Improvements in Slide Valves for Steam Engines.
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 26th July, 1898-Accepted, 27th Aug., 1898
i
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Slide Valves for Steam Engines.
We, ORSON MORRIS, Inventor, of Red Canon, WILLARD ALONZO KEYES, Railroad
Station Agent, of Red Canon, and CYRUS THOMPSON GAMBLE, Medical Doctor, of
Almy, all in the State of Wyoming, United States of America, 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:-
The invention has relation to slide valves for steam engines, either of the loco-
motive or stationary type; and the object is to provide an improved slide valve
whereby pressure of steam on the back of the valve is relieved.
A further object is to provide a valve of this character with means for taking
up the wear, thereby not so often requiring the grinding or planing of the faces
with which it engages; and finally to provide a valve which will not be influenced
to any appreciable extent by the exhaust steam, as in the ordinary construction
of valves, thereby enabling it to work more easily, and for this reason allowing
the parts to be made much lighter.
With these objects in view, the invention consists in certain features of con-
struction and combination of parts which will be hereinafter fully described and
claimed.
In the drawings:
Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view of a steam cylinder equipped with my.
improvement.
Figure 2 is a plan view with the steam chest and exhaust chamber or balance
plate removed,
Figure 3 is an enlarged plan view of the valve.
Figure 4 is an enlarged sectional view of a portion of the balance plate or
exhaust chamber-the valve-and one of the valve seats.
Figure 5 is an enlarged end view of one of the sides of the valve; and
Figure 6 is a similar view showing in side elevation the springs for forcing the
packing strips in engagement with the valve seats of the exhaust chamber or
balance plate and a portion of the clamping plate.
In said drawings, denotes the steam cylinder provided with the inlet and
exhaust ports E-E, and the valve seats E-E¹. 2 denotes the steam chest, which
is bolted to the cylinder in any suitable manner, and provided with an inlet a¹;
and 3 denotes the exhaust chamber or balance plate arranged within said steam
chest and bolted thereto by the bolts S. a denotes the exhaust pipe leading
through the stuffing box A of the valve chest into one of the ends of the balance
plate and communicating with the arched recess thereof. B denotes the slide
valve provided with stems c. Said valve has in each of its ends a recess F, in
which is located a packing strip G having a dove-tailed socket 9 in which is
placed a packing, (as babbitt metal) b¹, which is adapted to engage the valve
seat d of the balance plate or exhaust chamber. The strip is held against the
seat d by springs H supported upon a screw K held against rotation in a seat d'
at the bottom of the recess. Nuts JJ are placed upon these screws, for the pur-
CD 037

page_text: pose of adjusting the tension of the spring, and hold it in its desired adjustment.
Clamping plates f are secured to the ends of the valve by. bolts f¹, and cover
the recesses and the parts therein contained.
In operation, as the piston moves in the direction indicated by the arrow, Fig. 1,
the exhaust steam at the left-hand side of the cylinder will pass up through the
port E at that end into the arched recess of the balance plate or exhaust chamber
and out of the pipe a, the valve being so arranged that that portion on the left
hand side will prevent the steam passing out into the steam chest, and that por-
tion on the right hand side will also prevent the steam passing out into the chest,
but will allow the steam in the chest to pass into the port E on the right hand
side, and supply the cylinder.
If desired to increase the tension of the springs H, for the purpose of securing
a steam tight fit of the packing strip with the valve seats, all that is necessary is
to remove the clamping plate and adjust the nuts J.-J.
Although I have specifically described the construction and relative arrangement
of the several elements of my invention, I do not desire to be confined to the same,
as such changes or modifications may be made, as clearly fall within the scope
of the invention, without departing from the spirit thereof.
.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is:
1. The combination with the cylinder, a steam chest, and the ports leading from
the chest to the cylinder, of a balance plate located within the chest and secured
wholly to the valve seats, and provided with a recess, a valve for alternately admit-
ting steam at one end of the cylinder, and exhausting it at the other end into the
recess of the balance plate, and the exhaust pipe extending through the sides of
the steam chest and communicating with the recess of the balance plate, substan-
tially as described.
2. In a valve, the combination with the body portion thereof, having a trans-
verse recess in its ends, packing strips located in said transverse recesses, and
provided with clamping springs for supporting and exerting an upward pressure
on said strips, and clamping plates bolted to the ends of the valves to close said
recesses, substantially as specified.
3. A valve having a transverse recess in one of its sides, a packing strip located
in said recess, screws mounted in said recess against rotation, a spring supported
by said screws and in turn supporting the packing strips, nuts for adjusting
the tension of the screws, and a clamping plate secured to the side of the valve
to enclose the parts arranged within the recess, substantially as described.
Dated this 26th day of July 1898.
WHEATLEY & MACKENZIE,
40, Chancery Lane, London, W.C., Agents.