Thomas Newcomen was born in Dartmund, in 1664, February 24th. This man died in London in 1729. We learn from the article what Thomas Newcomen is famous for.
Biography
Not far from Modbury, where Severi put his first experiments, was the port city of Dartmund. A very good locksmith and blacksmith Thomas Newcomen lived in it. Orders for his work came from all local residents. He occupied a small forge located on the edge of the town.
Thomas Newcomen was not a famous scientist, did not publish scientific papers, was not a member of the Royal Club of London. This man did not attract much attention. Therefore, information about his life, his family was not preserved anywhere. But once it turned out that Thomas was a great master who created a steam engine.
BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION
Near Dartmund, quite a few mines were located. Thomas was engaged in blacksmithing, repairing various devices. It is obvious that he was dealing with the invention of Severi. Often Thomas tinkered with pumps installed in mines. They were set in motion by human muscle power. Watching this, the blacksmith decided to improve the mechanism. So there was the famous car of Thomas Newcomen . It is worth saying that he, of course, was not a pioneer in this area. However, Thomas Newcomen and his steam engine gave impetus to the development of industry in those years.
Features of the new mechanism
The steam engine of Thomas Newcomen was created taking into account the achievements of other inventors. As an assistant, the blacksmith took Cowley (a plumber). In his device, Newcomen used rational ideas and best practices made before him. As a basis, the Papen cylinder was taken. However, the steam in the device, providing the raising of the piston, was in a separate boiler, just like in the North.
Mechanism of action
The unit worked as follows. In one boiler there was a constant formation of steam. This tank was equipped with a crane. At a certain point, it opened and steam fell into the cylinders. Due to this, the piston rose up. He, in turn, was connected to the rod from the water pump through a chain and a balancer. She when moving the piston up moved down. The entire cylinder cavity was filled with steam. After that, the second tap manually opened. Through it, cold water fell into the cylinder. Accordingly, the vapor condensed, and a vacuum was created inside the tank. The piston fell under the influence of atmospheric pressure. At the same time, he pulled the balancer chain along with him. The pump rod was moving up. Accordingly, the next portion of water was pumped out. Then the cycle was repeated anew.
Installation difficulties
The machine created by Newcomen functioned intermittently. Accordingly, it could not become a mechanism that launched industrial equipment that required continuous movement. However, this was not the purpose of the inventor. Newcomen wanted to create such a pump with which it would be possible to pump out water from the mines. This is what the inventor managed. The height of the car was approximately equal to a four-five-story building.
In addition, the device was very "gluttonous." Maintenance of the installation was carried out by two people. One constantly threw coal into the boiler. The second was responsible for the taps that let in cold water and steam. Of course, it was a very hard job. Newcomen's car had a capacity of 8 liters. from. Due to this, water could be raised from a depth of up to 80 m. Fuel consumption was 25 kg of coal / hour per 1 liter. from. The inventor began his first experiments in 1705. It took him about ten years to make a properly working device.
Practical use
Newcomen's machine was widely distributed in ore and coal mines in England, Germany and France. The device was used mainly in the mining industry. It was also used in the supply of water pipes in large cities. Due to the fact that the car was very bulky and consumed a lot of fuel, it found application mainly for highly specialized purposes. The inventor failed to make a universal mechanism out of the unit. However, the installation was taken as a basis by Watt, who created a new model of a steam engine.
Interesting fact
Cranes were often opened by children. In Cornwall, Humphrey Potter was working on Newcomen's car. Monotonous activity pushed the boy to the idea of forcing the unit to independently open and close these taps. He took two pieces of wire and connected the handles to the balancer. This was done with a certain calculation. The balancer during the turn after the movement of the piston began to close and open the taps when it was needed. This innovation was called by the name of the boy Potter mechanism.
Conclusion
Newcomen did not receive a patent for his invention. The fact is that such a lift was already registered by Severi in 1698. Accordingly, any possibilities for using the unit have already been assigned to it. But after a while, Severi and Newcomen began to work together on the machine.