Improvements in Rotary Engines.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 28th Jan., 1897-Accepted, 10th Apr.,
1897
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Rotary Engines.
We, JAMES ANDREW GOODNER, JAMES MONROE CHRITTON, HARRY WILLIAM
GOODNER, and JOHN RUPERT GOODNER, all of Mosca, in the County of Costilla,.
and State of Colorado United States of America, Gentlemen, do bereby 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 rotary engines and has for its object the provision of an
engine which can be used as either a rotary pump or engine and which will be simple
in construction and operation, compact in the arrangement of parts, comprise a
minimum amount of material consistent with strength, durability and capacity, and
which will run smoothly and be capable of attaining a high rate of speed and be free
from back-lash, since the exhaust port is opened in advance of the turning of the
throttle for the admission of live steam or other motive medium to the engine for
driving the same.
For a full understanding of the merits and advantages of the invention reference is
to be had to the accompanying drawings and the following description.
The improvement is susceptible of various changes in the form, proportion and the
minor details of construction without departing from the principle or sacrificing any
of the advantages thereof, and to a full disclosure of the invention an adaptation
thereof is shown in the accompanying drawings, in which:
Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a rotary engine constructed in accordance with the
principles of this invention for attaining the objects thereof.
Fig. 2 is a vertical central transverse section thereof.
Fig. 3 is a vertical section on the line X-X of Fig. 2, looking to the left, showing
the parts in a position with the ingress and egress ports closed.
Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3 showing the egress and ingress ports open.
Fig. 5 is a detail view showing more clearly the manner of exhausting the steam
or motive medium.
.
Fig. 6 is a detail view of a strip for packing the valve and a spring for pressing the
strip against the valve so as to maintain a tight joint.
Fig. 7 is a detail view in section of a series of valves and piston-bearing disks
mounted upon common shafts.
Fig. 8 is a detail view of the valve for controlling the admission and exhausting of
the steam.
Corresponding and like parts are referred to in the following description and
indicated in the several views of the accompanying drawings by the same reference
characters.
The casing for enclosing the operating parts is mounted upon a base or platform 1
and is composed of similar parts 2 and 3 which are bolted or otherwise secured
together. These parts 2 and 3 are separable vertically and form halves of the casing,
and are provided in their meeting faces with corresponding recesses which when the
parts are secured together provide the spaces, passages and chambers for the reception
of the valves and piston and for the ingress and egress of the steam, compressed air

page_text: or other motive medium employed for driving the engine. The casing grows smaller-
towards its upper end, and its lower or base portion is formed with an annular
chamber 4 in which operates a piston 5, the latter being attached to a revoluble
disk 6 keyed to a shaft 7 journaled at or near its ends in the parts of the casing.
A rotating valve or abutment 8 is located immediately above the revoluble disk 6 and
intersects with the upper portion of the annular chamber 4 and is formed in its
periphery with a spheroidal-shaped pocket 9 through which sweeps the piston 5 when
the engine is in operation. This valve or abutment 8 is keyed upon a shaft 10
extending parallel with the shaft 7 and journaled in the parts forming the casing.
The comparment 11, in which the rotating valve or abutment 8 is fitted intersects
with the upper portion of the annular chamber 4 and is provided with horizontal
depressions 12 at intervals in its periphery which are adapted to receive packing
strips 13 held closely against the peripheral surface of the abutment 8 by bowed
springs 14 placed within the said depressions 12. By this means a steam-tight joint is
secured between the valve or abutinent 8 and its compartment 11.
The revoluble disk 6 with its piston and the rotary valve or abutment 8 are caused
to rotate in unison by means of intermeshing gears 15 and 16, the former being
secured upon the shaft 7 and the latter upon the shaft 10, thereby bringing the
piston 5 and pocket 9 in opposition so that in the operation of the engine the piston 5
will sweep through the pocket 9 without causing any interference or detracting in
the least from the momentum or power of the motor. A fly-wheel 17 is mounted
upon a projecting end of the shaft 7 to cause the engine to run steadily and smoothly
and to serve as a means for receiving the drive belt by means of which motion or
power is transmitted from the engine to the mechanism or part to be operated
thereby.
.31.
A recess 18 is provided in each part of the casing to one side of the space in which
operates the revoluble disk 6, and the side walls of this recess converge towards their
outer ends, thereby giving to the recess in side elevation an approximately
wedge-shaped form. An abutment 19 is fitted in each recess 18 and is wedge-shaped
in end elevation to conform to the cross-sectional outline of the recess, and is moved
outward by means of a coil spring 20 so as to hold the part 19 in close engagement
with the rotating valve or abutment 8. It will be understood that a recess 18 will be
provided upon each side of the revoluble disk 6 and the recesses align transversely,
thereby bringing the abutments 19 in the same straight line so as to exert an upward
pressure against the lower portion of the rotating valve or abutment 8, whereby
a practically steam-tight joint is maintained between the said part 8 and the annular
chamber 4, it being remembered that the abutments 19 are located opposite the
meeting portions of the parts 6 and 8.
This construction is rendered necessary by reason of the difference in thickness of
the disk and rotating valve, the disk being thinner, and the sum of the length of the
abutments 19 and the thickness of the disk equaling the thickness of the rotating
valve, as shown most clearly in Fig. 2.–
The steam chest 21 is located above the rotating valve or abutment 8 and is circular
in outline, and receives an approximately semi-circular valve 22, by means of which
the steam or motive medium is controlled so as to stop, start or reverse the engine.
Passages 23 connect the steam chest wita the annular chamber 4 and come. upon
opposite sides of the compartment 11. Pipes 24 connect the steam chest with the
compartiment 11 and communicate with the latter about at diametrically opposite
points. There is no communication between the pipes 24 and the passages: 23 and the
latter are used for exhausting the steam or motive medium from the annular chamber 4
and the pipes 24 are designed to convey the live steam or motive medium from the
steam chest into the compartment 11 and from the latter to the annular chamber 4 by
way of the pocket 9 in the rotating valve or abutmen: 8, as shown most clearly
4. A vertical passage 25 connects the compartiment :11 with the steam'
chest 21 and provides means for exhausting the steam from the pocket 9, as indicated
in Fig. 3. The steam or motive medium is supplied to the steam chest by means of
a pipe 26 which communicates with a generator or source from whence the motive
Fig.
+1.
.

page_text: medium is derived. An exhaust pipe 27 communicates with a passage 28 in the
casing and with the steam chest through the said passage 28.
The valve 22 is journaled in the sides comprising the casing and is located in
the steam chest 21, and one or both journals are extended and constructed so as to
receive a handle or other means for operating the valve to start, stop or reverse the
engine as required. A cavity 29 is formed intermediate of the ends of the valve
and communicates with an approximately T-shaped passage 30, which latter is in
communication with the exhaust passage 28. Cavities 31 are provided at each side
of the cavity 29 and are adapted to span and establish communication between either
passage 23 and the passage 25, as indicated in Fig. 4, so that the live steam
confined in the pocket 9 may expand and assist in driving the engine by its
expansive forceė.
It must be borne in mind that the piston and rotating valve or abutment move in
unison and that the porket 9 establishes communication between the compartment 11
and annular chamber 4 during a part of the revolution of each of the parts 8 and 6,
and when this communication is interrupted the piston is driven the remaining
portion of its rotation by the expansion of the steam admitted into the chamber 4.
When the pocket 9 with the live steam confined therein communicates with the
passage 25, the steam so confined will expand and escape into the chamber 4 in the rear
of the piston 5 through the passages 25 and 23 and the cavity 31 connecting the
same, thereby augmenting the force applied for impelling the piston. As shown in
Fig. 4, the steam passes from the steam chest into the right hand pipe 24 and from
thence into the right hand portion of the annular chamber 4. thereby driving the
piston in a clockwise direction, the steam in the rear of the piston exhausting through
the left hand passage 23, cavity 29, passage 30 and exhaust pipe 27 to the point of
discharge. By changing the position of the valve 22 so that the steam will enter the
annular chamber 4 by way of the left hand pipe 24, the engine will be reversed,
that is, the piston and its carrying disk will be rotated in an anti-clockwise
direction.
When it is required to augment the power so that the combined action of the direct
boiler pressure and the expansion of the steam may be utilized, a series of valves or
abutments 8 are mounted upon a shaft 10 and a series of revoluble disks 6 having
pistons 5 are keyed upon a shaft 7, the parts being arranged so that the live
steam is admitted successively into the respective annular chambers 4. Where three
valves and three piston-bearing disks are used, they will be relates so that the
pistons 5 will receive the force of the live steam during a third of the revolution of
the shaft 7, that is, when the first piston has made a third of a revolution the second
piston will receive the steam, and when the second piston has made a third of a
revolution and the first piston two-thirds of a revolution, the third or last piston will
receive the steam. Hence, the direct boiler action is utilized at all times in
conjunction with the expansive action of the steain after the manner of a compound
or multiple engine. It will be understood that any required number of piston-
bearing disks and pistons may be employed and attached to the same shaft. Thus if
six be employed, each will be cut off from the direct action of the stem at one-sixth
of the revolution of the shaft, the steam acting by expansive force during the
remaining five-sixths of the revolution. It four be employed, the direct pressure of
the steam will be cut off from each at one-fourth of the revolution of the shaft and so
on according to the number employed in multiple series.
Having now particularly described and ascertained, the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is :
1. In a rotary engine, the combination of a casing having a steam chest, a
compartment and chamber, and having supply and exhaust passages between the
steam chest and the compartment and chamber, a válve located in the steam chest
and provided with a cavity to establish communication between the exhaust passages

page_text: of the compartment and chamber, a piston operating in the chamber, and a rotating
valve or abutment fitted in the compartment and provided with a pocket to
establish communication between the supply pipe and chamber during a portion
of its revolution and adapted to communicate with the exhaust passage during a
portion of the same revolution and at a time when the supply of live steam to
the chamber is cut off, whereby the live steam confined in the said pocket expands
and assists materially in driving the piston, substantially as set forth.
2. In a rotary engine, the combination of a piston, and a rotary valve or abutment
having a pocket, which latter during a portion of the revolution of the said valve
establishes communication between the steam supply and the chamber in which
operates the piston, and which pocket during a portion of the same revolution of
the valve communicates with a by-passage leading into the aforesaid chamber, whereby
the live steam contained in the said pocket serves to drive the engine by its expansive
force, substantially as set forth.
3. In a rotary engine, the combination of a casing having a compartment and
chamber in which operate, respectively, a rotating valve or abutment and a piston,
the rotating valve having a pocket, and a valve operating in a steam chest for stopping,
starting and reversing the engine, the latter valve being provided with a middle and
side cavities, the middle cavity establishing communication between the exhaust
passage and the exhaust pipe, and a side cavity establishing communication between
an exhaust passage of the said chamber and a similar passage of the compartiment,
whereby the live steam confined in the pocket of the rotating valve can escape to
the aforesaid chamber to assist in driving the piston by expansive force, substantially
as described.
4. In a rotary engine, the combination of a casing provided with a steam chest, a
compartment, and a chamber, the compartiment and chamber intersecting, supply and
exhaust passages between the steam chest, compartment and chamber, a rotating
valve operating in the compartment and having a pocket, a piston operating in the
said chamber, and a valve located in the steam chest for starting, stopping and
reversing the engine, and provided with a middle and side cavities and an approximately
T-shaped passage communicating with the middle cavity and with the exhaust
passages, substantially as shown and described.
5. In a rotary engine, the combination of a casing having a circular compartment
and an annular chamber intersecting and provided with a space midway the sides
of the annular chamber, a rotating valve or abutment located in the compartment
and having a pocket in its periphery, a revoluble disk operating in the said space
and bearing a piston to travel in the annular chamber and sweep through the
pocket of the rotating valve, and spring-actuated abutments located in recesses
upon opposite sides of the aforesaid space and revoluble disk and adapted to bear
against the peripheral surface of the rotating valve, the combined length of
the spring-actuated abutments and the thickness of the revoluble disk equaling
the thickness of the said rotating valve, substantially as shown for the purpose
described.
6. A rotary engine embodying in its organization similar parts or halves having
recesses formed in their meeting faces which when the parts are united provide a
steam chest, a compartment, an annular chamber, and exhaust passages, the latter
establishing communication between the steam chest and annular chamber and
between the steam chest and compartment, a revoluble disk bearing a piston, which
latter is adapted to travel in the said chamber, a rotating valve or abutment
operating in the compartment and provided with a pocket through which is adapted
to sweep the piston, and which pocket is adapted to communicate with the exhaust
passage between the compartment and steam chest and to establish communication
between a supply pipe and the aforesaid chamber, packing strips and abutments to
bear against the periphery of the rotating valve or abutment to secure a steam tight
joint, supply pipes between the steam chest and compartment, means for causing the
rotating valve and revoluble disk to operate in unison, and a valve located in the
steam chest for starting, stopping and reversing the engine, and provided with a middle

page_text: and side cavities, the middle cavity establishing communication between an exhaust
passage and the exhaust pipe, and an end cavity adapted to connect the other exhaust
passage and the exhaust passage between the compartment and steam chest,.
substantially in the manner and for the purpose set forth.
BOULT & WADE,
Agents for the Applicants.