The invention consists in the application of the ascensional force of air or gases developed under water to the generation of motive power, and in the combination of apparatus, by means of which the power thus produced is accumulated, transmitted and applied. The principal element of this combination is a wheel or disc (shown in plan and section, Figs. 1, 2), the dimensions of which are proportioned to the power required. On the circumference of this wheel are fixed at equal distances a given number (say sixteen) of flexible air reservoirs a, communicating with an equal number of tubular passages b, which open in the nave c. In the length of the fixed shaft d, on which this wheel is mounted, are formed two cylindrical cells E by which the air is admitted to and discharged from the flexible reservoirs a by the tubular passages b, with which they correspond. The hydro-atmospheric wheel thus mounted and immersed to the required depth in a suitable reservoir as in f, is placed in communication by its hollow shaft with an air-compressing apparatus of any convenient form, which in its turn is connected with the shaft of an ordinary hydraulic wheel. The latter being set in motion acts on the forcing apparatus, by which a jet of compressed air is thrown into the hollow shaft of the hydro-atmospheric wheel by the entry cell corresponding with the orifices of the fourth quadrant or lowest immersed section of the latter. The air injected following the tubular passages within its range enters and inflates the corresponding flexible reservoirs, which thus acquiring an ascensional force proportioned to their displacing capacity and degree of immersion, carry forward the wheel in their movement towards the surface. On reaching the water line the tubular passage come into communication by the nave orifices with the discharge cell of the fixed shaft, and give egress to the air compressed in the flexible reservoirs, which collapse simultaneously with the inflation of the succeeding series by which they have in the meantime been replaced in the fourth quadrant. The latter following the ascensional movement of their predecessors give place to a third series, and collapse in the same way on passing the surface, so that each air reservoir on re-entering the water in the continued revolution of the wheel presents comparatively little resistance until it arrives at the turning point, when the communication with the entry cell of the axle being again established the movements above described are reproduced. The force thus developed by the hydro-atmospheric wheel, which represents about three times that of the prime motor, may be at this stage applied to the required transmissions of movement. When natural watercourses are not to be had within a reasonable distance of the locality in which the force is to be applied, it becomes necessary to replace them by an artificial fall.
Von Rathen and Ellis's Device
In 1866 Anthony Bernhard Baron Von Rathen and George Henry Ellis, both of London, applied for and obtained British patent on
"A New or Improved Mode of Constructing a Motive-power Wheel Whereby to Obtain Permanent Motion by the Application of Compressed Air or any other Elastic Fluid."
In the specifications for patent the essentials of their invention are described as follows:
This invention may be considered supplementary to an invention of the Baron Von Rathen of an elementary motive-power engine, for which a patent has been granted to him, No. 818, and dated March 23, 1865, and consisting in a newly-discovered plan for the construction of a motive-power wheel or engine, on the principle that the motor, consisting of compressed air or other elastic fluid, is maintained in permanent activity and without removal or renewal, and the useful resistance of the air in the chambers is on the surface of a fixed cylinder, the motion is regular and direct, the wheel rotating on its fixed central axis.
The nature of our present invention consists principally in our providing, instead of that a motive-power wheel having its axis upon fixed bearings in an eccentric position and turning in an oscillating cylinder. The motor being brought through a hollow shaft, or any convenient channel, is introduced into one or more closed chambers formed upon the longest arm of the power wheel for the purpose of driving it round; by this means, according to the uniform pressure of the elastic fluid upon all surfaces, we obtain not only a continuous but an additional degree of driving power from the leverage given by the position of the wheel. There is, as shown in Fig. 1 of the accompanying drawing, a fixed arm or driving rod fixed upon the cylinder by which to impart motion to a crank, piston, or other apparatus. We propose to obtain the motor by pumps worked by or in connection with the power wheel, and having other suitable and necessary appliances for regulating, storing, transmitting, and manipulating the force supplied to or communicated by the power wheel, as have been described, to be applied with the plan for working the elementary motive-power engine hereinbefore referred to.
Fig. 1 is a vertical section of the power wheel revolving inside and moving the oscillating cylinder.
A¹ and A² are air-tight chambers, the former being the driving chamber and the latter intended to check or counterbalance its wedging or binding effect upon the cylinder, owing to the extra leverage obtained and the pressure upon the surface of the rod B, the wheel will revolve in that direction by the action of the elastic force which finds its useful resistance on the internal surface of the cylinder C. D¹, D², D³, D⁴, are packings to render the two chambers air-tight and to afford bearings for the four arms of the wheel upon the cylinder; E, E, are two tubes for conducting the motor into the chambers, and F is the axle, upon which the wheel is firmly fixed and driven round with it.
Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the power wheel. F is the hollow shaft or axle through which the motor passes from the pumps or reservoir in connection therewith, and upon which the wheel rotates; G is the rod or arm fixed at one end to the cylinder C, and attached at the other end by a joint or coupling H to the rod I, acting within a cylinder to give motion to the piston K; L is one of the side covers of the power wheel, and N the support or framework for the wheel.
Richard Varley's Device
In 1797 Richard Varley, of Damside, Lancashire, England, a merchant, applied for and obtained a British patent on
"A New Perpetual Moving Power."