IMPROVEMENTS IN OR APPLICABLE TO LOCOMOTIVE AND OTHER STEAM ENGINES
Year: 1882

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Crook of Preston in the County of Lancaster,
Boat Builder for an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN OR APPLICABLE TO
LOCOMOTIVE AND OTHER STEAM ENGINES," Communicated to him from
abroad by William Monk and Henry Monk, of Hadlow Cove, in the Town and
County of Levis, in the Dominion of Canada.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Crook at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 16th October 1882.
WILLIAM CROOK, of Preston, in the County of Lancaster, Boat Builder,
"IMPROVEMENTS IN OR APPLICABLE TO LOCOMOTIVE AND OTHER STEAM ENGINES,"-
A communication, to me from Abroad by William Monk and Henry Monk, of
Hadlow Cove, in the Town and County of Levis, in the Dominion of Canada,
The invention communicated to me relates to compound High and Low pressure
Steam Engines applicable more particularly to Locomotive Engines and consists in
improved combinations and arrangements of mechanism.
The high and low pressure cylinders are arranged in or about the same plane
but at an angle to each other, and the piston rod of the large cylinder is connected
directly by a rod with the crank while the piston rod of the small cylinder is
connected by a rod to the connecting rod of the large cylinder near the crank pin,
thus arranged the crank has no dead centre.
The valve chest for both the high and low pressure cylinders is formed between
the two cylinders, and one double valve placed between the two facings, acts to
regulate the admission of the steam to and exhaustion from both cylinders.
This double valve is formed in two parts, provided with ports and passages, and
one part has a cylindrical projection that acts as a piston and fits a corresponding
cylinder in the other part, the piston having a suitable packing ring-The two
parts of the valve are kept asunder with their faces against their respective port
facings on the cylinders by the action of springs placed between them, and the
pressure of the steam on the margins of the valve, this double valve being thus an

page_text: equilibrum valve with only sufficient back pressure to keep both valves tight
against their respective port facings.
There is a valve in the valve chest which can be opened and closed by a suitable
handle and connection for admitting steam from the valve chest to a passage which
has a port coming opposite one in the double valve, by this means boiler steam can
be admitted when desired directly to the large or low pressure cylinder without
having to pass through the small or high pressure cylinder at which time the high
pressure piston will be working in equilibrum.
For Locomotives two pairs of high and low pressure cylinders are combined acting.
upon cranks on the same crank axle and these pairs of compound cylinders are or
may be placed either inside or outside.
The double valve for each pair of compound cylinders is worked by one set of
valve gear.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent and of
an Order of the Lord Chancellor filed by the said William Crook in the Great
Seal Patent Office on the 24th April 1883.
WILLIAM CROOK, of Preston, in the County of Lancaster, Bont Builder,
IMPROVEMENTS IN OR APPLICABLE TO LOCOMOTIVE AND OTHER STEAM ENGINES,"
A communication to me fruin Abroad by William Monk and Henry Monk, of
Hadlow Cove, in the Town and County of Levis, in the Dominion of Canada.
The invention communicated to me relates to compound High and Low pressure
Steam Engines applicable more particularly to Locomotive Engines and consists in
improved combinations and arrangements of mechanism.
The high and low pressure cylinders are arranged in or about the same plane
but at an angle to each other and the piston rod of the large cylinder is connected
directly by a rod with the crank while the piston rod of the small cylinder is
connected by a rod to the connecting rod of the large cylinder near the crank piu;
thus arranged the crank has no dead centre. Both connecting rods are or inay be
if required, jointed with the crank pin.
The valve chest for both the high and low pressure cylinders is formed between
the two cylinders, and one double valve placed between the two facings acts to
regulate the admission of the steam to and its exhaustion from both cylinders.
This double valve is formed in two parts, provided with ports and passages, and
one part has a cylindrical projection that acts as a piston and fits n corresponding
cylinder in the other part, the piston having a suitable packing ring-The two
parts of the valve are kept asunder with their faces against their respective port
facings on the cylinders by the action of springs placed between them and the
pressure of the steam on the margins of the valve, this double valve being tlius an

page_text: equilibrium valve with only sufficient back pressure to keep both valves tight
against their respective port facings.
There is a valve in the valve chest which can be opened and closed by a suitable
handle and connection, for admitting steam from the valve chest to a passage which
has a port coming opposite or into one in the double valve, by this means boiler
steam can be admitted, when desired, directly to the large or low pressure cylinder
without having to pass through the small or high pressure cylinder at which time
the high pressure piston will be working wholly or partly in equilibrium.
For Locomotives two pairs of high and low pressure cylinders are combined
acting upon cranks on the same crank axle, and these pairs of compound cylinders
are or may be placed either inside or outside
The double valve for each pair of compound cylinders is worked by one set of
valve gear.
When desired the valve for each pair of high and low pressure cylinders is
placed on one side instead of between the two cylinders the valve and passages
for steam being arranged so that the exhaust steam from the high pressure
cylinder will pass through passages in the valve to the ports of the low pressure
cylinder.
Fig 1 is a partial diagramatic side elevation of a Locomotive of the type used in
the United States.
Fig 2 is a sectional view on an enlarged scale illustrating the arrangement of the
cylinders and valve and the connection between the piston rods and the crank of
the driving wheel.
Fig 3 is an end view of the double valve detached; fig 4 a view of the face of
the valve for the high pressure, and fig 5 a view of the face of the valve for the
low pressure cylinder.
Fig 6 is an elevation to illustrate a mode of actuating the valve for giving high
pressure steam to the low pressure cylinder, combined with the ordinary reversing
lever.
:
Fig 7 is a side view of a pair of high and low pressure cylinders to illustrate the
position and arrangements of the ports when the admission and exhaustion of the
steain is regulated by a slide valve on one side of the cylinders having its face in a
vertical plane.
Fig 8 is a transverse sectional view through the cylinders and showing the valve
to be used with the last named arrangement and fig 9 is a section through the
valve ports and steam chest.
a is the high pressure cylinder, and b the low pressure cylinder.
The axial line of the piston rod of each cylinder is in a line with the axis of the
driving wheel-The line b¹ tig 1 represents the piston rod of the low pressure, and
the line al that of the high pressure cylinder; and the line 62 represents the.
connecting rod from the piston rod b' to the crank c of the driving wheel c', and
the line a represents a forked connecting rod from the piston rod a¹ to the rod bª.
to which it is jointed near the crank c, but if desired it may be connected directly
with the crank pin of the crank c.
The piston rods are each attached to a slide block which work in guides arranged
in any ordinary manner.
The arrangement described is shown on an enlarged scale in fig 2 in which the
above named letters of reference are repeated.
The valve for both cylinders is placed in a valve chest formed between the two
cylinders.
One steam pipe is required to bring steam to the valve chest and one exhaust
pipe to convey the exhaust steam to the blast pipe.
The port facings on the two cylinders for the valves are parallel to each other
and the double valve is worked to and fro between the two port facings.
The low pressure valve face d' has a cylindrical part formed upon it, to fit a ring
in the valve face d for the high pressure cylinder.

page_text: "
The joint between the cylinder on d and the ring on d is made steam tight by
metallic packing rings similar to those used for packing pistons.
A helical spring d is inserted in a hole in the solid metal of cach corner of the
low pressure valve d which acts upon the high pressure valve d and these springs
and the steam keep each valve against its port facings.
It will be seen that the high pressure valve d admits steam from the valve chest
directly to the ports a³ of the high pressure cylinder (a) and the steam froin the
latter cylinder exhausts into the cavity of the valve and passes through the ports d³
in the low pressure valve to the port b³ of the low pressure cylinder, and then
exhausts therefrom in the ordinary manner.
In the position in which the valve is shown in fig '2 the steam is passing from
the valve chest to one port of the high pressure cylinder and from that cylinder
through the valve cavity to the low pressure cylinder (b) and from thence to the
exhaust as shown by the arrows on fig 1.
There is a slide valve e within the valve chest actuated by a spindle passing
through a stuffing box in the side of the valve chest which valve e when moved
from its central position (where it covers the port) will admit steam into a cavity
formed within the metal of the valve chest or cylinder which cavity is made to
communicate by any suitable passage with another envity a opening under the
exhaust cavity of the high pressure valve, so that by this arrangement high
pressure steam can be allowed to pass when required directly from the valve chest
to the cavity of the high pressure valve, in which case the low pressure cylinder (b)
will get not only the steam passing through the high pressure cylinder (c), but also
high pressure steam from the valvo chest.
When this valve is open the high pressure piston is working wholly or partly in
equilibrium.
Owing to the angle of the cylinders to each other, the low pressure piston is in
advance of the high pressure piston when the Locomotive is going forward, and the
lap" on the valves is arranged. accordingly
That is, the high pressure valve has more "lap" than the low pressure valve-
the amount will depend on the angle between the axial lines of the piston rods of
the two cylinders.
There is one high and low pressure cylinder on each side of the Locomotive
and each pair of cylinders is connected to one crank; one crank on one side being
set at right angles to the other on the other side of the Locomotive.
The valve spindles are connected in any convenient manner with ordinary
link motions or other known valve gear and reversing motions.
The spindle of the small slide valve e for admitting high pressure steam directly
to the low pressure cylinder (b) is connected by any suitable and convenient rods
and levers or rod shafts and levers, as may be required, with a lever e¹ near the
ordinary reversing lever (see fig 6), where f is the reversing lever, f' rod to the
reversing shaft, and f the notchied segment-The lovers e' and fare or may be both
on the same fulcrum fx.
The reversing lever f has a pin f which can be slided through it to project into
a.slot in a parte from the lever e-When the reversing lever is put into either
extreme position the pin f³ will come against tlie end of the slot in the part e and
pull the lever e' with it say to the extent of the last notch of the segment f' and
this movement of the lever e¹ will be sufficient to slide the valve e from its central
position (where it covers the port) to one side (either one side or the other
according to the direction in which the reversing lever is moved) and allow high
pressure steam to pass from the valve chest to the low pressure cylinder b..
When the reversing lever f is moved back say one notch from either extreme a
spring e on the rod o conveying motion to the small valve e will bring the latter
back to its central position to close the port.
The spring e is arranged with its ends on two collars.c that can slide on the
rode and for each collar e there is a screw nut on the rode to screw the collars.
against the ends of the spring to put any desired tension upon the spring, and

page_text: adjust its position on the rod e² in relation to a stand or bracket e having a fork
or hole to come against each collar e* but the forks are large enough to allow the
nuts to pass through, but do not allow the collars e¹ to pass.
When the rod e² moves one way one nut forces one collar along with the rod and
presses the other end of the spring against the other collar through which the
rod e2 slides as the fork holds that collar, and when the rod e is released the
spring e reacts and forces the other collar back against the other fork and thus
brings the valve back to the central position--The same operation takes place, but
in a reverse order, when the rod e³ is moved in the opposite direction.
By with-drawing the pin f³ in the reversing lever f the lever e' may be worked
independently and held open by a catch on the lever e' taking into a notch on the
segment.
By the arrangement above described high pressure steam can be admitted for
starting the Locomotive by a movement of the reversing lever f and shut off by a
back movement from the extreme position of one notch or independently.
If desired each pair of cylinders is or may be cast together at the required angle
without a space for a valve chest between them, which latter is formed on the sides
of the two cylinders as illustrated by figs 7 and 8.
a³ are the steam ports of the high pressure cylinder, which communicate with
the ends of the high pressure cylinder by any suitably formed passages.
63 are the steam ports of the low pressure. cylinder which are made also to
communicate with the ends of the low pressure cylinder by any suitable passages,
and b' is the exhaust port for the low pressure cylinder.
The valve dis shown in figs 8 and 9.
5 is the exhaust cavity for the high pressure cylinder which communicates by a
passage d with the ports d³ for the low pressure cylinder; d being the exhaust
cavity of the valve for the low pressure cylinder.
The face of this valve is in a vertical plane and its open back has a face on the
lid of the valve chest with which it is kept steam tight by a packing ring &* fitting
an annular cavity in the back of the valve.
This arrangement of valve permits the cylinders to be brought closer together,
reducing the angle between the piston rods.
High pressure steam is or may be supplied by a valve to the low pressure
cylinder as illustrated in figs 8 and 9, that is, by forming a port e¹ in the steain
chest lid covered by a slide valve e.
This valve is opened and closed by a spindle e passing through a stuffing box in
the side of the valve chest.
The steam passes from the main valve chest through a port e' to the chest for
the valve e, which is closed by a cover e8. Any other suitable valve may be
used in place of that shown by figs 7 and 8, the steam from the exhaust of the
high pressure cylinder being arranged to pass through the passages or ports in the
valve to the low pressure cylinder and then exhaust therefrom in the usual manner
to.the atmosphere.
The mode of applying the improvements to stationary, portable or Marine Engines
will be understood from fig 2 and other figures of the drawings and the description
hereinbefore given.
I have now particularly described the nature of the said invention and the
manner in which the same is to be carried into effect, as communicated to me, and
claim as the invention secured to me by the inpart recited Letters Patent.
1. In a Locomotive Engine, the combination of a high and low pressure cylinder
on each side of a Locomotive the cylinders forming a pair on one side being placed
at an angle to each other to act upon the same crank substantially as hereinbefore
described and illustrated by the drawings.
2. In a Locomotive Engine having cylinders arranged at an angle to each other
the combination of one double slide valve between the two cylinders substantially
as and for the purposes hereinbefore described.
3. In a Locomotive Engine having cylinders arranged at an angle to each other

page_text: the combination of a valve on the sides of the two cylinders for both cylinders,
substantially as herein before described and illustrated By figs 7, 8 and 9 of the
drawings.
4 In a Locomotive Engine the combination of a valve to admit high pressure
steam to the low pressure cylinder through the main valve substantially as herein-
before described, and illustrated by the drawings.
5 In a Locomotive Engine the combinations by which the valve for admitting
high pressure steam to the low pressure cylinder is actuated by the reversing
lever of the Engine, substantially as herein before described and illustrated by fig 6
of the drawings.
6 In a Locomotive Engine having the cylinders at an angle to each other tho
jointing of the connecting rod for one piston with that for the other piston to act
upon the same crank substantially as hereinbefore described and illustrated by the
drawings.
7. In stationary, portable or Marine steam Engines the combination of the high
and low pressure cylinders together at an angle to each other with the two con-
necting rods both acting on the same crank and either with a valve between the
two cylinders or on one side and also the valve for admitting high pressure steam
through the main valve to the low pressure cylinder when desired, substantially as
hereinbefore described and illustrated by the drawings.
In Witness whereof I the said William Crook have hereunto set my hand
and seal this twelfth day of April in the year of our Lord one thousand
eight hundred and eighty three.
WILLIAM CROOK (L.S.)