IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM ENGINES AND IN VALVES, PARTS OF WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE APPLICABLE FOR DIVINICHIEDIAN TV OTHE
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joseph Hulme, of the City of Manchester, in the
County of Lancaster, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN STEAM ENGINES AND IN VALVES, PARTS OF WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE
APPLICABLE FOR DIVINICHIEDIAN TV OTHE"
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joseph Hulme at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 1st July
1854.
I, JOSEPH HULME, of the City of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN STEAM ENGINES AND IN VALVES, PARTS OF WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE APPLICABLE
FOR DIMINISHING FRICTION IN OTHER ENGINES," to be as follows:-
My improvements in steam engines consist, first, in a new arrangement of
parts constituting a direct action oscillating engine. To the cylinder lid is
attached a guide frame, in which fits a block, fitting on the crank pin; to this
block is attached the end of the piston rod; by this means, when the piston
moves to and fro in the cylinder, a rotary motion is imparted to the crank, and
an oscillating motion to the cylinder. To the other lid of the cylinder is jointed
the air pump piston rod, which is thus made to work the air pump by the
oscillating of the cylinder. A compound engine with a high pressure and low

page_text: pressure cylinder may be made on the same principle, each piston rod being
connected to a crank, as above described.
My Invention consists, secondly, in an improved mode of reducing the fric-
tion of the slide working in the guide frame of the cylinder. Either or both
sides of the block are furnished with antifriction rollers, which have toothed
pinions attached to them, taking into toothed racks fixed to the guide frame;
by this means motion is given to the antifriction rollers; consequently the
injurious effects arising from the rollers remaining sometimes stationary aro
avoided, and less friction is produced. This part of my Invention is also
applicable to other purposes for diminishing friction.
The third part of my Invention consists in an improved foot step for the
governors of steam engines. The foot step is a hollow block of metal, and a
current of water or other fluid is caused to circulate through it, thereby keeping
the parts cool. This part of my Invention is also applicable for reducing
friction in other upright spindles or shafts.
The fourth part of my Invention consists in making the spindle of "mush-
room or other circular valves of nearly the same diameter as the valvo itself,
the object of which is to reduce the power required for raising such valves off
their seatings.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Joseph Hulme in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
28th December 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSEPH
HULME, of the City of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Engineer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the First day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the eighteenth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Joseph Hulme, Her special license that I, the said Joseph Hulme, my execu-
tors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Joseph Hulme,
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

page_text: AND IN VALVES, PARTS OF WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE APPLICABLE FOR DIMINISHING
FRICTION IN OTHER ENGINES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said Joseph Hulme, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal,
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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Joseph Hulme, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, that is to say:―
The nature of my Invention consists, first, in a new arrangement or
combination of parts forming a direct action oscillating steam engine, in
which the cylinder and the guide frame of the piston rod are made to act as a
beam.
Secondly, in working the air pump buckets of oscillating engines from the
cylinder, or from some part connected thereto.
Thirdly, in an improved combination of parts, forming a compound direct
action oscillating steam engine.
Fourthly, in giving motion to antifriction rollers by means of racks, seg-
ments, or wheels and pinions, for the purpose of preventing the slipping and
consequent uneven working of such antifriction rollers, or of the surfaces
against which they act.
Fifthly, in causing a current of water or other cool fluid to pass through a
chamber formed under the foot step of governor spindles or other upright
shafts, for the purpose of keeping such foot steps from heating.
And, lastly, in making the spindles of mushroom or other circular valves of
nearly the same diameter as the valve itself, to reduce the power required for
working such valves.
Having thus stated the nature of my Invention, I will proceed to describe
the manner of performing the same, reference being had to the accompanying
Drawing, and to the figures and letters marked thereon.
Figure 1 is an elevation of the principal parts of my improved direct action
oscillating steam engine; Figure 2 is a plan of the same. a is the cylinder;
b, b, the valve boxes; c, the cylinder lid, to which are cast or fixed the guide
frames d; c is the piston rod, to the outer extremity of which is keyed the
block f, which fits between the guide frames d, and through which the crank
pin g passes. The antifriction roller f¹ fits also on the crank pin g; to this
roller is fixed the spur pinion f³, which gears into the rack d', fixed to the

page_text: front of the guide frame d. The object of this rack and pinion is to impart a
positive rotary motion to the antifriction roller f; by this means the uneven
wearing of the antifriction roller and of the guide frame is prevented. The
crank and the fly wheel h' are keyed on the fly wheel shaft i in the ordinary
imanner. To the opposite end of the cylinder a is fixed the lid j, from which
projects the bracket k; the links are jointed above to the bracket k, and
below to the cross head m, of the air pump piston rod n. o is the air pump
cylinder, and p the hot well, both of which are constructed as usual. Upon
the lid of the air pump is fixed the guide frame o¹, for the piston rod n to work
through; but, if more convenient, this guide frame may be dispensed with, and
the parallel motion shewn by dotted lines may be used instead. The steam is
admitted to the steam chests or valve boxes b, b, through the trunnion 7, see
Figure 2, and the off-steam is conveyed to the hot well p through the trunnion
and pipe . This mode of admitting and conveying away the steam is also
similar to other oscillating steam engines. The Drawing represents the engine
at about half stroke, and it is evident, from the foregoing description, that when
steam is admitted to the lower side of the piston in the cylinder a, the piston
rode and block f, acting on the crank pin g, cause the crank h to revolve in
the direction of the arrow until the cylinder a is horizontal; the steam valves
being then reversed, cause the block f to act on the crank h, thereby bringing
the cylinder into the inclined position indicated by the dotted line a', and then
again horizontal, at which point the valves are again reversed, and the requisite
rotary motion in the crank shaft is thus produced. The oscillation of the
cylinder a gives the upward and downward motion to the air pump bucket by
the bracket and links 1, above referred to.
By this improved arrangement of parts the cylinder and the guide frame
of the piston rod are made to act as the beam of ordinary steam engines.
Although I have shewn the cylinder a and the crank shaft i in the same
horizontal plane, they may be placed vertically or diagonally; and the air pump,
instead of being worked by a bracket fixed to the cylinder lid, may be worked
by a bracket attached to the cylinder itself.
I also propose to construct compound direct action oscillating steam engines
on the principle above described; in such engines the steam from a high-
pressure cylinder would be conveyed to a low-pressure cylinder, and the piston
rods of each cylinder would be connected to two cranks fixed at right angles
on the same crank shaft.
Figure 3 represents a modification of my improvements in giving motion to
antifriction rollers, for the purpose of preventing them wearing unevenly. s $ is
a piston rod; s¹, the connecting rod; 2, the cross head, to which it is con-

page_text: nected; is the antifriction roller, working against the guide bar s*; to the
antifriction roller s³ is fixed a pinion s', gearing into the rack s, fixed to the
guide bar s. Figures 4 and 5 are two views of another modification of this
part of my Invention. t is supposed to be the journal of a crank or other shaft,
and t an antifriction roller, on which the journal works; t is a pinion on the
shaft t; and, a wheel on the antifriction roller t'; by this means it is apparent
that a constant rotary motion is given to the antifriction roller by the journal
to be supported; consequently no uneven wearing can take place in either of
them. Figure 6 represents a sectional elevation of my improved foot step
for governor spindles or other vertical shafts or spindles. u is the upright shaft,
supported in the foot step u', around which a current of water or other cool
fluid is maintained through the ingress pipe u² and egress pipe ³: by this
means no injurious heating of the foot step can take place. Figure 7 is a
sectional elevation of one of my improved valves, suitable for water or other
liquid. is the valve, fitting on the seating in the usual manner. To the
valve vis jointed the lower end of the link v, which is fixed above to the
spindle v, passing through a leather packing of the ordinary construction. The
diameter of this spindle is nearly as great as that of the valve; consequently,
when the valve is raised, the resistance to be overcome is only equal to the
pressure on an area equal to the difference between the two surfaces. Figur:
8 is another valve on the same principle, suitable for steam. In this case the
spindle is made to pass through a stuffing box of the usual construction.
The other parts of the valve are similar to those shewn in Figure 7.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the mode of per-
forming the same, I wish it to be understood that I do not limit myself to the
details herein set forth, so long as the peculiar character of my Invention be
retained; but what I do claim is,-
First, the improved direct action oscillating steam engine, as shewn in the
Drawing, and as described.
Secondly, working the air pump buckets of oscillating engines, as shewn
and as described.
Thirdly, contructing compound direct action oscillating steam engines, as
described.
Fourthly, giving motion to antifriction rollers by means of racks, segments,
or wheels and pinions, in order to give a positive rotary motion to antifriction
rollers, to prevent the uneven wearing of the same, or of the slides or surfaces
against which the work.
Fifthly, the improved construction of foot step, shewn and described.
And, lastly, making the spindles of mushroom or other circular valves of

page_text: nearly the same diameter as the valves to which they are connected, in order
to reduce the power required for working such valves.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Hulme, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-seventh day of December, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four.
JOSEPH HULME. (L.S.)
Signed, sealed, and delivered by the within-
named Joseph Hulme, in the presence of
H. B. BARLOW,
Patent Agent,
Manchester.