CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM ENGINES
Year: 1832

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
BROWN, of Liverpool, Merchant, send greeting.
WHEREAS His present most Excellent Majesty King William the
Fourth, by His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing
date at Westminster, the Ninth day of June, in the second year of His reign,
did, for Himself, His heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
William Brown, His especial licence, sole privilege and authority, that I, the
said William Brown, my exors, adñiors, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said William Brown, my exors, adñiors, or assigns, should at any time agree
with, and no others, from time to time, and at all times during the term of
years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and
vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and also
in all His said Majesty's Colonics and Plantations abroad, the Invention of
"CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM ENGINES," communicated to me by a certain
Foreigner residing abroad; in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso
that I, the said William Brown, shall cause a particular description of the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed,
to be inrolled in His said Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar
months next and immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters,
as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at
large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
William Brown, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention communicated
to me from abroad is fully described and ascertained in and by the following
description thereof, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed, and
to the figures and letters marked thereon (that is to say):-
The Invention consists in a certain arrangement of apparatus for producing
a slide to a vibrating cylinder of a steam engine, whereby the steam will be
alternately admitted to the cylinder, and cut off therefrom by the vibration of
such cylinder; but in order that. the Invention may be clearly understood and
carried into effect, I will, describe the Drawing hereunto.annexed..
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Fig. 1 is an elevation of the engine, and Fig. 2 is a plan thereof. In each
of these Figures the same letters indicate similar parts, as is the case with the
various other Figures, wherein separate parts are shewn, as will be fully described
hereafter; a, a, being the framing on which the engine is mounted; b, the
engine or steam cylinder, which vibrates, on axes c,,c, which turn in bearings
d, d, one on each side of the cylinder, as is shewn in the Drawing.
e is the
piston rod, which it will be seen passes through both covers of the steam
cylinder, there being stuffing boxes f, f, formed on the covers at each end of the
cylinder. These stuffing boxes are made considerably longer than is usual
with-fixed engines, the object being to give as much bearing at each end of
the cylinder for the piston rod as possible. Into these stuffing boxes is placed
hemp, cotton, or other material usually employed for packing and keeping the
covers of the cylinders steam-tight at the parts through which the piston rod
works. g is the 'crank to which the piston rod-is applied, by the strap and
keys as usual, and h is the main shaft to which it is to be connected any mill-
work or other machinery which the engine is intended to drive. is a fly
wheel affixed to the shaft h, as shown in the Drawing; this shaft h turns in
bearings j, j, which are screwed to the top of the framing a, a, as is clearly
shewn in the Drawing. In Fig. 1 the dotted lines indicate the positions to
which the vibration of the cylinder 6 on its axes causes it to assume, by
which it will be evident that the openings or apertures to admit the steam
being formed at each end of the steam cylinder, as is 'shewn at k; l; Fig. 3,
which Figure represents a side view of the steam cylinder b, shewn separately),
such openings will at each vibration of the cylinder be caused to move through
a space equal to that between the dotted lines m, m, at each end of the cylinder,
and thus will such openings be alternately brought to the point at which the
admission of steam to the cylinder takes place, and then to the point at which

page_text: such steam, after having acted on the piston, is emitted from the cylinder either
to a condenser or into the open air, according whether the engine is used as a
condensing or a high-pressure engine. n, n, Figs. 2 and 3, are two ground
surfaces or plates affixed to the side of the cylinder, through which the open-
ings or apertures & and I are formed, which 'admit steam on each side of the
piston. These plates n, n, are caused to slide or act against two similar
ground plates of the steam pipe and eduction ways hereafter described. In
Figs. 1 and 2, o is a circular flat pipe for admitting steam to flow into and out
of the steam cylinder, a plan of which is shewn separately in Fig. 4, and a
section thereof in Fig. 5, and by which Figures its formation and construction
will be readily understood. On to the side which is turned towards the steam
cylinder there are formed two ground plates p, q, having two openings or
apertures in each plate at r, s, and t, u, for the admission and emission of
steam, as will be fully described hereafter. This circular pipe is kept to the
position shown at Figs. 1 and 2, by the screw v passing through the clamp w,
shown separately in Fig. 6, the lower part of the circular pipe being supported
by the framing a, a.
It will be seen by the section of the circular-pipe,
Fig. 5, that there are two partitions, x, which are between the openings or
apertures r and s, and t and u, so that when the steam fills the lower: com-
partment or division of the circular pipe o the upper compartment or division
acts as an eduction way for the steam for both ends of the cylinder, and when
the upper compartment is the compartment open to the boiler then the lower
compartment acts as an eduction way for the steam to escape from both ends
of the cylinder. y, Fig. 2, is a branch pipe 'shewn in separate views, Figs. 7
and 8. This branch pipe is affixed by means of its flanches A, A, to the
flanches A, A, which are formed on the circular pipe o, as shown at Fig. 2, by
means of screw bolts and nuts, as is well understood. On the front of the
branch pipes y is formed a circular plate B, having four holes C, D, and E, F,
which enter into the branch pipes y, such pipes having no direct communica-
tion the one with the other. G is another circular plate, shown separately in
Fig. 9, and in its place in Fig. 2'; this plate is screwed in front of the plate B
by the screw H, as shown in Fig. 2, and in such manner that the cavities or
recesses I and J-shall connect the holes C, D, and E, F, that is, the cavity I
shall cause there to be a steamway from C, D, and the cavity J shall form
a steamway from E to F, the objects of which will be fully described here-
after. K is a hole drilled into the plate G, into which à handle or lever is to
be inserted when it is desired to turn this plate. The plates B and G accurately
ground, so that when they are screwed together they shall be steam-tight, and
only permit the steam to pass by the cavities as before-mentioned.

page_text: Having now described the various parts of the engine, I will proceed to
describe the manner of the action, the doing which I will suppose that the
steam pipe from a steam boiler is connected to the flanch at L of the flanch
pipes y, the steam would flow through the pipe or aperture C, in the plate B,
through D, and thence into and fill the lower compartment of the circular
pipe o, and the steam from such lower compartment will pass into the steam
cylinder 6 whenever either of the apertures k and I are opposite the openings
or apertures u and s, and the steam will be emitted from the openings or aper-
tures and whenever either of those openings or apertures are opposite
the apertures and respectively; thus, for instance, supposing that the crank
were being moved in the direction of the arrow, the outer end of the cylinder b
would be depressed, and the aperture / would be open to the lower compart-
ment of the steam pipe o at u, and steam would flow into the cylinder to
actuate the piston, meanwhile the aperture 7 of the cylinder b would be opposite
the aperture r, by which the steam, after having acted on that side of the
piston, would pass into the upper compartment of the circular pipe o, either to
a condenser or to the open air, as required. The continued rotation of the
crank g would cause the other end of the steam cylinder to be depressed, by
which the steam would be cut off from the aperture k, and opened at the aper-
ture I, which would bring the aperture k to be opposite the aperture t, to allow
of the emission of the steam from that side of the piston. It will be evident
that the surfaces of the plates n and n, and p, q, must be very accurately
ground, or have elastic packings, in order to keep the same steam-tight.
case the engine is intended for a condensing engine, then the pipe which leads
to the condenser is connected to the flanch M, and it will be necessary to apply
the requisite parts, and cause them to be worked by the engine, as will be
readily done by an engineer. If, however, the engine is intended for a high-
pressure engine, then it will only be necessary to attach a pipe at the flanch M,
and the steam may be conveyed from the engine in the direction required..
In
When it is desired to change the direction of the engine, or to cause the
crank to turn in the opposite direction to that which it has been working, it will
be only necessary to turn the plate G, by means of a lever or handle placed in
the hole K, in such manner that the cavities I and J shall open a way between
C and E, and D and F, by which means the upper compartment of the pipe o
will be converted into the steam compartment and the lower compartment into
the eduction way for the steam after it has actuated the piston.
Having now described the nature of the Invention as communicated to me
from abroad, I would have it understood that I lay no claim to a steam engine
having a vibrating cylinder, that description of engine being well known and

page_text: use. But what do I claim is, the arrangement of the plates n, n, on the steam
ylinder b, and the plates p, q, on the circular steam pipe o, which are caused
o act together as slides for admitting and cutting off the supply of steam by
he vibration of the steam cylinder, as above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Brown, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Thirteenth day of September, in the third year of
the reign of our Sovereign Lord William the Fourth, and in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and thirty-two.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Thirteenth day of September,
in the year of our Lord 1832, the aforesaid William Brown came before our
said Lord the King in His Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification
aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form
above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according
to the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Inrolled the Sixteenth day of November, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and thirty-two.