3 months late to the party, but maybe can answer the "Why"
John Ericsson was a master of Kinematic motion
He started with hot Air Engine designs as a youngster in Sweden and
moved to England to pedal his designs , but England in 1820-30 era was all " Steam Driven" and so he designed steam,
but his heart was his Caloric engines (hot air)
Linkages came to him like magic and complexity did not deter him from design.
In order to build the USS Monitors engine, I studied his earlier works and he was not dismayed at linkage issues.
The Turret Engine design was not patented as he gave all the designs ( 40 + ) of the Monitor to the USA Gov. as he was proud to be an American
Look at the Reversing Gear for the Monitor --truly a terrific idea using what later was called a "Phase Changing Mechanism"
Never used on any other engine
He was a Kinematic Master
Rich
