IMPROVEMENTS IN SAFETY VALVES. AND IN APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Naylor, of Queen's Road, Dalston, in the
County of Middlesex, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN SAFETY VALVES. AND IN APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH."
Sealed the 19th January 1864, and dated the 21st July 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Naylor at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
21st July 1868.
I, WILLIAM NAYLOB, of Queen's Road, Dalston, in the County of Mid-
dlesex, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN SAFETY VALVES, AND IN APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH," to
be as follows:-
This Invention relates to certain improvements in safety valves, and con-
sists in the employment of valves (when used with lovers loaded by dead
weights), having the edges of the valve outside the valve seating cupped or
turned downwards, so that the main body of the steam as it escapes from the
boiler being directed downwards, strikes against the bottom of a suitable recess,
or into a chamber round the pipe leading from the boiler to the valve, and
consequently the recoiling action of the steam acts upwards against the under

page_text: -surface of the valve as it issues forth into the atmosphere, and by such recoiling
action of the steam the valve is assisted in opening, so as to counteract the
resistance of the atmosphere to the issuing steam, which resistance is virtually
equal to an extra load on the valve; or the edges of the valves may project
horizontally beyond the valve seat, so that the steam, after leaving the valve
facing, may act under the projection as it rushes into the atmosphere, virtually
acting on a à larger valve surface after leaving the boiler, and before its final
exit into the atmosphere. When using a spring for resisting the valve from
opening, I purpose using a lever of the first order, one end resting by a suit-
able pin upon the safety valve, and the other end of the lever resting upon the
spring. The end resting upon the spring I purpose bending downwards about
45 degrees, so that when the valve is raised by the steam, the other end of
the lever is depressed upon the spring downwards, and at the same time is
moved inwards towards the fulcrum, thus virtually shortening that end of tho
lever, and thereby counteracting the additional load upon the valve as it is
raised from its scat by the greater amount of compression put upon the spring.
In some cases I purpose placing the spring in tension, and acting at right
angles to the valve lifting. In some cases I propose to employ a cylinder
with a piston acting against the spring, resisted by the end of a lever pro-
jecting over from the valve, the compression of this spring will indicate the
pressure of the steam in the boiler, and when the maximum pressure is
attained it will assist in lifting the valve.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Naylor in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
21st January 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
NAYLOR, of Queen's Road, Dalston, in the County of Middlesex, Engineer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-seventh year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said William Naylor, Her special license that I, the said William
Naylor, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, tho
said William Naylor, my executors, administrators, or assigns, should at
any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times

page_text: 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 "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN SAFETY VALVES, AND IN APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Naylor, my
executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my hand and
seal, or under the hand and seal of one of 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 immediately after
the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Naylor, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly describe and ascertained in and by the following
statement, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings, and to the
letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say :-
My said Invention relates to certain improvements in safety valves, and
consists, when using a spring for resisting the valve from opening, in the
employment of a lever of the first order, one end resting by a suitable pin
upon the safety valve, and the other end of the lever resting upon the spring,
the end resting upon the spring being bent downwards to an angle of about
45° from the fulcrum, so that when the valve is raised by the steam the other
end of the lever is depressed upon the spring downwards, and at the same
time is moved inwards towards the fulcrum, thus virtually shortening that end
of the lever, and thereby counteracting the additional load upon the valve as
it is raised from its seat by the greater amount of compression put upon the
spring. In some cases I purpose placing the spring in tension, and causing it
to act at right angles to the valve. I also propose to employ a cylinder with
a piston acting against a spring, resisted by the end of a lever projecting over
from the valve, the compression of this spring will indicate the pressure of the
steam in the boiler, and when the maximum pressure is attained it will assist
in lifting the valvo.
And in order that my said Invention may be fully understood, I shall now
proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose I shall
refer to the several Figures on the Sheets of Drawings hereunto annexed, the
same letters of reference indicating corresponding parts throughout all the
Figures.
Figure 1 on Sheet 1 of my Drawings represents a vertical section of a
safety valve provided with my improved compensating valve lever; Figure 2

page_text: is a sectional plan taken along the line 1, 2, in Figure 1; Figure 8 is n front
elevation of the valve complete; and Figure 4 is an elevation of the opposite
side of the valve to that shown in Figure 3.
A is the main thoroughfare leading direct from the boiler; B is a lateral
branch or escape passage for a portion of the steam after it has passed the
valve C. I prefer to make this valve project over the edges of the exit
passage A, and to curvo the projecting edges of the valve slightly downwards,
as shown in the Drawing (Figure 1), so that the steam on issuing between the
valve and its scat will impinge against the curved projecting portion of the
valve, and a portion of it will be directed downwards into the annular
chamber D surrounding the central passage A, which chamber D communi-
cates at once with the branch exit pipe B, whilst the other portion of the
steam ascends past the edges of tho valve. By this means I am enabled to
avail myself of the recoil action of the steam against the valve for the purpose
of facilitating the further lifting of such valve when once opened, but I wish it
to be understood that I lay no claim to such recoil action, nor to the extension
of the valve laterally beyond its seat. E is my improved valve lever, it works
on a fulcrum at F, and is made to hold down the valve at one end through
the rod or spindle G by the action of the helical spring II, which exerts an
upward pressure against the opposite end a of the lever. This end a of the
lever is bent downwards, as shown in my Drawing, and is acted upon directly
by the upper end of a rod or spindle I, situate inside the coils of the spring H
and provided with a flange or collar b, against which the upper end of the
spring bears, the lower end of the spring resting upon a cross bar K through
a hole, in the centre of which the lower end of the spindle I is guided, and
free to move vertically. If preferred, the rod or spindle I may be dispensed
with, the upper end of the spring H being turned up to bear directly against
the lever, whilst the lower end may either lay in a sunk bed in the cross head,
or be turned down to form a contact or centre bearing point.
Figure 4* is a detail showing another modification of the mode of fitting or
adapting the spring or springs H. a is the bent end of the lever E shown in
Figure 1; 6 is a nipple or centre point, which is pressed against the end a of
the lever by one or more springs H, H'. The lower ends of these springs
bear against a similar nipple or centro point c, which rests in a countersink in
the cross bar K, or in the end of an adjusting screw d passing through the
cross bar, so that by raising or lowering the screw the resistance of the spring
or springs may be regulated; L, L, are two long bolts, which pass down
through corresponding sockets M, M, cast on the valve casing, and through
corresponding bolt holes near each end of the cross bar K, which is thus sup-

page_text: ported entirely by the two bolts. By tightening more or less the bolts L by
their nuts, the spring H may be compressed to any desired extent between the
cross bar K and the collar or flange b on the spindle I. The operation of the
peculiar bent lever is as follows:-So soon as the pressure in the boiler over-
comes the resistance of the spring H the valve is lifted, and a certain extra
compression is put on the spring. The increasing compression of the spring
during the opening of the valve has a tendency if no compensating means are
employed, to check the full opening of the valve so as to afford an escape
orifice equal in area to that of the passage A, but by bending down the lever,
as shewn at a, the lifting of the valve tends to draw that end of the lever
towards the fulcrum, thereby virtually shortening that end of the lever, con-
sequently the power of the lever to compress the spring is increased in propor-
tion as the valve is elevated, or in other words, the resistance of the spring is
proportionately diminished. When the apparatus is properly constructed, the
resistance against the lifting of the valve will be uniform, or nearly so, in
whatever position the valve may be.
Figure 5 is a vertical section shewing the application of another arrange-
ment of compensating lever and springs to a safety valve; Figure 6 is a
sectional plan of the same; and Figure 7 is an end view of the apparatus. In
this arrangement the bent lever E is continued beyond the valve, as shown at c,
and through this end of the lever slides freely a rod or spindle N, provided
with a flange or collar d near its lower end, and with a piston or plunger O,
the latter working steam-tight inside a small cylinder P. This cylinder is in
direct communication through the passage e with the interior of the boiler.
Q is a helical spring surrounding the rod or spindle N, and pressing at its upper
end against the end c of the valve lever E, whilst its lower end abuts against
the flange or collar d. In all other respects the valve and parts connected
therewith are the same as in the arrangement previously described and illus-
trated by Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4, with the exception that in lieu of the bearing
points at the parts above, the lever E is in contact with the spindles G and I;
ordinary pin joints are shewn connecting such spindles to the lever. By
adopting a vertically sliding indicator to the rod or spindle N in combination
with a properly graduated scale or divided plate, the pressure of the steam in
the boiler per square inch can be readily indicated. As the pressure increases
the piston Orises, and the spring Q is compressed, the upper end of the rod
or spindle N working freely through the end c of the valve lever. So soon as
the steam attains its regulated maximum pressure, the resistance of the spring II
against the bent end a of the lever E will be overcome by that of the spring Q
against the opposite end of the lever, together with the pressure under the

page_text: valve, and the valvo C will consequently open, and will be assisted in its
opening by the action of the spring Q, whilst at the same time the increasing
resistance of the spring His compensated by the action of the bent end a of the
lever in the manner herein-before described. The spring H should of course be
made sufficiently strong to resist the regulated pressure upon the area of the
valve C as well as the pressure of the spring Q, so as to allow the steam to
escape at its maximum pressure only. Figures 1, 2, and 3, on Sheet 2 of my
Drawings, represent similar views of a similar arrangement of compensating
safety valve lever to that illustrated by Figures 5, 6, and 7, already referred
to, the only difference being in the means employed for indicating the steam
Iressure in the boiler. In this arrangement I have shewn the valve C of the
ordinary construction, the whole of the escape steam passing upwards. A
vertical sliding indicator was heroin-before described as being employed in
connection with the rod or spindle N, but in the arrangement shewn on Sheet 2
of my Drawings I have illustrated a revolving indicator and a circular dial.
E is the valve lever, through the end c of which works freely the upper end of
the rod or spindle N. This end of the rod has a series of rings f turned
thereon, or is provided with ordinary rack teeth, which gear into a small spur
pinion g fast on one end of a short spindle h, which revolves freely in a socket
or tubular bearing i, carried by the lever E. To the opposite end of the
spindle h is fitted an indicator or pointer k, which indicates on the face of the
circular dial Z, secured to the outer end of the socket or tubular bearing i the
pressure of the steam per square inch inside the boiler. The piston O, in
place of being made in one piece with the rod or spindle N, is separate there-
from and presses against the rod by a centre point arrangement shown at m.
The steam passsage e leading to the cylinder is curved so as to open laterally
from the main thoroughfare A of the valve.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried
into effect, I would observe in conclusion, that what 1 consider to be novel
and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the
herein-before in part recited Letters Patent, is,-
First, the general construction and arrangement of compensating safety
valves substantially as hercin-before described.
Second, the application and use to and in safety valves of bent levers of the
first order acting in combination with a spring or springs, substantially in the
manner and for the purpose herein-before described.
Third, the use in combination with a spring or springs and bent safety
valve lever of the first order of a cylinder piston, piston rod, and additional

page_text: spring acting substantially in the manner and for the purpose herein-before
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Naylor, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Eighteenth day of January, One thousand eight
hundred and sixty-four.
WILLIAM NAYLOR. (L.S.)