CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN LOCOMOTIVE ENGINES
Year: 1848

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
RITCHIE, of Aberdeen, in the Shire of Aberdeen and Kingdom of Scotland,
Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Second day of March,
One thousand eight hundred and forty-eight, in the eleventh year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Charles Ritchie, my exors, adñiors, and assigns, Her especial license, full
power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said Charles Ritchie, my
exors, adññiors, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Charles Ritchie,
my exors, adñiors, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others,
from time to time and at all times during the term of years therein expressed,
should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, vend, within
England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of
"CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN LOCOMOTIVE ENGINES;" in which said Letters
Patent is contained a proviso that I, the said Charles Ritchie, should cause
a particular description of the nature of my said Invention, and the manner
in which the same is to be performed, by an instrument in writing under my
hand and seal, to be inrolled in Her said Majesty's High Court of Chancery
within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto
had, will more fully and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Charles Ritchie, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and
in what manner the same is to be performed, is fully set forth and ascertained
in and by the present Specification thereof, reference being had to the Drawings
hereto annexed and forming part hereof, by the letters and figures marked
thereon, that is to say :-...
My Invention consists, in, and has reference, to, certain improvements in
locomotive and other engines' carried into practical effect by the means or
through the agency of certain new or improved mechanical combinations and
arrangements, the said improvements having for their object the simplification
of the construction and the augmentation of the efficiency of such engines.
The first part of my said Invention consists in the application thereto of a
cylinder or cylinders with two distinct and separate pistons in each cylinder,
to which are affixed piston rods for imparting motion to the cranked axles and
driving wheels fixed thereon, whereby the, rocking or oscillating motion attend-
ing locomotive engines as hitherto constructed is considerably diminished, and
greater steadiness of motion obtained; as by this arrangement the momentum
of one piston, together with its cranks and other connections, is at all times
exactly balanced, or nearly so, by that of the other, in consequence of the ap-
proaching or receding of the pistons to and from each other being always
simultaneous.
The second part of my said Invention relates to an improved mode of
working the slide valves of locomotive and' other engines by rendering the
eccentric which imparts motion thereto available for the purpose of reversing
the engine.
The third part of my Invention relates to an improved valve for regulating
the admission of steam or other motive power to the working cylinders of
locomotive and other engines; and, further, to improvements in safety valves
to be applied to the boilers of engines or other reservoirs of power.
The fourth part of my said Invention relates to an improved anti-primer or
steam collector to be applied to the boilers of steam engines?
The fifth part of iny said Invention relates to an improved self-acting
feeding apparatus for supplying water to the boilers of steam engines.
And the sixth and last part of my said Invention consists in the application
to the wheels of locomotive engines of an improved guard or safety break.
In order to explain my said Invention as completely as possible, I will at
once proceed to describe the mechanical combinations and arrangements of
parts which I consider best calculated for carrying my said Invention into
practical effect.
.

page_text: DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
1:
Figure 1 exhibits a side elevation of a locomotive engine constructed ac
cording to my improvements; Figure 2, a longitudinal and vertical section
thereof, taken through about the middle, showing the arrangement and dis-
position of the valves and boiler, and other parts in connection therewith;
Figure 3 a transverse and vertical section.. taken through the line A, B, at the
Figures 1 and 2; and through the steam port or passage of the cylinder on one
side of the boiler and the exhausting port or passage of the cylinder on the
opposite side; Figure 4 a partial top, plan view of the locomotive; Figure 5
a longitudinal and vertical section of one of the working cylinders, with two
pistons placed therein, and of the induction and eduction ports or passages,
together with the mechanical arrangement employed to actuate the slide valve
for covering and uncovering the said ports or passages; Figure-6 a vertical
and longitudinal section of the feeding apparatus before mentioned and here-
after fully described; Figure 7. a vertical section of a safety valve, constructed
according to my said Invention. In all the Figures similar letters of reference
are placed upon and denote corresponding parts, in so far as such parts appear
or can be seen at each of the Figures respectively. At Figures 1, 2, 3, 4,
A, A, marks the boiler of the engine; B, B, the driving wheels, fixed upon the
crank axles C, C, the boss or nave D of each of such wheels serving as the
crank, to which one end of a connecting rod E is attached by a crank pin or
stud a secured to said nave; and the opposite end of the rod E is connected
to the piston rod F, in the usual way of forming such connections; G, G, two
pistons, to which are attached the rods F, F; the said pistons work steam-tight
in the cylinder H by means of metallic or other packing. The cylinders
H, H; are securely fixed to each side of the boiler A, A, in any convenient
manner. I would remark that, instead of the fixed cylinders and connecting
rods as above described, oscillating cylinders may be used, having their piston
rods connected directly with the crank axle, or where fixed cylinders are used
and space is an object, the connecting rods E, E, may be dispensed, with by
attaching to the piston rods a cross frame k (shewn at Figure 8), in which
there is formed a slot, into which the crank pin or stud a takes. The outer
end of the frame k works through a guide hole fixed to the side of the engine,
and thus the rectilinear motion of the piston rods imparts rotary motion to the
crank axle and driving wheels fixed thereon. Now, as either of these methods
will occupy less space than that exhibited at Figure 1 it will
appear evident
that these arrangements are more particularly intended to be used for short
engines in which there is not sufficient distance between the axles to admit of
.

page_text: the adoption of the other arrangement, or instead of one long cylinder
two short cylinders may be employed, each having a separate piston; the
bottoms of the cylinders, being made to abutt against each other, are
securely connected together in that position. I, I, marks the induction steam
pipe, leading to valve box K, of the cylinder. L, the eduction pipe, leading
from the cylinder through the boiler to the chimney. The steam or other
motive power may be admitted through the ports or passages into the cylinder
by means of a common D slide, which may be actuated in the following
manner-Upon the hindermost driving axle there is fixed an eccentric M
(shown at Figure 5), upon which there is a cam N, of the following peculiar
construction-Two rods, O, O, are fixed to or formed upon the said cam; or
it may be composed of one double-gabbed rod, one gab being employed for
effecting the backward and the other the forward motion of the slide valve;
through the intervention of a double lever P, which has its fulcrum upon a
stud b, fixed to the side of the boiler, as shewn at Figure 1, and this lever is
connected to the slide valve by a rod c. The length of the lever P, as also the
angle of inclination of the parts 0, 0, should be in accordance with the lead
of the valve, the one or other of the inclined parts 0* being caused to act
upon the lever P by a band lever connected to the said cam in any convenient
manner, so as to enable the engine driver to start, reverse, and stop the engine
readily by the same eccentric which gives motion to the slide valve. By
making the end of the valve rod moveable, as in a slot in the lever P, the
steam may be worked expansively at pleasure. Q marks the induction
passages. or ports of the cylinder, and R the eduction passage. S, S, mark
spring safety valves, the construction of which will be better understood by
referring to Figure 7, where d marks the valve, and e the valve seat,f the stem
of the valve, passing through a guide hole g. It will be seen, upon referring to
this Figure, that there are two forms of construction exhibited at that part
marked A, shewing a valve with a conical shaped seat marked B, being a flat
valve, and I construct this valve with a flange h, which I call a compensation
flange, such flange being let into the scat e vertically about one sixth of the
diameter of the steamway in the valve seat. This valve is weighted by a helical
spring i, shewn at Figure 2, of sufficient power according to the required pres-
sure of the steam; and when it is intended to be used as a reserve safety valve
I place the spring around that part of the stem below the valve, that is to say
within the boiler, as shewn at Figure 2. The advantage of this form of con-
struction of valve over the ordinary valve is as follows:-As soon as the
pressure
of the steam raises the valve from its seat, the flange being exposed
to the pressure of the steam, presents an increased surface, which compensates

page_text: for the increasing resistance of the helical spring i, until the valve has been
raised to a height equal to the area of the steamway, when it allows the steam
or vapour to escape freely. When not intended as a reserve safety valve, this
valve may have the spring i placed above it.
Another valve, which I call an indicator safety valve, is shown at Figure 2,
consisting of a piston A2, which is fitted into a tube B, having a spring C
attached to it, lateral openings being made in the tube to allow the steam to
escape when the piston becomes raised above such openings, and by making
said tube moveable within another one the "blowing off" point may be varied
at pleasure. An index like that of a barometer may then be attached to the
stem or rod of the piston, which will indicate very slight variations of pressure.
T marks the regulator or regulating valve, the construction and arrangement of
which is as follows:-U is a short socket pipe having two conical valve seats
1, 2, formed therein (as shewn at Figure 2), into which the valves T fit; such
valves being connected together or formed upon one stem, into which one end
of a rod W is screwed or otherwise made fast, and the opposite end of said
rod attached to an eccentric spindle K, working through a stuffing box, and to
which a hand lever X is fixed, such lever and rod being for the purpose of
opening or closing the regulator valve at pleasure. The anti-primer before
mentioned is formed in the following manner:-Y, Y, mark two distinct and
separate plates of sheet metal, the outer edges of which are securely fixed to
the inside of the boiler by rivetting or otherwise, the said plates being inclined
towards the centre of the boiler, care being taken to leave a space between the
inner edges of the two plates, so as to reserve a channel lengthwise of the
boiler for the passage of steam into the steam chamber thus formed, and within
or in connection with which the regulating valve T is situate, the steam pipes
which lead to the cylinders being connected thereto as shewn at Figure 3.
I would remark that instead of forming the anti-primer of two separate strips
or pieces of metal, the same result may be obtained by forming it of one strip
or piece of metal of the shape shewn at Figure 9, the said plate being pierced
with an infinite number of small holes.
The construction and arrangement of the feeding apparatus exhibited at
Figures 2 and 6 are as follows:-A¹ marks a metal cylinder, which should be
bored perfectly true and cylindrical; this cylinder is fitted with a piston B', the
rod C¹ of such piston forming the plunger or ram of the cold water pump; the
barrel D of which serves as a compound gland for the stuffing box of the
cylinder and pump barrel. E' marks the slide valve, which may be made to
cover or uncover the ports or passages in the cylinder by the opposite sides of
the piston coming into contact with the levers F', G', which are connected to the

page_text: slide valve by a rod or rods H, I. K' marks the induction pipe, and L' the
eduction or exhaust pipe. M³, N', are spherical valves (the seats of which are
knife-edged), formed within the spherical flange pieces O', which have openings
for establishing a communication between the tender, the pump, barrel, and
the steam boiler, as shewn at Figure 2. The modus operandi of. this feeding
apparatus is as follows:-Upon steam being admitted from the boiler into the
cylinder A', through the steam port or passage Pi (shewn at Figure 6), the
piston B' will be acted upon, and the ram or plunger C' be withdrawn, and the
water from the tenders will raise the valve M¹ and enter the barrel to supply
the space previously occupied by the plunger or ram C'; by this time the piston
will have acted upon, the lever F¹ so as to cause the slide valve to uncover the
port or passage Q' and cover the port or passage P¹, thereby allowing, the steam
on the other side of the piston to escape through the exhaust pipe; the. piston
will now be impelled in a contrary direction, and. the plunger or ram entering
the barrel D¹ will cause. the valvo, M¹ to be closed and the valve N' to be
opened by pressure of the water therein, which, as the plunger or ram advances,
will be forced into the boiler to supply the deficiency of that water which has
been converted into steam.
At Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, R', R', mark wheel guards or safety breaks, which
are each composed of a strong band or strap of iron or other substance, which
place like a splasher over the wheel to be protected, and I form the inner
surface of the said guard or break of the converse shape to that of the tyre, and
I fix it securely to the framing or boiler, or both, as near to the top of the
wheel as the play of the bearing springs will admit of. As near to the back
of each wheel as possible, without touching it, I place and securely fix to each
side of the engine a bar of iron S', in a longitudinal direction, such arrange-
ment being intended to preserve such wheels in a vertical position, and thereby
support the engine in the event of the axles breaking, and to operate at the
same time as a break to retard the motion of the engine in the event of any
such accident.
:
.
.
:
Another improvement in locomotive engines consists in arranging that part
of the boiler known as the fire box, in such manner that the height of the
water in this part of the boiler shall at all times be at a proper level, and this
I effect by what I call an anti-fluctuator, which is a separate partition plate
T' across the water space, or an extension of the plate to which the tubes are
fixed, as shewn at Figure 2; and by causing the water to be fed to the boiler
at that part which surrounds the fire, it will appear evident that the barrel
of the boiler can only receive its supply of water from that which overflows
the said partition plate.

page_text: Eighthly, I claim the use and application to the wheels of locomotive engines
of a wheel guard or safety break of the construction before described and
exhibited at Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, of the annexed Drawings.
Ninthly and lastly, I claim the use and application to the boilers of locomotive
and other engines, where tubular boilers are used, of a partition plate, so as to "
preserve the water in that part of the boiler above the fire at a proper level,
and also to prevent the general fluctuation, as herein-before particularly
described, set forth and represented at Figure 2 of the Drawings hereunto
annexed.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Ritchie, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Third day of August, in the year of our Lord
L
6

page_text: Having now described the nature of my said. Invention of Certain Improve-
ments in Locomotive and other Engines, and in what manner the same is to be
performed and carried into practical effect, I would remark that I do not
claim the exclusive use of any of the separato parts above mentioned and
5.referred to, when considered per se and apart from the purposes of my said
Invention. as herein-before set forth and described. But what I claim as my
said Invention, whereof the exclusive use and advantage -was granted to me
by Her Majesty's Letters Patent as aforesaid, is as follows, videlicet:-
Firstly, the use and application to locomotive and other engines of one or
more cylinders, having, two distinct and separate pistons working therein, such
cylinder, or, cylinders, being placed between two driving or crank.axles, to
which they impart motion;, and. I- further claim the mechanical, combinations
and arrangements employed, for working such cylinder or cylinders by one
slide valve, as herein-before particularly set forth and represented at Figures
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, of the Drawings hereunto annexed.
Secondly, I claim the use and application to locomotive and. other engines
of two eccentric rods or one double-gabbed rod, in connection with one
common eccentric; for the purpose of effecting the reversing motion of the
engine, as herein-before particularly.described and represented at Figure 5 of
the annexed Drawings.
"
Thirdly, I claim the use and application to locomotive engines of a regulator
composed of two valves, which may be either conical or flat, as herein-before
particularly described and represented at Figures 2 and 7 of the Drawings
hereunto annexed......
. J.
.:
Fourthly, I claim the construction, of safety valves with a flange, termed
a compensation flange, without regard to the manner in which such valves
may be weighted, as herein-before particularly described and represented at
Figure 7 of the Drawings hereunto annexed.
Fifthly, I claim the use and application to locomotive and other engines of
an indicator safety valve, as herein-before described and exhibited at Figure 2
of the annexed Drawings.
Sixthly, I claim the use and application to the boilers of locomotive and
other engines of an anti-primer or steam collector of the construction herein-
before particularly described and exhibited at Figures 2 and 3 of the Drawings
hereunto annexed.
Seventhly, I claim the use and application to locomotive and other engines
of a self-acting feeding apparatus, distinct and separate from the working parts
of engines, as herein-before particularly described and represented at Figures 2
and 6 of the Drawings hereunto annexed.