APPARATUS FOR OBTAINING MOTIVE POWER BY MEANS OF ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE, STEAM OTHER FLUID IN CONJUNCTION WITH GRAVITY
Year: 1885

page_text: I JEFFREY SNELLING, of 82 Gilbert Road, Kennington Road, Lambeth, Surrey,
Engineer, I do hereby declare the nature of my invention for APPARATUS FOR
OBTAINING MOTIVE POWER BY MEANS OF ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE, STEAM
OTHER FLUID IN CONJUNCTION WITH GRAVITY and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement
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OR
Improvements in and relating to Driving Gear for Pumping, Winding, Lifts,
Hoists, Air Compressing, Lighthouse Apparatus, Telescopes and other Instruments
in Observatories, Turret and other Clocks, also a number of other purposes where
motive power is required.
My Invention has for its object the use of Driving Gear where continuous
motion is required, which can be obtained either by the use of atmospheric pressure,
vacuum, steam, gas, air, water or any other fluid or vapour, for purposes where
motive power is required
When using the Driving Gear for Lighthouses, Observatories, Manufactories
either in moving reflectors which may be revolved, or telescopes and other
instruments of observation, also wind, rain and tide recording instruments, one
advantage will be that with this Driving Gear they will not require winding as in
the ordinary apparatus in use, the same advantage applies to Turret and other
clocks that are driven by a weight, to which the Driving Gear can be applied by
removing the existing mechanism for winding purposes and applying the Driving
Gear, therefore maintaining power would not be required as in the ordinary
method of winding, and that my Invention may be understood I have hereunto
attached a Sheet of Drawings marked with letters and Figures of reference
corresponding with those in the following explanation
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Figure 1 is an elevation of Driving Gear according to my Invention
Figure 2 18 an end elevation of Figure 1
Figure 3 18 an end elevation of Figure 1
Figure 4 is an elevation of high and low pressure cylinders according to my
Invention.
Figure 5 is an end elevation of Figure 4
Upon reference to the Drawings Figure 1, it will be seen that my Invention
consists of a Bed Plate, supporting two side frames on which are carried the main
shaft A, and the first motion shaft I in plummer blocks, it will be seen that upon
the centre of the main shaft A, there is a double ratchet wheel C keyed upon it, on

page_text: each side of which there are two grooved pullies B made to revolve freely upon the
main shaft A, on each boss of each grooved pulley is fixed two ratchet pawls D,
which engage into the teeth of the ratchet wheels C, the two outer grooved
pullies B engage with the two outer ratchet wheels C on each end of the main shaft,
and the two inner grooved pullies engage with the centre ratchet wheels C, already
mentioned, upon one end of the main shaft is keyed pinion, which working into
& spur wheel upon the first motion shaft I gives motion to that shaft, from which
motion can be transferred to other machinery as desired, it will be seen that there
endless lines E of gut, rope, wire line or chain placed upon the two outer and two
inner grooved pullies B, the guide pullies F preventing them getting out of position,
in the line or chain is suspended on each side of each two grooved pullies B, a
grooved pulley Q, and the grooved pulley R, the grooved pulley Q supporting the
cylinder N, and the grooved pulley R supporting the piston O, to the grooved
pulley S is connected the weight V for the piston O, and to the grooved pulley T
is conrected the weight U, the cylinder N which is shown in section, contains the
piston O fixed to two piston rods P, which are connected to the pulley R,
the cylinder being connected to the pulley Q by brackets, the upper end of
the cylinder is open to the atmosphere, and the lower end is closed being fitted
with a cover air tight
It will be seen upon reference to the Drawings Figure 1, that if a vacuum 13
made in the cylinder beneath the piston, the atmospheric pressure will be upon the
top of the piston and upon the outside of the cover at the bottom end of the
cylinder, the pressure exerted being in proportion to the area of both, therefore
the atmospheric pressure drives the piston down into the cylinder, and by acting
upon the bottom of the cylinder cover, lifts the cylinder up at a speed governed by
the amount of weight carried upon the cylinder, to which must be added the weight
of the cylinder itself, minus the weights upon the other side
As the piston is suspended upon the endless gut, line, rope or chain which 18
carried upon the two grooved pullies B, the atmospheric pressure when acting upon
the upper surface of the piston and driving it down into the cylinder, cause the
grooved pullies B to revolve in the same direction of motion and move the main
shaft with it, owing to the ratchet pawls D engaging with the ratchet wheels C,
gravity assisting the movement by the weight of the piston, cylinder, the con-
nections and weight upon the cylinder, minus the weights upon the opposite side of
the grooved pullies B to maintain the grip of the lines upon them, if the pullies are
not pitched to receive a chain instead of a rope, when the piston has reached the
end of its proper amount of stroke, an auxiliary weight W 18 released on the
opposite side of the grooved pulles B and deposits it at the proper time upon
the weight V for the piston, which being heavier combined with the weight V already
upon the line or chain, than the atmospheric pressure exerted upon the piston,
causes the piston to ascend and the grooved pullies B to revolve in the same
direction of motion, through the ratchet pawls D being disengaged from the ratchet
wheels C, when the grooved pullies B are revolving in that direction, they do so
without the work upon the main shaft A to retard them, with the result that they
only have work to do when revolving in the direction of motion that the piston
makes when descending
While the piston is ascending, the cylinder and connections upon it being
suspended upon the other line or chain E placed upon the two outer grooved
pullies B, owing to gravity is descending until the auxiliary weight W upon the
piston line or chain E is released, and allows the piston to descend, and at the same t
time causes the cylinder to commence its upward stroke by the atmospheric pressure
exerted upon the cover at the bottom of the cylinder, and the auxiliary weight W
in combination, it will be understood that the same action takes place with the
grooved pullies B to which the cylinder is connected, in their revolving when the
cylinder is ascending without work upon them, and doing work only when the
cylinder is descending by gravity, commencing to do work when the change of
direction of motion is commenced.

page_text: By making the stroke of the piston and cylinder equal to about half the
circumference of the grooved pullies B, gives a longer duration for the piston
and cylinder to descend by gravity, with less number of times for either to ascend
in a given period
The action of the auxiliary weight W is as follows, just before the completion of
the downward stroke of the piston, the supporting arms are released by tappets
or some similar arrangement, and allows the weight to engage with the pulley S
connected with the piston line or chain E, when the auxiliary weight W is allowed
to fall upon the connections of the piston, it commences to ascend, continuing to
do so until it reaches the end of its upward stroke, when the auxiliary weight W
18 again released by a tappet or some similar arrangement, it then leaves the piston
free to commence its downward stroke caused by atmospheric pressure, gravity &c,
the auxiliary weight is carried up to its starting point by its connection with the
weight U carried upon the line or chain E of the cylinder, therefore the auxiliary
weight W controls both the stroke of the piston and of the cylinder, by releasing
it at its proper time, the regulation of which can be effected by the position of the
tappets or some similar arrangement to suit the circumstances under which the
Driving Gear is required to work
To create a vacuum in the cylinder when working with atmospheric pressure,
the cover at the bottom of the cylinder, should be taken off and the piston lowered
until the under side is prominent of the end of the cylinder, then place the cover
upon the piston and rub the two faces together, and while holding them in that
position force the cover back into its proper position in the cylinder, by which
means the leakage of air into the cylinder is reduced to a minimum
In some cases I would prefer to use a piston and cylinder instead of the weights
for keeping the lines or chains E in position, and also for assisting the piston and
cylinder with their upward stroke, the pistons and cylinders to be of sufficient
areas that with a vacuum beneath the pistons, the atmospheric pressure would
have the same effect as the weights in the arrangement shown in the Drawings
Figures 1 to 3
It may also be desirable to use two or more main shafts and gearing, having a
pinion keyed upon each shaft, the pinions to work into a spur wheel, or two or
more sets of grooved pullies, pistons and cylinders upon one main shaft as the
occasion requires, or instead of using a first motion shaft, a pulley may be keyed
upon the main shaft, and motion given direct by a belt or similar arrangement
It will be seen upon reference to the Drawings Figures 1 to 3, that a brake
pulley J, strap and lever is fitted to the first motion shaft I to either control the
speed of the Driving Gear or to stop it when required, but when requiring
constant regulation so as to maintain a uniform rate of speed for certain uses to
which the Driving Gear may be applied, the brake lever would be connected
to governors or some similar arrangement, in the case of clocks the pendulum may
control the action of the Driving Gear, but when a first motion shaft is not used,
the brake lever may be fitted to the main shaft
In using steam, gas, air or water pressure instead of atmospheric pressure, a cover
may be fitted to the upper end of the cylinder, and provide the cylinder with
piston rod glands, valve casing, valve and valve spindle, inlet and outlet passiges,
actuating the valve spindle by tappets or some similar arrangement, the action of
the piston and cylinder would be as follows, when the piston is at the extreme
of its upward stroke, the steam or other pressure would be admitted by the valve,
and acting upon the upper part of the piston and the inside of the upper cover
would drive the piston down and the cylinder up in a given length of time, governed
by the pressure admitted to a given area of piston and the amount of weight fixed to
the cylinder including the weight of the cylinder itself, the pressure to be used
expansively or otherwise, when the cylinder is very nearly at the extreme of its
upward stroke, the valve is opened and exhaust commences, and the cylinder being
loaded almost equal to the lifting power of the pressure used when that pressure is
removed, the cylinder commences its downward stroke, due to gravity, when just

page_text: before reaching the end of the downward stroke, steam is again admitted, the same
action is continued as before, the action of the piston is somewhat similar as in the
arrangement when using atmospheric pressure and a vacuum, by connecting the
bottom of the cylinder by a pipe to a condenser, any steam passing the piston and
destroying the vacuum, can be taken away and a vacuum maintained
The advantage of using steam, gas, air or any other pressure in some cases 18,
that the cylinder can be loaded to a much greater extent with a smaller diameter
of piston and cylinder to overcome the resistance of the load put upon the Driving
Gear, instead of using a cylinder and piston of larger dimensions when simply using
atmospheric pressure with a vacuum
]
Upon reference to the Drawings Figures 4 & 5 it will be seen that my Invention
consists of a high pressure cylinder A and low pressure cylinder B, for using
compound pressures, or to use high pressure in both cylinders if required, the
arrangement for regulating the admission and release of the steam, air, gas, water
or any other fluid would be similar to that described in the previous explanation, 1
also the weighting the cylinders for overcoming the resistance of the load upon the
Driving Gear
Having thus stated the nature of my Invention and described the mode of
performing the same, I wish it to be distinctly understood that I do not limit
myself to the exact details given, as in some cases the same may be varied according
to the peculiar purposes for which my improvements may be required
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
Invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim 18
1 The construction and arrangement of Driving Gear of the Drawings to be
worked by atmospheric pressure, vacuum and gravity, as herein described and as
shown at Figures 1 to 3 of the accompanying Drawings, or any modification
thereof
2 The construction and arrangement of Driving Gear of the Drawings to be
worked by steam, gas, air, water or any other fluid, compounded with high and low
pressure in the cylinders, or high pressure in both cylinders, or simple, expansive
or otherwise, as herein described and as shown at Figures 1 to 5 of the
accompanying Drawings or any modification thereof
3 The construction and arrangement of Driving Gear of the Drawings using
pistons and cylinders instead of weights for keeping the lines in position on the
grooved pullies, also in using two or more main shafts and gearing, also two or
more sets of grooved pullies and cylinders upon one main shaft, also driving direct
fiom main shaft without the use of first motion shaft, as herein described and as
shown at Figures 1 to 5 of the accompanying Drawings, or any modification
thereof
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