IMPROVEMENTS IN APPA- RATUS FOR COMPRESSING AND EXPANDING ERIPORM FLUIDS
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Jameson, of 10, Catherine Terrace, Gateshead,
in the County of Durham, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPA-
RATUS FOR COMPRESSING AND EXPANDING ERIPORM FLUIDS."
Scaled the 1st September 1858, and dated the 13th March 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Jameson at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 13th
March 1858. .
I, JOHN JAMESON, of 10, Catherine Terrace, Gateshead, in the County of
Durham, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN APPARATUS FOR COMPRESSING AND EXPANDING RIFORM FLUIDS," to be as
follows:-
It is a well known fact, that the application of heat to elastic fluid con-
tained in a close vessel produces an increase of pressure therein, and apparatus
has at various times been proposed for deriving mechanical advantage from
the pressure so produced, namely, what are known as air or gas engines;
hitherto, however, as I believe, without much practical benefit. In former
methods the pressure produced by the application of heat to clastic fluid in a
close vessel was made to act primarily directly upon the machinery which it
was required to move, but I, by a system of combination of old apparatus and
by the consecutive order maintained in the application of heat to clastic fluid

page_text: contained in two or more close vessels employ the pressure so produced in
one close vessel primarily for the production of increased pressure to the
clastic fluid in a second similar close vessel, in which such increased pressure
is further enhanced by the application of heat to the fluid therein, and being
thus enhanced may be employed for increasing pressure in the fluid contained
in a third similar close vessel, being then also further enhanced as before, and
so on to any extent required before applying it, and thus to obtain a'high degree
of pressure while using a moderate degree of heat. At the same time I can
obtain partial vacuum by the use of like apparatus so combined and so
employed. The combinations of apparatus for effecting these objects I call
"combination in series," and the methods of employing it "serial action;"
and although other acriform matters may be used, I prefer to employ atmo-
spheric air for the purposes of my Invention.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said hn Jameson in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
30th September 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
JAMESON, of 10, Catherine Terrace, Gateshead, in the County of Durham,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-first year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said John Jameson, Her special licence that I, the said John
Jameson, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said John Jameson, 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 APPARATUS FOB COMPRESSING AND EXPANDING AERIFORM
FLUIDS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John Jamieson,
'my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or
their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascer-
tain 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

page_text: within. six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW. YE, that I, the said John Jameson, do hereby declara
the nature of the 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, that is to say :-
It is a well known fact, that the application of heat to elastic fluid con..
tained in a close vessel produces an increase of pressure therein, and apparatus
has at various times been proposed for deriving mechanical advantage from
the pressure so produced, namely, what are known as air or gas engines;
hitherto, however, as I believe without, much practical benefit. In former
methods the pressure produced by the application of heat to clastic fluid in a
close vessel was made to act primarily directly upon the machinery which it.
was required to move; but I, by a system of combination of old apparatus
and by the consecutive order maintained in the application of heat to elastic.
fluid contained in two or more close vessels employ the pressure so produced
in one close vessel primarily for the production of increased pressure to the
elastic fluid in a second similar close vessel, in which such increased pressure
is further enhanced by the application of heat to the fluid therein, and being
thus enhanced may be employed for increasing pressure in the fluid contained
in a third similar close vessel, being then also further enhanced as before, and
so on to any extent required before applying it, and thus to obtain a high
degree of pressure while using a moderate degree of heat. At the same time
I can obtain partial vacuum by the use of like apparatus so combined and so
employed. The combinations of apparatus for effecting these objects I call
"combination in series," and the methods of employing it "serial action; "
and although acriform matters may be used, I prefer to employ atmospheric
air for the purposes of my Invention.
Having thus stated the nature of my Invention, I will proceed more fully
to describe the manner of performing the same:-The Drawing represents a
vertical section of a combination of mechanism according to my Invention,
which I believe will be found the most simple arrangement, and at the same
time one affording a full illustration of my Invention.
"
A' is a vertical section of an air-tight, cylinder truly bored and fitted, as
after described, with other apparatus, and A', A³, and A, arc cylinders similar
in all respects to A' and similarly fitted. The same letters refer to similar
parts in all the cylinders, one of which A' only is more particularly described
for the sake of convenience and brevity. B¹ is a plunger, made hollow for
the sake of lightness, and excepting the passages C¹ is filled with powdered

page_text: charcoal or other bad conductor of heat, and strongly constructed, so that the
parts containing the charcoal shall be capable of resisting the highest pressure
required without permitting the passage of air to the interior. The. passages
O pass through the plunger B' from top to bottom, and contain ravellings of
fine wire secured therein so as to fill the space, while at the same time allow-
ing a free passage to air through them, resembling in fact horsehair as it is
used for stuffing chair seats, &c. The plunger B¹ is truly turned, of a slightly
less external diameter than the internal diameter of the cylinder, and fitted at
the under side with a light metallic or other packing, so as when the plunger
is moved in the cylinder to prevent the passage of the opposing air, excepting
by the channels provided for it, viz., the pipes C₁ before described. D is a
shaft provided with cranks, as shewn, set alternately opposite to each other,
or one hundred and eighty degrees apart in the circle of their revolution,
which by means of the piston rods E actuate the plungers of the four cylinders,
so that when B' and B' have reached the end of their stroke upwards, B2 and
B have reached the end of their stroke downwards, and vice versa, or the
plungers may be caused to move in a different succession, according to the
object desired to be accomplished. S' is a stuffing box of the ordinary con-
struction to prevent leakage.
Each cylinder is provided with two pipes projecting from the under side
thereof, one of which is the induction pipe and the other the eduction pipe.
Each induction pipe is provided with a self-acting valve opening upwards, as
shown at I', which admits the passage of air when the pressure above the
valve is less than the pressure below it, but allows no return on a contrary
condition. The eduction pipe H is connected with the induction pipe
G, H with G³, and H³ with G; H' is provided with a self-acting valve I'
opening outwards from the cylinder.
J is a cock on the reservoir N. N is a reservoir to which the pipe II* is
connected at O, and which is intended to produce more uniformity of pressure.
Lis a flue from a furnace, not represented in the Drawing, for the purpose of
heating the upper parts of the cylinders, or they may be otherwise heated;
and M is a cold water cistern in which the lower parts of the cylinders are
encased for the purpose of cooling them, or they may be otherwise kept cooled.
Dampers should be provided at the furnace to regulate the degree of heat
applied to the cylinders. It is also desirable to attach a safety valve to the
reservoir N.
Having now described such parts of the machinery and apparatus as I
conceive to be requisite for clearly explaining the principle of my improve-
ments, I will now describe the manner in which the same is to be employed.

page_text: Heating the upper parts of the cylinders A', A³, A³, and A*, and, if necessary
cooling the lower parts thereof, the cylinders and reservoir N being previously
full of air at the ordinary pressure of the atmosphere, and the cock J shut,
such portions of the contained air as are exposed to the action of heat, as in
A2 and A', will expand, a portion passing into the cylinder A³ and a portion to
the reservoir N, and by the action of the valves I and Is the pressure will
be equallized or very nearly so, between the cylinders A, A³, A', and the
reservoir N, portions of air passing in the direction of the arrows. The
pressure in A', where the contained air is still cold, will thus be less than that
in any of the vessels in advance of it, but on causing the shaft D partially to
revolve, a portion of the cold air in the lower part of A¹ will pass to the
upper part through the passages C³, where being exposed to the action of
heat increased pressure will result. Part of the air in A² by the same action
will be driven from the hot end of the cylinder through the passages C2 to the
cold end, and the fine wires contained in the passages C², by abstracting the
greater part of the heat contained in the air so passing, will cause the
pressure in A2 to be diminished, the action at the same time in A³ will be
similar to that in A', and the action in A* will be similar to that in A³. The
increasing pressures in A' and A' becoming thus greater than the diminishing
pressures in A and A', the valves I² and I will open and allow further
portions of air to advance in the direction of the arrows. The pressures on
the completion of a half revolution of the shaft D being equalized, or very
nearly so, between A' and A³, as also between A³ and A', on continuing the
revolution of the shaft D a part of the air contained in the hot end of A'
being displaced by the plunger will pass at C¹ to the cold end, leaving the
greater portion of its heat in the fine wires contained therein, the pressure
in A' being thereby diminished; a portion of the cold air in the lower part of
A being also displaced by its plunger will ascend by the pipes Cs to the hot
cnd, and coming in contact with the wires heated by its own descent while
hot, as previously described, will abstract a large portion of heat therefrom,
and entering the heated part of the cylinder the pressure therein increases;
an action similar to that in A' at the same time occurs in A³, and the air
in A is acted upon similarly to that in A². When the pressure in A' is thus
reduced to less than atmospheric pressure the valve I opening admits air to
supply the deficiency; when also the increasing pressure in A² becomes
greater than the diminishing pressure in A³, the valve Is opening allows the
passage of portions of air from the cylinder A² to As, and when the increasing
pressure in A becomes greater than the pressure in the reservoir N, the
valve I opening allows a portion of the contents of A* to pass. Thus; on the

page_text: completion of the revolution of the shaft D the pressure in A' will be still
equal to atmospheric pressure, or very nearly so, that in A2 will be equalized,
or nearly so, with that in A3, and that in A' with the reservoir N, a further
quantity of air having thus advanced in the direction of the arrows. Con-
tinuing the revolution of the shaft D by the same actions, any desired amount
of pressure may be produced and maintained in the reservoir N dependent
with a moderate, heat only upon the extent of the combination in series, and
up to the limits of the strongest apparatus. Obviously increased or diminished
heat will produce increased or diminished pressure in the same extent of
series; and also with the same heat and in the same series the greater the
pressure maintained in the reservoir N, the less quantity of air will pass
forward at each stroke. The action of the series in expanding aeriform fluids
is precisely similar to its action in compressing, partial vacuum being produced
and maintained in any reservoir which may be attached to the pipe G¹. It
must, however, be borne in mind, in calculating the effect of the series in
producing partial vacuum, that, ceteris paribus, the less the pressure of cold
air in A¹ the less effective in increased ratio in the series in producing differen-
tial pressure between A' and A. Perfect vacuum is manifestly unattainable
by this method.
Having now described my Invention of "combination in series" and "serial
action," as applied to the compression and expansion of elastic fluid, I have only
to add to that description that the elastic fluid so compressed in the reservoir
N may be applied from the pipe J to an ordinary high-pressure steam engine
or other suitable description of engine, and either alone and cold, or more or
less heated, or in combination with steam. The shaft D may be coupled to
the engine, so as to make the whole arrangement to that extent self-acting.
In starting the engine either steam may be employed or the shaft D may be
uncoupled and worked by hand until adequate pressure be attained, when the
engine being started in the ordinary way the shaft D may be recoupled
thereto. A variety of circumstances doubtless exist in particular cases which
will render modifications of the apparatus, mode of working, &c., before
described, desirable and advantageous; therefore, although I believe the
description before given will be found most generally applicable, I do not
confine myself to that or any particular form of apparatus or manner of using
it, so long as the principle of action be preserved, as set forth in the preamble
hereunto.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of
performing the same, I would have it understood that I make no claim to
separate cylinders A', A2, A³, A', nor to the separate apparatus used therewith;

page_text: but what I claim is, the combination of a series of such cylinders and appa-
ratus so that they may produce the progressively increasing effect, substantially
as herein described.
In witness whercof, I, the said John Jameson, have hereunto set my
hand and scal, this Ninth day of September, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.
Witness,
JNO. ALCOCK.
JOHN JAMESON. (L.S.)