IMPROVEMENTS IN PRODUCING OR OBTAINING MOTIVE POWER
Year: 1840

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
HENRY FOX TALBOT, of Laycock Abbey, in the County of Wilts, Esquire,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by
Her Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain,. bearing date
at Westminster, the First day of October, in the fourth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said William Henry Fox Talbott, Her especial licence, full power, sole
privilege and authority, that I, the said William Henry Fox Talbot,
my exors, admors, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Henry
Fox Talbot, my exors, admors, or assigns, should at any time agree with,
and no others, from time to time and at all times during the term of years
therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend,
within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Inven-
tion of "IMPROVEMENTS IN PRODUCING OR OBTAINING MOTIVE POWER;" in which
said Letters Patent is contained a proviso that I, the said William Henry
Fox Talbot, shall cause a particular description of the nature of my said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be. inrolled
in Her said Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months
next and immediately after the date of said in part recited Letters Patent,
as is and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and
at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
William Henry Fox Talbot, do hereby declare that the nature of my said.
Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are

page_text: paracunarly described and ascertained in and by the following statemen
thereof, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the
figures and letters marked thereon (that is to say):-
My Invention consists of three descriptions of engines which have this
point in common, (viz.) that they all depend upon a voltaic or galvanic battery
as their primary source of power.
FIRST ENGINE.
A, Figure 1, is a strong metallic vessel, partly filled with water, mixed
with a little sulphuric or other acid, or with any other substance which
increases its conducting power and facilitates its decomposition by the
voltaic current. The upper part of this vessel is empty, and terminates
in a cylinder, in which a piston P moves up and down. The upper end of
this piston is attached by a rod and crank to a fly wheel in the usual manner.
B, C, D, E, F, G, H,,I, K, L, M, N, are four stout wires passing into the
vessel at C, F,,I, M, through holes in, the metal, at which points the wires
are to be surrounded or cased with wood, cement, or any other, substance
which is a non-conductor of voltaic electricity, in order to prevent metallic
contact of the wires with the vessel itself. The wires are to be well secured
in this situation, and the holes made air-tight. The wires B, C, D, and
H, I, K, both go to the same end of the voltaic battery, and their extremities
B and 'H' are soldered to it.. Either end of the battery may be chosen for
this purpose, but, for the sake of clearness, I will suppose that they are fastened
to the zinc end, and the other end of the battery I shall accordingly call the
copper end. The wires E, F, G, L, M, N, are separate froin each other
throughout their length, and each of them terminates in a metallic spring,
which springs press upon the axis of the fly. wheel at two different places;
the extremities D, E, of the upper wires are joined together by a fine wire of
platina D, E, which is above the surface of the fluid in the vessel; the wires
H, I, K, L, M, N, terminate in two, disks or, plates K, L, of platina or other
metal suitable for the purpose of electrodes or poles for the decomposition
of water. The fly wheel revolves on a metallic axis, the ends of which are
sustained by upright pillars or supports of metal. A stout wire Y, Z, is.
fastened at one of its ends to one of these pillars; at its other end it is soldered
to the copper end of the voltaic battery; the metal of the axis and that of the
pillar are both kept bright, in order that a voltaic current may easily pass
from one to the other; they are, moreover, kept in close contact by the weight
and pressure of the fly wheel, and of the axis itself. In Figure 2, A, B..
represents the axis, the extremity A of which communicates with the copper
i by
: : . :.

page_text: end of the battery by means of the wire Y, Z, as just described. I have already
said that the wires E, F, G, L, M, N, (see Figure 1).terminate in two
springs which press upon the axis: at G and. N. Figure 3 is a section of 'the
axis at the point.G, shewing the..wire E; F, G, pressing upon it. When the
axis revolves, each point of the circle G, O, P, Q. passes successively under
the end of the wire G.; but in a certain portion of this circle, for instance,
in the arc O, P, Q;:the metal is cut out. and removed, and its place supplied
with wood, ivory, or any other substance which does not, conduct voltaic
electricity. Figure 4 is a similar section of 'the axis at the point N; shewing
the wire L, M, N, pressing upon it. When the, axis revolves each point, of
the circle N, R, S, T, passes successively under the end of the wire N; but in
a certain portion of this circle, for instance; in the arc R, S, T, the metal
is cut out and removed, and its place supplied with any 'non-conducting
substance (as before). These arcs O, P, Q, R, S, T, should be, together equal
to an entire circle, R, S, T, being the shorter of the two. Their positions
should be exactly contrary to one another, so that when' the middle point
of the arc O, P, Q, comes (during the revolution of the axis) to its highest.
position, the middle point of the arc R, S, T, may be then beneath the
axis, and in its lowest position. The springs G and N are of the same
length, and press on the axis at corresponding points. Hence it is evident,
that whenever the spring G is pressing on the metallic surface of the axis, the
spring N is then, on the contrary, pressing upon part of the wooden arc R, S, T,
and vice versâ, so that G. and N can never be pressing, both of them, upon.
metal at the same time, nor both of them upon wood at the same time. This is
the construction of the .engine; the mode of its operation is as follows:-
The voltaic battery being sufficiently charged and in good action, the.axis is
turned round by hand until the spring G rests upon' O, the beginning of the.
wooden arc O, P, Q; consequently, no voltaic current can then pass through.
the spring G into the wire E, F, G. but at that moment the spring N of the,
wire L, M, N, rests upon the point T, the beginning of the metallic arc T, R;
consequently, a voltaic current then passes (the circuit being complete) from the:
zinc end of the battery, through the. wire HI, K, from K to L, through the,
water (decomposing it by its passage),,then through the wire L, M, N, and the
spring N, and through the metal of the axis from N to A; finally, from A,
through the wire Y, Z, to the copper end of the battery. The voltaic circuit
being thus completed, immediately the water begins to decomposed oxygen and
hydrogen gases are evolved, which rise through the water, and fill the space
above the surface. of the liquid, being there mixed at first with a little atmo-
spheric air. This evolution of the gases continues during the greater part of the

page_text: revolution of the axis, namely, until the point R, the extremity of the arc
T, R, comes under the spring N. The wooden arc R, S, T, then succeeds, by
which the current is interrupted, and the decomposition of water immediately
ceases; but at the same moment the spring G reaches Q, the beginning of
the metallic portion Q, O, of its own circle, and consequently the current now
passes through the wire E, F, G, instead of passing through the wire L, M, N.
The course of the current is now as follows:--From the zinc end of the battery
through the wire B, C, D, and the fine platina wire D, E, then through the wire
E, F, G, through the metal of the axis from G to A, and through the wire
Y, Z, to the copper end of the battery. The current in passing through the
platina wire D, E, leats in red hot, and this ignition of the wire causes the
immediate explosion of the mixed oxyhydrogen gas with which the wire is
surrounded. The force of this explosion tends to drive up the piston P, which
is attached by a rod and crank to the fly wheel; motion is thus communicated
to the fly wheel, and it is evident that during each revolution of the wheel two
operations occur in the vessel A: first, the evolution of gas; and, secondly,
the explosion of it, which explosion occurs always at similar periods during the
revolution of the wheel, at each of which periods the piston occupies the same
place in the cylinder. The time of the explosion is regulated by the position
of the wooden ares O, P, Q, R, S, T, on the axis. These are accordingly to
be placed in that position which is found by experiment to produce the greatest
effect upon the piston. I do not confine myself to the particular form of
apparatus here described; and whereas in this engine the voltaic current is made
to pass alternately through the water and through the wire D, E, by removing
the metallic surface in some parts of the axis, and filling. up its place with
wood, which arrangement is one of the contrivances for changing the direction
of voltaic currents which have been denominated commutators, I do not
intend to confine myself to the use of a commutator of this form, but equally to
employ any other one which produces a similar result.
I claim the method of obtaining motive power by the alternate evolution
and combustion or explosion of gases, the said evolution being caused by the
decomposition of a liquid by the voltaic current and the said explosion or
combustion being also caused by a voltaic current.
SECOND ENGINE..
A, B, C, Figure 5, is a cylindrical bar of soft iron bent into the form of a s
horse-shoe. D, D', E', E, is a helix of copper wire surrounding, the coils of

page_text: the wire D is soldered to either end of the battery. For the sake, however, of
clearness in the description, I will suppose it is attached to the zinc end. It is
well known that when a voltaic current passes through a helix of this kind the
enclosed bar of soft iron becomes a magnet, and is capable of attracting a
keeper or armature of iron placed in the neighbourhood of its poles. F, G, is
a long lever made as rigid and inflexible as possible; its centre of motion F
is situated as near to the pole A of the magnet as it conveniently can be. This
lever carries the iron keeper or armature H, which is firmly fastened to it, so
that whenever the armature is attracted to the magnet the free end G of the
lever moves through a space considerably greater than that through which the
armature itself moves.
Figure 6 is an enlarged view of the extremity G of the lever, shewing that
it is pierced with a hole I, through which a strong iron rod K, L, passes,
ending in a knob K, larger than the hole and coated with a non-conducting
.substance to prevent metallic contact with the lever. The rod. K, L, is attached
to a crank on the fly wheel; when by the motion of this wheel the rod descends
it passes freely through the hole, but when it ascends, the knob, being too large
to pass through the hole, catches in it and lifts up the lever. The other end of
the wire E (Figure 5) terminates in a metal spring pressing upon the metallic
axis of the fly wheel at the point E. Let the circle E, M, N, (Figure 7) be
a section of the axis at that point. Then during one revolution of the axis
each point of the circle E, M, N, passes successively under the spring E. Let
the metal be removed and its place supplied by wood (or other non-conducting
substance) in a certain portion of this circle; for instance, in the arc M, N;
furthermore, let a strong wire Y, Z, be soldered to the copper end of the
battery, and to a metal pillar supporting the axis, both pillar and axis being
polished in order that a voltaic current may pass easily from one to the other,
exactly as in the description of the first engine. Then it is evident that when
the spring E presses upon any part of the wooden
pass, but when it presses upon any part of the metallic arc M, E, N, the voltaic
current passes, its course being from the zinc end of the battery, through the
wire D, D, E, E, then through the metal of the axis and pillar, through the
wire Y, Z, to the copper end of the battery.
arc M, N, no current can
Such is the description of the machine. In order to render its mode of
action more intelligible, I will first suppose that the spring E is lifted up from
the axis, and the wheel turned round by the hand; in that case the voltaic
current is interrupted and the bar A, B, C, acquires no magnetism. By the
action of the crank the rod K, L, rises and falls alternately. When it rises it
passes through the bole I till the knob K catches in the hole, after which it

page_text: lifts the lever to a certain height; when it falls the lever falls with it through
a certain space, but can fall no lower because the armature H comes in con-
tact with the bar A, B, C, which stops its motion, and consequently the motion
of the lever. The lever being thus stopped, the rod K, L, continues its down-
ward motion, passing through the hole I';' it then rises again as before. The
point at which the knob K catches against the lever in its ascent should be
nearly, the middle point of its whole motion of ascent and descent.
"
This being understood, let us now suppose the battery to be charged and in
good action, and the spring-E to be in its place, pressing upon the axis of the
fly wheel. The wooden arc, M, N; must be placed upon the axis in such a
position that the spring Ę may quit it and come upon the metal arc at a mo-
ment shortly after the knob K has reached its highest point and is beginning
to descend, consequently, the spring now pressing upon. the metal, the voltaic
circuit is complete, the current passes through the helix, and the bar A, B, C,
becomes a magnet. The armatúre H, being then nearly at its greatest distance,
from the magnet, is attracted to it, and in its descent pulls down the lever, to
which it is rigidly and inflexibly attached. The lever pulls down the rod K, L,
and communicates motion to the fly wheel. When the armature comes in
contact with the magnet its motion stops, and that of the lever also. At that
moment the rod disengages itself and passes downwards through the hole I ;
at the same moment the spring E quits the metallic, arc N, E, M; and enters
upon the wooden arc. M, N, the lengths of the 'arcs being adjusted on-purpose
to obtain this effect; the voltaic current immediately ceases, and the magnetism
of the bar A, B, C, ceases or greatly diminishes.. The armature H is now
only retained on the bar by its own weight or by a feeble remnant of the mag-,
netism. The knob K pursues its downward course, and then rises again-til!
it catches in the hole I, when it raises the lever by virtue. of the momentum
which the fly wheel has acquired, without any opposition. from the magnetism
of the bar A, B, C, which has ceased. The knob K continues then to lift the
lever till it has passed its highest point and, begins to re-descend, at which
moment (as before) the spring E quits the wooden are for the metallic one,
the, bar becomes again a magnet, and again pulls down the armature lever and.
rod, and gives another impulse to the fly wheel. A similar. succession of actions
then continues. When the voltaic current is stopped there sometimes remains
a trace of magnetism in the iron bar...If it is wished to get rid of this more
effectually the current may be reversed two or three times in quick.succession,
and then afterwards stopped (instead of being stopped at once), by means of
any of the contrivances for the reversal of voltaic currents, now well known
by the name of commutators, all other parts of the machine remaining. exactly
$

page_text: .
the same. I do not claim anything as new .in the way in which the iron bar
is magnétised and demagnetised:
In order to explain clearly what I claim as a new Invention in this machine
I will point out in what respect it differs from the electro-magnetic machines
which have been heretofore constructed. In these it has been usual so to
arrange the parts that the armatures pass by the magnets with a' tangential
motion, never coming into contact with them; or, if coming into contact, as was
the case in. some of the earliest contrivancés), then 'being wholly stopped by
them, to the great loss and sacrifice of the power of the machine, the whole
motion of the machine having to begin afresh after every such. stoppage.
Now, the novelty of my machine consists in this, that the. armature upon
which the magnetism acts is. but a small part of the whole mass set in motion,
that whole mass consisting of the armature lever rod K; L, and the rest of the
engine, but more especially the fly wheel, the weight of which may be con-
siderably augmented if required. The armature itself is stopped by coming
in contact with the magnet, and the lever is likewise stopped, but with this
exception all the rest of the engine continues its motion; owing to the rod
K, L, disengaging itself from the lever, as has been already explained. There-
fore what I claim as new is this, that, in this. electro-magnetic engine there is
such a, disposition of parts that the armature (whose motion sets in motion the
fly wheel and the rest of the engine) approaches the magnet almost in a direct
line, and is stopped by it, but .that the. greater part of the mass moved dis:
engages itself at that instant, and continuès its motion by its own momentum
till it receives; a fresh impulse from the returning magnetism of the bar...:.I
claim, then, the disengaging the armature from the rest of the engine at:the
proper moment for obtaining the above-mentioned. effects.. I do not confine
myself to the particular form, of machine which. I have here described, and
which I have selected for description on account of its simplicity, but my Invei
tion extends to all such electro-magnetic machines as contain. the mode of
action I have above stated, viz.,, the stopping: of the armature itself by the
magnet, and the disengagement at that moment of the rest of the mass..in
motion.
VARIATION IN THE SECOND ENGINE."
was
In the description of this engine, I have supposed that-the armature H
firmly fixed to the lever F, G. It may, however, be moveable, as represented
in Figure 8. In Figure 8 the armature H, 'instead of being fixed, drops into
a socket or cavity P, Q, R, S, in the lever F, G, which is represented in
section. The armature is prevented from dropping through the cavity or
socket by the jutting parts P, Q. When the armature is in-its place, having

page_text: fallen to the bottom of the socket, its lower surface is in the same plane with
the lower surface of the lever. It is evident from this arrangement that when
the bar A, B, C, (Figure 5) is magnétised, the armature H pulls down the
lever but when the armature is stopped, by coming in contact with the
magnet, the lever is not stopped, but continues to move downwards; the
armature being thereby lifted up in its socket. The two poles of the magnet
must be smaller than the armature, and so near to each other as to be able to
pass through the opening in the lever. By a similar arrangement, several
electro-magnets may be combined, so as to act upon the same lever. It will
be sufficient to represent two such magnets in combination whence the arrange-
ment of a greater number will be easily understood. Figure 9 is a section of
the lever F, G, having two sockets or cavities, into which the armatures
marked 1 and 2 are dropped; and when in their places, their lower surfaces
aro in the plane of the lower surface of the lever. Two horse-shoe electro-
magnets, marked 1 and 2, are placed transversely to the lever (that is, the line
joining their poles is at right angles to the length of the lever). In the
Figure only one branch of each magnet is represented, but the other will be
understood to be behind it by reason of the perspective of the Drawing. The
essential part of the arrangement consists in the following point, videlicet, that
the magnet No. 2 is placed lower or further from the lever than No. 1. The
coils or helixes of wire, which surround the two electro-magnets, are connected
together, and form part of the same voltaic circuit, in order that when the
current passes, both of them may be magnetised simultaneously. The two
armatures being dropped into their sockets, let the voltaic circuit be completed.
Immediately the armature No. 1 is attracted by its magnet No. 1, but the
armature No. 2 is not at first sensibly attracted by the magnet No. 2, by
reason of its greater distance from it. The armature No. 1 comes into contact
with its magnet, and in so doing it pushes down the lever. so far that the
armature No. 2 is brought within the attraction of magnet No. 2, conse-
quently, the armature and magnet No. 2 are drawn into contact; this not
being at all impeded by the first armature No. 1, which is lifted up in its
socket. In the same way a third armature and magnet may be drawn into
contact; the two first armatures (1 and 2) being in such case both lifted up
in their sockets. Similarly a series of electro-magnets may be combined so
as to act upon the same lever; each of which is placed lower than the pre-
ceding (or farther from the lever) by small gradations of distance. The rest
of the description of the second engine is applicable to this variation of it
without any alteration.
The contrivance exhibited in Figures 8 and 9 admits of many other forms;

page_text: as being one of the simplest. I I claim the employing of the mutual attraction
of an armature and magnet, so as to bring a second armature and magnet
within the influence of their mutual attraction (the first armature being
stopped without impediment to the action of the engine); and similarly the
employing these two first ones to bring a third armature and magnet within
the influence of their mutual attraction, and so on in succession for any larger
number, thus augmenting the (otherwise small) distance to which magnetic
attraction (of a powerful kind) extends itself.
THIRD ENGINE.
Figure 1, A, B, C, is a strong iron tube, bent or re-curved; the lower part
of it is filled with mercury, oil, or any other convenient liquid, which rises in
the two branches of the tube to D and E; P is a piston which fits closely to
the tube, and is attached by a rod and crank to a fly wheel. It is plain that
if a sufficient force is applied, and then withdrawn again at regular intervals
on the surface of the mercury at E, forcing it downwards, that the fluid in the
other branch would push the piston upward, and communicate an impulse to
the fly wheel. In order to obtain such pressure upon the mercury at E, the
upper part of the tube C is to be filled with any liquid which possesses the
property of being greatly dilatable by heat, or with any compressed gas or air.
The end C is then to be firmly closed. One of the simplest modes of pro-
ceeding is to fill the tube with carbonic acid, in a frozen state; in which state
it is inert, and may be introduced without any difficulty. An iron cap is then
to be screwed down upon the end of the tube C, and strongly secured. The
acid will soon afterwards liquify; and, if there be room, it will in part or
wholly assume the gaseous state. Whatever be the expansible substance
employed, it will exert pressure upon the piston at all times; and if the fly
wheel were moved round by the hand, the piston in its descent would be
retarded, and in its ascent equally accelerated, by the pressure of the expansible
substance, so that no advantage would accrue from the use of the latter.
if, during the ascent of the piston, the expansible substance be kept warmer
than during the descent, it will exert a greater pressure during the former than
the latter, and the difference of the two pressures will be a forcé available for
working the engine. The rest of the description therefore relates to the mode
of producing this warmth in the expansible substance at the proper times.
But
Figure 2 shows the end of the tube C on a larger scale. F, G, H, I, are
two stout. wires passing through the tube at G and H, at which points they
are surrounded with a non-conducting substance to prevent metallic contact
with the tube. Their extremities are joined by a spiral wire of platina, or
..\

page_text: other metal, or. by .a, thin plate of any suitable metal. The wire F, G, is
soldered to the zinc end of a voltaic battery. The wire H, I, terminates in a
spring I, pressing upon the metallic axis of the fly wheel. This axis commu-
nicates with the copper end of the. battery by a stout wire Y, Z, passing from
that end to. a imetallic pillar supporting.the axis (as in the two former engines).
Figure 3 is a section of the axis at the point I, showing the spring H, I,
pressing upon it. During a revolution of the axis each point of the
circle I; K; L, passes under. the spring; but during a portion of the revolution
(as from K to L, for instance, metallic contact is suspended by removing the
metal in that part, and filling up its place with wood. This wooden arc is so
placed on the axis that metallic contact may take place during the ascent
and be suspended during the descent of the piston. Then during the ascent
of the piston the voltálici current passes, heats the wire. or band of platina
G, H, and thus communicates warmth to the internal parts of the expansible
substance,. and expands it; and during the descent of the piston this heat
gradually diminishes in the wire G, H, and in the expansible substance in
contact with it..
I do not confinė myself to this particular form of engine, nor to this
particular kind of commutator. But I claim the method of obtaining motive
power by the pressure of gas or liquid, or the vapour of a liquid, or any of
these combined; such pressure being caused by heat communicated to them
internally, and then, withdrawn or diminished at regular intervals by means of
a voltaic battery.
In witness whereof, I, the said Williani Henry Fox Talbot, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this "Thirtieth day of March, One thousand
eight hundred and forty one