A NEW OR IMPROVED MODE OF APPLYING THE EXPLOSION OF GASES AS A MOTIVE POWER
Year: 1854

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Eugêne Barsanti and Felix
Matteucci at the Office of the Commissioners, of Patents, with their
Petition, on the 13th May-1854.
:
We EUGENE BARSANTI, Professor of Physics and Mathematics in the
Institut Ximeniano, and FELIX MATTEUCCI, Gentleman, of. Florence; in 'thé,
Grand Duchy of Tuscany, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "A NEW OR IMPROVED MODE OF APPLYING THE EXPLOSION OF GASES AS A MOTIVE
POWER" to be as follows:
- For this purpose it is preferred to use two cylinders, with pistons and parts
arranged in such manner that the piston in one cylinder may be moving in one
direction when the piston in the other cylinder is moving in the opposite
direction, though engines according to this Invention may be arranged to
work with one or other number of cylinders. The requisite explosive coni-.
pound of gases is obtained by combining hydrogen gas and atmospheric air,
and the exploding of such compound is by electricity, brought into action by.
the working of the engine. Each of the cylinders used in constructing
engines according to this Invention has at its lower end two openings, which
are connected by an outer passage; the one opening when the piston is at its
lowest position communicates with the interior of the cylinder above the
piston, and the other opening communicates with the cylinder.below the piston,
and the cylinder above-the piston is open to the atmosphere; hence there is a
free passage between the atmosphere and the under side of the piston when
the piston is at its lowest position. From which it follows, that when one

page_text: piston is pushed forward through this passage by the last stroke of the return-
ing course of the other, by means of the arrangement which connects them,
the quantity of atmospheric air requisite for the charge rushes in, and through
his same passage the azote is expelled when the piston reaches the bottom of
the cylinder. There is, besides, a third opening in the part destined to receive
the charge, communicating with an apparatus abundantly supplied with
hydrogen, this opening being closed and opened at suitable intervals by the
movement of the machine, in consequence of which the hydrogen can be
admitted in due proportion after the air, as the piston ascends. This move-
ment produces an electric sparkle in the interior of the machine, which
ignites the mixed gases as soon as the communication is cut off. This appa-
ratus consists of two receivers, so that in one of these the gas is in a state of
tension, and the other communicates directly with the cylinders, the degree of
tension being adjusted so as to vary the proportion of the charge, and conse-
quently the force of the explosion.
It results from this arrangement of the parts, that when explosion takes
place in one of the cylinders the piston belonging to it is thrust forward and
the vacuum thus produced; pressure of the atmosphere forces it. back, and
when it arrives at the extremity of its returning course explosion takes place
in the other cylinder, and thus the pistons move alternately. There are three
distinct modes of applying this power, viz. :-
1. The rods of the pistons are so formed that the effect occurs only in the
course of their return, and consequently that effect-is-the result of atmospheric
pressure. 2. The cylinders are closed in the upper part by a lid provided with
valves, and a conducting tube, so arranged as to make the machine work as
a pump of pressure, which condenses the atmospheric air in a receiver, from
which the air is transmitted to one or two moving cylinders, constructed on the
same principle as those of the steam engine. 3. The third manner, exclu-
sively adapted to navigation, consists in connecting to the rods of the piston a
system of pallets, so disposed as to meet the resistance of the water in ascend-
ing. These pallets are moveable, so as not to occasion obstruction in the
returning movement of the pistons. In this manner the expansive force of
gas may be employed to act directly.