IMPROVEMENTS IN ROTARY STEAM ENGINES
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for
the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN ROTARY STEAM ENGINES."-A com-
munication from abroad by Andreas Herlöv, of Holbek, in the Kingdom
of Denmark.
Sealed the 11th September 1866, and dated the 21st March 1866.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
21st March 1866.
I, WILLIAM EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN ROTARY STEAM ENGINES," to be as
follows:-
The engine which forms the subject of the present Invention consists of a
horizontal cylinder mounted on or cast in one piece with the foundation plate.
In this cylinder is mounted another cylinder in slots, in which are arranged
two steam stops on opposite sides of this inner cylinder, which may be
considered to act as the carrier of the pistons. The steam stops may be
termed the pistons, and work in slots made in the inner cylinder, and are
made to act in unison by means of sliding rods extending from the inner end
of the one stop through the axle or shaft of the inner cylinder to the inner end

page_text: space
of the other stop, so that when one stop is pushed out the other is pushed in,
and vice versa. The inner and outer cylinders are arranged concentrically
one within the other, leaving an annular space all round between them. This
forms the steam space, in which is placed a fixed semicircular adjustable
block, which forms a stationary steam stop. The edges of this semicircular
block are bevilled off in order to allow the sliding pistons to pass as they are
carried round by the inner cylinder. The stationary semi-cylindrical steam
stop is held in its place by means of strong screws, which are inserted through
holes in the outer cylinder or external casing, and are screwed into the back
of the semi-cylindrical steam stop, which moreover is provided with adjusting
screws, whereby it may be screwed up from behind as the working parts wear
away. The induction and eduction steam pipes or passages are provided with
cocks or valves, which are worked by excentrics or other suitable gear on the
main driving shaft, which is the axle of the rotating inner cylinder, and also
carries a fly wheel and toothed or band wheels, whereby its rotary motion may
be transmitted to any machinery required to be driven.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Edward Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 20th September 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the twenty-ninth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said William Edward Newton, Her special licence that I, the
said William Edward Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said William Edward Newton, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others,
from time to time and at all times thereafter during the term therein
expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within
the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands;
and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN ROTARY STEAM ENGINES,"
being a communication from Andreas Herlöv, of Holbeck, in the Kingdom
of Denmark, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William
"

page_text: Edward Newton, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under my, or their, or one of their, hands and seals, should particularly
describe aud ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great
Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediately after
the date of the said Letters Patent,
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Edward Newton, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say) :-
The engine which forms the subject of the present Invention consists of a
horizontal cylinder mounted on or cast in one piece with the foundation plate.
In this cylinder is mounted another cylinder in slots, in which are arranged
two steam stops on opposite sides of this inner cylinder, which may be
considered to act as the carrier of the pistons. The steam stops may be
termed the pistons, and work in slots made in the inner cylinder, and are
made to act in unison by means of sliding rods extending from the inner end
of the one stop through the axle or shaft of the inner cylinder to the inner
end of the other stop, so that when one stop is pushed out the other is pushed
in, and vice versa. The inuer and outer cylinders are arranged concentrically
one within the other, leaving an annular space all round between them. This
space forms the steam space, in which is placed a fixed semicircular adjustable
block, which forms a stationary steam stop. The edges of this semicircular
block are bevilled off in order to allow the sliding pistons to pass as they are
carried round by the inuer cylinder. The stationary semi-cylindrical steam
stop is held in its place by means of strong screws, which are inserted through
holes in the outer cylinder or external casing, and are screwed into the back of
the semi-cylindrical steam stop, which moreover is provided with adjusting
screws, whereby it may be screwed up from behind as the working parts wear
away. The induction and eduction steam pipes or passages are provided with
cocks or valves, which are worked by excentrics or other suitable gear on the
main driving shaft, which is the axle of the rotating inner cylinder, and also
carries a fly wheel and toothed or band wheels, whereby its rotary motion may
be transmitted to any machinery required to be driven.
In the accompanying Drawing Fig. 1 represents a longitudinal vertical
section of the improved construction of rotary steam engine; Fig. 2 is a hori-
zontal section taken through the engine and steam passages; Fig. 3 is a face
view of the moveable steam stops hereafter referred to; Fig. 4 is a detached

page_text: view of the cylindrical piston; and Fig. 5 is a face view of a semi-cylindrical
steam stop.
A is the foundation plate, on which is fixed the cylinder B. The piston C
(shewn detached in Fig. 4) is cylindrical, and is mounted on the axle E, upon
which is also fixed, by means of two screw d, d, the half cylinder D (shewn
detached at Fig. 5), and which is capablo of adjustment by means of two
other screws c, c. F, F, are the steam stops (shewn detached at Fig. 3)
which slide freely in two openings made in the cylindrical piston C. Two bolts
or rods a, a, are placed between the two steam stops F, F, as represented in the
Drawing, and slide in openings made through the axle E. The dotted lines
b, b, in Fig. 1 represent the steam stops in another position, as when the steam
begins to escape, and when one stop is coming into action and the other is
going out. The openings P in the half cylinder C (as seen in Fig. 5) are
made in order that the steam in front of the stops may escape. The steam is
admitted by the pipe G and G", Fig. 1, and passes through the cock II, and
escapes through the pipe M. In order to move the piston in the contrary
direction the steam is admitted through the cock H. The cock T in the
pipe G is only placed to shut up the tube G when the piston is working for a
long time in one direction. The two cocks H and H' are worked by
means of a pinion on the axle E, which gears into a toothed wheel on each
of the cocks.
Having now described the Invention of "Improvements in Rotary Steam
Engines," and having explained the manner of carrying out the same as com-
municated to me by my foreign correspondent, I claim as the Invention
secured to me by Letters Patent, as aforesaid, the general construction and
combination of parts herein shewn and described constituting a rotary engino
to be driven or actuated by steam as set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Seventeenth day of September, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
W. E. NEWTON. (L.S.)