AN IMPROVEMENT IN STEAM ENGINES
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Cope, of New North Street, Finsbury,
in the County of Middlesex, Engineer, for the Invention of "AN
IMPROVEMENT IN STEAM ENGINES."
Sealed the 25th November 1870, and dated the 27th May 1870.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Cope at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
27th May 1870.
I, JAMES COPE, of New North Street, Finsbury, in the County of
Middlesex, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "AN IMPROVEMENT IN STEAM ENGINES," to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is to simplify the construction of steam
engines in which the throttle valve is dispensed with and the steam is
cut off direct. The supply valves are controlled by the governor of the
engine in the following manner:-From the fork which embraces the
sliding collar of the governor depends a link rod which is jointed to and
supports a segment shaped slotted piece. This rod is connected with a
central bridge or strap of the segment piece. To the extremities of this

page_text: segment piece excentric rods are jointed, and from these rods it receives
a rocking motion. At a point cut by an arc drawn from the axis of the
shaft which carries the excentrics and through the centre of the slot of
the segment piece is the axis of a stud pin, upon which is mounted a
crank lever, one limb of which is connected with the slide valve or
valves for supplying the steam to the engine, while the other is fitted
with a stud pin that enters the slot of the segment piece. The action
of the governor by its raising and lowering the segment pieco deter-
mines from time to time the position of this pin in the slot of the
rocking segment piece, and that position again determines the amount
of motion transmitted to the crank lever and through it to the slide
valve connected therewith. Thus if the segment piece were lifted by
the governor until its centre of motion coincided with the axis of the
pin of the crank lever that lever would have no motion, but in proportion
as the segment piece moves from this position upwards or downwards
the motion of the slide valve will be increased. The exhaust valve is
worked through a crank lever operated by an excentric rod without
modification, and this valve may be either a side or face valve or a
conical valve, the latter being preferred when high pressure steam is
used.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said James Cope in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 26th November 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
COPE, of New North Street, Finsbury, in the County of Middlesex,
Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of May, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the thirty-
third year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give a
and grant unto me, the said James Cope, Her special licence that I,
the said James Cope, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said James Cope, 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, a
should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the

page_text: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and
Isle of Man, an Invention for “AN IMPROVEMENT IN STEAM ENGINES,” upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said James Cope, my executors
or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, 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 months next and immediately after the date
of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said James Cope, 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, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto
annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to
say):
The object of this Invention is to simplify the construction of steam
engines by which the throttle valve is dispensed with and the steam is
cut off direct.
In Sheet I. of the accompanying Drawings Fig. 1 is a side elevation
of a steam engine fitted with a novel arrangement of apparatus for
controlling the supply valves by means of the governor; Fig. 2 is an
clevation of the same, the steam supply pipe and the adjacent valve
chest covers being removed to expose the slide valves to view; and Fig. 3
is a sectional plan taken in the line 1, 2, of Fig. 2.
A is the engine governor constructed and operating as usual, and B
is the excentric shaft from which motion is taken for working the
valves; C, C*, are the supply and exhaust valve chests of the engine;
D, c, Fig. 2, are slide valves carried by rods c¹, which rods are connected
together by links c², and jointed to these links are smaller links c³, which
connect respectively through arms E and E* to curved rock shafts F
and F by which the valves are worked. From the fork which embraces
the sliding collar of the governor A depends a link rod A', which carries
at its lower end a rocking slotted piece G, which is designed to impart a
variable rocking motion to the rock shaft F. To this segment piece are
jointed excentric rods H, H', which fit on the excentrics I, I', of the
shaft B; and from the alternating action of these rods and excentrics
the slotted piece G receives its rocking motion. The pendent rod A' is
pivotted to a bridge or strap attached to the slotted piece G midway.

page_text: between the points at which it is coupled to the connecting rods, and it
is the pivot pin a of the rod A¹ which forms the fulcrum for the rocking
slotted piece G. Keyed on the rock shaft F is an arm f, which carries
a stud pin f¹ that enters the slot of the rocking piece G. As the speed
of the engine varies, and the rotation of the governor is consequently
increased or diminished, the rod A¹ will be raised or lowered, and with it
the slotted piece G. This rising and lowering of the slotted piece G
determines from time to time the position of the pin f¹ in the slot of the
rocking piece, and in proportion as it is brought nearer to the fulcrum
pivot a so will the amount of motion imparted to this pin and through
it to the rock shaft F be reduced. Thus if the pivot pin a and the stud
pin fare brought into coincidence, as shewn in the detached view,
Fig. 4, the rocking of the slotted piece G will have no effect, and the
slide valves will consequently remain closed. As soon, however, as the
speed of the engine is brought down the rod A' will drop the slotted
piece G, and thus enable that piece in its vibrations to actuate the
supply valves as before. The exhaust valves are worked through the
arms of a rock shaft F*, and the excentric and rod K, K', in the usual
manner. These valves may be either side or face valves or conical
valves, the latter being preferred when high-pressure steam is used.
In engines which require to be frequently reversed I use the arrange-
ment shewn in Sheet II. where the rocking piece G is lengthened so as
to allow of the pin f¹ being brought by the lifting or depression of the
rocking piece G to either side of the fulcrum pivot a, and thus reversing
the action of the supply valves. Figures 5 and 6 show this apparatus
in two different positions corresponding to the opposite directions for
driving the engine. The slotted piece G I fit with a handle g for the
purpose of lifting or lowering it as desired; and instead of attaching the
slotted piece G to the pendent rod A' I divide that rod into two, A¹ and A*,
and I connect these rods by means of a rock lever A³, which works on a
fixed fulcrum. The rock lever A² is fitted at its opposite ends with pivot
pins a¹, a². To one end of this lever the rod A¹ is permanently jointed,
while the rod A* is capable of being connected with either end at
pleasure. For this purpose the rod A* is formed with two recesses or
forked catches to embrace respectively one or other of the pins. These
catches are formed at opposite sides of the rod and at different levels,
and the rod A* terminates in a handle for the purpose of operating it.
When the rod A* is hooked on to the pin a', as shewn at Fig. 5, the

page_text: pendent rod A¹ will act as a continuous rod, as already described, and
will, as the speed of the governor increases, gradually lift the rocking
piece G, and thereby reduce the amount of motion of the slide valve,
and limit the supply of steam to the engine. When it is desired to
reverse the engine the rod A* is disengaged from the pin a', the slotted
piece G is lifted by the handle g, and the rod is then hooked on to the
pin a. By this means the pin f¹ of the rock shaft F will be thrown to
the other side of the fulcrum a of the rocking piece G, and the valves
will be reversed. In connection with this reversing arrangement the
well-known contrivance shewn at Fig. 7 may be employed for enabling
the shaft B to drive the excentric for working the exhaust valves in
either direction. Affixed to the shaft B is a stop piece b, which bears
against a stop k projecting from the hub of the excentric K of the
exhaust valves, which excentric is mounted loosely on its shaft. It is
due to the pressure of this stop piece against one or other side of the
stop that rotary motion is imparted to the excentric. Thus when
the engine is first started the stop 6 will move, say, in the direction
of the arrow, Fig. 7, and drive the excentric K in that direction,
but on the reversal of the engine the stop will move in the opposite
direction, and carry round the excentric with it, thereby reversing the
movement of the escape valves to suit the new requirements of the
engine.
Having now set forth the nature of my Invention for "An Improve-
ment in Steam Engines," and explained the manner of carrying the
same into effect, I wish it to be understood that under the above in part
recited Letters Patent I claim, the arrangement of apparatus herein set
forth for enabling the steam engine governor to control the steam supply
valves in the manner and for the purpose above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Cope, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Twenty-fifth day of November, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy.
JAMES COPE. (L.S.)