IMPROVEMENTS IN BEAM ENGINES
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Grafton Jones, of Blaina Iron Works, near
Newport, Monmouth, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN BEAM
ENGINES."
Sealed the 23rd May 1865, and dated the 18th February 1865.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Grafton Jones at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
18th February 1865.
I, JAMES GRAFTON JONES, of Blaina Iron Works, near Newport, Monmouth,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
BEAM ENGINES," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in beam engines, and is
peculiarly applicable to pumping engines, though the improvements may be
applied to other engines working with beams. In constructing a beam steam
engine according to this Invention, in place of applying the piston rod to and
connecting it with one end of the beam in the usual manner, the steam
cylinder, whether of a single or double acting engine, is mounted on and moves
with the beam; and the piston rod, when it is a single-acting engine, is con-
nected with a weight which is caused by the working of the engine to be
moved in a direction to and from the axis of the beam; but when a double-
acting engine is used then the piston rod is caused to pass through and work

page_text: in a stuffing box at each end of the cylinder, and to give motion to two weights,
one on cach side of the axis of the beam. It is preferred that the steam
engine should be mounted parallel with the beam and above its axis, and
that the beam beyond the axis should be formed with a track suitable for
receiving a weight, and it is desirable that the weight or weights used should
be of a cylindrical form, and caused to revolve when moved to and fro on the
track. By thus combining a steam engine with the beam, the pump or other
rods applied at one or at both ends of the beam will be actuated by the weight
or weights in place of through the piston rod by the direct action of the steam,
by which means the first cost of such machinery will be reduced, and great
convenience of application will in many cases result.
Although steam only has been mentioned the Invention is equally applicable
when working with compressed air, water, or other fluid.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said James Grafton Jones in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 18th August 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
GRAFTON JONES, of Blaina Iron Works, near Newport, Monmouth, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eighteenth day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-eighth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said James Grafton Jones, Her special licence that I, the said James Grafton
Jones, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
James Grafton Jones, 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 of Great Britain and
Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN BEAM ENGINES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said James Grafton Jones, my executors or administrators, by an instrument
in writing under my, cr their, or one of their hands and seals, 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.

page_text: | NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said James Grafton Jones, 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 thereof, that is to say :-
This Invention has for its object improvements in beam engines, and is
peculiarly applicable to pumping engines, though the improvements may be
applied to other engines working with beams. In constructing a beam steam
engine according to this Invention, in place of applying the piston rod to and
connecting it with one end of the beam in the usual manner, the steam
cylinder, whether of a single or double-acting engine, is mounted on and
moves with the beam; and the piston rod, when it is a single-acting engine,
is connected with a weight which is caused by the working of the engine to
be moved in a direction to and from the axis of the beam; but when a double-
acting engine is used, then the piston rod is caused to pass through and work
in a stuffing box at each end of the cylinder, and to give motion to two
weights, one on each side of the axis of the beam. It is preferred that the
steam engine should be mounted parallel with the beam and above its axis,
and that the beam beyond the axis should be formed with a track suitable for
receiving a weight, and it is desirable that the weight or weights used should
be of a cylindrical form, and caused to roll or revolve when moved to and fro.
on the track. By thus combining a steam engine with the beam, the pump
or other rods applied at one or at both ends of the beam will be actuated by the
weight or weights in place of through the piston rod by the direct action of
the steam, by which means the first cost of such machinery will be reduced,
and great convenience of application will in many cases result.
Although steam only has been mentioned, the Invention is equally applicable'
when working with compressed air, water, or other fluid.
And in order that my said Invention may be most fully understood, and.
readily carried into effect, I will proceed, to describe the Drawing hereunto
engine applied to pumping water.
a is the steam cylinder which is fixed centrally on the beam B. On each
side of the beam there is formed er affixed a projecting flange c, which serves
as a road for the rolling weights D to travel on. The rolling weights D, one
on each side of the beam, are connected to the piston rod of the steam
cylinder by the connecting rods E. The rolling weight when moved to the

page_text: end of the beam lifts the pump rods, and on the return stroke, when the
rolling weight is moved back to the centre of the beam, the weight of the
pump rods lifts or forces the water. In double-acting engines, the piston rod
is carried through each end of the cylinder, and gives motion to another pair
of rolling weights on the other side of the centre, the beam being constructed
similarly on each side of its centre. The slide valve of the steam cylinder is
worked by a roller. on the end of the cross head of the piston rod, coming in
contact with curved levers F, F', which move the slide valve so as to place
it over both steam ports, and thus retain the rolling weights in the position to
which they have been_brought until the beam has nearly completed its stroke,
when the slide-valve is caused to complete its stroke, and reverse the engine
by the forked lever G fixed between the cheeks of the beam, this lever coming
in contact with a roller on the fixed standard H. The steam cylinder is
worked expansively, the degree of expansion being regulated by the adjusting
boxes I, I¹.
This class of engine will also be found well adapted for compressing air,
there being in an air pump no resistance at the commencement of the stroke
except the friction motion of the pump consequently takes place simultaneously
with the moving of the rolling weight, and as the resistance gradually increases
in compressing air, so does the force to overcome such resistance gradually
increase as the rolling weight moves further from its fulcrum. The steam in
this case should be worked expansively, and cut off just before the beam
arrives at the horizontal position.
Engines similarly arranged. may be employed to work with compressed air
or aeriform fluid. Such engines may also be worked with water or liquid,
but in this case the working with expansion is of course inapplicable, and
slight modifications, will understood by engineers, will consequently be
necessary.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Grafton Jones, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Fifteenth day of August, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.
JAMES GRAFTON JONES. (L.B.)