IMPROVEMENTS. IN STEAM ENGINES AND IN PUMPS
Year: 1849

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, WILLIAM
PEACE, of Haigh, near Wigan, in the County of Lancaster, and EDWARD
EVANS, of the same Place, Engineers, 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 Twentieth day of
September, One thousand eight hundred and forty-nine, in the thirteenth year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
us, the said William Peace and Edward Evans, our exors, adiñors, and
assigns, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege, and authority, that we,
the said William Peace and Edward Evans, our exors, adñiors, and assigns,
and such others as we, the said William Peace and Edward Evans, our exors,
admors, 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, within England, Wales,
and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, our Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS.
IN STEAM ENGINES AND IN PUMPS;" in which said Letters Patent is contained
a proviso that we, the said William Peace and Edward Evans, or one of
us, should cause a particular description of the nature of our said Invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed, by an instrument in

page_text: writing under our hands and seals, or under the hand and seal of one of us
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.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, we, the said
William Peace and Edward Evans, hereby declare that the nature of our
said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, are fully
described and ascertained in and by the present Specification thercof, reference
being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, that is to say :-
Firstly, our Invention has relation to the pistons of steam engines, and has
for its object to supersede the necessity of employing bolts and nuts in the
construction thereof as usual, the loosening and breakage of such bolts and
nuts having frequently been the means of causing great loss, expence, and
delay in repairs. The upper and lower parts of our piston are made in one
solid piece of metal, with a recess to admit of suitable packing, whereby the
joint or part in contact with the side of the cylinder may be made tight.
Figure 1 is a vertical section of a piston thus constructed with its rod.
a, a, a, a, represent the body of the piston, the upper and lower parts being
in one piece. g is the lower part of the piston rod. c, c, c, c, are the outward
metallic packing rings which are kept close to the cylinder, and also close to
the upper and lower parts of the recess in which they are placed by a spring
of steel or other metal acting on the back of them, as is customary. The
packing rings c, c, c, c, are made level on the surfaces which come in contact
with each other, as shewn in the Drawing Figure 1, and the ring which
presents the largest base inwards, and against which the back spring acts,
must be made either rather thinner as at c', so that it shall not touch the
cylinder side, or it may be made of softer material than the other ring so as
to wear away faster; the object of both plans being that the softer or nar-
rower ring may always be pressing by the bevel part both upwards and down-
wards as well as horizonally, and thus keep the upper and lower surfaces of
the recess tight, at the same time that the joint to the cylinder side is also
kept tight. Figure 5 is a horizontal section through the centre of the piston,
shewing the mode of construction when the above arrangement is adopted.
fff are cells or hollows in the body of the piston made for the sake only of
diminishing the weight. c, c, the outer packing rings, and b, b, springs acting
against the back of the packing rings. The springs are represented as being
spirals, but any other kind of spring may be substituted. Instead of the
springs and rings above described, a ring of vulcanized india-rubber or other

page_text: elastic material may be used, as shewn at d in Figure 2. In this case the
upper and lower parts of the recess will be kept tight by the elasticity of the
packing behind, whilst at the same time the packing rings c, c, will be kept close
to the side of the cylinder. Figure 4 is a horizontal section through the centre
of the piston, shewing the hollows or cells f, f, f. e, e, is a metallic ring which
is inserted round and against the edges or divisions of the cells to prevent
the elastic packing d from getting into them, and also for the packing to act
against. Figure 3 is a skeleton view of the piston without the packing rings,
intended merely to shew the cells and the divisions therein.
Secondly, our Invention consists of an elastic or expansion joint for the
pipes of steam engines and boilers, pumps, and air vessels, which joint is so
constructed as to admit of the expansion and contraction consequent on the
variations of temperature to which they may be exposed, as also to relieve the
extreme pressure and sudden shocks attending the alternating action of pumps,
and so to prevent fracture of the pipes or joints. The joint is formed as
shewn in the vertical section Figure 6, and end elevation Figure 8, of two
wrought-iron circular plates B, B, rivetted or otherwise attached to the cast-
iron flanches of the steam, air, or water pipes A, A, and which form, when
thus attached, wrought-iron extensions of the cast-iron flanches. The plates
are also fastened together at the outside edges, so as to be perfectly tight by
inserting between them a metal ring c, with a vulcanized india-rubber washer
on each side of it, and bolts and nuts holding the two plates together against
these washers and the ring; or the plates may be made tight at the outer rim
by inserting a perforated ring of metal between them, and rivetting the whole
together, as represented in the vertical section Figure 7, and end elevation
Figure 9, the rivets being passed both through the plates and the ring. It
will be observed that in both modes of fastening, the outer ring keeps the
flanches of the pipes and the rivets therein far enough apart to admit of the
elongation of the pipe without bringing the ends of the cast-iron pipes in
contact with each other, the elasticity of the wrought-iron plates admitting
of such variation in the length without fracturing the pipes or breaking the
joints.
And having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, we declare that the improvements
which we claim as constituting the said Invention are as follows:-
First, we claim making the pistons of steam engines both top and bottom in
one solid piece, having a recess for the packing, and the adaptation thereto
of packing rings of the peculiar form and construction before described.
Second, we claim the elastic or expansion joint for steam engine, boiler,

page_text: and other pipes formed of wrought-iron plates attached to the flanches of the
pipes, as before described.
In witness whereof, we, the said William Peace and Edward Evans
have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Nineteenth day of March,
One thousand eight hundred and fifty.