AN IMPROVED MET
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joseph Scipion Rousselot, of Paris, in the French
Empire, Civil Engineer, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED METHOD OF
Sealed the 22nd December 1857, and dated the 23rd June 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joseph Scipion Rousselot
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
23rd June 1857.
I, JOSEPH. SCIPION ROUSSELOT, of Paris, in the French Empire, Civil
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED
METHOD OF OBTAINING MOTIVE POWER, AND ENGINE POR APPLYING THE SAME," to
be as follows:-
My Invention consists in the employment of an electric current as a heating
medium or primary agent, and atmospheric air as the medium for transmitting;
by its expansion, motion to pistons, and thence through rods, cranks, &c., to
any purpose required.
My Invention consists also in the construction of an engine or apparatus for
carrying my method of obtaining motive power into operation.

page_text: I enclose air in cylinders or receivers, and produce its expansion by the
application of powerful heat derived from an oxyhydrogen flame, made to burn
continuously in the air. I thus obtain great expansion, and consequently a
powerful moving agent. I generate the gases which compose the oxyhydrogen
flame by passing an electric current into or through water, which becomes
decomposed into its constituent elements, oxygen and hydrogen.
Before my engine begins to work, I produce the gases from any source
capable of yielding them, in order to obtain a sufficient supply to start the
engine; but as soon as started, I avail myself of the rotary motion thereof to.
set electro-magnetic apparatuses in action, which decompose water, from
whence the gases to keep the engine at work are derived.
I apply my Invention to driving all sorts of machinery, whether fixed or
moveable, marine engines, locomotives, &c.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed.
by the said Joseph Scipion Rousselot in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 22nd December 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSEPII
SCIPION ROUSSELOT, of Paris, in the French Empire, Civil Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-third day of June, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twenty-first year of Her reign, did,
for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said Joseph
Scipion Rousselot, Her special licence that I, the said Joseph Scipion Rousselot,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Joseph
Scipion Rousselot, 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 "AN IMPROVED METHOD OF
OBTAINING MOTIVE POWER, AND ENGINE FOR APPLYING THE SAME," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Joseph Scipion Rousselot, my executors or
administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their
hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the
said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be performed, and cause

page_text: the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar
months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Joseph Scipion Rousselot, do hereby
declare the nature of my 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, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto
annexed, that is to say-
My Invention consists in the employment of an electric current as a primary
agent, and atmospheric air as the medium for transmitting, by its expansion,
motion to pistons, and thence through.rods, cranks, etc., to any apparatus, and
for, any purpose required.
My Invention consists also in the construction of an engine or apparatus for
carrying my method of obtaining motive power into operation.
I enclose air in cylinders or receivers, and produce its expansion by the
application of powerful heat derived from an oxyhydrogen flame, made to
burn continuously in the air. I thus obtain great expansion, and consequently
a powerful moving agent. I generate the gases which compose the oxy-
hydrogen flame by passing an electric current into or through water, which
becomes decomposed into its constituent elements, oxygen and hydrogen.
Before my engine begins to work, I produce the gases from any source
capable of. yielding them, in order to obtain a sufficient supply to start the
engine; but as soon as started, I avail myself of the rotary motion thereof to
set electric apparatuses in action, which decompose water, from whence the
gases to keep the engine at work are derived.
I apply my Invention to the driving of all sorts of machinery, whether fixed
or moveable, marine engines, locomotives, etc. I usually employ magneto-
electricity for decomposing the water as aforesaid.
In the Drawings hereunto annexed, I have represented. an arrangement of
apparatuses constituting an engine for carrying my Invention into effect in the
best manner I am at present acquainted with.
Fig. 1 is a side elevation of this engine,, and Fig. 2 is a plan of the same;
Fig. 3 is a plan, and Fig. 4, a partial side view of a portion of the armatures
or inductors used for receiving the electricity induced from the magnets,
which are seen partially in plan and side view respectively in Figs. 5 and 6.
Fig. 7 is a longitudinal section of the motive cylinder and its appendages;
Fig. 8 is a vertical section of the vessel in which the air is dilated by heat;
Fig. 9 is a section of a new description of valve, which I. employ in the motive
cylinder, and which may be usefully applied to other purposes. Fig. 10 is a

page_text: -sectional view. of a mechanical arrangement used for admitting and shutting
off the supply of gas to the vessel shown in Fig. 8, and for inflaming the said
gas; Fig. 11 is a detached side view of a portion of the apparatus, showing
the arrangement of the discs to which the conducting wires lead from the coils
surrounding the armatures or inductors; Fig. 12 is a detached view of one of
the buttons or studs of the moveable disc described. hereafter; Fig. 13 is a
separate face view of one of the magnets detached, showing the manner in
which it is supported and fitted.
The apparatus which produces the magneto-electric current is composed of
a series of sixteen magnets a, a, (Fig. 5, 6, and 13,) held in stirrups or
supports b, from which they are insulated by a strip of gutta percha c, or
otherwise. These magnets a, a,. the poles of which are upwards, are covered
with an insulating material, and supported on a platform d, which turns on
several rollers 6, .6. The magnets are each held in a vertical position by
means of an iron bar f, bolted by the bolt, g. to the plate h, which supports the
other side of the magnet., This plate h is itself supported by the stay i, the
heel or lower end of which abuts against the stirrup.b of the adjacent magnet.
The poles of the magnets are surmounted by the armatures, which are
fixed to a ring connected by arms to a central boss on a vertical shaft below
a supporting plate.
The distance between the magnets and the armatures is regulated by means
of suitable collars and a key.
I dispose around the vertical shaft springs, which exert a constant pressure
on the two discs I and m (Fig. 11). The upper fixed disc is of wood, and
carries below it the rollers or wheels n and suitable springs. The lower
moveable disc m, which moves with the ring carrying the armatures, is also of
wood, and is furnished with two concentric bands of copper 0, 0, which are
each divided by plates of ivory p into eight parts. 9 (Figs. 11 and 12) are
copper buttons or studs, which receive the extremities of the positive and nega-
tive wires from the armatures. The upper disc carries similar buttons or
studs to carry on the current which comes from the armatures. Each of the
buttons or studs 7 terminates at a spring, by means of which an equal and
uniform pressure is maintained upon the moveable disc. Each pole corre-
sponds to a distinct band of copper. As the lower disc mu rotates, the rollers
or wheels of the upper disc come in contact with the successive bands of
copper, to which are screwed the buttons or studs which receive the wires of
the armatures, and the circuit of the magneto-electric current is thus succes-
sively completed and interrupted. The discs are insulated in any convenient

page_text: manner.
From the upper disc 1 conducting wires are led to platinum plates
immersed in water contained in the vessel r, which water has been previously
distilled and acidulated to facilitate its separation into gases.
When the magneto-electric machine just described is put into operation,
the water in the vessel is decomposed, and passes off in the form of gas by a
tube 5 to one or other of the gasometers t, t, according as the cocks a, a¹,
A, A¹, are opened or closed. These gasometers t,'t, are two cylinders, in
which are pistons u, u, which, after they have been raised by the pressure of
the gas, are caused to descend by means of moveable counterpoises. When
one of the gasometers is full of gas, the workman attending the engine moves,
by means of the handle a or otherwise, the sliding counterpoises y, y, along
the cross bars v, v, and thus presses down the piston, forcing out the gas.
This action may, if preferred, be produced automatically by means of electro-
magnets, or by any suitable means. The action of the counterpoises causes
two clutches z, z, to act upon two levers w, w, which by opening and closing
alternately the taps or valves a, a', A; A', fitted to the gasometers permit
the oxyhydrogen gas to enter through the taps or valves A, A¹, while a, a¹,
are closed reciprocally, that is to say, the tap or valve a only allows the gas to
pass to the dilating vessel, through a tube leading below it, when the tap or
valve A is closed, whilst A¹ on the contrary is open to admit gas to the
gasometer, and a¹ is closed to prevent its escape, whilst the gasometer is
filled. The reverse of this takes place when the other gasometer has to be filled.
The introduction of air into the dilating vessel B may be effected in two
ways, either by allowing it to enter directly from an air pump in which it is
compressed, or by causing it to enter in the manner hereafter described and
illustrated in the Figures of the Drawings. The air enters through the tap e
(Fig. 8), which is opened and shut by the lever 1. This lever at each revo-
lution of the toothed wheel d (Fig. 2), which receives its motion from an
endless-band or chain passing round the toothed wheel ek on the shaft C', is
acted upon by a stud, which causes it to oscillate. The lower part of the lever
is thus niade to strike alternately right and left against two stops placed at the
extremities of a semicircular metallic band or arc, and impart corresponding
rocking motions to the spindle h, which communicates similar motions to the
tap c through the toothed wheels i and j. The air is thus admitted intermit-
tently into the space E. The gas from the gasometers also enters this space
through the jets m, which rise from the ring 3, to which jets it is admitted
from the conducting pipe. A disc k is moved by a handle in such manner
that several copper rods, terminated by platinum wire points, which are carried

page_text: by the disc, are brought each in front of a gas jet, to produce the combustion
of the oxyhydrogen gas. The lighting of the gas may, if desired, be effected
by an electric spark produced by an apparatus similar to that used for the
reproduction of water by the explosion of oxygen and hydrogen. The gas in
burning dilates the air which surrounds it, and imparts to it great expansive
force; it also produces a certain quantity of steam, which is very favourable to
the production of power and to the dilatation of the air. By aid of the
arrangement represented in Fig. 10 the combustion of the gas may be effected
in the several side chambers n¹, n¹. This Figure does not require any detailed
explanation, the principle being the same as in the last case. The air dilated
in the chamber E, as before described, enters the chambers n', n', through the
passages o¹, o¹, and escapes at their upper parts by aid of the following mecha-
nism (Figs. 1, 2, and 8). The toothed wheel d in its rotation acts upon a
cross bar 4, furnished with two forks q, q, which again act successively upon
projections r,, on the moveable plate t. This plate carries at its circum-
ference and on its under side eight springs u.
of the plate are put into contact with a lever v, and open by means of the lever
the valves y, y¹, situated at the upper part of the chambers n¹, n¹. By the
action of the foregoing parts at each impulse of the forks upon the projections.
one of the eight chambers n', n', is put into communication with the tubes,
and the dilated air is thus permitted to pass through the pipe E¹ to the distri-
buting box F. To stop the machine a lever 8 is raised, and by means of it
the lever is also raised above the springs, and the valves y¹, y¹, remain
closed.
These springs in the rotation
The distributing box F, the primary object of which is to supply the dilated
air to the motive cylinder, has a second object, which is to give an increase of
dilatation to the air by the action within it of a series of electric sparks, which
are made to pass between two copper rods terminated by platinum points, from
a battery or from the magneto-electric machine. This box F has within it two
cylinders, which perform the functions of valves. By means of the crank and
excentric H, a rod I (Figs. 1 and 2) is made to reciprocate in such manner as
to open and close alternately the passages j,j, by aid of the gudgeons k, k,
fixed to the said cylinders. The air is thus admitted to the faces of the
pistons in the motive cylinder. A pipe is applied to the distributing box for
conveying the air to a manometer, by which its pressure is indicated. Air
being admitted from the distributing box into one compartment of the motive
cylinder forces the piston therein (Fig. 7) to the opposite end of the compart-
ment, while the other piston makes a return stroke, and in doing so forces the

page_text: exhausted air, which previously moved it out through the pipe m to the cylinder
D, whence it is returned to the dilating vessel. A little air is supplied by a
small pump, to compensate for the waste which may occur in the working of
the engine.
Each of the several openings into the motive cylinder A is closed by an im-
proved valve of the construction shown in Fig. 9. In this valve the surface
on which the resistance is exerted is less than that on which the direct pres-
sure acts, while an easy play is permitted to the valve. The valve is composed
with a surface in the form of a truncated cone N on which the resistance is
exerted. A rod o, furnished with a spring R, connects the truncated piece to
the piston P, the base of which is greater than that of the cone.
The piston
P is capable of being moved up into the space Q and is returned thence by
the spring R. When the piston of the motive cylinder forces the air into the
pipe P', leading to the compressed air cylinder, the piston P is forced into the
recess Q, and the lateral passages s, s, being thus opened, communication is
established between the cylinder and the pipe P¹, the air consequently flowing
out.
When the passages s, s, are closed by the return of the piston P, the
compressed air in the pipe P' presses upon the base of the cone, and helps to
balance the pressure on the piston P and to keep the cone close in its seat.
Before putting the improved engine into motion, it is necessary to fill the
compressed air reservoir and the oxyhydrogen reservoirs, and then to establish
a communication between the gas reservoirs and the dilating vessel; then the
rod of the piston which is first actuated by the air puts the principal shaft C¹
in motion. This shaft turns in suitable bearings, and carries a bevil wheel
E", which gears with the pinion Fat the top of a vertical shaft, to which, as
well as to the ring of armatures, it imparts a rotary motion. The whole
apparatus then proceeds without the aid of the supplementary arrangements
which are required to start it, as will be readily understood. To avoid the
explosions which would ensue if the flame in the dilating vessel should pass
into the reservoir of gas, the pipes or tubes which abut the one against the
other are furnished with a number of wire gauze partitions, and at a short dis-
tance from the dilating vessel the gas tube is connected with a small cylinder
filled with sand, through which the gas can but the flame cannot pass.
The foregoing details may of course be varied without departing from the
Invention.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim, first, the method
of obtaining motive power by means of heated air, the heating of which is

page_text: effected by burning oxygen and hydrogen simultaneously therein; the oxygen
and hydrogen employed being obtained by electrical or magneto-electrical
apparatus, as herein-before described.
Second, the construction and employment of an engine for applying the
motive power so obtained, as herein-before described, and represented in the
Drawings hereunto annexed.
effected by burning oxygen and hydrogen simultaneously therein; the oxygen
and hydrogen employed being obtained by electrical or magneto-electrical
apparatus, as herein-before described.
Second, the construction and employment of an engine for applying the
motive power so obtained, as herein-before described, and represented in the
Drawings hereunto annexed.
In witness whereof, 1, the said Joseph Scipion Rousselot, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Nineteenth day of December, in the year of
our Lord, One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
Second, the construction and employment
engine for applying the
motive power so obtained, as herein-before described, and represented in the
Drawings hereunto annexed.
In witness whereor, 1, the said Joseph Scipion Rousselot, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Nineteenth day of December, in the year of
our Lord, One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
Witness,
CH. ARMENGAUD, JB, Civil Engineer,
23, Boulev de Strasbourg,
à Paris.
J. S. ROUSSELOT. (L.S.)