AN IMPROVED VACUUM AIR ENGINE
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for
the Invention of "AN IMPROVED VACUUM AIR ENGINE."-A communi-
cation from abroad by John Robertson Cameron, of Pittsburg, in the
State of Pennsylvania, United States of America.
Sealed the 8th March 1867, and dated the 31st October 1866.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
31st October 1866.
I, WILLIAM EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery
Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED VACUUM AIR ENGINE," to be
as follows:-
The object of this Invention is to form a vacuum by the expansion of air
by heat and by other appliances, by which the piston of a working cylinder
may be driven by the simple pressure of the atmosphere, and power obtained
thereby for driving machinery or other purposes, and the Invention consists
principally in providing a vacuum chamber and bellows, a movable fire-box,
a hot air chamber, a water cistern and pump, which in addition to suitable
valves, pipes, rods, and water cocks, accomplish the object in view.. The

page_text: bottom plate of the hot chamber rests upon iron columns. The vacuum
chamber is below, but is raised from the bed plate sufficiently high to allow
pipes to be attached to the bottom from the pump and also from the working
cylinder. There is a thin lining inside the vacuum chamber and the outside
casing, with a water space between; this water space is in communication
with the water cistern. The bellows operate inside of this lining and water
space, and being surrounded by the lining may be of any suitable construction.
The head of.the bellows works loosely and is supported by a spiral spring by
which it is elevated, and which also raises the fire-box when the apparatus is
in operation. There is an aperture through the top of the bellows head
provided with a valve opening upwards, through which air is forced into the
fire by the action of the bellows. The fire-box or furnace is a short section
of a cylinder with a grated bottom, on which the fire rests, and under which
there is an ash-pit. .The blast pipe is firmly attached to the fire-box, the
lower end extending down below the ash-pit, the end closing over the valve
and aperture in the top of the bellows: head when in operation and receiving
the discharged air therefrom: There are holes through the side of this pipe
(that is, the portion of, it which passes through the fire.) and through which the
air is discharged into the fire. At the top of this pipe a rod is attached from
which the fire-box is suspended, and by which it is operated:
The hot air chamber is a square box resting upon columns as before-
mentioned; it has an inner lining of thin metal, and a water space is left
.between this lining and the outside case; this water space is in communi-
cation with the water pipes which supply and discharge the water therefrom.
Through the bottom of this hot air chamber there is an aperture larger in
diameter than the fire-box, a space being left around the fire-box sufficient
for the escape of air from the vacuum chamber into the hot air chamber.
There is a door in the side of this hot air chain ber for the introduction of fuel
to the furnace, and a tube set upon its top is provided with a valve which
opens and closes, when necessary; the, smoke, gases, and heated.air escape
from the hot air chamber through this tube. The valve slides on the bottom
of the hot air chamber and is operated by a rod. The office of the valve is to
close the aperture through the bottom of the chamber. To prevent the
pressure of the atmosphere from acting on the water space around the vacuum
chamber the supply pipe is closed by a valve. The pump is used to
withdraw
the water from around the vacuum chamber. The water spaces around the
vacuum chamber and hot air chamber are for the purpose of forming a rapid
vacuum around the vacuum chamber for condensing the air and products of
combustion, and also to prevent over heating.
.....

page_text: The operation is as follows:-The fire-box descends down into the vacuum
chamber and forces down the bellows; the air in the vacuum chamber
becomes greatly rarified and escapes upward, a portion escapes through the
top of the bellows and is discharged into the fire through the blast pipe, and
a portion escapes through the space around the fire-box into the hot air
chamber above. The fire-box is immediately raised into the hot air chamber
and the valve is quickly closed over the aperture, leaving a vacuum in the
vacuum chamber; into this chamber the working cylinder is exhausted and
the atmospheric pressure upon the opposite side of the piston in that cylinder
furnishes the power; this operation is repeated at every stroke of the piston.
The valve is withdrawn, the fire-box descends, and another vacuum is formed
as before, and the working cylinder is exhausted from the other end, and so
on at each revolution.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Edward Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 80th April 1867.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County,
of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirty-first day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the thirtieth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and, grant unto
me, the said William Edward Newton, Her special licence that I, the said
William Edward Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said William Edward Newton, 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 VACUUM AIR ENGINE," being a communication to
me.from abroad, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William
Edward Newton, my executors 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,

page_text: Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediately after
-the date of the said Letters Patent.
...*
NOW' KNOW YE, that I, the said William Edward Newton, 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, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say) :-
The object of this Invention is to form a vacuum by the expansion of air
by heat and by other appliances, by which the piston of a working cylinder
may be driven by the simple pressure of the atmosphere, and power obtained
thereby for driving machinery or other purposes, and the Invention consists
principally in providing a vacuum chamber and bellows, a moveable fire-box,
a hot air chamber, a water cistern and pump, which in addition to suitable
valves, pipes, rods, and water cocks accomplish the object in view.
In the accompanying Drawings Fig. 1 represents a vertical sectional
elevation, and Fig. 2 a sectional horizontal view through the hot air chamber.
A represents the vacuum chamber; B, the fire-box; and d, the blast pipe
in the fire-box; C is the hot air chamber; D, the bellows head; E, the water
cistern or reservoir; F represents the pump; G, the valve, which slides on
the bottom of the hot air chamber C; and H is the valve rod; I is the bed
plate or base upon which the apparatus rests; and J represents the rods
which support the hot air chamber and water cistern; these rods pass up
from the bed plate I and through the bottom plate of the hot air chamber C,
and have shoulders near their upper ends upon which the hot air chamber
rests, and to which it is fastened by screw nuts. The vacuum chamber A is
raised from the bed plate sufficiently high to allow a pipe i from the pump F,
and another pipe 6 from the working cylinder to be attached to the bottom.
There is a thin lining inside the vacuum chamber A and the outside casing,
-with a water space a between; this water space is in communication with
the water cistern E by means of the pipe S. The bellows D'operate inside.
of this lining and water space, and being surrounded by the lining may be of
any suitable construction. The head of the bellows D¹ works loosely, and is
supported by a spiral spring e, by which it is elevated, and which also raises
the fire-box when the apparatus is in operation. There is an aperture
(through the top of the bellows head) provided with a valve c opening
upwards, and through which air is forced into the fire by the action of the
bellows; this. valve is represented as closed in the Drawing. The fire-box or.
furnace B is a short section of a cylinder with a grated bottom, as seen at g,
on which the fire rests, and under which there is an ash-pit g. The blast
:

page_text: .
pipe d' is firmly attached to the fire box, the lower end extending down below.
the ash-pit, and the end closing over the valve and aperture in the top of the
bellows head when in operation, and receiving the discharged air therefrom.
There are holes through the side of this pipe (that is, the portion of it which
passes through the fire), and through which the air is discharged into the
fire; at the top of this pipe the rod f is attached, from which the fire-box is
suspended, and by which it is moved up and down. The hot air chamber C
is a square box resting upon the rods J; it bas an inner lining of thin metal,
and which is so placed that a water space a' is left between this lining and the
outside case; this water space is in communication with the water pipes m
and n which supply and discharge the water therefrom. Through the
bottom of this hot air chamber there is an aperture larger in diameter than
the fire-box B, a space o being left around the fire-box sufficient for the
escape of air from the vacuum chamber into the hot air chamber. There is
a door in the side of this hot air chamber for the introduction of fuel to the
furnace, and a tube P provided with a valve, which opens and closes when
necessary, is screwed into the top of the chamber. The smoke, gases, and
heated air escape from the hot air chamber through this tube. The valve G
slides on the bottom of the hot air chamber, and is operated by the rod H; it
is secured to its place by the pieces 'p, p, Fig. 2, which are grooved on the
lower side, and are firmly fastened to the bottom of the chamber. The valve
works in these grooves, and is secured and guided thereby in its motion to
and fro. The office of the valve is to close the aperture through the bottom
of the chamber C. The water cistern E supplies the water to the water
space around the vacuum chamber A through the pipe S. The water is let
on and shut off by the valve r on the bottom of the rod T inside the cistern E.
To prevent the pressure of the atmosphere from acting on the water space a
around the vacuum chamber the pipe S is closed by the valver when the
supply pipe S¹ is open, and when S is open. S' is closed. The water is
supplied to the cistern through the pipe S¹. The pump F is used to withdraw
the water from around the vacuum chamber through the pipe i. The rod T
works air-tight through the top of the water cistern E, and the rods f.and H
as well as T work through stuffing boxes, as seen at r. The water spaces
around the vacuum chamber and hot air chamber are for the purpose of
forming a rapid vacuum around the vacuum chamber for condensing the air
and products of combustion, and also to prevent over heating. The fire-box,
valves, and other working parts of the apparatus are worked and operated by
the usual mechanical means. This vacuum engine being intended to produce
a vacuum merely for a working cylinder it is not deemed necessary to descrit e

page_text: such cylinder, as it is constructed in the usual manner with ports, piston, valve,
&c. The operation is. as follows:-The fire-box B descends from the position
represented in the Drawing down into the vacuum.chamber, and forces down
the bellows. The air in the vacuum chamber becomes greatly rarified, and
escapes upward.. A portion escapes through the top of the bellows, and is
discharged into the fire through the blast pipe d, and a portion escapes
through the space o around the fire-box into the hot air chamber above. The
fire-box is immediately raised into the hot air chamber, and the valve G is
quickly closed over the aperture, leaving a vacuum in the vacuum chamber.
Into this chamber the working cylinder. is exhausted through the pipe b, and
the atmospheric pressure upon the opposite side of the piston in that cylinder
furnishes the power; this operation is repeated at every stroke of the piston.
The valve G.is withdrawn, the fire-box descends, and another vacuum is
formed, as before, and the working cylinder is exhausted from the other end,
and so on at each revolution. .
Having now described the Invention which has been.communicated to me
as aforesaid, and having explained the manner of carrying the same into
effect, I claim as the. Invention secured to me by. Letters Patent as
aforesaid,―
First, the combination of the vacuum chamber A and the hot air chamber C,
constructed and arranged as described.
Second, the fire-box B with the blast pipe d. and the water cistern E in
combination with the vacuum chamber A, as herein set forth.
Third, the use of the thin inner lining for forming the water space a
around the vacuum chamber, and also the use of the bellows D, as
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Newton; have here-
• unto set my hand and seal, the Twenty-seventh day of April, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
W. E. NEWTON. (Ls.)