IMPROVEMENTS IN MOTIVE-POWER ENGINES
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Justice, of Dundee, in the County of Forfar,
North Batam, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MOTIVE-POWER
ENGINES."
Sealed the 11th January 1867, and dated the 14th July 1866
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Justice at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 14th
July 1866.
I, WILLIAM JUSTICE, of Dundee, in the County of Forfar, North Britain, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MOTIVE-
POWER ENGINES," to be as follows, that is to say:-
This Invention relates essentially to a certain new mode of arranging or
constructing several parts of motive-power engines which are diven by water,
steam, or compressed air or gas, by which the action and efficiency of this
class of machinery is made more perfect than heretofore. The engine as
particularly constructed under this Invention consists of a box or chamber in
which three revolving cylinders are placed; the axles of these cylinders pass
through or beyond the sides of the chamber, and at one end are geared into
each other by spur wheels or pinions. The other half of the axles is made
hollow, and their extremities pass through a water box with a cock or valve
in it, by which the flow into the moving parts of the engine is regulated
the three cylinders constituting the moving parts the two outer ones are
formed with a tongue on them, which bears continuously against the inner
Of

page_text: face of two cylinders formed by the case before mentioned; an opening passes
from the passage in the axles of these two outer cylinders, and its outer edge
is situated nearly close to one side of the tongue herein-before referred to.
The central revolving cylinder rotates at the same rate as and in contact
with the two outer ones, and in it a recess is formed, into which the tongue
falls as each of them approach each other during each revolution. The
central revolving cylinder thus forms as it were a continuous abutment for the
actuating liquid or fluid to press against, thus forming a shoulder, from which
the pressure is transmitted to the tongue on the two driving cylinders. As
soon as the two driving cylinders have nearly completed a revolution, the
tongue passes over a port through which the water which has caused the
revolution continuously escapes without any interruption. As the frictional
contact of the outer edge of the tongue against the inner surface of the
cylinder would cause the edge to be worn away, to prevent this a leather
packing is placed over the tongue, against which the water or other liquid or
fluid presses, and thus the action of the liquid or fluid keeps the revolving
cylinder without leak against the inner surface of the cylinder.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Justice in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
12th January 1867.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
JUSTICE, of Dundee, in the County of Forfar, North Britain, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourteenth day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the thirtieth year of Iler reign,
did, for erself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
William Justice, Her special license that I, the said William Justice,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
William Justice, my executors, administrators, or assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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 "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN MOTIVE-POWER ENGINES," upon the condition (amongst others) that
1, the said William Justice, my executors or administrators, by an instrument
writing under my hand and seal, should particularly describe and ascertain

page_text: 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 l'atent Office
within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Justice, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, reference being had to the accompanying Diawings, and to the
letters and figuies marked thereon, that is to say.-
My said Invention relates essentially to a certain new mode of arranging
or constructing several parts of motive-power engines which are driven by
water, steam, or compressed air or gas, by which the action and efficiency of
this class of machinery is made more perfect than heretofore. The engine
as particularly constructed under this Invention consists of a box or chamber
In which three revolving cylinders are placed, the axles of these cylinders pass
through o beyond the sides of the chamber, and at one end are geared into
each other by spur wheels or pinions. The other half of the axles is made
hollow, and their extremities pass through a water or steam box with a cock or
valve in it, by which the flow into the moving parts of the engine is regulated.
Of the three cylinders constituting the moving parts the two outer ones are
formed with a tongue on them, which bears continuously against the inner
face of two cylinders formed by the case before mentioned; an opening passes
from the passage in the axles of the two outer cylinders, and its outer edge is
Situated nearly close to one side of the tongue herein-before referred to. The
central revolving cylinder rotates at the same rate as and in contact with the
two outer ones, and in it a recess is formed, into which the tongue falls as
each of them approach each other during each revolution. The central re-
volving cylinder thus forms as it were a continuous abutment for the actuating
liquid or fluid to press against, forming a shoulder, from which the pressure
is transmitted to the tongue on the two driving cylinders. As soon as the
driving cylinders have nearly completed a revolution the tongue passes over a
port through which the water which has caused the rotation continuously
escapes without any interruption. As the fictional contact of the outer edge
of the tongue against the inner surface of the cylinder would cause the edge
to be worn away, to prevent this a leather packing is placed over the tongue,
against which the water or other liquid or fluid presses, and thus the action of
the liquid or fluid keeps the revolving cylinder continuously without leak
against the inner surface of the cylinder
And in order that my said Invention may be properly understood, I now

page_text: proceed more particularly to specify the system, mode, or manner in or under
which the same is or may be used or practically carried into effect, reference
being had, for the sake of more complete elucidation, to the several Figures
upon the two explanatory Sheets of Drawings which I have hereunto
appended, that is to say.-
On Sheet 1, Figure 1 is an end elevation of the engine, showing the
external arrangement; Figure 2 is a transverse section of the same, and
Figure 8 a horizontal section, the last two Figures, viz, Figures 2 and 3,
showing the internal arrangement.
Upon referring to those Drawings on Sheet 1 it will be seen that the
casing A of the engine consists of a triple cylindric arrangement, in which
the three pistons B, C, and D (Figures 2 and 3) revolve. The casing is
secured by bolts E passing through flanches on its lower side to the sole
plate F. Steam is admitted into the cylinders, so as to act on and cause the
revolution of the working parts of the engine in the following manner :-The
steam pipe G is in direct communication with the steam boiler or generator,
be
and at any convenient part of its length the throttle valve II, which may
of any suitable construction, is applied, by which the supply of steam to the
engine is regulated. The portion of the steam pipe beyond the valve H
extends to and is connected with two other steam pipes I and K, Figures 1
and 3, the pipe K being provided with a smaller throttle valve L, the purpose
of which will beein-after be more duectly specified. On the steam being
admitted through the steam pipes (taking the case where both throttle valves
are open) it passes into the spaces a and b respectively surrounding the
tubular spindles, whence it travels forward through the ports c down through
the tubular shafts N and O to the pistons Band D; on arriving at the pistons
the steam escapes through the ports d into the concentric space of the cylinder
surrounding them, where it acts against the tongues or vanes P, the central
roller or piston C forming an abutment, from which the steam acts in forcing
against the tongues or vanes P, thereby causing the revolution of the engine.
The three rolling pistons B, C, and D are made of exactly identical diameters,
so that in evolving no change in the relation of the position of their cir-
cumference with each other can occur, the exact relative position being
maintained continually the same by means of the spur pinions Q, R, and S,
at the outer portions of one end of the spindles gearing into each other On
efening again to Figures 2 and 3 it will be seen that in order to allow the
tongues or vanes P freedom to revolve continuously, provisiou must be made to
allow them to clear the abutment piston C, this is effected by means of the
recess T in the piston C being so fixed that the tongue is brought immediately

page_text: into it on the approach of either of the tongues or vanes towards the central
piston. The recess T is so shaped that by the mutual rolling of the pistons
the tongues or vanes disengage themselves as soon as they have passed
through the length of their rotation equivalent to that of the contact or pro-
jection of the vanes against the central roller One recess in the central
roller is sufficient, as the tongues or vanes on the two rollers are arranged in
immediately opposite positions on the two pistons C and D, so that, as shown
at Figure 2, whilst one of the tongues or vanes lies in the recess T, the other
vane or tongue in the other piston lies in the position of a half revolution
from that of the first vane or tongue moving on towards the central portion,
so as to enter the recess as soon as the corresponding portion of a revolution
brings round the three pistons to a position the opposite of that shown in
Figure 2. The exhaust of the steam is provided for in the following manner.
The steam escaping down and actuating the piston B occupies the space
between the abutment or centre piston C and the tongue or vane P, whatever
may be the position of the vane during each revolution until the vane
passes the edge of one exhaust port U; the steam used then for actuating the
piston B entirely escapes through the port U, and in a similar manner the
steam for actuating the other piston D escapes through the other exhaust
port V, which is carried round, as shown at Figure 2, to unite with the first
exhaust port, the steam from both issuing into the joint exhaust pipe W.
Provision is made for working the steam expansively by the introduction of
lugs or bars in the cavities a and b surrounding the ports, by which the steam
enters the spindle of the revolving pistons B and C. The lugs or bars for
regulating the cut-off are more particularly shown at the transverse section,
Figures 4 and 5, on referring to which it will be seen that as the steam
port c passes through that part of its revolution in which it is closed by the
cut-off lug no steam can escape into the piston, therefore by making these
lugs of any desired width the cut-off may at any time be correspondingly
regulated, and the engine thus caused to work expansively. When it is
desired not to utilize the whole power of the engine, the second throttle valve
on one of the steam pipe branches is closed, in which case the steam acts
only on one of the revolving pistons. The spindles of the three revolving
pistons are made slightly taper, as shown in the horizontal section, Figure 2, so
as to allow of the wear of the spindles, as well as the bushes surrounding them
being easily taken up at any time by screwing in the glands X at their outer
ends. The glands are maintained firmly in position by the check nuts e. At
the end of the engine where the steam is taken in the boxes f (containing the
cavities from which the steam passes into the port leading to the passage at

page_text: the centre of the spindle) are kept in position and their covers 9 by means of
the pressure produced upon them by the cross beam Y being tightened by a
nut or nuts h.
On Sheet 2 of my Drawings, Figure 1 is a transverse section of a single-
acting engine constructed in accordance with my Invention. From what has
been heicin-before set forth in reference to the Figures on Sheet 1, the mode
of working this second modification of my Invention will be fully understood;
the engine is shown in this Figure in a position of its rotation wherein the
exhaust is taking place, the steam being cut off during this period by means
of the lugs or bars previously referred to under the first modification of this
Invention.
Figure 2, Sheet 2, is a transverse section of another arrangement of double-
acting engine constructed in accordance with this Invention, but in which the
cential abutment piston is dispensed with. The two mistone roll on each
other, and thus constitute a mutual steam abutment. In this modification of
my Invention the steam is admitted into one piston only at a time, the steami
issuing fills the space between the vanes or tongues P, and causes them to
rotate in opposite directions. In reference to this Figure when the steam
issues from the piston A the exhaust port T is closed, and the steam cxhausts
through the port U, but as the engine is reversible, that is to say, it is
capable of being worked in opposite directions, then when it is desired to
dive it in the direction opposite to that shown in the Figure, the steam is
turned into the piston B instead of A, in which case the engine revolves in
an opposite direction. When the engine is actuated in the direction last
referred to the exhaust port T is opened, and the other exhaust port U is
closed. The exhaust ports T and U may be opened or closed by any
apparatus which may be found convenient for that purpose.
It is to be understood that engines of the kind and arrangement herein-
before set forth are under this Invention to be adapted to the propulsion of
ships and locomotive purposes on land as well as stationary engines.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and the manner
in which the same is or may be used or practically carried into effect, I
would observe in conclusion that what I consider novel and onginal, and
therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the herein-before in part
recited Letters Patent is,-
First, the general arrangement and construction of motive-power engines,
as herein-before descubed, or any mere modification thereof.
Second, the application and use of revolving pistons, either double-acting
or single-acting, from which the steam escapes to act between a vane or

page_text: tongue fixed thereto and the abutment piston, for the purpose of imparting
rotation to the engine, as herein-before described, or any mere modification
thereof.
Thud, the use and introduction of the central abutment piston in engines
of the class herein-before described, or any mere modification thereof.
Fourth, the arrangement and construction of engines which are reversible,
and in which the steam causes the piston to rotate in opposite directions, the
body of each piston forming the abutment from which the steam actuates the
opposite piston, as herein-before described, or any mere modification thereof.
In witness whereof, I, tho said William Justice, have hereunto set my
band and seal, this Eighth day of January, One thousand eight
hundred and sixty-seven.
Witness,
ST. JOHN VINCENT DAY, C E.,
Patent Offices,
166, Buchanan Street,
Glasgow.
WILLIAM JUSTICE. (LS)