SOME BRITISH ROTARY ENGINE PATENTS

DATE	Patent No.	TITLE	NAME	TYPE	VIEW
1899	22,137	Improvements in Rotary steam Engines	Hans Thornmeyer
1901	26,452	An Improved Engine with Rotary Piston	Thomas Kemp
1909	25,388	Improvements in Rotary steam Engines	Robert Keats
1914	18,513	Improvements in Rotary steam Engines	Benson
1923	194,409	Rotary steam engine	Arthur Trotter
1923	200,155	An Improved Rotary steam engine	Alexander Hall
1927	280,267	Rotary steam engine	James Bonham
1959	877,500	A Rotary piston steam engine	Freethy Champion

Mr Champion's design is particularly noteworthy as it uses a nuclear reactor to raise steam!

Be aware that British patents were numbered starting from 1 in each year, up until 1915 when commonsense asserted itself.

SOME CANADIAN ROTARY ENGINE PATENTS

• CA 205577 Morrill Charles L; Shields George
• CA 225993 Morrill Charles L; Shields George
• CA 257143 Hamling Eric Edwin
• CA 274318 Bowman Oliver Sheridan
• CA 307914 Hele-Shaw Henry Selby; Beacham Thomas

SOME USA ROTARY ENGINE PATENTS: AN INCOMPLETE LIST
At the moment I have no idea how many rotary engine US patents there are; the answer seems to be a very large number.
According to Google Patents there are 639 patents between 1700 and 1900 that are found by searching 'rotary steam engine'.

I am thinking that patents after about 1900 are less interesting, because by then the steam turbine was well established, and by any realistic assessment were clearly not going to be displaced by any sort of rotary engine with doors swinging and flaps flapping.

From time to time I add to this list here. Where there is a link it takes you to a description of the engine.

The year given is that of publication date, not the application or filing date.

Patent No.	TITLE	NAME	DATE	TYPE
2,019	Rotary Steam Engine	Cordes & Locke	1841
2,105	Rotary Steam Engine	J Tuttle	1841
2,669	Rotary Steam Engine	Beale	1842
14,778	Rotary Steam Engine	Root	1856
24,388	Rotary Steam Engine	Hardy	1859
29,787	Rotary Engine	Holmes	1860
50,759	Rotary Engine	George Westinghouse	1865
53,915	Rotary Engine	H J Behrens	1866
54,006	Rotary Engine	W J Norton	1866
66,570	Rotary Steam Engine	J Darling	1867
69,383	Rotary Steam Engine	M L Andrew	1867
77,373	Rotary Engine	D D Hardy	1868
107,078	Mills	Francis E. Mills	1870	Reaction turbine
108,412	Mills	W P Vickery	1870
109,878	Mills	William A. Davis	1870
110,350	Improvement in Rotary Steam Engines	George S. Follensbee	1870
116,352	Improvement in Rotary Steam Engines	W Race	1871
122,713	Improvement in Rotary Steam Engines	J B Faucett	1872
205,868	Rotary Steam Engine	Huston & Wickersham	1878
323,038	Rotary Engine	H F Hodges	1885
420,331	Rotary Steam Engine	A F G Brown	1890
453,935	Rotary Steam Engine	Miessner	1891
465,907	Rotary Steam Engine	W N Whipple	1891
478,843	Rotary Engine	A F G Brown	1892
507,780	Rotary Engine, Pump, & Blower	A F G Brown	1893
516,385	Rotary Engine	G H Weston	1894
530,908	Rotary Steam Engine	H Staub	1894
560,760	Rotary Engine	G W Soulé	1896
562,843	Rotary Engine	Morse	1896
579,851	Rotary Engine	Verret & Mooney	1897
594,024	Rotary Engine	G E Woodard	1897
597,793	Rotary steam engine	P B Taylor	1898
606,606	Rotary Engine	J J Unbehend	1898
615,114	Rotary Engine	C G Taylor	1898
625,731	Rotary steam engine	Ames	1899	Turbine
627,832	Rotary steam engine	Tichenor & Williams	1899
628,566	Rotary engine	M Vay	1899
628,960	Rotary steam engine	Parker	1899
630,400	Rotary steam engine	Oldham	1899
630,590	Rotary steam engine	F H Cathcart	1899
630,648	Rotary steam engine	R E Brewer	1899
630,693	Rotary engine	Hays & Depuy	1899
631,169	Rotary steam engine	Lay & Toliver	1899
631,815	Reversible rotary engine	C W Pratt	1899
631,943	Rotary engine	S W Stewart	1899
632,073	Rotary engine	R Toennes	1899
632,549	Rotary engine	J J Callihan	1899
632,816	Rotary engine	Kirby & Crowther	1899
632,928	Rotary steam engine	N W & W P Smith	1899
632,969	Rotary power-engine	J L Piening	1899	German carpenter
633,387	Rotary steam engine	T Nace	1899
633,570	Rotary steam engine	J F Cornish	1899
633,813	Rotary engine	T Croston	1899
634,002	Rotary engine	P Kahellek	1899
634,511	Rotary engine	A Taylor	1899
635,558	Rotary steam engine	F Kreuger	1899	Based on Elm Street
636,829	Rotary engine	C E Miller	1899
637,986	Rotary engine	J H Darragh	1899
638,173	Rotary engine	W L Casaday	1899
638,349	Rotary engine	E H Montgomery	1899
638,520	Rotary engine	H Migge	1899
638,570	Rotary engine	C E Forsyth	1899
638,910	Rotary engine	E P Couture	1899
639,327	Rotary engine	E A Wilcox	1899
639,504	Rotary engine	E Bennett	1899
640,005	Rotary engine	Robinson & Seyller	1900
640,353	Rotary engine	L H Allen	1900
642,104	Rotary engine	S V Essick	1900
642,225	Rotary pressure engine	S A E Hickson	1900
642,785	Rotary engine	J Craig	1900
644,837	Compound rotary engine	A Watkins	1900
645,132	Rotary engine	M J Robinson	1900
645,484	Rotary engine	R G V Mytton	1900
646,057	Rotary engine	W T Mooney	1900
646,160	Compound rotary engine	A Watkins	1900
646,393	Rotary engine	R Smith	1900
646,419	Rotary engine	J P Doran	1900
646,420	Rotary engine	J P Doran	1900	??
647,015	Rotary steam engine	C E Miller	1900
647,172	Rotary steam engine	E J Wood	1900
647,363	Rotary steam engine	Bell & Blake	1900
648,024	Rotary steam engine	V Filteau	1900
649,541	Rotary engine	Flowers, Foy, & Williams	1900
649,772	Rotary engine	Steers & Abercrombie	1900
650,214	Rotary engine	J J Anthony	1900
650,339	Rotary steam engine	L Pederson	1900
651,861	Rotary steam engine	J B Kelly	1900
652,044	Rotary engine	G C Rohde	1900
652,168	Rotary engine	D M Dearing	1900	Beautiful complexity
652,317	Rotary engine	J Knowles	1900
652,440	Rotary engine	R McF Murie	1900
655,175	Compound rotary engine	C E Linton	1900
655,198	Compound rotary engine	G Code	1900
655,201	Compound rotary engine	L A Cooper	1900
657,826	Rotary engine	G E Ledvina	1900
659,007	Rotary engine	O F Tinkham	1900
660,017	Rotary engine	Lambert	1900
663,939	Rotary engine	A L Scudder	1900
668,878	Rotary engine	C C Jensen	1901
674,258	Rotary steam engine	T Croston	1901
675,899	Rotary steam engine	D Morell	1901
680,478	Rotary engine	English & Cooney	1901
680,510	Rotary steam engine	Warren	1901
684,471	Rotary steam engine	Stevens	1901
693,348	Rotary engine	D M Dearing	1902
706,158	Rotary engine	A P Charles	1902
709,773	Rotary engine	O C Jones	1902
710,756	Rotary engine	T S Colbourne	1902
711,083	Rotary steam engine	C H Taylor	1902
714,425	Rotary steam engine	Williams	1902
716,970	Rotary engine	E H Werner	1902
717,461	Rotary engine	G W Soulé	1902
723,436	Rotary steam engine	Bayley	1903
723,656	Rotary steam engine	H T Dunn	1903
726,896	Rotary steam engine	F A Franzen	1903
728,263	Rotary engine	Michigan Engine Co	1903
730,543	Rotary Engine	Margaret E Knight	1903
732,671	Rotary Engine	T M Andrews	1903
735,203	Rotary Engine	H E Bridge	1903
748,348	Rotary Engine	J F Cooley	1903
751,842	Rotary steam engine	Ericson	1904	Turbine
756,904	Rotary steam engine	Stefan	1904
764,013	Rotary steam engine	D F Smith	1904
773,401	Rotary steam-engine	Walter F Leibenguth	1904
791,695	Rotary steam engine	Hudson at al	1905
814,018	Rotary Engine	H E Christie	1906
845,270	Rotary steam engine	Rudolph F Schmidt	1906
855,028	Rotary steam engine	Walker	1907
855,906	Rotary engine	Max Schmidt	1907
861,164	Rotary Engine	L E Cummings	1907
865,964	Rotary Engine	Bleecker	1907
868,841	Rotary engine	H H Calkins	1907
882,360	Rotary engine	S W Vincent	1908
889,439	Rotary steam engine	G H Carter	1908
892,201	Rotary engine	Welsh & Sheck	1908
892,295	Rotary steam engine	G W Nutz	1908
914,627	Rotary engine	J S Alcorn	1909
920,976	Rotary engine	W S Minor 1909
934,830	Rotary steam engine	Paine	1909
935,079	Rotary Engine	W W Wheeler	1909
938,714	Rotary steam engine	Rudolph F Schmidt	1909
991,576	Rotary engine	R S White	1911
998,451	Rotary steam engine	F Beck	1911
1,269,735	Rotary Steam Engine	F H Ogden	1918
1,389,874	Rotary steam engine	A Johnson	1921
1,406,140	Rotary engine	A J Anderson	1922
1,880,131	Rotary engine	Gray	1932	Spherical
2,055,137	Rotary Engine	Elmer W Sherman	1936
2,386,318	Rotary Steam Engine	Oluf F Jensen	1945
2,690,164	Fluid motor	Alois Skok	1954
3,116,666	Rotary engine	Dewey L Scott	1964
3,452,643	Rotary steam engine	Harold A Pratt	1969
3,578,890	Rotary Steam Engine	Oluf F Jensen	1971	Geared rotors
3,737,248	Rotary engine	Erich E Abraham	1973*
3,743,451	Rotary Steam Engine	H R Chapman	1973
3,865,522	Rotary steam engine	A Nardi	1975
3,890,071	Rotary steam engine	William J O'Brien	1975
3,941,527	Rotary engine	Jackson H Allington	1976*
3,988,082	Rotary Steam Engine	Paul Rogers	1976*
3,994,640	Spherical rotary engine	William A Cohen	1976	Spherical
6,565,310	Steam-powered rotary engine	Robert Davidow	2003	Hopeless
6,565,310	Steam-powered rotary engine	Robert Davidow	2003	Hopeless
.
Patent applications:
App 400,136	Rotary steam engine	William J O'Brien	1973
App 350,831	Rotary steam engine	Albert J Granberg	1973
App 888,985	Rotary cam radial steam engine	Michael W Courson	2010

The above lists are a tiny selection taken at random from only two countries; rotary engines were certainly being pursued elsewhere in Europe. The latest US patent I have found was only taken out in 2003. These things just won't go away.

Probably the most intriguing entry here is No 730,543 which was taken out by a woman, Margaret Knight.

INDEX OF INVENTORS

This is an incomplete list of rotary engine inventors; it is only a fraction of those involved in the quest. It does however summarise those currently known to me. Not all these engines celebrated in these pages.

Almond Ames Andrew Arbell-Tihon Bartrum & Powell Bates Bayley Berrenberg Boardman Bonham Borrie Brown Cartright Champion Cochrane (Dundonald) Cooley Coomber Darling Davies Dolgorouki Eve Ericson Filtz

Fletcher Forrester Franchot Galloway Gerard Hall Hardy Hay & Depuy Henry Hodson Holly Holmes Hudson Hult Hyatt Johnson Jones Keats Kemp Knight Lambert McEwan Ross Miessner Norton Paine

Parsons Pillner-Hill Ritter Routledge Ruth Schmidt Simpson & Shipton Smith Soulé Stefan Stevens Stocker Taylor Toennes Tower Trotter Verret & Mooney Vincent Walker Watt Williams . . .