IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR REGULATING AND WORKING THE VALUES OF STRAW AND OTHED Exarer
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Frederick Spencer, of Newcastle-upon-Tyne,
Consulting Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS
FOR REGULATING AND WORKING THE VALUES OF STRAW AND OTHED Exarer"
Sealed the 15th August 1863, and dated the 18th February 1863.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Frederick Spencer
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
18th February 1863.
I, JOHN FREDERICK SPENCER, of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Consulting Engineer,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
APPARATUS FOR REGULATING AND WORKING THE VALVES OF STEAM AND OTHER
ENGINES," to be as follows:-
These improvements apply only to those cases where the valve or valves
for regulating the admission or suppression of the steam is separate and dis-
tinct from the exhausting valve. In engines that have to be reversed I
attach two distinct links placed side by side, and connected together so as to
form a double link to two excentric rods worked by excentrics on the crank or
other shaft, so that one excentric rod is attached to one end of the double
link, and the other to the other end of the double link; the radius or con-
necting rod that is attached at one end to the exhaust valve, or its rod or
lever, is attached at the other end to a sliding block in, say, link 1 of the
double link, and the radius or connecting rod that is attached at one end to the

page_text: expansion or steam valve, or its rod or lever, is attached at the other end to a
block sliding in, say, link 2 of the double link. If the excentrics are set as
usual, one for head and the other for back gear, and the double link is sus-
pended in one position by moving the radius rod on link 1 the exhaust valves
can be reversed, and by moving the other radius rod on link 2 the steam
valves can be reversed, and the expansion can be varied without in any way
affecting the efficiency or action of the exhausting valves.
In stationary engines or engines that do not require to be reversed I use
two excentrics and rods and only one single link, and attach the exhaust-
valve rod direct to one end of the link, the steam or expansion-valve rod only
sliding on the link to vary the cut-off.
By another modification or arrangement for non-reversing engines, where it
is preferred to use only one excentric, I employ the one excentric attached by
a rod to one link or slotted lever so arranged that whilst the exhaust-valve
rod is attached to one point of the link or slotted lever, the other or steam or
expansion-valve rod slides on the link or slotted lever to vary the cut-off as
required.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Frederick Spencer in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 18th August 1863.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
FREDERICK SPENCER, of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Consulting Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters.
Patent, bearing date the Eighteenth day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-sixth year of Her.
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said John Frederick Spencer, Her special license that I, the said John
Frederick Spencer, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said John Frederick Spencer, my executors, administrators, or
assigns, 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 APPARATUS FOR REGULATING AND WORKING THE
VALVES OF STEAM AND OTHER ENGINES," upon the condition (amongst others) that

page_text: I, the said John Frederick Spencer, my executors or administrators, by an
instrument in writing under my hand and seal, or under the hand and seal of
one of them, should particularly describe and ascertain 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 John Frederick Spencer, my do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement, and on reference to the accompanying Sheet of
Drawings, that is to say :-
These improvements apply only to those cases where the valve (or valves)
for regulating the admission or suppression of the steam is separate and dis-
tinct from the exhausting valve. In engines that have to be reversed I
attach two distinct links placed side by side, and connected together so as to
form a double link to two excentric rods worked by excentrics on the crank or
other shaft, so that one excentric rod is attached to one end of the double
link, and the other to the other end of the double link; the radius or con-
necting rod that is attached at one end to the exhaust valve, or its rod or
lever, is attached at the other end to a sliding block in, say, link 1 of the
double link, and the radius or connecting rod that is attached at one end to
the expansion or steam slide, or its rod or lever, is attached at the other end
If the excentrics are set
to a block sliding in, say, link 2 of the double link.
as usual, one for head and the other for back gear, and the double link is sus-
pended in one position, by moving the radius rod in link 1 the exhaust valves
can be reversed, and by moving the other radius rod in link 2 the steam
valves can be reversed, and the expansion can be varied without in any way
affecting the efficiency or action of the exhausting valves.
In stationary engines or engines that do not require to be reversed I use
two excentrics and rods and only one single link, and attach the exhaust
valve rod to one end of the link, the steam or expansion-valve rod only sliding
on the link to vary the cut-off.
In the Sheet of Drawings hereunto annexed I have illustrated my Invention
as adapted to two distinct cases herein-before referred to. By the arrange-
ments shown in Figures 1 and 2, the expansion can be varied in link No. 2
without affecting the exhaust in link No. 1'; thus the advantages of the link
motion are secured as affording a variable expansion without its usual
advantage of altering injuriously the action of the exhaust, and, moreover, two
excentrics only are required instead of a greater number.

page_text: In Figures 3 and 4 the arrangement suitable for engines that do not
require to be reversed is shown as worked with two excentrics and a single
link, thus materially simplifying the arrangement of gearing necessary for
operating expansively worked stationary engines.
My improvements in the apparatus for regulating and working the valves
of steam and other engines may be employed to operate any suitable form or
description of valves in which the expansion and exhaust valves are separate,
and worked over different ports, passages, or openings, and although the valves
shown in the Drawings hereunto annexed are sufficient to show the action
of the apparatus, other forms of valves can be attached thereto or worked
thereby, and the form of slide valves shown in Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4 are
only given in illustration as known types of slide valves commonly operated by
a multiplication of excentrics and gearing.
In Figure 1 the crank shaft is shown, and its centre and the track of the
crank is indicated by a dotted line, and link No. 1 for the exhaust and No. 2
for the expansion are shown; the upper eccentric rod being for the back
gear or motion; the lower rod is for the fore gear. Between the link and the
valve rod the upper radius or connecting rod, as shown dotted in, is for the
exhaust; whilst the lower or horizontally placed radius or connecting rod is for
working the expansion valve. The expansion slide, as well as the expansion slide
rod and link is shown in position in front of the exhaust valve, slide rod, and
link. The double fixed link is held in position or supported by a vibrating
rod, whilst the reversing is shown as being affected by a compound weigh
shaft, formed by a tube surrounding a solid shaft. The position of the
reversing lever and expansion lever as operating upon their respective link
blocks is also shown. The expansion slide valve is shown, and the position of
the exhaust and steam ports is indicated by being dotted in this Figure. In
Figure 2 the exhaust and steam ports are shown in section.
Figure 2 is a plan and part longitudinal section of Figure 1. Some of the
parts only are shown in section, whilst other parts on the same horizontal line
are not shown in section. The exhaust slide rod for working the main slide,
as also the exhaust link (No. 1) and the excentric for working the same, are
shown behind the expansion eccentric, and its link (No. 2), its slide rod, and
the expansion valve operated thereby. The port plate shown in this Figure is
interposed between the expansion slide and the main slide.
Figure 3 is an elevation, and Figure 4 is a plan of Figure 8 (partly in lon-
gitudinal section) of the valve gear in accordance with my Invention, having
a single fixed link and two excentrics of different throws, (or having a
different amount of travel,) both excentrics being shown as set for forward

page_text: motion; the expansion rod at A showing a maximum admission, and when
at C a minimum admission. In Figure 3 the horizontal rod, shown between
the link and the valve, is the expansive radius rod; whilst the rod dotted in
and shown at an angle and above the expansion radius rod, connecting the
upper end of the slotted link, is the exhaust radius rod. Between the link and
the excentric the upper rod may be assumed as having four-inch travel;
whilst the lower rod is connected with the excentric of shorter throw, or having
a travel of, say, two and a half inches. The lever arm or spanner (L, W, S,)
working upon the weigh shaft, may have its position changed by means of a
hand lever operated in the usual way, or it may be so actuated by a governor
as to regulate the degree of expansion which may be necessary or required
from time to time.
In Figures 1 and 2, A is the upper end of the slot; B, the central position,
and C, the lower position; B, E, R, the back gear eccentric rod; F, E, R,
the fore gear eccentric rod; C', the crank circle; D, the position of the
eccentric; D, F, L, double fixed link; E, L, expansion link; E, S, expansion
slide; E, S, R, expansion slide rod; E, S, R, R, expansion slide radius rod;
M, the main slide or means of regulating the exhaust; P, P, port plate,
having passages therethrough for the admission of steam to the main slide,
thence the steam passes through the passages therein to either end of the
steam cylinder.
In Figures 3 and 4, A is the top; B, the central position, and C, the lower
end of the link; C' is the crank circle. The upper eccentric rod E, R, is the
rod connecting the upper end of the link with the eccentric for operating the
exhaust; the lower excentric rod E, R', is the rod connecting the lower end of
the expansion eccentric; E, R, R, the expansion radius rod; X, R, R, the
exhaust radius rod; E, S, V, exhaust slide valve; E, V, expansion valve;
E, S, V, exhaust slide valve; P, P, port plate; S, F, L, single fixed link.
The weigh shaft and reversing lever or spanner for changing the position of
the link and the other parts of the apparatus need no letters of reference for
the purpose of explaining their construction and use.
Having now described my said Invention, and having given two illustrations
of its practical use or application, which I have shown in Figures 1, 2, 3,
and 4 in the accompanying Sheet of Drawings, I wish it to be understood
that I do not confine myself, in the application of my Invention, to the form
of slides or slide valves therein shown, as any suitable form or description of
valves may be employed in which the expansion and exhaust valves are
separate and work over different ports, passages, or openings, and any such
like valves may be operated by or be employed in combination with the

page_text: actuating apparatus or gear herein described and shewn; but what I
claim is,
-
First, the mode or method herein described by which in steam or other
engines requiring to be worked in either direction the expansion can be
varied without affecting the exhaust, and thereby securing the advantages of
the link motion for a variable expansion without involving the usual attendant
disadvantages, and avoiding also the use of more than two eccentrics, as
herein set forth, and as shewn in the accompanying Sheet of Drawings by the
Figures 1 and 2.
Second, the mode or method of working or operating the valves of expan-
sively working stationary engines intended to work in one direction only,
as herein-before described, and as shewn in Figures 3 and 4 in the accom-
panying Sheet of Drawings.
Third, the apparatus shewn in Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4 for regulating and
working the valves, which admits and release the steam to steam engines, and
the mode of applying and working the same, substantially as herein described
and set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Frederick Spencer, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of August, One thousand
eight hundred and sixty-three.
JOHN FREDERICK SPENCER. (L.S.)