IMPROVEMENTS IN AIR ENGINES AND PUMPS
Year: 1881

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Ernest Major at the Office of the
Commissioners of Patents on the 11th March 1881.
ERNEST MAJOR, of Shanghai, China, and temporarily of St. James's, in the
County of Middlesex, Gentleman. "IMPROVEMENTS IN AIR ENGINES AND
PUMPS."
My Invention relates to improvements in engines to be driven by the expansive
force of heated air.
According to one arrangement this engine consists of a paddle wheel made to
revolve inside a suitably shaped chamber, in which, on one side of a plane passing
through the centre of the wheel, the air would by application of heat be filled with
compressed air, gases, or steam. A stream of water or other fluid will be made to.
flow round by the revolving paddle wheel inside the chamber, passing in and out
from the high pressure part to the low pressure part of the chamber, but diverging
at different parts from the orbit of the paddle. At that part where the paddles
pass from the low pressure to the high pressure part of the chamber the sides or
walls of the chamber will fit close to the outer and inner edges of the paddles, and
on the opposite side, where they pass from the high towards the non pressure part,
a space will be left between the wall of the chamber and the outer edge of the
paddles to enable the circulating stream of water to leave a larger space than on
the other side between each paddle for the exit of compressed and heated air.
The stream of water will then further diverge from the orbit of the paddles to
enable the heated air to expand from its initial tension to the lower tension of the
air in the low pressure part of chamber and give its full force to the machine.
In the case of the wheel being used for the single purpose of letting out the
compressed air, the stream of water after gaining the outer orbit of the circum-
ference of the paddle wheel will be sufficient to fill up the entire space between the
paddles, and be made to rejoin the entire orbit of said paddle, and thus fill up the
+paces on their return to the high pressure part of the chamber, the hot air being
forced out from between the internal edges of said paddles. But if the wheel be
used for the double purpose of letting out the bot air and forcing in cold from and
into the high pressure part of the chamber, the stream of water would in such case

page_text: not be sufficient to fill up the spaces on the return of the paddles to the high
pressure part. The stream would in such case be made to flow round in the low
pressure part in a path or course beyond the outer orbit of the wheel, leaving room
for the hot air to be carried off from the spaces between the paddles from the outer
circumference of the wheel, to replace which a stream of cold air would be intro-
duced from the inner circumference line sufficient to fill up such portion of the
paddle spaces left by the water. At a suitable point of contact with the stream of
water the internal entry of the spaces between the paddles would be shut by
passing the wall of the chamber, and as the water drew still closer to the centre
the cold air would be compressed to a tension corresponding to that of the hot air
in high pressure part of the chamber before being forced therein. The course of
the stream of water in repassing through the high pressure part of the chamber
would also be made to diverge from the orbit of the paddles in suitable and similar
ways to allow of the cold air being taken off in one direction to be heated, and of
hot air refilling the spaces to work the machine.
Another system is to have two paddle wheels revolving in opposite directions,
the paddles of which shall pass round chambers fitted to their orbits, and which
said paddles at one part of their respective orbits shall intersect or overlap each
other as they pass by. Heated air would be introduced into the spaces between
the paddles at the point where they overlapped, and as the paddles of both wheels
diverged from each other in their respective paths the heated air introduced after
compressing the air brought in between the spaces to its own tension would expand
and give motive force to the paddle wheels. Or cold air could be introduced in &
compressed state between the spaces from the point of overlapping into a chamber
to be heated, and from thence let off to escape so heated in the space between the
paddles at a point where the paddles did not overlap.
In the case of using this double paddle wheel arrangement as a pump for water
I would take in water between the spaces of the paddles when away from the point
of overlapping. As they gradually overlapped one half of the water would be
taken away in a channel for the purpose required, and the other half carried round
to be brought round again and united with fresh water. The paddle wheels I
would either work by motive force applied to their axles or by introducing com-
pressed air between the spaces of the paddles as the paddles diverged from each
other after having given up half the water between their spaces.
Another arrangement I would use in connection with my air engines for forcing
air in to be heated or letting heated air out would be a long drum piston working
in a long cylinder, the said drum piston exceeding in length the length of stroke,
and the said piston working air-tight in the cylinder at the end of the drum
farthest from that part of the cylinder where the air was compressed (if forcing it
in), or allowed to expand (if letting it out). I would also in the case of letting
heated air out introduce before each outward stroke sufficient compressed cold air
to fill up the small space between the drum and the sides of the cylinder (the said
drum, except at one end, not fitting tight to the cylinder). Thus, by this arrange-
ment, that part of the drum piston working air tight in the cylinder would work
in a part of the cylinder which would not be reached by the heated air, and by the
said further introduction of cold air the said part of the cylinder would also be
kept free from any dirt or impurities contained in air heated by internal
combustion.