IMPROVEMENTS IN APPLYING AND TRANSMITTING MOTIVE POWER, AND IN ACCELERATING THE PROGRESS OF BODIES IN-MOTION
Year: 1852

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Scott, at
tlie Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 4th October 1852.
I, THOMAS SCOTT, of 111, Drummond Street, Euston Square, in the
County of Middlesex, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPLYING AND TRANSMITTING
MOTIVE POWER, AND IN ACCELERATING THE PROGRESS OF BODIES IN-MOTION,"
to be as follows:-
Firstly, the improvements consist in applying and transmitting the
power derived from steam or other sources through the medium of

page_text: water or other incompressible fluid. The fluid is contained in pipes of
considerable length and small diameter, fitted with pistons capable of
traversing the same, which pipes are in free communication with the
opposite ends of a cylinder or series of cylinders of large diameter and
short length, and of equal capacity with the pipes, and also containing
water or other liquid, and in which is a piston worked by the steam or
other engine or power. The short stroke of the piston in the large
cylinder will move the pistons in-the pipes alternately through a long
proportionate space, and with a corresponding increase of velocity; and
these pistons may be connected directly to propelling pistons moving in
tubes placed underneath the water line of vessels and open to the
water, when the vessels will be urged forward by the action of the
propelling pistons against the water in tubes, which is thereby forced
out against the exterior water, or they may be caused to actuate the
driving wheels of locomotives, or to give motion to pistons in tubes open
to the air, by their action against which a propelling power will be
exerted, or they may be connected with any other machinery to which
power is required to be applied or motion transmitted.
Secondly, the improvements in accelerating the progress of bodies in
motion consist in applying at the front or any other desired part of
such bodies a funnel or funnels, by which the air or other medium
through which the body is moving is collected and conducted to an
apparatus, where it is caused to actuate a rotary or other engine in
connection with a system of propellers, such as above described, or with
the driving wheels of the body in motion. The power obtained by this
means from a current of air may be increased by heating it previous to
admitting it to act on the rotary or other. machinery.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Thomas Scott in the Great Seal Patent Office,
on the 4th April 1853.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
THOMAS SCOTT, of 111, Drummond Street, Euston Square, in the
County of Middlesex, Gentleman, send greeting.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fourth day of October, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-two, in the six-
teenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Thomas Scott, Her special licence
that I, the said Thomas Scott, his executors, administrators, and as-
signs, or such others as I, the said Thomas Scott, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS
IN APPLYING AND TRANSMITTING MOTIVE POWER, AND IN ACCELERATING THE
PROGRESS OF BODIES IN MOTION," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Thomas Scott, by an instrument in writing under my
hand and seal, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of
the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be per-
formed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent
Oflice within six calendar months next and immediately after the date
of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Thomas Scott, do hereby de-
clare the nature of my 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 here-
unto annexed, that is to say:
My Invention consists, firstly, in applying and transmitting motive
power, whether derived from a steam engine or other source, for the
propulsion of vessels on water and carriages on rail and common roads,
and for giving motion to machinery, through the medium of hydraulic
apparatus, herein-after described; and,
Secondly, in accelerating the velocity of carriages on rail and com-
mon roads, by combining with and in aid of the driving power hydraulic
and hydro-preumatic machinery, so as to increase the propelling effect
of the said driving power.
The manner in which I propose to carry my several improvements

page_text: into effect is exhibited in the Drawings annexed, and explained by the
following description thereof:-Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4, Sheet A, repre-
sent an arrangement of machinery, according to the first part of my
Invention, for the propulsion of vessels; Figure 1, being a longitudinal
section of the machinery applied to a vessel; Figure 2, a plan of the
same; Figure 3, a section on the line a, b, of Figure 2; and Figure 4,
a section on the line c, d, of Figure 1. A, is a cylinder, fitted with a
piston B, which is connected directly with the piston of a steam engine
or other prime mover. C, C', are apertures or pipes. leading from the
cylinder A, one being above and, the other below the piston B. E, E
are horizontal cylinders of small diameter, which. communicate with
the cylinder A, by the pipes C, C, and are furnished with pistons F, F,
which are connected by the rods G, G', with two other pistons H, H,
working in the horizontal cylinders I, I, of larger diameter than the
cylinders EE The cylinders I, I, are open to the water at the stern
of the vessel, and are situated below the water line, one pairor. set on
each side of tlie keelson. K, K, are pipes from the junctions: of the
cylinders E, E, with the cylinders I, I, which pipes..arc fitted with
valves, opening outwards, and may be connected with the air pump of
the steam engine for obtaining and preserving as perfect a vacuum as
may be behind the pistons Ef, and H..
..To facilitate the description of the working of the apparatus I
distinguish the several cylinders, and their pistonsby, the following
designations
г
A. I term the transmitting cylinder; B, the transmitting: piston;
C, C', connecting tubes; E, F, the, elongating cylinders; F, F, the
elongating pistons; 1, .1', the propelling cylinders; H, H, the pro
pelling pistons or propellers; K, K,. the vacuum pipes and valves.
The cylinders are all drawn or bored out true, and the pistons work
tight in them. The capacity, or cubical contents of each of the
cylinders E, E, must be equal at least to that of the space through
which the piston B, is capable of moving within the cylinder A. Or,
in case of one transmitting cylinder only being employed instead of two,
such as in the arrangement now being described, in connection with
the four elongating cylinders, then the capacity of the transmitting

page_text: cylinder should be increased to such an extent as to be equal to that of:
two of the elongating cylinders. In the Drawings it will be seen that;
the elongating piston F, is represented as being at the end of its
cylinder E, nearest to the transmitting cylinder, and the propeller 'H,
as, in consequence, at the inner end of the cylinder I. The piston F,
is at the outer or after end of the elongating cylinder E', and the
propeller H', consequently at the outer end of the cylinder. I
The cylinders I, I', being open at the stern to the sea, it follows:
that the outer surfaces of the pistons H,H', are exposed to the:
pressure of the exterior water. The cylinder A, is filled with,
water or other liquid, both above and below the piston, B, and the
pipes C, C, and cylinder, E', are also similarly filled. The cylinder A,:
might be made to occupy a different position from that shewn in the
Drawings, and might be in either a horizontal or inclined position, if!
preferred, or it may be situated in any other part of the vessel desired.,
The operation of the apparatus is as follows: On the piston B, being
moved upwards (by the prime mover to which it is connected) from its
position at the bottom of the cylinder A, the effect will obviously be tor
displace the water in the space through which the, piston rises, and to;
force it through the pipe or tube C, into the cylinder E, where it being
in contact with the piston F, that piston will, by this means, be caused.
to travel along the cylinder E, and this motion being communicated to
the propeller H, by the rod G, the propeller will be forced against the
water contained in the cylinder I, and will eject it through and from
the open end of that cylinder; and if the resistance offered by the-
exterior water to the ejected column is greater than the force required
to move the vessel, the consequence will be that she will be propelled
forward a distance equal to that traversed by the propeller H, through
the cylinder I, simultaneously with the upward movement of the piston-
B, and the motion of the piston F, and propeller H, in an outward
direction, the atmospheric and hydraulic pressure exerted against H',
will force that propeller to traverse its cylinder in the reverse direc-
tion, and the liquid contained in the cylinder E', and pipe C
will be forced into the cylinder A, and occupy the space in that cylinder
from which the liquid above the piston B, has been displaced by the

page_text: upward movement of that piston; and when the piston B, has reached
the top of the cylinder A, the pistons and propellers F, H, and F', H',
will have changed their relative positions, a similar effect will be
produced by the downward motion of the piston B, and there being two
pairs of propellers acting simultaneously on each side of the kelson, the
propulsion of the vessel will be accomplished by the alternate action of
the upper and lower, or, if they are placed horizontally, the outer and
inner, pairs of propellers, or, in effect, by the continuous movement of
the propelling power acting in a horizontal direction contrary to the
course of the vessel. For the purpose of reversing the motion of the
vessel the cylinders and pistons L, L, and L', L', are employed, the
action of which is the same as that of the apparatus before described.
The elongating cylinders are, however, of greater diameter than those
by which the forward motion of the vessel is produced; this increase of
diameter being rendered necessary owing to their reduced length. The
propelling cylinder and pistons are also of larger diameter, in order to
give additional resistance in backing or recovering the motion of the
vessel. In order to bring the reversing cylinders into action it will be
necessary previously to cut off the communication between the cylin-
ders A, and E, E, and to open that between A, and L, L', by means
of the slides o, o', p. p', shewn in the figures, or by cocks. If deemed
advisable, the elongating cylinders may be wholly dispensed with, or
made of such dimensions as to combine both the elongating and propel-
ling functions, by increasing the capacity of the transmitting cylinder or
cylinders A, A, to such an extent as to give the requisite length of
stroke to the propelling, which would then also be the elongating cylin-
ders. By this arrangement the length of the apparatus would be
reduced by nearly one half, and its applicability thereby rendered in
some cases more advantageous and easy.
Figure 1, Sheet B, shews the details of another arrangement of
the apparatus, in which a different construction of propeller is substi-
tuted for the tight pistons employed in that already described. A, is
the transmitting cylinder, and B, its piston; C, C, the connecting
tubes; E, E, the elongating, and I, I, the propelling tubes; M, M',
are other tubes or casings, which are connected at their ends a, a, with

page_text: outward edges form
The working of this
the prime mover being
the propelling tubes I, I', and extend from thence to the stem of the
vessel, where they are open to the sea, and afford a free passage for the
water displaced by the forward movement of the vessel. Or these
casings may be open to the sea at any other desirable part of the ship,
and may each be made to enclose one or more of the elongating
cylinders. H, H', are propellers, which are connected by rods G, G¹,
with the elongating pistons F, F¹ These propellers are composed
of six, or any other convenient number, of sluices or hinged flaps
9, 9,. hinged, as shewn in the Drawing, Figure 4, to circular
framings or rings h, h, adapted to and working in the propelling
tubes I, I. The rings h, h, are attached to the connecting rods
G, G', by ribs i, i, and the central boss l. The ribs i, i, are cham-
fered off towards their inner edges, and their
the seatings for the sluices or flaps g, g.
arrangement is as follows:-On power from
applied to the piston B, the propeller H, will be moved towards
the stern of the vessel, and the pressure of the external water
from the stern in I, will close the flaps g, g, and thereby cause
resistance to the outward movement of the propeller H; the con-
sequence of which will be, that the vessel will be propelled forward,
or in the contrary direction to the motion of the propeller H. On the
rising of the piston B, the pressure of the water in I', and M', against
the elongating piston F', will force it back, together with the pro-
peller H, the opening of the flaps of which will be facilitated by the
current of water from the stem to the stern of the vessel in the
tubes I', and M', and the propulsion of the vessel will be effected by
the alternate action of the two pairs of propellers in a similar manner
to what has before been described. Instead of employing two pairs or
sets of propelling and elongating tubes in either of the arrangements
described, one set only may be used, which would then require to be
placed over and in a line with the keel of the vessel, and the rudder
would be situated beyond the opening of the propelling tubes. Or, if
preferred, under these circumstances, two rudders might be employed,
one being placed on each side of the opening of the propelling tubes.
Covers may be provided for the ends of the reversing cylinders L, L',

page_text: which may be opened and closed by the action of the levers or other
appliances, which may be employed to open and close the side
valves o, o', p,p, of the transmitting cylinder. My.apparatus, modified,
as shewn in Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4, Sheet E, may be in some cases
employed where a forward and backward movement is effected by
the force from the transmitting cylinder acting alternately on each side
of the elongating piston.,
Figures 1, and 2, Sheet C, exhibit a mode of applying. the hydro-
pneumatic apparatus to propulsion on railways adapted to existing
machinery. Figure 1, is an élevation partly in 'section of an ordinary
locomotive engine and tender; and Figure 2, a plan, half above and
half below the boiler and tender.... S, is the steam cylinder; P, its
piston; A, the transmitting cylinder; and B, its piston, which is. con-
nected by the rod d, with the steam cylinder piston P; C, C', are the
connecting tubes E, E', the elongating cylinders; I, I', the propelling
cylinders; and F, F, and H, H, are elongating and propelling pistons,
which are connected with each other by the rods G, G'; K, K, are the
vacuum pipes and valves. There is another set of elongating and pro-
pelling cylinders and pistons on the other side; of the engine, as shewn
more clearly in Figure 1, Sheet D, which is a transverse section of
Figure 1, Sheet C, on the lines w, a, and y, z.. The action of the
apparatus is as follows:-On steam being admitted into the cylinder S;
the motion of its piston will be communicated by the rod d, to the
transmitting piston B, which will displace the liquid in the cylinder A,
and force it against the piston F', which will thereby be impelled from
the point a, towards b, in the elongating cylinder E', and at the same.
time the propelling piston H', will be moved from the point b, towards
the end c, of the propelling cylinder I', which motion will be in
opposition to the pressure of the atmosphere against the outer surface
of the piston H. The corresponding propeller on the other side of the
engine will be acting simultaneously, so. that the propulsive force that
will be exerted on the engine and train by the two propellers will be
equal to the atmospheric pressure on a surface twice the area of the
piston H. This arrangement may be used by itself, or in addition to
the ordinary system of locomotive propulsion. In the latter case the

page_text: piston rod d', shewn broken off in Figure 1, Sheet C, will be connected to
the driving wheel in the usual manner, in which case my apparatus will
accelerate the motion given to the train by the usual driving machinery.
Figure 2, Sheet D, is an elevation of a locomotive engine of
the ordinary construction fitted with the hydro-pneumatic apparatus,
arranged for propelling by. means of driving wheels; Figure 3, is a
section of the same; Figure 4, a plan, partly in section; Figure 5, an
end elevation. A, is the transmitting cylinder worked, as in the
apparatus last described, by means of the steam'cylinder and piston S, P,
the latter of which is connected by the rod d, with the piston B, of
the transmitting cylinder C, C, are the connecting tubes; E, E, the
elongating cylinders, which are fitted with pistons F; F¹; which are
connected together by the rod G. The elongating cylinders are placed
outside the driving wheels of the engine, and the rod G; is connected
by the rod I with the driving wheel. .W, to which it gives motion, and
thus effects the propulsion of the engine.
d
Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5; on. Sheet, E, exemplify the: manner:riñ
which, by the application of my apparatus, the working stroke of a
steator other engine, or the speed of the same, may be increased.
Figure 1, represents a side elevation of the apparatus as applied in
connection with a direct acting steam engine; Figure 2, is a longitu
dinal section of the same;, Figure 3, an end elevation; and Figure 4,
a transverse section. S, is the steam, cylinder, and P, its piston;
A. the transmitting cylinder; the piston B, of which is connected by
the rod d, with the piston of the steam cylinder; C, C, are the con
necting tubes; E, the elongating cylinder; and F, its piston, connected
with the rod f, which works through the stuffing box n.
The piston
rod-f, may transmit motion through a crank, or other suitable means, to
various descriptions of machinery.
13
Figure 5, is an elevation, partly in section, of a locomotive engine
fitted with modified arrangement of the apparatus, as just described.
In this arrangement steam cylinders of the ordinary construction, but
of much shorter length of stroke, are substituted for those usually
employed. By means of my hydro-pneumatic apparatus, however, the
requisite length is given to the stroke; and no alteration in the cranks,

page_text: connecting rods, &c. is required. The main difference between this
arrangement and that represented in Figures 1, and 2, is, that in the
latter a hollow rod e, is employed to connect the steam and transmitting
pistons, by which device the steam, transmitting, and elongating cylinders
may all be placed in the same axial line. The same letters are employed
to distinguish the several parts, as in Figures 1, and 2.
Figure 6, is a longitudinal section, and Figure 7, a plan, of a railway
van fitted with my hydro-pneumatic apparatus, so arranged that it can
at will be made to act either in accelerating or retarding the progress of
the train, and is actuated by the momentum acquired from the velocity
of the train. A, is the transmitting cylinder, with its piston B; C, C',
connecting tubes; E, E', elongating cylinders, with their pistons F, F¹;
I, I, propelling cylinders, with their pistons H, H'; G, G', are con-
necting rods; K, K, vacuum pipes and valves. These are used
when the apparatus acts as an accelerator. When it is required to
be used as a retarder to the motion of the train the connection
between the transmitting and elongating cylinders, &c. is cut off
by means of the slides o, p, and the communication between the trans-
mitting cylinder and the corresponding tubes, cylinders, and pistons
C², C³, E, E³, H³, H, I, I³, K², K³, by means of the slides o', p', is
opened. The piston rod of the transmitting cylinder is, as shewn
in connection with the crank of a shaft or axle S, fitted to the framing
of the van, and on which are moveable toothed gearing wheels.
This axle can at will, by means of corresponding wheels and rods on
another supplemental axle T, similarly fitted, be connected with cranks
on an axle of the van, by which the axle S, will be made to revolve
and actuate the piston in the transmitting cylinder, by which either an
accelerating or a retarding impulse will be given to the train by the
atmospheric pressure on the exterior surfaces of the pistons H, H',
and H, H³.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim,
firstly, as my improvements in applying and transmitting motive
power, the employment of a transmitting cylinder, filled with water or
other incompressible liquid, in combination with what I term elonga-

page_text: ting tubes or cylinders, or with one elongating tube or cylinder, of
greater length and smaller diameter than such transmitting cylinder, fitted
with pistons or a piston, as herein-before described. And, secondly, I
claim the employment of the said transmitting, elongating, and propel-
ling cylinders and pistons in conjunction with any other means of
applying and transmitting motive power, in order to accelerate the pro-
gress of the body or bodies set in motion by such other motive agent.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Scott, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Fourth day of April, One thousand
eight.hundred and fifty-three.
THO. SCOTT. (L.S.)
THO. SCOTT. (L.S.)