AN IMPROVED CONSTRUCTION AND ARRANGEMENT OF EQUI- LIBRIUM SLIDE VALVE
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for the
6. Invention of "AN IMPROVED CONSTRUCTION AND ARRANGEMENT OF EQUI-
LIBRIUM SLIDE VALVE."-A communication from abroad by Frederic
2
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
20th April 1864.
I, WILLIAM EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED CONSTRUCTION AND ARRANGEMENT OP
EQUILIBRIUM SLIDE VALVE," to be as follows:
This Invention relates to an improved construction and arrangement of
valve apparatus to be applied either to steam, gas, air, or water engines, or to
pumps, the object being to avoid the "back pressure" which takes place with
ordinary slide valves, and which pressure will, of course, have a tendency to
create friction on the valve seat or other rubbing surfaces. An easy and
regular working of the engine will thus be obtained by the new arrangement.
"In carrying out the Invention the piston instead of being made to work in
contact with the main cylinder, which is usually stationary, is placed, and works

page_text: inside a second cylinder moveable inside the outer cylinder, and which is pro-
vided with openings corresponding to the ports in the inner cylinder. This
moveable cylinder is, therefore, what may be termed the working cylinder, as
it fulfils all the duties of the ordinary cylinder of a steam, air, or water engine.
The moveable cylinder is actuated by connecting rods leading from an
excentric on the main crank shaft of the engine, so that it shall at every
stroke of the piston also make a short stroke, and alternately open and close
the ports, thus acting in the same manner as a slide valve.
It will be readily understood that as the prèssure on all sides of the cylin-
drical valve is equal, the defect common to ordinary slide valves (vizt., pressure
at the back) will be avoided, as the exit steam or water after exerting its
force on the piston in the working cylinder passes to the back of the cylindrical
valve on its way to the exit aperture or delivery passage of the engine, and
therefore the pressure on all the parts will be equalized. The working piston
operates in the ordinary way in the inner cylinder, and its rod works through
stuffing: box at the end. The inner cylinder also works in stuffing boxes,
and to one end of this working cylinder. is 'adapted a cylindrical cup, and at
the other end a hollow displacing vessel. The dimensions of these parts are
calculated in order to prevent undue displacement, at the opposite ends of the
working cylinder as it reciprocates to and fro. It will be understood that
this mode of constructing and arranging the valves or ports is applicable to
engines to be driven by steam, air, gases, or water, and may also be applied to
pumping engines.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Edward Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office on 2
the 20th October 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I; WILLIAM
EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery. Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of April, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-seventh year of Her,
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant, unto me, the,
said William Edward Newton, Her special license that I, the said William.
Edward Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said William Edward Newton, my executors, administrators; and assigns,..

page_text: 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 Inven
tion for "AN IMPROVED CONSTRUCTION AND ARRANGEMENT OF EQUILIBRIUM SLIDE
VALVE," being a communication from abroad by Frederic Ernest Perret, of Rue
St. Sebastien, Paris, in the Empire of France, upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said William Edward Newton, by an instrument in
writing under my hand and seal, should particularly describe and ascertain
the nature of the said Invention, and in what
t 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 Edward Newton, do hereby,
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what: manner; the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained, in and by the
following statement, reference being, had to the Drawings hereunto, annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say).:-
""
..
The apparatus which forms the subject of the present Invention has for its
object to open and close at the proper time the induction and eduction orifices
for liquids, gases, and steam, acting or not as the motive power (direct. or,
intermediate) in the kind of engine represented in the annexed Drawings,
and which is capable of acting either as a water, air, steam, or compressed or
rarefied gas engine, or of being employed either as a blowing engine or a lift.
or force pump.
Before entering into a detailed description of each of the parts composing
the apparatus, I will first explain the end which is proposed to be attained,
and I will then explain summarily the, particular considerations which have
guided the Inventor in the choice of the means proposed to be employed for
the purpose..
When liquids, gases, and steam exert their force as a motive power upon a
piston working in a cylinder, which is an analogous arrangement to that of
the steam engine; or when such bodies are on the contrary acted upon by some
external agency, as in lift pumps, the intermittence of their passage through
the induction and eduction apertures of the cylinder is obtained by means of
certain apparatus, the arrangement of which varies according to the nature of
the engine to which it is applied. Thus, in steam engines the slide valve is
usually employed as the principal cut-off and supply agent; in water engines
the same operation is performed by means of a piston working in a cylinder

page_text: placed at the side of the engine. The piston in this case takes the name of a
regulator.
In water pumps, air pumps, and blowing engines working by means of
a piston, valves are ordinarily employed for regulating the passage of the
water or air through the supply orifices of the main cylinder. It will there-
fore be seen that in order to perform the same functions, that is to say, to
open and close the passages at certain periods of the working, three different
agents are employed, viz., the slide valve, the regulator, and the seat or
clack valve.
On enquiring into the motives which have caused the adoption of means
which are in general very defective and very dissimilar for producing defi-
nitively the same result, no reason has been discovered which could justify
these motives in an absolute manner, especially on considering the great
analogy which exists between the laws which govern the movement, of liquids
and that of elastic fluids.
The Inventor taking these circumstances into consideration, and being con-
vinced of the advantages which would result from a regulator which should be
applicable to liquids, gases, and steam, and at the same time afford great
simplicity in operation, applied himself to the construction of a regulator
which should fulfil the following conditions, viz., firstly, that of being in
mathematical equilibrium under the action of the forces opposed to its move-
ment; and, secondly, of being arranged in such manner that the induction
and eduction apertures may be made of the largest dimensions without incon-
venience, and the passages which separate the regulator from the main
cylinder should be reduced to the minimum size also to allow of the induction
and eduction being reversed without any modification of the mechanism.
It will be seen by the following description, and reference to the accom-
panying Drawings, that the present Invention satisfactorily fulfils these
conditions, and also establishes a type of engine for the six classes of engines
above enumerated.
In the accompanying Drawing Fig. 1 is a sectional elevation of the engine
taken in the line 1, 2, of the plan' view, Fig. 2; Fig. 3 is a section taken in
the line 3, 4, of Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is a section taken in the line 5, 6; of Fig. 1;
Fig. 5 is a section taken in the line 7, 8, of Fig. 6, which is a section in the
Jine 9, 10, of Fig. 5.
The apparatus consists principally of a tube A and a casing D (Figs. 1
and 4). The tube A is the main part of the apparatus, and, in fact, con-
stitutes the regulator; its exterior surface is circular, and carefully fitted or
adjusted as to calibre at the parts K, L, (Fig. 1). It is enclosed in the

page_text: casing D; and has a reciprocating motion communicated to it by means of the
excentric O (Figs. 1 and 2); openings J (Figs. 1 and 4) are arranged in
such manner as to be capable of being made to correspond with other
circular:
openings I in the casing D when necessary. The interior part V:
(Fig. 1) of the tube A is cylindrical and accurately turned or bored, and
receives the main piston B of the engine; the tube A is terminated at its end
next the driving shaft T by a cylindrical socket b, to which it is attached by
the 'four plates y. This socket passes through the cover z of the casing,
which is provided with stuffing boxes at a. The socket b has at its outer end
a stuffing box d, through which the rod of the piston B works. At the other
end the tube A is closed by a cylindrical stopper e passing through the
stuffing box of the cover z¹. The stopper e and socket bare intended not
only to guide the regulator A in its work, but also especially to equilibrate
the forces which act in a contrary direction upon the annular surface f
(Figs. 1 and 4). In order that this equilibrium may be perfect it is sufficient
to give to the socket and stopper a section equal to that of the annular part
f By this means the forces which act on the one hand upon the annular
surface, and on the other hand upon the socket and stopper, act in contrary
directions, and will consequently, neutralize each other. On the outside of
the stuffing box d is a collar formed in two parts, one of which carries a
trunnion, upon which is mounted the rod m of.the.excentrico (Figs. I and 2):
The bolts which unite the two parts of the collar serve also as a fastening for
the bolts of the stuffing box. The casing D is formed of two concentric parts
A and B. These two parts are united by the partitions m', and 'at the
points n they are disposed in such manner as to leave between them a suffi
cient space O¹ for the passage of the liquids, gases, or steam into the
regulator. The interior part P₁ of the casing must also afford sufficient space
to allow of the escape of the liquids, gases, or steam after they have passed
through the regulator.
In order that the action of the apparatus may be understood, its application
to that kind of engine known as an hydrostatic engine, will be taken as an
example in the following description:-The water for driving the engine is
supplied through the induction pipe, and fills the space o" (Figures 1 and 3)
between the two concentric cylinders A¹, B', of the casing D. When the
piston is at the dead point the openings J of the regulator correspond exactly
with the annular edges n, unless it has been deemed proper to give a little
advance to the supply, which might be obtained by keying the excentric
accordingly in the proper position. The piston having passed the dead point
is advanced to the middle of its course by the motive water which enters the

page_text: regulator tube A through the openings. I. and J'on the left-hand side. These,
openings are gradually uncovered, and at the moment when this, is effected.
the excentric will have arrived at the end of its course, and the piston at the
middle of its stroke; this latter continues its course, and when it arrives at
the opposite dead point the parts will assume the position they were in when
starting. While this movement is taking place the opposite opening at the
right hand will be performing another office, as it leads into the part P¹ it
will allow the water acted upon by the piston to escape through the exit
pipe. The apparatus being double-acting and provided with a fly wheel R',
the piston will pass the dead point and return, being driven by the water
which enters the openings J at the right-hand side, the opposite openings
leading into the part P¹ to allow the water which has previously acted upon
the piston to escape. The above is the working of the apparatus during one
complete revolution of the driving shaft...
...Only those parts absolutely necessary for illustrating the description of the
apparatus are represented in the Drawings, but it may be made to perform
the functions of that kind of engine called an hydrostatic engine, arranged to
drive an apparatus which shall not require perfect regularity. When applied
to a steam, gas, or water engine which is required to work with regularity,
the apparatus may be provided with a centrifugal governor acting upon a
throttle valve in the supply pipe. Or the arrangement represented in the
Diagram, Fig. 7, might be employed, for reversing the motion of the engine
and utilising the cut-off of the steam or gases; and, lastly, for varying the
supply of the water when this latter is applied as a motive power. It will be
understood that the openings must necessarily be arranged accordingly in the
same way as the slide valves of steam engines.
As regards the construction of the casing D, which is represented as cast
in one piece; if any difficulty attending the casting should be experienced, this
casting might be constructed, as shewn at Figs. 4 and 5, in three parts, the
intermediate one V₁ having the openings I above mentioned, and the two
others similar to X1, enveloping the first. Each of these parts is furnished
with a bridle piece T¹ (Fig. 6), and they are bolted together at u¹, u¹. On
the driving shaft, at the end opposite to where the fly wheel is situated, a
winch handle, a toothed wheel, or pulley may be mounted according to the
nature of the driving power and of the engine to which it is applied. With
respect to the general arrangement of the engine, it may either be horizontal
(as shewn in the Drawing) or vertical or oscillating.
When the engine is required to be driven by a fall of water, the casing. D
may be set at any point of the fall, or even above this latter, if circumstances

page_text: require it; the feed pipe being in that case of a syphon form. The casing D
is then to be fixed on one of the two branches of the pipe thus arranged, but
it must not exceed in height thirty-two feet, which is, as is well known, the
extreme limit beyond which a syphon will not act. For this application the
packings of the regulator and of the piston rod must be kept in very good
order in order to avoid the access of air, which would have the effect of
injuring the proper working of the syphon.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Twentieth day of October, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane:
W. E. NEWTON. (LS.)