Improvements in Rotary Engines.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 24th Sept., 1894-Accepted, 17th Nov., 1894
Improvements in Rotary Engines.
I, ANDRIES FREDERIK SINCLAR VAN DE LAAR, of 96 de Wittenkade,
Amsterdam, Holland, Technologist, 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 :-
My invention relates to a rotary multiple-expansion fluid-pressure engine,
wherein wheels or discs secured to a single shaft mounted in a cylindrical casing.
are set in rotary motion by the steam or other fluid issuing from diametrically
opposite passages arranged against the periphery of one or more of the said wheels
or discs.
The live steam or other fluid from the boiler or the like is first directed against
the periphery of a toothed wheel or disc, and, by reason of its velocity or dynamic
force, rotates the said wheel or disc. When this wheel or disc has been thus
moved through a certain distance, the not yet expanded steam or other fluid,
carried in the spaces between the teeth of the said wheel or disc, flows through a
passage formed in the cylindrical casing into a second but elliptically formed
chamber which is arranged near to the cylindrical casing and is separated by
fluid-tight partitions therefrom and from others of a series of such chambers.
In this chamber is a second wheel or disc mounted on the motor shaft and
provided with five or any other suitable number of radially-arranged slides or
pistons.
These slides or pistons are movable in a radial direction, so that their outer
edges always fit closely or accurately against the inside of the elliptically formed
expansion chamber, the expanding steam or other fluid acting on these slides or
pistons, rotates the wheels or discs carrying the same.
The required radial motion of the said slides or pistons is effected by pins
secured thereto and working in elliptically formed grooves in the two side walls of
the chamber. These grooves both have a contour corresponding to the form of
the elliptical chamber.
The accompanying drawing shows the machine in various views.
Figure 1 is a vertical transverse section on the line V-W, Figure 2.
Figure 2 is a front view of the motor with the cover partly removed.
Figure 3 is a vertical section on the line O-q, Figure 2, and
Figure 4 is a vertical section on the line Y-X, Figure 2, some of the parts
being removed.
On the shaft O is mounted the slightly conical wheel or disc A which is
provided with a toothed rim c and is mounted steam-tight in suitable bearings in
the cylindrical casing A', which has a slightly conical seating for the wheel or
disc A.
The corrugations or teeth do not extend over the entire height or width of the
periphery of this wheel or disc, Figures 1 and 2, therefore a steam-tight joint will
be formed on each side of them by reason of the conical form of the wheel or
disc A. The steam flows to the said wheel or disc on the right and left hand sides
thereof through the two-way cocks a, a' in the casing, and then through the
passages d in the direction of the arrows, Figures 2 and 4, onto the toothed
periphery of the wheel or disc A, so that a rotary motion is imparted to the said
wheel or disc towards the right by reason of the velocity or dynamic force of the
steam.

page_text: For
The passages d' serve for reversing the direction of rotation of the motor.
this purpose both of the two-way cocks a, a¹, are so turned that the passages d' are
opened and the passages d closed, the steam can then turn the said wheel or
disc towards the left. The teeth on the wheel or disc A are made of similar shape
on both sides for this purpose.
On the rotation of the wheel or disc A through an angle corresponding to the
breadth of one or more teeth, one or other of the spaces between the teeth
reaches a steam outlet-passage b, through which the steam in the spaces between
the teeth passes into the elliptical chamber B1, Figures 2 and 4, arranged at the
side of the casing A'. The spaces A¹ and B' are separated by a partition C.
On the shaft O is also mounted the wheel or disc B in the expansion
chamber B¹.
At the right and left hand sides of the expansion chamber B¹, Figure 2, as well
as at the extremities of the shorter or minor axis of the ellipse, the wheel or disc B
works steam-tight against the inner surface of the chamber 'B'.
The wheel or disc B is provided with radially arranged flat slides or sliding
pistons S, of which five are shown in the drawing. These slides or pistons Sare
provided above and below with pins or projections s which travel in grooves R in
the partition C and cover D. The said grooves are so formed as to correspond to
the elliptical shape of the expansion chamber B', so that, during the travel of the
pins in the grooves R, the slides or pistons will move in and out steam-tight
along the inner surface of the elliptical chamber B¹. The centrifugal force will
assist this motion and ensure the steam-tightness of the sliding joints between the
slides or pistons S and the inner surface of the expansion chamber B¹.
As soon as the steam passes into the expansion-chamber B1 through the
passage b, it presses against the slides or pistons S and expands, thus assisting to
rotate the wheel or disc B towards the right, the radial distance between the outer
periphery of the circular expansion wheel or disc B and the inner surface of the
elliptical chamber B', which at the admission of the steam is nearly nothing,
continually increasing until it reaches a maximum at or near the line V-W, when
it again decreases as it approaches the line Y, X, and so on.
In this manner a second transfer of power takes place from the steam to the
shaft O.
The steam which has been expanded and usefully employed between two slides
or pistons S, escapes through the outlet or exhaust cock or valve q.
As above mentioned, the steam also acts on the periphery of the toothed wheel
or disc A at the other side of the casing A', Figure 2, through the passage a¹ and
then passes through the passage & into the chamber B₁ to expand against the slides
or pistons S on the opposite side, of the line Y-X, after which it escapes by the
outlet cock q' at the other side of the motor; the steam from the boiler thus acts
directly at two diametrically opposite points on the periphery of the toothed
wheel A and expands against the slides or pistons S of the wheel or disc B at the
upper and lower sides of the motor, so that the motor is perfectly balanced, and a
smooth motion is ensured.
By employing several expansion - wheels or discs B with their elliptical
chambers B', on a single shaft, multiple-expansion of the steam can be effected,
and the motor thereby made a compound, or a triple or quadruple-expansion
engine.
The reversal of the direction of motion of the engine is effected by simply
turning the inlet-cocks a, a', whereby the steam, as above mentioned, flows through
the passages d' and in the direction of the dotted arrows through the passages
into the expansion chamber B', whilst the outlet or exhaust cocks or valves q, q
are closed and the exhaust cocks or valves 92, 93 opened.
If it is desired that the motor shall be capable of turning in only one direction,
the cocks a, a¹ can be one-way cocks, and the passages d', b' and the outlet or
exhaust cocks q, q3 or the like can be dispensed with, and the motor thereby much
simplified.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
First. A rotary engine in which the rotating shaft is driven partly by the
dynamic force of the steam or other fluid acting upon the teeth of a toothed wheel
or disc, and partly by the expansive force of such fluid acting subsequently upon
one or more wheels or discs provided with radially sliding pistons.
Second. A rotary engine which is so constructed that the steam or other fluid first
impinges against the periphery of and thus rotates a toothed wheel or disc mounted
on a shaft within a suitable casing, and then passes into an elliptical chamber or
successively into two or more of such chambers, in each of which chambers it
drives, by its expansion, a wheel or disc also mounted on the said shaft and provided
with radially sliding pistons, substantially as hereinbefore described.
Third. In a rotary engine, the combination of a toothed wheel or disc mounted on
a shaft within a suitable casing, passages controlled by cocks or valves whereby
the fluid is admitted to the said casing and directed against the teeth of the said
wheel or disc, an elliptical chamber connected by suitable passages with the said
casing and provided with outlet or exhaust-ports, and a wheel or disc mounted on
the said shaft within the said chamber and provided with radially sliding pistons,
substantially as and for the purposes above specified.
Fourth. The improved rotary engine constructed substantially as described with
reference to the accompanying drawing and operating as above specified.
Dated this 24th day of September 1894.
D. YOUNG & Co.,
11 and 12, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicant.
D. YOUNG & Co.,
11 and 12, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicant.