IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR OBTAINING MOTIVE POWER
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Henry Johnson, of 47 Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the
County of Middlesex, and of 166 Buchanan Street, in the City of Glasgow,
North Britain, Gentleman, for an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR OBTAINING MOTIVE POWER," communicated
to him from abroad by Jean Joseph Etienne Lenoir, of Paris, in the Empire of
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Henry Johnson at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 14th
January 1861.
1, JOHN HENRY JOHNSON, of 47 Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of Middlesex,
and of 166 Buchanan Street, in the City of Glasgow, North Britain. Gentleman,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR OBTAINING MOTIVE POWER." A Communication
[to him] from abroad by Jean Joseph Etienne Lenoir, of Paris, in the Empire of
France, to be as follows: -
This Invention relates to certain improvements upon that class of motive power
engine wherein a piston is traversed to and fro within a cylinder by the expansion
or rarefaction of the air in such cylinder produced by the explosion therein of an
inflammable gas or vapour for which Letters Patent were granted to me on or
about the 8th day of February 1860, N° 335.
These improvements consist of a peculiar arrangement of distributing valve for
the admission of the air and gas into the cylinder in regular layers or strata. For
this purpose it is proposed to employ a slide valve provided with a number of
small tubes through which tubes the gas passes from suitable receivers into the
cylinder. Between each tube there is an opening for the simultaneous admission
of air into the cylinder so that the air and gas enter and remain in the cylinder
in regular strata or superposed layers and this is further ensured by the use of a
grooved or channelled plate along which the streams of air and gas pass in separate
channels as they enter the cylinder.-In addition to the air it is proposed to admit
ID 7

page_text: a certain amount of low pressure steam or moist vapour into the cylinder so that
on the firing of the gas the steam or vapour will be heated and considerably
expanded thereby increasing the effect of the engine. Or if desired water may be
introduced into the cylinder in the form of mist or fine spray in lieu of steam to
be similarly operated upon on the firing of the gas and so produce greater effect.--
The cylinder is surrounded with a cold water jacket and the covers are also made
hollow and filled with cold water. This water is obtained from any convenient
reservoir whence it circulates through the various water jackets and again returns
to the reservoir to be cooled and recirculated through the jackets. The water is thus
used over and over again without any great waste beyond that arising from
evaporation. The electric igniters one of which is placed at each end of the
cylinder consist of a hollow metal plug screwed into the cover and having a
porcelain or other suitable non-conductor in the form of a short rod fixed inside it. -
In this rod are placed the two wires required to produce the spark, the one wire is
in contact with the hollow metal plug or socket and the other is in electric com-
munication with one of a pair of small insulated plates. The positive pole of the
battery is in connection with a third insulated plate whilst the negative pole of
the battery is in electric communication with the metal work of the engine.
In order to establish a circuit it is simply requisite to make contact between one
or other of the pair of small insulated plates and the third plate and this is effected
by a metal slide carried by the cross head of the piston rod and kept in contact
with both plates simultaneously but as it traverses to and fro it leaves one of the
small plates (in connection with the igniter at one end of the cylinder) and enters
upon the other (in connection with the igniter at the opposite end of the cylinder)
but is always in contact with the third plate which is in connection with the
positive pole of the battery this plate being made long enough to allow the slide
to pass to and fro without quitting it. As the pair of shorter plates are brought
alternately in communication with the longer plate it follows that the circuit is
made and a spark is produced in each end of the cylinder alternately so as to
explode the gas and air which have been drawn or sucked in by the piston at the
commencement of its stroke when under the influence only of the fly wheel.-The
gas is supplied to each end of the cylinder direct from a pair of cylindrical receivers
bolted to the working cylinder such receivers being fed or supplied with gas by a
forked pipe leading to any convenient source.

page_text: the said John Henry Johnson in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 13th
July 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN HENRY
JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of Middlesex, and of 166,
Buchanan Street, in the City of Glasgow, North Britain, Gentleman, Send
Greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent bearing date the Fourteenth day of January in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty in the twenty fourth year of Her Reign
did for herself her heirs and successors give and grant unto me the said John
Henry Johnson her special license that I the said John Henry Johnson my
executors administrators and assigns or such others as I the said John Henry
Johnson my executors administrators or 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 MACHINERY OR APPARATUS
FOR OBTAINING MOTIVE POWER " a communication from Abroad by Jean Joseph
Etienne Lenoir of Paris in the Empire of France upon the condition (amongst
others) that I the said John Henry Johnson my Executors or Administrators by
an Instrument in Writing under my hand and seal or under the hand and seal of
one of them 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 John Henry Johnson do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement reference being had to the accompanying Drawings and to the Letters
and Figures marked thereon that is to say:
The said Invention relates to certain improvements upon that class of motive
power engine wherein a piston is traversed to and fro within a cylinder by the
expansion or rarefaction of the air in such cylinder produced by the explosion
therein of an inflammable gas or vapour for which letters patent were granted to
me on or about the Eighth of February one thousand eight hundred and sixty
N° 335. These improvements consist of a peculiar arrangement of distributing
valve for effecting the admission of the air and gas into the cylinder in regular
layers or strata. For this purpose it is proposed to employ a slide valve provided
with a number of small tubes through which tubes the gas passes from suitable
receivers into the cylinder. Between each inbe there is an opening for the simul-
taneous admission of air into the cylinder so that the air and gas enter and remain
in the cylinder in regular strata or layers and this is further ensured by the use of
a grooved or channelled plate along which the streams of air and gas pass in
separate channels as they enter the cylinder. In addition to the air it is proposed
to admit a certain amount of low pressure steam or moist vapour into the cylinder
so that on the ignition of the gas the steam or vapour will be heated and con-
siderably expanded thereby increasing the effect of the engine. Or if desired
water may be introduced into the cylinder in the form of mist or fine spray in lieu
of steam to be similarly operated upon in the ignition of the gas and so produce
greater effect. The cylinder is surrounded with a cold water jacket and the covers
are also made hollow and filled with cold water. This water is obtained from any
convenient reservoir whence it circulates through the various water jackets and
again returns to the reservoir to be cooled and recirculated through the jackets.-

page_text: The electric igniters one of which is placed at each end of the cylinder consist of
a hollow metal plug screwed into the cover and having a porcelain or other
suitable non-conductor in the form of a short rod fixed inside it. In this rod are
placed the two wires required to produce the spark, the one wire being in contact
with the hollow metal plug or socket whilst the other is in electric communication
with one of a pair of small insulated plates.-The positive pole of the battery is in
connection with a third insulated plate whilst the negative pole of the battery is
in electric communication with the metal work of the engine. In order to establish
a circuit it is simply requisite to make contact between one or other of the pair of
small insulated plates and the third plate and this is effected by a metal slide
carried by the cross head of the piston rod and kept in contact with both plates
simultaneously but as it traverses to and fro it leaves one of the small plates (in
connection with the igniter at one end of the cylinder) and enters upon the other
(in connection with the igniter at the opposite end of the cylinder) but is always
in contact with the third plate which is in connection with the positive pole of the
battery this plate being made long enough to allow the slide to pass to and fro
without quitting it. As the pair of shorter plates are brought alternately in
communication with the longer plate it follows that the circuit is made and a
spark is produced in each end of the cylinder alternately so as to explode the gas
and air which have been drawn or sucked in by the piston at the commencement
of its stroke when under the influence only of the fly wheel. The gas is supplied
to each end of the cylinder direct from a pair of cylindrical receivers bolted to the
working cylinder such receivers being fed or supplied with gas by a forked pipe
leading to any convenient source.
And in order that the said invention may be fully understood 1 shall now
proceed more particularly to describe the same and for that purpose I shall refer
to the several figures on the sheet of drawings hereunto annexed the same letters
of reference indicating corresponding parts throughout all the figures.
Figure of the annexed sheet of drawings represents a complete side elevation
of the improved motive power engine. Figure 2, is a corresponding plan of the
same. Figure 3 is a transverse vertical section of the engine taken through the
working cylinder. Figure 4 is a detail face view of the improved slide valve. -
Figure 5, is a horizontal section of the same taken along the line 1-2. -Figure 6
is a transverse section of the same taken through the small orifices through which
the gas passes, (along the line 3-4) and Figures 8 and 8 represent in section and
plan one of the two igniters detached. The cylinder A, having its jacket or envelope
cast in one piece therewith is planed accurately on opposite faces to allow the inlet
and outlet slide valves C and C, to work air tight thereon. On the side from
which the gas enters are fitted two vessels B, cast in one piece and secured to the
cylinder by screw bolts entering the bosses a, a. A forked pipe T, fills both the
vessels B, with gas which vessels communicate alternately with opposite ends of
the cylinder by means of the ports b, b. The slide valve which slides between the
jacket and the vessels B, distributes at the same time both the air and the gas by
means of the following arrangement shewn in Figures 4, 5 and 6. The slide C,
which is open at r, to allow for the bosses a, a, is cast with two wide rectangular
cells c and c', in which enters the atmospheric air. The gas which is supplied
from the vessels or holders B. passes through a series of small tubes or nozzles d. d.
cast on the plate D, screwed to the slide valve as shown in Figure 6. It will
readily be seen that when the slide valve brings one of the vessels or gas holders B
into communication with one of the ports b, the gas will pass, as shewn by the
blue arrows in Figure 6. through the small tubes d, without mixing with the air
which circulates round the tubes and enters the passage b, through the apertures e.
as shewn by the red arrows in Figure 6. In order that the various alternating
veins of gas and of air may preserve their respective thicknesses and positions
whilst entering the cylinder the ports bare subdivided into small compartments by
means of a metal comb V, shewn in transverse section at Figure 7. This comb V
consists of a rectangular plate provided with small metal ridges or partitions so as

page_text: to form as many channels or passages when inserted into the ports b, as there are
openings for the gas and air to enter therein the smaller passages v, being made to
correspond and coincide with the gas inlets d whilst the wider passages v
correspond with the orifices e, in the valve through which the air enters thus
effectually preventing the admixture of the air and gas in the cylinder and so
avoiding explosions when the gas is ignited by either of the igniters hereinafter
more fully described. After each charge or cylinder-full the products of combustion
are distributed or allowed to escape by the slide valve C, into the outlet pipes D',
which unite at their upper ends into one tube as shewn at Figures 1 and 2. The
slide valves C and C', are actuated by the eccentrics E. E' keyed on to the main
shaft F, provided with one or two fly wheels as required.-In order to prevent the
undue heating of the cylinder and piston it is proposed to establish a constant flow
of cold water round and through the sides and ends of the cylinder and round
the eduction ports which latter are also enclosed by jackets or envelopes. This
water is directed by the pipe S, into the jacket s, and passes thence into the
jacket s', whence it flows by the pipes into the cylinder jacket and finally escapes
by the pipe S' which discharges it into a large tank. From this tank it is again
withdrawn, after being cooled, through the pipes, which is in constant communication
with the tank. By this means an economy in water is obtained as the same
supply is made to circulate through the several envelopes. The cylinder covers are
in communication with the other water spaces so that the same water circulates
also through them. The distribution of the electric current consists of a small
metal frame or support H, bolted on to the main bed plate of the engine and
having attached to it the negative wire h, of what is known as Ruhnkorff's
Apparatus so that the whole of the working parts of the engine which are in
direct metallic contact with each other are charged with negative electricity.
The frame II, carries at its upper part an insulating plate J, of caoutchouc or
some other good non-conductor upon which are secured the two short bars j. j' which
are placed alternately and at the proper times in communication with the igniters
1, and as well as with the longer bar also secured to the insulating plate J.
this bar being in communication with the positive wire of the induction coil.-A
metal slide L. acting as a blade spring and fixed to the crosshead of the piston rod
travels to and fro along the entire length of the several bars j. such slide
being sufficiently long to extend over both the upper and lower bars whilst its
inherent elasticity serves to maintain it in metallic contact therewith by which
means the circuit is established first through the bar and then through the
one and vice versa. The break or intervening space between the contiguous
ends of the bars j, j suffices to destroy for an instant the electric current which is
re-established at each passage of the slide I over the plates and consequently the
spark is produced alternately in the igniters I and I-Figures 8 and 8 represent
in longitudinal section and plan one of these igniters.-The body of the igniter
consists simply of a hollow metal bolt having fitted into its interior a porcelain or
other suitable non-conducting rod or cylinder which contains the wires and '.
The bent wire f, which is in metallic contact with the bolt is consequently negative
whilst the second wire j' is in connection with one of the two plates j, j'. It will
thus be evident that the slide L establishing the electric circuit with the bars an
electric spark will be produced between the protruding points of the wires and '.—
As the bed plate or base of the engine is made hollow the Ruhmkorff apparatus
with its battery may be enclosed therein.-To start the engine it is merely
requisite to turn the main crank shaft so as to cause the piston to produce a
partial vacuum behind it.-The slide valve then distributes the air and gas in
alternating layers behind the piston and the circuit being established at this
moment by the distributor of electricity the spark is produced and the ignition of
the gas is effected. This causes a considerable expansion of the air which forces
the piston up to the end of the cylinder when the fly wheel or wheels over-
coming the dead centre brings back the piston towards the opposite end of the
cylinder. In its return stroke the piston again produces a partial vacuum behind

page_text: it to be filled with another supply of air and gas which is also ignited and expanded.
A suitable throttle valve may be used actuated by a governor or regulator whereby
the supply of gas may be regulated or controlled and the electric circuit may be
broken when required by means of a commutator.-Independently of the air and
gas as the principal agents in producing motion, moist steam may be used in order
to assist by its expansion the action of the before mentioned gas and air.-In this
case steam cocks or valves may be suitably disposed on the cylinder one of such
valves being represented in detail vertical section at Figure 9. The steam or
watery vapour is by preference collected in a receiver above the water jacket of
the cylinder with which it is in communication. The water in the jacket being
sufficiently heated rises to a certain level in the receiver whilst the steam or
vapour emitted therefrom fills the upper part of the receiver which is in communi-
cation with each of the tubes K. The cocks or valves R. are so mounted upon the
cylinder that when the piston is at the centre of its stroke there will be a steam or
vapour cock or valve on either side of it so that they may come into action alter-
nately. A small valve s" closes the lower orifice of the steam inlet. R being acted
upon by a helical spring 7.-By this arrangement each time that the piston
produces a partial vacuum behind it the valve s opens and allows a certain
quantity of vapour to enter the cylinder which quantity is regulated by the position
of the cock or valve on the cylinder or by the amount of opening of the valve.-
The piston having made a half stroke, the spark is produced and ignites the gas
which superheats the vapour and steam as well as the air the united expansion of
which operates upon the piston. The two cocks or valves R,being placed on opposite
sides of the piston come into operation alternately. If desired water in the form
of mist or spray may be substituted for steam the same apparatus being used.-
The steam and spray may if preferred be introduced by means of any convenient
nozzle into the air inlet itself thereby dispensing with the cocks or valves R.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of the said
invention and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried into
effect I would observe in conclusion that what I consider to be novel and origina!
and therefore claim is the Invention secured to me by the hereinbefore in part
recited Letters Patent is:-
First. The general construction arrangement and combination of machinery or
apparatus for obtaining motive power as hereinbefore described.
Second. The peculiar construction of slide valve for distributing the air and the
gas in regular layers as hereinbefore described.
Third. The application and use of a metallic comb or channelled plate forming
a prolongation of the inlet ports in the manner and for the purpose hereinbefore
described.
Fourth. The application and use in the working of motive power engines of
moist or very low pressure steam or of water in a state of spray in combination
with atmospheric air and gas as hereinbefore described.
Fifth. The peculiar construction and arrangement of apparatus for changing the
direction or effecting the proper distribution of the electric currents as herein-
before described.
Sixth. The peculiar arrangement of gas receivers and of the envelopes or water
jackets surrounding the outlet passages from the cylinder as hereinbefore
described.
In witness whereof the said John Henry Johnson have hereunto set
my hand and seal this thirteenth day of July one thousand eight
hundad
J. HENRY JOHNSON. (L.S.)