AN IMPROVED CONSTRUCTION OF ROTARY ENGINE
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Vincent Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughts-
man, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED CONSTRUCTION OF ROTARY ENGINE."
-A communication from abroad by Henry John Behrens, Henry Curtis
Dart, and Edward Dart, all of New York City, United States of
America.
Sealed the 3rd November 1866, and dated the 22nd June 1866.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Vincent Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, ou
the 22nd June 1866.
I, ALFRED VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED CONSTRUCTION OF ROTARY
ENGINE," to be as follows:-
This improved rotary engine is designed more especially for use as a motor,
in which case it may be driven by steam, water, or other fluid, but it may by
having power properly applied to it externally be used as a pump. The
pistons attached to two parallel shafts geared together so as to rotate in
opposite directions at the same velocity are of the form of segments of rings,
concentric with their respective shafts, projecting from the inner face of discs,
which are keyed to those shafts. The outer arc-formed surfaces of the pistons
are fitted to and rotate within two parallel laterally communicating bores in

page_text: the same cylinder or casing, and their inner arc-formed surfaces are fitted to
and rotate around two stationary hubs concentric with their respective shafts
and bores of the cylinder. The axes of the shafts and their respective bores
of the cylinder are situated at such distance apart and the aforesaid fixed
hubs are so recessed in a concave arc form that the outer arc-formed face or
faces of the piston or pistons of one shaft fit the recesses in the fixed bub
which surrounds the other shaft in such manner as to prevent the steam,
water, or other fluid from passing between the piston of either cylinder and
the hub of the opposite one. The induction and eduction pipes are arranged
in opposite positions where the two bores of the cylinder meet. These bores
are commenced at opposite sides of the cylinder, but do not extend quite
through the cylinder, a portion of the metal of the cylinder being left solid
at the back of each bore for the support of the fixed cylindrical hubs, which
are concentric with their respective bores. The cylinder is fitted with two
removable heads, which are fitted with the stuffing boxes for the two parallel
geared shafts that carry the pistons on the opposite face of each disc to that
on which the piston is arranged, and on the opposite side of the axis thereof
there is secured to the disc a counterbalance to counterbalance the weight of
the piston, and the heads of the cylinder are recessed for the reception of
these counterbalances. In the operation of the engine as a motor the steam
or other motive agent acts upon the piston or pistons of each shaft alternately,
while the piston or one of the pistons of the other shaft serves as an abut-
When the engine operates as a pump the vacuum is produced for the
entrance of the liquid, and the liquid expelled by the piston or pistons of each
shaft alternately.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Alfred Vincent Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 22nd December 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALFred
VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, send greeting.
. WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of June, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the thirtieth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Alfred Vincent Newton, Iler special licence that I, the said Alfred

page_text: Vincent Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, 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 "AN
IMPROVED CONSTRUCTION OF ROTARY ENGINE," being a communication from
abroad, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Alfred Vincent
Newton, 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, do hereby
declare the nature of the 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 hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say) :-
This engine is designed more especially for use as a motor, in which case it
may be driven by steam, water, or other fluid, but it may by having power
properly applied to it externally be used as a pump. The pistons attached to
two parallel shafts geared together so as to rotate in opposite directions at
the same velocity are of the form of segments of rings concentric with their
respective shafts; their outer arc-formed surfaces are fitted to and rotate
within two parallel laterally communicating bores in the same cylinder or
casing, and their inner arc-formed surfaces are fitted to and rotate around two
stationary hubs concentric with their respective shafts and bores of the cylinder.
The axes of the shafts, and their respective bores of the cylinder, are situated
at such distance apart, and the aforesaid fixed hubs are so recessed in a
concave arc form, that the outer arc-formed face or faces of the piston or
pistons of one shaft fit the recesses in the fixed hub which surrounds the other
shaft in such manner as to prevent the steam, water, or other fluid from
passing between the piston of either cylinder and the hub of the opposite one.
The induction and eduction pipes are arranged in opposite positions where the
two bores of the cylinder meet. In the operation of the engine as a motor
the steam or other motive agent acts upon the piston or pistons of each shaft
alternately, while the piston or one of the pistons of the other shaft serves as
an abutment. In using the engine as a pump the vacuum is produced for

page_text: the entrance of the liquid, and the liquid expelled by the piston or pistons of
each shaft alternately.
In the accompanying Drawing Fig. 1 is a vertical section of the engine in
its simplest form in a plane parallel with its planes of rotation; Fig. 2 is a
borizontal section of the same in the plane indicated by the line x, x, in
Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is an isometrical view of one of the pistons and the disc to
which it is attached; Fig. 4 is a section corresponding with Fig. 1, and
showing a modification of the engine. Similar letters of reference indicate
corresponding parts in the several Figures.
The engine represented in Figures 1 and 2 has but one piston attached to
each shaft. A is the cylinder or casing having two parallel cylindrical
bores a, a', the axes of which are at a distance apart equal to about two-thirds
of the diameter of the bores themselves, so that the two bores intersect each
other, and have a lateral communication, as shown in Fig. 1. These bores
are commenced at opposite sides of the cylinder, as shown in Fig. 2, but do
not extend quite through the cylinder, a portion 6 of the metal of the cylinder
being left solid at the back of each bore for the support of the fixed cylindrical
hubs c, c, which are concentric with their respective bores. The cylinder is
fitted with two removable heads B, B, which are bored through concentrically
with the bores a, a¹, for the passage of the two parallel shafts C, C¹, which
also pass through and fit concentric bores in the hubs c, c¹, and parts b, b, of
the cylinder. The bores in the cylinder heads may be fitted with stuffing
boxes, or otherwise made tight enough around the shafts to prevent leakage.
The shafts are geared together by a pair of spur gears D, D³, having a
uniform number of teeth, so that when one rotates the other must rotate at
the same velocity. E is a piston attached to the shaft C; and E' is a piston
attached to the shaft C¹; these pistons project from the inner or facing sides
of two discs F, F, which are firmly secured one to each of the two shafts C, C',
and which fit snugly one to each of the bores a, a², of the cylinder. The said
piston may be either cast in the same piece with their respective discs, or
otherwise firmly secured thereto, and each forms nearly half of a ring, the
outer arc fitting to its respective bore a or a¹, and the inner arc to the hub c
or c', as shown in Fig. 1, and the face, which is perpendicular with the planes
of rotation of its disc fitting to work against the face of the disc of the other
piston, as shown at e, Fig. 2, and to the back of its respective bore in the
cylinder, as shown at f in the same Figure. The discs also fit snugly against
the ends of the hubs c, c, as also shown in the latter Figure. On the opposite
face of each disc to that on which the piston is arranged, and on the opposite
side of the axis thereof, there is secured to the disc a counterbalance G, to

page_text: counterbalance the weight of the piston, and the heads B, B, of the cylinders
are recessed, as shown at 9, 9, in Fig. 2, for the reception of these counter-
balances. The pistons may be packed in any known or suitable manner.
i, i, are the recesses formed in the hubs on their inner or adjacent sides for
the passage of the pistons, each recess being of a form to fit the outer arc of
the piston, which rotates around the other hub, as shown in Fig. 1, and
prevent the passage of steam, water, or other fluid between them. The
pistons are so arranged with respect to their shafts and to each other, that
when one is situated directly over its shaft the other is directly under its shaft,
as shown in red outline in Fig. 1. Their ends are hollowed out, as shown at
j,j, in order that they may pass each other in their revolutions with very little
space between them. I is the induction pipe, communicating with the
cylinder at the upper junction of the two bores a, a¹; and J is the eduction
opening communicating with the cylinder at the lower junctions of the two
bores, as shown in Fig. 1.
To operate the engine as a motor the steam, water, or other motive fluid is
admitted to the cylinder between the pistons by opening the eduction pipe I,
and operates on the ends of one and the other piston alternately, the outer
circumferential face of each operating as an abutment, while the fluid acts
upon an end of the other one. Suppose the two pistons to be in the position
shown in red outline in Fig. 1, the piston E¹ operates as an abutment, while
the fluid acts upon the piston E and drives it in the direction of the arrow
shown upon it, and the gearing drives the piston E¹ in the opposite direction
indicated by the arrow upon it; this action continues until the forward end of
the piston E passes the induction opening, as shown in black outline, when
the fluid acts upon the piston E' and produces its continued revolution, while
the continued revolution of E which now acts as an abutment is produced by
the gearing. The fluid acts in the same manner upon each piston during one
half of a revolution, thus acting upon one or other throughout the whole
revolution, and escaping in front of the pistons by the eduction opening J as
the spaces in front of the pistons are alternately brought into communication
with the said opening in their revolution.
In the modification of the engine shown in Fig. 4 there are two pistons in
euch bore of the cylinder arranged on opposite sides of their respective shafts,
and one upon each shaft is acted upon during one-fourth part of a revolution
at a time, a piston on one shaft and one on the other shaft being acted upon
alternately. By thus applying two pistons one is made to balance the other.
The engine is capable of other modifications; for instance, there may be
pistons on opposite sides of each of the discs F, F, in which case the pressure

page_text: upon one side of the disc may be balanced by that on the other. Again,
there may be two discs on each shaft with pistons on their opposed faces, in
which case the fixed hubs may be either attached to the cylinder or to a fixed
plate dividing the cylinder parallel with its planes of rotation.
It will be readily understood by the skilled engineer that by applying
power to one or both of the geared shafts outside of the cylinder the engine
may be used as a pump, the water or other fluid to be pumped entering by
the induction pipe into the vacuum formed behind the pistons in their
revolution, and being driven before them through the eduction pipe.
Having now set forth the nature of the Invention of "An Improved Con-
struction of Rotary Engine," as communicated to me from abroad, and
explained the manner of carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be under-
stood that under the above in part recited Letters Patent I claim,-
First, the concentric fixed hubs recessed, substantially as described, in
combination with the two geared shafts, their attached pistons, and the two
laterally communicating bores of the cylinder, substantially as herein set
forth.
Secondly, the pistons attached to the facing sides of two discs secured to
their respective shafts, and so arranged that the piston or pistons of one shaft
work against the face of the disc of the other shaft substantially as herein
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Twenty-second day of December, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
A. V. NEWTON. (L.S.)