Improvements in and relating to Steam Engines.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 18th Feb., 1897-Accepted, 31st July, 1897
Improvements in and relating to Steam Engines.
I, EMIL FRANKEL, of Allenstein, East Prussia, in the German Empire, Engineer,
do hereby declare the nature of this invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:—
This invention relates to steam engines and its object is to provide means or
devices whereby the exhaust steam and water may be conveyed back to the
generator.
In carrying this invention into effect a separate pump actuated from the steam
cylinder may be employed or the piston of the steam cylinder itself may be
employed to return the exhaust to the boiler.
The accompanying drawings to which I will hereinafter refer illustrate the
application of various modifications of my improvements to steam engines.
Figure 1 illustrates in longitudinal section a steam cylinder which has a separate
returning pump combined with it. The steam cylinder a may be of the ordinary
or any usual construction and has its exhaust passage connected by suitable pipes
with the pump g the piston of which is connected to the steam cylinder piston
and operated thereby. The cylinder piston has a slightly larger diameter than the
pump piston. The pipe connecting the steam cylinder and the pump may contain
a condenser or the like b in which partial condensation of the steam may take place.
In the position shown in Figure 1 the steam piston has reached the extreme end of
its stroke in one direction and the expanded steam has commenced to exhaust,
passing through the pipe and condenser b and branch f into the pump g. As the
pump piston moves away the steam and the like which is in front of it and which
has been conveyed there from a previous exhaust of the steam cylinder, is forced
through the passage d, valve d², and pipe c back to the steam generator. Each end
of the pump cylinder is furnished with inlet and outlet ports provided with
suitable non-return valves, such as d' and d².
Figure 2 illustrates the application of my improvements to a single acting
cylinder the piston of which also acts to return the steam and the like to the
boiler. As before, a indicates the steam cylinder one end of which is furnished
with a suitable inlet and exhaust steam valve. The exhaust steam, escaping from
behind the piston, passes through a pipe which may contain a condenser b and
enters the front of the cylinder through the non-return valve d. Upon the next
forward movement of the piston under the impulse of live steam the exhaust steam
or mixture of water and steam contained in front of the piston is forced through
the passage d, non-return valve d², and pipe c to the steam generator.
Figure 3 shows a double acting cylinder in which the compression of the exhaust
takes place within the cylinder and upon the same side of the piston as that to
which the live steam is admitted. The arrangement employed is only fully
illustrated in application to one end of the cylinder, but it will be understood that
the other end is similarly equipped. As soon as the piston reverses its stroke the
compression of the steam and the like takes place within the same space in which it
had previously expanded. This exhaust steam passes through the passage d,