A ROTATORY ENGINE
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Dundas Smith Porteous, of Paisley, in the County of
Renfrew, in Scotland, for the Invention of "A ROTATORY ENGINE."
Sealed the 11th March 1856, and dated the 22nd January 1856.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said Dundas Smith Porteous,
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition and
Declaration, on the 22nd January 1856, pursuant to the 9th Section of
the Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,. DUNDAS
SMITH PORTEOUS, of Paisley, in the County. of Renfrew, in Scotland, do
hereby declare the nature of the Invention for "A ROTATORY ENGINE," and
in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described.
and ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, that is to say:-
The engine consists of two, three, or more cylinders (though in the Plans
exhibited three only are shown), placed end to end in a straight line, which
cylinders are marked A, A, A, in all the Figures of the accompanying Plans,
and can be placed in a horizontal, vertical, or angular position; but what I
prefer is a horizontal position, as exhibited.
Figure 1 shews an external end elevation, Figure 2 a sectional end
elevation, Figure 3 a sectional end elevation, of the air pump; Figure 4 a..
side sectional elevation, and Figure 5 a horizontal sectional plan view. By
the end plates B; B, and the partition plates C, C, the cylinders are separated

page_text: one from another. D is a shaft passing through the centre of all the cylinders,
the ends B, B, forming the bearings of such shaft. In each of these cylinders,
and affixed to said shaft, is an arm or wyper, marked E, E, E, revolving with
the said shaft; they are placed at equal distances around the shaft D, and are
fitted with brass packing rings marked F, F, and slips marked G, G, making
them steam-tight wherever they come in contact with the cylinders A, A, A, the
end plates B, B, and the partition plates C, C. H, H, H, are flaps, placed one
in each cylinder, which oscillate on one end in the cylinder, whilst the other
end bears on the arms or wypers. They are fitted with the brass packing
rings I, I, and the slips J, J, to make them steam-tight whenever they come in
contact with the end plates B, B, and the partition plates C, C. K is a hollow
cylindrical roller, extending all the length of the three or more cylinders, and
placed parallel to their axis. It operates as a valve, and has three or more
ports on its circumference, that is to say, one before each cylinder, placed at
equidistant parts around it. This roller or valve is moved by a spur wheel L
placed on the shaft D, driving another of the same size M on the valve, to
revolve with the same velocity as the said shaft D. This roller or valve K is
set so that when the wyper E' is at the position d in the cylinder A', the port
1 of the valve K is opening into the port N of the said cylinder A', and so on
in rotation with the port 2 of the said valve and the wyper E³, and the port
3 of the valve and the wyper E³. 0, 0, 0, are the exhaust or outlet ports
which lead into a main port O; P is a plug at the extremity of said main port,
that when the engine is to be wrought by water, gas, or as a non-condensing
steam engine, the said plug P is removed and a pipe inserted in its place, to
allow the steam, water, or gas to escape, or to convey it after leaving the
When the engine is to be
engine to any place where it may be required.
wrought as a condensing steam engine the plug is kept in, and the steam is
allowed to escape into, the condenser Q, and condensed in the usual manner.
R is the injection pipe; S, the foot valve, or communication to the air pump 'T.
This air pump T is shewn in Figure 3, 4, and 5, and consists of the cylinder U,
having two, end plates V, V, and a shaft W through its centre, working into
hearings formed in the centres of said end plates V, V, and put in motion
by the spur wheel X affixed to the main shaft D, driving another spur wheel-
X, X, placed on the shaft W. Y is a wyper, attached to the shaft W, which
said wyper is fitted with packing rings f,f, and packing slips g, g, making it
water-tight where it comes in contact with the cylinder U and the end plates
V, V; Z is a flap, placed in the cylinder U, and oscillates at one end in said
cylinder, bearing on the wyper Y at the other end, having packing rings i, i,

page_text: and packing slips 1,j, making it water-tight where it comes in contact with
the cylinder U and the end plates V,V. a is the discharge valve..
When the engine is to be wrought by water, gas, or, as a non-condensing
steam engine, the operation is as follows; that is to say, the steam, water, or
gas is admitted by the pipe b, filling the valve casing. c, and passing through
the port 1 of the valve K into the cylinder A', pressing against the back of the
flap Hand on the wyper E', causing the said wyper to revolve in the direction
as shown by the arrow (by the pressure of the said steam, water, or gas,) until
the said wyper E' reaches the exhaust port O, by which the said steam, water, or
gas escapes, and thereby ceases to propel the wyper E¹ forward; but after the
wyper E' has travelled one-third of its whole course, the port:2 of the valve
K now comes round and opens, admitting the steam, water, or gas into the
cylinder As, and propels the wyper. E' forward, as before. described; and when
the wyper E' has travelled two thirds of its course, the port 3 of the valve K
having come round, opens and admits steam, water, or gas into the cylinder
A³, and propels the wyper E³ forward to the exhausting port, as before described,
while simultaneously the port 1 of the valve K. shuts and admits no more.
steam, water, or gas into the cylinder A¹; and as the wyper E³ reaches the
exhausting port O, the port 2 of the valve K shuts, and so on, with the
wyper Es, in rotation.
By the foregoing description it is shewn, when one of the cylinders
is inactive, the wyper having passed the port of discharge, and not having
arrived at the port by which it is again to be supplied for the next revolu-
tion, the other two cylinders are in operation, being under the pressure of
the steam, water, or gas. When the engine is used as a condensing steam
engine, instead of letting the steam escape, it is allowed to pass into the con-
denser Q, and is condensed in the usual manner. The condensed water
passes through the foot valve S into the air pump T, whereby the revolving
wyper Y, and the flap Z acting in concert with the said wyper, it is forced
through the discharge valve a.
CLAIMS.
First, I claim the combination of the parts as a whole, as above described
and detailed, and as exhibited in Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5; and, separately, the
using of two, three, or more cylinders when wrought with flaps as resisting
abutments of steam, water, or gas, when either is used as propelling agents;
also, the using in a rotatory engine flaps made with a different curve than the
internal circle of the cylinder; and likewise the using of a hollow cylindrical
valve, as exhibited in the accompanying Plans, when such is used as part of
a rotatory engine.

page_text: ...Secondly, I claim the using of the rotatory pump, as exhibited in Figures
1, 3, 4, and 5, either in connection with a steam engine or otherwise.
In witness whereof, I, the said Dundas Smith Porteous, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-first day of January, in the year of
⚫ our Lord One thousand eight hundred-and fifty-six.
Witness,
ROBERT JONES, Clerk,
21st January 1856.
DUNDAS SMITH PORTEOUS. (L.S.)