IMPROVEMENTS IN TRANSMITTING THE MOTION OF STEAM ENGINES
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Lucien Vidie, of Paris, France, Gentleman, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN TRANSMITTING THE MOTION OF STEAM
ENGINES."
Sealed the 11th April 1860, and dated the 17th October 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Lucien. Vidie at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 17th October
1859.
I, LUCIEN VIDIE, of Paris, France, Gentleman, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN TRANSMITTING THE MOTION
OF STEAM ENGINES," to be as follows, that is to say :-
My Invention consists in the employment of a drum or cylinder having a
continuous screw thread or groove, formed angularly or zig-zag (thus VVV),
around its axis; in this groove runs a small roller attached to a crosshead
or piece, fixed to the upper end of the piston rod. Upon this piece are
three or more guide rollers, which run in suitable guides for guiding the piston
rod in its to-and-fro motion; thus, when the piston rod moves forward, the
small roller upon the end thereof will run up a portion of the zig-zag or
angular groove, formed around the surface of the cylinder, and in its return
motion will run in the portion of the groove which is in the contrary direction,
and so alternately through each portion of the groove, thus giving to the
cylinder a rotatory motion. The screw thread or groove, instead of being
turned angularly at the end of each stroke of the piston rod, is rounded off

page_text: to soften the change of motion of the piston rod, which takes place at
that part.
If it is desired to communicate motion in an opposite direction to two
axles at the same time having one common rotatory motion, one crosshead
may be employed at the end of the piston rod, such crosshead having a roller
at each extremity acting on two drums; the guide may then be dispensed
with. Around the cylinder is a groove of a suitable form acting as a cam
for giving the alternate motion to the slide valve, the rod of which suitably
guided is worked by a small roller running in the groove.
I would observe that the use of rollers above described is for the purpose of
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Lucien Vidie in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 16th
April 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, LUCIEN
VIDIE, of Paris, France, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-third year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Lucien Vidie, Her special licence that I, the said Lucien Vidie,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Lucien
Vidie, 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 of "IMPROVEMENTS IN TRANSMITTING
THE MOTION OF STEAM ENGINES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said Lucien Vidie, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under my, or their, or one of their bands and seals, should par-
ticularly 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 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 Lucien Vidie, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be

page_text: performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement, reference being had to the Drawing hereto annexed, and
to the figure and letters marked thereon, that is to say :-
My Invention has for its object the transmitting of the motion of steam
engines in the following manner, and consists in forming on a drum or
cylinder two similar continuous hollow or projecting threads a, a, in contrary
directions, in an inclined or angular position relative to the axis. These
threads being pressed by the piston rod b, the cylinder is forced to revolve.
The rod 6 upon arriving at the end of its stroke, meets with the thread
running in the opposite direction; in its downward stroke it causes the
cylinder to turn, and in its return stroke it engages in the first thread, and so
on continuously.
The annexed Drawing represents a front view of the surface of the cylinder.
The threads a, a, instead of meeting angularly, are rounded off or jointed
together by means of curved pieces c, c, in order to soften the change of
motion from the up to the down stroke; if a very slow motion is required, a
greater number of threads than two can be arranged on the cylinder. The
rod for turning the cylinder sideways requires to be substantially guided. To
lessen the friction, it must be provided with small rollers, with two, for
instance, one working against the thread of the cylinder, and the other above
it within a straight groove. For this purpose, I prefer to fix a piece of
a T form, d, d, d, d, at the end of the rod, as shewn in the Figure, with four
small rollers, one roller e mounted upon a stud or pin in the middle, to turn
the cylinder, a second roller fon one end, working in or upon one of the
guides h, and two other rollers g, g, working upon the opposite guide h. I
can, if preferred, make use of a single guide, having a small roller working
on one side, and two other small rollers on the opposite side. It is thus
possible with at least four small rollers to place in the same plane the pro-
pelling roller and the guiding rollers, and to give to that part of the apparatus
a firm position. If it be required to communicate the motion to two axes at
the same time in a different position, it is necessary to place at the end of the
rod a cross piece, similar to the ordinary crosshead of an engine, and to
mount at each extremity of the cross piece a small roller for working or
turning each cylinder. If the axes are not dependent upon one another,
they may be made so by means of cog wheels. As the threads of the cylinder
require to be made with great precision, especially at the return points, the
internal or external part of the threads at those points may be made of a
separate piece, so as to be enabled to be brought close together in case of
I propose for this system, in order to cause the action of the moving
wear.

page_text: parts of the distribution of steam, to place round the cylinder à groove m of
such a form that it will act as a cam for causing the alternate motion of the
slide valve, the rod n of which is provided with a small roller o, running in
the groove, as shewn in the Figure.
The several arrangements herein-before described have been employed for
several kinds of engines, but to the best of my belief they have never yet
been applied to steam engines, as herein described, and which can be effected
in certain cases most advantageously.
Having now described my Invention and the manner of carrying the same
into effect, I would have it understood that I do not confine myself to the
precise details of construction, provided the main feature or principle of my
Invention be retained; but what I claim as my Invention, and intend to be
protected by the herein in part recited Letters Patent, is,-
First, the mode of transmitting motion to steam engines by means of a
cylinder or cylinders having screw threads thereupon, following each other
alternately in an opposite direction, and which are pressed by a moving
piece or crosshead, as herein-before described and represented in the
Drawing.
Secondly, the making on such cylinder or cylinders of a curved piece, the
portion of a screw thread or tract (one of the sides being movable to allow
for wear), for the passage of the roller from one thread to the other, as herein-
before described and represented in the Drawing.
Thirdly, the employment of a frame or crosshead having three or more
rollers for guiding the piston rod on the cylinder, as herein-before described
and shewn in the Drawing.
Fourthly, the application of a crosshead, having a small roller at each
.extremity for acting upon two cylinders at the same time, as herein-before
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Lucien Vidie, have hereto set my hand
and seal, this Fourteenth day of April, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty.
L. VIDIE. (L.8.)