Improvements in Kotary Engines.
Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application, 16th Jan., 1899-Accepted, 18th Feb., 1899
Improvements in Kotary Engines.
I, CHARLES LOUIS WEIHE, of New Minden, County of Washington, State of
Illinois, United States, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of this invention
and in what manner the same is to be paformed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement ;-
My invention has relation to improvements in rotary engines, and consists in
the novel arrangement and combination of parts more fully set forth in the specifi-
cation and pointed out in the claims.
In the drawings, Fig. 1 is a vertical elevation of my device. Fig. 2 is a
horizontal section taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a horizontal section
taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is an elevation of the upper end of the
drive shaft and wings carried thereby, between each pair of which the movable
pistons or blades are mounted; and Fig. 5 is a section on line 5-5 of Fig. 3
taken through the spaces between the wings, the lower section of the cylinder being
partly broken away and the shaft in elevation.
The object of my invention is to construct a rotary engine which shall be simple;
one which will operate noiselessly and with a minimum amount of friction and
one possessing other and further advantages more apparent from a detailed de-
scription of the invention which is as follows.
Referring to the drawings, 1 represents the upper section, and 2 the lower
section of the steam cylinder, the two sections being secured together by bolts 3
passed through the flanges 4 and 5 of the respective sections. The flange of the
lower section is extended beyond that of the upper one, the extension serving as
a means for mounting the engine to any convenient base or support (not shown).
Passing through an ordinary stuffing box or gland 6 carried by the lower section 2
is a depending drive shaft 7 to whose lower end may be secured a series of fan
blades 8, and whose upper end terminates in a supporting flange 9 by which the
shaft is carried, the base of the flange being mounted on roller bearings 10 which
travel in a groove 11 formed between an inner annular ledge 12 and the inner
surface of the section 2. The ledge 12 is sufficiently depressed below the plane
of the inner surface of the section 2 to bring the upper surface of the flange 9
flush with said surface (see Fig. 5). The shaft 7 is mounted eccentrically to the
inner curve of the vertical walls of the cylinder, the upper face of the flange and
the adjacent surface of the section 2 serving to support, during the rotation of the
shaft, the cross blades or pistons 13, which are constrained to follow the vertical
walls of the cylinder, being guided in their reciprocation resulting from such
constrained movement by the adjacent edges of the vertical wings 14 between
which the blades pass, the upper edges of the blades being substantially
flush with the upper edges of the wings. The length of each blade
is very nearly equal to the full diameter of the circle about which
the vertical walls of the cylinder are described, the blades being
permitted to span one another by cutting away a portion of the bedy of each
along their adjacent sides, one blade being supported along the full length of its

page_text: lower edge, and the spanning blade resting on the portion of the lower edge
remaining on each side of the cut-away portion (see Fig. 5). The section in Fig. 3
is taken along a plane below a point where the upper wall of the passage of the
exhaust pipe 15 enters the cylinder, the continuity of said wall with the vertical
wall of the cylinder being shown by the dotted line.
The upper section of the cylinder is provided with an extension 1 through a
stuffing box 16 of which passes a steam pipe 17. The steam passage at the inner
end or base of the extension 1' is substantially triangular in outline (see dotted
lines in Fig. 2). The base of the triangular opening referred to lies along the
lower edge of the inner surface of a wall 171 inclined to the exposed faces of the
moveable blades, the upper section 1 being so coupled to the lower one that the
steam, as it follows along the wall 17', impinges against the blades at an angle,
rotating the shaft in the direction as shown by the arrows in Fig. 3. The triangular
opening referred to (when the sections are properly coupled) covers at least two of
the blades, the narrow end or vortex of the said opening being slightly in advance
of the 1osition the blade occupies after the exhaust port has been
passed it being understood that the said triangular opening is cut
from the bottom wall of the upper section 1, between which and the adjacent
surface of the lower section the blades are confined, and are free to rotate without
material friction. The dotted position of the blades in Fig. 3 shows their relative
position after a partial rotation of the shaft.
It is apparent that slight changes can be made in the detail without departing
from the spirit of my invention. It is apparent too, that the drive shafts may be
coupled to any machinery which it is desired should be driven.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is;
1. In a rotary engine, a cylinder comprising an upper and lower flanged section,
a blade confined between the adjacent inner surfaces of the two sections and
having a medial cut-away portion whereby two such blades may span each other,
a drive shaft, a flange carried at the upper end thereof, and supported directly
by the lower section, wings projecting a suitable distance beyond the plane of
the flange and distributed along the peripheral elge of said flange, the blades
being guided between the wings, one of the blades resting with its full edge along
the face of the flange and the surface of the lower section con-
tiguous thereto, and the other blade resting on so much of its lower
edge as remains on each side of the cut-away portion, a steam pipe extension
leading from the upper section, and an exhaust pipe leading from the lower
section, substantially as set forth.
2. In a rotary engine, a suitable cylinder comprising an upper and lower section,
a drive shaft depending from and mounted eccentrically in the lower section, a
flange at the upper terminal of the shaft for the support thereof, a series of wings
projecting from and in continuation of the periphery of the flange, the wings being
separated by spaces diametrically in alignment with one another, blades confined
between the basal wall of the upper section and the adjacent wall of the lower
section and guided by the walls of the spaces between the wings, and extending
outwardly beyond the wings to contact with the walls of the cylinder, and up-
wardly substantially flush with the upper edges of the wings, the blades having
their adjacent edges cut away to allow the same to span one another, the sup
porting edges of the blades being adapted to slide along the upper face of the
flange and the adjacent flush surface of the bottom of the cylinder, an annular
groove formed at the base of the cylinder, the inner wall of the groove being
bounded by an annular ledge depressed below the inner surface of the base of the
cylinder, the groove being adapted to receive anti-friction balls, a steam supply
pipe carried by, or forming an extension of the upper section and terminating in

page_text: an inclined passage for delivering the driving fluid at an incline to the blades, and
an exhaust-pipe, substantially as set forth.
3. In a rotary engine, a suitable cylinder comprising an upper and lower flanged
section, a drive-shaft depending from and mounted eccentrically in the lower
section, a flange for the support of the shaft, a series of wings projecting from
and in continuation of the periphery of the flange, the wings being separated by
spaces diametrically in alignment with one another, blades confined between the
basal wall of the upper section and the adjacent wall of the lower section and
guided by the walls of the said spaces, and extending outwardly beyond the wings
to contact with the walls of the cylinder, and upward substantially flush with the
upper edges of the wings, the blades having their adjacent edges cut away to
allow the blades to span one another, the supporting edges of the blades being
adapted to slide along the upper face of the flange and the adjacent flush surface
of the bottom of the cylinder, an annular groove formed at the base of the cylinder,
the inner wall of the groove being bounded by an annular ledge depressed below
the inner surface of the base of the cylinder, the groove being adapted to receive
anti-friction rollers, a steam supply pipe carried by or forming an extension of the
upper section and terminating in an inclined passage for delivering the driving
fluid at an incline to the blades, and an exhaust-pipe, substantially as set forth.
Dated this 16th day of January 1890
MARKS & CLERK,
18, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., and
13, Temple Street, Birmingham, Agents.
MARKS & CLERK,
18, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., and
13, Temple Street, Birmingham, Agents.