CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF VESSELS FOR SUSTAINING THE PRESSURE OF FLUIDS USED IN THE BOILERS AND MACHINERY OF STEAM ENGINES, AND IN THE MANNER OF THEIR APPLICATION TO LOCOMOTIVE PURPOSES
Year: 1833

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN'
SCOTT RUSSELL, of No. 8, Stafford Street, in the City of Edinburgh, in North
Britain, Master of Arts, send greeting.
WHEREAS His present most Excellent Majesty King William the
Fourth, by His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain,
bearing date at Westminster, the Fourteenth day of August, in the Fourth
year of His reign, did, for Himself, His heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said John Scott Russell, His especial licence that I,
the said John Scott Russell, my exors, admors, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said John Scott Russell, my exors, admors, or assigns,
should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all
times during the term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might
make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town
of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and all His Majesty's Colonies and Plantations
abroad, my Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF
VESSELS FOR SUSTAINING THE PRESSURE OF FLUIDS USED IN THE BOILERS AND
MACHINERY OF STEAM ENGINES, AND IN THE MANNER OF THEIR APPLICATION TO
LOCOMOTIVE PURPOSES;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso
obliging me, the said John Scott Russell, by an instrument in writing under
my hand and seal, particularly to describe and ascertain the nature of the said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, and to cause the
same to be enrolled in His said Majesty's High Court of Chancery within

page_text: six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said recited
Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will
more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
John Scott Russell, do hereby declare the nature of my said Invention to
consist, first, as regards my improvements in the construction of vessels for
sustaining the pressure of fluids in, after ascertaining by experiment or calcu-
lation the thickness of metal or other material of which the vessel is to be
made, of the extent of one square inch or any other unit of surface which shall
be requisite to sustain the pressure of the fluid or fluids intended to act upon
that extent of surface, and also the requisite dimensions of a wire or rod of
which the direct cohesive strength shall be capable of resisting the same
pressure upon the same extent of surface, then constructing a vessel of any
dimensions wholly of metal or other material of the aforesaid thickness,
shaped in such a manner that it shall everywhere consist of opposite or
parallel surfaces, or as nearly so as circumstances will permit, and supporting
or strengthening the said surfaces so as to sustain the pressure of the fluid
intended to act upon them by such wires or rods aforesaid, in manner herein-
after explained; and, secondly, as regards my improvements in the boilers of
steam engines, in reducing their weight and bulk by the application of the
aforesaid manner of constructing vessels to boilers, so as to resist the power
of the steam generated within them; and, thirdly, as regards my improvement
in the machinery of steam engines, in wholly separateing the passages, valves,
and ports by which the steam enters into the working cylinder from the
passages, valves, and ports by which the steam passes out of the cylinder in
manner herein-after explained; and lastly, as regards my improved manner of
applying steam engines to locomotive purposes, in the particular manner in
which I adjust the springs by which they are attached to their carriages. And
in further compliance with the said proviso, I, the said John Scott Russell, do
hereby describe the manner in which my said Invention is to be performed, by
the following statement thereof, reference being had to the Drawings annexed,
and to the figures and letters marked thereon, that is to say :-
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
In Sheet No. 1, Figure A represents the external aspect on a scale of
one half of a cubical vessel of copper or iron, with rods, nuts, and washers
arranged so as to support the thin sides of the vessel, placed at the distance
of one inch from each other, and comprising squares of a superficial inch
between their parts of insertion. Figure B represents the same vessel, one
side being removed, shewing one series of tie rods and nuts as arranged within

page_text: it. At (a) we have a rod represented as taken out of the vessel, shewing at one
end the external and internal nuts where they are screwed on the rod with the
washer between them, which it is not necessary to screw on the wire.
At (b)
is a rod with a shoulder and rivetted head, which might also be used instead
5 of that in Figure (a), as might also a bar of metal bent at each end, as shewn
at (c), which might be soldered or otherwise attached to opposite points of the
vessel and substituted for a tie rod, but I give preference to the nuts screwed
on the tie rod as in (a). The thickness of this vessel is supposed to be 1/60th
part of an inch, which it is evident could not support the pressure of any
fluid with which it might be filled, unless supported and strengthened by the
tie rods or wires here shown; and thus, for example, if I wish to construct a
copper vessel that shall sustain a pressure of thirty pounds on the square
inch, and that this vessel shall be of the form of a cubic foot, and
if I find that copper of the thickness of 1/60 th of an inch, of the extent
of one square inch, supported as before mentioned by rods or wires or
bolts, will sustain the said pressure, and that copper or iron wire 1/20th of
an inch in diameter or 140 0th of a square inch in area of section will
sustain an equal quantity by direct tension, I divide the opposite surfaces
of the cube into corresponding surfaces of a square inch each by lines
intersecting at right angles, and at the intersections of these, or at the corner
of each square, I pass through wires with nuts or heads as aforesaid, and
this I do in all the dimensions of the vessel, videlicet, in its length, breadth,
and depth; that is, I connect opposite points of its top and bottom together, as
aforesaid, by vertical rods, of its back and front by horizontal rods, and of its
two remaining ends and surfaces by horizontal rods, traversing the former at
right angles, and although any portions either of the corners of the vessels or
portions not greatly exceeding in area the original constructive unit, such as a
square inch or a square of three or four inches, or other dimensions, which
may have been adopted as aforesaid, shall be curved, such curvature not
extending to the points of insertion of the tie rods or interfering with their
action, and if any pipes, cylinders, or other vessels shall be inserted into the
vessel or connected with it, if these shall not interfere with the arrangement
or action of the said tie rods, the efficiency of the vessels will not be injured
thereby. And if the said vessels shall be otherwise supported on any of their
surfaces, as, for example, where a vessel is used as a cistern for water open at
the top, the bottom being supported by its resting on a stone or other surface
adapted to it and sustaining its pressure, the aforesaid construction may still
be used upon such surfaces as remain otherwise unsupported, but are opposite
and parallel; and although the surfaces of a vessel be not in their general

page_text: position opposite and parallel, yet an approximation may be obtained even to
the form of any curve, by dividing the oblique or curved portion of the vessel
into small rectangular surfaces containing each an unit or units of construction,
as above specified, respectively parallel or at right angles to each other, and to
the opposite sides of the vessel, those parts of a curve or oblique surface that
are not perfectly parallel but nearly so may be considered as parallel, and
constructed on that assumption without materially affecting the efficiency of
the construction before described; and in such places as a pipe or flue may pass
off from the vessel so as to render the attachment of a rod or rods in that
place inconvenient or impossible, it or they may be attached to a framework
fixed within the mouth of the said pipe or flue, the strength of the parts in
the neck of the pipe being so far increased as to bear the strain of the vessel
in that place, and when any pipe or part of the vessel is so situated as to con-
nect two opposite points of its sides sufficiently together, that pipe or these pipes
acting the part of a tie or ties, the wires or rods in that part may be con-
sidered as superseded in consequence; and by the application of the method
herein-before described for the construction of vessels for sustaining the pres-
sure of fluids to the construction of boilers for steam engines, I am enabled
to construct the latter in a manner more efficient and economical than when
formed in conformity with the methods of construction heretofore in use, as
in consequence of my thus having it in my power to effect a great reduction
in the thickness of the furnace flues and other portions of the boiler, the
progress of the heat from the fire to the water is less impeded by the inter-
vention of other matter and is given off more rapidly, while the evaporation
is more speedly accomplished, and the injurious effects of expansion and of
oxidation in great measure avoided.
In Sheet No. 2, Figure C represents a cylinder in a vertical position, with
its ports, passages, and valves of the improved construction. d, e, f, g, are
the four parts passing through into the cylinder; d and f above, e and g below
the piston; and e for admitting the steam into the cylinder, ƒ and g educ-
tion ports. k, k, k, k, and k, and flanches in one plane projecting from the
cylinder and forming the two chambers in which the pair of steam valves and
the pair of eduction valves are respectively placed. The valves are ground
so as to fit the surface of the cylinder and be steam-tight, and the slides
which cover d and e, as also the slides which cover f and g, are con-
nected each by a rod, to which the slides are attached with nuts, so as
to move up and down with the rods. Each rod projects through the
end of the chamber so as to be connected by a lever (h), which in
moving on its centre gives the reciprocating action to the rods and

page_text: valves, and opens alternately steam ports and eduction' ports on opposite sides
of the piston. In the Figure the steam port (e) and the eduction port (f) are
shown open, (d) and (9) being covered by their respective slide valves; but in
the reversed position of the lever (e) and (f) would be closed while (d) and
(9) would be opened, so that if a reciprocating motion were communicated to
the lever and rods from an eccentric wheel, as at (m), or from any other
mechanism for that purpose in the ordinary method of working an engine,
the reciprocation of the piston would be effected. (n) and (n) are two
divisions having the spaces between them (1) (1), stuffed with wood, flax,
or other substance, and forming a steam-tight division between the upper and
lower eduction valves. Figure D shows the apparatus in section, (p) being a
plate firmly bolted to the flaunches (k) so as to enclose the slides or valves
wholly in steam-tight chambers. Figure E shows the said plate as attached
to the cylinder by its bolts and nuts, (f) and (9) being two openings or ports.
in it opposite to the two openings or ports in the cylinder (f) and (9), and
from these openings the steam may be conducted out of the cylinder by any
pipe or pipes or channels of any form, and the steam may be brought to the
steam passage joining the steam ports by a pipe or passage (o), whence it will
find its way along the chamber to both steam ports, or the steam may
be made to enter at both ports directly by bringing two steam pipes to the
plate which covers the chambers by separate openings similar to those for
eduction. Figure F shows one end of the cylinder W with the plate p, pr
attached. Thus it will be seen I form two ports on the same side of the
cylinder, one above and the other below the piston, and connect these with a
passage which is wholly filled by steam and only separated from the inside of
the cylinder by slide valves, which cover those ports alternately; and the
exit of the steam is secured by other two ports situated on some other
part of the cylinder, the one above and the other below the piston, which.
are connected with a passage in which are placed two other such valves
covering the alternate exit ports, the steam ports and exit ports that are
shut, as well as those that are open, being alternate to each other, and
by communicating to these valves motion by a slide rod from an eccentric
wheel or other part of the engine in the ordinary manner, the alternate
motion of the piston is effected, and that whether the exit ports com-
municate with the air, as in the high-pressure engine, or with the con-
denser in an engine where condensation is used; and this peculiar arrange-
ment of the steam and eduction valves I use in combination with the other.
parts of an ordinary steam engine.

page_text: And now as to the application of steam engines to locomotive purposes.
My Invention consists in the application of a spring and connexions of the
following nature, for the purpose of hanging the engine to the carriage
on which it is to travel.
I suppose that by any of the ordinary methods
a rotary motion has been produced in the axle or axles of the steam engine
separate from the axle of the carriage to which a rotary motion is to he given.
And I also suppose that the principal weight of the machinery rests upon
that axle of the carriage to which the steam engine is thus directly.to
be applied. I then connect the axle or axles of the steam engine with
the axle of the carriage by means of an inflexible link or links or strap
which shall contain in two sockets or journals, one at each of its extremities,
the axles of the steam engine and of the carriage respectively, so that the
axle of the carriage in its oscillations, arising from the inequality of the
road or way upon which it moves, or the variations in the velocity of the
vehicle itself, shall always move in a circular path around the axle of the
machinery, and remain equidistant from it, the line along the centre of such
link being always intermediate between the vertical and horizontal position.
And for the more effectually securing this action I form the spring which
carries that part of the weight of the machinery and vehicle resting immediately
upon the aforesaid axle in such manner as that part of the spring which rests
upon the axle shall exactly describe the same circle which the said axle moves
over in playing around the axle of the machinery, as aforesaid. I also suppose
the two axles to be connected together by any of the well-known means, such
as cranks, toothed wheels, chains, or otherwise, by which rotation may be
propagated through one axle to another, and I give, by preference in the
Drawing, that form which I find most convenient for producing the said
effect.
Sheet No. 3 represents the wheel, link, spring, and axles for communicating
in an improved manner motion to a carriage. (w), the wheel. (t), the oblique
link connecting the axle of the engine (g) to that of the carriage wheels (7) at
an invariable distance. This link is filled with wood at (t), to prevent vibra-
tion. S, S, S, S, is the spring in its intermediate point, with the weight upon
it, supporting the carriages u, u, u, immediately at one end, and at the other
through a rigid iron strap v, v. Figure H shows the form of the spring
S, S, S, S, when uncompressed, so that in yielding to force it shall describe
with the centre of the axle (r) the circle XX, whose centre is (9), the
curve (S, S, S,) is the involute of the circle x rx.
Now whereas I claim as my Invention,

page_text: First, in so far as regards the construction of vessels for sustaining the
pressure of fluids, the formation of the said vessels wholly or chiefly of metal
or other plates too thin to support of themselves the said pressure to which
they are to be exposed, and which plates being either parallel or nearly
parallel, and opposite to one another, are connected and supported at opposite
points throughout the whole of the surfaces subjected to the said pressure,
however large the dimensions of the vessel, by connecting rods, wires, or bars
placed in the manner aforesaid at such distances as shall comprehend betwixt
them areas that are either equal or nearly so, by which means any vessel,
however thin, may sustain any pressure, however great, provided only that the
surfaces be divided into units of space sufficiently small, and sustained by
rods adequate to bear in tension at least the greatest pressure to which each of
the said units shall be exposed.
And, secondly, I further declare that my Invention, as regards the boilers of
steam engines, consists in forming them of materials much thinner, and there-
fore more efficient, than those hitherto used, by means of the method above
described for the construction of vessels for sustaining the pressure of fluids.
And, thirdly, my Invention, as regards the machinery of steam engines,
consists in the application to a cylinder or cylinders, in manner aforesaid, of
four ports, alternately opened and closed by slide valves, one pair of the said
valves and ports, with their connecting rods and passages, being set apart for
the admission of the steam into the cylinder, and the other used solely for its
exit, as herein-before described.
And, lastly, my improvement, as regards the means of applying steam
engines to locomotive purposes, consists in the use of such a spring as shall
in its flexure describe at a particular point such a circle as is also described by
the axle of the carriage in its motion around the axle of the machinery, the
said circle being described either in a groove rigidly connected with the
imachinery, or by means of a link or links obliquely situated, and connecting
the two axles as aforesaid.
And such my Invention being, to the best of my knowledge and belief,
entirely new, and never before used within that part of His said Majesty's
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland called England, His said
Dominion of Wales, or Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, nor within any of His
Majesty's Colonies or Plantations abroad, I do hereby declare this to be my
Specification of the same, and that I do verily believe this my said Specifica-
tion doth comply in all respects fully, and without reserve or disguise, with the
proviso in the said herein-before in part recited Letters Patent contained;

page_text: wherefore I do hereby claim to maintain exclusive right and privilege to my
said Invention.
In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal, this Eighth
day of February, One thousand eight hundred and thirty-four.
J. E. DOWDESWELL.
Thomas Deans, of 10, College Street, in the City of Westminster, Gentle-
man, maketh oath and saith, that he knows and is well acquainted with
William Child, of the City of Edinburgh, Esquire, who is one of His
Majesty's Justices of the Peace in and for the City of Edinburgh, in that part
of the United Kingdom of Great Britain called Scotland, and with the manner
and character of handwriting of the said William Child; and this Deponent
further saith, that the name or signature "Wm Child," with the addition
one of His Majesty's Justices of the Peace for the City of Edinburgh," set
and subscribed and written upon or indorsed on the margin of the third skin
to a certain Specification, dated the Eighth day of February, Eighteen
hundred and thirty-four, and hereunto annexed, and executed by John Scott
Russell, whereby it is stated that the said Specification was acknowledged by
the said John Scott Russell on the said Eighth day of February, Eighteen
hundred and thirty-four, are of the proper handwriting of the said William

page_text: Child; and that the said William Child, at the time of setting and subscribing
his name on the said Specification in manner above stated, was, and that he is
now, one of His Majesty's Justices of the Peace for the City of Edinburgh, as
aforesaid.
Inrolled the Thirteenth day of February, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and thirty-four.