IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUSES FOR REGULATING THE PRESSURE, AND FLOW OF STEAM, WATER, AND OTHER FLUIDS
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Harris, of Hanwell, in the County of Mid-
dlesex, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUSES
FOR REGULATING THE PRESSURE, AND FLOW OF STEAM, WATER, AND OTHER
FLUIDS"
Sealed the 1st July 1859, and dated the 1st January 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Harris at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 1st
January 1859..
1, JAMES HARRIS, of Hanwell, in the County of Middlesex, Engineer,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
APPARATUSES FOR REGULATING THE PRESSURE AND FLOW OF STEAM, WATER, AND
OTHER FLUIDS," to.be as follows:
My improvements relate principally to apparatuses for reducing high-
pressure fluids to any given pressure below that in the boiler, water main,
gas main, or any other main for allowing steam or other fluid when it has
attained a given pressure to escape either into a second receiver, or into the
open air, through a safety valve or danger signal, or otherwise..
J
To effect the reduction of high-pressure fluid to low pressure, I form a
nozzle with inner and outer chambers. The inner chamber is connected with

page_text: the pipe leading from the boiler, or gas or water or other main containing
the high-pressure fluid, and may be termed the inlet, and the outer chamber
is connected with the outlet. A double seated or equilibrium valve is made
to communicate between the inner and outer chambers. Attached to the
outer chamber is a short cylinder fitted with a piston, which has a flexible
diaphragm on its inner surface, to prevent leakage, the outer surface being
open to the atmosphere. The inner side of the piston is connected with the
said double-seated valve by a loose or ball joint. The double-seated valve is
kept open by means of a spiral spring acting against the outer side of the
piston, which forces it inwards, and the valve is instantly closed by the fluid
in the outer chamber when it has attained sufficient pressure to overcome
the power of the spring. The spring may be so adjusted by a screw as to
.give any required pressure on the outlet side of the nozzle below the pressure
in the inner chamber or inlet, side. Weights may be substituted for springs
for adjusting the pressure in the outlet pipes.
For allowing steam or other fluid to escape when it has attained a given
pressure, either into a low-pressure boiler or other receiver, or into the open
air, the inlet is reversed, and leads into the outer chamber, and the outlet is
from the inner chamber. The double-seated valve is also in this case made
to close by the force of the spring or weight, and is opened by the steam or
other fluid increasing in pressure sufficiently to overcome the force of the
spring or weight by which the valve is kept to its seat.
By attaching a piston fitted as before to either a small single or double
seated valve in connection with a steam whistle, it then becomes an almost
frictionless danger signal for preventing explosions of steam boilers, in which
the spring by means of the screw may be adjusted to any desired pressure. A
damper in connection with a low-pressure boiler, into which boiler the surplus
steam may escape for the improved valve from a high-pressure.boiler (as in
the case of a high-pressure whim engine being placed near a condensing
pumping engine,) is actuated by a piston and diaphragm, as before described,
is self-acting, and thereby subdues the fire, and saves fuel.
In all cases where the improved valve, &c., are applied to steam boilers
I place the piston and flexible diaphragm some inches below the passage, so
as to be out of the way of the direct action of the steam, and where it is
covered by condensed water, that its durability may be thereby considerably
increased. To prevent the condensing engine banging or striking the spring
beams or spring blocks as the pressure in the boiler increases by the admission
of the surplus steam from the whim engine boiler; I employ a small cylinder

page_text: fitted with piston valves, side passage, and adjusting cock, to be used with
either water or air, otherwise a cylindrical bellows, either of which may be
actuated by the crosshead of the engine or by tappets. The rod of the piston
in the small cylinder, or the rod secured to the cylindrical bellows, as the.
case may be, is connected with either the steam valve, regulating valve, or-
the equilibrium valve of the engine, or with all the valves, as occasion may.
require by means of rods and levers, so as to regulate the length of stroke
without the incessant attention of the engineer, under a varying pressure of
steam in the boiler. This part of the apparatus is so constructed as to
prevent the engine making more than one stroke in the event of anything
getting wrong with the pumps.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said James Harris in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
1st July 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
HARRIS, of Hanwell, in the County of Middlesex, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the First day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-second year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said James Harris, Her special licence that I, the said James
Harris, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said James Harris, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there.*
after during the term thereinexpressed, 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`
APPARATUSES FOR REGULATING THE PRESSURE AND FLOW OF STEAM, WATER, AND
OTHER FLUIDS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said James
Harris, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under
my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, 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.
'

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said James Harris, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what mauner the same is to be.
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the follow-
ing statement thereof, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto
annexed, that is to say:-
My improvements relate principally to apparatuses for reducing high-
pressure fluids to any given pressure below that in the boiler, water main,
gas main, or any other main, or for allowing steam or other fluid when it
has attained a given pressure, to escape either into a second receiver or into
the open air through a safety valve or danger signal, or otherwise.
To effect the reduction of high-pressure fluid to low pressure, I form a
nozzle with inner and outer chambers. The inner chamber is connected with
the pipe leading from the boiler, or gas, or water, or other main containing the
high-pressure fluid, and is termed the inlet, and the outer chamber is con-
nected with the outlet. A double-seated or equilibrium valve is made to
communicate between the inner and outer chambers. Attached to the outer
chamber is a short cylinder fitted with a piston, which has a flexible
diaphragm on its inner surface to prevent leakage, the outer surface being
open to the atmosphere. The inuer side of the piston is connected with the
said double-seated valve by a loose or ball joint. The double-seated valve
is kept open by means of a spiral spring acting against the outer side of the
piston, which forces it inwards, and the valve is instantly closed or partly
closed by the fluid in the outer chamber when it has attained sufficient
pressure to overcome the power of the spring. The spring may be so adjusted
by a screw as to give any required pressure on the outlet side of the nozzle
below the pressure in the inner chamber or inlet side: Weights may be
substituted for springs for adjusting the pressure in the outlet pipes, and a
singlevalve or a lever and cock maybe substituted for the double-seated valve.
For allowing steam or other fluid to escape when it has attained a given
pressure, either into a low-pressure boiler or other receiver, or into the open
air, the inlet is reversed, and leads into the outer chamber, and the outlet is
from the inner chamber. The double seated valve is also in this case made
to close by the force of the spring or weight, and is opened by the steam or
other fluid increasing in pressure sufficiently to overcome the force of the
spring or weight by which the valve is kept to its seat.
.
Byattaching a piston-fitted as above to either a small single or double seated
valve; in connection with a steam whistle, it then becomes an almost frictionless
danger signal for preventing explosions of steam boilers, in which the spring,

page_text: by means of the screw, may be adjusted to any desired pressure.
In some
instances this alarm signal would be placed in a nozzle in combination with
another whistle for signalling a deficiency of water in the boiler, and which
is put in operation by a float and lever. A damper in connection with a'
low-pressure boiler, into which boiler the surplus steam may escape by the
improved valve from a high-pressure boiler (as in the case of a high-
pressure whim engine being placed near a condensing pumping engine,) is
actuated by a piston and diaphragm, as before described, is self-acting,
and thereby subdues the fire, and saves fuel.
In all cases where the improved valve, &c., are applied to steam boilers,
I place the piston and flexible diaphragm in a chamber some inches below
the passage, so as to be out of the way of the direct action of the steam, and
where it is covered by condensed water, its durability being thereby con-
siderably increased. To prevent the condensing engine banging or striking
the spring beams or spring blocks as the pressure in the boiler increases by
the admission of the surplus steam from the whim engine boiler or other
boiler, I employ a small cylinder fitted with piston valves, side passage, and'
adjusting cock, to be used with either water or air, otherwise a cylindrical
bellows, either of which may be actuated by the crosshead of the engine, or
by tappets. The rod of the piston in the small cylinder, or the rod secured
to the cylindrical bellows, as the case may be, is connected with either the
steam valve, the regulating valve, or the equilibrium valve of the engine, or
with all the valves, as occasion may' require, by means of rods, cranks, and
levers, so as to regulate the length of stroke without requiring the incessant
attention of the engineer, under a varying pressure of steam in the boiler.
This part of the apparatus is so constructed, as by a connecting rod, lever,
and catches to lock the hand gear of the engine in the event of the engine:
striking a heavier blow than usual on the spring beams consequent on
anything getting wrong with the pumps.
I
To regulate the speed of a crank engine, I employ an equilibrium or
double-seated valve, to which motion is given by an eccentric and links,
opening the valve twice at each revolution of the engine. The distance'
to which the valve shall open and the time of closing are regulated by:
the ordinary governor acting upon either sliding wedges, or by a quick
motion screw and lever.
In the Drawings hereunto aunexed I have represented the best means
with which I am acquainted for carrying my Invention into effect.
Figure 1 is a section of my apparatus for reducing high-pressure steam of

page_text: other, heated fluid to lower pressure. A is the inlet; B is the outlet; C, a
double-seated valve; D, the piston, fitted with india-rubber or other flexible
diaphram, to prevent leakage; E, spiral spring; F, screw, for increasing
or decreasing the force of the spiral spring; G; a shell or cylinder, having
holes in the upper part, as at H, to allow the steam to act upon the upper
side of the piston D, thereby pressing it downwards, and partly closing the
valve C. The piston D moves only when the steam on the outlet side
attains sufficient pressure to overcome the force of the spring, which by
the set screw F can be adjusted so as to give any required pressure.
Figures 2, 3, 4, and 5 are modifications of the arrangement shewn in
Figure 1, but are more compact in form, and are mainly intended for
reducing the pressure of cold fluids which do not act injuriously upon
the flexible diaphram. The construction is so essentially similar to that
shewn in Figure 1, that detailed references to the parts of the apparatus
need not be repeated.
Figure 6 is a section of the apparatus fitted as a safety valve. A, inlet
from boiler; B, outlet; C, double-seated valve; D, lever, connecting the
valve with the piston E. The spring being set by means of the screw
to a given pressure, the steam in the boiler on attaining to that pressure
overcomes the force of the spring, thereby depressing the piston E,
opening the safety valve C, and allowing the steam to escape into another
vessel or into the open air.
Figure 7 is a section of the apparatus fitted with a whistle, as a steam
boiler danger signal, the spring being adjusted to the pressure required.
The cap may be screwed on the bottom, and sealed by a gummed lable,
so as not to admit of being tampered with; this may also be applied
as a pressure test to other fluids: .
•
Figure 8 is a section of a nozzle, in which are combined both pressure
and low-water signals. A, rod connected with a float in the boiler at the
lower end, and to the lever B at the top end. The spring S is so
adjusted by means of the set screw, as to carry the float, and keep the valve C
to its seat, when, the boiler is full, but in the event of the water getting
low, the float follows the water, thereby compressing the spring St, opening
the valve C, and causing the whistle to give the alarm. The pipe of a
pressure gauge may also be attached to the nozzle at D.
Figure 9 is a section of an apparatus, with piston A, diaphram B, and
levers C, C, and is acted upon by the pressure of steam in the boiler, and
opens or closes the damper, as required, under a varying pressure as when

page_text: steam passes into the boiler from another boiler by means of the valve shewn
in section in Figure 6, and will otherwise do duty as an ordinary self-acting
damper; D is the centre, about which the weighted rod or lever moves, the
damper being connected directly or indirectly to the rod C¹.
Figure 10 is. the apparatus for regulating the length of the stroke of a
pumping engine under a varying pressure. A, section of cylinder, fitted with
piston B, inlet valve C, outlet valve D, striking plate E, and block of india-
rubber F, at the top of the piston rod; G, crosshead of engine; H, bellows
or cylinder, the top of which is connected with a cranked lever, giving motion
to sliding wedges 1, I, in the socket K, thereby varying the distance which
the valve is permitted to opeu. A double-threaded worm, nut, and lever may
also be made to answer the purpose of the wedges, varying the distance which
the valve may open;
L is the fixed centre; M is a cock or tap, which should
be permanently kept slightly open to allow of the gradual return of the bellows
between the strokes of the engine.
Figure 11 shews an apparatus for cutting off the steam from a crank or
other like engine under a varying pressure. A double-seated valve is fitted
in the nozzle A, and this valve is worked primarily by means of the rod B,
and the links C, C, as will be readily understood, while a secondary motion
is also given to the said valve by means of the sliding wedges D, D, which
are worked by the rod E from a governor, the distance which the valve opens
being thus varied; F is the ordinary slide valve case.
In Figure 12 I have shewn an adaptation of my plans for reducing high
pressure fluids to low pressure, and at the same time registering the supply
by means of a train of wheels as in an ordinary meter. A is a metal cylinder
containing a flexible tube B, against which the runners or rollers C, C, are
kept pressed by springs; D is a branch pipe leading to a piston and diaphram
E, which piston is connected with a lever F, and a break G, the latter bearing
against the friction drum H, which is carried round by the revolution of the
shaft carrying the runners or rollers C, C. As the pressure of the fluid
increases in the pipe D, the piston E is depressed, and the break G is thus
pressed against the drum H,thereby reducing the speed with which the rollers
or runners C, C, revolve; the fluid of course enters at one end of the tube B,
and escapes at the opposite end. The manner in which the flexible tube B
is fitted is illustrated in the transverse section, Figure 12ª. Motion may be
taken off from any.suitable revolving part of the apparatus in Figure 12, and
made to work the piston a in the cylinder b, Figure 13, stroke for stroke.
Air may thus be forced into the cylinder c, and simultaneous strokes be thus

page_text: produced in the piston d; these may be transferred to the wheel e for
registering the strokes, as is well understood. The cylinder c may evidently
be situated at any distance from or in any relative position to the cylinder b.
And having now described the: nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same may be performed, I declare that I claim the improve-
ments in apparatus for regulating the pressure and flow of steam, water, and
other fluids herein-before described, and illustrated in the Drawings hereunto
annexed.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Harris, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this First day of July, One thousand eight hundred
and fifty-nine.
JAMES HARRIS. (L.S.)