IMPROVEMENTS IN ROTARY ENGINER' ROTARY PUMPS AND ROTARY BLOWING MACHINES." PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Jonah Davies, of Tipton, in the County of Stafford,
Iron Founder and Engineer, and George Davies, of Tipton aforesaid,
Iron Founder and Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
ROTARY ENGINER' ROTARY PUMPS AND ROTARY BLOWING MACHINES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Jonah Davies and George
Davies at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their
Petition, on the 17th October 1862.
We, JONAH DAVIES, of Tipton, in the County of Stafford, Iron Founder
and Engineer, and GEORGE DAVIES, of Tipton aforesaid, Iron Founder and
Engineer, do hereby declare tho nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN ROTARY ENGINES, ROTARY PUMPS, AND ROTARY BLOWING MACHINES," to
be as follows:
Our Invention consists of improvements in rotary engines, rotary pumps, and
rotary blowing machines, in which a small cylinder or drum rotates within a
larger fixed cylinder, the small rotating cylinder being excentric to the larger
one, and furnished with sliding pistons arranged radially in the said small
cylinder.
Our Invention consists, firstly, in guiding the sliding pistons by means of
projections on their inner ends engaging in grooves in the end plates of the
fixed cylinder, against the inner sides of which grooves the said projections
bear. As the small cylinder rotates, the sliding pistons are pressed outwards
and made to bear accurately against the fixed cylinder by the inner sides of tho
grooves acting on the projections on the inner ends of the sliding pistons.
The inner or guiding surfaces of the said grooves are nearly but not quite

page_text: circular, being of greatest diameter at right angles to the spring bearing
herein-after described. Instead of the grooves described, fixed irregular cams
on the plates closing the fixed cylinder may be used with like effect.
Our Invention consists, secondly, of a self-adjusting packing on that edge of
each sliding piston which bears against the fixed cylinder. The said self-
adjusting packing is thus constructed:-In the edge of the piston a deep
groove or recess is made in which a bar of iron is inserted, the said bar being
concave or having a semi-cylindrical depression along its whole length. In the
said depression a second bar of iron is placed, the under side of which is semi-
cylindrical and fits the depression in the concave bar. The upper side of the
last-described bar is slightly convex, having a curvature equal to that of the
cylinder. The last-described bar constitutes the true packing, and we will
herein-after call it the packing bar. On the rotation of the small cylinder or
rum the packing bar oscillates in the depression in the concave bar,
so as always to maintain its upper surface in close contact with the fixed
cylinder. The groove in the edge of the piston is so deep that the packing
bar is protected by the sides of the groove, the top of the said bar only pro-
jecting a short distance above the said groove. We prefer to use three
sliding pistons in the rotating cylinder or drum, but more than three may be
employed. At that part of the fixed cylinder where the rotating cylinder or
drum is nearly in contact with it is a slot extending across the said
cylinder, in which slot a spring bearing is placed. The rotating cylinder and
the pistons work against the said spring bearing. Steam is admitted into the
fixed cylinder on one side of the spring bearing, which steam acting against
the sliding pistons causes the cylinder carrying the pistons to rotate, the steam
escaping at the side of the spring bearing opposite to that at which it entered.
The self-adjusting packing described may be used at the inner as well as at the
outer edges of the pistons. By driving the shaft of the engine by means of
steam or other power it acts as a pump or blowing machine.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed 3
by the said Jonah Davies and George Davies in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 18th April 1863.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, JONAH
DAVIES, of Tipton, in the County of Stafford, Iron Founder and Engineer,
and GEORGE DAVIES, of Tipton aforesaid, Iron Founder and Engineer, 3
send greeting.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of October, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-sixth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us,
the said Jonah Davies and George Davies, Her special licence that we, the
said Jonah Davies and George Davies, our executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as we, the said Jonah Davies and George Davies,
our 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 Juvention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
ROTARY ENGINES, ROTARY PUMPS, AND ROTARY BLOWING MACHINES," upon the
condition (amongst others) that we, the said Jonah Davies and George
Davies, our executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under
our, or their hands and seals, or under the hand and seal of one of us
or them, 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 immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said Jonah Davies and George Davies,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement thereof, that is to say :-
Our Invention consists of improvements in rotary engines, rotary pumps.
and rotary blowing machines, in which a small cylinder or drum rotates within
a larger fixed cylinder, the small rotating cylinder being excentric to the larger
one, and furnished with sliding pistons arranged radially in the said small
cylinder.
Our Invention consists, firstly, in guiding the sliding pistons by means of
projections on their inner ends engaging in grooves in the end plates of the
fixed cylinder, against the inner sides of which grooves the said projections
bear. As the small cylinder rotates, the sliding pistons are pressed outwards
and made to bear accurately against the fixed cylinder by the inner sides of
the grooves acting on the projections on the inner ends of the sliding pistons.
The inner or guiding surfaces of the said grooves are nearly but not
quite circular, being of greatest radius in a plane parallel to that of the
spring bearing berein-after described. Instead of the grooves described, fixed

page_text: irregular cams on the plates closing the fixed cylinder may be used with like
effect.
Our Invention consists, secondly, of a self-adjusting packing on that edge of
each sliding piston which bears against the fixed cylinder. The said self-
adjusting packing is thus constructed :-In the edge of the piston a deep
groove or recess is made in which a bar of iron is inserted, the said bar being
concave or having a semi-cylindrical depression along its whole length. In
the said depression a second bar of iron is placed, the under side of which is
semi-cylindrical and fits the depression in the concave bar. The upper side of
the last-described bar is slightly convex, having a curvature equal to that of
the cylinder. The last-described bar constitutes the true packing, and we will
herein-after call it the packing bar. On the rotation of the small cylinder or
drum the packing bar oscillates in the depression in the concave bar, so as
always to maintain its upper surface in close contact with the fixed cylinder.
The groove in the edge of the piston is so deep that the packing bar is
protected by the sides of the groove, the top of the said bar only projecting a
short distance above the said groove. We prefer to use three sliding pistons
in the rotating cylinder or drum, but more than three may be employed. At
that part of the fixed cylinder where the rotating cylinder or drum is nearly in
contact with it is a slot extending across the said cylinder, in which slot a
spring bearing is placed. The rotating cylinder and the pistons work against
the said spring bearing. Steam is admitted into the fixed cylinder on one
side of the spring bearing, which steam acting against the sliding pistons causes
the cylinder carrying the pistons to rotate, the steam escaping at the side of
the spring bearing opposite to that at which it entered. The self-adjusting
packing described may be used at the inner as well as at the outer edges of
the pistons. By driving the shaft of the engine by means of steam or other
power it acts as a pump or blowing machine.
Having described the nature of our Invention, we will proceed to describe,
with reference to the accompanying Drawings, the manner in which the same
is to be performed.
Figure 1 represents in section a rotary engine constructed according to our
Invention, the said section being taken in the vertical plane in which the axis
of the engine is situated; and Figure 2 is a section of the same, the said
section, Figure 2, being taken in a plane at right angles to the axis of the
engine. The same letters indicate the same parts in Figures 1 and 2.
a is the axis of the engine, to which is fixed the small hollow cylinder b;
c.is the large hollow cylinder, in which the smaller cylinder 6 works. The

page_text: axis a and cylinder b are excentric to the cylinder c, and the said axis a passes
through the ends of the cylinder c and works in stuffing boxes d therein. The
said axis a turns in bearings or brasses carried by the standards e, and may be
provided with a fly wheel f. The small cylinder 6 carries three (or more)
sliding pistons g situated radially to the axis a. The said pistons 9 slide in
cases in the inner cylinder b. On the lower edge of each of the pistons g,
and on either side of the said pistons, projections i are situated. These pro-
jections engage in annular grooves & formed in the ends of the large cylinder c.
As the smaller cylinder 6 is made to rotate by the action of the steam on the
pistons 9 the said pistons are forced out of or drawn into their cases h by the
travelling of the projections i in the annular grooves k, the outer edge of
each piston is thereby kept in contact with the inner surface of the large
cylinder c. Instead of making the projections i work directly in the grooves k
tho said projections may work in slipper blocks in the said grooves, as repre-
sented in Figure I, A; by this arrangement the pins i aro prevented from
wearing flat on their under sides. The grooves & may either be circular or of
a slightly elliptical figure. When they are made of an elliptical figure we
make their greatest diameter in a plane parallel to that of the spring bearing 1,
that is, their greatest diameter is in a horizontal plane. The exact figure of
the grooves k is, however, not material so long as it is nearly circular, as the
pistons g, from their construction, always expand until their edges are in close
contact with the sides and edges of the cylinder c. The construction of the
pistons g will be best understood by an examination of Figure 1.
the said pistons g is hollow, the hollow part being filled by the two angular
packing pieces 93, between which and the fixed portion of the piston springs g³
are situated; the action of the said springs being to press the pieces 9², g², out-
wards, both radially and longitudinally, so as to make them bear against the inner
cylindrical surface and ends of the cylinder c. Each of the pistons g is provided
with a self-adjusting packing on that edge which bears against the cylinder c..
Along the edge of the angular packing pieces 92, 92, a concave semi-cylindrical
groove is made, as seen in Figure 2, and a bar of iron m of a nearly: semi-
cylindrical figure, and of a length equal to the length of the pistons g, is placed.
in the said groove. The upper side of the bar m is slightly convex: having. a.
curvature equal to that of the inner surface of the cylinder o: The said bar m
constitutes the true packing of the outer edge of the pistons, and on the rotation
of the small cylinder b the said packing bar oscillates in the groove in. the
angular pieces, so as always to maintain its upper surface in close contact
with the cylinder c. The grooves in the edges of the pieces g³ of the pistons
Each of

page_text: are so deep that the packing bars m only project a short distance above the
said grooves. The packing bars m may be provided at their ends with a
cruciform longitudinal packing forced outwards by means of coiled springs, as
represented in Figure 2 A. The manner in which the packing bars m oscillate
will be understood by an examination of Figure 2.
The ends of the rotating
cylinder 6 are provided with packing bars m³ of a segmental figure, which
said packing bars are situated in circular grooves in the ends of the rotating
cylinder, and are pressed outwards by springs. At that part of the cylinder c
where the rotating cylinder b is nearly in contact with it a spring bearing 2 is
situated. The said bearing consists of a bar situated in a slot n extending
from end to end of the cylinder c, the said spring bearing being supported by
springs o, the strength of which is regulated by the screws p. The bearing
is kept in contact with the rotating cylinder by means of the said springs o.
Lubricators c² supply oil to the channel and through the passages c to the
interior of the cylinder c. Steam being admitted at the pipe q it passes in the
direction indicated by the arrows along the outer casings to the starting or
inlet valve r, through which it passes when the said valve is raised to the inner
casings, and by the passages t, into the cylinder c, where acting on one of the
pistons it carries the said piston round, causing the cylinder 6 and axis a to
rotate until the said piston has arrived at the topmost of the passages u, when
the steam which had urged the piston forward escapes by the said passages u
to the inner casing t, from which it passes through the reversing valve v into
the outer casing w, and thence into the egress pipe x. Before one piston has
arrived at the passages u, at which the steam escapes from behind it, another
piston has arisen above the passages t, and is being forced by the steam
towards the said passages u. By the action of the reversing valve v the
direction of the engine's rotation may be changed, the motion of the said valve v
being effected by the lever y. When the lever y is brought into the position
indicated by the dotted line y³, the engine is brought to rest. When the
lever y is brought into the position indicated by the dotted line y, the direction
of the engine's rotation is changed from that described.
Instead of guiding the sliding pistons by means of annular grooves in the
ends of the large cylinder, the said pistons may be guided by means of fixed
cams or short cylinders projecting into the large cylinder. This modification
of our Invention is illustrated in Figures 3 and 4 of the accompanying Draw-
ings, Figure 3 being an end elevation of an engine with the end plate removed,
and Figure 4 a section taken along the axis of the engine. a is the axis,
and 6 is the smaller cylinder, and c is the larger cylinder; 9 are the pistons,

page_text: g
and are short cylinders, on the outer surface of which the inner edges of the
pistons bear. The said cylinders h are concentric with the larger cylinder c
and excentric to the smaller cylinder b. As the pistons 9 pass around with
the smaller cylinder 6 their outer edges are kept in contact with the inner
surface of the cylinder e by their lower edges bearing in their motion on the
short cylinders h. The inner and outer edges of the pistons 9 are provided
with oscillating packings m, m², similar in construction to the oscillating
packing herein-before described with reference to Figures 1 and 2. The
manner in which the oscillating packing m³ on the inner edges of the pistons g
changes its position during the rotation of the pistons will be understood by
an examination of Figure 3. In place of the oscillating packing m³ in the
inner edges of the pistons, the inner edges of the said pistons may be so curved
that as they perform rotatory motion different parts of the said curved edges
come in contact with the short cylinders against which they bear, and the
pistons are thus made to bear against the inner surface of the large cylinder.
Figures 5 and 6 represent an engine of this kind, Figure 5 being a section
taken along the axis of the engine, and Figure 6 an end elevation with the
end plate of the large cylinder removed. a is the axis, 6 the smaller cylinder,
and c the larger cylinder; 9 are the pistons; h are the short cylinders on which
the lower edges of the pistons bear. The way in which the different portions
of the curved inner ends 93 of the pistons bear upon the short cylinders h
during the rotation of the said pistons will be understood by an examination of
Figure 6.
Figure 7 is a Diagram illustrating the manner in which the inner edges of
the said pistons 9 are curved. In the said Diagram, Figure 7, a piston g´is
shown in the several positions which it assumes during its rotation. The
surface of the short cylinders on which the inner edges of the pistons bear is
indicated by the circle h; i is the centre of the engine's shaft, and k is the
centre of the short cylinders h. The curved edge g² of the piston g is struck
to a circular curve from the centre g³, the radius g³, being equal to the
radius k, . By tracing the positions which the piston 9 successively assumes,
as indicated in the Diagram, it will be seen that the distance from the
centre 9 in the piston to the centre k of the short cylinders h never varies.
Where the inner edge of the piston 9 is not curved in the manner illustrated
in the Diagram, Figure 7, but has a curve of greater or less radius than that
illustrated, the cams or short cylinders h, h, require to be made of a slightly
irregular or elliptical figure; but we prefer the method of carrying this modi-
fication of our Invention into effect in the manner illustrated in Figure 7.

page_text: Figures 8 and 9 illustrate a rotary pump or blowing machine constructed
according to our Invention, Figure 8 representing a section taken at right
angles to the axis, and Figure 9 a section along the axis. The said pump or
blowing machine resembles in all essential points the engine represented in
Figures 5 and 6, excepting that, in place of the steam pipes and valves, it has 5
the two water or air ways z, . By giving motion to the shaft or axis a,
water or air is transferred from one to the other of the water or air ways 2, ³,
according to the direction in which the axis a is made to rotate, and pressure
in one passage and exhaust in the other are produced.
Our Invention may be used as a water power engine instead of a steam 1
engine. For example, where a stream of water having a fall or pressure is
introduced in one of the water or air ways 2, 2³, it passes through the engine,
giving a rotatory motion to the shaft a.
Our Invention may also be used as a water meter, the quantity of water
passing through the engine being indicated by the number of rotations the
shaft a makes. By means of an index finger connected by a train of wheels
with the shaft a the number of rotations made by the said shaft may be indi-
cated on a dial.
Although we prefer to cause the steam, air, or water to enter and pass out
of the engine by passages in the circumference of the large cylinder in the s
several modifications of our Invention, yet the steam, air, or water may enter
and pass out at passages formed in the end plates of the said cylinder.
When it is required that the motion of the shaft shall be capable of being
reversed without changing the direction of ingress and egress of the steam,
air, or water, the engine, pump, or machine must be provided with a double
casing and the reversing valve, represented in Figures 1 and 2; when, how-
ever, no such power of reversing is required, the said casing and valve may
be dispensed with, as represented in Figures 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, and 9 of the
Drawings.
Having now described the nature of our Invention, and the manner in
which the same is to be performed, we wish it to be understood that we do
not limit ourselves to the precise details herein described and illustrated, as
the same may be varied without departing from the nature of our Invention;
but we claim as our Invention of improvements in rotary engines, rotary
pumps, and rotary blowing machines,―
Firstly, guiding the sliding pistons by means of projections on their inner
ends, which said projections engage in annular grooves made in the end
plates of the fixed cylinder; also guiding the said pistons by causing their

page_text: inner edges to bear on circular or slightly elliptical cams or short cylinders
formed on the inner faces of the end plates of the fixed cylinder, as herein-
before described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings.
Secondly, providing the outer or both outer and inner edges of the sliding
pistons with self-adjusting packing bars; also curving the inner edges of the
sliding pistons when the said inner edges are not provided with self-adjusting
packing bars, as herein-before described and illustrated in the accompanying
Drawings.
In witness whereof, we, the said Jonah Davies and George Davies, havo
hereunto set our hands and seals, this Eleventh day of April, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three.
Witness,
GEORGE SHAW.
JONAH DAVIES.
(L.S.)
GEORGE DAVIES. (L.S.)