IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR OBTAINING MOTIVE POWER
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Ridley, of Belsize Park, in the County
of Middlesex, Gentleman, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
APPARATUS FOR OBTAINING MOTIVE POWER."
Sealed the 4th June 1869, and dated the 7th December 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Ridley at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
7th December 1868.
I, JOHN RIDLEY, of Belsize Park, in the County of Middlesex,
Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR OBTAINING MOTIVE POWER," to be as
follows:-
My Invention consists in improved apparatus for obtaining motive
power from wind for pumping or other purposes. My apparatus consists
of a vane or blade combined with a pendulum and other parts in such
manner that the face of the vane or blade is first presented to the wind
to produce the movement of the vane in one direction, and the edge of
the said vane is then presented to the wind so that little or no resistance
is offered to the return movement, which is effected by a pendulum or

page_text: weight attached to or rigidly suspended from the vane or by a spring or
springs. The manner in which I prefer to turn the vane so as to present
first the face and then the edge thereof to the wind is by means of
a lever and weight acting upon an arm carried out from the vane, so
that when the vane reaches each end of its travel the lever and weight
cause the vane to turn one quarter round. The reciprocating motion
obtained by the oscillating vane and pendulum as before described may
be transmitted in any desired manner according to the purpose to which
it is to be applied.
In applying my Invention to pumping the apparatus before described
is connected to a pump which is free to turn on a vertical axis according
to the direction of the wind, the pump being kept to the wind by a vane
fixed thereto.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Ridley in the Great Scal Patent Office on
the 7th June 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
RIDLEY, of Belsize Park, in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman,
send greeting
.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Seventh day of December, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-cight, in the thirty-
second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said John Ridley, Her special licence that
I, the said John Ridley, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said John Ridley, my executors, adminis-
trators, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS
FOR OBTAINING MOTIVE POWER," upon the condition (amongst others) that
I, the said John Ridley, my executors or administrators, by an instru-.

page_text: 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 John Ridley, 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 accompanying.
Drawings, that is to say :-
My Invention consists in improved apparatus for obtaining motive
power from wind for pumping or other purposes..
My apparatus consists of a vane.or blade combined with a pendulum.
and other parts in such manner that the face of the vane or blade is first
presented to the wind to produce the movement of the vane in one
direction, and the edge of the said vane is. then presented to the wind so
that little or no resistance is offered to the return movement, which is
effected by a pendulum or weight attached to or rigidly suspended from
the vane.
One manner in which the vane may be turned so as to,
present first the face and then the edge thereof to the wind is by means.
of a lever and weight acting upon an arm carried out from the vane, so
that when the vane reaches cach end of its travel the lever and weight
cause the vane to turn one quarter round. The reciprocating motion
obtained by the oscillating vane and pendulum as before described may.
be transmitted in any desired manner according to the purpose to which
it is to be applied.
In applying my Invention to pumping the apparatus before described
is, connected to a pump which may be free to turn on a vertical axis
according to the direction of the wind, the whole being kept to the wind
by a vane fixed thereto.
The principle and nature of my Invention and the means by which
the same may be carried into effect will be understood by the following
description of the annexed Drawings which represent one mode of
realizing my Invention, and of applying it for pumping purposes.
Figures 1 and 2 are elevations taken at right angles to each other;

page_text: Figure 3 is a plan or top view of a portion of the apparatus; Figure 4
is a plan or top view of a guide hereafter described.
a is a fixed axle having a bush or collar & mounted loosely there-
on; c, c, is an upright fixed on the bush b; this upright carries at
its upper end a vane d, and at its lower end a weight e; fis another
upright also mounted on the bush b, but loose and not fixed thercon ;
this upright is also weighted at its lower end g. The opposing faces
of the naves or bosses and i of the uprights c and fare kept in as
close contact as may he necessary by a plate or disc and double
screw nut . m and n are upper and lower guides on the upright c,
whereby the oscillating movement of this upright independently of the
upright is limited or controlled. A necessary adhesion of the twa
weights e and g may probably be secured by the plate and nut / as
above mentioned, but additional connection or adhesion may be obtained
by making the lower guide n inclined as seen at a in Figure 4, so as to
tighten the pressure at each end of the stroke; or a wedge p connected
to the disc k, as shown, and having a second centre may be employed to
fix or hold the weights together during a portion of their movement;
this wedge may also be employed to stop the motion by hand; " is a
toothed wheel on the collar or bush h, and gearing into two racks v, n,
on the rods of two pumps or pump barrels w, 10;
upright gearing into a toothed quadrant z on
the vane upright c; r, r, are rollers to act as
rods v, v.
y is a rack on the
the upper portion of
guides to the pump
The action of the apparatus is as follows:-The force of the wind
acting against the vane d pushes the vane and causes the upright c to
tilt or turn with the bush b on the fixed axle a, The adhesion of the
two weights e and g causes the other upright f to partake partially of
the movement of the upright c, but when the power of the weight g on
the upright becomes sufficient to overcome the adhesion of the two
weights the two weights separate together with their uprights, that is to
say, the weight g stops together with its upright f and the other
upright o continues its onward movement, and the rack and quadrant by
gearing into each other compel the vane to turn one quarter round, so
that the edge thereof is prosented to the wind. The guides m and n
limit the further onward movement of the upright c independently of the
upright. Little or no resistance being now offered to the wind the
uprights are carried by the action of the weights to the other side of
the axlc a, when the vane is again turned by the action of the rack and

page_text: quadrant, so as to face the wind. An oscillating movement of the
uprights and of their bush is thus kept up, and this movement is
transmitted by the wheel u and racks o, o, to the pistons or plungers of
the pumps, which are thereby worked. A crank might be substituted
for the wheel and racks », v. As the power obtained when the wind is
light would be checked by the pumps, air might be allowed to enter the
pump chambers by valves or taps until the movement reaches a certain
point, when the valves would be wholly or partially closed by the move-
inent and re-opened by spring pistons or otherwise, as the movement
decreases. The uprights c and f may for convenience be made in two
parts or lengths connected together. Instead of one vane two or more
may be employed,
I do not limit myself to the mode desoribed of tilting or reversing the
vane as other modes may be adopted, but I prefer that described because
the vano tilts or reverses itself by the momentum which its upright
receives over and above that of the other upright f. Instead of the
movement being in a line with the wind it may be at any angle thereto
up to a right angle. The wind will then assist the return stroke, or if
the angle be a full right angle the wind will act equally both ways, the
vane being set at a corresponding angle. Too great a movement may
he prevented by the interposition of springs, or the movement may be
limited in its length by springs.
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. Obtaining motive power from wind by imparting oscillating
movement to a vane, substantially by the means and in the manner
horcin-before described.
Second. The general construction or arrangement of parts of apparatus
for obtaining motive power from wind, as herein-before described and
represented in the accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Ridley, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fifth day of June, One thousand eight
hundred and sixty-nine.