IMPROVEMENTS IN SAFETY VALVES AND IN APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH, APPLICABLE ALSO TO REGULATING THE FLOW OF STEAM FOR OTHER PURPOSES
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Hartley, of Bury, in the County of Lan-
caster, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN SAFETY VALVES
AND IN APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH, APPLICABLE ALSO TO REGULATING THE
FLOW OF STEAM FOR OTHER PURPOSES."
Sealed the 30th October 1855, and dated the 1st May 1855.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Hartley at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
1st May 1855.
I, the said WILLIAM HARTLEY, of Bury, in the County of Lancaster, Engineer,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN SAFETY
VALVES AND IN APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH, APPLICABLE ALSO TO REGULATING
THE FLOW OF STEAM FOR OTHER PURPOSES," to be as follows:-
The first part of my improvements relates to an arrangement of safety valve,
the principle of which consists in weighting the valve by the pressure of steam,
which pressure upon being removed allows the said valve to rise from its seat
and discharge steam. This may be illustrated as follows:-A spherical valve is
adapted to its seat in such a manner that the periphery below the equatorial
line thereof is divided into two portions, the one open to the boiler and the
other to the atmosphere; the upper hemisphere is supplied with steam from
the boiler through another passage provided with a loaded valve, which when
raised from its seat will allow the steam pressing upon the upper part of the
sphere to pass into the atmosphere, by which means therefore the spherical
valve will be uploaded, and will no longer resist the pressure within the boiler;
hence a discharge of steam will take place. Instead of the spherical valve, I

page_text: can employ an ordinary flat or other valve in conjunction with a piston
exposed to the steam pressure, which piston is or may be a little less in
diameter than its cylinder, thereby preventing friction and allowing steam to
pass by its sides. The auxiliary valve above alluded to may be variously
constructed; but a method I adopt, and which constitutes another part of my
improvements, is as follows:-To-the valve spindle is attached a piston or disc
placed within a cylinder, but so adapted as to leave a slight space between the
two surfaces; through this space sufficient steam will pass to effect the loading
of the spherical valve, although the spherical valve or piston will allow a
sufficient quantity of steam to pass to load them when the auxiliary or loaded
valve is closed. Upon an undue pressure taking place the weighted valve will
be raised, and the steam allowed to escape from the top of the spherical valve
or piston, as the case may be, allowing it to rise and discharge the super-
abundant steam. The auxiliary valve when open being capable of passing
away a sufficient quantity of steam, prevents the spherical valve or piston
closing until the pressure is reduced below the amount with which the auxiliary
valve is loaded. In the event of a vacuum occurring in the boiler, this
apparatus will still act as a safety valve, for the steam loading being then
removed, the sphere will rise from its seat and admit air.
Another part of my Invention consists in a method of causing a valve
opened by steam pressure to continue its motion so as to allow steam to pass
into a chamber, it being necessary under such circumstances to remove or
counterbalance the top pressure. For this purpose I employ a piston or disc
attached to the valve spindle, and adapted to a cylinder in communication with
the boiler, but in such a manner that a small portion of steam can pass
between the surfaces, so as to act upon the valve loaded on its seat; when this
loaded valve therefore is forced upward, it will be caused to continue its motion
by the pressure of the steam against the piston or disc, the top pressure being
overcome thereby. The chamber above the valve is open to the atmosphere,
into which a first quantity of steam passes, but when the piston or disc has
moved upward beyond its cylinder, so as to allow a greater quantity to flow,
that communication is closed. This apparatus is peculiarly applicable to a
safety valve, for which provisional protection was granted to me, bearing date
December Eighteenth, One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, to be used
therewith for the purpose of admitting steam to one side of the steam-loaded
valve for the purpose of establishing an equilibrium, but may be applied to
other purposes, as, for instance, for admitting steam into a locomotive tank,
boiler, or other receptacle, under which circumstances it will in itself act as a
safety valve.

page_text: Another method of accomplishing the same object and partly embracing the
above principle is as follows:-A loaded valve, the seat of which opens to
the boiler, is provided with a projecting piston of the same diameter, or nearly
so, extending into a cylinder above, by which means the top of the valve is
relieved from the pressure of steam in the cylinder. A small quantity of
steam may be allowed to pass the piston to prevent friction.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Hartley in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
31st October 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
HARTLEY, of Bury, in the County of Lancaster, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the First day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the eighteenth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
William Hartley, Her especial licence that I, the said William Hartley, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William
Hartley, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN SAFETY VALVES
AND IN APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH, APPLICABLE ALSO TO REGULATING THE
FLOW OF STEAM FOR OTHER PURPOSES," upon the condition (amongst others) that
I, the said William Hartley, by an instrument in writing under my hand and
seal, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Inven-
tion, 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 Hartley, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed,
to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement
and accompanying Drawings, that is to say:-
The first part of my improvements relates to an arrangement of safety valve,
the principle of which consists in weighting the valve by the pressure of steam,

page_text: which pressure upon being removed allows the said valve to rise from its seat
and discharge steam; this arrangement is applicable as a safeguard against
the effects of a vacuum in the boiler, as well as against an excessive internal
pressure. In conjunction with the above, I use a peculiar form of auxiliary
valve, hereafter described, and constituting a portion of my improvements.
Another part of my said Invention consists in a method of causing a valve
opened by steam pressure to continue its motion so as to allow steam to pass
into a chamber. This apparatus is peculiarly applicable to a safety valve, for
which Letters Patent were granted to me, bearing date December Eighteenth,
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, but may be applied to other
purposes, as, for instance, for admitting steam into a locomotive tank, boiler,
or other receptacle, under which circumstances it will itself act as a safety
valve. My Invention also consists in another method of admitting steam to a
tank, as above mentioned.
And in order that the several improvements may be fully understood, I have
appended to this my Specification a Sheet of illustrative Drawings, which I
will now proceed to describe.
My first improvement is shewn in one form at Figs. 1 and 2. a is a pipe
to be attached to the boiler, and upon it is formed a chamber b, within which
a pipe c, open at one end to the atmosphere, projects. The pipe c is provided
with a seating, upon which is placed a spherical valve d, extending upwards
into a cylindrical closed casing e. To the pipe a is connected a passage f,
within which there is a spindle g, carrying a weight h, suspended within the
boiler. The spindle g is furnished with a disc i, situate within a short
cylinder k, and of such diameter as to allow a small quantity of steam to pass;
above this disc is a valve l, adapted to a seat in communication with the upper
portion of the spherical valve d. The operation is as follows:-According to the
position shewn, steam from the boiler is passing through the pipe a, and from
thence to the chamber b, and is there exerting its expansive force against the
lower part of the sphere d, by which force it would therefore be raised; this,
however, is prevented by pressure upon its upper hemisphere, exerted by steam
which has passed between the disc i and cylinder k into the chamber t, and
this supply will also be effected through a space left between the spherical
valve and the cylinder within which it is placed, for those parts are not so
fitted as to be steam-tight, and so the apparatus will remain until an undue
pressure in the boiler shall have taken place, under which circumstances the
valve will be raised, and as the area opened thereby will be greater than
that between the disc i and its cylinder, the steam in the chamber t will be at
liberty to pass. off, and thus the pressure will be removed from the upper part

page_text: of the sphere d, allowing it to be raised in order that a discharge may take
place from the chamber 6 into the pipe c; upon the pressure decreasing, the
valve 7 will be carried by the weight h to its seat, and steam will again pass
on to the upper surface of the sphere and effect the loading.
Thus far I have alluded to this valve as a safeguard against steam pressure,
but it will be equally effective if a vacuum should take place in the boiler, for
then the loading would of necessity be removed, and the atmospheric pressure
would lift the sphere and admit air. Fig. 3 represents a modification of
this part of my improvements. In this instance the lower part of the valve d
is a portion of a sphere surmounted by a disc d, against which the steam
admitted through the cylinder k presses; the auxiliarly valve has also a slight
addition, there being situate beneath it a disc ", adapted for the purpose of
gaining greater steadiness of action. Letters of reference corresponding to
those on Figs. I and 2 being marked, a repetition of the description will not
be necessary. Fig. 4 represents, in detached view, another modification of the
auxiliary valve. In this instance the disc i is situate within a cylinder k, of
larger diameter at bottom, but narrowing gradually, until at the point it
becomes parallel, and of such diameter as to admit the disc just freely; a larger
quantity of steam will therefore be allowed to pass at first, but when the point
is gained, the several parts will be in relation to each other, as described
in reference to Figs. 1 and 3.
The next part of my improvements is shewn at Fig. 5, applied to that
construction of safety valve for which Letters Patent were granted to me,
bearing date December Eighteenth, One thousand eight hundred and
fifty-four. The pipe communicating with the steam boiler is shewn at a.
This pipe is provided with a seating b, to which is adapted a valve c,
loaded by a weight d; above the valve is a cylindrical portion e, and
above that four wings f, projecting into a short cylinder g, corresponding in
diameter to the part e; the cylinder g is mounted in a chamber h, open to the
atmosphere, and the valve c is within another chamber i, from whence a pipe k
proceeds. Upon the spindle of the valve c is a disc e, situate within a
cylindrical continuation of the seat b, but so adapted as to allow a small
quantity of steam to pass, so that when a certain amount of pressure shall
have been attained in the boiler the valve c will be lifted from its seat. Under
these circumstances there will at first be an escape through the wings f, and
from thence through the chamber h to the atmosphere; but during this time
the pressure of steam against the disc will continue the motion of the valve c,
so as to bring the part e into the cylinder g, by which time the said disc
will have passed from its cylinder, and will allow a larger quantity of steam to

page_text: pass off by the passage k to the under side of the valve A, there to operate, as
described in the Specification of my previous Patent before referred to. In
order to explain the use of the auxiliary valve just described to other purposes
before alluded to, I will suppose it desired to convey blown-off steam of a
locomotive boiler into a tank for warming the water previously to its being
fed into the boiler, in which case it will merely be necessary to connect the
passage
k to the said tank, provided with a non-return valve, and the blown-off
steam will be conveyed thereto, so long as the pressure within shall remain
below that in the boiler; and in this case the valve constituting my Invention
will act in itself as a safety valve. I will observe that the tank above-mentioned
should be provided with a valve to guard against excessive pressure. For
admitting steam into tanks or other closed chambers, I also employ the con-
struction of valve shewn in sectional view at Fig. 6; in which a is the steam
pipe leading from the boiler; and 6, the valve loaded to its seat. This valve is
formed with a cylindrical upper part c, which projects into a chamber d, not
quite tight, but allowing a little steam to pass into the said chamber, which is
open to the atmosphere by means of slots e; when the pressure rises above a
certain height the valve-will be lifted, and steam will be allowed to pass along
the passage k to the tank or other receptacle.
..Having thus described and ascertained the nature of my said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, I desire it to be under-
stood that I claim as secured to me under the above in part recited Letters
Patent,
Firstly, weighting a valve by the pressure of steam, the removal of which
pressure by an auxiliary valve or equivalent means allows the valve to rise
from its seat and discharge steam.
Also in reference to Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, I claim the use of the disc con-
nected to the spindle of the auxiliary valve.
In reference to the admission of steam to tanks or other receptacles, I
claim the valve and parts connected therewith shewn at Fig. 5, and also the
rarrangement shewn at Fig. 6.
t.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Hartley, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Thirtieth day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.
WILLIAM HARTLEY. (L.B.)