IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM ENGINES BOILERS, AND CONDENSERS
Year: 1844

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, OCTAVIUS
HENRY SMITH, of Wimbledon, in the County of Surrey, Esquire, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the Third day of July, in the eighth year of Her reign, did, for Her-
self, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said Octavius
Henry Smith, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority,
that I, the said Octavius Henry Smith, my exors, adññiors, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said Octavius Henry Smith, my exors, adñiors, 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, my Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM ENGINES,
BOILERS, AND CONDENSERS;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a
proviso that I, the said Octavius Henry Smith, shall cause a particular
description of the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be inrolled in Her said Majesty's High Court of
Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately after the date
of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference
being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Octavius Henry Smith, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described
and ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, reference being had
to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked
thercon, that is to say:-
My Invention relates, first, to improvements in steam engines for propelling
vessels; and, secondly, my Invention relates to improvements in the construc-
tion of steam boilers. And in order that my Invention may be most fully
understood and readily carried into effect, I will proceed to describe the Draw-
ings hereunto annexed, and the figures and letters marked thereon.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
The objects of the first part of my Invention are to render double cylinder
condensing engines, such as were originally invented by Woolf, more applicable
for propelling vessels. Such engines, as is well known, work by means of steam
of comparatively high pressure in one cylinder, allowing the steam to escape
into the other cylinder of larger dimensions, and there expand; and these
descriptions of engines have of late years come into extensive use for manufac-
turing purposes, and from the circumstance of their being more uniform in
their action than steam engines, each consisting of a single cylinder, using a
like quantity of steam, and expanding it to the same extent, it is very desirable
to render them suitable for propelling vessels, owing to the comparatively small
quantity of fuel consumed for obtaining a given power to what is now con-
sumed by marine engines, where comparatively a very small extent of expansion
can be obtained without materially injuring the uniformity of pressure in the s
various parts of the stroke: Figure 1 represents a front view of a pair of
engines, each consisting of two cylinders suitably arranged for propelling
vessels, the parts of one of the engines being in section; Figure 2 is a side
view of the engines; and Figure 3 is a plan of one of the engines in section.
The construction of this description of steam engines being well known, it will
not be necessary to enter into a description of the nature of the various parts
thereof, which are well known, but confine my description of the improvements
applied to this class of engines. The first improvements consist in so arranging
such descriptions of engines that they oscillate on trunnions or axes similar to
what is well known when constructing single cylinder engines. The object of S
these improvements is to get a direct action from the piston rods of double
cylinder expansive engines to a single crank, thus lessening the parts of an
engine, and rendering this class of engines more suitable for propelling vessels.

page_text: A is the main shaft or axis of the engines having two cranks, one crank for
each engine. The engines are fitted with slides and apparatus in the ordinary
manner, so arranged as to allow the engines to move or oscillate on axes or
trunions. B, B, are the two high pressure cylinders; and C,.C, are the
cylinders in which the steam expands; and the piston rods of these cylinders
are in direct connection with cranks on the main shaft, as is shewn. D is the
steam pipe from a steam boiler, through which steam passes through the
hollow axes or trunions E, E, into the cylinders B, B, and having exerted its
force therein it passes thence into the cylinders C. C, and there expands; and
from these cylinders the steam passes off to the condenser through the hollow
axes or trunions F, F. The Drawing shows a convenient arrangement of
means for passing the steam through the hollow axes or trunions on which the
cylinders move. I would remark, that although I have shewn a particular
arrangement of engines, I do not confine myself thereto, so long as the cylinders
of such description of engines are capable of oscillating, and thus offer a
means of direct connection with the cranks of a shaft for propelling vessels.
The second improvements of this class of engines consist of so arranging them
for propelling vessels that the cylinders may be fixed directly under the main
shaft, or in such manner that a line drawn at right angles to the cylinder
covers may intersect the main shaft, and motion be communicated to the main
shaft without the intervention of beams. The engines in this case are fixed,
and the means of communicating motion thereto may be varied without
departing from my Invention, which consists of so arranging the cylinders of
double cylinder expansive engines, that the main shaft may be directly above
the cylinders, or in such a position in respect of the cylinders that a line drawn
at right angles to the covers of the cylinders will intersect the main shaft, and
the main shaft have motion communicated thereto without having beams to
transmit the power of the engine to the main shaft at a distance, as has before
been attempted to be used for propelling vessels. Figure 4 shows a side view
of one of a pair of double cylinder expansive engines, communicating the
power from the piston rods of the two cylinders to a cross head G, and from
that cross head, which in this engine is in a direction from stem to stern, to a
connecting rod H, which is connected to a crank pin of the main shaft I.
Fig. 5 shews part of a front view of one of two engines. In this case the
cross head, and consequently the two cylinders, are in a direction across the
vessel. Figure 6 shews one of two engines where the power is transmitted to
the main shaft I above the cylinders, from the cross head G to the connecting
rod H, through the diagonal rods J, affixed to the cross head. In this case the
cross head and the cylinders are in a direction from stem to stern of the vessel.

page_text: The Drawings shew the arrangement of the parts of the three arrangements.
of engines sufficient to enable an engineer readily to construct engines accord-
ing to these improvements; and it will be seen, that although these three
engines differ in the means of transmitting the power to the main shaft; they
have all the common character of having the main shaft above the cylinders,
and the main shaft is intersected by a line at right angles to a line on the
cylinder covers, and each engine is composed of two cylinders, to be worked by
expanding the steam from one cylinder when it comes into the second cylinder,
in the manner of Woolf's engines, and as is well understood. I will now describe
the second part, of my Invention, which relates to steam boilers. Figure 7
shews a vertical section of a boiler constructed according to this part of my
Invention; Figure 8 shows a horizontal section thereof. The peculiar con-
struction of this boiler is the manner in which a very large supply of fuel is
kept up to the furnace or fire-place, the heat and products of combustion
passing off laterally from the fuel chamber through the boxes and tubes rising
therefrom. The boiler may be made of varied forms; that shown is a cylinder
having six lateral boxes L, L, communicating with the furnace and fuel
chamber by the flues M, M, as is shown. N, N, are a series of tubes passing
up from the boxes L, L, to the upper part of the boiler, where there is
a common flue leading to the chimney F, and there are openings from the
exterior of the boiler to the boxes L through the pipes, as shown, to allow of
cleaning the boxes. Q is the fuel chamber, which is to be kept filled with
coke or other suitable fuel, which will not ignite above the lateral openings
into the boxes. By this arrangement that great and constant labour now
necessary in supplying fuel to the furnaces of steam boilers will be avoided,
and the heat of the engine room will be reduced. In order to get at the
furnace bars, to remove clinkers, and cleanse the upper surface, I so arrange
the fire-bars that they may be lowered below the bottom of the boiler. R is a
lever which carries the frame of fire-bars S, and by which the bars may be
lowered when desired.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the best means I
am acquainted with for performing the same, I would have it understood that
I do not confine myself to the details shewn, so long as tlie peculiar character
of either part of my improvements be retained. And I would have it under-
stood that what I claim is, first, the placing double cylinder expansive steam
engines on axes or trunions, and obtaining direct action, to the cranks of the
main shaft; and I also claim the so arranging fixed double cylinder expansive
steam engines that the main shaft may be above the cylinders, that is, on.a
line at right angles to the covers of the cylinders, as herein described.
And

page_text: secondly, I claim the so arranging a tubular boiler for generating steam that
the supply of fuel may be as herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Octavius Henry Smith, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Third day of January, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-five.
year of our Lord 1845, the aforesaid Octavius Henry Smith came before our
said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification
aforesaid, and all and everything therein contained and specified, in form above
written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the
tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Enrolled the Third day of January, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and forty-five.