IMPROVED APPA- RATUS AND MACHINERY FOR GENERATING AND UTILIZING A MOTIVE GAS OBTAINED FROM WATER
Year: 1876

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alexander Melville Clark, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, for the Invention of "IMPROVED APPA-
RATUS AND MACHINERY FOR GENERATING AND UTILIZING A MOTIVE GAS
OBTAINED FROM WATER." A communication from abroad by Robert Dines
Bradley, of Preston, in the County Caroline, State of Maryland, United States of
America
Sealed the 29th December 1876, and dated the 11th November 1876.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said Alexander Melville Clark at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 11th November 1876.
"
ALEXANDER MELVILLE CLARK, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County of Mid-
dlesex, Patent Agent. IMPROVED APPARATUS AND MACHINERY FOR GENERATING
AND UTILIZING A MOTIVE GAS OBTAINED FROM WATER." A communication from
abroad by Robert Dines Bradley, of Preston, in the County Caroline, State of
Maryland, United States of America.
The first part of this Invention relates to a method of generating a most
powerful gas by the decomposition of water, by the application of heat instanta-
neously and at will. The existence of this most powerful agent, latent in water,
has been known ever since the introduction of steam power, and has only too
frequently left its traces by the destruction of life and property. Many names
have been given to it, and many theories have been established by men versed in
science and mechanic arts, but up to the present day no one has succeeded in
making this agent an element subservient to his will. "Electric" gas is the name
most generally given to this powerful agent or element, but I shall confine myself
for the present to describing it as a dry, invisible, odorless, non-explosive gas, and
which possesses an expansive force without limit, except that suggested in the
construction and management of the apparatus in which the same is or may be
produced and generated.
The apparatus which I will describe for generating this powerful gas can be so
constructed that it will be perfectly safe under any pressure, and that even in the
event of a break owing to bad material or neglect in the workmanship no serious

page_text: consequences can arise, that is to say, no life or property will be in danger, and any
parts so broken may be easily and quickly replaced without seriously interfering
with or interrupting the use of the whole apparatus.
The object of the Invention is to supersede steam and other known destructive
powers by a power which shall be entirely safe and economical, the amount of fuel 5
consumed being very small, in fact out of all proportion to that consumed to
generate steam for the same amount of power developed and confined to very small
space compared to steam power, to which end the Invention consists in one or more
hollow vessels or cells, preferably of spherical form, an interior pipe or gland
provided with very minute perforations through which water is injected, and a 1
furnace by which heat is applied to this vessel or vessels, and a coil of pipe within
this furnace, all as herein-after more fully set forth.
The second part of the Invention relates to an engine or motor of very simple
construction for utilizing this gas of great expansive force developed from water.
It consists mainly in the construction and arrangement of a number of permanent
pistons attached to a rigid frame and a heart-shaped block having cylindrical
chambers and receiving a reciprocating motion upon these pistons, a crank shaft
being connected by a pitman with the heart-shaped block, whereby its reciprocating
motion is converted into rotary motion, which crank shaft provides the necessary
means for supplying the required quantity of water to the generator, and operates
the valves for the induction and escape of the gas from the cylinders, all as herein-
after more fully described.
In the accompanying Drawings,
Figure 1 is a vertical central section through a generating apparatus embodying
the Invention; Figure 2, a transverse section of the same on the line x, x; and
Figure 3, a diagram or plan showing one of many modifications and forms for
increasing or multiplying the volume of the gas and its consequent effective force.
Figures 4 and 6 are respectively side and front elevations of the engine or
actuating mechanism designed to utilize the developed gas.
Figure 5, a vertical section of the reciprocating heart containing the cylinders
and pistons.
Figure 7, a front elevation of the machine complete; Figure 8, a side elevation of
the same with the generator case in section.
Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.
Referring to Figures 1, 2, 3, upon a base or bed plate A¹ is mounted a chamber
or casing A. of circular or rectangular form, which may be lined with fire-brick or
tiles a¹, a¹, shown in Figure 3 as a non-conductor to afford the necessary protection
from the heat. Within this chamber or furnace A, and immediately above the
fire, are placed the generators, consisting of any number of cells or spherical vessels
B¹, B1, B1, B¹, composed of an alloy of copper and tin or other suitable material of
sufficient tensile strength, connected to and radiating from a compound chamber or
vessel B; a pipe B2 is inserted into this vessel B, and is provided with a number of
radial branches b¹ corresponding with the number of the vessels B₁, B¹, employed.
The ends of these branch pipes 61, 61, are closed by small bulbs or hollow spheres b²,
which are provided with a number of very fine and delicate perforations, preferably,
about the size of the finest cambric needle, whose functions will herein-after be
described. From the upper part of the compound chamber B the branch pipes 63, 63, 63,
connect with a series of spherical vessels C, C, C, which I designate "intensifiers;
they are connected together and provided with finely perforated diaphragms c, c, c.
The pipes c¹, c¹, c¹, connect the different series of "intensifiers" with the vessel D,
having one outlet pipe D¹.
The fire is supported upon a movable grate E having a vertical movement upon
the cylindrical projection a² of the bed plate A¹, and may have also a rocking
movement to facilitate the clearing of the fire. The smoke and heated air are
conveyed through the tube H into the hollow bed plate A¹ to unite with the gas
which has done its work, and is passed through the coil of pipe G and the small
opening g to form a jet to promote combustion. Whenever, at any time any back

page_text: pressure is created by the accumulation of carbonic acid gas, the weighted relief
valve H will permit its escape to the atmosphere.
The cock or valve I' is for the purpose of supplying the necessary quantity of
atmospheric air through the tube I, which is carried in to the furnace by induction
produced by the blast of the gas through the nozzle of pipe G. The openings or
jets of the united gases may be introduced either above the grate as shown in the
Drawing, Figure 1, or below the grate.
The process is as follows:-Fire being made in the grate the spherical generators
become rapidly heated, when a jet of water is introduced by means of a pump or
other suitable mechanical device through the pipe B, from whence it is distributed
through the branch pipes b¹, 61, and forced through the minute perforations at the
end of these pipes, and is suddenly brought in contact with the heated surface of the
generator, when it instantaneously assumes an expansive force far greater than that
of steam, in fact it has ceased to be steam, the water being entirely decomposed as
the gas so generated cannot be reconverted or condensed to assume its original
character, water." There is no doubt that the gas so generated is identical with
the force looked upon with so much fear, and frequently manifested in steam boiler
explosions, but it must be self evident that the apparatus I have here described
must be perfectly safe.
The spherical vessels are very small, never exceeding 2 inches of internal diameter,
and are made strong enough to resist 3 or 4 times the pressure exerted upon them,
and in the event of bad material or defect of workmanship these will merely crack,
and do not exhibit any tendency to scatter or fly off into space, as in the case of
boiler explosions, in which the gas breaks the shell, while the large body of
expansive steam also present does the damage in expanding. One advantage then
of this mode of generating the gas is in getting rid of a permanent body of steam,
the water being injected in separate pulsations from the pump just as the gas
formed thereby is used up, which injection of water ceases if the generator cells.
crack.
The cells C, C, C, which I call "intensifiers," are for the purpose of increasing the
expansive force of the gas generated and to furnish a sort. of reservoir to insure a
regular and undiminished supply for the motor.
In the Drawings I have shown three series of these intensifiers, but I do not confine
myself to any particular number of them, or any particular number of series, as
that will depend mainly on the amount of power required. The draft connection is
made through the tubes H, H; that is to say, the smoke and portion of the heated
air must pass through the tubes into the hollow bed plate A¹, to unite with fresh air
supplied by the cock I and pipe I, and the gas returned from the motor, after
having done its work through the coil G; this ensures perfect combustion, as no
trace of water or smoke can be discovered, the only product being ashes, heat, and
carbonic acid gas, which latter escapes through the valves H¹.
Figure 3 will illustrate how I may multiply the generators, to obtain any amount
of power.
may also state that from experiments I have made I can produce any
pressure, limited only by the strength of the material used in the construction of the
apparatus. I have tested the cells or vessels with a pressure of more than 8,000 lbs.
to the square inch, the registering capacity of the gauge employed, and have worked
an apparatus with a pressure of 1,000 lbs. to the square inch with perfect safety.
In relation to the rationale of the process of generating this gas and the chemical
character of the same I will not attempt to explain the same nor define its power,
but only state the results of experiments with the same, and leave the deduction of
the correct theory to the future developments of science. First, as distinguished
from superheated steam, superheated steam will char wood while the gas is of a
temperature that will not burn the hand, being probably so tenuous as to be a poor
vehicle of heat. Superheated steam condenses, while the gas does not. Super-
heated steam moreover forms a vapor, while the gas possesses no visibility whatever.
Superheated steam is superheated steam only under a given temperature and
pressure, while the gas is pure and perfect at the lowest pressure. These facts seem

page_text: to indicate that the gas is the result of the radical decomposition of water and a
mixture of oxygen and hydrogen, its primary elements; this may or may not be
the case, but one thing is certain, that if it be so the resolution of the water into
the two gases by this process produces such a change in their relation to each other
as to prevent the explosive recomposition of the same to form water again, which
fact is proved by the use that I make of the spent gas, the same being directly
conducted to the furnace and discharged into, the same to facilitate the draft. This
gas I have supposed to be the same that produces the many unaccountable steam
boiler explosions, but why it should be generated under such circumstances I know
not, as I find that it is only generated under peculiar conditions, which, so far as I
know, do not occur in steam boilers. The essential conditions of its generation
from water are, first, a novel and peculiar mechanical disintegration of water, and
secondly, the quickening of the disintegrated water into the gas by heat, which heat
need not attain the temperature of redness.
I am well aware of the fact that in the generation of superheated steam it is a
common expedient to inject water in the form of a spray or jets against the sides of
a highly-heated generator, and in the course of my experiments I have thus formed
superheated steam, and have found that steam is always the product when the
orifices through which the water is injected are large enough to allow the water to
form into drops; but when the water is injected under pressure through minute
perforations, of a size too small to allow the water to form into drops, an intrinsically
different product from steam is produced possessed of the characteristics above
described to it. The size of perforation necessary to produce this effect should not
exceed that of the finest cambric needle, and they should cover the entire surface of
the bulb, but they may be made indefinitely smaller, as in some of my experiments
I have found that with the employment of hydrostatic pressure the water may be
forced through the natural pores of the metal in a manner to produce the gas to
advantage. From all the facts in my possession, resulting from my experiments, I
have constructed the following theory, i. c., that whenever water is injected into a
generator upon a heated surface through orifices large enough to allow the jet to.
form natural drops it assumes the spheroidal state, and instead of being rent into
the tenuous elementary condition it simply evaporates into superheated steam; but
that when injected through orifices of the diminutive size herein referred to it is
mechanically disintegrated into almost a molecular form, possessing so little bulk
is and such great surface that it does not halt or hesitate in the spheroidal state, but
is instantly burnt or rent into its primary elements with such intense energy as to
drive the said elements beyond the range of chemical affinity.
The construction of the engine will now be described, reference being had to
Figures 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8.
Upon the top plate A² of the generator A is mounted a rigid frame K, to which
are secured three stationary pistons. The piston L is firmly bolted through the
bottom of the frame K to the plate A², and communicates directly with the pipe for
the transmission of the gas from the generator. The pistons L, L', are secured to
the top of the frame K, leaving a space between, a little larger than the diameter of
the piston, so that their centre lines are in the same plane and parallel with the
centre line of the piston L. The heart-shaped block M contains three cylinders
corresponding with the position and size of the pistons, so as to move freely thereon,
and has attached or secured to the same a pin m, commonly called cross-head pin,
to receive one end of a connecting rod N, whereby motion is imparted to the crank
shaft O, of the ordinary construction. The induction passage extends through the
piston L, and is governed by a plug valve L. Similar passages 11, 1, and regulating
valves L, L, are provided for the pistons L', L', by which the gas is permitted to
escape from the upper cylinder.
A rock shaft P, secured to the top plate A³ in suitable bearings or pillow blocks,
receives motion from an eccentric R upon the crank shaft O, which is connected by
a rod to a small rock arm P2 upon the rock shaft P. Another rock arm Pl
transmits the motion to the rod p¹ by the means of the rod p. The rod p¹ connects

page_text: with levers secured to the plugs of valve L and one of the valves L³, the other
valve L³ being operated by the link p³, which is connected with the rod p¹.
It will be seen that all the valves are operated simultaneously, that is to say, when
the valve L is open to allow the gas to enter into the single cylinder, the valves
L³, L³, are also open to permit the escape of the gas from the two upper cylinders;
and, vice versa, when the valve L is shut the valves L³, L³, will also be shut.
A three-way cock or valve T controls small communicating passages t, t, t, between
the cylinder M and the cylinders M, M, and is automatic in its action, a short arm
secured to the plug striking in the reciprocation of the heart-shaped block alter-
nately the adjustable tappets or projections t,1 3, secured to the frame K, and
correspondingly controlling the position of the valve T with respect to the parts t, t, t.
The escape or exhaust pipe U connects the openings in the pistons L', L¹, in such
a manner as to leave sufficient clearance for the vibrations of the connecting rod,
and conducts the escaping gas through the coil G in the furnace A into the chamber
of the bed plate A', and is introduced as a jet to combine with the heated air and
smoke, and when required a fresh supply of atmospheric air to produce perfect
combustion.
Weighted valves H², H2, are provided for the draft connection to prevent a back
pressure into the furnace, and permit the escape of carbonic acid gas.
The cocks I, I, regulate the supply of atmospheric air to promote combustion.
The valve D is for the purpose of regulating the supply of gas from the generator
to the motor, and is provided with a hand wheel d.
V is a pressure gauge which communicates with the generator by means of the
pipe v.
The crank shaft O is mounted upon the plate A³ in suitable bearings or pillow
blocks, and is provided with fly wheels or band wheels 02, 0%
A single acting pump or injector W supplies the required quantity of water to the
generator from a tank or other convenient recepticle. This pump must needs be
single acting and not double acting on account of the peculiar construction of the
engine, a single pulsation of the pump and ejection of water effecting the two
movements of the heart-shaped block by means of a single breath of the pro-
duced gas.
The governor Y regulates the supply of water, and receives motion from a pulley
upon the crank shaft O, similarly to other engine governors now in use.
The cock Z is for the purpose of shutting off the supply of water entirely.
A hand lever W₁ is used on starting the motor, and then the eccentric rod 8 is
thrown in gear with the pin s¹, and the injector is worked by the motor. The
amount of water injected by each stroke of the pump may be regulated by the
pin 8, which may be adjusted in the slot of lever W₁ to produce a longer or a
shorter stroke.
The operation of the engine or motor is as follows :-After fire has been
started in the furnace, and the generator becomes sufficiently heated, water is
injected by means of the hand lever W₁, when almost instantaneously the gas is
generated. The valve D2 is opened, and the gas enters the cylinder M¹ through the
passage L, and forces the heart-shaped block M upwardly away from the piston L.
When it arrives at the limit of its throw or stroke the arm attached to the com-
municating valve T comes in contact with the tappet t', and the cock is opened,
establishing a communication between the cylinder M¹ and the cylinders M², M², by
the passages t, t, t, and the valves L2 and L³, L³, are shut off simultaneously. The
gas passes into the cylinders M², M³, and forces the heart M in the opposite direction.
This is the case by reason of the difference in the areas of pressure between the
upper cylinders and lower one, there being two areas of downward pressure to
one of upward pressure, the gas operating concussively in the lower cylinder for
the upward movement of the heart-shaped block, and expansively in the two upper
cylinders for the downward movement of the same. The moment the heart-shaped
block arrives at the extremity of the return or downward stroke the communi-

page_text: cating valve T is shut off by the tappet 2, and the piston valves are opened simul-
taneously, the valve L³ to furnish a new supply of gas from the generator to the
cylinder M³, and the valves L, L³, to permit the escape or exhaust of the gas from
the cylinders M², M². As soon as the motor has been started the eccentric rod s is
thrown in gear to connect with the pin s¹ of the pump lever W₁, and the injector
is worked by means of the eccentric rod 8. By the reciprocating movement of the
heart M a corresponding rotary movement is imparted to the crank shaft O by
means of the connecting rod N.
It will be seen that the full pressure of the gas is exerted in the cylinder M to
nearly the end of the stroke, and that the gas is then permitted to expand within
all the cylinders, and so exerts an equal pressure in all directions.
Notwithstanding, however, the triple arrangement of the cylinders the holding
capacity of the same cannot by reason of the arrangement of the pistons ever
exceed the volume of two of the cylinders, and while the upward movement of
the heart is effected concussively from a single cylinder the downward movement
is effected by the same gas expansively from two cylinders.
The arrangement of the heart-shaped block with respect to its stationary pistons
secures also other important advantages, in addition to those already described in
that in both the upward and downward movement of the same the resultant line of
draft or strain is coincident with the central line of the heart. The stationary
pistons also enable me to dispense with guides, and I have thus constructed a
simple, novel, and effective engine admirably adapted to the special uses for which
it was designed.
I contemplate using the arrangement of cylinders as presented in the heart-
shaped block with steam as a motive fluid if I find it desirable, and when so used
it may not be necessary to preserve the heart shape, but only the arrangement of
the cylinders contained therein. When used, however, with a gas possessing the
intense energy of that which the motor is more particularly intended to utilize it
will be found that the arrangement of the three cylinders, together with the
addition of sufficient metal to reinforce and strengthen them where they most need
it, will always produce the heart shape.
In addition to the peculiar construction of the motor, as herein-before described,
I would here state that in its organization I have left the old beaten track of
mechanics, and by imitating closely the vital organs with their physiological prin-
ciples have succeeded in constructing a machine, which, while operating upon
correct mechanical principles, is also in structure a reproduction of the human
anatomy, and is in the domain of mechanics the perfect machine that the human
anatomy is in the sphere of vital organisms. The generating cells with their
glands and minute perforations, as more fully described herein-before, represent the
lungs of the machine, into which the water from the injector corresponding to the
venous blood is driven, and there quickened into a vitalized force, which entering
the heart produces, as in the human system, two pulsations or reciprocations to
every breath from the lungs. The cylinders of the heart-shaped block with their
valves represent the auricles and ventricles of the heart, but instead of expanding
and contracting with vital force move integrally and mechanically. The food
of the machine is the fuel consumed, and the ashes and carbonic acid gas
represent the waste products of the body, which escape from the air-tight casc, as
through the skin.
In defining the limits of this Invention, I would have it understood that I do
not confine myself to the precise details shown, as they may be varied in some
particulars without departing from the Invention; neither do I confine myself to
the sole use of the motor with the gas for which it was more particularly designed
as the engine portion, i.e., the arrangement of cylinders and valves in the heart-
shaped block, may be with slight modification well adapted to utilize the expansive
power of steam or other motive fluid.
Having described the nature of the said Invention, and the manner of performing

page_text: the same, I declare that what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters
Patent is,―
1st. The process of producing the intensely energetic non-condensing, non-
explosive gas, as herein described, from water by mechanically disintegrating the
same by forcing it through minute perforations, which are of a size too small to
permit the formation of drops, and the assuming of the spheroidal state, and
injecting it in this condition against the heated surface of a generating cell, sub-
stantially as and for the purpose described.
2nd. The generating cells B', constructed of strong material arranged radially
and communicating with a central compound chamber, in combination with the
water pipe B passing through compound chamber B, and having radial branches
or glands b' entering the generators, and terminating in bulbs provided with minute
perforations, substantially as and for the purpose described.
3rd. The generator cells B¹, compound chamber B, and the contained water pipe
B with glands b¹ in combination with a series of superposed intensifier cells C
connected with chamber B through pipes 63, and communicating with each
other through perforated diaphragms c, substantially as and for the purpose
described.
4th. The air-tight chamber A having a hollow base, and containing the generators
and furnace, in combination with the air pipe I having cock I¹ and the smoke pipe
H communicating with the furnace above and the hollow base below, as and for the
purpose described.
5th. The combination with the case A having a hollow base of the waste pipe G
coiled about the genreators, and leading through the hollow base to the furnace, as
and for the purpose described.
6th. The combination with the case, having a hollow base and an air pipe I and
smoke pipe H communicating therewith, of the waste pipe G leading through the
hollow base to the furnace, and adapted to feed the air and smoke to the same by
induction, substantially as described.
7th. The combination with a set of pistons of a case or block containing cylinders,
arranged as described, and connected by valves and ports so as to permit the
motive fluid to operate concussively on the smallest area of pressure, and expan-
sively upon the largest for the return stroke, substantially as and for the purpose
described.
8th. The combination of a set of stationary pistons, arranged as described, and
having ports for the induction and discharge of the motive fluid of a reciprocating
case containing cylinders corresponding to the pistons arranged for different areas of
pressure for the different strokes, and connected by a valve and ports, substantially
as and for the purpose described.
9th. The stationary pistons L¹ having discharge ports l' and the stationary piston
L having the induction ports in combination with the heart-shaped block M
having cylinders M1, M2, arranged as described, and connected by valve T through
ports t, as and for the purpose described.
10th. The reciprocating case containing three or more cylinders, arranged as
described, with different areas of pressure for the different movements, and con-
nected by ports in combination with the plug valve T having a projecting arm and
the stationary tappets t1, t2, for the purpose of effecting a communication.between
the cylinders, substantially as described.
11th. The reciprocating case M carrying the cylinders and the stationary pistons
L, L, having the induction and discharge ports, in combination with the valves L³, L³,
and the connecting rods p, p¹, p², receiving motion from a rock shaft eccentric
or other suitable mechanism for imparting reciprocating motion for the purpose
described.
12th. The combination with the crank shaft O and a pitman N of the recipro-
cating heart-shaped block M moving upon its stationary pistons as guides, and
having a cross head pin m, substantially as and for the purpose described.
13th. The stationary solid pistons, arranged as described, and having central

page_text: induction and discharge ports with controlling valves, substantially as and for the
purpose set forth.
In witness whereof; I, the said Alexander Melville Clark, have hereunto set
'my hand and seal, this Eleventh day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and seventy-six.
A
AT
DT
A. M. CLARK.
CLARK. (L.B.)