IMPROVE- MENTS IN THE PRODUCTION OF MOTIVE POWER, AND IN THE APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henri Adrien Bonneville, of the British and
Foreign Patent Offices, 10, Sackville Street, Piccadilly, in the
County of Middlesex, and 18, Chaussée d'Antin, Paris, in the
Empire of France, Patent Agent, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE PRODUCTION OF MOTIVE POWER, AND IN THE APPARATUS
CONNECTED THEREWITH."-A communication from Lars Albert Léonard
Söderström, residing at 52, Rue de Bondy, in Paris, aforesaid,
Engineer.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said Henri Adrien Bonneville
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition and
Declaration, on the 15th December 1868, pursuant to the 9th
Section of the Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.
5
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said Henri Adrien Bonneville
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition and
Declaration, on the 15th December 1868, pursuant to the 9th
Section of the Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRI
ADRIEN BONNEVILLE. of the British and Foreign Patent Offices, 10, Sack-

page_text: ville Street, Piccadilly, in the County of Middlesex, and 18, Chaussée
d'Antin, Paris, in the Empire of France, Patent Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS I am in possession of an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE PRODUCTION OF MOTIVE POWER, AND IN THE APPARATUS CONNECTED THERE-
WITH," a communication from Lars Albert Léonard Söderström, a person 5
resident at 52, Rue de Bondy, in Paris, aforesaid, Engineer, and have
petitioned Her Majesty to grant unto me, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, Her Royal Letters Patent for the same, and made solemn
Declaration that it is a communication.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Henri Adrien Bonneville, do 1
hereby declare that the following Complete Specification, under my hand
and seal, fully describes and ascertains the nature of the Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, reference
_being_had_to_the_accompanying Drawings, and to the letters marked
thereon,-that-is-to-say-:-
The Invention communicated to me relates to improvements in the
application of heated compressed air to the production of motive power,
and in the apparatus by means of which this power is developed and
rendered-available-for-général-purposes.—
The accompanying Drawings represent an engine constructed according 2
to these improvements, and merely given as specimen, in the Drawings
of which Fig. 1 is a vertical section of the apparatus in motion; Fig. 2,
a vertical section in a plane perpendicular to the axis of the distributing
pistons; Fig. 3 a view, partly in section, of one of the distributing
pistons on a larger scale; Fig. 4, a horizontal section of the same;
Fig. 5, a horizontal section of the chimney junction pipe.
The main features of this improved air-tight apparatus consist
essentially,―
1°. In the suppression of the ordinary distributing valves of such
apparatus, and in replacing them by pistons.
2º. In the mode of distributing and heating the air.
3º. In the introduction of and mode of introducing the air by the

page_text: 5°. In the combination of organs which allow of regulating the said
apparatus automatically, and of increasing or diminishing at will the
combustion in order to obtain this régulation.
6°. The peculiar arrangement of the furnace.
The projection of the air by the upper part of the furnace and above
the ignited fuel prevents the formation of smoke and gases which absorb
to no purpose a large amount of caloric, as by forcing the air by the
upper part of the furnace the ascending gases are of necessity entirely
consumed by keeping them in contact with the burning fuel..
The high speed of the apparatus allows of using one cylinder only, the
upper part of which answers the purpose of a force pump for compressing
the air into the furnace, and the lower part serves as a driving cylinder.
By reason of the manner in which the machine is disposed the upper air
remains always cold, whilst that which acts under the piston is constantly
heated, the lower part of the cylinder, plunging directly into-the furnace.
in which it is half engaged..
In order to appreciate the chief characteristics of the said improve--
ments, the working of the machine will now. be described..
The coal is first fed into the furnace a by an aperture b, which is made
at the lower part of the apparatus; this coal falls on to a moveable cast-
iron table c.. When the furnace is replenished with coal,. the fire is
lighted at. the upper part, and the draught required for the lighting up
takes place by an aperture d (Fig. 2) communicating with. a chimney e
by means of a junction pipe f (Fig. 5); this junction. pipe is moveable
around the chimney. When the coal is thoroughly lighted. and when
the walls of the cylinder and furnace are sufficiently heated.for. operating.
the junction pipefis turned aside into the position represented in Fig. 5,.
and it then serves as a stop-cock to close the orifice in the chimney,
which then serves as an escapement pipe. The two apertures b and d
are next closed by means of plugs furnished. with. handles, like that
shown at g, Fig. 1; these plugs are in cast iron, and are wormed.
conically; they are furnished with refractory clay to intercept the
heat. The conical worming of the plug has the advantage of driving
and crushing the dust which might come between the two parts in
contact. When the apparatus is set in motion the air heated in the
furnace circulates first in a space surrounding the lower part of the.

page_text: cylinder, which it previously warms, then meets with the lower orifice
of a slide valve X having a piston, which in due time opens to let the
heated air penetrate into the lower part below the driving piston Z.
The air on expanding drives the piston Z vertically and compels it to
rise by forcing and compressing the cold air enclosed in the upper part
of the cylinder, which cold air is driven by a piston slide valve into a
conduit furnished with a valve box q, serving to regulate the speed of
the apparatus. This compressed air is heated to any required degree by
passing in greater or lesser quantity into the furnace through another
valve r situato a little below the first. Moreover to regulate the
temperature and maintain automatically a constant pressure this second
valve is actuated by a lever a connected with a small piston working
in a hollow cylinder U screwed on to the lid of the furnace and by a
connecting rod t carrying directly the counterweights to equilibrate.
The air required to keep up the combustion comes down the conduit v
-into-a-circular-space-furnished-underneath the lid_of_the_outer_envelope
of-the-furnace, and-then-descends-between-the-cylindrical-portion-of-
the said sheet iron envelope, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, and an envelope
of masonry n consolidated with thin sheet iron; it then rises into a
second circular space, between the envelope of masonry n and the furnace,
where it is heated by the spiral pipo B for the escapement of the heated
air, and by the outer side of the furnace consolidated with thin sheet
iron to force the air to enter only by the cast-iron pipe x', Fig. 2, which
by one or more branch pipes communicates with the tuyere y. In this
tuyere, in order to regulate the quantity of air and to throw it properly
on to the furnace, is a cone z moveable on its rod by means of a nut
which raises or lowers it at will. The volume of cold air which does
not come into contact with the furnace circulates in a conduit u which
surrounds the cylinder and descends between this latter and the masonry
to prevent the heat rising into the upper part. The pistons at both the
head plates of the cylinder are actuated by the rods 1, , impelled by
the elbowed shaft J of the apparatus, by means of two cams M, M, on
the said shaft, and which rest on friction rollers carried by the rods 1, 1.
The motion of these pistons takes place at the same time as that of the
driving piston Z. By the disposition of these pistons the internal pressure
compels them to cause the rollers of the rod to press against the cams
of the elbowed shaft J. The driving piston Z is furnished with a sheath,
and carries an extension picce H filled with coal dust to obviate against

page_text: the heating of the upper parts of the cylinder. It actuates the con-
necting rod I fixed at the bottom of the sheath, and which transmits its
motion to the elbowed shaft J carrying the fly wheels L, L. This shaft
is supported by two brackets K melted jointly with the lid of the
cylinder. The small distributing pistons, represented apart in Figs. 3
and 4, carry a segment having a centre boss and confined between
both the head plates i, which by conically adjusting the rod of the
piston, and by means of a nut, are fixed to their distributing rod.
Moreover, two rings m, m², Figs. 1 and 3, driven into the inlet conduits
of the cylinder, and in which these pistons work, are furnished with a
slot for the air to pass, except at two places o and p; this latter part
serves to prevent the air passing through the slot in the segment. With
the same view a cast-iron picco is further fitted across the slot, as also
another iron piece p fixed behind the segment. The cams M are so
disposed as to admit the air when necessary, and also to obtain the
degree of expansion required. Thus when the driving piston Z descends
the outer air penetrates into the upper part of the cylinder through the
upper distributing piston Y which is at its lowest point. As soon as
the piston Z rises towards the middle of its course the distributing
piston Y has also risen, and has intercepted the entrance of the outer
air and all further communication until the cold air at that moment
shut up has acquired the samo pressure as that of the furnace; then
it rises completely with the piston Z to drive this compressed air into
the valves and r, as has been herein-before related. The working
of the piston X which distributes the heated air on issuing from the
lower part of the cylinder is the same as the preceding one, so as
to obtain, if needs be, the triple process of introduction, expansion,
and escapement.
The disposition and the working of the furnace are as follow:-The
upper part is arched in the shape of a vaulted roof w pierced in the
centre with a circular aperture immediately beneath the tuyere y.
The object of this refractory roof so arched is to retain the heat as
much as possible at the centre of the furnace, and thoroughly to con-
sume the smoke and gases by the action of the draught of heated air
thrown by the tuycre y. The lower part of the furnace is hermetically
closed and furnished with a cast-iron turntable c for the fuel which is
The furnace is fed for a whole
constantly rising towards the roof 10.

page_text: 7°. The fitting of the lower part of the driving cylinder in the furnace,
substantially as herein-before fully set forth and described.
8°. The combination and co-ordination of the various organs con-
stituting the above apparatus, substantially as herein-before fully set
forth and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henri Adrien Bonneville, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twelfth day of December,
Eighteen hundred and sixty-eight.