AN IMPROVED METHOD OF AND MA- QUINEDY FAD TINA D D" CHINERY FOR UTILIZING THE DYNAMIC EFFECT OF WATER OR OTHER ALUDE." PROVISIONAL SPATION
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Burnett, of San Francisco, California,
United States of America, now of No. 8, Southampton Buildings,
London, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED METHOD OF AND MA-
QUINEDY FAD TINA
D
D"
CHINERY FOR UTILIZING THE DYNAMIC EFFECT OF WATER OR OTHER
ALUDE."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Burnett at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
. 24th April 1873.
i
I, WILLIAM BURNETT, of San Francisco, California, United States of
America, now of No. 8, Southampton Buildings, London, do hereby.
declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED METHOD OF
AND MACHINERY FOR UTILIZING THE DYNAMIC EFFECT OF WATER OR OTHER
FLUIDS," to be as follows:-
My Invention relates to a method of utilizing the dynamic effect of a
body of water or other liquid confined in a circular case or drum, and
caused to circulate within the same by the force of steam or other elastic.
fluid, and to impart rotary motion to a wheel and shaft.

page_text: The said Invention also relates to the novel construction of an engine
for carrying my said Invention into effect, and which has a cylindrical
case enclosing a wheel provided with paddles or blades at its periphery.
This case contains the water or other liquid, and I admit currents or jets
of steam into the said case in such a manner that the water or other
liquid is caused to rotate rapidly within the same in a continuous circular
current which carries the said wheel around with it.
The said cylindrical case may be made of cast iron or other suitable
material, and of any required dimensions. It is constructed with a
strong foot or flange, whereby it is secured upon its foundation or bed.
The said case may have one or both of its ends removable, but I prefer
to have only one removable, and fit and secure the same upon the case
like an ordinary cylinder cover. In this removable cover I insert a
piece of glass which permits observation of the interior of the case; the
said case is also provided with a waste cock. The wheel preferably has
its axis excentric to the said cylindrical case, so that the periphery
the said wheel nearly touches the case at one point; the paddles or
blades of the said wheel project from one side or both sides of the same.
The said wheel is made fast upon a shaft which is supported in a long
bearing cast upon or attached to one of the ends or covers of the case;
this bearing is provided with a packing box to prevent the escape of
steam.
I prefer that the exhaust passage should be made in the same end of
the case, and inside the latter the said exhaust passage is covered with
a hood to prevent the entrance of the water or other liquid into it.
At the top of the case the engine is provided with a water supply
tank into which the said exhaust passage opens, and which is provided
with an exhaust pipe at the top or side. This tank serves for supplying
the wheel enclosing case with water, also as a condensor to supply waste,
and it intercepts the liquid held in mechanical suspension by the exhaust
It is provided with a water induction pipe and valve, and with a
water gauge.
steam.
My improved engine is designed to serve either as a condensing or
non-condensing engine. I may place à condensing apparatus of any
suitable construction at the side or other convenient part of the case, or
the aforesaid tank may be supplied with water and connected with an
air pump and thereby form a condensor. The said engine may be fitted

page_text: The above description relates to engines with horizontal shafts, but if
desired the said engines may be constructed with vertical shafts.
In the latter construction I prefer to make the wheel case in the
form of an inverted dish, so that the water will be kept at the periphery
of the said wheel, both by the form of the case and by centrifugal
action.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Burnett in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 24th October 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM ]
BURNETT, of San Francisco, California, United States of America, now
of Number 8, Southampton Buildings, London, send greeting.
“WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of April, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in the thirty- 1
sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said William Burnett, Her special licence that I,
the said William Burnett, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said William Burnett, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to
time and at all times thereafter during the term therein expressed,
should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and
Isle of Man, an Invention for "AN IMPROVED METHOD OF AND MACHINERY
FOR UTILIZING THE DYNAMIC. EFFECT OF WATER OR OTHER FLUIDS," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Burnett, my exe-
cutors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or
their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and.
ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the
same was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the
Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Burnett, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be .

page_text: placed over the said chamber, and formed to admit the steam into the
case in a small jet or number of such jets, as herein-after described.
The wheel 6 preferably has its axis eccentric to the said cylindrical case,
as shewn in Figure 4, so that the periphery of the said wheel nearly
touches the case a at the point 1. The paddles or blades b¹ of the
wheel b are shewn projecting from both sides of the said wheel, but I
may make them on one side only of the same. The said wheel is made
fast upon the shaft c, which is supported in a long bearing / cast upon
or otherwise attached to the end at of the casc a. This bearing / is
provided with a packing. box ¹ to prevent the escape of steam.
Between the inner end of this bearing and the face of the wheel 6 I
interpose metal washers c¹, c², and the inner end of the said shaft is
supported by the screw c³, which is adjusted when required to com-
pensate for wear.
.
I prefer that the exhaust passage i should be made in the same end as
the bearing ½, and inside the case the said .cxhaust passage is protected
by a hood to prevent the entrance therein of any of the water or other
liquid which might otherwise fall into the opening of the said pipe from
the upper portion of the wheel.
At the top of the case a the engine is provided with a water supply
tank j, into which the said exhaust passage opens. The said tank has
an exhaust pipe / at the top or side. It also has a water induction
pipe and valve . It serves for supplying the case a with water, and
for this purpose is provided with a pipe j¹ and a valve. It also forms
a condenser for supplying water to compensate for the loss thereof by
waste, and it intercepts the liquid held in mechanical suspension by the
exhaust steam. It is provided with a water gauge m.
My improved engine is designed to serve either as a condensing or
non-condensing engine. When designed for the former I may place a
condensing apparatus of any suitable construction at the side or other
convenient part of the case. Or the aforesaid tank j may be suitably
constructed and supplied with water, and connected with an air pump
to form a condenser. The said engine may be fitted with any suitable
governor for regulating the admission of steam to the cylindrical
case a.
The space occupied by the wheel is throughout a portion of the
wheel's periphery separated from the remaining portion of the space

page_text: within the said case by a partition plate n. The purpose of this partition
plate is to form at 2, 2, between its surface and that of the case a
passage or channel wherein the water or other liquid receives the
impulse from the steam, which, as above specified, is admitted in a jet
or number of jets from the steam chamber ƒ through a narrow port
or aperture in or under the plate g. The said passage 2, 2, also forms a
space wherein the steam may expand after entering the case. The said
port is so formed and arranged that the direction in which the steam
enters the cylindrical case is coincident or nearly so with its circum-
ference and the direction of the wheel's rotation, as indicated by the
arrow, Figure 4. The said port is covered by the aforesaid metal
plate g, which forms the upper side of the jet opening or openings, and
which is secured to the interior of the case a.
Figures 5, 6, and 7 are a longitudinal section, a front view, and
under side view of the plate 9 formed to admit the steam in a single
wide jet.
Figures 8, 9, and 10 are similar views of a modification of the said
plate, whereby the steam is admitted in a number of small jets by the
grooves g¹. These grooves instead of being formed as shewn, may be
deep narrow slits at right angles to the under surface of the plate, the
latter being incrcased in thickness for this purpose, and deeply grooved
intermediately on the upper face to permit the free passage of the
liquid.
The water or other liquid is caused by the steam to circulate con-
tinuously around the interior of the casc a. The eccentricity of the
wheel to the case compels the liquid to act upon the paddles or
vanes 6¹ of the said wheel, which is thereby caused to rotate with great
velocity. The liquid having expended upon the wheel the force due to
its acceleration by the steam is thrown forward from the paddles with a
velocity equal to that of the wheel's periphery, while the steam, from
which the water is separated by centrifugal action escapes through the
aforesaid central exhaust passage i and chamber j:
Figure 11 is a vertical central section, shewing my improved engine
with a horizontal wheel and concentric case; Figure 12 is a horizontal
section on the line x, x, Figure 11. In this modification of my Invention
the bottom of the case a is made inclined or sloping from the centre
downward, as shewn in Figure 11, to facilitate the flow of the liquid to
✓

page_text: the periphery of the wheel b. The wheel b is a plate or disc with vancs
or blades b¹, all on the upper side of the said wheel, and preferably of
the form shewn. The water supply tank j is annular in form, and
surrounds the central exhaust passage i. i* is a port or aperture through
which the steam passes from the said central passage into the tank j,
and it will be seen that this port and the exhaust pipe k are on opposite
sides of the axis of the case, the purpose of this arrangement being to
conduct the steam circuitously to the said exhaust pipe, so that it may
part with the water it holds in suspension before escaping from the
engine. is the valve for admitting water into the case a from the
tank j.
:
I provide this engine with convenient means for reversing its motion,
as follows: ff¹, ƒ³, ƒ³, are chambers through which steam is admitted
to the case a, by passing under the thin jet plates forming the inner
covers to the said chambers, as herein-before described. The admission
of steam to these chambers is controlled by suitable valves or cocks.
The plates 9 are arranged to admit the steam into the case in opposite
directions, as indicated by the arrows, so that the two chambers f¹ serve
for driving the engine in one direction, and the chambers f² for driving
it in the other direction. * is a deep hoop of thin metal perforated with
small holes, and which is attached to the cover of the case a², for the
purpose of intercepting water carried by the steam toward the central
exhaust passage.
Figure 13 is a vertical central section of an engine nearly similar to
the above, but with the wheel 6 eccentric to the lower part of the
case a; Figure 14 is a horizontal section on the line y, y, Figure 13.
This engine has a passage or channel 2 partly separated from the body.
of the case a by a partition n. The steam is admitted into this passage
through the apertures under the plate g, and the steam expands therein
as in the engine shewn in Figures 1 to 4. In other respects this engine
is similar to that shown in Figures 11 and 12.
In the eccentric engines described I may in certain cases dispense
with the partition which forms a separate channel within the wheel
case, while the eccentricity of the case is still retained.
My improved engines, as shewn in the Drawings, are more especially
designed for the employment of water as the driving medium.

page_text: Seventh. The adaptation of the said engine for the use of mercury in
the said case, as herein set forth.
Eighth. An engine for utilizing the dynamic effect of a body of
liquid under the action of an elastic fluid constructed in either of the
forms shewn in the aforesaid Drawings, and operating as herein
specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Burnett, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-fourth day of October, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
three.
Witness,
H. J. NOONE,
8, Southampton Buildings,
London.
WM. BURNETT. (L.S.)