IM- PROVEMENTS IN STEAM ENGINES CHIEFLY DESIGNED FOR CRANES, HOISTS, AND ELEVATORS
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Raphael Herring, of Frederick Place, Bow, in
the County of Middlesex, Engineer, for the Invention of " IM-
PROVEMENTS IN STEAM ENGINES CHIEFLY DESIGNED FOR CRANES, HOISTS, AND
ELEVATORS."
Sealed the 7th July 1874, and dated the 9th May 1874.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Raphael Herring at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 9th May 1874.
I, RAPHAEL HERRING, of Frederick Place, Bow, in the County of
Middlesex, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM ENGINES CHIEFLY DESIGNED FOR CRANES, HOISTS,
AND ELEVATORS," to be as follows :—
My Invention relates to improvements in steam engines of that class
which is used for operating steam cranes, hoists, elevators, and the like,.
and for similar purposes; and the said Invention is designed to diminish
the cost and to simplify the construction and operation of the said.
engines to render them more convenient for the above purposes, and to

page_text: adapt them for other purposes, such as the driving of sewing machines,
and other small or light machinery. The said improvements are
applicable only to those engines known as oscillating engines, that is to
say, those engines whose cylinders are supported and oscillate or vibrate
upon trunnions through which the steam passes as it enters and leaves
the cylinder; and the said improvements consist in the peculiar con-
struction of a stop-cock, whereby the admission and exhaust of the
steam are regulated, and in the combination of the said stop-cock with
the cylinders and trunnions of a steam engine.
The aforesaid stop-cock is constructed as follows:-It has a barrel or
case, which may be either cylindrical or conical, and which may be of
brass or other suitable metal. This barrel has one aperture for the
steam and another for the exhaust, and it also has two side apertures on
opposite sides, which are connected by pipes with the two trunnions of
the engine cylinder. The steam inlet aperture is between these two
side apertures, and the exhaust aperture is at the bottom or one end of
the stop-cock. The plug of the said stop-cock must be well fitted in the
barrel, and projects from the same, and is provided with a handle or
lever at the end opposite that in which the exhaust aperture is formed.
The said plug has one hole cast or bored through it, and another hole
cast or bored at a right angle, and which meets and enters the first hole
at the centre of the same, but does not extend beyond it or through the
other side of the plug. These three holes occupy the same plane as the
aforesaid steam supply and side apertures in the barrel, so that by
turning the said plug the holes therein can be brought opposite to either
of the said apertures in the barrel. Opposite this central hole is another
hole which has no communication with the above holes or passages, but
opens into a longitudinal hole which extends down to the exhaust aper-
ture of the barrel.
The trunnions, which form conical plugs with ports, and require no
packing, admit and exhaust the steam at the two ends of the cylinder as
the same oscillates. The two trunnions are constructed to distribute
the steam to drive the engine in either direction, according as either
trunnion is placed in communication with the steam supply or the
exhaust pipes.
E
By turning or adjusting the stop-cock plug I can bring either trunnion
into communication with the boiler, and the opposite trunnion into com-
munication with the exhaust pipe, and can instantaneously reverse the

page_text: direction of the engine's motion. Or I can set the said plug so that both
sides of the piston will will be in communication with the boiler while
the exhaust is closed, so as to hold the pistons in equilibrium. Therefore
the crane, hoist, or elevator will be completely under the control of the
driver, who can raise a load, check it, or hold it suspended for any
length of time, or lower it at pleasure by simply adjusting the said
plug.
It will be seen from the above description that by my Invention I
dispense with the brakes, which are indispensable with ordinary engines
for steam cranes; and moreover my improved engine has no slide valves.
or excentrics, or any of the complicated mechanism required in con-
nection with the same for reversing the engine.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Raphael Herring in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 7th November 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, RAPHAEL
HERRING, of Frederick Place, Bow, in the County of Middlesex,
Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Ninth day of May, in the year of
our Lord One thousand cight hundred and seventy-four, in the thirty-
seventh year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Raphael Herring, Her special licence
that I, the said Raphael Herring, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Raphael Herring, 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 " IMPROVEMENTS IN
STEAM ENGINES CHIEFLY DESIGNED FOR CRANES, HOISTS, AND ELEVATORS,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Raphael
Herring, my exccutors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should

page_text: .
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 Raphael Herring, 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, reference being had to the accompanying Drawing
forming a part of this Specification :-
My Invention relates to improvements in steam engines of that class
which is commonly used for operating steam cranes, hoists, elevators;
railway brakes, steering gear, and the like, and for similar purposes;
and the said Invention is designed to diminish the cost and to simplify
the construction and operation of the said engines to render them more
convenient for the above purposes, and to adapt them for other purposes,
such as the driving of sewing machines, and other small or light
machinery. The said improvements are applicable only to those engines
known as oscillating engines, that is to say, those engines whose
cylinders are supported and oscillate or vibrate upon trunnions through
which the steam passes as it enters and leaves the cylinder. The said
improvements consist in the peculiar construction of a stop-cock,
whereby the admission and exhaust of the steam are regulated, and in
the combination of the said stop-cock with the cylinder and trunnions of
an oscillating engine.

page_text: apertures d, e, on opposite sides, which are connected by pipes f, g, with
the trunnions h, i, of the engine cylinders j. The steam inlet aperture
is between these two side apertures, and the exhaust aperture is at the
bottom or one end of the stop-cock. The plug % of the said stop-cock;
which must be well fitted in the barrel a, projects from the same, and is
provided with a handle or lever at the end opposite that in which the
exhaust aperture is formed. The said plug has one hole m cast or bored
through it, and another holen cast or bored at a right angle to the
hole m, and which meets and enters the said hole at the centre of the
same, but does not extend beyond it or through the other side of the
plug. These three holes occupy the same plane as the aforesaid steam
supply and side apertures in the barrel a, so that by turning the plug
either of the said holes therein can be brought opposite to either of the
apertures in the barrel. Opposite the central hole n is another hole o,
which has no communication with the above holes or passages, buț
opens into a passage or aperture p, which extends down to the exhaust
aperture c in the barrel a; or these holes or passages may be modified
as shewn in Figures 5 and 6, in which ¹ is the supply passage and k²
the exhaust passage through the plug k.
The trunnions are. conical plugs formed with suitable ports for
admitting and exhausting the steam at the two ends of the cylinder as
the same oscillates. The said plugs require no packing to keep them
steam-tight. The two trunnions of cach cylinder have their ports so
arranged that when one of the said trunnions is in communication with
the steam supply the engine will be driven in one direction, and when
the other trunnion is in communication with the steam supply the
engine will go in the opposite direction.
By turning or adjusting the stop-cock plug I can bring either trunnion
into communication with the boiler and the opposite trunnion into com-
munication with the exhaust pipe, and can instantaneously reverse the
direction of the engine's motion. Or I can set the said plug so that both
sides of the piston will be in communication with the boiler while the
exhaust is closed, and thereby hold the pistons in equilibrium. Therefore
the crane, hoist, or elevator will be completely under the control of the
5 driver, who can raise a load, check it, or hold it suspended for any length
of time, or lower it at pleasure by simply adjusting the said plug, as
above described.