IMPROVED VALVE GEAR FOR RECIPROCATING STEAM ENGINES, WHOSE POWER IS APPLIED DIRECTLY BY THE PISTON WITHOUT EMPLOYING A ROTARY SHAFT
Year: 1857

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
Invention of "IMPROVED VALVE GEAR FOR RECIPROCATING STEAM ENGINES,
WHOSE POWER IS APPLIED DIRECTLY BY THE PISTON WITHOUT EMPLOYING A
ROTARY SHAFT."-A communication.
Sealed the 24th July 1857, and dated the 27th February 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 27th February 1857.
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 "IMPROVED VALVE GEAR FOR RECIPROCATING
STEAM ENGINES, WHOSE POWER IS APPLIED DIRECTLY BY THE PISTON WITHOUT
EMPLOYING A ROTARY SHAFT," to be as follows:-
This improved valve gear is applicable to engines for blowing, pumping,
driving reciprocating saws, and all other purposes for which a reciprocating
motion is required, and a rotary motion is unnecessary. It consists of an
oscillating yoke or frame provided with grooves or cam pieces, in or against
which work travelling pieces, projections, or rollers mounted on or attached
to the piston rod, and which by acting upon the oscillating yoke or frame
depress the ends thereof alternately, and by means of a vertical arm and

page_text: connecting rod work the slide valve of the steam' cylinder. In combination
with the yoko or frame above mentioned, and mounted on a centre imme-
diately below the former, is an elastic lever, and both the yoke and the lever
derive motion from the piston rod, and operate together to give the necessary
motion to a slide valve or set of slide valves, or to a rolling cylinder, or plug
valve to open and close the steam passages.
The Invention, when applied either to blowing or pumping engines, or to
engines for driving reciprocating saws by a direct connection with the piston,
or to any other direct action engines, is applied midway between the steam
cylinder and the engine or machine to be worked, all three being usually in
a right line with each other. The improved gear will work equally well in a
horizontal, upright, or inclined position, and with a long slide valve, two short
valves, or with a rolling valve or valves. Instead of arranging the elastic
lever to work on a fixed centre below the working centre of the oscillating
yoko or frame, it may be arranged to work upon the same centre as the yoke,
or on a pin or stud attached to the yoke below the working centre thereof.
The essential feature of novelty in the present Invention is the use of the
elastic lever in combination with the oscillating yoke or frame, and the travel-
ling pieces, and the roller or its equivalent, for the purpose of working the
valve or valves of the steam cylinder.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Edward Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 27th August 1857.
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 Twenty-seventh day of February, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twentieth 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, 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

page_text: of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an
Invention for "IMPROVED VALVE GEAR FOR RECIPROCATING STEAM ENGINES, WHOSE
POWER IS APPLIED DIRECTLY BY THE PISTON WITHOUT-EMPLOYING A ROTARY SHAFT,"
being a communication from abroad, upon the condition (amongst others) that
I, the said William Edward Newton, by an instrument in writing under my
hand and scal, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the
said Invention, and in what 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 manuer the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say) :-
This improved valve gear is applicable to engines for blowing, pumping,
driving reciprocating saws, and all other purposes for which a reciprocating
motion is required and a rotary motion is unnecessary. It consists of an
oscillating yoke or frame provided with grooves or cam pieces, in or against
which work travelling pieces, projections, or rollers mounted on or attached.
to the piston rod, and which by acting upon the oscillating yoke or frame.
depress the ends thereof alternately, and by means of a vertical arm and
connecting rod work the slide valve of the steam engine. In combination
with the yoke or frame, above mentioned, and mounted on a centre immic-
diately below the former, is an elastic lever, and both the yoke and the lever
derive motion from the piston rod, and operate together, in the manner
herein-after described, to give the necessary motion to a slide valve, or set of
slide valves, or to a-rolling cylinder, or plug valve to open and close the steam
passages.
The Invention is illustrated in the accompanying Drawing, in which Fig. 1.
is a side view, partly in section, of a blowing engine with the improved valve
gear adapted thereto; Fig. 2 is a plan of the same; Fig. 3 is a transverso
vertical section of the same in the line a,, of Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is a side view
of the principal parts of the valve gear detached from the engine. Similar
letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several Figures.
A is the framing of the engine, supporting at one end the blowing cylinder
B, and at the other the steam cylinder C, which are arranged in line with
each other. D, Fig. 1, is the piston of the steam cylinder, connected by the
piston rod E with the piston of the blowing cylinder B: F is the steam chest
of the cylinder C, containing a valve a of the kind generally known as the

page_text: d
short slide valve; T (Figures 2 and 3) is the steam pipo; S is the exhaust
pipe; b, 6, (Fig. 1) are the two steam passages leading from the valve seat
to opposite ends of the steam cylinder C; and c is the exhaust
passage;
is the valve stem working in a guide e, attached to the cylinder. G is a
standard erected upon one side of the framing A, about midway between the
two cylinders B and C, for the support of the oscillating yoke H, and the
clastic lever I operating in connection with it. The oscillating yoke H
is attached at the centre of its length to a short horizontal axle f, which
is fitted to oscillate in a bearing at the top of the standard G. This
axle foccupies a position transverse to the piston rod, and the elastic lever I
is fitted at the centre of its length to oscillate upon a stud g, which is secured
in the standard G directly under the axle f. The yoke H, which is shewn
detached at Fig. 4, has a short arm & standing perpendicularly or nearly so
to the main portion of it, which is considerably longer than the intended
length of stroke of the piston. This short arm t carries a stud h, to which
the valve stem d is connected by a rod u. The main portion of the said yoke
has on the side next the piston rod a rim i, which extends the whole length
thereof close to its upper edge, and below this rim there are two cams j, j',
of similar elliptic form, projecting from the same side of the yoke, one on
cach side of its centre of oscillation (viz. the axle f); and below these cams.
under the centre f, there is a projecting. piece k, the upper side of which has
two inclinations, which form continuations of the curves of the upper sides
of the cams j,. The elastic lever I, which is of about the same length as
the main portion of the oscillating yoke, is curved somewhat like the rim i on
the yoke. It may be made of iron or steel, but iron will afford sufficient
elasticity, as the lever is of considerable length in proportion to the amount of
flexure to which it is submitted to develope its elasticity. It has jointed to
one end a rod l, which passes through a hole in the corresponding end of the
yoke H, and the end of this rod has a screw thread cut on it to receive
a nut n above the yoke; and at the opposite end of the elastic lever there is a
similar rod, which passes through the corresponding end of the yoke, and is
fitted with a nut n' above the yoke. The nuts n, n', aro so set that though
the elastic lever and yoke may derive an oscillating motion from each other
through the rods 7, A, either the yoke or lever is capable of moving to some
oxtent independently of the other. L is a crosshead, secured firmly to the
piston rod E, and working in a guide o, o, attached to the framing, as seen
in Fig. 3. This crosshead has secured to it a plate p, one side of which is
extended (as shewn at p', Figures 3 and 4) to form what may be termed a
traveller, which passes between the rim i, the cams j, 1, and the projecting

page_text: In passing under either cam
direction of the piston, and
piece of the yoke H. This traveller p', as the piston works back and forth,
describes the line indicated in Fig. 4 in red color. The same head piece has
also attached to it a stud s, which is fitted with a roller r that travels under
the elastic lever I. The yoke receives the oscillating movement by which it
operates the valve through the action of the traveller p' on the yoke itself,
aided by the action of the roller r, Figures 3 and 4, upon the elastic
lever I in the following manner:-In the several strokes of the piston
the traveller p' passes first under one of the cams j, j³, and then over the
other, as indicated by the red lines in Fig. 4.
it raises one end of the yoke according to the
depresses the other end, and by that means it causes the arm t to move
the valve; but as the valve must have made half its stroke, and have
moved a little beyond for lead before the piston commenced the stroke, tho
movement thus given by the action of the traveller only completes the stroke,
and gives a full opening to the port. The first portion of the stroke of the
valve, viz., a portion sufficient to close the one steam passage, and give the
valve a lead to open the port of the opposite passage, is effected by the
action of the roller r on the under side of the elastic lever I during the timo
the traveller is passing over the cams, the said roller forcing up that end of the
clastic lover against which it comes in contract, and depressing the other end,
thus causing the rod l or A, and the nut n or n' at the latter end to pull down
the yoke with which it is connected, as far as is permitted by the upper sido
of the cam over which the traveller is passing, which cam is pressed up
against the traveller by the lever I, the form of the said side of the cam
controlling the movement of the yoke produced by the lever, and regulating
the movement of the valve in closing the port. The roller r by its action on
the curved underside of the clastic lever I, as aforesaid, while an uncontrolled
movement of the yoke under the influence of the said lever is prevented by
the cam bearing against the traveller, strains and bends the lever I, and
causes it to assume the character of a spring; and as soon as the traveller p'
passes the outer extremity of the cam, the yoke II, being left free to the
influence of the lever I, derives from the elastic action, which the latter
exercises in resuming its condition of rest, a very sudden movement that is
suflicient to carry the valve far enough to give sufficient opening to the port
of the passage, which has previously been exhausting to admit steam to
commence the return stroke of the piston. To illustrate this operation the
valve a, the yoke H, the elastic lever I, and their connections, and the
traveller p', are shown in two positions in Fig. 4. In the position shewn in
bold outline, which corresponds with the position shown in Fig. 1, the piston

page_text: is near the end of its stroke, the roller r is forcing up the left-hand end of
the clastic lever, whose opposite end is consequently pulling down the cor-
responding end of the yoke, and moving the valve to shut off the steam from
the right-hand port b, the movement of the yoke and consequently that of
the valve being controlled by the action of the traveller upon the upper side
of the cam j The closing of tho port is completed at or before the arrival
of the traveller at the outer extremity of the cam j, and as tho traveller passes
the said extremity of the cam, the yoke, no longer having its movement
controlled by the cam, suddenly has its right-hand end thrown up, and its left-
hand end thrown down by the clastic action of the lever, far enough to carry
the valve over the outer edge of the port b,. by which steam is admitted to
the left-hand side of the piston C, which then commences its stroke to the
right. The traveller now moves under the cam j³, and completes the opening
of the valve as it does so, as is illustrated by the red Diagram in Fig. 4.
Tho action of the traveller on the cam j, and the action of the right-hand
end of the clastic lever, is precisely the same as that above described, and
illustrated in Fig. 4, only that the movements are in opposite directions.
The length of stroke of the piston is determined by the distance between the
most distant extremities of the two cams, and the length of the traveller from
point to point, the sum of the above distance and length giving the exact
length of stroke.
The amount of lead given to the valve by the action of the elastic lever on
tho yoke can be increased or diminished by screwing the nuts n, n³, lower
down or higher up the rods 1, 1. The Invention, when applied either to
blowing or to pumping engines, or to engines for driving reciprocating saws
by a direct connection with the piston, or to any other direct-action engines,
is applied midway between the steam cylinder and the engine or machine to
be worked, all three being usually in a right line with each other. The
improved gear will work equally well in a horizontal, upright, or inclined
position, and with a long slide valve, two short valves, or with a rolling valve
or valves; but no particular description of its application to other valves than
that shown is necessary, as the description already given is sufficient to
enable the skilled engincer to adapt it to any other valve to which it may bo
applicable.
Instead of arranging the elastic lever to work on a fixed centre 9 below the
working centre of the oscillating yoke or frame, it may be arranged to work
upon the same centre as the yoke, or on a pin or stud attached to the yoko
below the working centre thereof.
1
Having now described the Invention of improved, valve gear for recipro-

page_text: cating steam engines, and the manner of carrying the same into effect, as
communicated to me by my foreign correspondent, I claim, in conclusion, tho
mode above described of working the valves of steam engines. I claim par-
ticularly the use of the elastic lever I in combination with the oscillating yoke
or frame H, and the traveller p', and the roller r or its equivalent, for the
purposes set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Twenty-first day of August, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
W. E. NEWTON. (L.S.)