A NEW OR IMPROVED CALORIC PRIME MOTOR
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edward Griffith Brewer, of 33, Chancery Lane,
London, for the Invention of "A NEW OR IMPROVED CALORIC PRIME
MOTOR." A communication from abroad, by the Firm of Van
Gülpen, Lensing, and Von Gimborn, of Emmerich, in the German
Empire.
Sealed the Sth February 1876, and dated the 11th August 1875.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edward Griffith
Brewer at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 11th August 1875.
I, EDWARD GRIFFITH BREWER, of 33, Chancery Lane, London, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "A NEW OR IM-
PROVED CALORIC PRIME MOTOR," (a communication to me from abroad by
the Firm of Van Gülpen, Lensing, and Von Gimborn, of Emmerich, in
the German Empire,) to be as follows:
This Invention, which relates to improvements in prime motors
actuated by caloric, consists of a tube or cylinder or tubes or cylinders
of the necessary length, and of a uniform or varied diameter.

page_text: The machine may be constructed to work cither in a horizontal or
vertical position, and when arranged in the latter direction the upper
part of the tube or cylinder is devoted to the heating of the air for the
purpose of causing expansion, the central part acts as a cooler to con-
tract the air, while the remainder of the tube or cylinder is occupied by
a piston, which reciprocates upwards and downwards therein. To the
said piston a piston rod is attached, which plays through an ordinary
stuffing gland in the cover or bottom of the tube or cylinder, and which
may be attached at once to a connecting rod and crank, or to a series of
levers, or other arrangement or means for transforming reciprocal into
circular motion.
The upper or heating part of the tube or cylinder is closed by a cover,
and is surrounded by a flue placed in communication with a furnace.
The cooling part of the cylinder is surrounded by a water space or
jacket, which communicates by a passage with a water reservoir,
whereby a constant change of water is ensured. Between the lower
part of the tube or cylinder and the bottom or cover an opening or an
annular space is left leading into an air reservoir, which for convenience
may be arranged in the form of a jacket round the herein-before referred
to water space.
The heating and cooling portions of the tube or cylinder are each
occupied by a cylindrical alembic, the uses of which will be herein-after
explained. The said alembics are simply cylinders closed at the ends,
and composed of thin metal so as to be as light as possible. They are
suspended in the tube or cylinder by separate and independent rods,
operated from cams or eccentrics upon the crank shaft or from any other
suitable part of the mechanism, by which the alembics may be made to
rise and fall in the tube or cylinder at the necessary speeds and intervals.
Between the circumferences of the alembics and the interior diameter of
the tube or cylinder there is an annular space, and as the air in the tube
or cylinder has thus free access to all parts of the alembics, they are
thus in equilibrium, and whatever be the air pressure in the cylinder
they offer no resistance to being raised and depressed beyond what is due
to their own weight.
When the mechanism is in motion and the piston, say, at the top of
its stroke, a space full of compressed air exists between the upper and
´under or heating and cooling alembics, and at this stage the upper and

page_text: which enough of water is thus forced to supply the deficiency in the
cylinder and re-cover the openings.
It will be seen from the foregoing description that an unchanged and
confined body of air becomes the moving agent by being alternately
heated and cooled by the means hercin-before described.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Edward Griffith Brewer in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 11th February 1876.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDWARD
GRIFFITH BREWER, of 33, Chancery Lane, London, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eleventh day of August, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the thirty-
ninth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Edward Griffith Brewer, Her special
licence that I, the said Edward Griffith Brewer, my executors, admini-
strators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Edward Griffith
Brewer, 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 "A NEW OR IMPROVED CALORIC PRIME MOTOR," a communication to me
from abroad by the Firm of Van Gülpen, Lensing, and Von Gimborn,
of Emmerich, in the German Empire, upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Edward Griffith Brewer, my executors or admi-
nistrators, 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Edward Griffith Brewer, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner tho

page_text: same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement, reference being had to the accom-
panying Drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, that
is to say:-
This Invention, which relates to improvements in prime motors
actuated by caloric, consists of a tube or cylinder or tubes or cylinders
of the necessary length, and of a uniform or varied diameter.
The engine may be constructed to work either in a horizontal or
vertical position, and when arranged in the latter direction the upper
part of the tube or cylinder is devoted to the heating of the air for the
purpose of causing expansion, the central part acts as a cooler to con-
tract the air, while the remainder of the tube or cylinder is occupied by
a piston, which reciprocates upwards and downwards therein. To the
said piston a piston rod is attached, which plays through an ordinary
stuffing gland in the cover or bottom of the tube or cylinder, and which
may be attached at once to a connecting rod and crank, or to a series of
levers, or other arrangement or means for transforming reciprocal into
circular motion.
The upper or heating part of the tube or cylinder is closed by a cover,
and is surrounded by a flue placed in communication with a furnace.
The cooling part of the cylinder is surrounded by a water space or
jacket, which communicates by a passage with a water reservoir,
whereby a constant change of water is ensured. Between the lower
part of the tube orcylinder and the bottom or cover an opening or an
annular space is left leading into an air reservoir, which for convenience
may be arranged in the form of a jacket round the herein-before referred
to water space.
The heating and cooling portions of the tube or cylinder are each
occupied by a cylindrical alembic, the uses of which will be herein-after
explained. The said alembics are simply cylinders closed at the ends,
and composed of thin metal so as to be as light as possible. They are
suspended in the tube or cylinder by separate and independent rods,
operated from cams or eccentrics upon the crank shaft or from any. other
suitable part of the mechanism, by which the alembics may be made to
rise and fall in the tube or cylinder at the necessary speeds and intervals.
Between the circumferences of the alembics and the interior diameter of
the tube or cylinder there is an annular space, and as the air in the tube

page_text: or cylinder bas thus free access to all parts of the alembics, they are
thus in equilibrium, and whatever be the air pressure in the cylinder
they offer no resistance to being raised and depressed beyond what is due
to their own weight.
When the mechanism is in motion and the piston, say, at the top of
its stroke, a space full of compressed air exists between the upper and
ander or heating and cooling alembics, and at this stage the upper and
heating alembics descends, causing the air to pass from its under to its
upper end, that is to say, causing the air to flow through an annular
space between the alembic and the interior of the cylinder. The whole
mass of air is thus as it were drawn in a thin stream over the heating
surface composed by that part of the cylinder surrounded by the flue,
and is thus expanded and raised so much in pressure that it drives down.
the piston at the lower end of the cylinder, the piston being closely
followed by the lower and cooling alembic, so as to fill up the lower and
cooling part of the cylinder, and thus keep the air in the upper and
heating end. When the piston has nearly reached the end of its
downward stroke, the lower and cooling alembic rises until it meets the
upper and heating alembic, causing the air to pass between its circum-
ference and that part of the cylinder surrounded by a water space,
whereby the air is cooled, contracted, and deprived of its pressure, so
that the piston is allowed to ascend, being assisted in its ascent by the
re-expansion of the air in the air reservoir in communication with the
lower end of the cylinder, which air has been partially compressed by
the descent of the piston. The lower alembic is now lowered until it
resumes its former position with reference to the piston, and the process
hold just described is repeated.
In order to render the aforesaid alembics as light as possible their
sides may be perforated so that they may become full of air, or an
evaporating liquid may be poured into them, the vapours of which will
the equilibrium of the outward pressure..
A governor is also provided, which acts upon cocks, whereby a com-
munication is at times established between the upper and lower parts of
the cylinder when such is required,
When the Invention is applied to a double acting engine, that is to
say, having heating and cooling receptacles and alembics on each side of
the piston, it is preferred that the piston should act in a horizontal plane,

page_text: and a hydraulic seal is provided at the front and back of the piston,
upon which the pressure of the heated air acts so as to reciprocate the
piston. To prevent the said hydraulic seal or liquid buffer from falling
below a certain level, openings are provided on each side of the piston,
into which, when the water has sunk beneath their level, the air
pressure finds entrance, and thence into an adjacent reservoir, from
which enough of water is thus forced to supply the deficiency in the
cylinder and re-cover the openings.
It will thus be seen from the foregoing description that an unchanged
and confined body of air becomes the moving agent by being alternately
heated and cooled by the means herein-before described.
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawing is a vertical section through.
a vertical single acting engine constructed according to this Invention,
and Figure 2 an end elevation of same; Figure 3 is a vertical section
through a vertical double acting engine.
In Figure 1, H is the heating space; K, the cooling space; A, the
piston. The heating space as well as the cooling space are formed by a
metal tube, preferably by a brass tube...
The heating space H is heated from a fire, the cooling space K is
surrounded with cold water for the moving of the compressed. air
which is above the piston A. For the purpose of heating and cooling the
same serve two hollow closed metal alembics B and C, which nearly fill
up the heating space and the cooling space, and may be put in motion
from outside. In the sequel I shall designate these alembics simply as
the heating alembic and the cooling alembic.
The air under the piston A communicates with the likewise com-
pressed air in the large air reservoir L.
Shortly before a lift, when the piston A has reached its highest point,
the heating alembic B moves quickly downwards until it reaches the
cooling alembic C, but returns quickly into its former upper position.
In this way the compressed air, which is in the neutral room N, is twice
forced past the heated walls of the heating tube H, has thereby acquired
a much increased tension, and drives the piston A, which is closely followed
by the cooling alembic C downwards. Shortly before the piston reaches
its lowest point the cooling alembic C is quickly raised up to the heating
alembic B, whereby the air gets into the cooling space and the piston is

page_text: driven upwards through the more compressed air in the reservoir L. The
alembic C descends again, and reaches the piston A as soon as it reaches
its upper position. The air is then again heated by the lowering of the
alembic B, and the operation begins afresh.
i
In the annexed Drawings are shown, for the purpose of demonstration,
constructions in which the movement of the piston is transferred (or
communicated) to a weigh shaft, from which again the movement is
transferred by lever, connecting rod, and crank to a revolving shaft P.
From this latter the movement of the alembics is by means of cams and
levers, shown in dotted lines.
The to-and-fro movement of the piston may of course also be made
direct use of, and the movement of the alembics be produced by other
mechanism than here shown.
When the heating and cooling tubes are constructed in a horizontal
position then the alembics are guided by balls or rollers.
The moving rod of the lower alembic C, Figure 1, goes right through
the alembic B. The latter is provided with two such rods.
In order to be able to make the alembics as thin as possible, and con-
sequently light, they are either hollow, so that they fill themselves with
air of medium tension, or they are provided with a small quantity of
evaporating liquid, the vapours of which then hold the équilibrium of
the outward pressure.
A regulator & operates, or by means of a double cone f, on two loaded
valves n, by which a communication between the two spaces Land N
may be established, and of which the one may open towards L, the other
towards N. The loading of the valves is such that they open of them-
selves under circumstances of pressure which are unfavorable for the
working of the machine. When the machine runs too slowly then the
lower projecting cone, once cach turn, hits the lower lever arm, and
establishes for one moment a communication between L and N, and this
immediately after the cooling of the air in N, namely, at the time of the
lowest tension; therefore the air can enter from L into N. In the
contrary case, when the machine moves too quickly, the second valve is
opened at the time of the highest tension, so that the air out of N can
enter into L.

page_text: The cooling water is in connection with a larger outer water reservoir,
so that the same is replaced when it is heated. The piston A is greased
through the tube o.
In order to separate as much as possible the packing of the piston
from the hot air, the same may be provided with a protecting alembic,
which leaves only a small space between it and the wall of the cylinder,
which during the movement remains filled with stagnant air.
For the filling of the air reservoir L with compressed air there is an
air pump, which may be worked by the hand or by the engine. The
double acting engine shewn at Figure III. works exactly after the same
principle, only the piston A is placed in a horizontal cylinder, and the
piston surfaces are each in communication both with a heating and
a cooling space; and further, the action of the air reservoir L with
reference to the piston is done away with.
In order to prevent an untimely entering in and cooling down of the
air in the cooling space, the cylinder may be filled with a liquid, say,
water, glycerine, oil, &c. This liquid makes the same movement as the
piston, and causes the close connection with the cooling alembic during
the passage of the piston.
In Figure III. R designates an air and water reservoir.
For regulating the height of the water in the cylinder there are
screwed in the upper parts of the same two air suckers g. Whenever the
water at the going down sinks under the brim of the screen g air enters
into this screen, which air escapes at the next high pressure through
the tube into the reservoir R, and is replaced at the following low
tension by water. In the connecting tube i there is inserted a glass
tube for observation and a three-way cock p, by means of which both
the air sucker may be stopped working and the superfluous water may
be let out.
In the construction, as per Figure III., there may be instead of onc
heating and cooling tube on each side of the piston one or more such
tubes.
The employment of a liquid in the cylinder permits the cylinder to be
arranged without disadvantage in a direction different from that of the
heating and cooling tubes, and particularly to facilitate the construction
of single acting engines.

page_text: The employment of a separate change of air for the heating space and
for the cooling space offers the following advantages (as compared with
the change of air by means of an alembic) :-Of a twice repeated passing
of the air along the walls of the heating and cooling apparatus. With
an alembic on the other hand the air which is to be introduced into the
heating space again passes along the walls of the cooling space, and the
expanded air passes disadvantageously along the walls of the heating
space before it can enter the cooling space.
And having thus fully described the nature of this Invention I declare
that I claim,
First. The employment of an enclosed, that is, not renewable,
quantity of compressed air for the production of force by means of
heating and cooling down, as and for the purpose set forth.
Second. For single acting engines, the arrangement of the air
reservoir L, as and for the purpose set forth.
Third. The arrangement of a separate change of air for the heating
space and for the cooling space, for the purpose set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edward Griffith Brewer, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Eleventh day of February, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
six.