IMPROVEMENTS IN ROTATORY STEAM ENGINES
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Claude Moret, of 39, Rue de l'Echiquier, Paris, in
the Empire of France, and of 4, South Street, Finsbury, London,
Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN ROTATORY STEAM
ENGINES."
Sealed the 7th October 1856, and dated the 19th April 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Claude Moret at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
19th April 1856.
I, CLAUDE MORET, of 39, Rue de l'Echiquier, Paris, in the Empire of
France, and of 4, South Street, Finsbury, London, Engineer, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN ROTATORY STEAM
ENGINES," to be as follows, that is to say :-
This Invention consists, first, in a shaft provided with a two-way cock of a
peculiar construction; and, secondly, in the mode of admitting steam to the
same.
In this machine the steam enters by a slide valve, placed above or below
the upper or lower casing. The steam from the boiler passes into the steam
box, and is conducted to the shaft by two pipes cast in the casing. The shaft
is hollow at the part included between the stoppers, which part is separated
into two by a diaphragm, so that the steam ingress takes place at one side and
the egress at the other, and vice versa.

page_text: DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Figures 1 and 2 are sectional views of the engine. A, framework of the
machine, Figures 1 and 2; L', L, bearings of the engine shaft; B1, B3,
exterior casing forming the cylinder; C, interior casing; F, iron shaft of the
machine; E, piston in segment, fixed on the shaft; D1, D2, moveable cylinder
slides, forming the bottom of the cylinder; G¹, G³, stuffing boxes; H', H³,
steam chambers; 1', I, branch shaft for the cylinder slides; K, K², standards
supporting the above shaft; M, excentrics, fixed on the shaft F, and giving
movement to the branch rods, to which it communicates motion to the cylinder
plates; N, roller for the excentric, fixed at the end of the rods; O, connecting
pieces of the cylinder slides; Q, crosshead for making the cylinder slides;
T, steam port of the slide; U, slide box; V, egress of the steam; X, opening
ports for the admission of steam leading to the slides; Y, steam reservoir;
Z', flange, forming springs for the joints.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Claude Moret in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
16th October 1856..
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CLAUDE
MORET, of 39, Rue de l'Echiquier, Paris, in the Empire of France, and of
4, South Street, Finsbury, London, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth day of April, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the nineteenth year of Her reign, did,
for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said Claude
Moret, Her special license that I, the said Claude Moret, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Claude Moret, 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 ROTATORY STEAM
ENGINES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Claude Moret,
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 performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great

page_text: 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 Claude Moret, do hereby declare 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
thereof, reference being had to the Drawing hereto annexed, and to the figures
and letters marked thereon, that is to say:-
These improvements consist, first, in constructing the main shaft or axis
with two steam passages, in the manner of a two-way cock; secondly, in the
method of regulating the ingress and egress of the steam.
Figure 1, on the accompanying Sheet of Drawings, represents a vertical
section, and Figure 2 a plan, in partial section, of the improved rotatory engine:
A is the cast-iron base plate; and A', the standards, formed with supporting
ribs or brackets A"; L, L, are the bearings, in which work the main shaft F.
This shaft, which passes through the stuffing boxes G1, G2, on the cylinder.
cover, is constructed with two passages 62, 63, in the manner of a two-way
cock working in a socket; as the shaft rotates it allows the alternate ingress
and egress of steam. B', B³, are the covers or casings of the cylinder C, of a
smaller diameter in the centre, composed of cast iron or other metal, and
formed with flanges bolted or otherwise fixed to the covers; X', X%, are two
steam passages cast in the cylinder covers, which passages communicate with
the slide valve T, and with the steam chambers Y', Y, from which the steam
enters through the lateral openings a', a³, into the passages b', 62, of the main
shaft. The slide valve steam chest U is attached to the cylinder, above or
below which it may be placed. The valve rod T passes through a stuffing
box t, and is put in action by means of a lever S, to which it is fixed, working
on a stud pin at the lower part. The upper part is provided with an anti-
friction roller, which rotates in a grooved cam R, keyed or otherwise fixed on
the main shaft. U is the feed steam pipe, communicating from the slide
valve steam box U to the boiler; D¹, D, are the steam slides, fixed to rods o,
working in stuffing boxes P on the cylinder casing. These rods are secured
by nuts or other means to the cross heads Q. At each extremity of the latter
are fixed the connecting rods J, J, fastened (as well as the vertical levers
J, J) to a stud pin J". On the end of the stud pin is an antifriction
roller N, rotating in a grooved cam M, fast on the main shaft, thus giving
motion to the slides. The levers J', J¹, are secured to the horizontal shaft I,
working in bearings K', K. E, Figure 2, is a segment of the piston which
rotates in the cylinder; H, H', are cylindrical plugs or pieces, fitting steam-
tight on the main shaft, and pressing against a spring placed between rings or

page_text: washers Z, Z; V is the exhaust port or opening. The steam enters from
the boiler through the feed pipe U¹ into the slide valve steam chest, from
which it passes into the ingress port up the passage X¹, thence into the
chamber Y¹ through the opening a, and along the internal part of the main
shaft into the cylinder, where it causes the piston to rotate. The steam slide
being withdrawn allows the piston to pass, and at the same time the waste
steam escapes through the opening 6* into the passage X3 and out at the
port V; a reverse action then takes place. In fitting the machine together, the
joints are covered with red lead so as to render it steam-tight. The cam R
allows the steam to be worked expansively.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and the manner in
which the same is to be performed, I would have it understood that I do not
confine myself to the precise details herein laid down; but what I claim is,
First, the general arrangement and construction of the rotatory engine, as
herein-before described, and referred to in the accompanying Drawings.
Secondly, the mode of constructing the main shaft, cylinder, and mechanism
for actuating the steam valve and slides, as herein-before described, and repre-
sented in the annexed Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Claude Moret, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Seventh day of October, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
CLAUDE MUKEI. (L.S.)