AN IMPROVED METHOD OF, AND APPARATUS FOR UTILIZING PNEUMATIC PRESSURE AS A MOTIVE POWER
Year: 1882

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by William Robert Lake at the Office*
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 27th March 1882. A communi-
cation from abroad by George V. Sheffield of the City and State of New
York, United States of America.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the firm of Haseltine Lake & Co. Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London "AN IMPROVED METHOD OF, AND APPARATUS
FOR UTILIZING PNEUMATIC PRESSURE AS A MOTIVE POWER" A communication
from abroad by George V. Sheffield of the City and State of New York, United.
States of America.
The objects of this invention are to produce and maintain a vacuum in a suitable
vessel or vessels connected by means of pipes with a motor situated at any desired
distance from the said vessel or vessels, in such a manner that the said motor may
be operated by atmospheric pressure as hereinafter described; also to provide a
motor of special construction for utilizing such pressure.
According to the said Invention I provide storage tanks from which the
atmospheric air is exhausted by means of suitable air-pumps driven by any fixed
power, such as a steam engine or a water or wind mill, and pipes connecting these
pumping engines with the said storage-tanks which pipes may be of any desired
length, as for instance, the pumping apparatus, may be at Niagara falls, and the
storage tank in New York. From these storage-tanks service-pipes will lead to the
engine or motor where the power thus generated and stored is to be used.
In carrying the said Invention into practice, I.provide a storage tank or tanks
from which the atmospheric air is to be exhausted by any suitable pumping
device, and which may be placed in any desired locality i.c. adjacent to the
pumping or air exhausting machinery, or adjacent to the motor by which the
vacuum pressure is to be utilized; but I prefer to place the said storage-tank near
the motor by which the pressure is to be utilized, as thereby a inore steady
movement of the motor may be produced.
The air-pump or exhauster by which the air is exhausted from the tank or tanks
may be any suitable air-pump, either rotary or reciprocating, and it may be driven
by any suitable 'power, but my purpose is to economize the cost of producing this
"

page_text: vacuum by operating the pump or exhauster on a large scale so as to produce
the power at the least possible expense per horse power or by placing the said
pump in some locality where. natural forces such as wind or water power may be
utilized.
The said storage tank or tanks (for there may be several connected together)
are preferably constructed in cylindrical form, so as to secure the greatest
economy of construction combined with the most absolute freedom from loss by
leakage. They may be placed above or below the ground but it will probably be
preferable to settle them in the ground, thereby securing stability, without expensive
foundations. They may be made of cast iron. These tanks or reservoirs will be
attached to the pump by a pipe.
The service-pipe leads from the said tank or reservoir to the motor and this
service pipe may be for a single motor, or a large or main pipe with several branches
leading to several motors. The latter, mode of construction is the preferable one,
as it is intended to erect large works, to place the motors of different persons in
connection therewith. A motor made according to my Invention and which may
be advantageously used, consists chiefly of a cylinder, a rotary piston, and a valve.
The atmospheric air enters the said cylinder, through the opening of the valve and
striking one of the wings of the piston carries it around until the pipe leading
from the tanks is reached, when the air. thus introduced through the valve will
escape into the said pipe, and through it into the vacuum-tanks, and then another
portion of air will be passing through the open part of the valve, and, acting on the
other of the wings of the piston until the escape is reached, and so on, the operation
of the motor will be repeated and continued.
It is obvious that this method of utilizing a vacuum may be easily applied to
any suitable motor, equivalent to that above described, whether the motor be
rotary or reciprocating, so long as the vacuum is utilized in combination with
the normal atmospheric pressure on the other side of the piston to propel the
piston forward.
It is not necessary that the vacuum in the tank or tanks should be perfect, a
partial vacuum being all that is required for the purpose.