IMPROVEMENTS IN HYDRAULIC ENGINES
Year: 1880

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alexander Melville Clark, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN HYDRAULIC ENGINES." A communication from abroad by James Morton,
of Philadelphia, in the County of Philadelphia, State of Pennsylvania, United
States of America
Sealed the 30th March 1880, and dated the 30th January 1880.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said Alexander Melville Clark at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 30th January 1880..
ALEXANDER MELVILLE CLARK, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County of
Middlesex, Patent Agent. "IMPROVEMENTS IN HYDRAULIC ENGINES." A commu-
nication from abroad by James Morton, of Philadelphia, in the County of
Philadelphia, State of Pennsylvania, United States of America.
The object of this Invention is to provide a simple, inexpensive, and effective
arrangement for converting into mechanical power and motion the pressure of a
column of water. Figure 1 is an elevation of the engine and attachments partly in
section; Figure 2 represents a modification of the same.
The Invention consists of the cylinder A supported in a frame B, and containing
the piston C. Secured to the piston in the usual manner is the piston rod D, that
projects through the stuffing box a¹, and connects with the rod E by means of the
cross head F that moves in the guides G, the rod E being connected with the crank
H of the driving wheel I. From the water reservoir K the delivery pipe L
conducts water to the cylinder, from which it is expelled through the discharge
pipe M into the reservoir N. The supply and discharge ports 6' and c' respectively
are regulated by the slide valve O which is moved by the valve rods and con-
nections P in the ordinary manner.
Assuming the reservoir K to be fifty feet above the cylinder, and the delivery
pipe L to be two and a quarter inches in diameter, the cylinder to be twelve inches
in diameter and twelve inches long, and the stroke six inches, or half the length of
the cylinder, it is found that the pressure upon the piston will be about 2,452
pounds, or nearly 22 pounds per square inch, provided the cylinder above the
piston be filled with water, which at one hundred and fifty strokes per minute will

page_text: exert about 10 horse power. The hydraulic pump Q represented in the Drawing
will raise the water again from the reservoir N to K as fast as it is discharged from
the cylinder with an expenditure of about one horse power, hence it will be seen
that by the mechanical arrangement herein shown the downward pressure of the
water from K upon the piston will develop a much greater power than is required
to elevate it again, and that this excess, whatever it may be over the amount
absorbed by the friction and weight of the moving parts of the mechanism, can be
made available for other work. The water being in the reservoir K flows down
the pipe Linto the upper part of the cylinder, and by its pressure forces the piston
down, while at the same time the valve is made to close the upper exhaust and
lower supply ports; on the return stroke the valve closes the upper supply and
lower exhaust ports, and opens the others operating, as will be seen, like other
slide valves. From the driving pulley a belt is passed around the pulley of the
hydraulic pump Q, which draws the water from the reservoir N through pipe R,
and forces it up through pipe S to the higher reservoir K, and, as said before, the
rest of the power developed by the engine may be applied to any other purpose for
which it may be desired.
In Figure 2 is represented an arrangement for the application of this principle,
consisting of two cylinders with a piston stroke one half the length of the cylinder,
as in the other case. In this arrangement the piston rods A', A¹, are attached to a
walking shaft or beam B¹, and the valve rods with their cranks C are secured
thereto and are governed by the motion of the said beam to move the valve D¹
which controls the exhaust and the supply ports m³, ml, respectively of the cylinders
E¹, E. The water enters these cylinders from above through the pipes F¹, and is
discharged through pipe G¹.
Having thus described the Invention, and the manner of performing the same, I
declare that what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is,—
1st. An engine cylinder in which the piston works but half its length, the other
half of the cylinder being filled with water to receive the pressure of a column of
water, substantially as herein shown and described.
2nd. The combination of the reservoir K containing water, and elevated above
the cylinder A, and pipe L containing a column of water with the cylinder A,
whose piston C moves but half the cylinder's length, and carries always water
above it for the purpose of developing power, substantially as herein shown and
described.
3rd. The application of a column of water of any given height to a cylinder that
is always filled with water above the piston, and in which the piston moves but
half the length of the cylinder, substantially as herein shown and described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alexander Melville Clark, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Thirtieth day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and eighty.