IMPROVEMENTS IN RECIPROCATING PISTONS BY ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE OBTAINED BY THE ACTION OF A PISTON IN A SEPARATE CYLINDER, BY WHICH THE AIR IN SAID CYLINDER IS FORCED ALTERNATELY ABOVE AND BELOW THE WORKING PISTON, SAID IMPROVEMENT BEING APPLI- CABLE FOR DRIVING HAMMERS, STAMPS, DRILLS, AND OTHER PERCUSSIVE: MACHINERY
Year: 1874

page_text: ETTERS PATENT to William Manson, of the City and County of
San Francisco, State of California, in the United States of America,
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN RECIPROCATING PISTONS BY
ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE OBTAINED BY THE ACTION OF A PISTON IN A SEPARATE
CYLINDER, BY WHICH THE AIR IN SAID CYLINDER IS FORCED ALTERNATELY
ABOVE AND BELOW THE WORKING PISTON, SAID IMPROVEMENT BEING APPLI-
CABLE FOR DRIVING HAMMERS, STAMPS, DRILLS, AND OTHER PERCUSSIVE:
MACHINERY."
ealed the 26th June 1874, and dated the 6th May 1874.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said William Manson at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition and
Declaration, on the 6th May 1874, pursuant to the 9th Section,
of the Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
MANSON, of the City and County of San Francisco, State of California,
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said William Manson at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition and
Declaration, on the 6th May 1874, pursuant to the 9th Section
of the Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
MANSON, of the City and County of San Francisco, State of California,
in the United States of America, send greeting.
WHEREAS I am in possession of an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
VAIDDAG I MIYA DIAMAN AMURRIO PRESTON ORTAINED BY THE A ORION OF

page_text: '
A PISTON IN A SEPARATE CYLINDER BY WHICH THE AIR IN SAID CYLINDER IS FORCED
ALTERNATELY ABOVE AND BELOW THE WORKING PISTON, SAID IMPROVEMENT BEING
APPLICABLE FOR DRIVING HAMMERS, STAMPS, DRILLS, AND OTHER PERCUSSIVE
MACHNERY," and have petitioned Her Majesty to grant unto me, my
executors, administrators, and assigns Her Royal Letters Patent for the
same, and have made solemn Declaration that I really believe myself
to be the first and true Inventor thereof..
NOW KNOW YE, that I; the said William Manson, do hereby declare
that the following Complete Specification, under my hand and seal,
fully describes the nature of my said Invention, and the manner in
which the same is to be performed, that is to say :—
My Invention relates to certain improvements in power hammers and
their propulsion by compressed air, and in the means by which the air is
compressed and supplied alternately above and below the piston of the
direct acting hammer for the purpose of raising the hammer and then
giving the blow, the same device being applicable to quartz crushing
mills. This is effected by the combination of two cylinders, one of which.
is long and of small diameter, and stands directly above the hammer, its
piston rod serving as a stem for the hammer.
The other cylinder is short and of large diameter, and has a piston
working within it to furnish air alternately above and below the piston
of the small cylinder, and thus by this employment of two cylinders of
greatly different diameters a comparatively slow stroke in the feeding
cylinder will compress the air with great force and velocity within the
other cylinder, so as to give a corresponding action to the hammer with
but a small waste of the original body of air.
My Invention also relates to a device by which the force of the
stroke of the hammers is regulated without any change in the speed of
the piston in the operating cylinders.
Referring to the accompanying Drawings, Fig. 1 is a perspective view
of my machine; Fig. 2 is an elevation in section.
:
Fig. 3 is an enlarged view of the compressing cylinder.
Fig. 4 is a view showing the device as adapted to a tool holder.
A is a base plate having the frame B suitably formed to support the:
cylinders C and D. If found preferable or convenient the whole of a
these parts may be moulded and cast in one piece. The cylinder C is

page_text: made short and of comparatively large diameter, and within it the
piston E works, being operated by the piston rod F and the connecting
rod G from the crank wheel H. This wheel is mounted upon the
driving shaft I, and a pulley J upon this shaft receives a driving "belt
from any suitable power.
The cylinder D.is made as long as may be desired for the stroke of
the hammer, and of a small diameter as compared with the cylinder C.
The cylinder D is placed beside the cylinder C and vertically above the
anvil K, upon which the hammer L is to fall.
The piston rod M is made of sufficient size and strength to serve as a
stem for the hammer, and to its upper end is secured the piston N. This
piston is made of considerable thickness, both to serve as a guide to the
rod in its movements, and also to prevent undue wear of itself and the
interior of the cylinder.
Ports O, O, connect the upper and lower ends respectively of the
cylinder C and D as shown.
Now when the shaft I and crank wheel H are set in motion the piston
E will receive a reciprocating motion, and will alternately compress the
air above and below itself in the cylinder C. This compressed air
escapes through the ports O, O, first below and then above the piston N
in the small cylinder, so as to raise it and the attached hammer L and
then to force it down. As the cylinder D is so much smaller than the
cylinder C it will be manifest that the air forced into it will act with
greater force and velocity upon the piston N, and through it upon the
hammer, thus giving it a longer and more rapid stroke than that of the
piston E, consequently the momentum of the hammer will be greatly
increased.
In order to regulate the length and force of the stroke of the hammer
I connect the two.ends of the cylinder C by a pipe P, which opens into
it above and below the piston stroke. A cock R is placed in this pipe,.
and by opening this cock more or less of the air can be allowed.to pass
above and below the piston as it works, thus lessening by.so much the
amount which goes to operate the hammer, the stroke of which will be
correspondingly moderated. The passage P and cock R may be placed
at any point to effect the above result.
By this construction I simplify the mechanism as the air contained
within the cylinders at the atmospheric pressure when they are closed up
}

page_text: is used over and over again by being alternately compressed at one end
and the other, and no new additions are required except to make good
the loss from leakage through the stuffing boxes. This is done by means
of a small valve which opens inward when there is any lack of air; but
which remains closed at all other times, thus preserving the ordinary
atmospheric pressure within the cylinder. The operation of the hammer
is minutely adjusted by the simple cock R, and the whole is very
economical and durable.
When employed for crushing quartz it will be more convenient to
connect a number of small cylinders D to the large condensing cylinder
C, and they may be set in a circle around it or in a line, or at some
distance. The connecting passage O from the bottom of the condensing
cylinder may be carried to the bottom and top alternately of every other
operating cylinder D, the passages from the top being of course also
reversed, so that one-half of the stamps will go up when the other half
are coming down. The stem M. may also pass out through a stuffing
box at the top of the cylinder D and be provided with any of the appli-
ances for rotating it as it rises or falls. It will be seen that the lift of
the hammer can be varied according to the size of the work beneath it,
or in ore crushing by the amount of feed and the wear of the shoes and
dies, but the operation will always be the same, whether the piston N
makes a short stroke near the top of the cylinder or near the bottom, or
a stroke of the full length.
When the device is intended to be used in various places and positions
at a distance from the compressing cylinder, and more especially for the
purpose of operating a chipping chisel or drill or any tool which needs a
percussive blow where it would be better not to remove the tool at each
blow, I employ an independently moving piston which is operated in
all respects like that before described but has no piston rod. The
cylinder D will then be connected with the cylinder C by flexible tubes.
The tool holder S in this case is provided with a stem T, which extends
up through the lower head of the cylinder, and has a head U to receive
the strokes of the reciprocating piston, so that by pressing the tool
against its work the piston will act as a hammer to operate it.
In order to ensure the cessation of its action without stopping the
compressing piston the lower ingress port O is placed so far above the
end of the stroke that when the tool is lifted from its work it will allow

page_text: the piston to pass the port so far that it will stop the air and will cease
moving. It can be started at any time by simply pressing the tool upon
its work until the head U has forced the piston beyond the port, so that
it can be acted upon again by the air.
Having thus described my Invention, what I claim and desire to
secure by Letters Patent is,-
First. An atmospheric engine consisting of the operating cylinder D,
with its piston N in combination with the condensing cylinder C of
larger diameter, and having the condensing piston E, the two cylinders
being connected by ports O, O, both above and below the pistons, and
having the supply port and valve i, substantially as and for the purpose
above described.
Second. In combination with the compressing cylinder C I claim the
tube P with its cock R for connecting the chambers above and below
the piston E in order to regulate the amount of compression substantially
as specified.
Third. The reciprocating piston N of the cylinder D operated by
atmospheric pressure applied alternately above and below it by means of
a condensing piston E, which moves in a separate cylinder, and alter-
nately forces and compresses the air in its cylinder above and below the
piston N, substantially as described.
In witness whereof, I, William Manson, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fourth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four.
Witnesses,
GEO. H. STRONG,
C. M. RICHARDSON.
WILLIAM MANSON. (L.S.)