IMPROVEMENTS IN. STEAM HAMMERS
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Newton, of the Office for Patents;.
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN. STEAM HAMMERS."-A communication.
from abroad: by William Sellers and Coleman Sellers, both of Phila-.
delphia, in the State of Pennsylvania, United States of America.
Sealed the 25th June-1867, and dated the 7th March 1867.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William. Edward Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners, of Patents, with his Petition, on the
7th March 1867.
I, WILLIAM EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM HAMMERS," to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is, first, to construct the valve gear of steam
hammers in such a manner that the valve may be-operated entirely by hand
or entirely by power, or partly by hand and partly by power in any part of or
the whole of any or every stroke at the will of the operator; second, in that
class of steam hammers in which the whole weight of the hammer is con-
tained in the hammer bar and piston head, and which are guided in whole or
part by the cylinder heads or cylinder heads and cylinder to obtain from the
hammer bar a reciprocating movement to work the valve without subjecting
any part of this movement to shocks or blows.

page_text: The first part of the Invention consists in operating the valve from any
reciprocating part of the hammer through a properly proportioned lever, to
one point of which lever the valve is attached, to another the reciprocating
power is communicated, and a third point serves as the attachment to the
band lever. Each of these points are fulcrums in turn according to the work
required of the hammer. Thus when working automatically the fulcrum is
the band lever attachment, when worked by hand the fulcrum is changed to
the point of attachment of the reciprocating power, and when it is desirable
to raise the hammer and hold it up one motion of the hand lever opens the
valve, and as the hammer rises the hand lever and reciprocating attachments
both move, the fulcrum being the valve attachment, the valve remaining
stationary. This feature of the Invention is applicable to all steam hammers
provided a proper reciprocating motion is attainable from any part.
The second part consists in obtaining the reciprocating motion to work the
valve gear from that part of the hammer bar which is contained at all times
within the steam space of the hammer cylinder or its connections. To this
end there is an arm or lever, in which is made a curved or diagonal groove
or slot to receive a pin connected with the hammer bar, so that as the latter
rises and falls it will communicate a reciprocating motion to the slotted arm,
the lower end of which is connected by a rod and lever with the slide valve.
In order to prevent the hammer bar from turning round it is made to work
against a cover, in which is a vertical groove to receive a pin fixed in the
side of the hammer bar, which is made flat on this side.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Edward Newton in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 6th September 1867.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventh day of March, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirtieth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
William Edward Newton, Her special licence that I, the said William Edward
Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said William Edward Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns,

page_text: should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all
times thereafter during the term therein expressed; should and lawfully
might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM HAMMERS," being a communication to me from abroad,
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Edward Newton,
my executors or administrators; by an instrument in writing under my, or
their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascer
tain 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 William Edward Newton, do hereby
declare the nature of the 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 Drawing hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
The object of this Invention is, first, to construct the valve gear of steam
hammers in such a manner that the valve may be operating entirely by hand,
or entirely by power, or partly by hand and partly by power, in any part of or
the whole of any or every stroke at the will of the operator; second, in that
class of steam hammers in which the whole weight of the hammer is contained
in the hammer bar and piston head, and which are guided in whole or part
by the cylinder head or cylinder heads and cylinder to obtain from the hammer
bar a reciprocating movement to work the valve without subjecting any part
of this movement to shocks or blows.
The first part of the Invention consists in operating the valve from any
reciprocating part of the hammer through a properly proportioned lever, to
one point of which lever the valve is attached, to another the reciprocating
power is communicated, and a third point serves as the attachment to the
hand lever; each of these points are fulcrums in turn according to the work
required of the hammer. Thus when working automatically the fulcrum is
the band lever attachment, when worked by hand the fulcrum is changed
to the point of attachment of the reciprocating power, and when it is desirable
to raise the hammer and hold it up one motion of the hand lever opens the
valve, and as the hammer rises the hand lever and reciprocating attachments
both move, the fulcrum being the valve attachment, the valve remaining
stationary. This feature of the Invention is applicable to all steam hammers
provided a proper reciprocating motion is attainable from any part.

page_text: The second part of the Invention consists in obtaining the reciprocating
motion to work the valve gear from that part of the hammer bar which
is contained at all times within the steam space of the hammer cylinder or its
connections.
In the machine shewn in Fig. 2 the whole weight of the hammer is in the
hammer bar A, which is made in one piece with the piston head B. The bar
extends upward above the piston head, as at A¹, and passes through the upper
cylinder head C, the hammer bar being only guided by the lower cylinder
head and stuffing box C and the upper head C. The upper part of the
hammer bar A¹ extends through the cylinder head C¹, and is flattened on one
side; this flat fits a corresponding surface in the hole through which it passes
in the head C, and prevents the bar from turning. In automatic hammers of
this kind as heretofore constructed the proper reciprocating motion needed for
the valve has been attained by attaching to the upper end A¹ of the hammer
bar (see Fig. 4) a projecting forked arm d'; this arm has a pin fitted through
its fork upon which is carried a sliding block e¹. As the lever is curved of a
proper radius the hammer bar as it rises and falls moves the lever f¹ back and
forth by the projecting arm d at the lower end of f¹ and gives motion to the
valve. In this arrangement the projecting arm d¹ and block e¹ move at the
same speed as the hammer bar, and are subject to the same shocks as it is,
and are always liable to fracture or derangement by the blow; added to this
source of trouble the rapid motion of the hammer bar and sudden stoppage at
the end of its stroke imparts a rapid motion to the upper end of the lever f
causing it to thrash back and forth to the detriment of itself and the attached
machinery. To avoid these troubles and to have no part of the machinery
subject to this rapid motion and shock save the hammer bar only a diagonal
groove R is made in the flat of the upper part A¹ of the hammer bar, and the
whole top of the hammer bar is enclosed by a cover D attached to the top
cylinder head C¹; in this cover at E is provided an oblong opening, with
which is fitted a cap projecting in towards the hammer bar. Fig. 3 shews a
section through x, y, of Fig. 1, shewing the cap, the cylinder, and hammer
bar. The hammer bar fits the cylinder head C¹ for a distance about equal to
the length of the cap E, above which there is steam space allowed around
the bar in the cover D. Steam from the cylinder flows freely through the
openings h, h. The cap E is provided with a rock shaft F, at the inner
end of which is a rocker arm G carrying on a pin a rectangular block
which is fitted loosely in the diagonal slot of. the bammer bar. The
shaft F passes through a stuffing box H, and has on its outer end a
rocker arm I. The operation of this part of the machinery is as follows:-

page_text: gear
upper
As the hammer bar rises and falls the diagonal slot imparts through the
rocker arm G and shaft F a reciprocating motion to the external rocker arm I.
According to the angle made by the diagonal slot with the axis of the hammer
bar, and the length of the arms G and I, a sufficient motion for working the
valve can be given to the end of the arm I. By reference to Fig. 3 it will be
seen that the projections k, k, on the cap E fit straight grooves in the hammer
bar to guard it against any lateral motion from the action of the diagonal
slot in its required work. The diagonal slot is so placed in relation to the
rocker arms G-and I that the end of the arm I descends as the hammer bar
rises. A connecting rod M. unites the end of the rocker arm I to a lever L
at the point M'; at the point K of the same lever the slide valve rod is
attached, and at N₁ a rod N connects the lever L to the hand lever O; the
valve may be such as is ordinarily used on steam engines (see Figures 5 and 6),
the port leading to the lower end of the cylinder, the port 2 to the
end of the cylinder, and the port 3 being the exhaust passage. The valve
is so arranged that when the hand lever is at the P' end of the quadrant
P, and the hammer bar is down, both ports 1 and 2 will be covered by the
slide valve; when the hand lever is at the P end of the quadrant P, and the
haminer bar is at the top of the stroke, the lower port will be a little way
open, giving steam below the piston; the hand lever O has a latch to fix it at
any point on the quadrant P. With all the parts as shewn in Figure 1, that
is, with the hammer bar down and the hand lever at P¹ the valve will be as at
Fig. 5 (that is to say) both ports covered. If now steam be admitted to the
steam chest none can enter the cylinder, but if the hand lever be drawn back
towards Pa short distance and held there the valve will be raised more or
less, according to the distance the hand lever is moved, and steam will pass
into the cylinder and raise the hammer bar. The block attached to the lever
G and working in the diagonal groove of the hammer bar being loosely fitted
in the slot will, as soon as the least motion has been taken up, be moved
sideways by the incline of the slot, and will push the lever I down and depress
the lever L; the point of attachment of the lever L being the fulcrum it will
continue to move the valve until the port is closed, and the expanding steam
below the piston together with the velocity of the hammer bar has carried the
valve over the port, thereby giving steam on top of the piston and opening
the lower exhaust. The last motion of the sliding block will allow the valve
a short rest, and as the piston descends the valve will move up to give steam
below, thus alternately giving steam below and above, the rapidity depending
upon the amount of steam admitted by the throttle valve. If the handle be
moved back but a little the stroke will be short, if moved back further the

page_text: stroke will be longer, and will occur high up in the cylinder; thus it can
when working automatically, be graduated from the minimum to the maximun
of the length of stroke of the hammer. As the hammer bar on ascending
opens the upper port, and on descending opens the lower port, it is evident
that the velocity of the hammer motion (governed by the admission of steam
by the throttle) will influence to some extent the length of the blow as it
cushions on steam at both ends of its stroke; if now the lever O be drawn
back towards P the hammer bar will rise, as has been explained, if it be
drawn all the way back to P" it will rise to the top of the stroke and stay up
as long as the steam pressure is continued, this is because the valve has been
thrown up further than the descending motion of the rod M has power to
restore; if the handle be pushed towards P¹ slowly the bar will descend as
slowly, if moved quickly it will descend with the velocity due to the pressure
of the steam on top of the piston added to the weight of the bar, as it will
have an almost clear exhaust below; therefore moving the hand lever O back
and forth at each stroke will give a perfect hand motion to the bar, slower or
faster at the will of the operator. While the hammer is working on any
given length of stroke automatically as a necessity the force of the blow is
somewhat modified by the steam which is admitted below the piston before it
reaches the bottom of the stroke; if, however, the hand lever be drawn back
a little, say a tenth part of its whole range, and as the bar descends it is
pushed forward as much, thus keeping time with the hammer stroke, a blow
of the nearly same intensity will be given as if worked solely by hand, thus
combining the hand and power movements. The merit of the Invention will
be manifest when it is understood that in this arrangement of each motion by
means of the one single lever O the operator is capable of working the hammer
automatically and regulating its length of stroke to the greatest nicety, giving
light or heavy strokes at will, or he can work it by hand, striking one blow
or a succession of blows, and holding up the hammer while work is being
adjusted, thus controlling the hammer as perfectly as if it was an ordinary
hammer held in his hand, thus fulfilling perfectly the objects of the Invention.
It must be evident to every intelligent mechanic that all the parts composing
the valve motion may be modified in many ways without interfering with the
theory of the Invention, as the valve n.otion can be attached to any steam
hammer in which is obtainable a proper reciprocating motion equivalent to
that of the rocking shaft I. The circumstances of each case to which the
Invention may be applied may involve some modification of the parts and their
position; so also with the means of obtaining the reciprocating motion from
the bar. In hammers in which there is no projection above the piston head

page_text: the diagonal slot, or any equivalent device capable of imparting a recipro-
cating movement to the valve motion, may be made in the bar below the
piston head by forming a steam space below the bottom cylinder and the
bottom stuffing box as long as the stroke of the hammer, so that the Invention
is not limited to the precise form and arrangement of parts, as described.
Having now described the Invention of "Improvements in Steam Ham-
mers," which has been communicated to me by my foreign correspondent,
and having explained the manner of carrying the same into effect, I claim
as the Invention secured to me by Letters Patent as aforesaid,―
First, the lever L or its equivalent for the purpose specified.
Second, the diagonal slot or its equivalent in the hammer bar within the
steam space of the cylinder, or its connection, for the purpose specified.
Third, the cover E, or its equivalent, enclosing the upper end of the hammer
bar, for the purpose specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Third day of September, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
W. E. NEWTON. (L.S.)