IMPROVEMENTS IN PRODUCING MOTIVE POWER BY THE EXPANSION AND CONTRACTION OF AIR, AVAILABLE ALSO FOR ELEVATING WATER AND OTHER LIQUIDS
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joseph Laubereau, Civil Engineer, of 13, Ruo
Gaillon, Paris, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN PRODUCING MOTIVE
POWER BY THE EXPANSION AND CONTRACTION OF AIR, AVAILABLE ALSO FOR
ELEVATING WATER AND OTHER LIQUIDS."
Sealed the 13th January 1865, and dated the 20th July 1864.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joseph Laubereau at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 20th
July 1864.
I, JOSEPH LAUBEREAU, Civil Engineer, of 13, Rue Gaillon, Paris, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN PRODUCING
MOTIVE POWER BY THE EXPANSION AND CONTRACTION OF AIR, AVAILABLE ALSO FOR
ELEVATING WATER AND OTHER LIQUIDS," to be as follows:-
These improvements relate to generating motive power by alternately
heating and cooling atmospheric air; for this purpose I make use of a closed
vessel containing air, and heated externally by any convenient known means, and
I divide the said vessel internally into two chambers by means of a moveable
partition, in such a manner that when the said partition is drawn from the
part where heat is applied I form a hot chamber; and when on the contrary
the said partition is drawn towards the said heated part a cold chamber is
formed, and by means of appropriate motion imparted to the partition I con-
duct the same volume of air alternately from the hot to the cold chamber, and
vice versa; and in order to avail myself of the pressure of the heated air and

page_text: the partial vacuum of the cold air thus formed I connect these chambers with
a cylinder containing a piston and cause the said air to act on its surface.
In order to produce a sufficient vacuum I make use of a current of water,
and to generate this current of water I employ a box made in two halves and
divided by a flexible diaphragm, on one face of which I cause the air, alternately
heated and cooled, to act, whilst on the other I allow access to the water for
refrigerating purposes, the pipe admitting said water being provided with a
valve opening inwards, whilst on an outer pipe I adapt a valve opening
outwards.
In certain cases I dispense with the cylinder and piston above-mentioned,
and cause the alternately heated and cooled air to act in a large box, similar
to the one above mentioned for producing a current of water for refrigerating
purposes, and I thus give motion to a relatively large volume of water, which
can be made available either as motive power or for irrigation or mining
purposes.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Joseph Laubereau in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
19th January 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSEPH
LAUBEREAU, Civil Engineer, of 13, Rue Gaillon, Paris, send greeting.
'WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-eighth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Joseph Laubereau, Her special licence that I, the said Joseph
Laubereau, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Joseph Laubereau, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any
time agree with and no others, from time to time and at all times there-1
after 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 "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN PRODUCING MOTIVE POWER BY THE EXPANSION AND CONTRACTION OF AIR,
AVAILABLE ALSO FOR ELEVATING WATER AND OTHER LIQUIDS," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Joseph Laubereau, my executors or adminis-
trators, 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

page_text: 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 Joseph Laubereau, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed;
to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement,
(that is to say):-
In order that my Invention be clearly understood, I will proceed to describe
it with the aid of the two accompanying Sheets of Drawings, wherein Fig. 1,
Sheet 1, is a section through A, A, Fig. 2, of one of my new motors complete,
and Fig. 2, of the same Sheet, a front elevation of the same.
b
Fig. 1, Sheet 2, a plan of the said motor; Figs. 2, 3, and 4, of the same
Sheet, respectively a front elevation, a lateral elevation in full, and a lateral
elevation in section through the line B, B, Fig. 2, of the pump which I
employ either for refrigerating purposes connected with the motor, or for
raising or projecting water or other liquids for different industrial purposes;
and Fig. 5 an elevation in section of a small engine working on the same
principle as the larger one, but constructed with a view to simplicity, cheap-
ness, and lightness, and more especially intended for producing cheap continuous
motion than for emitting any considerable amount of force. a, a, is the base
plate or stand of the engine, Figs. 1 and 2, Sheet 1, and Fig. 1, Sheet 2,
which is cast with an entry 6 for charging the fuel, an outlet c for smoke and
gases, and with a ridge below to receive the grate d; and to prevent the
radiation of heat I prefer lining this stand internally with fire clay, as shewn in
Fig. 1. On the centre of the said stand I place a cover e provided with a
lateral opening e¹ for the passage of the flame, and on its outer flange a cap f
which forms the lower part of the heated chamber as it receives on its lower
surface the action of the fire, and transmits the heat thus imparted to the air
in the chamber. On the flange of this cap f I adapt the cylindrical double
case 9 charged with water, and which constitutes the sides of the air chamber,
and I close this cylinder on its upper face with the inner and outer covers h
and h³, the space between which is equally charged with water; and in this
vertical chamber I suspend a vertical travelling partition i by means of a rod i¹,
passing through a stuffing box charged with washers of cork laid one on the
other, and steeped in grease; this travelling partition is fixed to the rod i¹ by
a wrought-iron cross head, and filled in to the extent indicated with plaster of
Paris or other light non-conducting substance, and the surface covered with
an elastic cushion formed of woven or textile materials. The space within
the chamber not filled in by the partition constitutes the working air chamber,

page_text: which is either hot or cold according to the position occupied by the partition;
thus when the said partition is raised all the air in the chamber is driven to
the bottom where the caloric imparted through the cap f causes the said air to
expand, whereas, when the partition is lowered to the bottom the air is
driven into the space above, which being surrounded by water causes the same
to contract; and in order to effect this change of temperature as rapidly as
possible I give to the parts with which it comes in contact on its passage
from one chamber to the other such a shape as to cause the air to be
laminated or divided into thin strata, and I avail myself of this alternate
expansion and contraction of the same volume of air for producing motive
power by means of a piston j working in a cylinder k provided with a rod j
working in a guide j³, and a connecting rod 1, a crank m, and a driving shaft n
carrying a second crank o for working the partition by means of the connecting
rod
P, and a fly wheel, not shewn in the Drawing. This second crank is set
about one-third of a revolution in advance of the cylinder crank; thus
when the piston is at its bottom stroke the partition should be at about its top
stroke, and the hot and consequently compressed air from the chamber below
passing immediately under the piston through the passage k raises the piston,
the partition then descends, forming a cold chamber, above which, by the con-
densation, a partial vacuum is formed, causing the descent of the piston. In
order to prevent the formation of vapour from the oils which may be used for
lubricating the piston, I incline the cylinder bottom towards a cup for the
reception of such oils, which are drawn off by means of the cock q, and to
prevent the passage of air behind the piston ring or rings I make use of an
elastic tube or roller j³ stretched on the piston, and which is compressed to a
sufficient extent by the ring or rings themselves. In order to prevent the
water contained in the cylindrical double case 9 from overheating, which
would have the effect of impairing the vacuum formed in the cold chamber,
I draw off the water as fast as it becomes heated, and supply its place with
fresh cold water by means of a small diaphragm pump, Figs. 2, 3, and 4,
Sheet 2, worked by the air in the chamber, and for this purpose I connect the
said pump by its nozzle ŕ to the branch s¹ of the pipe s, by means of a metallic
or an elastic tube, the alternate contraction and expansion of the air causing
the diaphragm t to move. backwards and forwards; on its backward stroke a
supply of water is drawn into the pump through the elastic valve u attached
to the nozzle u, and on its forward stroke the same amount is expelled through
the valve v¹ and the nozzle v, which is connected by a pipe to the inlet pipe v
of the engine, and forced into the water envelope, from which a similar
amount of heated water is expelled through the pipe v³. To compensate

page_text: leakage or loss of air during the working of the machine I make use of an
atmospheric valve w, composed of a small band of elastic material strained
under a washer pierced with a central hole; as this valve is in constant com-
munication with the cold chamber, whenever the vacuum therein. descends
beyond the requisite amount, the valve is forced open by the atmosphere from
without, and the requisite amount of air admitted for the proper working of
the engine.
When I desire to use the available power of my new engines for raising or
projecting water in large quantities, such as may be required for irrigation,
mining, or other industrial purposes, I reduce the volume of the cylinder,
limiting it to what is strictly requisite for producing constant rotary motion,
and I utilise the main body of compressed and contracted air to work a pump
similar to the one described, but on a larger scale, and for that purpose I do.
not confine myself to the description of valves described in connection with the
said pump.
Fig. 5 represents a sectional elevation of a small engine working on the
same principle as the one above described, but constructed mainly of thin
metallic material, both cheaper, more easily worked, and lighter than the
former, and which is heated by a small gas flame, an alcohol, petroleum, or
other appropriate lamp, instead of solid fuel, and by means of which the engine
can be started in a few seconds. It will be seen that I make the whole of
the air chamber, with the water as well as the cylinder, of thin plate or drawn
tube, the different parts of which, except those in direct contact with the flame,
are united by solder; the legs or stands are formed of four pieces of bent plate,
or preferably they may be formed by the prolongation of the standards
supporting the main shaft; each single standard for that purpose being
terminated by a fork. In order to prevent the oil used for lubricating the
piston from penetrating into the air chamber I make the feed pipe rise up
above the surface of the cylinder bottom, and I liberate the oil accumulating
in such space by means of a cock or a simple plug. This engine, like the one
previously described, is provided with a fly wheel, a pump, and connections for
renewing the water and an atmospheric valve.
Having thus described my Invention, and the best means that I am
acquainted with for performing the same, I claim,-
Firstly, the general construction and arrangement of the parts described
with regard to the first engine.
Secondly, the mechanical construction of the piston.
Thirdly, the shape and connection of the cylinder bottom with the air
chamber

page_text: Fourthly, the self-acting atmospheric valve for compensating leakage.
Fifthly, the combination of the diaphragm pump with my new engine, for
the purposes specified.
And, sixthly, the general construction and arrangements of parts, as above
specified and illustrated by Fig. 5.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Laubereau, have hereunto set mý
hand and seal, this Tenth day of January, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.
Witness,
D. H. BRANDON.
JH LAUBEREAU. (L.S.)