IMPROVEMENTS IN WORKING ENGINES BY ATMOSPHERIC AIR
Year: 1850

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
HENRY VRIES, of Norfolk Street, Strand, in the County of Middlesex, Esquire,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Eleventh day of June,
One thousand eight hundred and fifty, in the thirteenth year of Her reign, did,
for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said John
Henry Vrics, my exors, adññiors, and assigns, Her especial licence, full power,
sole privilege and authority, that I, the said John Henry Vries, my exors,
adiors, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John Henry Vries, my
exors, admiors, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from
time to time and at all times during the term of years therein expressed, should
and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and
the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN WORKING
ENGINES BY ATMOSPHERIC AIR;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a
proviso that I, the said John Henry Vries, shall cause a particular description
of the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, to be inrolled
in Her said Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next
and immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in
and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large
appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
John Henry Vries, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and

page_text: the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described and
ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, reference being had to
the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked thercon
(that is to say)-
First, I have discovered that by allowing the escape of small quantities at a
time of this highly-compressed air, and causing it to act suddenly and momen-
tarily upon any solid body, that it will by its continued impulses create a super
power, that is, will create more than sufficient force than would be required to
compress the-same quantity of air suffered to escape into the same receiver at
the same time.
Second, by continually compressing more air into the receiver the elastic
force is greatly increased by the retention of the heat developed during
condensation.
Third, that a great advantage is gained by drawing the air to be condensed
from a height above the lowest stata, through a pipe of peculiar construction.
Fourth, that one certain form for the receiver, hereafter to be mentioned, is
the best adapted for these
intended.
purposes
No claim is made to any precise form of mechanism for the application of
these principles, as there are many mechanical methods by which the same
results may be obtained. But the general principle on which all such machines
will be based must be the giving motion to a fly-wheel and shaft, or other
ponderous bodies, and causing them to revolvo by means of the impulses to be
derived from the momentary action and impetus obtainable from the escape of
small quantities of highly compressed air in rapid succession, and thence from this
first motion to form a connection by means of wheels, levers, or any of the other
methods in common use, so as to work a force pump or pumps for the purpose
of gradually compressing air into the receiver from which the escape has been
.allowed. The escape valve and force pumps must be so proportioned and
constructed that more air may be compressed into the receiver than is consumed.
Then, in proportion to the height of condensation or density of the air used in
giving these impulses, so much the more super power will be generated, which
may be taken from off the first motion by any of the ordinary methods, and
applied to any of the mechanical purposes to which the steam engine or any
other prime mover is applicable.
These newly-discovered principles, when applied to mechanism, forms a
pneumatic engine possessing immense advantages over the ordinary steam
engine, inasmuch as,-first, the power generated is much greater than that
of steam, and may be controled with equal facility; second, it consumes no
coals nor fuel of any kind; third, there is no water consumed nor required;

page_text: fourth, there are no boilers, furnaces, flues, nor chimneys to construct, burn
out, or deteriorate; fifth, the whole apparatus is of considerably less weight;
sixth, and occupies much less space; seventh, the first cost in construction is
less; eighth, the parts are as few and as simple as those of the high-pressure
engine; ninth, and there is no danger from explosion.
More particularly it will save in the stationary high-pressure engines, first,
all the expence of the first outlay, and maintaining in repair boilers, furnaces,
flues, chimneys, lift pumps, and all steam and water connections whatever;
second, all fuel, water, and assistants, except one attendant as driver.
."
N.B. And these engines, as at present constructed, may be altered, and
have pneumatic principle applied to them, by removing the parts superseded,
and merely attaching a pneumatic apparatus in their stead, and thereby retain
the greater portion of the original engine, and save expenses, as shewn by way
of examples, as in Drawing marked No. 1, Figures 1, 2, and 3, where the three
most common forms of the high-pressure engine are shewn, with the required
alterations.
In the stationary condensing engine all the advantages are afforded that are
obtainable over the high-pressure engine, and in addition, first, there is no
air pump for obtaining a vacuum required; second, no condenser; third, no
lift pump for condensing water; fourth, the air reservoir will not occupy one
sixteenth of the space of a set of boilers; fifth, nor the pneumatic engine
exceed one tenth that of a condensing engine of equal power; sixth, there are
fewer parts, and those much more simple; seventh, and there are neither
cisterns nor tanks required. N.B.-These engines may also have a pneumatic
apparatus attached to them, by removing boilers, cylinder, air pumps, condenser,
lift pumps, and all connections, as is shewn by way of example in Drawing
No. 1, Figures 4 and 5.
In steam vessels the advantages are still greater in addition to those already
referred to in the condensing engine; for, first, by not requiring any fuel, all
that weight and space that would be taken up by bunkers and stowage for coal
and fuel, and which is so very considerable in vessels destined for long voyages,
would become available for the freight of goods; second, all that space also
at present occupied by the boilers, and shewn in blue on Drawing No. 1,
Figures 6 and 7, would become available for the same purpose; third, their
weight with that of their contained water is saved; fourth, and also about
nine tenths of that of the machinery, which will afford an immense increase, of
tonnage for freight and accommodation for passengers, that space only being
required which is shewn in proportion and in red on the Drawing No. 1,
Figures 6 and 7; fifth, two plane cylindrical receivers being alone required

page_text: in addition to the pneumatic engine, and which may be placed longitudinally
along the upper deck, one on either side, the weight of which would not be
one eighth of that of the usual boilers, tubes, flues, furnaces, steam chest, and
chimney, which they supersede; sixth, these receivers also serve to render the
vessel more buoyant in case of shipwreck or danger from sinking; and seventh,
there will be no stokers or coal trimmers required, one attendant alone being
sufficient.
In locomotive engines there is a saving of all the expences of making and
keeping in repair the tube boilers, they being superseded by the cylindrical
receiver, which is not subjected to destruction from exposure to the fire, the
water, and the high-pressure steam; second, there is neither water nor fuel
required; consequently, third, no tender; fourth, nor stationary engines to
pump water from deep wells, nor tanks, nor water cranes; fifth, nor coke
stations and attendants; sixth, nor coke ovens, and the expences of trucks
and carriage; sixth, the pneumatic apparatus will occupy one eighth the
space; seventh, a much higher power is obtainable; eighth, and the engine
itself would be formed into a carriage that would be loaded and weighted in
proportion to the amount of traction required; ninth, there is no danger from
explosion, or stoppage from the bursting of tubes; tenth, and the expences of
wear and tear of machinery is immensely less, as well as the original cost of
an engine.
In locomotives for common roads the hitherto insurmountable difficulties
will be overcome, as, first, by having no water or fuel to carry; second,
and the pneumatic engine and receiver not occupying one sixteenth the space,
nor being of one twentieth of the weight of any other that has yet been tried;
third, and also a great increase of power attainable; there is a much greater
accommodation for goods or passengers, and the working expences are mate-
rially reduced; so that every obstacle is removed that has hitherto prevented
success in the transit in common roads by means of locomotive power.
More particularly it will be seen by the accompanying Drawings and descrip-
tion the principle on which a pneumatic apparatus may be constructed where
the action is by means of cylinders and pistons. First, it is to be remarked
that one or more cylinders, as well as force pumps, may be used according to
circumstances and the nature of the work to be performed; also the extent
of density of the air to be used will be regulated according to the amount of
power required. See Drawing.
No. 2, R, R, is a strong receiver to contain the compressed air, and in its
best forms it varies in length from twenty to thirty times its diameter. This
receiver in the first instance is charged with air, compressed to a density of

page_text: twenty, fifty, one hundred atmospheres and upwards, according to circumstances,
and then by opening a cock i to the extent required to allow the air to pass
along the pipes j,j, through a trigger valve at k, k, into the cylinders c, c. The
cylinders in this example are fitted with a slide valve and piston, as in high-
pressure steam cylinders, and thence, by connecting the piston rods with the
cranks at right angles d, d, they will cause the revolution of the shaft and fly-
wheel m, if any pressure be admitted to act upon the surface of the pistons.
Now the arrangement in these cylinders is such that they vibrate with each
stroke of the piston, and the motion to work the slide valve is taken from the
bottom of the cylinders, and conducted by means of side rods o, ō, and bell
cranks p, p; also it is arranged so that at a particular part of the vibration,
when the slide valve is open, the piston up, and the crank just approaching
full action, that by means of a tappet the trigger valve is struck open, the dense
air admitted, and instantaneously exerts its clastic force upon the piston, and
communicates its impulse when the crank is in its best position or at right
angles, and thence causing the fly-wheel to revolve. This impulse is commu-
nicated both in the ascent and descent of the piston, and therefore, as in this
instance; where two cylinders are used, the fly-wheel received four impulses in
cach revolution. Spur gear e, e, conduct the motion from this shaft to a crank
shaft b, b, having the cranks opposite, and made to work two force pumps, to
compress the air into the receiver, to which they are connected by the pipés
9, 9, at the end of which, and in the receiver, is a stop valve h, as shewn to an
enlarged scale, No. 2, Figure 6, so that, as the fly-wheel is caused to revolve
by means of the impulses given to it by the impetus of the air suffered to escape
part of the trigger valves k, k, it communicates motion to the shaft d, d, and
works the force pumps, compressing air constantly into the receiver R, R.
Further, it is necessary to proportion the speed and size of these force pumps,
so that they must throw more air into the receiver that is allowed to escape,
and the quantity of which escape also is to be regulated by means of throttling
at the stop-cock i, i, and the time and stroke of the trigger valve, and these
force pumps draw their air through the vertical pipes F, F, which are carried
up to the requisite height to obtain a purer atmosphere freed from the grosser
particles. The mouth of these draw air pipes are of peculiar construction,
calculated to facilitate the purposes for which they are intended, being bell-
shaped at the mouth; and opening out around the inside and down its whole
depth are strips of thin metal attached and projecting radially inwards, but not
so far as to meet at the centre, as seen in plan, Figure 4. The reservoir R
may be placed in any convenient position, but the nearer the working cylinders
the better; and the motion for working other machinery may be taken

page_text: from the fly-wheel shaft, as from the drum n, and conducted wherever
required.
No. 1, Figures 6, 7, 8, is another example of carrying out the pneumatic
principle by means of cylinders, and is shewn applied to marine purposes.
R, R, and R', R", are two receivers containing the compressed air, and are
placed longitudinally on each side of the upper deck; c, c, c, and c, c', c', are six
cylinders oscillating from their lower ends, and working the crank shaft over,
on which is a small spur wheel e, which gears into the larger one c¹ keyed on
to the paddle-wheel shaft, by which means motion is communicated to them.
The force pumps a, a, a, are worked by the same shaft that is in connection with
the cylinders.
.
No. 3 shews an arrangement adapted for locomotives for railroads. c, c, c,
three cylinders fixed horizontally in the framework x, x, a, a, to which the
whole of the engine is fixed. These cylinders-work the-first shaft. d, d, which
is connected by the wheels e, e', to the shaft b, b, on which are keyed the driving
wheels of the engine, which are caused to revolve by the working of the
cylinders c, c, c. The shaft b, b, is also cranked and connected, so as to work
the two force pumps a, a. The reservoirs R, R, and R', R', are placed on
the top of the frame, one on each side, and are covered over the upper part.
L, L, is inclosed in for the carriage of weights or luggage.
No. 4 shews an example of the adaptation and construction of a locomotive
for common roads. c, c, c, are three cylinders working vertically, and fixed
upon the stands n, n, which are attached to the principle frame a, a, a, a; they
drive the four-throw crank d, d, turning in bearings in the frame, and geared
by spur wheels e, e, to driving-wheel shaft b, b, which being cranked and
connected to two force pumps a, a, works them as they are caused to revolve,
by means of the cylinders c, c, c, they draw air through the pipes F, F, and
condense into the reservoir R, R, fixed underneath the frame a, c. The front
wheels are caused to steer or lock by means of the pinion and quadrant y, z,
and the carriage itself will be hung on four springs attached to the frame.
No. 5 is an example of its application as a rotary engine, where a is the force
pump compressing air into the receiver R, R, from which it escapes through
the trigger valve d, and impinges upon the surface f, which is attached to the
rotary wheel 9. There is but one of these surfaces shewn in the example, but
their number may be increased and their form varied. h, h, is a top and bottom
casing projecting beyond the rim of the wheel g to a depth equal to that of the
surface f, and the whole is encircled by a casing i, and made to fit close, though
to revolve. An opening is left in this casing to allow of the escape of air.
A small tappet is fixed on the upper casing, and revolves with it, and is so

page_text: placed that at the moment when the surface f is at the mouth of the nozzle c
it strikes the lever y, and opens the valve allowing the escape of air. The
revolving wheel g is hung upon the spindle j, and turns the worm k, which,
working in the worm wheel, causes its revolution and that of the fly-wheel m
and drum n. On this fly-wheel shaft is a lever crank o and connecting rod to
work the force pump d, and re-charge the receiver.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Henry Vries, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Eleventh day of December, in the year of our Lord

page_text: PNEUMATIC APPARATUS
Applied as a
ROTARY ENGINE.
a. Force pump.
b. Connecting pipe & Stop Valve.
RR Receiver for Compressed Air.
c. Eduction Pipe.
d. Trigger Valve.
Nozzle.
e
f Fan or Blade on which it acts.
g The Rotary Wheel.
hh. Top & Bottom Casing attached to Dit
ii. Casing Round Circumference & Out
j. Revolving Spindle.
k. Endless Worm.
7. Worm Wheel.
n. Fly Wheel.
n. Dram to take Power from."
o. Lever Crunk to Work BoredPump
F. Draw Air Pipe.