IMPROVEMENTS, IN STEAM, HAMMERS
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Watson Hewitson and Benjamin Walker,
of Leeds, Civil Engineers, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS, IN STEAM,
HAMMERS."
Sealed the 30th March 1860, and dated the 18th January 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Watson Hewitson'
and Benjamin Walker at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,
with their Petition, on the 18th January 1860.
We, WILLIAM WATSON HEWITSON and BENJAMIN WALKER, of Leeds, Civil
Engineers, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for:" IMPROVEMENTS
IN STEAM HAMMERS," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in steam hammers. For
these purposes a lever is applied, in such manner that one end thereof, is
attached to or near, the hammer, so that that end of the lever moves to and fro
with the hammer, and by its other end the lever through the intervention of.
tappets, levers, rods, or other suitable gearing, gives motion. to the valve...

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Watson Hewitson and Benjamin Walker in the
Great Seal Patent Office on the 18th July 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, WILLIAM
WATSON HEWITSON and BENJAMIN WALKER, of Leeds, Civil Engineers, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eighteenth day of January, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-third year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the
said William Watson Hewitson and Benjamin Walker, Her special licence
that we, the said William Watson Hewitson and Benjamin Walker, our
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said William
Watson Hewitson and Benjamin Walker, our 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 Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN' STEAM HAMMERS," upon the condition (amongst
others) that we, the said William Watson Hewitson and Benjamin Walker,
our executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under our, or
their hands and seals, or under the hand and seal of one of us or them, 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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said William Watson Hewitson and
Benjamin Walker, 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 thereof, that is to say :-
This Invention has for its object improvements in steam hammers. For
these purposes a lever is applied in such manner that one end thereof is
attached to or near the hammer, so that 'that end of the lever moves to and
fro with the hammer, and by its other end the lever through the intervention
of tappets, levers, rods, or other suitable gearing gives motion to the valve.
In order that the said Invention may be fully understood, we will now
proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for this purpose will refer
to the several Figures on the Sheets of Drawings hereunto annexed, the same

page_text: letters of reference indicating corresponding parts throughout all the corre-
sponding Figures.
Figure 1, Sheet 1, represents a front elevation of a steam hammér
with our improvement attached, and arranged in the manner we prefer in
such a hammer; Figure 2 shews'a corresponding side elevation, and Figure 8
a plan, or rather a bird's eye view, of the same.
In Sheet No. 2, the Invention we claim is shewn enlarged, and in combi-
nation with the apparatus we prefer in this hammer for regulating the force
and speed of the blow. Figure 1 and Figure 2 shew an elevation and plan
of the apparatus, part of which is in section, to enable us the more clearly to
describe its action, and the mode by which the hammer can be immediately
adjusted to any kind of work, whether heavy or light; also shewing the
manner in which we propose to connect the lever or bell crank (which we
claim) with the hammer or piston rod, and the valve or valves.".
'
In Figure 1, Sheet No. 2, the levers marked a, a', are forged solid, or made
in one piece with the boss marked a", and which is made to move freely on
the stud or pin b; this stud or pin being firmly fixed in the boss c (cast on
and forming part of the cast-iron framework or standard for the hammer) by
means of the collar b' (against which the lever or bell crank a, a¹; works)
and the nut 6", which serves to draw up and firmly to secure the pin or stud
to the cast-iron-framework. This short lever a' of the bell crank a, a', is made
with a solid pin a, on which there is a loose collar a secured in its place
by a washer and pin, or cotter. The long end of the lever or bell crank
marked a is for a few inches at the end turned cylindrical, this part being
intended to fit and work easily through a hole bored through the centre and
at right angles to the axis of the short cylinder or guide collar marked da
The lower part of piston rod or hammer face marked e, e, has a projecting
piece f, part of the centre, of which is bored out to receive the guide collar d
which is made to work easily in the same plane as the end of the lever a, the
guide. collar being kept in its place by the sufficient breadth of the projecting
piecef and by the cap and screw studs marked g. It will be obvious that
the bell-crank lever a, a, working on the pin or stud b, and attached. to the
hammer or piston rod as above described, is quite free to move with it
upwards or downwards whatever may be the range of the stroke, less or more:
The other part of the apparatus consists of the levers h, h³, fixed to the
gudgeon j; and moving on that centre, the end of the lever ! being coupled to
the valve rod i, and the lever.h having suspended from it, at about the middle
of its length, the two cam quadrants 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, and m, m; m, m, m', m',
by the spur or suspending link . The suspending link has a collar m³, m².
•

page_text: .
•
-on each side, on which the quadrants I, l, m, m, are placed back to back, and
on which they are made to move easily. Through the centre of this collar or
boss an elongated hole is made having its longest diameter vertical, and its
shortest diameter to fit and work easily upwards and downwards on the boss'al
of the bell crank lever a, q'. The upper part of the quadrant m, m, has a
projecting spur m", by which it is coupled through the link n to the long
-cylindrical sliding nut o, o, this nut being free to move in and out in the socket
'marked P. P.
but prevented from turning therein by the key or stop marked q.
In like manner the quadrant 7, 7, has a projecting spur 7", which is solid
with it, and is coupled by the link r to the long cylindrical sliding nut s; s,
which is also free to move in and out in the socket t, t, but prevented from
turning therein by the key or stop u. The lower part of each cam quadrant
has a curved slot cut in it (through its whole thickness) and in which the
collar a turning on the pin all of the lever or bell crank a, a¹, is made to
work easily from end to end. In the quadrant 1, 2, that half of the curved slot
nearest to the hammer face is made wider than the other end, which has along
its upper face a cam or projection, reducing the size of the slot at that end, so
that the collar a¹, whilst it can move easily, still fits that part of the slot
exactly; the other quadrant m, m, has also a curved slot cut in it, but the
widest part is at the opposite end to the quadrant 1, 1, and the cam being
also opposite and projecting from the under face of the slot instead, of the
upper, in which part the collar a" is also intended to work easily and
exactly. The stop m¹ is required so that the two quadrants may not be
brought any closer together than is shown in Figure 1, Sheet No. 2, otherwise
the compound slot might become gagged, and so prevent the easy working
of the collar a".
Figure 4, Sheet No. 1, shews another mode of connecting the lever which
we claim as our Invention with the hammer or piston rod by means of an
open end working on a fixed stud with a collar.
Figure 5, Sheet No. 1, shews the lever reversed, being worked from a
fixed point on the hammer or piston rod, and by its movement upwards
and downwards giving motion to the valve or valves by a modification of
the arrangement herein-before described, or by other combinations of apparatus
sufficient to effect the purpose intended.
To explain the action of the hammer and the manner of handling it, we
must suppose that the piston is just at half-stroke with the valve or valves
closing both the steam and exhaust ports; whilst in this position if we turn
the hand wheel x over from left to right we must by means of the nuts, s,
and the link r draw the cam quadránt 1, 7, away from the collar al, this will

page_text: allow the cam quadrants to fall, which will raise the valve or valves and so
exhaust the steam from below the piston, and allow the hammer to descend
until the bell crank a, a, carrying the collar a" again comes in contact with
the cam on the upper edge of the quadrant when the position of the valves
will be immediately altered, and the action of the steam reversed by admitting
steam below the piston and liberating steam or vapour from the top; the
hammer will now continue to rise by the force of the steam until the collar a¹
on the bell crank a, a¹, comes into contact with the cam or projection on the
lower edge of the cam quadrant m, m, when the action will be again reversed,
and so continue in motion until an alteration is made in the adjustment. If
a short quick stroke near the face of the anvil be required then it will be
necessary to turn the hand wheel x over from left to right, and the hand wheel
w over from right to left, so drawing both the quadrants (together) away from
the piston rod; for a short quick stroke, with any thing very bulky on the anvil,
both quadrants should be moved together, but in an opposite direction to the
above, or nearer to the piston rod; when a longer stroke is required then the
quadrants must be moved in opposite directions with respect to each other,
and the further they are apart, that is, the further the collar a" on the bell
crank a, a, can travel without coming into contact with the cam on either
quadrant the longer will be the stroke.
In witness whereof, we, the said William Watson Hewitson and Benjamin
Walker, have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Seventeenth day
of July, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty.
Witness to both Signatures,
THOMAS WATSON.
WILLIAM WATSON HEWITSON. (L.s.)
BENJAMIN WALKER.
(LS.)