Improvements in Steam and other Fluid Pressure Engines.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 17th May, 1894
Complete Specification Left. 18th Mar., 1895-Accepted, 27th Apr 1895
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Steam and other Fluid Pressure Engines.
JOHN HANDSLEY DALES of No. 45 Lofthouse Place, Leeds in the County of
York, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
My invention consists firstly of an automatic adjustment to the wear of
connecting rod and other bearing brasses, which are subjected to a reciprocating
action of parts in performing their functions. The second part of my invention
consists of making the supports of bearing brasses in certain relative proportions
of distance to the diameters of their journals, for the purpose of regulating
their relative expansions and preventing overheating and seizing of journals
and their brasses The third part of my invention consists in mounting piston
valves in loose blocks in pressure chests, in such a manner that the-blocks may
give relief to excessive and destructive pressure in working cylinders to which
they are applied, such for instance as that which arises from primed water or
excessive compression in steam engine cylinders. The first part of my invention
consists of making the moveable brass of any bearing to be kept up to its
journal during its working stroke by a hydraulic or other liquid pressure ram and
suitable cylinder, that is to say that the working stroke of the moveable brass is
borne and supported by the ram and cylinder aforesaid. The said cylinder may
be formed by boring the connecting rod or other part or may be made in a suitable
block and fixed or placed on such part. The said cylinder is by preference
supplied with oil from a small reservoir, through a suitable back pressure valve
which opens inwardly as regards the cylinder. This supply valve by preference
remains open during the non-working stroke of the brass or brasses to which the
invention is applied, in order that oil from the said reservoir may completely fill
the said bearing cylinder. When the pressure of the working stroke of the
connecting rod of a steam engine for instance, comes on to the said hearing ram,
the pressure of the liquid contained in the cylinder, closes the supply valve and
prevents further escape of the liquid back into the reservoir and thus the brasses
are kept in proper position by the said ram and liquid. In order that the bearing
rams and moveable brasses may be kept up to their journals on the non-working
stroke and all slack be completely taken out of the bearings, and also that the
rams may be fully withdrawn from the, cylinders to the extent of such slack, and
that the cylinders may be always completely full of liquid, on such non-working
stroke, I provide sufficiently powerful springs, by preference inside the cylinders,
for the purpose of withdrawing the rams to the full extent of the said slack. The
supply valve is kept open for the purpose of filling the cylinder, during the non-
working stroke, by gravity or by suitably applied springs.
The reservoir may be closed to prevent outward loss of liquid and for feeding
purposes, by suitable valves or other arrangements.
The bearing rams may be kept in working position without the springs aforesaid,
by a sufficient pressure in the cylinders to withstand the full working load of the
part to which the invention is applied, such pressure being supplied from a
reservoir cylinder or otherwise, which may be provided by a loaded ram or piston
or other suitable device; but such an arrangement would always maintain the
full working pressure on both sides of a bearing, which would be undesirable, and
therefore in such cases of extreme speed of parts as in which the atmospheric

page_text: pressure or gravity would be insufficient to cause the liquid to flow with sufficient
rapidity through the supply valve, I use a moderate pressure from the reservoir,
which would be insufficient to support the full load, in connection with the
aforesaid supply valve.
The second part of my invention; consists in making the distances between the
supports of bearing brasses to be of such proportions to the diameter of their
journals, that any expansions of the relative and respective metals of which the
brasses and their journals are composed, due to any difference or change of
temperature, may be such as to maintain any desirable clearances in such bearings,
for the prevention of overheating and seizing of such bearings.
The third part of my invention consists in making piston valves to work in
stationary loose blocks placed on or against suitable port faces in pressure chests.
The said blocks are provided with suitable ports, passages and cut off faces for
the supply of pressure to working cylinders or otherwise, which pressure is
distributed and regulated by the piston valves aforesaid. The blocks are
maintained in position against the cylinder port faces by the pressure in the chests,
after the manner of ordinary slide valves but they have no distributing motion,
the object of their use being to provide a relief to any excessive or destructive
pressure in working cylinders after the manner of ordinary slide valves, by such
blocks being forced off the cylinder port faces by such excessive pressure. This
arrangement secures the combined advantages of piston valves in light working
and of slide valves in safety from the effects of priming.
Dated this 16th day of May 1894.
Improvements in Steam and other Fluid Pressure Engines..
JOHN HANDSLEY DALES, of No. 45 Lofthouse Place, Leeds, in the County
of York, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in
what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement :-
My invention consists firstly of an automatic adjustment to the wear of
connecting rod and other bearing brasses, which are subjected to a reciprocating
action of parts in performing their functions.. The second part of my invention
consists of making the supports of bearing brasses in certain relative proportions
of distance to the diameters of their journals, for the purpose of regulating their
relative expansions and preventing overheating and seizing, of journals and their
brasses. The third part of my invention consists in mounting piston valves iu
loose blocks in pressure chests, in such a manner that the blocks may give relief
to excessive and destructive pressure in working cylinders to which they are
applied, such for instance as that which arises from primed water or excessive
compression in steam engine cylinders. The first part of my invention consists of
making the moveable brass of any bearing to be kept up to its journal during its
working stroke by a hydraulic or other liquid pressure ram and suitable cylinder,
that is to say that the working stroke of the moveable brass is borne and supported
by the ram and cylinder aforesaid. The said cylinder may be formed by boring
the connecting rod or other part, or may be made in a suitable block and fixed or
placed on such part. The said cylinder is by preference supplied with oil from a
small reservoir, through a suitable back pressure valve which opens inwardly as
regards the cylinder. This supply valve by preference remains open during the
non-working stroke of the brass or brasses to which the invention is applied, in
order that oil from the said reservoir may completely fill the said bearing cylinder.
When the pressure of the working stroke of the connecting rod of a steam

page_text: engine for instance, comes on to the said bearing ram, the pressure of the liquid
contained in the cylinder, closes the supply valve and prevents further escape of
the liquid back into the reservoir, and thus the brasses are kept in proper position
by the said ram and liquid. In order that the bearing rams and moveable brasses
may be kept up to their journals on the nou-working stroke and all slack be
completely taken out of the bearings, and also that the rams may be fully
withdrawn from the cylinders to the extent of such slack and that the cylinders
may be always completely full of liquid on such non working stroke, I provide
sufficiently powerful springs, by preference inside the cylinders, for the purpose of
withdrawing the rams to the full extent of the said slack. The supply valve is
kept open for the purpose of filling the cylinder, during the non-working stroke,
by gravity or by suitably applied springs. The reservoir may be closed to prevent
outward loss of liquid and for feeding purposes, by suitable valves or other
arrangements.
The bearing rams may be kept in working position without the springs aforesaid,
by a sufficient pressure in the cylinders to withstand the full working load of the
part to which the invention is applied, such pressure being supplied from a reservoir
cylinder or otherwise, which may be provided by a loaded ram or piston or other
suitable device; but such an arrangement would always maintain the full working
pressure on both sides of a bearing, which would be undesirable and therefore, in
such cases of extreme speed of parts as in which the atmospheric pressure of gravity
would be insufficient to cause the liquid to flow with sufficient rapidity through the
supply valve, I use a moderate pressure from the reservoir which would be
insufficient to support the full load in connection with the aforesaid supply
valve.
The second part of my invention consists in making the distances between the
supports of bearing brasses to be of such proportions to the diameter of their
journals, that any expansions of the relative and respective metals of which the
brasses and their journals are composed, due to any differences or changes of
temperature, may be such as I maintain any desirable clearances in such bearings,
for the prevention of overheating and seizing of such bearings.
The third part of my invention consists in making piston valves to work in
stationary loose blocks placed on or against suitable port faces in pressure
chests. The said blocks are provided with suitable ports, passages and cut-off
faces for the supply of pressure to working cylinders or otherwise, which pressure
is distributed and regulated by the piston valves aforesaid. The blocks are
maintained in position against the cylinder port faces by the pressure in the chests,
after the manner of ordinary slide valves, but they have no pressure distributing
motion, the object of their use being to provide a relief to any excessive or
destructive pressure in working cylinders after the manner of ordinary slide valves,
by such blocks being forced off the cylinder port faces by such excessive pressure.
This arrangement secures the combined advantages of piston valves in light working
and of slide valves in safety from the effects of priming.
In order to render the foregoing explanation of my invention more clear I refer
to the accompanying sheet of drawings in which the first part of my invention is
illustrated by Figs. No. 1. 2. 3. 4 and 5. Figs. 1 and 2 are side elevations, part in
section of a connecting rod fitted according to my invention. Fig. 3 is a cross
section, and Fig. 4 a plan of the same. (a) (a) are the brasses of the big end of
the rod (a) being the automatically adjustable brass, whilst (a¹) is the outer or non-
automatically adjustable brass, but which may be set up for adjustment of centres
by removing or inserting liners (a). The hydraulic or oil ram by which the
working stress on the brass (a) is supported, is shewn by (b). Suitable hydraulic
packings are used as shewn. For the purpose of forcing the ram from the cylinder,
which in this case is formed in the body of the rod, a sufficiently powerful coil or
other spring (c) is placed in a suitable recess or hole, either in the rear of the ram,
or in the body of the rod, or both, as shewn. The effect of this spring is to thrust
the ram on to the back brass, and the brass on to the bearing ueck, on the pulling

page_text: .
stroke of the rod when there is no working stress on the back brass. The outward
action of the ram, as described, draws into the cylinder a full charge of liquid from
the vessel (d), also shewn by Fig. 5., and as the vessel (d) is provided with a back
pressure valve (d¹) (Fig. 5) which prevents the return of the liquid, when the
working stress comes on the brass, and so locks the same in position, the load being
taken on the imprisoned liquid. In this way the brasses are adjusted, stroke by
stroke, making up for any leakage which may take place past the ram packing or
otherwise. The liquid in the vessel (d) is prevented from churning and becoming
aerated and unduly elastic by a spring loaded piston (d2) Fig. 5. The small end
of the rod Fig. 2. is similarly provided to the large end shewn by Fig. 1, with the
difference that a powerful screw is inserted in the ram for the purpose of extending
the ram end for closing on the working brasses after they are inserted in the rod
seats which in the drawing are shewn spherical. The bearing brass seats in the
big end of the rod are also spherical, so that in case the engine motion is out of
truth, the bearings will work without binding when they are close up adjusted.
The same letters refer to the same parts in the different views.
The second part of my invention is illustrated by Figs. 6, 7, and 8, in which binding
of bearing surfaces is avoided by arranging the brasses in such a way that they will
expand by increased temperature in a greater ratio than the neck working in them,
and to accomplish this end the brasses are suspended, so to speak, as regards the
fore and aft motion in the rod ends so as to leave a sufficient part of the fore and aft
length of the brasses, free to expand in that direction and so as not to be bound by
the iron of the rod ends..
In the figures named this is accomplished by making one side of the brasses in
the form of a (U) with flanges bearing on the ends of the recess in the rod
ends or in suitable notches as the case may require. The loose brasses or caps
are made thin so as to leave almost the whole length of the bearing free to expand.
The (U) shaped brassses are shewn by (e) in the several views, (5) being the loose
brasses.
The third part of my invention is illustrated by Figs. 9, 10, 11 and 12, in
which () represents an ordinary steam chest having cylinder face ports the same
as are required for an ordinary slide valve. On the said cylinder face a loose
block or valve case (7) is placed and which contains a distribution and cut off
valve in the example shewn but which may contain a relieved valve of any
kind. The steam or other pressure holds the case up to the cylinder face in
the same way as an ordinary slide valve, and the case may be prevented from falling
off the said face when the pressure is shut off, by a spring as (h).
All main bearings, and eccentric or other rods may be fitted according to
the invention and the application may be varied so as to adjust the small end
of a rod by a pressure rod from the rear of the ram cylinder which may be
made in a block sliding in the jaw or otherwise of the big end of the rod.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
First. The use of liquid locked rams for the purposes of automatic adjustment
and fixing of bearing brasses, substantially as shewn and described.
Second. The use of bearing brasses supported to allow of expansion by heating,
for the purposes stated and substantially as shewn and described.
Third. The arrangement and use of stationary loose valve cases or blocks for
the purposes stated and substantially as shewn and described.
Dated this 16th day of March 1895.
JOHN HANDSLEY DALES.