IMPROVEMENTS IN THE APPLICATION
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Cartwright, of the Dean, Broseley, in the
County of Salop, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE APPLICATION
19
Sealed the 1st November 1856, and dated the 2nd June 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Cartwright at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
2nd June 1856.
I, HENRY CARTWRIGHT, of the Dean, Broseley, in the County of Salop, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
APPLICATION OF STEAM COCKS TO STEAM ENGINES, AND IN WORKING SUCH ENGINES
THEREBY," to be as follows:-
My Invention relates to steam engines having two cylinders side by side,
with their pistons working to the same crank, with necks or crank pins at
right angles to each other; and each of the cylinders having two steam cocks
of the construction described in the Specification of Letters Patent granted
to me, and bearing date 2nd June 1855. And my Invention consists in
adapting and applying to such engines another pair of steam cocks of the same
construction as those referred to, and in arranging and combining all the
steam cocks and steam passages so as to admit of the engine being started,
stopped, or reversed by means of the additional pair of steam cocks worked by
hand gear.

page_text: For this purpose one of the reversing cocks is placed between the two upper
steam cocks, and the other between the two lower steam cocks, a connecting
rod or link imparting the action from the upper reversing cock to the lower.
The steam passages are so arranged as to admit of steam passing from the
steam pipe into the open end of the upper reversing cock, and from thence
through its front set of apertures to the front passage of the steam casing
throughout, from whence it is conducted through the front apertures of the
reciprocating cocks to act against the pistons. On the return stroke of the
pistons the steam returns through the rear apertures of the reciprocating cocks
into the rear passage of the steam casing, and from thence through the rear
apertures of the lower reversing cock to the condenser or the atmosphere.
But if the plugs of the reversing cocks are turned so that the rear apertures
of the upper reversing cock communicate with the rear passage of the steam
casing, and the front apertures of the lower reversing cock communicate with
the front passage of the steam casing, the motion of the engine will be
reversed, because the steam will be brought to act against the opposite sides of
the pistons. Thus the motion of the engine is reversed by reversing the
offices or functions of the passages in the steam casing. But if the plugs
of the reversing cocks are moved only through half the former space, so
as for each of them to close one set of apertures, and stop before the other
sets are open, the steam will be stopped off from the reciprocating cocks, and
the engine will stop.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Henry Cartwright in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
2nd December 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
CARTWRIGHT, of the Dean, Broseley, in the County of Salop, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Second day of June, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the nineteenth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and graut unto me, the said
Henry Cartwright, Her special license that I, the said Henry Cartwright, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Henry
Cartwright, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree
with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during the

page_text: 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 THE APPLICATION
OF STEAM COCKS TO STEAM ENGINES, AND IN WORKING, SUCH ENGINES THEREBY,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Henry Cartwright, by
an instrument in writing under my band and seal, 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 Henry Cartwright, 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,
reference being had to tho Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the letters and
figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
:-
My Invention of "Improvements in the Application of Steam-Cocks to
Steam Engines, and in Working such Engines thereby," relates to steam
engines having two cylinders side by side, with their pistons working to tho
same crank shaft, with the cranks at right angles to each other; also to engines
of other constructions, and each of the cylinders having two steam cocks of the
construction described in the Specification of Letters Patent granted to me, and
bearing date the Second of June, One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.
And my Invention consists in adapting and applying to such engines another
pair of steam-cocks of the same construction as those referred to, and in
arranging and combining all the steam-cocks and steam passages, so as to
admit of the engine being started, stopped, or reversed by means of the
additional pair of steam cocks worked by hand gear.
For this purpose one of the reversing cocks is placed between the two upper
steam-cocks, and the other between the two lower steam-cocks, a connecting
rod or link imparting the action from the upper reversing cock to the lower;
or the reversing cocks may be placed otherwise than between the reciprocating
steam-cocks. The steam passages are so arranged as to admit of steam
passing from the steam pipe into the open end of the upper reversing cock,
and from thence through its front set of apertures to the front passage of the
steam casing throughout, from whence it is conducted through the front
apertures of tho reciprocating cocks to act against the pistons. On the return
stroke of the pistons the steam returns through the rear apertures of the
reciprocating cocks into the rear passage of the steam casing, and from theuce
through the rear apertures of the lower reversing cock to the condenser or the

page_text: atmosphere. But if the plugs of, the reversing cocks are turned so that the
rear apertures of the upper reversing cock communicate with the rear passage
of the steam casing, and the front apertures of the lower reversing cock com
municate with the front passage of the steam casing, the motion of the engine
will be reversed, because the steam will be brought to act against the opposite
sides of the pistons. Thus the motion of the engine is reversed by reversing
the offices or functions of the passages in the steam casing. But if the plugs
of the reversing cocks are moved only through half the former space, so as for
cach of them to close one set of apertures, and stop before the other sets are
open, the steam will be stopped off from the reciprocating cocks, and the engine
will stop: Also, if the plugs of the reversing cocks are moved through a still
shorter space, the ports of these cocks may be partly closed, and the working
of the engine thereby eased.
In order, however, that my Invention may be fully understood, I will proceed
to describe it more particularly by the aid of the accompanying Drawings, in
which my Invention is represented as applied to a pair of cylinders, with the
reversing cocks placed between two pairs of reciprocating steam cocks.
1
Fig. 1 is an elevation of the cylinders, shewing the several cocks in end
view; and Fig. 2 is another elevation with the reversing cocks and steam
casing in section. a, a, are the steam cylinders, the pistons in which are shewn
by dotted lines; b, b, are the piston rods; c is the steam pipe leading from the
boiler; d is the eduction pipe leading to the condensor, or to the atmosphere,
.as the case may be; c, e, is a double steam casing, being so formed that the
one part may be put in communication with the steam pipe c, and the other
in commnnication with the eduction pipe d, by means of the reversing cocks
fandf, which are enclosed within the said casing, the front ports of the
reversing cock f admitting the steam from the pipe c to the front division c.of
the steam casing, and the rear ports of the reversing cock f* being open to
allow the steam to pass from the rear division of the steam casing to the
eduction pipe d. This is the position of the reversing cocks (as shewn in
the Drawing) for the forward action of the engine, and while it continues, the
front division e of the steam casing is a permanent steam pipe, and the rear
division is a permanent eduction pipe, but by changing the position of the
reversing cocks the functions of the steam passages may be changed, and the
engine reversed, as herein-after described. 9 is the connecting rod through
which the two cocks are moved simultaneously when required; is the
handle, by means of which the cocks are moved, but they may be moved
by any suitable hand gear; i, i, *,, are the reciprocating steam cocks
worked by the rods k, k, of the ordinary excentrics on the crank shaft, the cocks

page_text: at each end of the cylinders being connected so as to insure their simultaneous
action by the rods 1, 1. The cocks i, i, communicate with one side of the
piston, and the cocks i*, i*, with the other side of the same.
The action of the reversing cocks is as follows:-The steam passes from the
boiler through the pipe c, enters the open end of the reversing cock f, and
flows through the front ports of this cock into the front division e of the steam'
casing, which is thus, for the time, a steam pipe or passage for the steam to the
cylinder. At the same time the rear division e of the steam casing being in
communication with the rear ports of the reversing cock f*, the said rear
division eis made for the time an eduction pipe or passage for the steam
from the cylinder to the condenser, or to the atmosphere in the case of a non-
condensing engine.
:
If the handle or lever h be moved so as to bring the plug of the reversing
cock finto the position indicated by the dotted line A, B, the front ports of
this cock will be turned off or closed against the front division or passage e
of the steam casing, and the rear ports turned on or opened to the rear division
or passage, thus making the latter a steam pipe; whilst by the same
operation, and at the same time, the rear ports of the cock will be turned
off or closed against the rear division or passage e", and the front ports turned
on or opened to the front division or passage e, thereby making the latter an
eduction pipe. And this transposition of the steam passages will extend"
through the reciprocating steam cocks i, i, and *, 2, to the action of the
steam within the cylinders, and cause the engine to be reversed. But if the
handle or lever & be moved through only half the above-named space, then all
the ports in the plugs of the reversing cocks fand f* will be closed, and the
engine will be stopped. And by moving the handle or lever h through a still
shorter space, the ports will be partly closed, and the working of the engine
eased. Thus by moving the handle or lever h, either directly or through the
intervention of any suitable hand gear ordinarily employed for working
the slide valves of steam engines, the plugs of the reversing cocks may be
placed in the respective positions required for starting, stopping, reversing, or
casing the working of the engine.
I would here remark that the excentric rods k, k, for working the recipro-
eating steam cocks i, i, and *, *, may be connected with these steam cocks at
either end of the cylinder, and more or less directly according to the arrange-
ments of the different parts of the engine, but as these points are well
understood with reference to the necessary gear for working slide valves froin
the ordinary excentrics on the crank shaft, I need only remark that similar

page_text: arrangements will have to be made for working the said cocks through the
excentrics.
I would further remark that my Invention is not confined to the application
of the reversing cocks in the manner represented in the Drawing, as they may
be otherwise placed in relation to the reciprocating cocks. The reversing
cocks may also be applied to engines of other forms besides that represented,
and may be combined with various forms and arrangements of mechanism for
working them. But what I claim as of my Invention is, the adaptation and
application of the reversing cocks above described to steam engines, for the
purpose of starting, stopping, reversing, and easing the working of such
engines as may be required by means of suitable hand gear in connection with
such cocks, as described.
In witness whercof, I, the said Henry Cartwright, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Twenty-eighth day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
Witness,
JOHN BURNET,
Broseley, Grocer.
HENRY CARTWRIGHT. (L.S.)