IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM ENGINES
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Hall, of Birmingham, in the County of
Warwick, Gentleman, Elisha Wylde, of the same Place, Engineer, and
William Waite, also of the same Place, Engineer, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM ENGINES."
Sealed the 23rd January 1857, and dated the 6th August 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Hall, Elisha
Wylde, and William Waite, at the Office of the Commissioners of
Patents, with their Petition, on the 6th August 1856.
We, WILLIAM HALL, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Gentle-
man, ELISHA WYLDE, of the same Place, Engineer, and WILLIAM WAITE, also
of the same Place, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inveu-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM ENGINES" to be as follows:-
Our Invention consists in a new arrangement of engines, in which three
oscillating cylinders are mounted upon a ring or circle at equal distances from
one another, and have their pistons connected through suitable rods to one
common crank; and in a new valve for and method of supplying steam to
such cylinders, whereby, on simply shifting the valve, the engines are reversed,
the feed passage on being moved becomes the exhaust passage, and that which
was the exhaust, the feed.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Hall, Elisha Wylde, and William Waite in the
Great Seal Patent Office on the 6th February 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, WILLIAM
ALL of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Gentleman, ELISHA
WYLDE, of the same Place, Engineer, and WILLIAM WAITE, also of the same
Place, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Sixth day of August, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the twentieth year of Her reign, did,
for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the said William
Hall, Elisha Wylde, and William Waite, Her special licence, that we, the
said William Hall, Elisha Wylde, and William Waite, our executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said William Hall, Elisha
Wylde, and-William-Waite,-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 Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN STEAM ENGINES," upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the
said William Hall, Elisha Wylde, and William Waite, or one of us, 'our
executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under our, or their,
or one of our or their hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascer-
tain 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 tho said
Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said William Hall, Elisha Wylde,
William Waite, do hereby declare the nature of our 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, reference being had to
the Drawings hereunto annexed, that is so say:-
Our Invention consists in a new arrangement of engines, in which three
oscillating cylinders are mounted upon a ring or circle at equal distances
from one another, and have their pistons connected through suitable rods to
one common crank; and also in a new valve for and method of supplying
steam to such cylinders, whereby on simply shifting the valve, the engines are
reversed, the valve on being moved changes the exhaust passage to the feed,
and the feed to the exhaust.

page_text: Figure 1 of the Drawings is a side elevation of a steam engine constructed
according to our Invention; Figure 2 is a section through one of the cylinders,
trunnions, and steam pipes; Figure 3 is a section through the regulator chest ;
Figure 4 is a side elevation, partly in section, of one of the cylinders detached;
and Figure 5 is a sectional elevation of the regulator valve.
B, B', are two hollow rings of wrought iron or of metal cast with the foot
Z, or otherwise attached thereto, placed parallel, and bolted to a sole or base
plate. These rings B, B', form the frame and supports for the cylinders, and
the interior of the rings forms the passages by which the steam is conveyed to
or from the chest to the cylinders. C, C, C, are the cylinders, cast in a pieco
with their trunnions T, and placed at equal distances apart between the rings
B, B. The trunnions T are fitted in bearings formed in the rings B, B', and
are free to oscillate thereon. V, V, are glands, screwed to the packing boxes
to make the trunnions steam-tight; A, A, A, are the trunnion boxes, of
wrought iron, or of iron cast with the rings B, B'. Each box has a lid or
cover A¹ screwed to it, which can be removed when the trunnions are to be
packed. Corresponding trunnion boxes and covers are placed on the opposite
side of the rings. a is the piston fixed on its rod b, and working through the
stuffing box c. There is, of course, a piston a, rod b, and stuffing box c for
cach cylinder. G is a strong bracket or framing for carrying the crank shaft
I, which works on bearings fitted in a plummer block II, and bolted to the
bracket G; I is the crank; and J, the crank pin or stud; K, K¹, K", are
caps for connecting the three piston rods b, b, b, to one crank I'. These caps
are connected to and work on the pin J; the second cap K' is forked, and
spans the sides of the centre cap K; the third, K", is also forked, and spans
both the second and centre cap, the pin J being common to the three. The
arrangement will be clearly seen on reference to Figure 2. D is a valve casing,
of which there is one fitted to each cylinder; L is the valve on its seat; this
valve is wedge-shaped, and is worked by a valve spindle or rod, to which a cross
head is attached, and connected by means of links free to vibrate on fixed studs
to the rings B, B'; the position of the ports in relation to the valve is altered
by the oscillation of the cylinders; S, S, are the steam ways or passages;
S' is a belt surrounding the cylinders, and through which the steam circulates.
E is the regulator chest, the facing of which is perfectly flat; R, R, R, is the
regulator valve in the chest E, by which the engine is stopped and reversed;
this valve is wedge-shaped, similar to the valve before described, and is worked
by a lever and rod connected to the handle F. d is a wedge or V piece fixed
by the screw e against the valve to keep it firm on its face, and to prevent the
steam from entering the engine without first passing by the valve. There are

page_text: two grooves on the sides of the valve for the wedges d to work in, which keeps
the valve in place, and prevents it sticking. The regulator is so constructed
that the induction and eduction of the steam may be reversed when desired,,
making the induction pipe the eduction, and vice versa. The regulator also
affects all the cylinders alike, and at the same time, and it is placed for conve-
nience at the lower part of the rings B, B'. X is the exhaust; on the opposite
side is the steam pipe. The steam.and exhaust pipes are jointed to the regu-
lator box between the rings B, B', as will be clearly seen on reference to the
Drawing. The steam in the regulator chest is always on the outside of the
valve, but in the cylinder steam chest the steam is out or inside the valve, as
the engine is required to run, thus making the outside of the valve the exhaust
when going one way, and the inside the exhaust when going the other. Now,
supposing steam to be admitted from the regulator chest by the pipe B, it will
first pass through the trunnion T, then surround the belt S', and enter the.
casing D, whence it is admitted by the valve L into the passages S to the top
or bottom of the cylinder, as the case may be; after the piston has made its
stroke, the steam returns by the passages S on the other. side of the cylinder,
where it is conducted by the ring B' through the regulator chest E, and thence
to the condenser or otherwise, or the reverse operation will take place by making
the ring B' the passage for the admission of steam, and B the exhaust. The
whole can be regulated at pleasure by moving the lever F in the regulator chest.
And having now described the nature of our said Invention, and in what.
manner the same is to be performed, we declare that we claim,—
First, the mounting at equal distances apart, upon a ring or circle, or
between two rings or circles, of three oscillatting cylinders, having their pistons
connected to one crank, common to all, in the manner herein-before described
and represented in the Drawings annexed.
Second, the construction and method of action of valve for supplying steam
to and for reversing the engines, hercin-before described, and represented in
the Drawings annexed.
In witness whereof, we, the said William Hall and William Waite, have.
hereunto set our bands and seals, this Second day of February, One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
WILLIAM HALL.
(L.S.)
WILLIAM WAITE. (L.)
WILLIAM HALL.
(L.S.)
WILLIAM WAITE. (L.S.)