IMPROVEMENTS IN AND CONNECTED WITH STEAM ENGINES
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Davison, of Belfast, in the County of
Antrim, Ireland, Mechanical Engineer, and Robert Paterson, of
Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North Britain, Mechanical Draughts-
man, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN AND CONNECTED WITH STEAM
ENGINES"
Sealed the 19th September 1861, and dated the 26th March 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Davison and
Robert Paterson at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,
with their Petition, on the 26th March 1861.
We, THOMAS DAVISON, of Belfast, in the County [of Antrim, Ireland,
Mechanical Engineer, and ROBERT PATERSON, of Glasgow, in the County of
Lanark, North Britain, Mechanical Draughtsman, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN AND CONNECTED WITH STEAM
ENGINES," to be as follows, that is to say :-
This Invention relates to improvements in and connected with steam
engines, having principally for object the beneficial development of the
system of surface condensation in marine engines, but also in part applicable
to other engines.
Afirst improvement, relating to the condenser, consists in shaping the tubes
[Price S1

page_text: so that the flow of water through them, instead of being direct or uniform
as in ordinary cylindrical tubes, may be deflected or disturbed, the object being
to cause a continual changing of the particles in contact with the tube surface,
and a more rapid abstraction of heat therefrom in consequence. The improved
tubes may be of various forms; thus they may have one or more indentations
running helically round and along the tubes; such helical indentations may
be of regular or varying pitch,continuous or discontinuous, and preserving one
direction, or alternately running in opposite directions; or circular or other
indentations may
be formed in the tubes, or the tubes may be made of
serpentine, corrugated, zigzag, and similar forms.
A second improvement, relating to the condenser, consists in providing for
cleaning the insides of the tubes; a frame carrying a number of rods, arranged
or capable of being arranged so as simultaneously to enter a number of tubes
in their places in the condensér. The rods may be made an easy fit at their
ends so as to force out any matters in the tubes, or they may be fitted with
a material to act as a sponge or brush.
A third improvement, relating to the condenser, consists in providing for
cleaning the outsides of the tubes, a plate or plates having holes fitting or
nearly fitting upon the tubes. Provision is made for drawing the perforated
plate or plates backwards and forwards on the tubes, whereby the cleaning
is effected.
The present Invention further comprises improvements embodied in the
following general arrangement of engines with surface condenser.
In a modification of engines with inverted steam cylinders, such as are used
for driving the screw propeller, the air pump and circulating pump are
placed horizontally to one side of the shaft, and beneath or at a lower level
than the condenser. These pumps are actuated directly from the shaft by
means of eccentrics placed in each case, by preference, on the radial part of the
crank, and having about half the throw of the crank, each eccentric acting on
an inner rectangular frame, working vertically in a rectangular frame fixed on
the pump rod. The opposite sides of the frames may be arranged to work the
feed and bilge pumps, and to reduce the friction of the eccentric it may be
encircled by a series of antifriction rollers, upon which the inner rectangular
frame bears.
In the case of oscillating engines the air pumps and circulating pumps are
worked by the motion of the cylinder, the piston rod being provided with
suitable guides to sustain the transverse strain arising therefrom. In some
cases a supplementary pump cylinder is arranged in connection with thevalves

page_text: and passages of the circulating pump, with provision for working it by
auxiliary power, for the purpose of continuing the action of the condenser
when the main engines are not working; or, instead of this, provision may
be made for disconnecting the main pump from the engine and driving it
by auxiliary power. The condenser is disposed with its tubes arranged
horizontally and parallel to the shaft, and it is preferred to carry the hot
well up the outer side of it. The head or outer door of the condenser is
formed with a chamber arranged to act as an air vessel to relieve the shocks
of the circulating pump.
The mode described of arranging and working the pumps may be adopted
along with a horizontal or other position of the steam cylinders, and the
pumps may be disposed at right angles to the steam cylinders, or in other
relative positions.
Many of the improvements herein-before described are applicable to
engines without surface condensers, and also to engines of other classes
than those referred to.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Thomas Davison and Robert Paterson in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 25th September 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, wе, THомAS
DAVISON, of Belfast, in the County of Antrim, Ireland, Mechanical Engineer,
and ROBERT PATERSON, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North Britain,
Mechanical Draughtsman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-sixth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fourth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us,
the said Thomas Davison and Robert Paterson, Her special licence that
we, the said Thomas Davisen and Robert Paterson, our executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said Thomas Davison and
Robert Paterson, our executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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.

page_text: MENTS IN AND CONNECTED WITH STEAM ENGINES," upon the condition (amongst
others) that we, the said Thomas Davison and Robert Paterson, our execu-
tors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under our, or 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
mouths next and immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said Thomas Davison and Robert
Paterson, do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement in writing, reference being had to
the accompanying Drawings, and to the letters and figures marked thereon,
that is to say:-
Our said Invention relates to improvenients in and connected with steam
engines, having principally for object the beneficial development of the system
of surface condensation in marine engines, but also in part applicable to
other engines.
And in order that our said Invention may be properly understood and
carried into effect, we have hereunto appended a Sheet of explanatory
Drawings representing examples of the practical application of our improve-
ments; where the same or like parts occur in different Figures they are
marked by the same reference letters.
A first improvement relating to the condenser consists in shaping the
tubes so that the flow of the water or steam through or around them,
instead of being direct or uniform as in ordinary cylindrical tubes, may be
deflected or disturbed, the object being to cause a continual changing of
the particles in contact with the tube surface, and a more rapid abstraction
of heat in consequence.
Figures 1 and 2 are a side elevation and a cross section of one form of the
improved tube, and Figures 3 and 4 are similar views of another form.
Various forms may be adopted. Thus the tubes may have one or more
indentations a running helically round and along the tubes; and such helical
identations may be of regular or varying pitch, continuous or discontinuous,
and preserving one direction or alterately running in opposite directions,
as shown in Figure 1; or the identations a may be circular, as shown in
Figures 3 and 4, or they may be of other forms; or the tubes may be made
of serpentine, corrugated, zigzag, and similar forms.
A second improvement relating to coudensers having the circulating water

page_text: either inside or outside of the tubes, consists in providing for cleaning the
insides of the tubes a frame carrying a number of rods arranged or capable
of being arranged so as simultaneously to work in a number of tubes in their
places in the condenser. This arrangement is shown in Figure 5, which is a
longitudinal vertical section taken through the condenser of a pair of inverted
cylinder marine engines (Figure 6 being a transverse vertical section of the
same engines). The condenser C is shown (in Figure 5) with the cover
removed and with the rods B, as in use. The rods are attached to a frame b,
by means of which they are pushed through the condenser tubes A; whilst to
facilitate their being entered into the tubes there is a guide frame b', having
projecting pins, which are inserted into some of the tube ends when the rods
are about to be entered into a fresh set. This guide frame 6' remains upon
the rods B, and keeps their ends in proper positions for being entered into the
condenser tubes when being transferred from one portion of them to another.
The rods B may be made an easy fit at their ends, so as to force out any
matters in the condenser tubes, or they may be fitted with material to act
as a sponge or brush upon the inside surface of the tubes.
A third improvement relating to condensers having the circulating water
either inside or outside of the tubes, consists in providing for cleaning the
outsides of the tubes A, plates, such as that shown at D, Figure 5, having
holes fitting or nearly fitting upon the tubes. Provision is made for drawing
the perforated plate or plates backwards and forwards on the tubes, whereby
the cleaning is effected. The plate 1) remains in the condenser, and when it
is to be used rods & secured to an external frame d' are screwed into it, being
entered through holes in the tube plate, the requisite number of tubes being
temporarily removed, or being originally omitted, plugs being provided for
closing the holes when the rods d are withdrawn.
Our Invention further comprises improvements embodied in the general
arrangement of engines with surface condenser, represented in Figures 5
and 6, herein-before referred to. In this modification, having inverted steam
cylinders E, and being of a class commonly used for driving the screw pro-
peller, the air-pump F, and the circulating pump G, are placed horizontally
to one side of the shaft H, and beneath or at a lower level than the con-
denser C. These pumps are actuated directly from the shaft H by means of
eccentrics I, placed or formed in each case, by preference, on the radial part of
the crank, and having about half the throw of the crank, each eccentric I
acting on an inner rectangular frame J working vertically in a rectangular
frame K fixed on the pump rod L. The opposite side of the frame K is

page_text: made to work the feed and bilge pumps M, their plungers m being directly
fixed to it. The eccentric I, with its frames J and K, is shown separately in
Figure 7, being partly in vertical section, whilst the outer frame K is shown
in horizontal section in Eigure 8. The two sides of the frame K are formed
with arched arms k, which meet midway, and are bolted together by flanges,
the whole forming a stiff frame, and not liable to work loose at the joints. The
inner frame J is grooved at the corners to permit the arms k to spring from
points considerably within the extreme ends of the guiding surfaces of the
frame K. To reduce the friction of the eccentric I, it may be encircled as
shown in Figures 9 and 10, by a series of antifriction rollers N, upon which
the inner sliding frame J bears. The outer edge of the eccentric I, and the
inuer edge of the frame J, are grooved to receive the rollers, the projecting
flanges retaining them in place; or these rollers may be provided with pivots
or journals set in separate rings.
In the case of oscillating engines the air pumps F and circulating pumps G
are worked according to our Invention by the motion of the cylinder E, as
shown in Figures 11 and 12, which are elevations taken at right angles to
each other of one cylinder, and other parts of a pair of oscillating engines,
such as may be used for driving paddle wheels. The pumps are worked by
means of arms or levers P attached to the cylinder E, and to sustain the
strain arising from thus working the pumps, guides Q are attached to the
cylinder cover between which the piston rod slide block R works, or
the piston rod may be otherwise suitably guided. In some cases we
arrange a supplementary pump g, as shown in Figures 5 and 6, in connection
with the valves and passages of the circulating pump G, with provision
for working it by auxiliary power, for the purpose of continuing the action
of the condenser when the main engines are not working.
Such sup-
plementary pump may be placed in the chamber of the main pump G, or it
may be placed apart, and communicate therewith by pipes or passages; in all
cases, however, the valves of the main pump act also for the supplementary
pump. Or, instead of such arrangement provision may be made for discon-
necting the main pump G from the main shaft H, and for driving it by
auxiliary power.
The modes herein-before described of arranging and working the pumps
may beadopted along with a horizontal or other position of the steam cylinders,
and the pumps may be disposed at right angles to the steam cylinders, or in
other relative position.
In inverted cylinder engines such as are shown in Figures and 6, we

page_text: place the condenser C horizontally, with its tubes A arranged horizontally and
parallel to the shaft, and it is preferred to carry the hot well R up the outer
side of it. The head or outer door S of the condenser is formed with a
chamber s, arranged to act as an air vessel to the circulating water in order
to relieve any shocks produced by the action of the circulating pump. This
last-mentioned improvement is shown, also in Figure 11 as applied to the
condenser C of the oscillating engines, the section on that side of the Figure
being supposed to be taken partly through the end of the condenser, and
partly through the circulating pump G.
Many of the improvements herein-before described are applicable to engines
without surface condensers, and also to engines of other classes than those
herein-before referred to.
Having thus particularly described our said Invention, and the manner in
which the same is or may be used or carried into effect, we have to state
that we
do not restrict ourselves to the precise details herein described or
delineated, but that what we consider to be novel and original, and claim as
the Invention secured to us by the herein-before in part recited Letters
Patent, is,―
First, the shaping of condenser tubes with regular or irregular indentations,
angles, or bends, substantially in the manner and for the purpose herein-
before described.
Second, the applying to condenser tubes internal and external cleaning
apparatus, substantially such as herein-before described.
Third, the general design or arrangement of engines shown in Figures 5,
6, 11, and 12 of the accompanying Drawings, and herein-before described.
Fourth, the driving of the air pump or circulating pump by means of a
cross frame, with sliding frame arranged and constructed substantially as
herein before described and delineated.
Fifth, the applying of antifriction rollers to eccentrics for driving pumps,
substantially as herein-before described.
Sixth, the working of both the air pumps and circulating pumps of oscil-
lating engines by means of levers upon the cylinders, substantially as herein-
before described.
Seventh, the applying of guides to the piston rods of oscillating cylinders
to sustain the strain of working air or circulating pumps, substantially as
herein-before described.
Eighth,the providing ofasupplementarycirculating pump drivenbyauxiliary
power, but using the valves of the main pump, or the providing for driving

page_text: the main pump by auxiliary power, substantially in the manner and for the
purpose herein-before described.
Ninth, the forming of an air vessel in the condenser head or cover, substan
tially as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Davison, on behalf of myself
and of the said Robert Paterson, have hereunto set my hand and seal,
this Twenty-fourth day of September, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
Witness,
EDMUND HUNT,
Patent Agent,
28, St. Enoch Square,
Glasgow.
THOS. DAVISON. (L.S.)