flaps j (as indicated
in broken lines in Figure 3) and passes through them, the said flaps being then
closed tightly by the pressure of the steam or other motive fluid which is supplied
to each cylinder through the inlet pipe k, the passage of the steam or other motive
fluid into the inlet pipes being controlled by the valve through the medium
of a governor driven from one of the fly wheel shafts, as clearly shewn in
Figure 2.
The shaft of the fly wheel d is mounted in bushings d, fitted in internal
bosses formed in the casing a, one end of the said shaft being shewn to project
so as to take the pulley 1 of the engine and the pulley for operating the
governor.
The shaft e¹ of the fly wheel e is mounted in slide blocks e2, e2 which are adapted
to move in parallel guides e³, e fixed to the inside of the casing a. To enable the
position of the shaft e¹ to be adjusted I provide the slide-blocks e², e2 with screwed
rods e which extend through the end of the casing a and are provided with nuts e³,
by screwing or unscrewing which, the position of the slide-blocks and therefore
of the shaft e¹ is adjusted; e, e are springs coiled around the screwed rods e
for holding the nuts in contact with the casing a. m is an exhaust pipe for the
steam or other motive fluid escaping from the cylinders.
In the drawing I have shewn the endless wire f provided with four pistons g:
it will, however, be clear that I can employ any other suitable number of pistons
provided that the distance between the successive pistons is equal to the length of
the cylinders. It will also be obvious that each piston must move through a
distance equal to the length of the cylinders from the moment it issues from one
cylinder until it enters the next cylinder. As this, in the case of long cylinders,
would necessitate fly wheels of large diameter, the endless wire f be passed
around it in the usual manner, I may, as shewn in Figure 2, pass the said wire
one and a half times or two and a half times etc., around the fly wheels thereby
considerably reducing the diameters of the fly wheels for a given length of
cylinders.
The operation of my improved engine or motor is as follows:-Assuming the
parts to be in the position illustrated in Figure 1, the pressure of the steam or
other fluid in the two cylinders has forced the said pistons g to the outlet ends
of the said cylinders and as each piston leaves its cylinder the next following
piston enters the inlet end of the said cylinder and passes through the valve i.
as hereinbefore described: the pressure of the steam or other fluid (entering each
cylinder at the inlet end thereof) forces the entering pistons forward so as to
drive the fly-wheels in the direction of the arrows Figure 1.
Although I have described an engine wherein the motive fluid does not work
expansively it is obvious that provision can be made for such expansive working
where desired.

page_text: 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:
1. A fluid pressure engine or motor comprising two fly wheels around which is
passed an endless wire (or its equivalent) carrying pistons adapted to be propelled
through cylinders arranged between and in the plane of the fly wheels and each
provided at one end with an inlet for the steam or other motive fluid and a valve
which normally closes the said end but allows the piston to enter the cylinder,
substantially as herein before described.
2. The combination and arrangement of parts forming the improved fluid
pressure engine, substantially as herein before described and illustrated in the
accompanying drawing.
0011.
1000
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, Finsbury, London, Agents for the Applicant.