CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN LOCOMOTIVE ENGINES
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Frederick Samson Thomas, of 17, Cornhill, City
of London, and Hooks Villa, Fulham, in the County of Middlesex,
Gentleman, for the Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN LOCOMOTIVE
ENGINES."
Sealed the 8th September 1854, and dated the 1st April-1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Frederick Samson Thomas
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 1st April 1854.
I, FREDERICK SAMSON THOMAS, of 17, Cornhill, City of London, & Hooks
Villa, Fulham, in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman, do hereby declare the
nature of my Invention for "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN LOCOMOTIVE ENGINES
to be as follows:-
My Invention consists in making the atmosphere available as a propulsive
or tractive power for railway locomotives."
I effect this object by collecting the atmosphere originally and during the
progress of the trains by means of bellows. In the progress of the trains the
bellows are attached to as many of the carriages comprising the train as I
think proper, & such bellows are worked by the wheels of the carriages.
The atmosphere thus obtained in conveyed by flexible tubes to the locomotive,
where it is received into elastic reservoirs. In these reservoirs it is subjected
to compression by mechanical means, and is forced into a heated chamber
immediately in connexion with the piston of the locomotive. The constant
and rapid collection and interchanges which are thus made of the atmosphere
from its cold & condensed state to its most rarified and expanded volume
provide the power which influences the elevation and depression of the
piston, & gives motion and tractive or propulsive capability to the locomotive.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Frederick Samson Thomas in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 30th September 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, FREDERICK
SAMSON THOMAS, of 17, Cornhill, City of London, and Hooks Villa, Fulham,
in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the First day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the seventeenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Frederick Samson Thomas, Her special license that I, the said Frederick
Samson Thomas, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Frederick Samson Thomas, 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 yend, within the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for
"CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN LOCOMOTIVE ENGINES," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Frederick Samson Thomas, by an instrument in writing
under my hand and seal, should particularly describe and ascertain 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 within six
calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Frederick Samson Thomas, 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 hereto
annexed, and to the figures and letters marked thereon, that is to say:-
My Invention consists in the combination of mechanical means; first, for
collecting atmospheric air and passing it into convenient vessels or reservoirs,
whence it cannot escape except for performing the offices intended; secondly,
for compressing the atmospheric air so collected into a highly condensed con-
dition; thirdly, for heating the air by means of charcoal or other suitable fuel
to enlarge its volume; and, fourthly, for employing the condensed and heated air
for setting a piston, and thence the driving wheels of the locomotive in motion.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Drawing I., Figures 1 and 2, represent in section, at A and B, the fans or

page_text: Drawing II., Figures 1 and 2, shew an elevation and section of a tender,
with contrivances for storing air so collected.
Drawings III. and IV. represent a section and plan of the new locomotive
engine.
Drawing V., sectional elevation of a new motive wheel to be applied in the
new construction of locomotive engine.
Drawing I., Figure 1, shews at A, a section of fans or blowing machines
attached to the wheels of the railway carriage; Figure 2 shews at B, a trans-
verse section of same. The fans extend across the carriage from wheel to
wheel, and receive the atmospheric air through a mouth C opposite the current
of air caused by the onward progress of the vehicle. .These fans are worked
by means of a rim D cast on the wheels, or of an ordinary band from the.
axle, which rin gives motion to a friction pulley E fixed to the shaft F of the
fan; consequently, so long as the wheels of the carriage revolve, the atmospheric
air will be collected by the fans, and forced forward through flexible tubes G
into the atmospheric tender.
'
Drawing II., Figure 1, represents in elevation the atmospheric tender; and
Figure 2, the same in section. Its framework is constructed of sliding tubes
A, A, and is capable of compression and expansion. The tender conveys a .
pair of india-rubber or flexible bags or reservoirs B, B, in which the atmo-
spheric air is received through the sluice valves C, C. The escape of the
atmospheric air in the event of excess of pressure is provided for by safety
valves D loaded with a spring or weight at the top of the reservoirs, and the
ingress and egress of the atmospheric air is permitted or prevented by sluice
valves C, C, at either end.
Drawing III. is an elevation of the locomotive; and Drawing IV., a
plan of the same. The atmospheric air is conveyed into the locomotive from
the tender through the passage A; the sluice valve B being open, the atmo-
spheric air is forced by means of the fan C into the bellows D, the bellows
becoming alternately elevated and depressed by means of the disk E, which
receives its motion from the motive wheels F and G, herein-after described in
Drawing V., which motion is also assisted by means of mercury or a weighted
ball inserted in the hollow chamber H of the disk E. The disk E, through
its rotary motion, forces the mercury or ball to give an oscillating movement
to the top part of the bellows I, consequently pressing the air arriving through
the fan C into the reservoir J. The disk E, through its rotary oscillating
motion, causes the depression of one of the bellows, and consequently the
elevation of the other; the compressed air is thereby forced through the
passage K, and the slide valve L being open, allows it to pass into the heated

page_text: chamber M; the slide valve L then being shut, by means of an excentric rod
fastened on to the crank shaft Q, the air expands, and the slide valve N opening
by means of another excentric and gear (one of the excentrics being fixed at
the top stroke whilst the other is fixed at the bottom stroke) allows the com-
pressed and heated air to force the piston.O and cross head Z to the top of
the cylinder P, consequently giving motion to the piston rod W, connecting
rod Y, to the crank R, and driving wheel S. The heated and compressed
air is then allowed to pass into the atmosphere by means of a small valve
formed in the piston O, and by a small opening cast in the cylinder P. The
air, after having been forced through the bellows D in its utmost state of com-
pression into a passage K on either side of the locomotive, enters by means
of the slide valve L, herein-before described, into the chamber M, which is
heated by being surrounded by a receiver T containing charcoal, which is fed
by the hopper U. In this chamber M the compressed atmospheric air receives
its caloric, and is then forced by, successive jets, caused by the re-admission of
fresh atmospheric air, upon the pistons O, as herein-before described. The
cast iron chamber M is protected by means of fire clay V from the destructive
action. of the charcoal fire. a', crank receiving motion from the rotary motive
wheel G. B', rods connecting the crank a¹ to the bell crank C. C', bell
cranks, giving motion to the bell cranks E. D', rods connecting the bell
cranks C and E'. E', bell cranks giving motion to the rods K', K. F¹, rods
giving motion to the bellows by means of the crank I, receiving its power
from the rotary wheel F. K¹, rods giving motion to the bellows D. N¹, rods
mounted on universal joints, giving the rotary and oscillating movement to the
disk E. O¹, slide rods with screws, to allow of opening more or less the
slides L and N. P¹, slide rods.
Drawing V. is a sectional elevation and plan, of the rotary wheels F and G,
represented in Drawings III. and IV. A, A, are metallic chambers, in which
are set balls or rollers B, B; the form of the chambers is such that the balls
or rollers receive a centrifugal impetus on one side of the wheel, which causes
them to approach the periphery of the wheel, and a centripetal impulse or
inclination on the, other side,, which causes them to incline towards the nave of
the wheel, so that a longer leverage is obtained by the descending balls to that
obtained by those which are ascending; thus the wheel has by its own mecha-
nical arrangement the power of commencing and sustaining motion. D is a s
spring which assists the balls to assume their centripetal movement. E, fric-
tion band for controlling the action of the motive wheel. F, handles pivotting
at G, acting upon the friction band, E, and serving. to stop or release the
wheel. H, bracket for supporting the handles.

page_text: In lieu of balls or rollers, any weighty fluid, such as water or quicksilver,
might be employed to obtain the same effect. The shaft C of the wheels F
and G give motion to the crank a', Drawings III. and IV.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and the manner
of carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that I do not con-
fine myself to the precise details herein laid down, provided the peculiar
feature of the Invention be retained; but what I claim as new is,-
First, the use of fans or blowing machines, receiving their motion from the
wheels or axles of the railway carriages, for collecting and forcing atmospheric
air into receivers ready for use, as herein-before described and referred to in
Drawing I.
Secondly, the construction and use of the rotary motive wheel, as herein-
before described and referred to in Drawing V.
Thirdly, the construction and use of the disk, as herein-before described
and referred to in Drawings III. and IV.
Fourthly, the construction and use of bellows for compressing atmospheric
air, and worked by means of the wheels and disk, as herein-before described
and referred to in Drawings III. and IV.
Fifthly, the mechanical arrangements for heating the air by means of char-
coal or other suitable fuel, as herein-before described and referred to in
Drawings III. and IV.
Sixthly, the general arrangement of the locomotive, as herein-before
described and referred to in Drawings III. and IV.
Seventhly, the general arrangement and use of the air tender, as herein-
before described and referred to in Drawing II.
Eighthly, the application of the motive wheel, constructed as herein-before
described and shewn in Drawing V., or with modifications, according as cir-
cumstances may require, to producing or increasing motive power for all
purposes in which mechanical motive power is or may be employed.
In witness whereof, I, the said Frederick Samson Thomas, have hereto
set my hand and seal, this Thirtieth day of September, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four.
Witness,
W. A. GILBEE.
FRED SAMSON (L.S.) THOMAS.