Improvements in Steam Engines.
Year: 1899

page_text: Communicated from abroad by ELLICK HENRY GOLLINGS, of 234, Irving Park
Boulevard, Chicago, United States of America, Mechanical Engineer.
Improvements in Steam Engines.
1. HENRY HARRIS LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake & Co., Patent Agents,
45, Southampton Buildings, in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the
nature of this invention to be as follows:-
My object in this invention has been to devise a perfectly practical construction
of steam engine, capable of higher speed than is obtainable with the ordinary
construction, and having a larger percentage of available power in proportion to
the amount of steam used than do previous engines.
In the ordinary engine, much of the power of the steam is wasted because it
is largely expended in causing shocks to the engine itself instead of being utilized
in giving power to the drive shaft. These shocks are of two kinds. One kind
occurs in the cylinder, and is caused by the impact of the steam against the
stationary head or heads of the cylinder. The other kind are caused by the
thrust of the piston, and are usually resisted by the crank, though in some case
the connection between the piston and the crank is indirect and embraces one
or more levers pivoted to some stationary part of the engine, so that such sta-
tionary parts of the engine are compelled to resist the thrust at least in part.
The thrusts are usually transmitted in one direction only to the crank, and the
resistance of the load on the crank shaft tends to constantly urge the shaft out
of line, and in any case wears its bearings unevenly.
Both forms of shocks are objectionable, not only because they consume power,
but chiefly because they retard the motion of the engine and sooner or later so
rack and injure it as to destroy its usefulness, and necessitate the securing of
the engine to a heavy foundation.
I have found that if the shocks occurring in the cylinders are prevented, as
they may be, and the thrusts of the piston are neutralized or counteracted at the
crank shaft without transmitting any portion of them to a stationary part of the
engine, that an engine may be produced which will run at a speed exceeding 500
revolutions per minute, such for instance as is required in operating dynamos, be
economical in its use of steam, and be capable of long service by reason of its
freedom from the disturbances occurring in previous constructions.
To this end I employ a cylinder having no stationary abutments of any kind,
and place in it two oppositely moving single acting pistons, the steam being
admitted at the center of the cylinder and acting to force the pistons away from
cach other. Both these pistons are connected to the same shaft, and to oppo-
sitely arranged cranks thereon, the connections being direct by means of pitmen
and without any connection to the bed or frame or any stationary part of the

page_text: engine, 50 that the entire thrust is borne by the cranks and uot
by the bed Ol' frame or any stationary part of the engine, and
inasmuch 09 the thrusts of two pistons come upon opposite sides of
the cranks, they balance one another, and thereby obviate the unequal wear of
the bearings and the jarring. I have already built an engine of the kind here
set forth, and have run it in excess of 500 revolutions per minute without its
being attached to any foundation, and it has remained perfectly steady and free
from jars or vibrations, and has shown very high officiency.
As already stated the preferable construction is one embodying two cylinders,
one each side of the drive shaft, and in that construction the inner pistons of
both cylinders push upon the same crank in alternation with each other, and
the outer pistons pull upon their respective cranks in alternation. The inner
and outer pistons of each cylinder also act simultaneously on the crank shaft and
with corresponding power, so that the thrust of one of them is fully balanced and
neutralized by that of the other, the cranks thus receiving and sustaining within
themselves the entire force of the thrusts of both, but without any tendency
being imparted by them or through them to the shaft to displace the latter or cause
it to wear its bearings unequally
The cylinder may itself act as one piston by providing it with a head at one
end and constructing its supports so that it may slide longitudinally and con-
necting it directly to the cranks.
The engine may be briefly described as one in which the impact of the steam
takes place between two movable heads, and in which the entire thrust of said
heads is required by the crank shaft upon its opposite sides, whereby the thrust
of one head balances that of the other, and the engine is rendered very smooth
and steady in action.
this 4th day of November 1899.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.
improvements in Steam Engines.
I, HENRY HARRIS LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake & Co., Patent Agents,
45, Southampton Buildings, in the County of Middlesex, 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 is an improved and perfectly practical construction of steam or
gas engine, capable of high speed without jarring, and obtaining a larger per-
centage of available power in proportion to the amount of steam or gas used than
the commonly used forms of engines.
In the ordinary engine, much power is wasted because it is expended in moving
complicated parts and in causing shocks to the engine itself, which shocks are
commonly of two kinds. One kind occurs in the cylinder, and is caused by the
impact of the steam against the stationary head or heads of the cylinder. The
other kind are caused by the thrust of the piston rod and are usually resisted
by the cross head guides, or in some cases the connection between the piston and
the crank is more indirect and embraces one or more levers pivoted to some
stationary part of the engine, so that such stationary parts of the engine are com-
pelled to resist the thrust at least in part. The thrusts are also usually trans-

page_text: mitted in one direction only to the crank, and the resistance of the load on the
crank shaft tends to constantly urge the shaft out of line, and wear its bearings
unevenly.
All kinds of shocks are objectionable, not only because they consume power,
but chiefly because they retard the motion and affect the stability of the engine
and sooner or later so rack and injure it as to impair and eventually destroy its
usefulness, and necessitate the securing of the engine to a heavy foundation.
I have found that if the shocks occurring in the cylinders are prevented, as
they may be, and the thrusts of the piston are neutralized or counteracted at the
crank shaft without transmitting any portion of them to a stationary part of the
engine, that an engine may be produced which will run at a speed exceeding 500
revolutions per minute, such, for instance, as is required in operating dynamos, be
economical in its use of steam, and be capable of long service by reason of its
freedom from the disturbances occurring in previous constructions.
To this end I employ two cylinders having no stationary abutments of any
kind, and place in each cylinder two oppositely moving single acting pistons, the
Bteam being admitted at the centers of the cylinders alternately and acting to
force the pistons away from each other. Both the inner pistons are connected
to the same crank of the shaft, and both outer pistons to oppositely arranged
cranks thereon, the connections being direct by means of combined piston rods
and pitmen and without any connection to the bed or frame or any stationary
part of the engine, so that the entire thrust of all the pistons is borne by the
ciank shaft and not by the bed or frame or any stationary part of the engine.
and the pistons are directly connected to the crank shaft which lies between and
transversely of the two cylinders, and no intermediate indirect connectious, such
as shafts, levers, etc., are employed, and inasmuch as the thrusts of the two inner
and two outer pistons come upon opposite sides of the cranks, they balance one
another, and thereby obviate the unequal wear of the bearings and the jarring.
I have already built an engine of the kind here set forth, and have run it in
excess of 500 revolutions per minute without its being attached to any founda-
tion, and it has remained perfectly steady and free from jars or vibrations, and
has shown very high efficiency.
The invention therefore consists in the novel and improved construction of a
double or duplex engine as hereinafter described in detail and illustrated in the
accompanying drawings, in which:--
Figure 1 represents a longitudinal vertical section of my improved engine:
Figure 2 a longitudinal section of the engine on the line A--A of Figure 1, and
Figure 3 a transverse section on the line B--B of Figure 1.
In said drawings, 4 represents one of the cylinders and 5 and 6 represent two
oppositely moving single acting pistons in said cylinder. These pistons are made
long enough to act as guides for the combined piston-rod-pitmen 11 and 13.
Steam is admitted to the center of the cylinder between the pistons by a port 7,
controlled by a valve 8 in the chest 9. The inner piston 5 is connected directly
to the crank 10 by the pitman 11, and the outer piston 6 is provided with a
yoke 12 at its outer end, the arms of which are outside the cylinder and are each
pivotally connected to pitman 13 which extend to and are joined to cranks 14.
The drive shaft is shown at 15, and these last mentioned cranks are arranged
upon the opposite side of it from the crank 10. The shaft may carry the usual
fly wheel or wheels 16.
F
The valve 8 is mounted on a sliding rod 17, and is actuated by an eccentric 18
on the drive shaft, the rod 19 of which eccentric rocks a bell crank lever 20
which is connected to the rod 17 as plaiuly indicated at Figure 1. By this, or
other suitable means, the valve is operated and controls the admission of the
steam. The valve in one position admits the steam from the conduit 21 and
closes the exhaust 22, and in the other it closes the inlet and opens the exhaust.
At the opposite side of the drive-shaft is a cylinder 24, which together with
its pistons, valves, etc., is substantially like those already described, being shown

page_text: at 25 and 26, and the steam port, valve and chest at 27, 28 and 29 respec-
lively. The inner piston 25 is connected to crank 10 by the pitman 31, and
the outer piston 26 is provided with a yoke 32 similar to yoke 12; and the arms
of such yoke are connected to cranks 14 by pitmen 33 in the same manner as
are the arms of yoke 12. The valve 28 is also mounted on rod 17, aud controls
the admission of steam from conduit 41 and its exhaustion through the outlet 43
in the same manner as in the case of valve 8.
In a double-cylinder engine like that shown, the inner pistons both push on
the crank 10 in alternation with each other, while the outer pistons both pull ou
cranks 14 in alternation with each other. The inner and outer pistons of each
cylinder act simultaneously on their respective cranks, and with corresponding
power, to that the thrust of one piston is fully balanced and neutralized by
that of the other piston, the cranks thus receiving and sustaining within them-
selves the entire force of the thrusts of both, but without any tendency being
imparted to them or through them to the shaft to displace the latter or cause it
to wear its bearings unequally.
It will be observed that in the construction shown there are no intermediate
supports or connections employed between the pistons and the crank shaft, other
than the pitmen; that is, there are no intermediate levers, rock shafts, cross-
head guides, etc., which require fulcrums, journal bearings, or supports upon the
main frame, the pitmen being supported directly and entirely by the pistons at
one end, and by the crank shaft at the other. The steam is admitted alternately
into the cylinders, so that two impulses are given the main shaft at each revolu
tion thereof.
An important advantage attending my invention is that the pitmen always bear
is rendered
against the same side of the crank wrist pins while working, so that
an easy matter to prevent any lost motion at the wrist-pins, and thus avoid a
fruitful source of trouble in engines now in use.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, as communicated to
me by my foreign correspondent, I declare that what I claim is :--
1. In an engine, the combination of a crank shaft, a pair of cylinders arranged
at opposite sides of the crank shaft, at right angles thereto; and a pair of pistons
in each cylinder; with pitmen directly connecting both of the inner pistons to
one crank of the shaft, so that these pistons move alike and in the same direc-
tion; and pitmen directly connecting both of the outer pistons to another crank
of the shaft so that the outer pistons also move alike and in the same direction;
and means for admitting the actuating fluid between the pistons in the opposite
cylinders, substantially as described.
2. In an engine, the combination of a pair of opposite cylinders; a crank shaft
lying transversely of and between said cylinders, and provided with oppositely
disposed cranks, and a pair of pistons in each cylinder: with pitmen directly
connecting the inner pistons to one crank: pairs of pitmen having their outer ends
connected to the outermost pistons, and their inner ends connected to the crank
shaft opposite the connections of the inner pistons thereto, whereby the inuer
pistons move together and in the same direction and oppositely to the outer
pistons, which also move alike and in the same direction; and means for admitt-
ing the propelling fluid alternately between the pistons in the opposite cylinders,
for the purpose and substantially as described.
3. In an engine, the combination of a pair of diametrically opposite aligned
open-ended cylinders: crank shaft lying transversely of and between said cylin-
ders, and provided with triple cranks, the inner crank being set opposite to the
outer ones with a pair of pistons in each cylinder; thrust pitmen directly con-
necting the inner pistons to the central crank; pairs of pitmen having their
duter ends directly connected to and supported by the outermost pistous, at each
side of the cylinders; and their inner ends connected to the outermost cranks,

page_text: whereby the inner pistons move together in the same direction and oppositely to
the outer pistons, which also move together and in the same direction; and
means for admitting the propelling fluid between the pistons in the opposite
cylinders, alternately, for the purpose and substantially as described.
Dated this 31st day of May 1900.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.