CONTUL DE PAZIT Direct-acting Steam Engine.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 4th Oct., 1894-Accepted, 10th Nov. 1894
CONTUL DE PAZIT
Direct-acting Steam Engine.
We, JAMES DANIEL GRAY, Engineer, WILLIAM BENJAMIN PRICE, Manu-
facturer, and ABRAHAM SHARP, Attorney-at-Law, all of No. 100 E. Lexington
Street, in the City of Baltimore, State of Maryland, United States of America,
do hereby declare the nature of this mvention and m what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:-
Our invention relates to an improved direct-acting engine, and has for its object
to apply steam, or other actuating agent, under high pressure to a piston inter-
mittently on at intervals, such intermittent application being controlled directly by
the load and in accordance with the requirements thereof.
In order to make the improvements more clearly understood, we have shown in
the accompanying diawings certain means for carrying the same into practical
effect, without, however, intending to limit om invention to the particular
construction which, for the sake of illustration, we have set forth.
In the drawing the figure shown is a sectional elevation.
The figure 1 designates a steam cylinder in which operates the piston, 2, having
a rod, 3, canying outside of the cylinder a rack, 4, which meshes with a piniou, 5,
loosely mounted on a main shaft, 6, and connected therewith so as to prevent the
In this
pinion from turning one way by any ordinary or approved form of clutch
case the clutch comprises a ratchet wheel, 7, fixed rigidly on the main shatt, and a
pawl, 8, carried on the pinion engages itself with the ratchet by the action of
gravity, but to ensure its engagement a stationary sping, 8º, is attached to the
frame, A, of the engine.
The main shaft, 6, preferably carries a fly wheel, B, or other momentin-
perpetuating device The cylinder, 1, also has perforations, 41, located ucar
the upper end for the escape of air as the piston, 2, makes its stroke forward, the
piston will compress the an in the cylinder after passing the perforations and the
The cylinder may be
compressed air will form a cushion at the end of the stroke
left eutuely open at the upper end whenever the engine is employed for work
where the speed is so slow as to require no cushion for the piston.
The piston-rod at its upper end carries a plunger, 9, operating in a main dash-pot
or an-chamber, 10, above this dash-pot and connected with the rod is a retracting
device, 11, which, in the form of our invention illustrated in the drawing, consists
of a weight The wall of the dash-pot, 10, is preferably provided with vertically-
disposed slots, 12, which extend from an intermediate point thereof to its lower end,
or that end at which the plunger, 9, 18 located when the piston, 2, is in position to
receive the application of steam. These slots, 12, are arranged at one end of the
dash-pot only, and are designed to facilitate the return of the plunger, 9, and hence
of the piston, 2. The piston is provided with ports or openings, 13, and a valve, 13ª,
below the plunger selves to close said openings on the down stroke; a spiral
spring, 13, below the said valve is employed to hold the valve normally in contact
with the plunger; on the up-stroke this spring will yield and allow the valve to
uncover the ports or openings, 13.
The exhaust valve, 14, of the steam cylinder is opened and closed by means of a
stem, 15, having two spaced stops, 16; and the piston 1od or rack is provided with
au arm or knocker, 17, to engage said stop, 16, and thereby actuate the exhaust
valve, both to open and close same, at the limits of stroke of the piston, 2.

page_text: The means for controlling the inlet of air to the main dash-pot, 10, above the
plunger, 9, consists essentially of a governor valve, 18", of any preferred or well-
known construction, and connected with the dash-pot by a pipe, 18°; to this valve
is connected a ball-governor, 18, actuated by a belt, 19, receiving motion from the
pulley, 20, on the main shaft; the operation of this ball governor, which may be
replaced by any other approved type of controller, depends, of course, upon the
speed of rotation of the mam shaft, and when its peed falls below a certain rate
the governor-valve, 18", is opened to admit air to tho dash-pot, 10, in front of the
plunger and thus release the latter and allow it to descend.
The steam inlet valve, 21, is opened and closed by means of a stem, 22, carrying
an auxiliary plunger, 24, operating in an auxilary dash-pot, 24, all similar to the
main dash-pot, 10. The piston-rod, 3, 13 provided with an arm, 17ª, having a
perforation, 26, through which the inlet valve-stein, 22, loosely extends; spinal
pressure-springs, 27, and, 28, are arranged on the stem respectively above and
below said aim.
The upper pressure spring, 27, bears against a suitable adjustable nut, 29, on the
stem, and the lower pressure sping, 28, bears against a suitable stop, 30, secured
on the stein A valve, 40, 18 controlled by a coiled spring, 31, to close the ports in
the auxiliary-plunger, 23, during its descent. The auxiliary dash-pot, 24, is slotted
similarly to the main dash-pot, and is provided with a gauge-valve, 32, which may
be set to control the admission of air to the pot according to the demands of
operation as hereafter set forth.
The operation may be briefly set forth as follows:
The forward or upward movement of the piston, 2, is converted, by means of the
rack and pinion, into a rotary inotion imparted to the main shaft, 6, and the piston
is sustained at the limit of its forward stroke until the rate of speed of the shaft
falls below the standard speed, thereby causing the governor-valve, 18", to open
and admit air above or in front of the plunger, 9. The descent of the latter is
accelerated as it approaches the lower end of the main dash-pot by the rapid
adimission of air through the slots, 12, thereby compressing the lower spring, 28, on
the inlet valve-stem and causing the inlet-valve, 21, to open after the piston, 2, has
returned to its original position at the lower end of the cylinder. The arın, 17,
engages the lower stop, 16, thereby closing the exhaust valve, 14, at the same time.
Thus a maximum pressure of steam may be applied to the pistou to give it an
initial and then successive impulses which are communicated to the main shaft only
as the load varies, thereby avoiding unnecessary reciprocation of the pistou and
also unnecessary consumption of steam energy.
It will be seen that we employ a main dash-pot or air-chamber in which operates
a plunger carried by the piston-rod, a loose or clutch connection with the main
shaft, whereby, when the piston is at rest, said shaft tuns independently thereof;
and means for controlling the admission of air to the main dash-pot above or in
front of the plunger, whereby when the speed of rotation of the main or drive-shaft
falls below a predetermined late, said plunger will be released, and by suitable
intermediate connections, will actuate the inlet and exhaust valves of the cylinder,
and, fun thermore, we employ an auxiliary dash-pot in which operates a plunger
carried by the stem of the let-valve, the admission of air to this auxiliary dash-
pot being controlled by a gauge-valve which may be set to admit the exact amount
of air necessary to release the auxiliary plunge under a given pressure applied by
the piston-rod, whereby the mict valve will be opened when the piston reaches the
limit of its down stroke.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim 18,-
1. The combination of a driven shaft, a piston actuated one way only by steam;
a plunger carried by the piston-rod and operating in a dash-pot; connections
between the said shaft and piston, whereby the former can rotate independently ol

page_text: the reciprocations of the latter, and means for controlling the movement of the
plunge.
2. The combination of a driven shaft; a pistou actuated one way only by steam ;
a plunger carried by the piston-rod and oporating in a dash-pot; connections
between the said shaft and piston, whereby the former can rotate independently of
the reciprocations of the latter, valve mechanism for controlling the inlet of fluid
to the dash-pot, and a governor operated by the driven shaft to regulate the said
valve mechanism.
3. The combination of a driven shaft; a pinion loose on said shaft; an automatic
clutch mechanism co-aoting between the shaft and pinion, whereby the pinion is
fres to turn on the driven shaft one way but is prevented from turning on the
duven shaft the other way; a piston actuated one way only by steam; a rack-bar
carried by the piston and engaging the said pinion; a plunger also carried by the
piston and operating in a dash-pot; and valves to control the inlet and exhaust
of steam to the piston-cylinder.
Dated this 13th day of September 1894
JAMES DANIEL GRAY.
WILLIAM BENJAMIN PRICE.
ABRAHAM SHARP.