Improvements in Power Wheels or Motors.
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 25th Feb., 1898-Accepted, 7th May, 1898
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Power Wheels or Motors.
I, ABSALOM MORGAN ADDINGTON, in the Town of May, County of Amador, and
State of California, United States of America, Gentleman, 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 certain new and useful improvements in power wheels
of that class which are adapted to be operated by the action of steam, air or water,
and it has for its object to provide means whereby a cheap, durable and economical
power device may be provided, that can be readily operated efficiently to generate
power by the action of any one of the mediums above referred to..
The invention consists in the particular construction and arrangement of the
parts to be hereinafter described and claimed.
Referring to the accompanying drawings:
Fig. 1 is a section of my improved power wheel and its mountings, and
Fig. 2 is a section of the same taken at right angles to Fig. 1.
Like letters of reference refer to corresponding parts.
A indicates the bed or frame, which may be constructed in any suitable form to
furnish a support for the wheels B, B. In the construction shown, this bed or frame
is recessed at a, to receive the lower portion of the wheels, and upon its upper
edges at b, c there is provided suitable bearings within which the wheel shaft C
turns.
A cap-frame D is arranged to fit over the upper part of the wheels, and is con-
caved at d to correspond with the recess a, in the bed plate, thus forming a single
recess of substantially the same diameter as the wheel which is arranged therein.
This cap-plate is secured to the bed-plate by means of the bolts f, and has formed
in its upper wall, at a point substantially in line with the vertical axis of the wheels,
the inlet openings g and h, connected by means of a valve k, with the common inlet
pipe l.
The wheel B is provided upon its periphery with the triangular shaped recesses m
which form, with a similarly shaped recess m² in the upper wall of the casing D,
a rectangular chamber m¹, as the wheel rotates upon its shaft. When the wheel
is in the position indicated in Fig. 1, and the chamber m¹ has assumed its
greatest capacity, the second recess in the wheel to the right of the one which
registers with the recess in the upper casing, connects with the exhaust port gl
where the motive fluid, which has been carried around in the recess in the wheel,
is permitted to escape.
In order that the motion of the shaft C may be reversed, when desired, I provide
a double wheel, as shown in Fig. 2. In this case, the incline surfaces n upon
the periphery of the wheel B', which forms the bottom of the recess, m and the
recess within the upper wall D, would be reversed, so that as air or steam is per-
mitted to enter the chamber, the wheel would be caused to rotate in the opposite
direction, the exhaust being effected through the exhaust port gl.
The valve k is arranged to admit the motive fluid through the inlet port h or g,

page_text: as desired, and as its construction and mode of operation is common and well
known in the art, it will be unnecessary to enter into a detailed description thereof.
It will thus be seen that by the use of my invention, the power may be obtained
from a great variety of sources and economically converted into a useful form, and
as the construction is simple and durable, it supplies a want within the reach
of all.
The operation of my invention is as follows:
Assuming steam to be the motive fluid, it is conducted through the pipe I, from
any desirable source of supply, and admitted through either port g or h, by
suitably operating the valve k. When the port g is open, the steam passes in
to the chamber m¹, formed by the recess m³ in the upper wall of the cap D at the
inlet port, and one of the recesses m in the periphery of the wheel B, where it
exerts its force expansively, causing the wheel to rotate in the direction indicated
by the arrow, until the point n³ has passed the exhaust port, where the steam is
permitted to escape. It will be observed that as the recesses m pass the recess m²,
in the upper wall, and register with the exhaust port, the supply of live steam
is cut off by the engagement of the wall n³ with the cap, virtually rendering the
chamber m steam tight. When it is desired to reverse the machine, the valve k
is operated to close the port g and open the port h, and as the recesses n, upon
the periphery of the wheel 13 and the recess m³, in the upper wall of the cap are
reversed in form to those above described, the action of the steam upon the wheel,
will cause the shaft and driving mechanism to be rotated in the opposite direction.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is:
A power wheel constructed and arranged substantially as herein shown and
described.
Dated this Fifteenth day of December 1897