IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM ENGINES, AND IN MEANS AND APPARATUS FOR WORKING THE STEAM OR EXPANSION VALVES THEREOF
Year: 1879

page_text: "
LETTERS PATENT to Henry Simon, of No. 7, St. Peter's Square, Manchester,
in the County of Lancaster, for the Invention of IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM
ENGINES, AND IN MEANS AND APPARATUS FOR WORKING THE STEAM OR
EXPANSION VALVES THEREOF." A communication from abroad by Alfred
Trappen, of the Märkische Maschinenbauanstalt at Wetter an der Ruhr,
Germany.
Sealed the 23rd May 1879, and dated the 22nd March 1879.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Simon at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 22nd March 1879.
HENRY SIMON, of No. 7, St. Peter's Square, Manchester, in the County of
Lancaster "IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM ENGINES, AND IN MEANS AND APPARATUS
FOR WORKING THE STEAM OR EXPANSION VALVES THEREOF." [A communication
from abroad by Alfred Trappen, of the Märkische Maschinenbauanstalt at Wetter an
der Ruhr, Germany.]
When large beam engines, particularly such as are used for pumping, have their
valves moved by eccentrics or cams on a crank shaft worked by the engine, it is
necessary to provide on this shaft. a large or heavy fly wheel to carry the engine
over the dead centres, and to make the shaft and crank of great strength for this
purpose notwithstanding that the main part of the engine power goes to work the
pumps without passing through the crank shaft at all. And even when such heavy
fly wheels are used the engines cannot be worked at very slow speeds owing to
their liability to stop when at the dead centres, and the engines are consequently
not applicable for pumping small quantities. According to one part of the present
Invention in order to obviate this defect, and to render unnecessary the great
weight and strength of the fly wheel and crank shaft in such cases, a small auxiliary
engine is provided working a crank on the shaft at right angles, or nearly so, to
the main crank, so that it acts with full force to turn the shaft over the dead centres
at the extremities of the stroke of the main engine. When the main engine has
its connecting rod working vertically from a beam the auxiliary engine may
be most conveniently a horizontal direct acting engine working a crank in line
with or opposite to the main crank, the piston of the auxiliary engine being thus
about the middle of its stroke at the times when the connecting rod of the main
engine is on its dead centres. The auxiliary engine need be of no greater power
Price G

page_text: than is necessary to overcome the friction of the moving parts, as the steam in the
main engine is always acting in the direction of the desired motion. For working
the steam or expansion valves of such engines, and also other engines, particularly
such as are employed for driving rolling mills, for which a variable expansion
controlled by a governor is of great advantage, arrangements of the following
description are employed :-On the engine shaft is fixed an eccentric, the strap of
which is linked to a lever working idly but operating as a guide to determine the
movement of the eccentric strap. A lug on the eccentric strap situated at right
angles, or nearly so, to the link above mentioned is at each revolution caused to
move in a path approximating to an oblique ellipse, and while traversing part of
this path it bears against a tappet on a rod which is connected to the steam
admission valve. This tappet rod is linked to a crank arm on a rocking shaft by
the partial revolution of which the tappet rod can be shifted nearer to or further
from the eccentric. When it is near to the eccentric the lug on the eccentric strap
bears upon the tappet during its movement through a considerable portion of its
elliptic path, thus keeping the steam valve open for a considerable part of a stroke
of the engine. When, on the other hand, the tappet rod is shifted further away
from the eccentric its tappet remains for a shorter period within the range of the
eccentric lug, and when it is out of range the steam valve is closed by a counter-
weight, or spring, or by partly unbalanced pressure of steam on it, after being open
during a comparatively small portion of the engine stroke, leaving the remainder of
the stroke to be effected by expansion. The crank arm which sets the tappet rod
nearer to or farther from the eccentric may be adjusted by hand to suit different
degrees of expansive working, or it may be connected to a centrifugal or other
governor, so that the expansion is varied according to the speed of the engine, the
velocity of the governor determining the period of cut off by causing the tappet
rod to be moved nearer to or further from the eccentric according as the speed of
the governor is less or greater than the normal speed.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
1
the said Henry Simon in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 19th September
1879.
HENRY SIMON, of No. 7, St. Peter's Square, Manchester, in the County of
Lancaster. "IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM ENGINES, AND IN MEANS AND APPARATUS
FOR WORKING THE STEAM OR EXPANSION VALVES THEREOF." A communication
from abroad by Alfred Trappen, of the Märkische Maschinenbauanstalt at Wetter an
der Ruhr, Germany.
When large beam engines, particularly such as are used for pumping, have their
valves moved by eccentrics or cams on a crank shaft worked by the engine, it is
necessary to provide on this shaft a large or heavy fly wheel to carry the engine.
over the dead centres, and to make the shaft and crank of great strength for this

page_text: purpose, notwithstanding that the main part of the engine power goes to work
the pumps without passing through the crank shaft at all. And even when
such heavy fly wheels are used the engines cannot be worked at very slow speeds
owing to their liability to stop when at the dead centres, and the engines are
consequently not applicable for pumping small quantities.
According to one part of the present Invention, in order to obviate this defect
and to render unnecessary the great weight and strength of the fly wheel and
crank shaft in such cases, a small auxiliary engine is provided working a crank
on the shaft at right angles, or nearly so, to the main crank, so that it acts
with full force to turn the shaft over the dead centres at the extremities of the
stroke of the main engine. When the main engine has its connecting rod working
vertically from a beam the auxiliary engine may be most conveniently a horizontal
direct acting engine working a crank in line with or opposite to the main crank,
the piston of the auxiliary engine being thus about the middle of its stroke at the
times when the connecting rod of the main engine is on its dead centres. The
auxiliary engine need be of no greater power than is necessary to overcome the
friction of the moving parts, as the steam in the main engine is always acting in
the direction of the desired motion. For working the steam or expansion valves of
such engines and also other engines, particularly such as are employed for driving
rolling mills, for which a variable expansion controlled by a governor is of great
advantage, arrangements of the following description are employed. On the engine
shaft is fixed an eccentric, the strap of which is linked to a lever working idly but
operating as a guide to determine the movement of the eccentric strap. A lug on
the eccentric strap situated at right angles, or nearly so, to the link above mentioned
is at each revolution caused to move in a path approximating to an oblique ellipse,
and while traversing part of this path it bears against a tappet on a rod which is
connected to the steam admission valve. This tappet rod is linked to a crank arm
on a rocking shaft, by the partial revolution of which the tappet rod can be shifted
nearer to or further from the eccentric. When it is near to the eccentric the lug
on the eccentric strap bears upon the tappet during its movement through a con-
siderable portion of its elliptic path, thus keeping the steam valve open for a
considerable part of a stroke of the engine. When, on the other hand, the tappet
rod is shifted farther away from the eccentric its tappet remains for a shorter
period within the range of the eccentric lug, and when it is out of range the steam
valve is closed by a counterweight, or spring, or by partly unbalanced pressure of
steam on it, after being open during a comparatively small portion of the engine
stroke, leaving the remainder of the stroke to be effected by expansion. The crank
arm which sets the tappet rod nearer to or farther from the eccentric may be
adjusted by hand to suit different degrees of expansive working, or it may be con-
nected to a centrifugal or other governor, so that the expansion is varied according
to the speed of the engine, the velocity of the governor. determining the period
of cut off by causing the tappet rod to be moved nearer to or farther from the
eccentric according as the speed of the governor is less or greater than the normal
speed.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figs. 1 and 2, on Sheet I., shew the above described arrangement of pumping
engine with auxiliary steam engine for turning the fly wheel shaft over the dead
centres. Fig. 1 is an elevation, and Fig. 2 is a sectional plan. The fly wheel
shaft A, which is worked by a crank B and connecting rod C from the beam D of the
pumping engine, has on it also another crank E in line, or nearly so, with the
crank B, or it might be opposite thereto. To this crank E the auxiliary engine F
is connected so as to act upon the crank shaft A in (a direction at or about right
angles to that in which it is acted upon by the beam D. Thus when the main
engine crank B is passing its dead centres the auxiliary engine acts with full power
on the crank E to turn the shaft, and a large portion of the strength and weight of
fly wheel and crank may be dispensed with, thus avoiding much of the load and
friction on the bearings of the shaft.

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Fig. 3, Sheet II., is an elevation of gear. according to this Invention for working the
steam or expansion valves of engines. It is shewn in the Figure as applied to work a
double beat valve G,but it may obviously be applied to work valves of other forms.
A is the engine shaft, on which is fixed an eccentric H. The strap I of the eccentric
is linked to a lever K, which, working idly on its fulcrum k, serves to determine
the path of a projection from the side of the strap, causing it to move in a curve
of somewhat elliptical form. The rod L for working the valve G is connected at
the top to the valve lever, and at the bottom it is linked by a connecting rod M to
a crank arm N on an axis O, which can be turned more or less round either by
hand or by a governor so as to bring a tappet 7 on the rod Linearer to or farther from
the eccentric H. In the one case when is near to H the projection h bears during
a considerable part of its movement on the tappet 2, holding the valve G open
during a considerable part of a stroke or half revolution of the eccentric. When,
by partly turning the axis O, the tappet is moved farther away from the
eccentric H, then the projection h bears upon l during a less portion of its move-
ment, and the valve G is consequently held open during a less part of a stroke.
The lever K, rod L, and connecting link Mare preferably made adjustable as shewn,
so that the action on the valve may be varied and determined with accuracy. Also
the tappet and projection h are preferably faced with steel or other metal suitable
for the sliding movement which takes place over their surfaces.
Having thus described the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, as communicated to me by my foreign correspondent, I
claim,―
First. Combining with a pumping or other large beam engine connected to a crank
on a fly wheel shaft an auxiliary engine connected to a crank on the same shaft, the
auxiliary engine and its crank being so arranged as to act at or about the middle
of its stroke when the main engine is passing its dead centres, as and for the
purposes herein set forth with reference to Figs. 1 and 2, Sheet I., of the
accompanying Drawings.
Second. The construction and arrangement of valve gear, substantially as herein
described with reference to Fig. 3, Sheet II., of the accompanying Drawings, wherein
a projection on the side of a guided eccentric strap acts on a tappet on a valve rod
adjustable nearer to or farther from the eccentric according as the valve is required
to be open for a greater or less portion of a stroke.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Simon, have hereunto set my hand
and seal; this
day of September, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and seventy nine.