CERTAIN IMPROVE- MENTS IN STEAM ENGINES AND MACHINERY FOR PROPELLING VESSELS, WHICH Iм- PROVEMENTS ARE ALSO APPLICABLE FOR OTHER PURPOSES
Year: 1845

page_text: PENN, HARTREE, AND MATHEW'S SPECIFICATION.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, JonŃ
PENN, of Greenwich, in the County of Kent, Engineer and Manufacturer of
Steam Engines, WILLIAM HARTREE the younger, of Greenwich aforesaid,
Engineer, and JOHN MATHEW the younger, of Greenwich aforesaid, Engineer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS we did by petition humbly represent unto to Her present most
Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria that we had invented "CERTAIN IMPROVE-
MENTS IN STEAM ENGINES AND MACHINERY FOR PROPELLING VESSELS, WHICH Iм-
PROVEMENTS ARE ALSO APPLICABLE FOR OTHER PURPOSES," and Her said Majesty
being willing to give encouragement to all arts and inventions which may be
for the public good, was graciously pleased, by Her Royal Letters Patent under
the Great Seal of Great Britain, and bearing date at Westminster, the Twenty-
third day of December (One thousand eight hundred and forty-five), in the
ninth year of Her reign, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, to give and
grant unto us, the said John Penn, William Hartree, and John Matthew, our
executors, administrators, and assigns, Her especial license, full power, sole
privilege and authority, that we or they, by ourselves or themselves, or by our
or their deputies, servants, or agents, or such others as we or they should
agree with, and no others, during the term of fourteen years from the date of
the said Letters Patent, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and
vend our said Invention within that part of Her Majesty's United Kingdom
of Great Britain and Ireland called England, Her Dominion of Wales, and

page_text: Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, in such manner as to us, our executors, admi-
nistrators, and assigns, shall seem meet, and as that we or they shall enjoy
the whole profit and advantage arising by reason of the said Invention during
the said term of fourteen years: And whereas the said Letters Patent contain
a proviso, obliging us, the said John Penn, William Hartree, and John
Matthew, particularly to describe and ascertain the nature of our said Inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, by an instrument in
writing under our hands and seals, or under the hand and seal of one of us,
and to cause the same to be enrolled in Her Majesty's High Court of
Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately after the date
of the said Letters Patent, as in and by the same (reference being thereunto
had), will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, we, the said
John Penn, William Hartree, and John Matthew, do hereby declare that our
said Invention is described and ascertained in manner following, and by the
aid of the five Sheets of Drawings hereunto annexed, that is to say:―
Part of our said improvements in steam engines relates to a certain mode
heretofore invented of making the piston rod of a steam engine of an enlarged
size, and hollow, like a tube, in order to admit a long connecting rod to be
received within the hollow of the piston rod, for transmitting the force and
motion of the piston to a revolving crank on an axis, which is to be turned round
by the force of the steam engine, in the manner of what are termed direct-
acting steam engines; the said connecting rod being jointed to the piston at
that end of the connecting rod which is furthest within the said hollow of the
piston rod (and which may for distinction be termed its inner end), and the
other, which may be termed the outer end of the connecting rod, (because that
end extends out from the said hollow beyond the hollow end of the piston rod,)
being jointed upon the crank pin of the revolving crank, so as to operate by a
direct action for turning the crank and the axis thereof round. The said
hollow within the piston rod being sufficiently wide for permitting of what is
termed the vibration of the connecting rod to take place without touching the
inside of the hollow, that is to say, for allowing the connecting rod to play
about its joint at the inner end of it, which is within the hollow, and thereby
to deviate as much from the direction of the central line of the hollow piston
rod as the connecting rod can require to do, in consequence of the joint at the
other or outer end of the connecting rod being jointed upon the crank pin,
and being thereby moved round with continuous onward motion in the circum-
ference of a circle described by the crank pin, the joint at the inner end of
the connecting rod will move with alternating motion in the straight line,
'

page_text: which is the central line of the piston rod, the said joint being guided and
retained in such straight line by the sliding motion of the piston within the
cylinder, and by the sliding motion of the hollow piston rod through its stuffing
box in the cylinder cover. As the motion of the crank pin in its circular
orbit will occasion a very considerable extent of vibration of the connecting
rod within the hollow in the piston rod, the piston rod must be of a large size
externally, in order to have a sufficient hollow within it for permitting the rod
to vibrate (as much as it requires to do) without touching. That mode was
included in the Specification of a Patent granted to Joseph D'Arcy, for Eng-
land, the Twenty-ninth day of November, One thousand eight hundred and
twenty-eight. The large size of the hollow piston rod deducts materially from
the surface of the piston against which the steam is to operate for impelling
the piston in that direction, which will move the large hollow piston rod
(through its stuffing box in the cylinder cover) into the interior of the cylinder,
and consequently the piston will be impelled in that direction with less force
than it would be impelled by the steam if the piston rod were small, or only of
the usual proportionate size of a solid piston rod for such a piston; but, on the
other hand, the steam will operate against the whole area of the piston without
any such deduction therefrom, as aforesaid, when the steam operates for
impelling the piston in a contrary direction to that already mentioned, or in
that direction which will move the large hollow piston rod (through its stuffing
box) out of the interior of the cylinder. Hence, the piston of a direct-acting
engine with a large hollow piston rod as aforesaid will be impelled by the
steam with more force in one direction during one half of each stroke than it
will be impelled in a contrary direction during the other half of the stroke; and
with a view to avoid any unnecessary size of the hollow piston rod aforesaid,
the same (instead of being of a cylindrical form and circular in its transverse
section) has been made of an oblong form, its transverse section having two
flat sides and two semicircular ends, so as that the lengthway of the oblong
should allow as much room within the hollow as the connecting rod required
for performing its vibration; but in the breadthway of the oblong, the hollow
being no wider between the two flat sides than necessary for admitting the
connecting rod to move freely, the stuffing box in the cylinder cover was adapted
to the said 'oblong form of the hollow piston rod. Direct acting steam engines
with such oblong flattened form of hollow piston rod have been called trunk
engines, and (as well as being included in the aforesaid Specification of Joseph
D'Arcy) were also the subject of a subsequent Patent granted to Francis
Humphry's, for England, the Twenty-eighth day of March, One thousand eight
hundred and thirty-five. Our improvement in steam engines of the aforesaid

page_text: description consists in extending the aforesaid hollow piston rod trunk each way
from the piston (instead of merely from one side thereof, as heretofore), the said
extended hollow piston rod or trunk passing through and fitting in suitable
stuffing boxes in both ends of the cylinder (instead of only one end thereof, as
heretofore), and with that improvement the surface against which the steam
will operate for impelling the piston will be the same when impelling in one
direction as in the other direction; also the guidance of the piston in its alter-
nating rectilinear motion within the cylinder will be rendered more complete
in consequence of the said prolonged hollow piston rod passing through the said
stuffing boxes at both ends of the cylinder; also the joint at the inner end of
the long link or connecting rod is rendered more accessible than heretofore.
Figure 1, Sheet I. of the Drawings hereunto annexed, is a vertical section of an
engine constructed according to this part of our improvements. A, A, is the
steam cylinder; B, B, the steam piston fitted into the cylinder, and moving up
and down therein; C, C, the hollow piston rod or trunk, fastened to the piston
and moving therewith; D, D, the end of the cylinder; and E, E, the cylinder
cover, having the stuffing e, e, at the central part of it for the hollow piston
rod C, C, to pass through; F is the long link or connecting rod, jointed at its
inner end upon a pin A at the centre of the piston, and jointed at its outer
end upon the crank pin 6 of the revolving crank G, which is on the main
revolving axis H of the steam engine; I, I, is the framework for sustaining the
said axis H; and K, K, upright pillars, by which the framework. I, I, is
upheld; L, L, is the basis on which the bottom D, D, of the cylinder and also
the pillars K, K, rest and are fastened down. The hollow piston rod C, C, may
be either a cylindrical form, and circular in its transverse section, or that section
may be an oblong, with flat sides and semicircular ends, as aforesaid, the
hollow piston rod C, C, being truly prismatic. In the motion of the engine,
the centre of the joint pin a at the inner end of the connecting rod F will
move along the straight central line of the cylinder, through the extent shewn
by the red dotted line, with an alternating rectilinear motion, whilst the centre
of the crank pin b at the outer end of the said rod F is moved onwards around
in the circumference of the red dotted circle with a continuous rotary motion,
and during such motion the connecting rod F will require to vibrate from the
direction of the central line of the cylinder to the extent shewn in the Figure,
but with alternate deviation on opposite sides. The hollow within the hollow
piston rod C, C, is sufficiently large to permit of such an extent of vibration
of the connecting rod F on either side. Thus far the engine, Figure 1, is the
same as other trunk engines or hollow piston rod engines heretofore invented
as aforesaid; but Figure 1 shews the hollow piston rod C, C, to be prolonged

page_text: at 1, 1, from the opposite side of the piston B, B, to that side thereof from
which the aforesaid part C, C, proceeds, the prolonged part 1, 1, passing
through and being fitted into a stuffing box 2, 2, at the central part of the
end D, D, of the cylinder, and the said prolonged part 1, 1, being a con-
tinuation of the part C, C, which, together with the said prolonged part 1, 1,
forms a long hollow piston rod C 1, C 1, having the piston B, B, fastened to
it at or near to the middle of the length of such rod, and the said long hollow
rod C 1, C 1, being guided by both the stuffing boxes at c, c, and at 2, 2, the
piston B, B, is thereby securely retained in its proper position at the centre
of the cylinder when moving with its alternating motion therein without any
undue rubbing against the interior surface of the cylinder with more force at
one side of that interior than at another side thereof, and the interior hollow
through the said long hollow rod C 1, C 1, being open at the ends of the
prolonged part 1, 1, the joint of the inner end of the connecting rod F upon
the pin A can be got at for screwing up or tightening the brasses of that joint
when the engine is stopped with the crank pin 6 at its highest position. The
steam engine represented in Figure 1 is supposed to have its steam pipe,
sliding valves or valve, and working gear, eduction pipe, condenser, air pump,
and all other minor parts, the same as usual in other direct-acting engines,
which being well known, those parts are not represented, and need not be
described. The air pump may be worked by means of another short crank
(or an excentric) upon the main revolving axis H, in which case the air.
pump and condenser would be hidden behind the cylinder in Figure 1. Such
an engine may have a fly wheel on the main axis II, and may be applied
for actuating any machinery requiring a continuous rotatory motion, or
may be applied in a steam vessel, in which case the main axis I would be
prolonged each way across the vessel to serve as the axis for the paddle
wheels at each side of the vessel; and it would be preferable to combine
two such engines together, placing one at each side of the midship line
of the vessel, with the main axis H of both engines in the same horizontal
line across the vessel, the air pump or air pumps being amidship in a space
left for the purpose between the two engines, and the air pump or pumps may
be worked by a short crank or cranks (or an excentric or excentrics) on the
main axis H, all which, being the same as in other direct-acting engines, need
not be further described. And in consequence of the effectual guidance of the
piston (during its motion in the cylinder), which results from the long hollow
piston rod passing through stuffing boxes in both ends of the cylinder, as
above explained, such an engine is equally well qualified for working with
the centre line of the cylinder in a horizontal or nearly horizontal position as

page_text: in a vertical position, as shewn in Figure 1, because the weight of the piston
and its hollow piston rod is effectually sustained by the fitting of the long
hollow piston rod into and through the said stuffing boxes at the two ends of
the cylinder, and therefore that woight will not cause the circumference of the
piston to rest with any more force at the lower part of the interior surface of
the cylinder than at the upper or other part of that interior surface. Such
engines, with the cylinders horizontal or nearly horizontal, are well adapted for
steam vessels having revolving propellers at the stern under water, or nearly
so, and operating in the water by oblique or spiral action to propel the vessel
forwards, and hence commonly called revolving screw propellers, although
more resembling two, three, or four windmill sails. Such revolving screw or
windmill-shaped propellers require their axes to be low down within the vessel,
and to be turned round with a rapid motion, and they have therefore been
usually turned by intervention of toothed wheel-work, videlicet, a large spur
wheel on the main axis of the crank of the steam engines turning a small
pinion wheel on the axis of the revolving propeller with a suitable velocity of
rotation. An engine or pair of engines, such as Figure 1, may be used with
wheel-work in that manner; or when the cylinders are placed horizontally, or
nearly so, as aforesaid, the main axis of the revolving crank (or cranks) of the
engine (or of a pair of the engines) may be situated in the line of the axis of
the revolving propellers, and connected therewith, so as that the axis of one
will be a prolongation of the axis of the other, like one long axis, suitably for
turning the propellers by a direct action without intervention of any wheel-
work. This has been done in some cases with different kinds of steam engines,
which, as they must operate with a rapid succession of strokes, have been
constructed (with a short length of stroke, and engines constructed according
to our improvements are well adapted for such purpose. An example is shewn,
Figure 2, Sheet 1, which represents a transverse section Y, Y, of the sides of
a vessel; Z, its keel; and X, X, its lower deck. The whole of the engines
may be disposed below the water line, and beneath that lower deck X, X, as
is evident from the Figure. H is the main axis, with the crank G formed
upon it; A, A, is a section of the cylinder; B, B, the piston; C1, C1, the
long hollow piston rod; and F, the connecting rod within the hollow thereof;
I, I, is the framing for supporting the axis E, which has also another crank,
like G, formed upon it for another engine, similar to that which is represented,
the two engines being situated close side by side to act as a pair. This is more
clearly shewn in Sheet. II., wherein Figure 3 is a horizontal plan of the pair
of engines as they lay side by side; and Figure 4, a vertical section of one of
the two engines of the pair. The pair of engines represented in Sheet II.

page_text: are not the same in all their dimensions as the engine represented in Figure 2.
Sheet I.; but the construction of the various parts being very similar, the
following description of Sheet II. will be also applicable to Figure 2, Sheet I.
A, A, is a section of the steam cylinder; B, B, the piston fitted therein;
C 1, C 1, the long hollow piston rod, connected to the piston, so as to be like
one piece thereof, and moving therewith by sliding through a stuffing box e, e,
in one end E, E, of the cylinder, and though another stuffing box 2, 2, in
the other end D, D, of the cylinder, the said sliding of the long hollow piston
C1, C1, through the said two stuffing boxes guiding the piston in its alter-
nating motion within the cylinder, and sustaining the weight of the piston, so
as to avoid unequal wearing, as already explained. The connecting rod F is
jointed to the piston at its inner end upon the horizontal joint pin a, and
is jointed at its outer end around the crank pin 6 of the revolving crank G,
which, as well as another like crank for the other engine, is formed upon the main
horizontal axis H, as shewn in the plan, Figure 3. The axis H is sustained in
suitable bearings in the framing I, I, I, which are three pieces for the two
engines, fastened to the ends E, E, of the two cylinders against suitable pro-
jecting flanges, formed on those ends by bolts through the flanges, and through
corresponding parts of the framing I, I. The middlemost of the said three
picces I applies against and is bolted to the said flanges of both cylinders,
where they apply one to the other, and thereby those flanges become united
together; and the two cylinders are further united together by mutual contact
at other flanges, which project laterally from each cylinder at those sides
thereof which are nearest together, and those flanges are united by bolts, so
as to fasten the two cylinders together like one piece. The part C, C, of the
hollow piston rod is formed in the same piece with the piston itself, and the
other part 1, 1, is fastened to the piston by means of a flange around the end
of that part 1, 1, which flange is let into a corresponding recess in the piston,
and is fastened therein by a number of countersunk screws, so as to unite the
part 1, 1, with the piston, as though it were one piece therewith, and with
the part C, C, of the hollow piston rod. The joint pin a is fastened to the cen-
tral part of the piston B, B, by means of two bolts at each end of the pin with
nuts, as shewn at 3, 3, Figure 8, those bolts passing through the said ends of
the pin a, and also through so much of the main plate of the piston as is con-
tinued across the hollow of the piston rod C, C; and although there is an oblong
opening (through that part which is so continued across) for the reception of
the joint at the end of the connecting rod, there is metal enough left at each
side of that oblong opening for so fastening the two ends of the pin a, by the
bolts 5, 3; and in addition to those bolts, the two ends of the pin a may be

page_text: secured by interlocking into recesses formed for those ends within the central
part of the piston, as is shewn in Figure 3. The pin a can be introduced with
one of its ends up and the other down, and then by turning it about so as to
bring the lengthway of the pin a to its proper horizontal position, its two ends
will become securely interlocked into the said recesses, as shewn in Figure 3,
and the bolts 3, 3, will make it quite fast. The sliding valve for distributing
the steam to one of the cylinders is shewn at M, Figure 3; and N shews the
place of an excentric on the main axis H, for giving suitable alternating
motion to the sliding valve M, by intervention of an excentric rod O, and of
some kind of suitable working gear, which must have adequate means of dis-
connecting the valve M from the excentric rod, and then moving the valve by
hand, in order to stop the engine or reverse the direction of its motion when
required; and the excentric at N may for that purpose be moveable on the
main axis H, or else another excentric may be fastened on the axis H for
working the valve M when going backwards, with some suitable means of
connecting one or other of the two excentrics (both of which are fastened
upon the axis H) with the valve, or of disconnecting both excentrics therefrom,
all which may be done in various ways, well known and in common use in
other steam engines, and particularly in marine steam engines, and locomotive
steam engines for railways, and being no part of the present improvements,
are omitted in the Drawing, and need not be described. ff. is the steam box,
wherein the sliding valve M is contained, and into which box steam from the
boiler is conveyed by a steam pipe through a suitable throttle valve, for regu-
lating the quantity of steam that shall pass from the boiler to the engine.
g is the passage to one end E of the cylinder; and h, a like passage to the
other end D, tho sliding valve M adınitting steam from the steam box f, f
alternately through one or other of those passages into one or other of the ends
of the cylinder, according as the valve M is moved one way or the other, so
as to uncover the opening into one or other of the two psssages 9 or h; and k
is the eduction passage, through which the steam is carried away to the con-
denser alternately from one end or other of the cylinder, according as the
valve M is moved, so as to bring the hollow within that valve opposite to
the opening into one or other of the said passages 9 or h, the valve M
always allowing the steam to pass away to the condenser from the opposite
end of the cylinder to that end thereof into which the valve is at the
same time admitting steam from the boiler, unless when the valve is at
the midway of its alternating motion, as shewn in Figure 3, when it keeps
both passages g and h closed; and if the valve remains motionless in that
position, the motion of the engine will cease, all which is as usual in other

page_text: steam engines. The eduction passage. ascends and joins to an eduction
pipe P, which conveys the steam away to the condenser, and which pipe may
be disposed as shewn by dotted lines in Figure 2; but that is in case of the
condenser being placed opposite to the end of the steam cylinder with the
air pump disposed horizontally within that condenser, as represented at R, R,
in Figures 2, 5, and 6, which will be a convenient mode of working the air
pump by means of a horizontal air pump rod S, fastened to the piston B, B,
and passing in a horizontal direction through a stuffing box in the end E of
the cylinder, and united by a socket joint to the piston rod S of the air
pump piston T. But that mode of disposing the air pump within the con-
denser may be varied, and the air pump may be worked by a crank (or an
excentric) on the main axis H, in a similar manner to that which is usual in
direct acting steam engines for steam vessels, except that the air pump will be
horizontal as well as the cylinder, instead of both cylinder and air pump being
vertical, and the condenser may be at the side of the cylinder or beneath the
same, so as to avoid the great length of eduction pipe, shewn by dotted lines in
Figure 2; or the air pump may be disposed vertically, if that is preferred, in
which case it may be worked by intervention of an elbow lever from a crank
(or an excentric) on the main axis H. The end D, D, of the cylinder is the
cover, which can be removed for giving access to the piston; it has the stuffing
box 2, 2, in the centre of it, for the reception of the part 1, 1, of the large
hollow piston rod C1, C1. The joint of the inner end of the connecting rod F
around the pin A may be kept supplied with oil by any suitable kind of oil cup
or oil feeder applied to the brasses of the joint, or a small pipe may be
fastened withinside of the long hollow piston rod C 1, C 1, to convey oil to the
said brasses from a funnel situated beyond the extreme end of that hollow rod,
where oil can be poured in, and when the engine is stopped the said joint will
be accessible for regulating the nuts of its brasses and supplying oil. In
Sheet III. another example is shewn of applying the pistons of two steam
cylinders with long hollow piston rods and connecting rods therein, such as
have been already described, but combined in Sheet III. to operate on one
crank G on the main axis H, the two cylinders being suitably disposed at
opposite sides of the vessel, and with their central lines inclined at angles of
forty-five degrees (or nearly) with the horizontal (or with the vertical), so that
the central lines of the two cylinders are at right angles (or nearly) to one
another, whereby they are qualified for operating by turns upon the crank pin b
of the same crank G, to produce the same effect of continuous action for turn-
ing the axis H of the propeller round, as would be produced by two horizontal
cylinders placed side by side with their pistons acting upon two cranks disposed

page_text: at right angles one to the other upon the same axis H of the propeller, as
shewn in Sheet II. The inclined position of the two cylinders in Sheet III.
will allow the engines to be placed in a narrow part of the vessel further
towards the stern than can be done if the cylinders are horizontal, as in
Sheet II., when they must occupy more width than the narrow part of the stern
of the vessel would allow; and the cylinders, being opposite one to the other,
do not occupy so much space in the lengthway of the vessel as they must do
when placed side by side; also the main axis H will be shorter, inasmuch
as it will have only one crank G instead of two, and inasmuch as the engines
will be further towards the stern of the vessel, and therefore nearer to the pro-
peller. The cylinders A, A, with their pistons B, B, and long hollow piston
rods C 1, C 1, and connecting rods F, F, within the hollows, being the same as
already described, do not require further description. The framing may consist
of two metal frames, such as marked I, I, in Sheet III., which contain two
bearings for the axis H, one at each side of the crank G, suitably for giving
proper support to the axis. The joints at the ends of the two connecting rods
F, F, around the crank pin bare as close side by side as the brasses of the
two joints can work upon that pin b which is long enough to receive the brasses
of both joints, and one of the cylinders must be as much further towards the
stern of the vessel than the other cylinder as the space which the brasses of
one joint occupy along the lengthway of the crank pin b. The framing I, I,
sustains both cylinders, notwithstanding that one of them is thus much further
aft in the vessel than the other cylinder. The air pump or pumps for the.
engines, represented in Sheet III., may be worked by another crank or cranks
(or by an excentric or excentrics) on the axis H, and in case of an excentric
being fastened on that axis for working the valve M of each engine when
going backwards (as already mentioned), that excentric may serve for working
the air pump of each engine. The air pump or pumps may be disposed in
a vertical position, if that is preferred, either within the condenser or by the
side thereof, and may be worked with the intervention of an elbow or other
suitable lever or levers, to be actuated either by such crank or cranks
(or excentric or excentrics), or else by an air pump rod or rods joined to the
pistons B, B, and passing through suitable stuffing boxes in the ends of the
cylinders; or such rods may be joined to the long hollow piston rods C1,
C1, as may be found most convenient and suitable for the place wherein the
air pump or pumps and condenser or condensers is or are to be disposed,
either nearer to or farther from the stern of the vessel than the cylinders are
placed. The cylinders should be furnished with escape valves as usual for
discharging any water which may by accident get into the cylinders. The

page_text: boilers of the engines are not represented, because they may be as usual in
steam vessels..
Another part of our said improvements in steam engines relates to the air
pump, or rather to the valves for the air pump, in cases where the air pump is
placed with its central line in a horizontal position, and is double acting, so as
to withdraw water and air from the condenser when the piston of the air pump.
is moved either backwards or forwards in its horizontal barrel.
An air pump
disposed in a horizontal position, and double acting, as aforesaid, must have
four valves and a solid air pump piston without any valves therein. Such air
pumps have been proposed and are not new; but, according to this part of our
improvements, those valves and the seats to which they fit are so disposed in
respect to the barrel of the pump as to be capable of being removed with case,
and spare valves and seats substituted when required. Figure 5, Sheet II., is
a horizontal section, and Figure 6 a vertical section, of a condenser and air
pump, or a pair of condensers and air pumps, suitable for the steam engine or
pair of steam engines represented in the same Sheet, and already described.
QQ, is a metallic vessel serving for the condenser and hot water cistern. It
may be made with a vertical partition j, Figure 5, to divide its interior capacity
into two compartments, serving as two separate condensers for the two engines,
or else may be two separate vessels disposed side by side. In either case the
air pump barrel R, R, extends in a horizontal direction through the interior of
each compartment (or of each condenser), with an opening into each end of
the barrel, whereof one opening will be enclosed by a door 9. Figure 6, and the
other will be closed by the air pump cover r, which has, as usual, a stuffing
box at the end of it, for the rod S of the air pump to pass through. The
piston T of the air pump, which is fastened on that rod S, is solid, without any
opening through it or valve in it, as is usual in ordinary air pump buckets.
The space left within the vessel Q, Q, around the exterior of each horizontal
air pump barrel R, R, is further divided by a horizontal partition, not shewn
in the Drawing, but it is nearly at the level of the upper part of each barrel
R, and so much of the said space as is beneath the level of that horizontal
partition is the actual capacity of the condenser for the reception of the steam
that is to be condensed, and of the injection of cold water by which the con-
densation is to be effected, and the eduction pipe P from the cylinder of the
engine joins by a side brauch U, Figure 5, to that lower part or condenser.
The space W, Figure 6, above the level of the said horizontal partition, is for
the hot water cistern or hot well, into which the air pump is to discharge the
hot water and air that is extracted by it from the condenser, and the surplus
of which hot water will pass away as usual by the overflow pipe V. The air

page_text: pump, being double acting, requires to be constructed with four valves; two at
each end of the barrel R; one of those two valves being a foot valve, for
admitting water and air to pass from the condenser into the barrel R when
the air pump piston T is moving away from that end of the barrel R, at which
such foot valve is situated; and the other of the said two valves being a dis-
charge valve, for allowing air and water to pass out from the barrel R into
the hot well W, when the air pump piston T is moving towards that end of
the barrel R at which such discharge valve is situated. This part of our im-
provements consists in disposing of the said two valves which are at the
same end of the horizontal barrel of the air pump for the foot valve and dis-
charge valve, as aforesaid, with the said discharge valve exactly over the foot
valve, so that the same upright spindle or guide rod will serve for both valves,
and will also serve to keep the seats for both valves fast in their respective
places in the metal work at the end of the pump barrel, into which places
the said valve seats are accurately fitted. But when the said upright spindle
or guide rod is withdrawn, then the valves become loose, and can be taken out
for examination or for repair, and the valve scats can also be removed out of
their said places if required, and other spare valve seats put into their places
and other valves thercon. In the vertical section, Figure 6, 4 is the lower
valve or foot valve, and 5 the upper valve or discharge valve, at each end of
the horizontal air pump barrel R; 6 and 7 being their respective valve seats,
which are accurately fitted into recesses in the metal at the end of the barrel
R, those recesses being bored correctly circular, and slightly conical, so as to
be concentric with the upright guide rod or spindle 8, which passes through
the central hole of the upper valve seat 7, and into the central hole of the
lower valve seat 6, and has suitable shoulders formed upon it for confining
both the seats 6 and 7 down in their said recesses when the said rod 8 is
forced and held down endways, which is done by a cover 9, screwed down
over a hold in the upper part of the hot water cistern Q, and which cover
bears upon the upper end of the rod or spindle 8, so as to press and hold
the same down, and consequently fasten down the two valve seats 6 and 7,
as aforesaid. The valves 4 and 5 have central holes, through which the
upright rod 8 passes, so as to allow the valves to rise and fall on the rod
which guides them when so rising and falling, and the rod has suitable stop
shoulders formed upon it (or fastened upon it), to limit the height to which
the valve shall be allowed to rise. The valves 4 and 5 may be fitted to their
seats 6 and 7 with flat surfaces or with conical fittings. When the door 7 or
the air pump cover r is removed, also a corresponding door in the same end
of the hot water cistern W, or one door in the top thereof, and likewise the

page_text: cover 9, then the upright rod or spindle 8, being withdrawn upwards through
the hole 9, will leave both the valves 4 and 5 loose, and at liberty to be
removed through the doors or openings aforesaid; and the valve seats 6 and 7
may be also lifted out of their respective recesses into which they are fitted
with a sufficient tapering to be tight, but without any other fastening than by
means of the rod or spindle 8, as aforesaid; and the upper valve seat 7 may be
made so much larger than the lower valve seat 6 as that the latter will pass
freely up through the recess wherein the upper valve is fitted, if it should bo
more convenient to remove the lower seat 6, as well as the upper one, through
the hot water cistern W, and its doors aforesaid. The upright spindle or guide
rod 8 of the two valves 5 and 6, which are at the same end of the barrel R,
has its cover,, is so much on one side of the central line of the barrel as to
avoid any interference with the air pump rod S; but that rod S can be dis-
connected, and, together with the air pump piston T, can be withdrawn from
the barrel R through the door g or r, and the packing of the piston T can be
performed at those doors. The recesses into which the valve seats for the
foot valves 6, 6, are lodged should be continued downwards, as at s, s, near
towards the bottom of the condenser, in order that the water may be effectually
drawn up from the lowest part of the condenser by action of the pump.
And as to our said improvements in machinery for propelling vessels, which
improvements are also applicable for other purposes, the same are for the
most part applicable to vessels with revolving screw propellers, for the purpose
of diminishing the friction and wearing which takes place at that extremity of
the horizontal axis of the revolving propeller which is within the vessel, and
which extremity, at the same time that it is turning rapidly round, must
apply and press endways against some suitable fixed end bearing in the
vessel, so as to transmit to that bearing the whole of the endway force of
the propeller by which the vessel is to be urged forwards through the water.
This part of our improvements relates to such fixed end bearing for the
extremity of the revolving axis, or to any other end bearing for quick revolving
axes, in mill-work or machinery of any kind, and consists in applying a flat
circular disk, of hardened steel or other hard metal, in a vertical plane, at the
proper place for receiving the contact of the flat end of the revolving axis,
which end is also to be hardened steel, the said circular disk being larger in
diameter than the said flat end, and being lodged in a cell at the central part
of a toothed wheel, which is mounted at the end of a short horizontal axis,
sustained in some suitable fixed socket, so as to be somewhat excentric to the
central line of the axis of the propeller, and the said toothed wheel, being turned
shortly round by means of other wheel-work, carries the steel disk slowly round

page_text: with it in the same direction; as the end of the axis of the propeller is at the
same time revolving with a rapid motion, and owing to the said slow revolving
motion of the disk being excentric to the quick revolving motion of the end of
the axes, fresh parts of the flat surface of the said disk are continually brought
opposite to and in contact with the said end, in order to avoid any tendency
to wearing the rubbing surfaces into rings, as usually takes place, and also
to introduce oil or water more effectually between the rubbing surfaces.
Sheets IV. and V. contain a representation of this part of our improvements
by way of example, but the details of the construction there represented may
be greatly varied. Figure 1 is a lateral elevation, Figure 2 an end elevation,
and Figure 3 a horizontal plan, of a metal box containing the end bearing for
the horizontal axis of a revolving propeller for a steam vessel. The box A, A,
is to be securely fastened in the vessel, so that the horizontal spindle H will
correspond with the direction of the centre line of the axes of the propeller, the
said spindle H being inserted and fastened into the end of that axis, by way of
prolongation thereof, revolving therewith, and forming in fact the extreme end
thereof, which is to sustain the endway thrust of the propeller: but note, there
is another suitable bearing, not shewn, which sustains the axis laterally in its
intended place as it revolves. The spindle H passes through a hole in one end
of the box A, A, which has a partition across it at a, through which the spindle
Halso passes in a stuffing box b, and the smaller compartment into which the
box is divided by that partition contains the circular steel disk, before men-
tioned, and is filled with oil or water for keeping the rubbing surfaces cool.
This is better shewn in Sheet V. by Figure 4, which is a vertical longitudinal
section; Figure 5, a horizontal section; and Figure 6, Sheet IV., an end
section. B is the circular steel disk; and D is the toothed wheel, into a cell at
the centre whereof the steel disk B is inlayed and fastened, so as to be firmly
held in a vertical plane, and so as to be carried round with the slow revolving
motion of the said wheel D, which is sustained by means of a prominent
central boss c, e, on the opposite side of it to that side in which the disc B is
fastened, which boss e, e, is received in and fitted to a corresponding circular
cellff, which may for the present be considered as immoveably fixed, with its
centre somewhat excentric to the central line of the spindle H, as is apparent
in Figure 5. The toothed wheel D is capable of turning round in the said
cell ff, as though it were mounted on the end of a horizontal axis, and
revolving therewith in a vertical plane, and carrying the disk B round with it
in such motion; and there may be a horizontal centre pin at g, in the centre of
the said cell f,f, fixed to or part thereof, and fitted into the central hole of the
wheel D, for more completely sustaining the same when it is revolving, as

page_text: aforesaid; and also the central part of the wheel D around its prominent boss
e, e, applies with close contact against the flat circular border around the cell f,f,
and, by the aforesaid fittings and contact over a considerable diameter, the
wheel D and desk B are securely sustained in their intended vertical plane,
and qualified to bear the endway pressure of the spindle H, notwithstanding
the excentricity thereof to the wheel D, as is shewn in Figurge 5. The afore-
said slow revolving motion of the desk B and wheel D is given thereto by
means of an endless screw E, on a horizontal cross axis F, which is turned
round by a spur wheel G on the end of it, that wheel receiving motion from
another spur. wheel N on the end of another cross axis I, whereon is a toothed
wheel J, that is turned round by another endless screw jon the spindle H. The
aforesaid wheel-work and screw-work will give a very slow revolving motion to
the wheel D and disk B, compared with the rapid revolving motion of the
spindle H; but the proportions of the said wheels and screws may be varied,
and the endless screws E and J (or one of them) may be made with two spiral
threads, or three, in which case the revolving motion given to the disk B will not
be so slow. Note, the Drawing represents the circular cell f.f, (which has been
herein-before mentioned as immoveably fixed) to be moveable, in order that the
extent of the excentricity of the disk B to the spindle H may be rendered less or
more at pleasure by merely turning a lever handle K, Figure 3. In case the
cell ff, were intended to be immoveably fixed, as already mentioned, it would
merely be fastened by any secure means against the vertical interior surface
of the end of the box A, in the proper position against that surface for
giving the disk B the intended excentricity, the degree of which could not
be afterwards varied without altering the position in which the cell f. f, had
been so fastened, and fastening it in a new position. But if the parts are
constructed according to the Drawing, the degree of excentricity can be
varied at pleasure merely by turning the lever handle K, Figure 3, which is
fastened on the extreme end of a horizontal axis k, Figures 4 and 5, which
axis is part of the metal of the cell f, f, but excentric thereto, as is shewn
in Figure 5. The said axis k is fitted into a socket perforated horizontally
through the end of the box A, and the flat vertical surface of the said end around
that socket affords a flat bearing for the flat vertical surface at the back of the
cell f.f, around its axis k. The socket for the axis k is somewhat excentric to
the central line of the spindle H, as is shewn in Figure 5; and in the position
of the parts there shewn, the said excentricity of the axis K, in respect to the
spindle H, concurs with the excentricity of the cell f. f, in respect to its said
axis k, for giving the full degree of excentricity to the disk B in respect to the
spindle H that the size of the disk B and of the end of the spindle II will.

page_text: permit, as is shewn in Figure 5; but if the handle K and axis k with the cell
ff, were to be turned half way round from their said position, Figure 5, then
the excentricity of the axis k, in respect to the spindle H, and that of the
cell ff, in respet to the axis k, would counteract or neutralize each other,
so as to give little or no excentricity to the disk B in respect to the spindle H;
or the handle K, being turned to any intermediate position between the
aforesaid extremes, would give any intermediate degree of excentricity as may
be preferred. The axis k should be made to fit tight into its socket, and to
fasten thereon by screwing a nut on the end of the axis, and the lever handle K
should have some adequate means of holding it fast in any required position.
And whereas the motion so given to the cell f.f, in turning it with its axis k
by the lever handle K, as aforesaid, would derange the position of the wheel D
in respect to the gearing of its teeth in the spiral threads of the endless
screw E, the cross axis F of that screw and of the spur wheel G must be
allowed to rise and fall in its bearings; but it will be retained at its proper
distance from the cross axis I of the other spur wheel N, by means of two
levers r, r, Figures 2, 3, and 4, which extend out from another horizontal cross
axis S, and there are sockets at the ends of r, r, forming bearings for the
cross axis F, which bearings will rise and fall freely with it, but will keep i
always horizontal. Also the endless screw E is fitted upon its said cross axis
F with feathers or keys, so as to be capable of sliding along that axis F end-
ways thereon, but so as to be compelled to go round therewith, and the place
that the endless screw E will occupy in the lengthway, its said cross axis F is
regulated by two bearings t, t, which are fitted on the axis F so as to include
the screw between them; those bearings t, t, are projections from a collar v, v,
which is fitted around the outer circumference of the cell f,f, the collar being
made in two halves, united together by screws x, x; the said circumference is
concentric with the interior of the cell f,f, and with its central pin g (if there
is one), and consequently is concentric with the wheel D; wherefore, when the
cell f, f, is turned round with motion about its axis k by the handle K, as
aforesaid, the collar v, v, by its projections t, t, will cause the endless screw E
to rise or fall together with its axis F, or to move sideway along that axis with
such compound motion as that it will always preserve a proper contact of its
spiral threads with the teeth of the wheel D for turning the same round, as
aforesaid. The aforesaid wheel-work may be simplified by using a toothed
pinion on the spindle H, in place of the endless screw j, that pinion turning a
spur wheel on a horizontal longitudinal axis over and parralel to the spindle H,
with another pinion on that axis for, turning the wheel D, which wheel and the
disk B will in that case be turned with a quicker motion than with the endless

page_text: screws, but which quicker motion may in many cases answer the purpose as
well as a slower motion.
The said part of our improvements which is represented in Sheets IV. and
V., and herein-before described, is applicable, with suitable modifications, to the
end bearings of revolving axes of mill-work and machinery in general when
the pressure on the end of an axis, and the velocity of its revolution, renders
the rubbing surfaces liable to wearing and heating; and whether the position of
such axis is horizontal (as herein-before described), or vertical as in the case of
heavy perpendicular axes in mills bearing on their lower ends with their weight
(and that of wheels or other moving parts fastened upon them), our improve-
ment hercin-before described may be applied at the ends of such axes with
advantage.
Having now described our said improvements, I, the said John Penn, for
myself, and on behalf of the said William Hartree and John Matthew, do
hereby declare that the new Invention, whereof the exclusive use is granted
to us by the Letters Patent herein-before recited, consists in the following
improvements:—
First, in the improvement, herein-before described in reference to Sheets I.,
II., III., of the Drawings hereunto annexed, in steam engines which have
hollow piston rods, and connecting rods within the hollow thereof, and some-
times called trunk engines) of making such hollow piston rod extend both ways
from the piston, and pass through stuffing boxes in both ends of the cylinder,
in order to obtain an equal surface of the piston for receiving the pressure of
the steam, and inpelling the piston in both directions in the cylinder, upwards
and downwards, or backwards or forwards, and at the same tinie obtaining a
secure guidance of the piston in such motion, in consequence of the long hollow
piston rod sliding through the stuffing boxes at both ends of the cylinder, also
rendering the joint of the inner end of the connecting rod accessible within the
said long hollow piston rod. But note, no claim is made to the extending of
a piston rod each way from the piston, and guiding such long piston rod by
passing through stuffing boxes in both ends of the cylinder,
done for the mere purpose of guidance of the piston in its
the cylinder; but claim only is made when the long piston rod which is
so guided is hollow, for the purpose of receiving the connecting rod within
the hollow, as herein-before described.
when that is
motion within
Secondly, in the improvement, herein-before described in reference to
Figures 5 and 6, Sheet II., of disposing the valves of horizontal double-acting
air pumps for steam engines with the lower or foot valve directly beneath the
upper or discharge valve, and holding the valve seats for both those valves fast

page_text: in their proper places (and also guiding the valves in their rising and falling
motions) by means of one fixed upright spindle or guide rod, which, on being
removed, allows the two valves and their valve seats to be removed for repair
and then replaced again with ease, or other spare valves and seats substituted,
without any delay for repairing.
Thirdly, in the improvements, herein-before described in reference to Sheets
IV. and V., for applying a slowly revolving disk at the extreme end of a quick
revolving axis for bearing the endway pressure and friction of such axis,
whether horizontal or vertical, such revolving disk being turned round by
wheel-work from the axis, and being excentric to the end of the axis in any
suitable degree, or even concentric to the axis.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Penn, for myself, and on behalf of
the said William Hartree and John Matthew, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-second day of June, One thousand eight
in their proper places (and also guiding the valves in their rising and falling
motions) by means of one fixed upright spindle or guide rod, which, on being
removed, allows the two valves and their valve seats to be removed for repair
and then replaced again with ease, or other spare valves and seats substituted,
without any delay for repairing.
Thirdly, in the improvements, herein-before described in reference to Sheets
IV. and V., for applying a slowly revolving disk at the extreme end of a quick
revolving axis for bearing the endway pressure and friction of such axis,
whether horizontal or vertical, such revolving disk being turned round by
wheel-work from the axis, and being excentric to the end of the axis in any
suitable degree, or even concentric to the axis.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Penn, for myself, and on behalf of
the said William Hartree and John Matthew, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-second day of June, One thousand eight
hundred and forty-six.
JOHN PENN. (L.S.)
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Twenty-second day of June, in
the tenth year of the reign of Her Majesty Queen Victoria, the said John
Penn came before our said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknow-
ledged the Instrument aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained
and specified, in form above written. And also the Instrument aforesaid was
stumped according to the tenor of the Statute made in the fifty-fifth year of