CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF ROTATORY STEAM ENGINES, AND IN THE APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH
Year: 1826

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, LOUIS
JOSEPH MARIE Marquis de CAMBIS, a Native of France, but now residing in
Leicester Square, in the Parish of St. Martin-in-the-Fields and County of
Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS His present most Excellent Majesty King George the Fourth,
by His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Twenty-third day of May, One thousand eight hundred and
twenty-six, in the seventh year of His reign, did, for Himself, His heirs and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said Louis Joseph Marie Marquis
de Cambis, His especial licence that I, the said Louis Joseph Marie Marquis
de Cambis, my exors, adññors, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Louis
Joseph Marie Marquis de Cambis, my exors, adñiors, or assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times during the
term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise,
and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and
also in all His said Majesty's Colonics and Plantations abroad, the Invention of
"CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF ROTATORY STEAM ENGINES, AND
IN THE APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH" (communicated to me by a certain
Foreigner residing abroad); in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso
obliging me, the said Louis Joseph Marie Marquis de Cambis, by an instrument
in writing under my hand and seal, particularly to describe and ascertain the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed,
and to cause the same to be inrolled in His Majesty's High Court of Chancery

page_text: within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said in
part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto
had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Louis Joseph Marie Marquis de Cambis, do hereby declare that the nature of
the said Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed,
are particularly described and ascertained in and by the Drawings hereunto
annexed, and the following description thereof (that is to say):-
:-
The principal axis of the steam engine is a cylinder, shewn at n, n', in
Fig. 1, having a cylindrical boss m, Figs. 1 and 2, formed upon it, carrying a
sole s, s, which is placed eccentric to the axis, and is supported and strength-
ened by the arm S. The axis, the boss, the sole, and the arm are all firmly
united together. The end of the axis n is pierced with a hole, which com-
mences at that extremity, and is bent or curved so as for its other extremity
to open at the periphery of the boss m, and as shewn by the dotted lines in
Figs. 1 and 2. Upon the sole 5, s, are applied two sets of metallic segments
P, P, P, and wedges q, q, q, as shewn in plan in Fig. 3, and edgeways in Fig. 2.
A counter sole S is affixed at a proper distance from the sole s, s, by a screw
at its centre, having between the two soles the necessary space for the two
sets of segments to move in, so that by means of the helical springs r,r,r,
and the wedges 9,9, 9, the segments are constantly pushed outwardly or
towards the circumference of the soles, and the whole performs the office of the
piston of the engine. Instead of the usual cylinder of a steam engine, a hollow
metal ring is employed, in which the above-described piston is made to circulate
continually in one direction around the axis. The hollow ring is formed of four
similar pieces which are termed shells, and are united together by screws, each
being cast from the same model or pattern. These are shewu by the letter A
in the different Figures. These shells are represented as combined two by two
in Figs. 4, 5, and 6. In Fig. 4 the interior opening is shewn by a vertical
section, as are also the piston and two palettes P, P, which latter are shewn
separately in Fig. 7. In Fig. 5 is shewn the top of the hollow circular ring,
and in Fig. 6 is exhibited its interior by a horizontal section of it. There
are shewn in the latter Figure four flat pieces of metal e, e, e, e, which arc
placed between the shells so as to leave between them two spaces w, w, in
which are placed the palettes P, P, and so as to move freely backwards for
wards in order alternately to suffer the piston to pass and to afford a resistance
to the steam. In this Figure are also shewn one half of the hollow ring O, O
and two grooves,, made to receive two ribs, which are formed upon the
palette to strengthen it. The hollow ring is shewn in Figs. 4 and 6, and the

page_text: .
four shells as united by the screws a, a, a, &c. in Figs. 511, 19, and 10, and
thus forming the body of the engine. The palettes P, P, are made larger than
the circles which form the section of the hollow ring, as shewn in Figs. 6
and 8, from which it results that when one of them has reached the centre,
and presents a resistance to the steam, it is lodged and supported around the
hollow of the ring. As, however, that part of the palette which approaches
the centre or boss of the axis finds no support, and in order that it may
apply itself accurately to the periphery of the boss so as to completely in-
tercept the passage of the steam, it is made elastic by the addition of a moveable
piece of metal which is constantly pressed outwards, or against the periphery
of the boss, by the action of a spring as shewn in Fig. 7. The stems of the
palettes are made cylindrical, and pass on each side of the engine through
stuffing boxes shown at a, a, in Fig. 8. It is from these stems that the
palettes receive their motion by the mechanism which will be hereafter
described. To complete the closure of the engine, that is to say, to cut off all
communication between the hollow ring and the external atmosphere, and at
the same time to keep the principal axis in the centre of the engine, there
is a cylindrical hole made in the body of the engine, and of which one
half is shewn in Fig. 6, at Z, Z. This cylindrical hole is in diameter
equal to the boss upon the axis. Inside this cylindrical hole are placed the
parts which serve to close the centre of the engine. In Fig. 1 there
are three parts, R, E, and B, shewn in section, the part R is made of
copper, but the side which touches the flat part of the boss is formed of
lead, soldered to the copper ring on its opposite side. The part E is in the
shape of a hat, and performs the office of a stuffing box; it is made cylin-
drical exteriorly, and of a diameter equal to the cylindrical hole Z, Z, in the
body of the engine, and which it must fit exactly. It is conical inside, and
receives within it the cone B on the side opposite to the boss, and has a rim
or border projecting sufficiently outwards to allow of two screws, which are
mounted parallel to the cylinder, to pass through it. Three similar parts,
which also enter the axis, are placed on the opposite side of the boss, and which
are shewn in their respective situations in Fig. 8; the space between the hat
E and the ring R is filled with hempen packing or stuffing, and which can be
compressed at pleasure by the screws of the hat E, and which enter into the
body of the engine; these screws keeps the hats sufficiently tight upon the
packing, and at the same time prevent them from turning round. The bridles.
D, D, which are shewn in Figs. 8, 9, and 10, are affixed to the axis by two
screws, which are placed at right angles to it, and enter it in a small degree
and by two other screws parallel to the axis, intended to press the concs of

page_text: each against the hollow cones of the hats, into which they enter more or less.
Each cone being thus penetrated by these last-mentioned screws cannot turn
upon the axis, but must turn with it. Thus each hat is affixed to the shells,
and each conc is affixed to the axis, from whence it results that it is only
between the hollow cones of the hats and the solid cones upon the axis any
friction is produced when the axis turns. The action of the palettes P, P, is
intended to uncover the hollow ring, so as to allow the piston to pass and to
cover it again instantly, to afford a resistance to the steam.
If we suppose
that the palettes are moved in respect to the motion of the piston by a
mechanism which will be hereafter described, so as to open and shut as above-
mentioned, it will be easy to understand how the piston resists the action of
the steam so as to move in one direction only. In Fig. 4, where the piston
and palettes are seen, if we suppose that the steam according to the motion of
the piston is caused to enter alternately at the apertures U, U, during each
half of the revolution of the piston, and that it ceases to enter at the one of
them when it begins to enter at the other (the moment when the steam enters
at one side being always that at which the palette has closed the opposite side),
the piston will be constantly pushed in the direction indicated by the arrow in
Fig. 4; for example, when the steam enters at the opening U, and penetrates
between the piston and the palette, the space which is opposite, that is to say,
to the arm S of the piston, is in communication either with the atmosphere,
or, if a condenser is used, with the condenser, and the piston is driven that
way; when the piston arrives near the other palette, the palette is drawn
back, and allows the piston to pass, and is closed immediately afterwards, and
the steam ceasing to enter at that moment by the aperture U, but entering at
the other aperture U, it continues to pass the piston, being at the same time
resisted by the palette on that side, and causes it to make another half revolu-
tion. During this time, the steam, which has served to actuate the piston
during the first half revolution, communicates with the hole through part of
the axis, and makes its escape. The palette on the first side opens to allow
the piston to pass, and then instantly shuts; the stean enters by the first side;
that which has produced its motive effect escapes, and the piston continues its
motion. Thus the piston and its axis are turned by the immediate effect of
the steam, and the piston receives an equal pressure in all the periods of its
revolution.
.
Now that the essential principle of the engine is explained, it will be easy
to describe what remains to be mentioned; and first, the mechanism which
moves the palettes; secondly, the mechanism which allows the steam to enter
the engine alternately on each side; thirdly, the feeding pump; and lastly,

page_text: the means employed to heat the feeding water by the escaping steam, and
cause the feeding pump to raise the water furnished from the steam which
has been condensed by the water which supplies the boiler. These four
actions arc, however, capable of being executed in many other ways, varying
in their forms or particular combinations, according to the different purposes
to which the engines are to be applied; I shall therefore content myself by
merely describing those which have been executed on board of the Dauphine
steamboat now navigating the river Seine. The engine is a high-pressure
one, of thirty-horse power, without a condenser to form a vacuum, and can
be used with or without allowing the steam to expand. The following is a
description of the different parts forming the machine and their action :-
H, H, H', H", the cast-iron supports of the machine on which are placed all
the parts of it, except the feeding pump; H, H, the basis or horizontal cast-
iron plate from which the supporter of the principal axis H", H", arises, as
well as two others H', H', which support the body of the engine A, A, on each
side, by means of screwed bolts, and as shewn in Figs. 9 and 10. Fig. 8
is a plan of the machine shewing the principal body of it A as open, in
order to exhibit its interior arrangement, and also shewing the plates Y, Y', in
section, to exhibit their position on the principal axis, in order to receive the
moving wheel and to retain it by friction between those plates. Fig. 9
is a side elevation of the machine as mounted, but without the moving
wheel, which is to be affixed upon the principal axis by the plates Y, Y¹.
Fig. 10 is a back view and section of the machine taken at the dotted line
L, L, in Fig. 8. Fig. 11 shews the back parts of the machine taken at the
line L, L, in the opposite direction to Fig. 10, and exhibiting the steam box
and those parts which serve to introduce the steam into the engine. Fig. 12
represents the toothed cams or eccentrics which serve to move the palettes
P, P; the cam C' is affixed upon the plate Y, and turns with the axis of the
engine, and is engaged alternately with the cams C, C; these last are
connected with the palettes by means of the two axes N, N, shewn
in Fig. 8, the arms or levers u, u, s, s, the crank rods i, i, and the
cranks v', v, the crank axes v, v, the four horizontal rods b, b, b, b,
and the pieces T, T, affixed by their middle parts to the stems of the palettes
P, P. The axes N, N, are mounted parallel to and symmetrical with the
principal axis, and move in four small bearings affixed upon the horizontal
plate or basis H, H, of the machine, as shewn in Figs. 8, 9, and 10; each of
them are fitted up with the three arms or levers 8, u, u, and which are firmly
affixed upon them. The arms of each axis communicates with the cranks v', v³,
by means of the crank rods i, i. The four arms u, u, u, u, are raised up to the

page_text: height of the centre of the machine, and terminate in heads, which are jointed
to the ends of the four horizontal rods t, t, t, t. These rods are jointed at their
other ends to the pieces T, T. From this arrangement of the axis N, N, the
cams C, C, the armis s, s, the other arms u, u, u, u, the rods t, t, t, t, and the
pieces T, T, it results that the cams affixed upon the axis v, v, are alternately
engaged with the cam C', which is affixed to the plate Y, which turns with the
principal axis of the machine, will withdraw the palettes P, P, at the exact
moments for suffering the piston to pass, and replace them again instantly, so
that they come into immediate contact with the boss m upon the principal axis.
I have given to the steam box M', M', shown in Figs. 8, 9, and 11, in different
views of it, the form of a bent tube, in order that when affixed upon the basis
H, H, it may afford passages for the steam to enter the engine on each side of it.
The steam enters the box through the pipe M", shown in Fig. 11, to which it is
brought by the pipe G from the boiler, and passes alternately through the pipes
U, U¹, into the engine. The pipe G, which leads from the boiler to the steam
box, has a cock in it, by opening or shutting which the engine may be put in
motion or stopped. The covers of the steam box M, M, have necks, in which
are placed sliders, intended either to open or close the passages for the steam,
so as to admit or intercept it. These sliders have stems to them, which pas
through stuffing boxes made in each neck. The parts of the tubes U, U,
which are mounted to the necks, have grooves in them, in which the sliders
move. Motion is given to these sliders in the following manner :-The com-
pound levers Q, Q', are jointed to the stems of the sliders. They are cach
supported upon a stud, screwed into ears formed upon the ends of the steam
box M, M, and turn upon those studs. The levers Q, Q, are moved, and con-
sequently the passages for the steam opened and closed, by means of the parts
I, I, I, and F, F, which are mounted upon the principal axis of the engine,
and turn with it in the direction shown by the arrow in Fig. 11. The piece
I, 11, 1", is affixed upon the principal axis, and carries an arm I, and a piece
shaped like a peacock's tail 1', on which is affixed a circle 1. The arm I is
placed in such a position as to alternately open the sliders by touching the
branch of the parts Q or Q' at the moment when the palette P on that
side is slut, as I have above mentioned, as soon as the piston has passed.
The circle has two notches or gaps in it, which are intended to drag
the piece F, F, along in their motion. This last piece F, F', is com-
posed of a circle F having a groove in it, and an arm F¹ with a friction
roller affixed on it, which correspond with the branches q, q, of the
pieces Q, and Q', and, by acting upon them in passing, shuts the sliders. This
piece F, F, is loose upon the principal axis, and is only occasionally put into

page_text: motion by the gaps I and I", of which we have before spoken. When the
gap Imoves it, one slider is opened and the other shut, and the steam
actuates the engine without expansion, acting uniformly upon the piston in all
parts of its revolution. When the gap I" moves the piece F, F, the slider
shuts the steam passage half way only, and the steam enters the engine for
only half the former time, acting by its expansion the other half. I can
thus save one half of the steam, but the engine cannot of course exert the
same power at the time, nor the piston receive an equal impulse in all parts
of its revolution. By increasing the distance from the gap 1" to the gap I¹
I can increase the expansion of the steam to more than double its volume,
and by reducing it I can diminish that expansion proportionally. Thus, in
constructing the engine, I can place the gap 1" according to the greater or
lesser degree of expansion I wish to allow to the steam, or by making more
gaps, it will only be necessary to remove the piece F, F', from one gap to
another to vary the degree of expansion, and thus leave it at the option of the
engineer to economise the steam more or less at pleasure. The piece F, F,
is as before said free to turn upon the principal axis, and is only carried round
by it in one of the gaps. A lever K, K, turning upon a hinge at its lower
end, affixed to the basis H, H, and having a handle at its upper end, has a
fork upon it, which embraces the circular groove of the piece F, F¹, but does
not prevent it from movcing freely. By this contrivance, on pushing the
handle of the lever K, K, towards the side of the engine when it is in motion,
the arm F will quit the gap in which it was lodged, and by a contrary move-
ment it will enter another gap, and consequently vary the degree of expan-
sion of the steam. The steam must always enter the engine by either of the
tubes U, U¹, at the time when one of the palettes P, P, is shut, which, as
above mentioned, shuts instantly upon the passage of the piston c; thus it is
necessary to make the opening of the sliders exactly coincide with the shutting
of the palettes and vice versa. The escape of the steam from the engine takes
place at the hole made in the principal axis, as above described, and as shewn
in Figs. 1 and 2 by the dotted lines. This hole communicates with the
pipe J. This pipe remains fixed whilst the axis turus, but the stuffing box G
sufficiently closes this joining. It is to be observed that there is nothing to
prevent the condensation of the steam in any of the usual and well-known
ways. The bearing H", which supports the principal axis, is of great strength,
and also affords other advantages. And, first, it indicates, by means of a mark
made upon the axis, whether in screwing up the counter cones D, D, one
of them is not made to press harder than the other, and thus cause the
piston to rub more on one side than on the other; and, secondly, it allows

page_text: us to fix a wheel, or even a fly wheel, at the outer end of the axis
without straining the engine. The plate Y is firmly affixed by means of
It is made flat
a neck and screws upon the end of the principal axis.
upon the side opposite to the engine and near to its periphery; on that
side a hollow triangular groove is turned, into which is applied a projecting
triangular circle formed upon the side of the moving wheel, and which said
wheel has a circular aperture in its centre large enough to allow four screws
to pass through, upon which it is supported, and is also held between the
plate Y and the counter plate Y¹, and by means of the four screws it can be
pressed against the plate Y, so as to produce a friction, which may be
augmented or diminished at pleasure. From this manner of mounting the
moving wheel upon the principal axis and producing friction, if any sudden
stop or check should take place, from some derangement in the machinery, it
would slide on the parts intended to produce friction, and thus do no mischief
to the engine.
In Figs. 9, 10, and 11, are shewn the means of supplying the interior of
the engine with grease. These means consist in a cock b, surmounted by a
funnel g (into which is put the grease), which communicates by a small hole
with the interior of the engine. The plug of the cock has a small cavity in
it, which, however, does not penetrate through it; when this cavity is turned
towards the funnel it becomes filled with grease, and when it makes half a
turn, and has arrived at the hole which communicates with the interior of the
engine, the grease which it contains falls into the engine. The plug of the
cock is turned by means of a horizontal rod or axis o, which has a toothed
bevel wheel upon it, and which is engaged with and works in another toothed
bevel wheel affixed upon the upper end of a vertical rod or axis o¹. This
latter rod has upon its lower end a toothed wheel or star wheel R¹. By means
of a finger d, affixed upon the bridle D, the wheel R¹ moves one tooth at each
turn of the principal axis of engine, from whence it results that the plug of
the cock is also put into motion by the finger d; and in order that the pressure
of the steam may present no obstacle to the entrance of the grease into the
interior of the engine, I have formed a second communication between the
cavity in the plug of the cock and the interior of the engine by means of a
small curved tube b', which enters the cock, and I have pierced the plug of the
cock above in such a manner that when the cavity in the plug is downwards
it may communicate with the small tube, but so that when in this position it
has no communication with the funnel g. From this arrangement it results
that, when the cavity in the plug of the cock has arrived full of grease below,
it is also in communication with the interior of the engine both above and

page_text: below, so that whether the pressure of the steam be more or less great in the
engine it is all one. The pressure being thus necessarily equalized above and
below does not prevent the grease from falling by its own weight.
The feeding pump is shewn in plan sideways and in front in Figs. 8, 9,
5 and 18. It is worked by a stud Z, affixed to the counter plate Y'. The
piston of this pump is a cylinder, the upper part of which terminates in a
kind of frame C", into which enters a friction roller, mounted upon
the stud Z. The frame C has in one end of it a groove, which acts
against the fixed perpendicular arm or guide e, e, and governs the motion
of the piston. This single guide e, e, is sufficient, as from the manner
in which the piston receives its motion the frame C", both in ascending and
descending, is always kept in contact with the guide. The body of the
pump a terminates below in a sole or basis, in which are made four conduits
opening above, and it has a stuffing box at its upper end. The four conduits
shewn by the dotted lines in Fig. 13 afford six openings in the upper side
of the sole, three on each side the body of the pump a. The two openings
next to the body of the pump communicate with it, and the four other openings
(that is to say) two on each side the farthest from the pump, communicate
between each other, as shewn by the dotted lines. The four openings next
to the body of the pump, two on each side, are covered by two hoods h, h,
which are closely secured upon the sole; each hood h covers two valves, one
on each of the sucking pipes, and the others upon the forcing pipes. The
sucking side of the pump adjoins to the bulb 6', in which are two pipes, the
one to supply the pump with the condensed water from the steam, and the
other with river water. When the steam escapes from the engine, after having
produced its effect, it enters the recipient J, J, by the pipe J¹. This recipient
contains a worm, which communicates by the pipe z with the pump, and
serves as a sucking pipe to the pump to convey the water to the boiler. The
water contained in the worm is again heated by the steam contained in the
recipient, and a part of which steam is thereby condensed. That portion of
the steam which is not condensed escapes by the pipe J", and the condensed
part falls, in the state of water, to the bottom of the recipient, from whence it
is conducted to the bulb & by the pipe z¹, 2¹. There is a float in the bulb b',
connected with a valve in such a manner that, when there is sufficient water in
the bulb to support the float, the valve opens and the water flows to the pump,
which draws it in in preference to the river water, the level of the former
being higher than that of the latter; but when the bulb is empty the valve
shuts, and then the river water is conducted by the pipe 2", which passes
through the side of the vessel or boat into the water. When the boiler is full

page_text: enough, a cock in the pipe z" is shut, and the condensed water in the recipient J
is conducted by the pipe ¹, z¹, into the bulb b', from whence it is drawn and
conveyed into the boiler by the feeding pump. The boiler is not shewn in the
Drawings, but the pipe G, Fig. 11, communicates with the upper part of it,
and the pipe z, in Figs. 8 and 9, communicates with its lower part.
It is not my intention to claim as part of this Invention the hollow ring,
such having already been employed in rotatory steam engines. But I do hereby
claim the method of forming it, and of the principal axis; also the Invention
of the sliding palettes, the method of applying them, and the manner of
communicating the alternating movements to them. Neither do I intend to
claim the Invention of the segmental piston, but only its application to this
rotatory steam engine. I also claim the method of supplying grease to the
nterior of the engine, and the method of supplying the boiler either with the
water from the condensed steam or the river water, as described. I also claim
the method of letting in and shutting off the steam to and from the engine.
In witness whereof, I, the said Louis Joseph Marie Marquis de Cambis,
have hereunto set my hand and seal, this Third day of November,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and twenty-six.