IMPROVEMENTS IN AND RELATING TO MOTOR ENGINES TO BE WORKED BY STEAM AND AIR
Year: 1881

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edward Magruder Strange, of the City of Baltimore, in
the State of Maryland, one of the United States of America, Engineer, for
an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN AND RELATING TO MOTOR ENGINES TO
BE WORKED BY STEAM AND AIR."
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said Edward Magruder Strange at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 15th February 1881.
EDWARD MAGRUDER STRANGE, of the City of Baltimore, in the State of Mary-
land, one of the United States of America, Engineer. "IMPROVEMENTS IN AND
RELATING TO MOTOR ENGINES TO BE WORKED BY STEAM AND AIR."
The object of my said Invention is to utilize atmospheric air with the steam
generated or expanded by the heat evolved in the compression of the air as an
expansive medium for producing motion. The preferable apparatus for utilizing these
agencies is illustrated by the accompanying Drawing, but they can be utilized by any
suitable mechanical device. The first part of my said Invention consists in the
combination with a steam generator or boiler of an engine in which one side only
of its piston is acted on by steam from the said boiler, the other side of the said
piston being used to compress air, which is combined with the steam and used
in connection therewith to operate the engine. The second part of my said
Invention consists in enclosing or partially enclosing an air compressing cylinder
with a water jacket, and using the steam generated in said water jacket by the
heat evolved in the compression of the air with the air for the propulsion of the
engine piston. In the further description of my said Invention, which follows, refer-
ence is made to the accompanying Drawing forming a part hereof, and in which
Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of a steam generator and the cylinder and other parts
of an engine connected by pipes, and embodying my improvements; Figure II. is a
transverse section of the engine cylinder at v, v; Figure III. is a similar section at
w, w; Fig. IV. is a cross section of the cylinder at x, x. Similar letters of
reference indicate: similar parts in all the views. A is an ordinary steam boiler.
or generator; B is an engine cylinder, one end of which is connected to the steam
space of the boiler by means of a steam pipe a and a steam chest 6 having suitable
[Price 6d.]

page_text: valves for controlling the movement of steam to and from the cylinder. The other
end of the cylinder is fitted with a hollow head C, having an induction valve c to
supply the cylinder with air at one stroke of the piston, and an eduction valve d
for discharging the compressed air on the return stroke of the piston to a pipe e in
communication with the steam pipe a, or to the outer air through the pipe f under
circumstances hereinafter described. The compressed air may however be delivered
to the water space of the boiler, or to a point within the boiler above the water
line, in which latter case it commingles directly with the steam, the same as when
introduced to the steam pipe, as before described. The water jacket before alluded
to is formed of an exterior casing g, separated from the cylinder proper by a body
of water in communication by means of a pipe h with the water space of the boiler,
or with any other source of water supply. It will be understood that the engine
piston is actuated by the combined steam and air in one direction only, the return
stroke of the piston being effected, as in all single acting non-condensing engines,
by the momentum of the fly wheel. Parts of the Invention, not yet alluded to, will
be described and their uses fully set forth in the description of the operation of my
Invention, which follows:-Supposing the cylinder B to be filled with air at the
atmospheric pressure admitted to the cylinder through the induction valve c, and tlie
piston commencing its compressing stroke, the resistance at first met with by the
piston is comparatively slight, but as the piston advances the air pressure is increased
until an equilibrium of pressure upon the two sides of the piston is obtained. The
combined steam and air now ceases to act as a motor, and the remainder of the
compression and the entire return stroke of the piston is consequently effected by
the momentum of the fly wheel, which brings the piston to its starting point, to be
again propelled by the combined steam and air, as before described. The com-
pressed air has two avenues of escape from the hollow head C, viz., one to the
steam pipe a, in which it is mixed with the steam and used in connection there-
with, as before described, and the other through a waste valve i in the pipe fto
the open air. The valve i is usually open when the engine is first started, and the
air to reach the said valve has to pass around or through a chamber k and over
and across the valve l, as shewn by the arrow in dotted lines. When the air is to
be utilized the waste valve i is closed, and the means of exit is then through the
valve to the interior of the water jacket, passing in its course over or through the
body of water in said jacket, as shown by the arrows in full lines. In this latter
movement of the air steam is generated by the direct contact of the air with the
water in the jacket, which steam, with that resulting from the heating of the walls
of the cylinder by the compressed air, is commingled with the air in its passage to
the steam pipe. In the foregoing description it will be seen that in all the different
modes of applying the compressed air to the steam side of the piston, the heat
evolved in its compression is used to both generate steam and superheat that
already generated, thereby increasing the expansive force of the steam and its
capacity to resist the refrigerating or cooling effect of its contact with the surfaces
of the cylinder and attachments. I do not confine myself to any special construc-
tion and arrangement of the various valves employed to control the movement of
the steam and air, or to any particular means for operating those which are not
moved automatically. The exhaust steam and air pipe, which is represented at m,
may lead either to the outer air or to another larger cylinder, where it is used to
propel a second piston, thus introducing the well known compound principle, with
this difference only, that the propelling medium is a mixture of air and steam
instead of steam alone.
Having thus described and ascertained the nature of my said Invention, what I
claim is,―
1st. In combination with a steam generator an engine cylinder, one end of
which is adapted as an air compressor to force air to the said generator, and with
this view connected to the said generator by means of a suitable air pipe having a
valve therein opening towards the said generator, the other end of the said
cylinder being connected to the steam space of the generator through the medium

page_text: of appropriate pipes and valve openings, substantially as and for the purpose herein
specified.
2nd. In combination with a steam generator an engine cylinder, one end of
which is in communication with the steam space of the said generator, the other
end of the said cylinder being used as an air compressor and adapted to force air
to the steam pipe of the engine, or to the steam chest of the said engine, substan-
tially as herein specified.
3rd. In combination with a steam generator, an air compressing cylinder, sur-
rounded or partially surrounded by a water jacket, the water of which has means
of communication with the water in the boiler or other source of water supply,
and also with the steam of the boiler at boiler or cylinder pressure, substantially
as herein specified.
4th. In combination with a steam generator, an air compressing cylinder sur-
rounded or partially surrounded by a water jacket, the water of which is in
communication with the steam from the said boiler, substantially as herein
specified.
5th. In combination with an engine cylinder, an air compressing cylinder
surrounded by a water jacket with appropriate pipes for conducting the com-
pressed air, and the steam generated in said water jacket by the heat from the
compressed air to the said engine cylinder, substantially as herein specified.
In testimony whereof, I, the said Edward Magruder Strange, have hereunto
set my hand and affixed my seal, this Nineteenth day of January, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and eighty one.
Witnesses,
WILLIAM I. HOWARD.
HARRY V. ALBAUGH,
EDWARD MAGRUDER STRANGE. (L.S.)