Improvements in Hot-air and like Engines.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 5th May, 1894
Complete Specification Left, 5th Feb., 1895-Accepted, 9th Mar., 1895
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Hot-air and like Engines.
I, DOMINIQUE ANTOINE CASALONGA, of 15, Rue des Halles, Paris, France,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
My invention relates to a new mode of converting heat into mechanical work by
means of a fluid, which may be a superheated vapour, or a permanent gas, or simply
air confined at a greater or less pressure in hermetically closed spaces, this fluid
being employed an indefinite number of times in succession by the simultaneous
heating and cooling of different portions of the confined fluid which produces
variations in pressure that are transmitted to the piston of a motor or engine.
The invention consists principally in a combination of parts or devices the object
of which is to provide the confined fluid with large surfaces for the transference of
heat (hereinafter referred to as transference-surfaces) and at the same time with
numerous passages of adequate cross-sectional area for the passage of the said fluid
in thin layers, whilst offering a great resistance to internal pressure and avoiding
waste or useless spaces. At the same time the heating and cooling of the fluid are
conducted during periods as sharply defined and as distinct as possible; and they
operate not in opposition to each other but so as to produce the desired effect, except
for a useful purpose and during a comparatively very short time at each end stroke
of the piston of the engine (hereinafter called the motor-piston) the position of which
is combined with that of the reverser-plates and the parts actuating them. These
heating and cooling periods are produced by the suitable motion of reverser-plates
operated from the shaft or other suitable part of the engine by means of any
suitable and appropriate parts, such as elliptical toothed wheels and cams provided
with projections and with antifriction-rollers acting on frame-pieces fixed to the
spindles of the reverser-plates.
In an engine according to my invention, particularly when the reverser-plates are
operated by means of cams with projections, not only can the starting and reversal
of the direction of motion be effected, but the travel of the reverser-plates may be
varied, whilst the said plates are being moved back upon their seats; and this is
possible whether the engine is single-acting or double-acting and whether it is
worked with fluid at the ordinary pressure of the atmosphere or at a higher
pressure.
When the motor is double-acting, the motor-piston is situated and works between
two reversers which are similar to each other in all respects and which alternately
cause the motive fluid to act alternately on the said motor-piston in opposite
directions.
One construction of reverser according to my invention comprises a strong and
fluid tight fluid chamber which is made capable of resisting the action of heat and
is as good a non-conductor thereof as possible; it communicates freely with the
cylinder of the engine and is composed of two cylindrical halves connected together
by means of flanges. In the bottoms of these cylindrical halves are fixed conical
tubes which are closed at their outer ends but which open at their other ends into
the said fluid-chamber; these tubes thus form two sets or groups of stationary
tubes, one set being intended to be heated by any suitable means and designated
the+set, and the other set being intended to be cooled by any suitable means and
designated the set.

page_text: In the fluid chamber, and working therein, are two reverser-discs or plates which
are entirely independent of each other, each having its spindle or spindles extending
to the outside through suitable fluid-tight stuffing-boxes. These spindles are
connected to frame-pieces provided with antifriction-rollers between which the cam
with projections, or other operating device works, the said cam having its
circumference formed in a manner such as to impart to each reverser-disc its desired
motion and stoppages. Each reverser-disc serves as a tube-disc in which are fixed
conical tubes which fit exactly in the aforesaid stationary tubes.
set
The set depends in a fire-place or heat-imparting apparatus. The
extends into a cold water cooling-apparatus, a current of moist air, or other suitable
cooling-apparatus or into a closed vessel containing a volatile liquid the vapour of
which, after having been admitted to an auxiliary motor cylinder working separately
from or in tandem with the aforesaid cylinder of the engine, is condensed in a
condenser and is returned to the said vessel to be re-evaporated by the aforesaid
motive fluid and be re-admitted to the auxiliary cylinder.
The reheating might also be effected by means of another reverser or of several
reversers arranged in succession to the first one.
The reverser-plates may be actuated by means of cylindrical, eccentric, or
elliptical toothed wheels mounted, one placed on the shaft of the engine and
rotating with a practically uniform motion and another on an adjacent and parallel
auxiliary shaft connected with one of the reverser-discs and rotating with a variable
motion, the arrangement being such that the two reverser-discs which are driven by
separate auxiliary shafts, shall move in turn through the same space without meeting
and shall both arrive at the end of their travel at the same moment, but the one
then moving very slowly towards its seat, whilst the other is moving very quickly
away from its seat. The same operation may be effected by means of toothed
sectors situated side by side, of varying radii, but the sum of every pair of radii
being the same, and arranged helically, some on the shaft of the engine and the
others on each auxiliary shaft. The teeth of these sectors are preferably made of
compressed leather.
The stationary tubes and the aforesaid tubes movable therein as so many
plungers may, instead of being single, be each provided with an inner counter-tube.
This arrangement considerably increases the transfer-surfaces, and is preferable for
cooling-purposes to a circulation in the inner tubes through or across the hollow
spindles of the discs.
Dith ..
1001
I, DOMINIQUE ANTOINE CASALONGA, of 15 Rue des Halles, Paris, France,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the
same is to be performed to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement :-
My invention is based on the principle of converting heat into mechanical work
by means of a fluid, which may be a superheated vapour, or a permanent gas, or
simply air previously introduced and confined at a greater or less pressure in
hermetically closed spaces or reservoirs, this fluid being employed an indefinite
number of times in succession by the simultaneous heating and cooling of different
portions of the confined fluid which produces variations in pressure that are

page_text: transmitted to the receiving element of a motor, for instance in the present case,
to the piston of a motor or engine.
The invention consists principally in a combination of parts or devices the object
of which is to provide the confined fluid in its reservoir with large surfaces for the
transference of heat (hereinafter referred to as transference-surfaces) and at the
same time with numerous passages of adequate cross-sectional area for the passage
of the said fluid in thin layers, whilst offering a great resistance to internal pressure
and avoiding waste or useless spaces. At the same time the heating and cooling of
the fluid are conducted during periods as sharply defined and as distinct as possible;
and they operate not in opposition to each other but so as to produce the desired
effect, except for a useful purpose and during a comparatively very short time at
each end of the stroke of the piston of the engine (hereinafter called the motor-
piston) the position of which is combined with that of the reverser-plates (serving
as distributing devices and screens) and the parts actuating them. These heating
and cooling periods are produced by the suitable motion (in the air chamber or
reservoir) of the said reverser-plates operated from the shaft or other suitable part
of the engine by means of any suitable and appropriate parts, such as elliptical
toothed wheels and cams provided with projections and with anti-friction rollers
acting on frame-pieces fixed to the spindles of the said reverser-plates.
In an engine according to my invention, particularly when the reverser-plates
are operated by means of cams with projections, not only can the starting and
reversal of the direction of motion be effected, but the travel of the reverser-plates
(particularly, of the heat-distributing plates) may be varied, whilst the said plates
are being moved back upon their seats; and this is possible whether the engine is
single-acting or double-acting, and whether it is worked with fluid at the ordinary
pressure of the atmosphere or at a higher pressure.
"
When the motor is double-acting, the motor-piston is situated between and works
in conjunction with two devices which I term "reversers or "pulsators" which are
similar to each other in all respects and which alternately cause the mctive fluid to
act alternately on the said motor-piston in opposite directions. Each reverser or
pulsator (hereinafter called a reverser) is an essential part of the engine; it consists
of a chamber and two groups or bundles of tubes opposed or opposite to one
another, the chamber being always in communication with one of the ends of the
engine cylinder and alternately with the interior of each of the groups of tubes.
In the accompanying drawings,
Fig. 1 is a plan partly in horizontal section showing a motor with reversers of
the kind referred to.
Fig. 2 is a vertical cross section taken on the line mn of Fig. 1 through the
heating group of tubes and the furnace therefor, which in this case is adapted to
burn solid fuel.
Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the motor, partly in section.
Fig. 4 is a section to a larger scale, of a fixed conical tube in which another
conical tube works and fits, and which is covered with an outer removable
protecting tube T, shown in dotted lines.
Fig. 5 shows a modification of the arrangement shown in Fig. 4, in which the
fixed tube and the movable inner tube are arranged in such a manner as to constitute
"counter-tube "tubes D' D', and dd, respectively.
Each of the reversers shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, comprises a strong and fluid tight
fluid chamber A which is made capable of resisting the action of heat and is as good
a non-conductor thereof as possible; it communicates freely with one of the ends of
the cylinder B of the engine, and is composed of two cylindrical halves C C¹
connected together by means of flanges and each of slightly flaring internal form.
In the opposite ends of these cylindrical halves are fixed conical tubes DD.
DI D', which are closed at their outer ends but which open at their other ends into
the said fluid chamber; these tubes thus form two opposite sets or groups of
stationary tubes, both opening into the chamber A, and one set being intended
to be heated by any suitable means and designated the positive or + set, and the

page_text: other set being intended to be cooled by any suitable means and designated the
negative or
1
set.
In the fluid chamber, and working therein, with a variable amount of peripheral
play, are two reverser-discs or plates E, E which are entirely independent of each
other, each being operated by its spindle F or spindles F1, F1, extending to the
outside through suitable fluid-tight stuffing-boxes. These spindles are connected
each to its respective frame-piece provided with antifriction rollers G G₁ or G' G',
between which a cam H or H' with projections, or other operating device works,
the said cam having its circumference formed in a manner such as to impart to
each reverser-disc its desired motion and stoppages. Each reverser-disc E E
dd which fit
serves as a tube-plate in which are fixed conical tubes d d ...
exactly, in the respective stationary tubes D D or D¹ D'.
The+set or group of tubes are arranged in a fire-place or heat-imparting
apparatus. The
set extends into a cold water cooling-apparatus, a current of
moist air, or other suitable cooling-apparatus, or into the bottom of a closed vessel
containing a volatile liquid, the vapour of which, after having been admitted to an
auxiliary motor cylinder working separately from or in tandem with the aforesaid
cylinder B of the engine, is condensed in a condenser and is returned to the said
vessel to be re-evaporated by the heat of the aforesaid motive fluid and be
re-admitted to the auxiliary cylinder, thus constituting a physical regeneration of
the remaining heat.
The taking up of heat might also be effected more than once, and the heat
might be utilized by another reverser, or of several reversers arranged in succession
to the first one.
The reverser-plates may be actuated from the engine shaft by means of
cylindrical, eccentric, or elliptical toothed wheels, one placed on the shaft of the
engine and rotating with a practically uniform motion, and another on an adjacent
and parallel auxiliary shaft connected with one of the reverser-discs and rotating
with a variable motion, the arrangement being such that the two reverser-discs of
one chamber A, which are driven by separate auxiliary shafts, shall move in turn
through the same space without meeting and shall both arrive at the end of their
travel at the same moment, but the one then moving very slowly towards its
The same
seat, whilst the other is moving very quickly away from its seat.
operation may be effected by means of toothed sectors situated side by side and of
varying radii, but the sum of every pair of radii being the same, and arranged
helically side by side, some on the shaft of the engine and the others on each
auxiliary shaft. The teeth of these sectors are preferably made of compressed and
tightened up leather.
.
The stationary conical tubes D, D, . . . . . and D¹ D', and their conical inner
tubes d d. dd, movable therein as so many plungers, instead of being single
tubes as shown in Fig. 4 may be each provided with an inner counter-tube. This
arrangement is shown in Fig. 5 and considerably increases the transfer surfaces,
and is preferable at least for cooling-purposes to a circulation in the inner tubes
through the hollow spindles of the discs.
The counter-tube tubes D¹ D₁₁ may, if they are employed for heating purposes,
be protected by outer tubes T, such as shown applied to the tube D in Fig. 4, or
by other total or partial enveloping device.
Each of the plates E, E' may as shown in the enlarged sectional detail view
Fig. 6, be provided at its periphery with a conical lip or flange E* of greater or
less depth arranged to enter a corresponding recess C* of similar conical shape and
cross sectional form, arranged around the outer end of each of the basins or
halves C, C of the chamber A. The air drawn in by the tubes that act as
plungers, passes at the end of each tubular group, through the space between the
sides of the said recess C* and the sides of the lip or flange E*.
It will be understood from the foregoing description that the essential feature of
the engine herein described and illustrated, consists in the general arrangement
of the reverser which is constituted by the groups or sets of conical fixed

page_text: tubes D... D', arranged facing or opposite each other, and separated from each
other by the chamber A having walls flaring towards the joint flanges, and on the
outer end of each of which (whether surrounded, or not, by a groove C* in which
enters a lip E* formed on the reversing plates E E', the tubes D, D' are fixed so
that the open ends of such tubes are one opposite the other.
The chamber A into which there has been previously introduced the desired
quantity of air, communicates by a short passage B' with one end of the engine
cylinder B. It is continually traversed by the reverser plates E, E¹ (with or
without the peripheral lips or flanges E) which serve simultaneously as distributing
devices and as screens, and also as movable tube plates or supports for a number of
the conical tubes d d which work after the manner of plungers in a like
number of corresponding fixed tubes D . . . D¹ which they enter simultaneously
at the end of each respective stroke, in such a manner as to obviate all waste space
in the reverser, and all direct circulation of the fluid, and consequently of the heat,
between the reheater and the cooler. In the reverser in the present case, the
plates E E move independently of each other, although the motion of each is
connected with and to some extent is one with that of the engine shaft, notwith-
standing their period of absolute or relative rest. Their movement takes place in
such a manner that at the moment when the motor piston P is about to reach the
end of its stroke in one or the other direction, the thermic reversal will take place;
that is to say that one of the sets of tubes will open very soon after the other
set has become closed, and that. the reheating, or cooling is effected under these
conditions until the piston P has moved through a certain part of its stroke.
The distributing gear may be arranged on the engine shaft in such a manner
that not only will the distributor or reverser plates E E remain for a longer or
shorter period on their seats, or move away from their seats, but also the
said heat distributor or reverser plates will move back on to their seats, sooner
or later after having moved away from said seats, in order to produce a period
of expansion during which both the reheater and the cooler are entirely closed.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is
1. In a hot air or like engine having a confined air space, the improved con-
struction and arrangement of reverser herein before described comprising the
chamber A in constant communication with one of the ends of an engine cylinder B,
and formed by the union of the two basin-shaped halves CC the outer end of each
of which serves as a tube plate provided with conical fixed tubes D, D¹ each of
which is closed at its outer end, and opens at its other end into the said chamber A,
and the distributing reverser plates E E' forming screens mounted to move inde-
pendently of each other but in a "co-ordinated inanuer in the chamber A, and
each serving as a movable common support or tube plate provided with full or
closed inner conical tubes or plungers "d. . . d' arranged to work in an equal
number of the corresponding fixed conical tubes D-DI motion being imparted
to the plates E E¹ by means of the respective rods F F¹ F', passing out of the
reverser through water-packed stuffing boxes under internal pressure, and the said
rods being actuated by a distributor arranged on the engine shaft, in such a manner
that the thermic reversal will take place in a rapid manner only at the ends of the
strokes of the motor piston, at which time one of the sets of tubes will be open and
the other closed substantially as herein described for the purpose specified, whether
or not the halves C C of the chamber A be made slightly flaring towards the joint
flanges, and whether or not each reverser plate be provided with a conical lip or
flange E✶ arranged to take into a corresponding groove C in the adjacent end of
the chamber when the reverser plate approaches the outer end of its stroke.
2. A reverser for a hot air or like engine of the kind herein specified, constructed
with internal counter-tubes D' D₁₁ d¹ d₁₁ substantially as hereinbefore
described with reference to and shown in Fig. 5 of the drawings annexed.

page_text: 3. In a reverser for a hot air or like engine of the kind hereinabove specified,
the removable protecting envelopes or casings T adapted to wholly or partly
cover the heating tubes D and so protect them against the action of a too intense
fire.
Dated this ɔɩn day or reðruary 189ɔ.
For the Applicant,
W. LLOYD WISE,
46, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, W.C., Chartered Patent Agent.