IMPROVEMENTS IN ENGINES FOR OBTAINING ROTARY MOTION BY MEANS OF STEAM, GAS, OR OTHER FLUIDS
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Edward Newton, of the Office for Patents,
of 66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughts-
man, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN ENGINES FOR OBTAINING
ROTARY MOTION BY MEANS OF STEAM, GAS, OR OTHER FLUIDS."-A communi-
cation from abroad by Marie Joseph Denis Farcot, of the Firm of Farcot
and Sons, of St. Ouen (Seine), and Joseph Perrigault, Merchant, of
Nantes, both in the Empire of France.
Scaled the 19th October 1866, and dated the 28th April 1866.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Edward Newton at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
28th April 1866.
I, HENRY EDWARD NEWTON, of the office of Patents, 66, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN ENGINES FOR OBTAINING
ROTARY MOTION BY MEANS OF STEAM, GAS, OR OTHER FLUIDS," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to improvements in apparatus for obtaining a con-
tinuous rotary motion by the direct action of steam; gas, or other elastic fluids
on a wheel, the object being to cause the steam 'to expend the whole of its
elastic force on thewheel before making its escape from the cylinder or casing.
For this purpose the steam is caused to act upon a wheel provided with floats
which are by preference set at an angle to the periphery of tlie wheel. The

page_text: steam or other motive agent is supplied to the cylinder or casing through a
pipe situate at the side and enters the spaces between the floats and acts upon
them and passes into a steam chamber at the other side of the cylinder or
casing, from whence it again passes between and acts upon the floats and into
another chamber on the opposite side of the cylinder or casing, and thus the
steam passes in a continuous serpentine direction throughout or across the
whole periphery of the cylinder or casing entering chambers provided alter-
nately at each side of the casing and acting successively upon the floats, thus
imparting to the wheel a steady screw-like motion and causing the steam to
act expansively throughout the whole of its passage to the exit pipe.
A modification of the above-described arrangement by which an analogous
result may be obtained consists in providing the wheel or disc to be driven
with a series of lateral oblique slots or hollow chambers through which the
steam passes in a serpentine direction, as in the float arrangement, and
produces a similar result by acting successively upon the sides of the said slots
or hollow chambers.
SPECIFICATION
in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Henry Edward Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 27th October 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-eighth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the twenty-ninth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Henry Edward Newton, Her special licence that I, the said Henry Edward
Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Henry 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 "In-
PROVEMENTS IN ENGINES FOR OBTAINING ROTARY MOTION BY MEANS OF STEAM, GAB,
OR OTHER FLUIDS," being a communication to me from abroad by Marie Joseph

page_text: Denis Farcot, of the Firm of Farcot and Sons, of St. Ouen (Seine), and
Joseph Perrigault, Merchant, of Nantes, both in the Empire of France, upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Henry 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 per-
formed, 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 Henry Edward Newton, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularlydescribed and ascertained in and by the following
statement, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to
the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say) :-
This Invention relates to improvements in apparatus for obtaining a con-
tinuous rotary motion by the direct action of steam, gas, or other elastic fluids
on a wheel, the. object being to cause the steam to expend the whole of its
elastic force on thewheel before making its escape from the cylinder or casing.
For this purpose the steam or other motive fluid is caused to act upon a wheel
provided with floats, which are, by preference, set at an angle to the periphery
of the wheel. The steam or other motive agent is supplied to the cylinder or
casing through a pipe situate at the side, and enters the spaces between the
floats and acts upon them and passes into a steam chamber at the other side
of the cylinder or casing, from whence it again passes between and acts upon
the floats and into another chamber in the opposite side of the cylinder or
casing, and thus the steam passes in a continuous serpentine direction
throughout or across the whole periphery of the cylinder or casing, entering
chambers provided alternately at each side of the casing and acting succes-
sively upon the floats, thus imparting to the wheel a steady screw-like motion
and causing the steam to act expansively throughout the whole of its passage
to the exit pipe.
A modification of the above-described arrangement by which an analogous
result may be obtained consists in providing the wheel or disc to be driven
with a series of lateral oblique slots or hollow chambers through which the
steam passes in a serpentine direction, as in the float arrangement, and
produces a similar result by acting successively upon the sides of the said slots
or hollow chambers.
In the accompanying Drawing Figures 1 to 8 inclusive shew in various

page_text: views the Invention applied to a wheel having inclined floats. Figures 1, 2,
3, 4, and 5 represent one arrangement; Fig. 1 being a section in the line
A, B, of Fig. 4; Fig. 2 a plan view of a portion of the shell or casing at the
eduction or escape side of the engine; Fig. 3 is an oblique section taken in
the line C, D, of Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is a section taken in the line x, y, u, v, of
Fig. 1; Fig. 5 is an outside front view of the engine complete. It will be
seen on inspecting these Figures that the motive wheel (which tlie Inventors
call an anti-helicoidal wheel) consists of a ring or crown a of inclined floats
set upon a rotating disc b. The steam coming from the boiler through the
induction pipe c acts upon the floats upon first entering at d, passes thence
into e, and is conducted by the lateral passage into the next chamber d'; the
red arrows and lines indicate in Figures 1 and 5 the successive passage of the
motive fluid into and from the several chambers d, e, d¹, e', d¹¹, ell, and so on
to the eduction pipe f; the black arrows shew the direction of rotation of
the wheel. The lateral passages h, h¹, h¹¹, &c. (shewn by dotted lines in
Fig. 1) are formed by means of inclined partitions g, g', g, in a circular
groove cast upon each of the shells which constitute the casing. It will be
readily understood that the passage of the steam is so arranged that the
chambers between the floats shall be successively filled with a fluid of
decreasing density, and the successive jets of steam shall act behind one
another in order that the motive current acting by successive pressure and
impulsion shall follow the movement of the wheel from the induction pipe c
to the eduction pipe f. A normal expansion of the fluid longitudinally is thus
obtained, the speed of its flow increasing in each section in an inverse ratio to
its decreasing density, the area of the passages remaining the same; by this
means loss of power by lateral expansion is avoided, which has hitherto proved
the great defect in direct-action engines. On referring to Fig. 1, which is a
view of the circumference of the engine developed, it will be understood that
the two pipes c and f will be brought closer together, if we suppose the Figure
to be bent round into its natural form; the space which separates these pipes
will be filled up on one side by the floats and steam chambers, and on the
other in the direction of the shortest distance between these pipes by the
plane parts, the two extremities of which appear in the development, Fig. 1,
near each pipe. This plane portion serves as a guard to prevent the fluid at
a great pressure from passing directly from c to f; the floats between these
two pipes completing this guard. The motive fluid which might escape from
each of the points of the periphery of the wheel a towards the centre is
retained in the outer ring or crown of the periphery, and confined to its
"

page_text: proper course by means of the grooves i, i¹, i¹¹, &c., Fig. 4. It will in effect
be understood that if the co-efficient of contraction for the quantity entering
each groove be, for example 0.5, there will be with ten grooves a total
co-efficient of 0.51° at least, so that the extent of the escape will be reduced to
the extent desired without any special packing; any known arrangement of
packing may, however, be employed. It will be seen on referring to Fig. 3,
which is an oblique section through the steam chambers d and e, and their
lateral passage h, that the fluid by reason of the circular section of the groove
in which the lateral passages are made will flow on without shock with a steady
screw-like motion through all the parts of the moveable wheel, and into and
out of all the steam chambers in the casing. I would here remark that the
steam chambers are separated from each other by solid partitions j, j, j", the
breadth of which is at least equal to the projection upon the plane of rotation,
or to the space between the floats, so as to thus constitute a guard preventing
direct communication of the fluid from one chamber to the other, and forcing
it to flow through the lateral passages h, h¹, h¹¹. As each jet acts upon several
floats at once, the guards j, j', j¹¹, will check only a small portion of the total
number of floats, and the shocks which might be produced upon these fixed or
stationary parts will be of no importance as regards the working of the
engine.
A modification of the above-described arrangement is shewn at Figures 6,
7, and 8; Fig. 6.being a section, shewn extended or developed in the
line C, H, I, J, of Fig. 7, which is a segmental side section in the line
K, L, M, N, of Fig. 6; Fig. 8 is a transverse section in the line O, P, of
Fig. 7. The blue arrows in Figures 6 and 7 show the course of the motive
fluid, and the black arrows shew the direction of rotation of the wheel driven.
It will be understood that the principles of construction and arrangement are
essentially the same as those above described, with this difference, that there
are two moveable rings of concentric floats a, a', which allows in certain
cases of greater power being obtained from a single engine. In these
Figures c is the induction pipe; d, d¹, d", the steam chambers on one side,
and e, e, e, those on the other side; h, h¹, h¹¹, are the lateral passages, and
f is the eduction pipe. It will be understood that not only two but several
float wheels may be employed in combination in one engine, the circulation of
the steam through them being effected according to the principles and
arrangements above set forth. In order to reverse the action of the engine
it will only be necessary to reverse the course of the steam or other motive
fluid, for which purpose it is advisable to make the induction and eduction

page_text: pipes of equal diameters, but where the engine is required to be driven in one
direction only the eduction pipe and orifice may be made larger than the
induction, as shewn in the Figures.
Figures 9 and 10 shew an arrangement in which the floats to be acted
upon instead of being inclined are straight or perpendicular to the plane of
rotation. Fig. 9 is a broken developed section taken perpendicularly to the
plane of rotation in the line Q, R, of Fig. 10, which is a transverse section in
the line S, T, of Fig. 9; c is the induction pipe. The red arrows in Fig. 9
shew the course of the motive fluid, and the black arrows shew the direction
of rotation of the wheel actuated. It will be understood, on inspecting these
Figures, that the steam will, as in the former instances, act in a forward
direction without lateral expansion or diffusion. The steam chambers 1, 1,
consist of recesses made in the casing, and serve at the same time as lateral
passages; the straight spaces m, m', m", which separate the chambers serve
as guards between them in the same way as the solid parts j, j', j", in the
arrangements above described. It will be seen that the motive fluid cannot
flow forward without traversing opposite each steam chamber across the
rotating wheel a, and thus at each impulsion exerting a portion of its motive
force upon the wheel. The grooved or fluted guards mentioned in the pre-
ceding arrangements may also be applied in this case. This arrangement is
more simple in construction than those above described, but the motive fluid
is worked in it at a greater speed and is more liable to shocks than in the
wheels with oblique floats, and it will only be shewn by experience which is
the most advantageous arrangement, and this will of course depend upon the
circumstances under which the engines are to be employed.
Figures 11, 12, and 13 represent another modification in which motion is
imparted to the wheel by the simple passage of the steam through successive
grooves or recesses made in the periphery of the wheel and in its casing.
Fig. 11 is a sectional developed view of this arrangement in the line A, B, C,
of Fig. 12, which is a section in the line G, H, of Fig. 11; Fig. 13 is a
transverse section in the line D, E, of Fig. 11. It will be seen on inspecting
these Figures that the recesses in the casing q and wheel p are oblique to the
axis and cross each other, but they might be straight or set at any other angle.
The red arrows shew the course of the motive fluid, and the black arrows
shew the direction of rotation of the wheel. The system of "guard" is in
this arrangement less satisfactory than in the preceding arrangements, and it
might be feared that there would be less power; its construction is, however,
more simple.

page_text: In Figures 14 and 15 an arrangement is represented in which the wheel is
formed with steam chambers provided with eduction orifices made in the
moveable partitions; this is a modification of the same system of engine
acting on the principle of successive impulsions and longitudinal cut-off; it
might however present the disadvantage of allowing injurious reactions which
would neutralize a portion of the motive force.
At Figures 16 and 17 another arrangement of motive wheel is represented,
which consists in supporting the moveable motive ring upon three or four
friction rollers s, s¹, s", according to its dimensions, and in transmitting the
rotary motion to a wheel t, the teeth of which may be on the Minotto system
or of any other form, the shaft of this second wheel serving to transmit
motion to any machinery to be driven. One of the rollers s, s¹, s¹¹, might
also be arranged in such manner that the circumference of such roller shall
take into the inner circumference of the ring r, and thus transmit the driving
power direct from its shaft.
Figures 18, 19, and 20 shew another modification in which the floats to be
acted upon by the motive fluid consist simply of a series of consecutive
pallets mounted upon a moveable disc r made of iron or other substance,
and moving in a channel or annular space around the disc x, and which
channel shall be much larger in sectional area in every way than the pallets.
The fluid on passing from one pallet to the other will, without the employment
of lateral passages, act by a series of impulsions upon the floats acting by.
pressure upon the anterior faces of each float.
Fig. 21 represents an arrangement of packing which consists in disposing
two hollow elastic rings y, y¹, of brass or other suitable substance near the
floats of the movable disc, and on each side of that disc, so as to form a lateral
packing to prevent the steam which acts upon the floats from circulating
between the solid disc and the plate which covers it. In order to bring this
packing into action pressure must be exerted inside these rings (which must
be regulated in any suitable manner), such as the pressure of steam or com-
pressed fluid, which is to be introduced through an equilibrium valve similar
to those employed with steam hammers; the rings are in this case provided
at their lower parts with a blow-off cock for the escape of the air which they
contain. The rings will under the action of the pressure expand transversely
and exert a lateral effort on the disc and its casing, and thus form a tight
packing. It will be understood that the pressures exerted upon the disc and
its casing will vary according to the tension of the steam or of the spring of
the equilibrium valve, and 'that therefore it will be easy to regulate them so

page_text: as to obtain a tight joint almost without friction or considerable resistance by
arresting the pressure at the degree exactly sufficient for preventing the escape
of steam; other means may however be employed for arriving at this result.
In Fig. 21 two arrangements are shown at w and w' which may be
adopted for the introduction of steam into the expanding rings, and which
may be of
any, suitable sectional form; these rings may also be divided
into several compartments communicating with each other, and in which the
pressure of the steam would be variable and regulated in proportion to that
surrounding them. This expanding ring packing in which the pressure may
be regulated at pleasure may be applied to any arrangement of engine either
rotary or reciprocating.
Another kind of packing which may be employed consists in preventing
any lateral escape of steam either by means of metallic or other cloth bent or
folded like the pistons of blowing machines, for example, or by means of
grooves of rectilinear or other form made to cross in any direction, and made
either in the plates of the fixed casing or in the disc itself which produce upon
the fluid a series of successive contractions and expansions, and thus prevent
the escape of the steam.
Having now described the nature of this Invention, and explained the
manner of carrying the same into effect, as communicated to me by my
foreign correspondents, I desire it to be understood that I do not intend to
confine myself rigidly to the construction and arrangement of parts above
shewn and described, as they may be varied without departing from the nature
and object of the Invention; but that which I claim as new in the above
described improvements is actuating a float wheel, as herein set forth, by a
combination of forces obtained from the passage of steam through the engine,
and which forces consist of successive impulsions acting on the vanes or
floats by the longitudinal expansion of the steam round the periphery of the
wheel and the force obtained by retarding the speed of the steam by means of
a series of compartments into which the steam passes.
I also claim the novel mode of and arrangements of parts herein set forth
for using the steam by longitudinal expansion and with constantly regular
impulsions without lateral expansion.
I further claim the arrangement of wheel or apparatus shewn at Figures 16
and 17 in which the moveable ring is supported by three or more anti-
friction rollers, the motion of the wheel being transmitted to toothed gearing
enclosed in the same casing as the ring or to one of the antifriction rollers
which is provided with a pinion.

page_text: Lastly. I claim the general arrangement and construction of parts herein
et forth for effecting the several objects and producing the desired results.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Edward Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Twenty-seventh day of October, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six.
H. E. NEWTON. (L.S.)