IMPROVE- MENTS IN STEAM, GAS, AND AIR ENGINES
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Henry Ellis, of No. 20, High Holborn, in
the County of Middlesex, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN STEAM, GAS, AND AIR ENGINES."
Sealed the 3rd March 1871, and dated the 9th September 1870.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Henry Ellis
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 9th September 1870.
I, GEORGE HENRY ELLIS, of No. 20, High Holborn, in the County of
Middlesex, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM, GAS, AND AIR ENGINES," to be as follows:-
My improvements have for their object to obtain more direct and
uniform movement than can be obtained by the crank method now
employed, and the same are applicable to the driving shaft containing
the fly wheel and rigger, as also to the slide valve and pump rods of
steam, gas, and air engines. For this purpose I employ a drum or other
apparatus having a right and left hand worm or screw formed in or upon
the same.
This drum or other apparatus is disposed in a suitable

page_text: manner to receive the ends of the piston or other rods in the channel of
the worm or screw (or the piston may act directly therein in certain
cases) and by the reciprocating action of the piston a continuous and
direct rotatory movement is imparted to the screw, drum, or shaft.
Wheels or pulleys may be used for diminishing friction in the worm or
screw, and I provide suitable roller or other guides for the piston or
other rods. It will be understood that in its application to pumping the
screw drum must be the actuating body.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said George Henry Ellis in the Great Seal Patent Office,
on the 9th March 1871.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
HENRY ELLIS, of No. 20, High Holborn, in the County of Middlesex,
Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Ninth day of September, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the thirty-fourth
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said George Henry Ellis, Her special licence
that I, the said George Henry Ellis, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said George Henry Ellis, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS
IN STEAM, GAS, AND AIR ENGINES," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said George Henry Ellis, 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 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said George Henry Ellis, 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, reference being had to the Drawing hereto
annexed, and to the figures and letters marked thereon, that is to
say:
My improvements have for their object to obtain a more direct and
uniform movement than can be obtained by means of the crank arrange-
ment now employed, and the same are applicable to the driving shaft
carrying the fly wheel and rigger, as also to the slide valve and pump
rods of steam, gas, and air engines.
To carry out my improvements I employ a drum or cam having a
right and left hand worm or screw formed in or upon the same or with
a suitable diagonal channel or channels cut therein; this drum or cam
is disposed in a suitable manner to receive the ends of the piston or
other rods working in the worms or screws, or in the said channel or
channels, and by the reciprocating action of the piston a continuous and
direct rotatory movement is imparted to the said drum or cam. Wheels
or pulleys may be used for diminishing friction in the channel of the
drum or cam, and I provide suitable roller or other guides for the piston
and other rods. It will be understood that in its application to the
slide valves and to pumping the drum or cam must be the actuating
body.
To make my Invention better understood I will proceed to describe
the same by reference to the accompanying Drawing which shews a
side elevation of a horizontal steam engine constructed with my
improvements.
a is the cylinder of the engine, and 6 the piston rod working on
suitable friction rollers in the guide c; d is a drum cut with a diagonal
channel e externally on both sides and fixed on the driving shaft ƒ of
the engine; g, fly wheel. The end of the piston rod is furnished with a
friction roller working in the channel e of the drum d; j is a small
drum with a channel i similar in all respects (except that it is smaller)
to the drum d, and is also keyed on the driving shaft f; in this channel i
works the end of the rod of the slide valve k, the rod being furnished
with a friction roller (not always required), and working in the guide .
By this arrangement the reciprocating motion of the piston rod b, the
end of which works in the channel e, imparts a rotatory movement to

page_text: the drum d, and consequently to the driving shaft f and fly wheel g, and
as the small drum j moves with the large drum d it imparts a
reciprocating motion to the rod k of the slide valve by means of the
channel i, in which the end of the said rod works.
I have not shewn in the Drawing the Invention applied to pumps,
but it will be readily understood that the arrangement would be the
same as that shewn for working the slide valve as herein-before described,
the drum or cam being the actuating body.
Having thus described my Invention,_and_the_manner_of_performing
the same, I wish it to be understood that I do not confine myself to
the precise details herein laid down and shewn in the accompanying
Drawing, as the same may be varied without departing from the
principle of my Invention; but what I claim is, the employment in
steam, gas, and air engines in lieu of the crank and eccentrics of drums
or cams cut with diagonal or other suitable channels, substantially in
the manner and for the purposes herein-before described and represented
in the accompanying Drawing.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Henry Ellis, have hereto
set my hand and seal, this Ninth day of March, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one.
CECE BANDV TAT T TR