AN IMPROVED METHOD OF SUPPORTING DIAGONAL CONDENSING AND OTHER STEAM ENGINES
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William McNaught, of Manchester, in the County of
Lancaster, Engineer, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED METHOD OF
SUPPORTING DIAGONAL CONDENSING AND OTHER STEAM ENGINES."
Sealed the 20th December 1861, and dated the 27th June 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William M Naught at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 27th
June 1861.
I, WILLIAM MCNAUGHT, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED
METHOD OF SUPPORTING DIAGONAL CONDENSING AND OTHER STEAM ENGINES," to be
as follows:-
My Invention relates particularly to a certain description of direct-acting
steam engines, being principally applicable to "diagonal" condensing engines
with either one, two, or more cylinders, and consists in such an arrangement
of framing that I am enabled to dispense with all the usual stone foundations,
the stability of the engines depending upon the "side walls" of the engine
house. I attach, by bolts or other convenient means, the framing of the
engine to the "side walls," and also provide transverse beams extending from
each "side wall" to assist in supporting or carrying the engines; such beams
may be of iron or of other material, as desired, so long as the principle of my
Invention be maintained, and that the firmness of the engines depend chiefly
upon the "side walls" of the engine house instead of the ordinary expensive

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William McNaught in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
27th December 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
MCNAUGHT, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fifth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said William McNaught, Her special license that I, the said William
McNaught, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said William McNaught, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at
any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times
thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make,
use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "AN IMPROVED
METHOD OF SUPPORTING DIAGONAL CONDENSING' AND OTHER STEAM ENGINES," upon
the condition, amongst others, that I, the said William McNaught, by an
instrument in writing under my hand and seal, should particularly describe and
ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was
to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office
within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William McNaught, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement and accompanying Drawings (that is to say):-
My Invention relates particularly to a certain description of direct acting
steam engines, being principally applicable to "diagonal" condensing engines
with either one, two, or more cylinders, and consists in such an arrangement
of framing that I am enabled to dispense with all the usual stone foundations,
the stability of the engines depending upon the "side walls" of the engine
house. I attach, by bolts or other convenient means, the framing of the

page_text: engine to the "side walls," and also provide transverse beams extending from
each "side wall" to assist in supporting or carrying the engines; such beams
may be of iron or other material, as desired, so long as the principle of my
Invention be maintained, and that the firmness of the engines depend chiefly
upon the "side walls" of the engine house instead of the ordinary expensive
and inconvenient stone foundations. The air pump and also the condenser
may be supported or suspended from the said cross beams.
In order that the Invention may be better understood and explained, I have
hereunto annexed a Sheet of Drawings made upon a scale of about three-
eights of an inch to the foot, and having similar letters of reference marked
thereupon..
Fig. 1 is a side elevation illustrating my improvements in supporting steam
engines; Fig. 2 represents a plan view of the same; and Fig. 3 represents an
end elevation. The framing is constructed and consists in two principal
pieces a and b, with two vertical stays f, f, bolted or otherwise joined together
at c; this framing is secured to transverse beams d, d, d, d, which are securely
fixed in the side walls of the engine house; and also fitted and bolted thereto.
The tie beams e, c, e, are provided to secure the transverse beams; these
beams may be formed in one piece and fixed above or below the transverse
beams, or a strong plate may be used instead of the tie beams. Although
four transverse beams are shewn, a less or greater number, as may be con-
sidered requisite, may be used. The vertical stays f, f, should be double, and
joined with diagonal braces, and secured to the framing and side wall to give
greater stability. These stays may be used as fixings for the guides of a third
cylinder, or for the air pump, if worked direct from the crank pin. Although
two vertical stays are shewn and described, a single central one may be used,
to which the two principal pieces a and c are to be bolted. The air pump 9 is
fixed to the two centre transverse beams, and may be either single or double-
acting; in this case it is represented as single-acting, and motion is communi-
cated by an eccentric on the crank shaft, but it may, if preferred, be worked
direct from the crank pin. Or, in the event of running at very high speed,
two or more smaller air pumps may be used, so as to mitigate and divide the
shock, and these may be worked by an eccentric or eccentrics or any other
means. The engine is here represented as a single expansion engine with two
cylinders placed diagonally, such being generally preferred, and fitted with
superimposed "cut-off" slide valves. The "cut-off" valves are actuated by a
separate eccentric, and each eccentric actuating two valves, and may be made
to actuate so many valves as there are cylinders to the engines; but the engine
may be made to work on the compound principle by allowing one or more

page_text: cylinders to pass their steam to the other cylinder or any number of cylinders,
and from thence into the condenser. It may be found necessary to arrange
the engine so that the crank shaft would be below the cylinders, and Fig. 4
represents the engine with two cylinder so constructed. Two transverse
beams h, h, are securely fixed in the side walls of the engine house, and to
them is secured a cross beam i, for carrying the crank shaft pedestal; or, if
preferred, the beams may be cast in one piece. To these beams the diagonal
framing is fixed, and is also secured to the side wall; the cylinders are also
fixed to the frames, and are fastened to the side walls of the engine house;
and if greater stability be required, upper cross beams may be used. The air
pump is here represented (as in the former engine) worked by an eccentric,
but may, if required, be worked from the crank pin; and although two cylin-
ders are here shewn working expansively with one valve on the back of the
other, the engine may be arranged, as shewn in Figs. 1, 2, and 3 for any
convenient number of cylinders, and also to work on the "compound" prin-
ciple. The engines will generally have a short stroke and run at a high speed,
so that they will occupy little room, require little or no gearing to attain the
speed, and ensure an uniform steady action; and the stone foundation being
dispensed with, all the parts are more easy of access than in ordinary engines.
These arrangements are also suitable for high-pressure engines, and for engines
having oscillating cylinders, as in marine engines..
Having now described the nature of the said Invention, together with the
method of carrying the same into practical effect, I would remark, in con-
clusion, that I claim the novel and improved method of supporting diagonal
condensing and other steam engines by means of a suitably-constructed framing,
depending upon the walls of the engine house for such support, in contra-
distinction to employing massive foundations upon the ground as hitherto,
as herein-before described, set forth, and fully illustrated in the annexed
Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said William McNaught, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twentieth day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
W. MCNAUGHT. (L.S.)