Improvements in Rotary Motors.
Year: 1890

page_text: Date of Application, 20th Aug., 1890
Complete Specification Left, 22nd June, 1891-Accepted, 25th July, 1891
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Rotary Motors.
CHARLES STUART, of Bletchley Iron Works, Fenny Stratford Buckinghamshire,
Mechanical Engineer do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
This invention relates to improvements in rotary motors, and consists in
constructing a wheel having a hollow concentric space within it, or it may be
constructed in halves, or in the form of two discs bolted together, whereby this
concentric space, can be turned out smoothly in a lathe, forming thereby a con-
centric cylinder, into which mercury may be placed, for the purpose of providing
an almost frictionless piston, or this mercury may be placed, within a suitably
constructed metallic piston, or this piston may be filled with lead or formed out of
other heavy material, the purpose of which is to produce a body of the requisite
weight, against which, steam, water air, or other elastic fluids may impinge, or this
piston may be acted upon by the action of explosive gasses such as :-petroleum,
oil or any other hydrocarbon explosive mixture.
In connection with this wheel as also with this concentric space, I arrange one
or more valves, or their equivalents, for the purpose of admitting on one side, any
of the above motive power agents, whilst at the other side is formed an exhaust,
whereby these agents may escape into the atmosphere, or otherwise, after having
done their duty.
By the action of these agents on one end of the piston, and impinging on any
desired point or points of this wheel, the rotary motion is produced, having the
double advantage of pressure and weight combined.
20th August 1800
CHARLES STUART.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Rotary Motors.
I, CHARLES STUART, of 3, Cursitor Street, Chancery Lane, in the County of
London, Mechanical Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and
in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement :-
This invention relates to rotary motors and comprises a wheel having a concentric
annular chamber forming a cylinder in which works a heavy piston or weight.
Against this piston or weight, steam, water, air or other clastic fluid or an explosive
mixture is caused to impinge so as to constantly support the piston at one side of
the wheel axis and thereby rotate the wheel the admission and exhaust being
controlled by means of suitable valves, or their equivalents.
To enable my invention to be fully understood I will describe how it can be
carried into practice by reference to the accompanying drawings which illustrate
the invention by way of example applied to wheels for effecting the propulsion of
tram cars.
Figure 1 is a sectional view of a tram car wheel embodying my invention, the
section being taken on the line A B of
Figure 2 which is a transverse section of the wheel on the line 2, 2 of
Figure 1.
Figure 3 is a developed horizontal section on the line C D of Figure 1.
Figure 4 is a section of part of the annular cylinder shewing one of the valves.
Figure 5 is an elevation of the said valve and

page_text: the line E F of
Figure 8 which is
saving a mounication, the section being on II
central transverse section of the wheel.
Figure 9 is an end view, and
Figure 10 is a cross section of the piston.
Similar letters in all the figures indicate similar or corresponding parts.
a is the wheel and b, c indicate the concentric annular chamber forming a
cylinder for the heavy piston d; this chamber or cylinder is advantageously
made in halves turned in a lathe so as to be quite smooth and true, and bolted
together.
The centre of the wheel a is cast with a recess e in which is a hollow plug f
adapted to turn in a body g and having an opening h forming a communication
between its interior and an admission pipe i fixed in the body g. The exterior of
the plug is fitted with a pin j, Figure 2, working in a groove k in the wheel a so
that the plug (which, when the wheel is moving, revolves with it) can be partially
rotated in the recess e by means of a lever when requiring to reverse the motion
of the car as hereinafter described.
The plug and its recess are made conical as shewn in Figure 2 and the plug is
secured by a plate m bearing upon a shoulder thereon and by screw pins n fixed in
the wheel a and passing through the plate m and serving to receive nuts o,
whereby the wear of the plug can be compensated for. The plug is formed
with ports or openings p and g, Figure 1, adapted to communicate with radial
passages r, 1 or s, s' according to the direction in which the wheel is to
revolve.
The passages and s lead into the part 6 and the passages r¹ and s' into the part c
of the cylinder.
The wheel a is cast with sockets t, t¹ in which work the valves u and u¹ made in
the form of pistons or plugs acted upon by springs v, v¹ whose tendency to keep
the valves closed. Grooves w, we are cut in the valves u and u¹ to allow the steam,
supposing steam to be employed, to pass into the cylinder.
The exhaust takes place in the following manner through a transverse passage a
and an axial passage y made in each valve, that is to say, the valves are provided
with arms carrying rollers a¹ and the piston d is formed at each end with an
inclined plane adapted to act upon the rollers a' and move the valves further
into their sockets t, thereby bringing the admission openings w, w alternately
out of communication with the radial passages r, r, s, s and the exhaust
openings, alternately into communication with the parts b and c of the
cylinder.
The cylinder is made with recesses c¹ Figure 3 to admit the arms of the valves
and thereby allow the piston to pass the valves.
Figures 1 and 6 is a rib on the reduced middle portion of the piston d forming
a path for the rollers a¹ over this part of the piston.
The operation is as follows:-
Suppose the direction of motion required to be given to the wheel a to be that
indicated by the arrow in Figure 1, the plug must be placed, by means of its hand
lever l, so as to open communication between the admission pipe i, passages and r
and cylinder bc, as shewn in the said figure, whereby steam will be admitted thereto
in the direction of the arrows and will press upon the lower end of the piston d and
force it upwards. Its weight will cause the wheel to revolve and the top inclined
end will, by means of the arms, operate the valve u so as to shut off the steam
inlet passage w from the part of the cylinder and open the exhaust passage a
the said valve. The valve u will remain stationary while the opening & passes over
the piston d and when the piston is through it will move and renew the admission of
steam into the part of the cylinder and the steam will act upon the piston which
will immediately commence to close the steam inlet and open the exhaust passage of
the other valve u'. This valve will pass the piston and close the exhaust from, and
b
y
in

page_text: open the steam inlet to the part of the cylinder, in which the steam thereby
admitted will act upon the piston d, the valve u will then exhaust from the part 6 of
the cylinder into which the piston will pass and act, and so on, thus effecting the
continued rotation of the wheel a.
To reverse the motion of the wheel the plug f must be turned by means of its
lever so as to close the steam inlet to the passages and and open the
passages s and thereby admitting steam to the opposite face of the piston, the
action being precisely the same as that hereinbefore described.
The motor illustrated in Figures 7 and 8 is similar to that herein before described
with reference to Figures 1 to 6 except that separate valves are employed when
reversing the direction of motion which valves with the steam inlet cock are
constructed and arranged somewhat differently.
The body of the plug f is adapted to fit in the conical recess e in the wheel a
and has a passage communicating alternately with the radial steam passages »
and when the wheel is running in the direction of the arrow, and a passage
communicating alternately with the radial steam passages s and s' when the wheel
is running in the reverse direction. The body y is also made with openings e¹ and f¹
communicating respectively with the passages p and q, and the plug is formed with
a passage g which can be brought opposite the openings e¹ or by turning the
plug by means of its lever l.
S,
The valves uu and u', u' slide respectively in the radial passages r¹ and
and are kept closed by means of springs v, v, vl, v¹. They are formed with
bevelled shaped heads adapted to engage and be operated upon by the inclined
planes of the piston d. The radial passages are provided with inlet ports /¹
and exhaust ports and the valves with passages ¹ corresponding with the
exhaust ports.
In this arrangement supposing the wheel is to revolve in the direction of the
arrow, Figure 7 the opening gl of the plug f must be placed in communication with
the opening p of the body g by turning the lever I when, the parts being in the
position shewn in the said figure, steam (if steam be employed) will be first admitted
to the passage and will move the valve u therein into the position shewn, so that the
steam can pass through the port and act between the lower end of the piston d
and the part of the said valve u when the weight of the piston will start the
wheel. As the wheel revolves, the plug f and steam pipe i will be brought into
communication with the passager and steam will be cut off from the said valve
which will then close under the action of its spring v, the steam pressure will force
the other valve u outwards and the steam will act between the piston and this valve
and keep the piston raised, the steam which has done its work being exhausted
through the passage k' and port ¹ of this valve.
The first valve u will then open and the second valve will close and steam will
be again adınitted between the first valve and the piston, and the exhaust will take
place through the former and so on.
In order to relieve the valves from the pressure of the steam which is
confined in the radial passages when the steam is cut off I provide ports m', n'
communicating with one another and with a passage o' in the wheel, leading into
the atmosphere.
To reverse the motion of the wheel a the plug f must be turned by means of its
handle so as to bring the opening therein opposite the opening in the
body g when the steam will act through the radial passages s and sand valves u', u
on the opposite end of the piston so as to support it at the other side of the
axis to that shewn in Figure 7, the action being the same as that hereinbefore
described.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. A rotary motor comprising a wheel having a concentric annular chamber

page_text: forming a cylinder, a heavy piston or weight working in the said cylinder and
suitable valves for causing steam or other elastic fluid or an explosive mixture to
impinge on the said piston so as to constantly support the piston on one side of the
wheel axis substantially as hereinbefore described.
2. In a rotary motor the combination with a wheel having a concentric annular
chamber forming a piston-cylinder, and a heavy piston or weight adapted to work
in the said cylinder, of combined admission and exhaust valves adapted to be
alternately operated by the piston in the manner and substantially as hereinbefore
described with reference to Figures 1 to 6 of the accompanying drawings.
3. In a rotary motor the combination with a wheel having a concentric annular
chamber forming a piston-cylinder and a heavy piston or weight adapted to work
in the said cylinder, of combined admission and exhaust valves and a plug
and body so arranged as to admit the motive fluid alternately between the
piston and the valves as the wheel revolves in the manner and substantially
as hereinbefore described with reference to Figures 7 to 10 of the accompanying
drawings.
4. The improved rotary motors or
tram-car wheels hereinbefore described
and illustrated in Figures 1 to 6 and Figures 7 to 10 of the accompanying
drawings.
Dated the 22nd day of June 1891
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, Finsbury, London, Agents for the Applicant.