IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM ENGINES
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Syrett, of Bury St. Edmunds, in the
County of Suffolk, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
STEAM ENGINES."
Sealed the 23rd April 1861, and dated the 26th October. 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Syrett at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 26th
October 1860.*
I, WILLIAM SYRETT, of Bury St. Edmonds, in the County of Suffolk,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN STEAM ENGINES," to be as follows:-
The object of my said improvements is to obtain an increase of power
from a certain amount of steam, and consequently a saving of fuel.
My improvements consist in useing one or more non-condensing cylinders
in connection with a condensing cylinder, so arranged that the stroke of the
non-condensing cylinder shall be longer than the stroke of the condensing
cylinder, and that the steam from the said non-condensing cylinder or
cylinders shall be again used in the said condensing cylinder. In the case
of double-cylinder beam engines, the non-condensing cylinder is applied at the
outer end of the beam in connection with the ordinary condensing cylinder,
by which arrangement the piston of the non-condensing cylinder has to travel
faster than the piston of the condensing cylinder. The slide valves are placed
one over the other, the slide valve belonging to the non-condensing cylinder
being on the top of the slide case of the condensing cylinder, so that the non-
condensing cylinder shall exhaust at once into the slide case of the condensing
cylinder, the slide valve in which is constructed with the lap inside, and so as

page_text: to take up as much room in the slide case as possible, and prevent expansion
taking place therein.
My improvements are applicable to most descriptions of steam engines; in
the case of double-cylinder, horizontal, or vertical engines, the travel of the
pistons will be the same in the non-condensing and condensing cylinders, and
the piston rods will be connected by a cross head furnished with a long
connecting rod passing between the two cylinders to a crank placed behind or
below them, as the case may be. These arrangements can be used either
with or without a condenser.
My improvements can be applied to all portable, agricultural, fixed, and
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Syrett in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
26th April 1861..
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
SYRETT, of Bury St. Edmonds, in the County of Suffolk, Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-sixth day of October, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-fourth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
ine, the said William Syrett, Her special licence that I, the said William
Syrett, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said William Syrett, my 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
"IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM ENGINES," upon the condition (amongst others) that
I, the said William Syrett, my executors or administrators, by an instrument
in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should par-
ticularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in
what manner the same was to be performed, and cause the same to be
filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and.
immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Syrett, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be

page_text: performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the fol-
lowing statement thereof, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings,
and to the figures and letters marked thereon (that is to say) :-
The object of my said improvements is to obtain an increase of power from
a certain amount of steam, and consequently a saving in fuel.
My said improvements consist in using a non-condensing cylinder in con-
nection with a condensing cylinder, so arranged that the stroke of the non-
condensing cylinder shall be longer than the stroke of the condensing cylinder,
and that the steam from the said non-condensing cylinder shall be again used in
the said condensing cylinder. In the case of double-cylinder beam engines, the
non-condensing cylinder is placed on the outside of the condensing cylinder, so
that the piston of the said non-condensing cylinder being at a greater distance
from the beam gudgeon or centre, has a longer stroke than the piston of the
said condensing cylinder, and also has to travel faster. The non-condensing
cylinder receives its steam direct from the boiler, and exhausts into the con-
densing cylinder in the same manner as in other double-cylinder beam engines.
The slide valves of the condensing and non-condensing cylinders are of the
common description, and the valves work up and down at the same time,' and
are moved by the ordinary weight bar and levers. The above arrangements
are also applicable to high-pressure engines.
In the case of portable steam engines, the high-pressure and expansive
cylinders are applied together in a similar manner as in the case of the beani
engine before described, but of course in the portable engine the action is
direct. The difference in the length of stroke of the respective pistons is
compensated by a corresponding difference in the length of their cranks. The
valves are worked by the same means, and the details of the engine are the
same as in other engines of this class.
In applying my Invention to horizontal high and low pressure marinė and
stationary engines, the non-condensing and condensing cylinders, the respective
strokes of which may be equal or unequal, must be so placed that a long
connecting rod can work between them and occupy but little space. The
piston rods of each cylinder work in guides, and are connected by a common
cross head, to which the connecting rod is attached, which passes between the
cylinders, and communicates motion to the crank shaft placed at the back of
the cylinders. The said cross head works the air, feed, and bilge pumps in the
case of marine engines. The slide valves are of the common description, and
are worked in the same manner as in ordinary steam engines of the same
class.
..

page_text: hereunto annexed.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 is a side elevation of a beam engine of the common construction,
showing the cylinders placed according to my said Invention. Letter A is the
condensing or low-pressure cylinder; B is the steam chest containing slide
valve of the ordinary construction belonging to it; C is the non-condensing or
high-pressure cylinder; D is the steam chest, with valve belonging to the
same. The slide valves are both worked up and down at the same time by
means of the weight bar lever E, which is constructed and operated upon in
the ordinary manner. F is the steam pipe from the boiler leading to the
non-condensing cylinder, in which the steam is first used at high pressure,
and from which it passes direct to the condensing cylinder, and is therein used
expansively; G is the exhaust pipe leading to the condenser; His the sole
plate of the engine; J are columns for supporting the entablature K; L is
the beam; M is centre on which it moves; N is the connecting rod; O is
the crank; P is the fly wheel; Q is the eccentric; and R is the governor.
Figure 2 is a part side elevation of a portable engine, showing the appli-
cation of the said high-pressure and expansive cylinders, which it will be seen
is similar to that shown and described in the beam engine, with the difference
that in this case their action is direct. Letter S is the expansion cylinder;
Tis the high-pressure cylinder; U is the piston rod of the same; V is the
connecting rod; W is the crank. The piston rod, connecting rod, and crank
of the expansion cylinder being at the back, are not shown in the Drawing,
but are the same as those of the high-pressure cylinder, except as regards the
length of the crank, which, of course, is proportionate to the length of the
cylinder's stroke. The slide valves are worked by the same means as, and
the other details are the same as in other portable engines of the class.
Figure 3 is a part plan view of a horizontal engine, and Figure 4 is a
section through the same on the line a-b. Letter X is the engine's bed
plate; Y is the non-condensing cylinder; Z is the condensing cylinder.
These cylinders are so placed that a long connecting rod, as shown at
letter A¹, can work between them. B¹ is a cross head connecting the two
piston rods, to which the said connecting rod is attached, and communicates
motion to the crank shaft C¹ by means of its crank D¹; letter. E' are the
guides for the cross head, and F' are bearings for the crank shaft.
By

page_text: arranging the cylinders and connecting rod, as shown in the Drawing, the
engine will occupy very little space. The condensing apparatus and other
details are of the common description.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of the said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be carried into effect,
I would observe in conclusion that I do not claim any parts or portions of
the machinery or mechanism herein-before described or referred to, taken by
themselves; but what I consider to be novel and original, and therefore claim.
as the Invention secured to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters
Patent, is,--
First, in the case of beam engines, the placing of the non-condensing,
cylinder on the outside of the condensing cylinder, so as to give the piston of
the former cylinder a longer stroke and a greater velocity than has the piston
of the latter cylinder, and enable the steam used in the said non-condensing
cylinder to exhaust into the condensing cylinder, and be used expansively.
therein, as herein-before described.
:
Second, the application to portable engines of a high-pressure and an
expansive cylinder either with an equal or an unequal length of stroke, so as
to use the steam from the high-pressure cylinder again expansively, as; herein.;
before described.
Third, in the case of double-cylinder engines, whether horizontal or vertical;
and of equal or unequal strokes, the placing of the respective cylinders in such
a manner that a connecting rod can work between them, and also the use of a.
non-condensing cylinder with a longer stroke than the condensing cylinder, as
herein-before described...
In witness whereof, I, the said William Syrett, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-second day of April, in the year of our
Lord One' thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
Witness,
ROBERT SYRETT, Sen*.,
Bury St. Edmds, 61, Whiting St.
WILLIAM SYRETT, (L.S.)
50, Risbygate St.,
Bury St. Edmonds.