Crane Hot-Air Engine, Patent Model

This model was submitted with the application to the U.S. Patent Office for the Patent no. 46084, issued to Moses G. Crane, of Newtown, Massachusetts, January 31, 1865.

This engine consists of one vertical work cylinder and two pump or air-transfer cylinders connected to two furnaces. In operation two separate quantities of air are used repeatedly. One quantity of air is circulated between one furnace and the upper end of the work cylinder by one of the air pumps, while the other charge of air is supplied from the other furnace to the lower end of the work cylinder. In each case the air is heated in the furnace, transferred to the work cylinder, allowed to expand doing work against the piston, and is then returned to the furnace by the pump, to be reheated. The pump pistons and valves are actuated by slotted bell cranks on the ends of the engine crankshaft.

Reference:

This description comes from the 1939 Catalog of the Mechanical Collections of the Division of Engineering United States Museum Bulletin 173 by Frank A. Taylor.

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