IMPROVEMENTS IN ENGINES TO BE USED AS MOTORS OR AS PUMPS FOR RAISING OR FORCING LIQUID OR AERIFORM BODIES
Year: 1869

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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN ENGINES TO BE
USED AS MOTORS OR AS PUMPS FOR RAISING OR FORCING LIQUID OR AERIFORM
BODIES." A communication from abroad by John Benjamin
Root, of the City and State of New York, United States of
America.
-
Sealed the 9th October 1869, and dated the 4th May 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward
Newton at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 4th May 1869.
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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN ENGINES TO BE
USED AS MOTORS OR AS PUMPS FOR RAISING OR FORCING LIQUID OR AERIFORM
BODIES," to be as follows:
This Invention relates to a new kind of engine in which, when it is
used as a motor, steam or other vapour has both its direct pressure and its

page_text: expansive force utilized for the production of motive power by being
made to displace water or other liquid from one side of the axis of
a screw (capable of rotation), so that the weight of a quantity of liquid
corresponding with that displaced by acting on the opposite side of its
axis will produce rotary motion of the screw. When the engine is
used as a pump rotary motion is given to it by any suitable means,
and a heavier fluid is employed to displace and impart pressure to a
lighter one, as, for instance, water to displace and compress air, or quick-
silver to displace and raise or impart pressure to water.
The principal parts of the engine consist of a hollow cylinder or cone
arranged to rotate in suitable bearings with its axis at an inclination to
the horizon. Within this cylinder is a screw with a hollow shaft con-
centric with the cylinder, the thread of the screw being united with the
exterior of the shaft and with the interior of the cylinder or cone, the
said shaft being open at the top and bottom. The lower part of the
cylinder is situated directly over a furnace, and its whole length is
surrounded with a stationary casing of cast iron or other material erected
on the furnace walls. This casing forms a flue, and the chimney is
erected upon it. The upper end of the casing supports antifriction
rollers which constitute the bearings for the upper hollow journal. The
threads of the screw are only just thick enough for strength and unite
with the interior of the cylinder or fit tightly thereinto, so that the screw
and cylinder form in effect one structure, the spaces between the threads
forming a spiral passage communicating between the upper and lower
parts of the cylinder. The central passage formed by the hollow shaft of
the screw does not reach quite to the top or bottom of the cylinder, and
hence it forms a direct communication between the upper and lower
parts thereof. The hollow journal may be open at the top and com-
municate with the atmosphere if the engine were intended to work as
a non-condensing engine, or it may communicate with a condenser
composed of two shells of corresponding form, one arranged and secured
within the other, and the outer one secured to the upper hollow journal,
so that the space between them communicates through the journal with
the interior of the cylinder. The inner shell has an open mouth, and in
its bottom there is a small opening for communication with the hollow
journal, but this opening is fitted with a valve which closes by its own
weight. Cold water for producing condensation of steam is to be
introduced into the inner shell at the upper side of its open mouth,

page_text: mouth mito a spout.
The operation of this engine is as follows:-The cylinder having been
partly filled with water, say a little more than half full, and fire having
been made in the furnace steam is generated in the cylinder, and this
steam by its direct pressure and expansion pressing upon the surface of the
water causes the water to be forced upward in the spiral passage between
the threads of the screw until the lower portions of the space between the
several turns of the screw threads all contain water, and the upper portions
of the space contain steam. This steam keeps on forcing the water
continually upward toward the upper part of the cylinder till it reaches
the open upper end of the hollow shaft of the screw which it enters and
descends to the bottom of the cylinder, a constant circulation of the water
upward through the spiral passage between the screw and the cylinder
and downward through the hollow shaft being produced: The water in
being forced toward and over the upper side of the screw is pressed
toward one side' of the cylinder, and hence there is always a' greater
weight of water on one side of the axis of the screw and cylinder than
on the other, and the conséquence is that this greater weight produces
a continuous rotary motion of the screw and cylinder, from either
journal of which motive power may be transmitted through a pulley
or by other means. The steam keeps rising till it reaches the top of
the cylinder,, where it passes into the condenser to be there condensed
for its return in liquid form through the hollow journal into the
cylinder. In case however no condenser is employed the spent steam
escapes by the hollow journal to the atmosphere. In case of the engine
working on the high-pressure or non-condensing. system water will
have to be continually supplied by a force pump, and may be introduced
through the lower journal by making the said journal hollow, but in
case of the condenser being used the charge of water once supplied
will only require from time to time such additional supply as may be
necessary to make up for possible loss by leakage and for escape at
the safety valve: The engine, when a' condenser' is'used' with'it', may be
made to work with steam at very much below the atmospheric pressure.
Other liquids might be used for its operation in place of water, for
instance quicksilver, which on account of its high specific gravity
would enable a powerful engine to be brought within a comparatively
small compass. In using quicksilver it' may be vaporized, but as there

page_text: may be some objections to employing the quicksilver in the same
manner as water, that is to say, to effect its displacement by its own
evaporation, I propose to use both quicksilver and water together,
the water only to be vaporized on the surface of the quicksilver, and
the steam thus generated to effect the displacement of the quicksilver.
There may be openings in every turn of the screw thread, or a continuous
opening all along the hollow shaft of the screw, to enable the water to
return without passing up the whole length of the shaft. There may be
in the interior of the said shaft of the screw a female screw thread
having a direction the reverse of that of the first screw thread, so that
the weight of the water or other liquid in descending the female screw
thread may be made to assist by its action the water outside of the shaft.
Instead of the screw being constructed in this way it may be made by
taking a tube and coiling it around an axis in the form of a helex. The
engine, when intended to work as a force pump for water or other liquids,
may have the screw thread partly filled with quicksilver, and the water
is to be supplied at the upper end of the cylinder, and on giving the
cylinders a rotary motion the quicksilver may be made to rise in the
screw thread in the same manner as the water rises in the steam engine
above described, and the water will descend the thread to the bottom,
subject to such pressure as would be due to the whole column of quick-
silver in the screw thread minus the pressure due to a column of water
of the same height. The water may be forced out through a central
pipe passing through the shaft of the screw. When the engine is
intended to work as an air pump the screw thread may in like manner
be filled with water, and the air will descend the screw thread and be
compressed with a pressure equal to the whole column of water and may
be forced out upward through a central pipe.
CC Creat Dear I atent 3
Office on the 4th November 1869.
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.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fourth day of May, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the thirty-second
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said William Edward Newton, Her special
licence that I, the said William Edward Newton, my executors, admi-
nistrators, 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 Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN ENGINES TO BE USED AS MOTORS OR AS PUMPS FOR RAISING
OR FORCING LIQUID OR AERIFORM BODIES," being a communication to me
from abroad by John Benjamin Root, of the City and State of New York,
United States of America, upon the condition (amongst others) that
I, the said William Edward Newton, my executors or administrators,
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 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 here-
unto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is
to say):
This Invention relates to a new kind of engine the principal element
of which is a hollow screw or helix having its axis placed in an inclined
position and arranged to rotate in suitable bearings. When used as a
motor the spiral passage of the screw or helix is to such extent supplied
or filled with water or other liquid that the lower portion of each turn
of the helix contains the water or liquid to such a depth as to form in
the upper portion thereof a chamber for steam or vapor. The steam or
vapor in the chambers thus formed in the several turns of the screw or
helix acts in such a manner both by its direct pressure and expansive

page_text: force upon the spiral surfaces of the screw or helix as to produce its
rotary motion about its axis, and as this rotation is produced the steam
or vapor and the water or liquid pass upward through the spiral passage
of the screw or helix, at the top of which the steam or vapor escapes to
the atmosphere or to a condenser, while the water or liquid enters a
central passage formed through the screw or helix and descends to the
bottom thereof. The steam or vapor may be generated in the screw or
helix itself by heat externally applied, or be introduced at the bottom
thereof by a pipe from a separate boiler or generator. When used as a
pump the liquid or fluid to be pumped enters at the top of the screw or
helix which is kept partly filled with a heavier liquid and has rotary motion
given to it by suitable motive power, and the first-mentioned liquid or
fluid is forced downward through the helix to the bottom thereof and
discharged upward through a central pipe.
Fig. 1 in the accompanying Drawing is a vertical section of a steam
engine constructed according to the present Invention. A is a hollow
cylinder having its axis inclined and having journals B and C at top
and bottom. Its lower journal B is supported in a step bearing D, and
its upper journal C, which is hollow, is represented as supported upon
antifriction rollers D¹, one of which is shewn in section. Within and
concentric with this cylinder and united closely with its interior is a
screw thread P the shaft Q of which is hollow so as to form a central
passage through the screw. The space between the cylinder and the
hollow shaft is formed by the screw thread into a hollow helix or spiral
passage, which as well as the central passage through the hollow shaft Q
is open at the top and bottom to the interior of the cylinder A. The
lower part of the cylinder A is situated directly over a furnace F, and its
whole length may be surrounded by a stationary casing E of cast iron
or other material erected upon the furnace walls. This casing forms a
flue G, and the chimney H is erected upon it. The upper end of the
casing supports the antifriction rollers D' which constitute the bearings
for the upper hollow journal C, which might be open at the top and
made to communicate with the atmosphere if the engine be intended to
work as a non-condensing engine, It is however represented as com-
municating with a condenser K so that the engine may work as a
condensing engine, This condenser might be variously constructed, but
is represented as composed of two shells of corresponding form, one
arranged and secured within the other, and the outer one so secured to

page_text: communication with the hollow journal, but this opening is titted with
a valve R which closes by its own weight and by the pressure of the
atmosphere. Cold water for producing condensation of the steam is to
be introduced into the inner shell at the upper side of its open mouth,
and after having done its work is to overflow at the lower side of the
mouth into a spout S.
The operation of this engine is as follows:-The cylinder having been
partly filled with water, say a little more than half full, and fire having
been made in the furnace steam is generated in the cylinder, and this
steam by its direct pressure and expansion will press upon the surface
of the water and cause it to be forced upward in the spiral passage
between the threads of the screw P until the lower portions of the space
between the several turns of the screw threads all contain water, as
shown in the Drawing, and the upper portions of the space are converted
into steam chambers containing steam. The pressure of the steam in
the several chambers diminishes towards the upper part of the helix
which is open to the atmosphere or to the condenser, and hence the
pressure on the lower surfaces of the screw thread is greater than that
on the upper surfaces, and the steam acts upon the lower surfaces with
an effect due to this difference of pressure to give rotary motion to the
screw and cylinder. As this rotary motion is produced the steam and
water work up the helix, and the steam after arriving at the top of the
helix escapes to the condenser, where it is condensed, and from whence
it descends into the upper part of the cylinder overflowing the upper end
of the hollow shaft Q along with the water which has passed up the
helix and returning to the bottom of the cylinder to supply the place
of that which is converted into steam and that which is constantly
ascending the helix in the liquid state. The power is to be transmitted
by a pulley or wheel on one of the journals B, C. In this condensing
engine the same water is used over again without any additional supply
beyond what might from time to time become necessary owing to
leakage or escape at the valve R. This leakage may be supplied as
required by a small pump. The valve R serves as a self-acting blow
through valve in starting the engine, and also as a safety valve for the.

page_text: .
escape of steam in case of its passing to the top of the helix faster than
it can be condensed. If the engine were used without a condenser on the
high pressure principle water would have to be continually supplied by
a force pump and may be introduced through the lower journal by
making the journal hollow. The greatest economy is to be attained in
the condensing engine by using steam of very low pressure. The
pressure used might be below that of the atmosphere..
Fig. 2 represents a vertical section of an engine very much like that
above described, but with a different construction of the screw and its
hollow shaft. The helix of this engine instead of being composed of a
single screw thread is formed by a many threaded screw, and its
threads Pare funnel-shaped, and there is a continuous opening a coin-
ciding with the spiral line of cach thread all along the hollow shaft Q
The operation of the steam and water in this screw and its cylinder
resembles that in the screw P, except that the water has not all to rise
up to the top of the screw before it passes into the hollow shaft to
return to the bottom of the cylinder, but portions of it continue to enter
the hollow shaft Q' through the spiral opening q. The sides or peri-
pherical portion of cylinder A are formed out of the same metal with
the screw by first stamping out from discs of sheet metal a series of
funnel-like pieces with cylindrical mouths, then cutting each of these
pieces diametrically in two and twisting them to the requisite spiral form
to enable them to be formed into the screw by rivetting or otherwise
securing them together. Another point in which this engine differs from
that first described is that its condenser K has an outer water jacket K',
which communicates by short pipes m, m, with the inner shell, whereby
it is cooled externally as well as internally by the water which enters
the inner shell and then passes through the pipes m, m, to the outer one
whence it overflows. This engine is also furnished with a water gauge T
and vacuum gauge U. The water gauge is a glass tube, the lower end
of which is connected with a stationary pipe W, and the upper end with
a stationary pipe X. The pipe W communicates with the bottom of
the cylinder through a small bore in the lower journal B thereof, and
is connected with the journal by a stuffing box joint q'. The pipe X is
connected by a stuffing-box joint & with a hollow stem r. provided on the
valve R. The vacuum gauge U is attached to the pipe X., In this
engine as well as in the engine shewn in Fig. 1 the upper journal might

page_text: be above the condenser and fitted to an ordinary journal box; or the
condenser might be brought within or partly within the cylinder by
suitably elongating the cylinder above the helix.
Fig. 3 represents a central section of an engine having the cylinder
and helix constructed substantially like that shown in Fig. 2, but having
the condenser K inside the cylinder. The cylinder and condenser are
firmly secured to a central hollow shaft B³ which passes right through
them both and through the centre of the hollow shaft Q of the helix.
This shaft B3, which may be considered the main shaft of the engine, is
arranged to run upon antifriction rollers D and D3 supported in a
framing D. This hollow shaft may be closed at the bottom or open like
the lower journal in Fig. 2, but has numerous perforations a, a, just,
above the bottom of the cylinder, and b, b, just below the bottom of the
condenser, and its upper end is open but fitted with a valve R³ which
opens outward, and which is surrounded by a cup R containing water
enough to seal the valve. The condenser consists merely of a conical
disc through which the cooling water is allowed to flow, and its under
surface constitutes the condensing surface against which the steam is
condensed as fast as it arrives at the top of the cylinder. While there is
any vacuum in the upper part of the cylinder the valve R³ is closed,
but when the pressure of the steam exceeds that of the atmosphere
sufficiently to raise the valve the steam entering the hollow shaft through
the perforations below the condenser raises the said valve and escapes to
the atmosphere. This engine is represented as constructed for very low
pressure, and therefore its furnace F" is small, but like the furnace shown
in Figures 1 and 2 it communicates with the chimney H by means of a
flue G formed by a stationary casing E enclosing the bottom and
portions of the sides of the cylinder.
Fig. 4 represents a modification of the cylinder shown in Fig. 1. The
screw thread P is made concave on its upper side, or of a funnel-like
character, like that shewn in Fig. 2, and in the interior of the hollow
shaft Q there is a female screw thread P*, the spiral direction of which
is the reverse of that of the thread P. The water or liquid in descending
the hollow shaft along this female screw thread assists by the action of
its weight thereon the action of the steam or vapor in the outer helix.
This internal thread is of more especial advantage in the use of a heavy
liquid, such as quicksilver. The substitution of quicksilver for water

page_text: would on account of the high specific gravity of the former enable a
powerful engine to be brought within a comparatively small compass.
The quicksilver when used in the engine may be vaporised, but as there
may be some practical objections to employing quicksilver in the same
manner as water, that is to say, vaporizing it, it is proposed to use both
quicksilver and water together, the water only to be vaporized on the
surface of the quicksilver, and the steam thus generated to effect the
displacement of the quicksilver and any water floating upon it, and
thereby to produce the motive power.
Fig. 5 represents in a vertical section a modification of the engine
which is especially well adapted to the use of quicksilver and water, as
above described, though it might be used for either water, quicksilver,
or other liquid alone. In this engine there is substituted for the cylinder
and screw thread a tube P2, which is coiled around an axis in the form
of a helix, its lower end being connected by a T-piece a¹ with the lower
journal B², and its upper end by a T-piece a² with the upper hollow
journal C which communicates with the condenser K. Inside of this
coiled tube P2 and concentric with it there is a smaller coil of tube Ps, the
pitch of which is in the reverse direction to that of P2, the upper and
lower ends of which communicate with the upper and lower ends of P
through the T-pieces a¹ and a. Between the two coils P and P³ there is
a cylinder Y, the object of which is to screen the inner coil of the tube P
from the heat of the furnace F and flue G, in which the coils are
arranged in the same manner as the cylinders A, shown in Figures 1
and 2, are arranged in their respective furnaces and flues. The operation
of this engine is as follows:-The coil of pipe P2 is partly filled, say
about one-third full, with quicksilver and afterwards filled up with water
to, say, about half full. The fire is made in the furnace, and when steam
is generated from the water the rotation of the coils commences, the
water and the quicksilver pass together up the coil P², the lower portion
of each turn of the said coil containing quicksilver with a small quantity
of water above it, and the steam filling the upper part of each turn of
the said coil. The water and quicksilver, after arriving at the top of
the coil P, pass into and descend the coil P³, and so return to the bottom
of the coil P, and the water resulting from the condensation of the
stcam in the condenser descends with them, thus keeping up a constant
circulation upward through the coil P³. The upward pressure of the

page_text: steam in the coil P3 produces the rotation of the coils, and this action
of the steam is assisted by the weight of the quicksilver in descending
the coil P³. A straight pipe might be substituted for the coil P³, but
in such a case no useful effect would be obtained from the descent of the
quicksilver.
In any of the forms herein represented of the engine the furnace
under the cylinder or helix may be dispensed with, and steam may
be admitted from a boiler suitably arranged through a steam pipe
connected with the hollow journal, which in such case should be
hollow.
Fig. 6 is a longitudinal section of a force pump constructed on the
same plan as the engines shewn in Figures 1 and 2. A³ is the cylinder,
arranged in an inclined position, and containing a screw P³, having a
hollow shaft Q. This cylinder, screw, and hollow shaft are substantially
like the cylinder, screw, and shaft shown in Figures 1 and 2, the shaft Q³
having a continuous spiral opening q³ above the screw thread, like that
shown in Fig. 2. The cylinder A³ is open at the top, has a bulb-like
enlargement & all round the bottom, and has a pulley cat its upper
end through which to impart rotary motion to it by a driving belt. Tho
discharge pipe d³, which is stationary, is arranged in the centre of the
hollow shaft Q3 and cylinder. Its lower end, which is closed, has a
journal e, which fits to a bearing f³ in the bottom of the cylinder, but
just above the journal the pipe is furnished with a hollow arm g³, which
opens into the upper part of the bulb-like enlargement 63 of the cylinder.
The upper part of the pipe above the cylinder is to be secured by a
clamp h³ to any suitable fixed support. The lower end of the cylinder
is furnished with a journal B³, which works in a fixed bearing D³, and
across the upper part of the cylinder is a secured bridge i³, in the centre
of which is a bearing j³, which fits the pipe d³ in such manner as to be
capable of rotating freely thereon. When this pump is to be used for
forcing water it is partly filled with quicksilver. It may be submerged
above the mouth of the cylinder in water, or may receive the water at
its mouth from any suitable spout or conductor. It is set in operation
by giving it a rotary motion in the direction of the arrow marked on the
screw, by which the quicksilver, which is shewn in red color, is caused
to descend in the lower portions of the several turns of the thread of the
screw, and the water, which is shown in blue color, is caused to descend

page_text: through the upper portions thereof to the lower part of the cylinder.
The quicksilver after arriving at the bottom of the cylinder passes up
through the hollow shaft Q3 to the top thereof, and overflows into the
screw thread to pass down again with the incoming water. The water
as it collects in the upper part of the bulb-like enlargement 6 of the
lower part of the cylinder is forced through the arm g³ into, up, and
through the pipe d³ with a pressure due to the whole height of the
column of quicksilver in the cylinder and screw. In pumping water or
liquid which is inexpansible and incompressible the spiral passage q³ is
of little or no importance, for as the shaft Q3 will always be filled with
the quicksilver or heavier liquid, and the passage g³ will always be
covered externally by the same liquid, there will be no or very little
movement of the liquid through it, but in pumping air or clastic fluid
the passage is of more importance, as will be presently described. When
the pump is to be used for compressing air quicksilver may be used in
the same manner as in the force pump for water, and the air entering
the mouth of the cylinder will be carried down the screw and forced up
through the pipe d³ in the same manner as the water, as above described.
In the air pump water may be substituted for quicksilver, and will act
upon the air in the same manner as the quicksilver does upon the water,
that is to say, will carry it down the helix or spiral passage between the
screw threads and force it up the central pipe. The air will be more
and more compressed as it moves downward, as it will be subject to the
whole pressure of the column of liquid above it in the helix, and its
compression will be accompanied by an outward movement of the liquid
from the interior of the hollow shaft into the spiral passage.
Having now described the Invention which has been communicated
to me by my foreign correspondent, and having explained the manner of
carrying the same into effect, I claim as the Invention secured to me
by Letters Patent as aforesaid,-
First. An engine to be used as a motor consisting mainly of a hollow
screw or helix arranged to rotate about an axis occupying an inclined
position, and operating as herein described.
Second. I claim the various constructions of such an engine described
with reference to Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 of the Drawing.
Third. The condenser applied and operating in connection with such
an engine, as herein described.

page_text: Fourth. The pump composed of the rotary inclined cylinder, hollow
screw, and discharge pipe combined to operate as herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Newton, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, the Third day of November,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-
nine.