IM- PROVEMENTS IN PUMPING MACHINERY
Year: 1877

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by James Stephens at the Office of the
Commissioners of Patents on the 19th May 1877.
JAMES STEPHENS, of Stonehouse, in the County of Gloucester, Engineer. "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN PUMPING MACHINERY."
The first part of the improvements consists in making an ordinary slide valve
with a larger lateral surface on one side of the ordinary steam and exhaust ports
than is required to cover the said ports, and in the enlarged surface three ports or
recesses, one of which by covering ports or passages from the main cylinder, and
also ports or passages to the outer sides of pistons which actuate an auxiliary slide
valve, and the other two ports in the main slide valve making communication from
the passages leading from the outer sides of the pistons working the auxiliary slide
valve to ports leading to the main exhaust passage, and thereby causing the recipro-
cation of the auxiliary slide valve by steain taken from the main cylinder. The
auxiliary slide valve causes the admission and exhaust of steam (taken from the
main steam chest) to and from the outer ends of pistons that actuate the main
slide valve, and thereby the main slide valve receives a reciprocating motion
without any levers or outside gear.
The second part of the improvements applies to double action plunger pumps in
which one ram is used to work in the two barrels, and consists in utilising the
distance pieces which couple the covers of the two barrels together as water
passages to and from the pump barrels, and also placing the suction and delivery
valves in the course for the water through the said distance pieces.
The third part of the improvements consist in bolting a pump barrel directly to
the steam cylinder, and packing the rod connecting the steam and water piston or
plunger together with metallic packing.
The accompanying Drawings will serve to illustrate a practical mode of per-
forming the Invention.

page_text: Fig. 2 is a plan of cylinder and section through the lines, .
Fig. 3 is a half section through the line Y, Y.
Fig. 4 is a section through the line X, X.
Fig. 5 is a plan of main valve face.
Fig. 6 is a plan of the under side of the main slide valve.
Fig. 7 is a side elevation of a double action plunger pump with the improve-
ments in the water passages and valves.
Fig. 8 is a longitudinal section of the same.
Fig. 9 is a cross section of the same on the line W. W..
Fig. 10 is a cross section of the same on the line V. V.
Fig. 11 is a side elevation of a double action plunger pump with one ram and
one stuffing box for ram, and showing the barrel attached directly to the steam
cylinder, and the metallic packing for making the piston rod steam and water
tight.
Fig. 12 is a longitudinal section of the same.
Fig. 13 is a cross section of the same on the line U, U.
The same letters indicate the same parts in Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6.
A is the cylinder; B, piston; B', piston rod connecting to pump; C, C', main
. steam passages; C², main exhaust passage; D, main slide valve working in the
main steam chest E, and actuated by two pistons, F, F, by means of a rod G; the
pistons F, F, work in the cylindrical ends of the main steam chest, and the pistons
are open to the steam pressure in the chest between them. Communicating with
the outer ends of these pistons are passages H, H', from an auxiliary steam chest I,
and steam is admitted to them alternately by a small slide valve J, and exhausted
through a passage H2 to the main exhaust. The slide valve J is placed between
two small pistons, K, K¹. These auxiliary pistons and slide valve are worked by
steam taken from the main cylinder by passages L, L', and M, M³, and admitting
steam to either end of them at the proper time by the action of the main slide
valve D combined with the action of the piston B. The steam is exhausted from
them by passages N, N¹, and O, O', which communicate with the main exhaust C²
These passages are better shown in Fig. 5. The main slide valve has the usual
recess P, and also three others, P1, P2, P3, in the under face of it (better shown in
Fig. 6), and by one of these recesses, P¹, the steam is admitted from the main
cylinder to the piston, working the auxiliary slide valve J, and exhausted through
the other two recesses to the main exhaust C2, the auxiliary slide valve in its
turn admitting steam to and exhausting it from the outer ends of the pistons F, F¹,
by which the main slide valve D is actuated.
The steam for working the main slide valve passes into the auxiliary steam chest
from the main steam chest by a passage Q. The auxiliary slide valve is prevented
from rotating by a screw R passing into a slot in the rod connecting the two
auxiliary pistons, and is moved, should it stop on the centre, by a rod S.
In Figs. 7, 8, 9, and 10 the same figures indicate the same parts; is the
plunger; la is a rod coupling the plunger to the steam piston; 2, 2ª, are the pump
barrels; 3, 3ª, are the covers of pump barrels; 3b is the cover of one barrel coupled
to steam cylinder by distance pieces; 4, 4ª, are the distance pieces connecting the
covers 3, 3º, together, and either cast solid with or bolted to them. Through these
distance pieces the water passes to and from the pump barrels, 4 being the one
through which the water passes to the suction valves, and 4a through which it
passes to the delivery pipe after it has left the delivery valves; 5 is the suction
orifice; 6, 6ª, are the suction valve boxes; 7 is one suction valve; 8 is the passage
leading from valve 7 to the interior of the pump barrel; 9 is a passage leading from
the interior of the pump barrel to the delivery valve 10; 11 is the delivery orifice
situated in the centre of the distance piece 4a; 12, 12, are the delivery valve
boxes; 13, 13, are the glands for packing the plunger; 14 is a gland for packing
the rod connecting the plunger to the steam piston. Figs. 9 and 10 are looking in
the direction of the arrows in Figs. 7 and 8.7

page_text: In Figs. 11, 12, and 13 the same figures indicate the same parts; Fig. 13 is
looking in the direction of the arrows in Figs. 11 and 12; 15 is a steam cylinder;
16, piston; 17, piston rod connected to a pump, ram, or piston; 18 is pump barrel
connected directly to steam cylinder; 19 is metallic packing for making the passage
for the rod 17 steam and water tight.