AN IMPROVED BLOWING MACHINE
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for the
Invention of "AN IMPROVED BLOWING MACHINE."-A communication from
Mr. Antoine Louis Hyacinthe Fiefnet de Sauville, of Paris, in the Empire
of France.
Sealed the 28th June 1859, and dated the 1st February 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward Newton at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
1st February 1859.
I, WILLIAM EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery
Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED BLOWING MACHINE," to be as
follows:-
The object of this Invention of an improved blowing machine is to produce
a constant and regular blast which is capable of being modified or altered at
pleasure as may be required.
The improved machine consists of a cylinder in which moves or rotates a
rectangular piston the 'axis of rotati of which is coincident with the axis of
the cylinder. This piston is composed of a hollow hub or barrel, having two
>

page_text: rectangular arms or blades attached thereto at opposite sides, and so arranged
as to fit the interior of the cylinder. On one end of the hollow hub of the
piston is a pulley, to which motion is communicated by a band from any
driving shaft. There are two discs also mounted on the ends of the axle of
the piston, and these being provided with teeth are made to work two slides,
which are adapted to slide in grooves, and made to move alternately into and
out of the cylinder, and act as moveable stops. The external air enters freely
into the cylinder by passing through the hollow hub of the rotating piston,
and through openings made in the rectangular arms. The air is forced forward
in the cylinder by the piston, and escapes by openings which communicate
with a reservoir or air chamber, to which is adapted a blast pipe for conducting
the air to any furnace or place where it may be required. When it is under-
stood that the diameter of this blast pipe and the dimensions of the reservoir
always remain the same, and that the piston and slides may be worked at any
desired speed, it will be evident that the strength of the blast may be varied at
will by simply increasing or diminishing the speed of the working parts, and
that at whatever speed the machine is driven the blast will always be maintained
at the pressure due to that speed.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Edward Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 1st August 1859:
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the First day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-second year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her. heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said William Edward Newton, Her special license that I, the said
William Edward Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
-others as I, the said William Edward 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

page_text: Invention for "AN IMPROVED BLOWING MACHINE," being a communication
from Mr. Antoine Louis Hyacinthe Fiefnet de Sauville, of Paris, in the
Empire of France, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William
Edward Newton, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, 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 William Edward 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 Drawings hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):
:-
It is well known how important it is that blowing apparatus, whatever may
be its construction, and especially when applied to the reduction of ores in
blast furnaces, should be perfectly continuous in its action, instead of having
an intermittent action, as is frequently the case with the apparatus now in use.
In fact, blowers constructed on the centrifugal principle, and also those acting
by means of a piston, present in their working irregularities which are of the
greatest disadvantage in the manufactures to which they are applied. Some-
times too powerful a blast will render the operation too rapid, and will
deteriorate the products, while at others the blast will be insufficient to produce
the desired effect.
Now the object of the present Invention is to produce a steady, continuous,
and uniform blast, which is capable of being altered or modified at pleasure,
and this is effected by means of the arrangement of apparatus which will be
hereafter described, and which is termed by the Inventor a "continuous action
rotary blowing machine."
This apparatus will be clearly understood by the following description, and
by reference to the accompanying Drawing, in which Fig. 1 is a vertical
section, taken through the middle of the apparatus; Fig. 2 is a section of the
same, taken at right angles to Fig. 1; and Fig. 8 is an end elevation.
The apparatus consists of a cylinder A, in which works a piston B, of a
rectangular form, and having for its axis of rotation the axis of the cylinder;
this piston is acted upon by two stops C and C', which pass through the cylinder
and alternately rise to allow of the passage of the piston past them. Air from
the atmosphere enters the cylinder through the boss of the piston, which is
made hollow for that purpose, and the air being compressed or pressed forward

page_text: by the piston, makes its escape through openings D and D¹, which com-
municate with a reservoir E, and which are closed and opened by two valves
a, a'. The piston, which is composed of a cylindrical boss and two rectangular
wings or arms working perfectly air-tight against the interior surface of the
cylinder is mounted upon and driven by a metal shaft actuated by a band and
pulley, and has an annular space around its shaft in the boss communicating
with the interior of the cylinder; holes f are made in the sides of the annular
body of the piston, and are continually brought into communication with those
in the interior of the boss of the piston, and through these apertures air is
constantly supplied to the chamber A through the central opening in the
piston, and makes its escape through two apertures or valves in the cylinder.
The stops C and C¹ are composed of metal plates, which are made to work
accurately in guides and pass through the cylinder A, and bear against the
cylindrical boss of the piston. A description of the construction and operation
of one of these stops will suffice to render the action of both of them intelligible.
In the air chamber E are mounted two shafts, on which the stops work, and
with which they are connected by means of links or connecting rods h, motion
being communicated to them by cranks outside the cylinder in the following
manner: The shaft of the piston carries at the point where the connecting or
crank rod j, Figs. 1 and 3, meets it a double cam having four teeth k, k', the
rod which embraces the shaft by means of an oblong slot in its extremity being
provided with tappets i, ', against which the teeth k, k¹, alternately act, thereby
imparting to the rod ja backward and forward motion, which is communicated
to the shaft F by means of the lever l, which will cause the stop C to rise by
acting upon the connecting rods h and h'. The two discs forming the cam having
each two teeth, two of them will act to raise the rod j, and consequently the
stop C in connection with it, and the two other teeth will produce the contrary
effect, (i. e.,) will depress the stop and cause it to enter the cylinder. The cams
act twice for every rotation of the piston shaft, as in that time the two wings
or arms of the piston will pass the stops. Their respective positions are such
that the two inverse movements of one stop are effected one after the other
without any interval of rest, time being merely allowed for the arm of the
piston to pass. The two stops C and C₁ act in precisely the same manner, only
the two stops are mounted at opposite ends of the piston shaft.
From the above description the operation of the apparatus will be easily
understood. Suppose, first, the apparatus to be provided with but one stop C
and one valve a, and that this stop has entered the cylinder A, so as to bear
against the body of the piston. On this latter revolving, air from the atmo-

page_text: sphere will enter the cylinder through the openings e, and fill the space com-
prised between one of the arms of the piston and the stop C and that comprised
between the two arms; but the air enclosed between this stop and the face
of the piston arm opposite to the opening e¹ is necessarily compressed or forced
forward; it will, therefore, pass through the aperture or passage D, and by
opening the valve a, will pass into the air chamber E. The piston continuing
its rotation, the operating arm B will arrive at the stop C³, which will be raised
by its mechanism so as to allow the piston to pass. At this moment there
might be a communication between the two air spaces, which might prevent
the continuous action of the apparatus; in order to avoid this, the second stop
C is arranged in such a manner as to be lowered at the moment the arm of
the piston passes in front of the stop C, consequently the piston in moving
forward will again force the air onwards, and cause it to pass through the
opening D' and through the valve a' into the air chamber E. On the piston
arm arriving at the stop C¹ this latter will rise, but the other one C will have
been lowered, consequently one of the two stops being always down within the
cylinder the air will always be forced forward towards one of the valves a or a¹
without interruption, which could not be effected by means of one stop or one
valve only. The air having now been forced into the air chamber E, makes its
exit through a pipe m, and is from thence conducted to the place where its
action may be required. As the diameter of this exit pipe is always the same,
and the speed of rotation of the piston may be varied at pleasure, it will be
understood that any required degree of pressure may be put upon the air,
which pressure may be ascertained by means of any suitable indicator or
manometer adapted to the exterior of the apparatus, as shewn at n, Fig. 3.
It may be here observed, that it is not absolutely necessary to employ a
large air chamber, such as that shewn at E, as the escape valves might be
brought into direct communication with the exit or blow pipe.
Ilaving now described the Invention of an improved blowing machine,
that has been communicated to me by my foreign correspondent, I wish it to
be understood that I do not mean or intend to confine myself rigidly to the
precise arrangement of apparatus above shewn and described, as it may,
perhaps, be modified to some extent without deviating from the nature and
object of the present improvements; but that which I claim as the Invention
secured to me by the above in part recited Letters Patent is, the general
arrangement of the parts constituting the blowing machine above shewn and
described, or any mere modification thereof. And particularly I claim the
employment, as herein shewn, and for the purpose above set forth, of a

page_text: rectangular piston in combination with moveable slide stops, whereby a con-
tinuous blast is obtained, together with more powerful action of the air than
has hitherto been effected.
In witness. whereof, I, the said Willian Edward Newton, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this First day of August, in the year of
our Lord. One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
W. E. NEWTON. (L.S.)