AN ENGINE OR INSTRUMENT FOR EFFECTING A VACUUM, AND THUS PRODUCING POWERS BY WHICH WATER MAY BE RAISED AND MACHINERY PUT IN MOTION
Year: 1823

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, 1, SAMUEL.
BROWN, late of Windmill Street, Lambeth, in the County of Surrey, but now
of Printing House Square, Blackfriars, in the City of London, Gentleman,
send greeting.
WHEREAS His most Excellent Majesty King George the Fourth, by His
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the Fourth day of December, in the fourth year of His reign, did
for Himself, Bis heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Samuel Brown, my executors, administrators, and assigns, His especial licence
that I, the said Samuel Brown, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said Samuel Brown, my executors, administrators, or
assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time
and at all times thereafter during the term of years therein expressed, sbould
and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales,
and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and also within all His Majesty
Colonies and Plantations abroad, my Invention of "AN ENGINE OR INSTRUMENT
FOR EFFECTING A VACUUM, AND THUS PRODUCING POWERS BY WHICH WATER MAY BE
RAISED AND MACHINERY PUT IN MOTION:" in which said Letters Patent there is
contained a proviso obliging me, the said Samuel Brown, by an instrument in
writing under my hand and scal, particularly to describe and ascertain the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed,
and to cause the same to be enrolled in His Majesty's High Court of Chancery
within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same Letters Patent, reference being
thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Samuel Brown, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, is described and ascer-
tained as follows, that is to say :-
My Invention first consisteth of a combination which is thus formed :--
Inflammable gas is introduced along a pipe into an open cylinder or vessel,
whilst a flame placed on the outside of but near to the cylinder is constantly
kept burning, and at times comes in contact with and ignites the gas therein;
the cylinder is then closed air-tight, and the flame is prevented from commu-
nicating with the gas in the cylinder; the gas continues to flow into the
cylinder for a short space of time, then it is stopped off. During that time,
by its combustion, it acts upon the air within the cylinder, and at the same
time a part of the rarified air escapes through one or more valves, and thus
a vacuum is effected. The vessel or cylinder is kept cool by water. Several
mechanical means may be contrived to bring the above combination into
use in effecting the vacuum with inflammable gas; and on the same principle
it may be done in one, two, or more cylinders or vessels.
Having a vacuum effected by the above combination and some mechanical
contrivance, I have by its application to machinery produced powers in several
ways. I now proceed to describe the different kinds of machinery by
which, first, I turn a water wheel; secondly, I raise water; and, thirdly, I
work pistons.
First, a description of the manner in which I apply a vacuum effected with
inflammable gas to the purpose of turning a water wheel. See Fig. 1., Fig II.,
and Fig. III. Fig. I. represents a front view of the engine as used for turning
a water wheel. The front part of the frame is removed to give a more distinct
view of the machinery. The cylinders and tubes on each side of the engine
are similar to each other. Fig. II. is a side view of the engine, in which the
nozzle or tube S, Y, with the valve at Y, is shewn. Fig. III. is a horizontal
section of the engine below the dotted line passing across the Drawing, Fig. I.
The same letters refer to corresponding parts in the different Figures. A¹,A",A,
is a beam with circular ends moveable at A", on an axis which is supported
in plummer blocks. B, C, and B', C', are two air-tight tops, valves, or
coverings, connected with the beam by chains and rods which pass through
guides at J and J'. D, E, and D', E', are two cylinders open at their tops,
which are air-tight when closed. The Drawing shews a section of the
cylinder D, E. F, G, and F, G, are two cylinders, open at their tops and close
at the bottoms, placed within the cylinders D, E, and D', E¹, leaving passage
ways between thein respectively. There must be a space between the upper

page_text: edges of the inner and outer cylinders equal to that between the cylinders.
The Drawing shews an elevation ofthe cylinders D, E, and F, G, the latter
being represented by dotted lines, and the cylinders D, E, and F, G, are
given in sections. H and H¹ are valves in the covers B, C, and B¹, C¹.
There may be two or more such valves in each of them. I, I, is a cistern
or reservoir; K, L, M, and K, L, M, are two pipes forming a communica-
tion between the cylinders 1), E, and N, O, and between the cylinders D', E³,
and N, O, having valves or clacks in them at L and L'. N, O, and N, O',
are two cylinders open at their tops; the Drawing shews a section of both of
them. P, Q, and P, Q, are pipes communicating between the cistern I, I', and
the cylinders N, O, and N', O'; they are drawn in section. Rand R', are two
air-tight cylindrical boxes or floats in the cylinders N, O, and N', ', in
which are tubes with rods through them to keep them in a perpendicular
direction; they are drawn in section. S, Y, is a pipe attached to the
cylinder D, E, at S, with a valve at Y, see Fig. II. There is a similar
pipe S', Y', and valve Y', attached to the cylinder D', E'. Ť, T, T, and
T, T, T, are pipes leading from a reservoir of inflammable gas in the
pipes y, T, g', and c, T', c. At T is a cock to regulate the quantity of gras
to be admitted into the cylinders. U, U', is a trough to receive the water
from the pipes S, Y, and §, Ỷ, having an opening at V. W, W, W, W.
is a common overshot water wheel. X, X, X, is a trough or case sur-
rounding half the water wheel, with an opening at X into the cistern I, I¹.
Z, Z, Z, Z, Z, are frame-work and supporters. a, b, and a, b¹, are
I
I
'
pipes from the cylinders F, G, and F, G, at a and a', having their
ends and open to the air, over which ends the slide o moves. The
Drawing represents a section of a, b, and partly a section of a, b, and
also a section of the slide c, d. 1, d, c, is a pipe between the cylinders
F, G, and F, G, having cocks in it at d and d, and communicating
with the burners 6, f, and e, f. e, f, and e', f', are gas burners or pipes
having the jets and f¹ turned towards the orifices h and h. The jetsand the
horizontal parts of the burners are perforated with a few small holes. These
burners may be constructed in different ways. g, T, g, is a pipe communi-
cating with the pipe T,T, T, and having small orifices at its ends y andy, with
stop cocks near to them. hand h³ are orifices in the cylinders F, G, and
F, G, communicating with the air. k, l, and le¹, l, are rods fastened to the
I

page_text: beam A, A, A, at k and
and pass into the cylinders N¹, O¹, and N, O,
at land l¹. m, n, and m, n, are chains fastened to the floats R and R, at
n and n³, and to cranke at m and m', which, when drawn down by the descent
of the floats R, or R¹, move the slide o alternately over the orifices b and b¹.
11 I
or stud on one side of
A larger metallic tube,
p, p, p, is a tube of glass or iron, about one third filled with mercury, placed
on a flat plate, moveable on an axis at p", having a pin
it at v, which projects at right angles to the tube.
to contain water instead of mercury, may be used.
from the plate at p and p¹, fastened to cranks at q
1 '
p, q, and p, q, are chains
I
and 4, which turn cocks
at and d; these chains have weights suspended at their ends.
I I
I
7', s, and
,, are rods fastened to p, p, p, at " and ", with chains at their ends
attached to the cranks S and S. Sands are cranks fastened to the sides of
the troughs I, I', or to the sides of the cylinders N, O, and N, O, and are
connected with the slide t. tis a slide moveable over the ends of the pipes
P, Q, and P, Q, at P and P, alternately opening and closing them.
I
I
and
w, x, and w, r, are projecting
1
u are projecting arms, fixed by thumbscrews ou the rod k, l, which strike
up and down the small pin or stud at v.
arms fastened on the rods k, l, and k, l, having small rods x, y, and x, y,
fixed to them, at the lower end of which latter rods are slides y and y',
which close and open the orifices h and h¹, as they are moved up and
down by the rods k, l, and , 1. When the engine is in the position as
represented in Fig. I., then the cylinders D, E, and F, G, are open; the slideo
is off the orifice b, the cock at d is open, the slide y is off the orifice h, and
the slide t off the entrance P. The opposite cylinders D, E, and F. Ġ, aud
the corresponding cocks and orifices, are shut. Put water into the trough I,I',
and it will pass along the pipe P, Q, into the cylinder N, O, and let the trough
I,1,be full of water,and as the engine works put in more water until the pipes
K, L, M, and K, L, M,
are also full. Let inflammable gas be introduced into
the pipe T, T, T, and it will enter the pipe g, T, y, at T. Open the stopcocks
near to g and g, and set fire to the gas issuing at the ends / and g, which keeps
I
I
III
I
constantly burning. Open the cock atT,and gas coming into the pipe T,T,T, will
enter the pipe c, T, c, at T, and flow into the burner e, f. The flame from y will
ignite the gas in the burner e, f, at the jet f,through the orifice h. The gas in the
cylinders may be ignited by placing lamps, tapers, or other lights near to the

page_text: orifices hand h¹. To start the engine, draw with your hand the slide o over
the orifice b, and pull down the beam A¹, A", A, at A, so that the covering
B, C, closes the cylinder D, E, then the motion of the rod k, l, brings the
slide y over the orifice h, and cuts off the flame at y from entering the cylin-
der F, G. The motion downwards of the rod k, l, also brings down the arms
I
u and upand the arm z striking against the pin or stud at .v₂ iifts up the
I
I
end p of the plate p, p, p, a little above a horizontal position. The mercury
in the tube being thus elevated at the end near p', it will flow to the other
end of the tube, and by its weight will bring down the stud at v until it
strike against u', then the chain p,9, with the weight attached to it, will turn
the cock at d, and stop the gas from going into the cylinder F, G, and open
the cock at d, thus the gas passed through the cock at d into the cylinder
F, G, after the cylinder was closed, during the time in which the mercury
flowed from 2 to p, and that time was allowed for a quantity of gas to enter
the cylinder F, G, sufficient by its combustion to act in the best manner on
the air in that cylinder; at that time the exuberant rarified air was expelled
through the valve at H, and thus a vacuum is effected At the end of the
tube on the plate p, p, p, is lifted up, the chain at S is tightened, and as the
mercury moved to the end 2, the rod and chain ", s, moves the crauk at
S', which draws the slide t over the entrance P, and closes that and opens
the entrance P¹. The water in the cylinder N, O, the instant the vacuum is
effected in the cylinder F, G, is by the pressure of the atmosphere forced along
the pipe K, L, M, through the clack at L into the passage way, and over the
top of the cylinder F, G, into that cylinder, thus both the inner and outer
cylinders are kept cool. As the water leaves the cylinder N, O, the float R
falling down draws down the chain m³, n', which by the motion of the crank
at m', brings the slide o from off the orifice at b, and the air rushes along the
pipes b, a, into the cylinder F, G. The water in the trongh I, I, having
flowed through the pipe P, Q, into the cylinder N¹, O', raises the float R,
which then presses against the rod k, l, and lifts up the end A of the beam
A, A", A, and thus the engine comes again into the same position in which
it is drawn in Fig. I. As soon as the air enters at the pipe b, a, into the
cylinder F, G, the water by its gravity forces itselfalong the pipeS through the
valve Y (which it opens) into the trough U, U', from whence it flows along
the opening V on the wheel W, W., W, and thence falling into the trough
When the air is
or case X, X, X", it passes at X into the cistern I, I'.
admitted into the cylinder F, G, the gravity of the water immediately closes
the clack at L, and a column of water will stand to the top of the passage way.

page_text: It may be necessary to remark that the Dottom of the burners e, and
which are open, are always immersed in water, being placed below the horizon-
tal level of the valves Y and Y, and therefore the gas cannot flow below that
level, and whatever water gets into the burners through the small orifices or per-
forations in them will run down into the water at the bottom of the cylinders. It
will be observed that when any motion is produced to shutany of the valves, cock,
slides on one side of the engine, those similar on the opposite side will be
opened. After the water entered the cylinder N¹, O', the float R' was raised,
as before described, and pushed up the rod k, l, and lifted the end A of the
beam A, A, A, and the fall of the end A' has therefore closed the cylinder
D', E, and the engine came again in the position as represented in the
Drawing, Fig. 1. The gas having in the meantime flowed through the cock
at d', which was opened when I was closed, and entered the cylinder F, G', it
was ignited and a vacuum was being effected in the cylinder F, G, in the
same manner as it was effected in the cylinder F, G, and the water is raised
and discharged in the same way. The water being received into the trough I, 1,
will pass alternately through the pipes P, Q, and P, Q, into the cylinders
N, O, and N, O, the rise and fall of the floats R and R' will keep the beam
in motion, and thus the engine will continue to work, the action of the
machinery being similar on both sides. To stop the engine itis only necessary
to turn off the cock at T, by which the admission of gas into the cylinder is
prevented.
TIL
Secondly, a description of the manner in which I apply a vacuum
effected by gas to the purpose of raising water from a pond, river, or other
place, see Fig. I. I take away the water wheel W, W, W, W, and the
trongh or casc cX, X, X, and place the engine with the top of the cylinders
N, O, and N, O, just above the level of the water in the pond, river, or place,
from which it is to be carried. I also place a pipe, or make a passage way
between the trough I, and the water, so that the water may flow from the
pond or river into the trough I, I'; it is then drawn from the trough I, I,
through the pipes K, L, M, and K, L, M, into the cylinders F, G, and
F, G, and then into the trough U, U', as before described, and may then be
discharged in any direction.
Thirdly, a description of the manner in which I apply a vacuum effected by
gas to the purpose of working pistons and obtaining a rotatory motion. See
Fig. IV., Fig. V., Fig. VI., Fig. VII., and Fig. VIII. Figure IV. represents
a longitudinal section of the engine when pistons are worked; the front part
of the framework, &c. is removed. Fig. V. is an elevation, representing an

page_text: end view of the engine. Fig. VI. represents a horizontal section of the
engine below the dotted line passing across the Drawing in Fig. IV. Fig. VII.
is a view of that side of the cylinder D, E, which faces towards the centre of
the engine. Fig. VIII. shews a horizontal view of the gas burner. The
parts represented in Fig. V., Fig. VI., Fig. VII., Fig. VIII. are marked with
the same letters as their corresponding parts in Fig. IV. A, A", A', is a
beam with circular ends moveable at A",on an axis which is supported by the
plummer blocks Ian1 1',as shown in Fig. V. D,E,and D',E,are two cylin-
ders open at their tops F, G, and F',G, are two cylinders open at their tops,
placed within the cylinders D, E, and D, E, (as before mentioned in the
description of Fig. L.). B, C, and B, C,are pistons having valves M and M1
fitted to their tops. The pistons are moveable in the cylinders F,G,and F',G¹,
and are connected with the beam A, A", A, by chains and rods J and J,
passing through guides. The piston B, C, is shewn in section. M and M1
are large valves on the tops of the pistons B, C, and B, C, having stuffing
boxes on them at their tops, which slide up and down the piston rods. El, H.",
and H, H, are very light small valves fitted in the upper sides of the valves
M and M' (there may be several of these small valves); J and J' are piston
rods; K, L, and K', 1', are connecting rods fastened to au axis K, K', (see
Fig. V.) passing through the beam A, A", A, and to the cranks at L and L',
to which the fly wheel W, W, Ŵ, Ŵ, is connected; N, O, is a double-acting
forcing pump, having the suction pipes rand in the water; P, Q. is an air-
tight box or vessel fixed over the ends of o and o¹ of the pipes c, d, o, and
c, d, o'; it has a communication: with the reservoir of gas by a pipe screwed
on the nozzle at T; Raud R' are tappets screwed on the rod k, l; S, Y, and
111
§, Y,
are two pipes communicating with the cylinders F, G, and F¹, G
having valves at Y and Y' opening upwards; T is the part at which the pipe
TT, (see Fig. VI.) brings the gas into the pipe g, T, g, from the reservoir;
U and U' are two bars which half clip the piston rods J and J, and are fixed
across the upper ends of the cylinders D, E, and D', E'; they shut the valves
M and N when the pistons B, C, and B, C, ascend to the top of the cylin-
ders, and springs are put on the bottom of these bars to prevent the pistons
from striking too hard against them; V and Vis a small beam, moveable on
anaxis fixed to the framework, and is moved by the tappets at R and R';
W, W, W, is a fly wheel; X, X, is a cistern for water; Z, Z, Z", are frame-
work and supporters; g, T, g', is a pipe (as before), with cocks at Z and Z';
cd, o, and c,, o', are pipes from the cylinders F, G, and F, G', to the box
P, Q, having cocks at and to regulate the quantity of gas to enter the

page_text: cylinders; and h' arc orifices in the sides of the cylinders F, G, and F¹, G;
e, f. and e, f, are flat gas burners placed in the cylinders F, G, and F¹, G¹,
having jets from them at f and 1 (see Fig. VIII.); k, l, is a rod attached to
a parallel guide at %, which is fastened to the beam A, A", A, at k¹; it passes
through a stuffing box at 1, and works the piston j;, ¹¹, and ¹, ¹¹¹, are
rods connected to the beam V, V,having at their ends the slides y and y¹,and
pass through guides attached to the cylinders at x, x, and al, (see
Fig. VII.); y and y' are slides moved by the rods 2, ", and a³, 11, passing
over the orifices hand h², and having oblong holes in the middle of them of
the size of those orifices; and u' are projecting arms,fastened with thumb-
screws to the rod k, (as before) ; pp", p', is a tube with mercury (as before),
moveable on an axis at p", (see Fig. VI.); v is a stud fastened to the bottom
From
of the tube p, p, p' (as before); q, g', is a tumbler or forked arm.
in p, p, p, an axis2, 9 (see Fig. VI.) passes at right angles to p, p", p²,
through a stuffing box in the one side to the other side of the box P, Q,
and on it the tumbler q, q', is fixed at q immediately over the orifices o and o¹,
and as its ends alternately act against each side of the stud t, a slide is moved
backwards and forwards over the orifices o and o¹; t is a stud in a slide
which passes over the orifices o aud o' in the pipes c, d, o, and c², d¹, v²;
and are suction pipes of the pump immersed in water; is a piston
in the pump N, O; S, S¹, is the passage way, by which the water from
the pump passes between the cylinders D, E, and F, G; i, ¹, is a pipe from
N, O, communicating with the passage way between the cylinders D, E,
and F, G. There are (as before) passage ways between the cylinders D, E,
and F, G, and between the cylinders D, E, and F, G. band b' are two small
wheels fixed on the beam A, A", A', over which chains pass, connecting the
valves M and M' by means of rods a and a', and rods m, n, and m, n, which
latter rods are attached to a spiral spring n. n. Put water into the cistern
X, X', until it is three parts full; let the engine be in the position as shewn in
Fig. IV. The piston B, C, is about two thirds down the cylinder F, G, that
being the extent of its motion downwards. The valve M is held up by the
action of the spring n, n²; the slide y is off the orifice h, and slide att is off
the orifice o. At the same time the piston B, C, is up, the valve M¹ is
closed; the slide y' closes the orifice h, and the slide at t is over the orifice
o¹. Open the cocks Z and 7, and gas coming from the reservoir (as before)
along the pipe T", T, passes into the pipe g, T,g'; set fire to it at the ends
gand and it will burn while the engine works. Open the cocks at d and d¹
and gas coming from the reservoir and entering the box P, Q, at T, will
flow along the pipe c, d, o, into the burner e, f, and be ignited through the

page_text: orifice by the flame at g. Bring down the beam A, A", A', at A', and it
brings down the rod k, l, and the piston B, C, ascends to the top of the
cylinder F, G; the stuffing box on the valve M strikes against the bar U
and brings the valve M close to the piston B, C; there is a spring placed
under the guide, which goes across the cylinder, to prevent the valve from
being closed with violence. As the rod /, /, descends, the tappet R strikes the
beam V, VI, and draws the slide y over the orifice h, and thus (as before) the
flame is prevented from entering the cylinder F, G, which then becomes air.
tight. The descent of the rod k, l, also makes the arin u strike against the
stud or pin at r, and elevates the tube p, p, p, a little above a horizontul
position, and the mercury will flow from p to p' and make the stud nt v
fall on u (as before). As the tube p. p, p, moved, it turned the axis 2", q, on
which the tumbler q, q', is fixed, and thus the tumbler q. 7, by acting against
the stud drew the slide over the orifice o, and then (as before) the gas con-
tinued to flow into the cylinder F, G, after the slide y has closed the orifice h,
during the time that the mercury was flowing from p to p¹, and that
time is allowed (as before) for the combustion of the gas in the cylinder
F, G, when the rarified air will escape through the small valves H and
H", and thus a vacuum is effected. At the same time the rod k, l,
moves down the pistonj in the forcing pump N, O, and forces the water along
the pipe i, i, into the passage way, and over the top of the cylinder F¹, G¹, and
the valve M' being then separated from the piston B, C, the water will fall
to the bottom of the cylinder F, G, and pass through the pipe S, Y, at the
valve Y¹, into the cistern X, X'. A jet of water from the cistern may be
introduced through the bottom of the cylinders at the time the pistons begin to
descend. Some water will remain at the bottom of the cylinder F¹, G¹, to the
the level of the top of the pipe S', Y', and the end of the burner e, f", is im-
niersed in that water. The moment the vacuum is formed in the cylinder
F, G, the pressure of the atmosphere forces down the piston B, C; then the
orifice at h opens, and the air being admitted into the cylinder F, G, the spring
n, n², contracts, and relieves the valve M from the piston B, C, and the engine
is now again in the position as represented in Fig. IV. Whilst the piston
B, C, was down, the orifice at h¹ was open, the slide at t was off the orifice o³,
and the gas from the box P, Q, entering the cylinder F, G, at the orifice c¹
became ignited. As the piston B, C, fell, the piston B, C, rose, and the
motion of the rod k, l,upwards, with its appendages, made the cylinder F¹,G¹,
air-tight, and the gas having gone into it for a short space of time (as before),
a vacuum is effected in the cylinder F, G, as was done in the cylinder F, G,
and now the pistou B', C', is ready to come down by the pressure of the air.

page_text: A vacuum being thus alternately effected in the cylinders F,G, and F',G¹, the
pistons rise and fall alternately, and the beam A,A", A¹,moves the connecting.
rods K, L, and K', L', (see Fig. V.), which turn the cranks L and L. The
fly wheel W, W, W, then having a motion given to it, the engine continues
to act. As the rod k, l, moves the piston j upwards, the water is sent along
the pipe S, S', into the passage way, and into the cylinder F, G, and thence
into the pipe S, Y, as was done on the other side. To stop the engine, shut
the cocks at d and d, to prevent the gas from entering the burners.
I have now explained three ways in which, by the pressure of the air, I apply
to useful purposes a vacuum effected with inflammable gas. A mechanic may
with that vacuum produce the same effects byan endless variety of well-known
mechanical means, and I disclaim, therefore, the sole or particular use of beams,
pistons, wheels, rods, pipes, springs, chains, valves, cocks, slides, covers,
tumblers, and the other mechanical instruments or combinations of them used
by me.
I have before stated the parts of my combination for effecting a vacuum
with inflammable gas, and that the mechanical parts of it may be varied. I
claim to be the first and true inventor of that combination for effecting a
vacuum with inflammablegas, however much it maybe varied bythe mechanical
means with which it may be used. And I claim to be the first and true
inventor of applying a vacuum so effected with inflammable gas to raising
water,and to the production of motion in machinery by the pressure of the air,
whether that motion be produced by a water wheel or pistons, in the manner
above described, or by similar combinations of mechanical instruments with a
water wheel, or with a piston or pistons. And thus my engine, however much
it may be varied in its construction, is a combination made up of my new com-
bination for effecting a vacuum with inflammable gas,and other combinations
of machinery old and well known to mechanics.
In witness whereof, I, the said Samuel Brown, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fourth day of June, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and twenty-four.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the same Fourth day of June, in
the year above mentioned, the aforesaid Samuel Brown came before our Lord
the King in His Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification aforesaid,und
all and every thing therein contained, in form above written. And also the
Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the tenor of the Statute in
that case made and provided.
Inrolled the same Fourth day of June, in the year above written.