COMBINING AIR AND WATER AS A POWER
Year: 1856

page_text: out notice to proceed with the
application for Letters Patent was not given within the time prescribed
by the Act.)
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Luke Duncan Jackson and Henry
Myers at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their Petition,..
on the 6th March 1856.
LUKE DUNCAN JACKSON, Engineer, No. 3, Alfred Place, Alfred Road,
County of Middlesex, HENRY MYERS, Medical Practitioner, 51, Alfred
Road, Paddington, County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for THE COMBINING AIR AND WATER AS A POWER, to be as
follows:-
An arrangement of 'machinery so as to bring in unison and conformity water
and air, to make it applicable as a power in propelling or otherwise, at the same
time saying as little as possible for the Provisional Specification, merely laying
down a routine to make it understood as far as necessary for protection of Patent.
There are three or more cylinders, each containing piston, piston rod, cross-
head; connecting rod with crank, crank shaft, each crank at different angles
to suit for number of cylinders required; running plummer blocks working or
supported by an entablature, at disposition, according to taste; air condenser
and air pumps to suit purposes, whether employed as propellor of ships or:
stationary engines where a head of water can be obtained. Firstly, the
cylinders are fixed on a bed plate, as low as possible to obtain the greatest
amount of density, each cylinder having two inlets and two outlets, or more,
if required, each inlet being arranged so as to be as near as possible to head

page_text: of water, to avoid friction. The outlets may be placed at disposition, only con-
siderably larger than inlet for the better escapement of water to air pump.
The cylinders requires to be made in two parts or more to suit purposes; in
top of bottom part of cylinder packing is placed to collapse piston object, to
obtain a greater amount of density surrounding piston, and the upper part of
piston forming the packing for upper part of cylinder. Piston is formed of
rather peculiar shape, so as to contain a certain amount of condensed air sup-
plied from air condenser by means of piping and passage down piston rod into
piston, requiring at all times equal pressure of condensed air to pressure of
water acting on piston in cylinder. The piston is made long, so as to contain
a certain quantity of air sufficient to overcome atmosphere on the upper
part of piston to give first motion, if density of water is below atmospheric
the
pressure; the upper part of cylinders being connected with a passage,
pistons each working at correct angles, so that the upper part of downward
pistons always extracts atmosphere from upper part of upward piston, and so,
on in succession. The piston being perfectly round, to work in packing in
upper part of lower part of cylinder; the upper part of piston containing
packing in ordinary course working in upper part of cylinder piston rod, is
made with a passage down the centre to connect air condenser with piston,
and is connected with upper part of piston rod by means of a tube crank, is
not new, only placed at angles conformably. Plummer blocks and entablature
not new, air condenser not new, only used in this instance to supply pistons
with condensed air, and supplied with a pressure guage similar to one supplied
to water, and each density must be coequal, the air condenser supplied ad
libitum. Air pumps are cylinders placed horizontally for propelling ships with
a cover at inner end, supplied with a plunger and eccentric rods. The plunger
so made to form a vacuum under piston of engine on the downward stroke,
and at the extremity of stroke to get rid of water in a simple way by means
of a cam working the eccentric opening the plunger in succession. The
cylinders are constructed with a passage and slide, worked with a cam to suit
plunger in cylinder that is when the plunger is closed. The slide is opened
betwixt cylinders of engine and air pump to admit of the water used in work-
ing the engine in first place into air pump; at the extremity of stroke slide
closes, plunger opens by means of eccentric, allowing the water to pass away.