IMPROVE- MENTS IN STEAM PISTONS
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William George Beattie, of South Bank, Surbiton,
in the County of Surrey, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN STEAM PISTONS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William George Beattie
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 14th March 1868.
I, WILLIAM GEORGE BEATTIE, of South Bank, Surbiton, in the County
of Surrey, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM PISTONS," to be as follows:-
I form the body of the piston in one piece with a projecting flange
to contain the packing rings, and I prefer such body to be of malleable
cast iron or of steel. In its periphery I turn a groove wide enough
to receive two or more cut metallic packing rings side by side. I make
the cut packing rings of cast iron or steel, and line them internally

page_text: with rings of brass or any metal or alloy which will expand by the
application of heat more rapidly than the cast iron or steel packing
rings which surround them will expand. The inner lining rings may
be brazed to the packing rings, or they may be otherwise attached
thereto at the parts where they are cut. When the combined rings are
subjected to the action of the heat of the steam, the lining rings will
expand and the outer surface of the combined rings will be thereby
forced or pressed against the inner surface of the cylinder. The
combined rings can be extended or spring open so as to pass over
the piston body and be placed in the groove turned to receive them,
in such a manner that the part where one ring is cut shall not coincide
with the part where the other is cut, but shall break joint so as to
prevent the passage of steam when the rings open by reason of their
wear, or otherwise. I turn the piston body smaller in diameter than
the cylinder, and I place in its flange two or more set screws at those
parts where the packing rings are cut, and adjust them so as to press
small cover plates against the joints formed by the ends of the rings,
and by this arrangement the body of the piston is prevented from
touching the cylinder and from wearing away, and the entrance of
steam behind the rings through the joints of the rings is prevented.
T
By another arrangement the set screws can be made hollow and
contain spiral springs, which can thus be set up against the packing
rings as they wear... I form the heads of the set screws square, and
I place on them a thin iron washer plate fitting them and abutting
against the body of the piston, and secured on the heads of the set
screws by split pins or solid bent pins passing through the heads of
the set screws above them. The set screws are thus retained in their
position.
By another arrangement I place a continuous corrugated steel spring
between the packing rings and the piston body, and I form the piston
head with a loose ring carrying the external flange of the groove-to
contain the packing rings. This flanged ring is placed in position
after the packing rings are inserted in their place and the set screws
pass through it and attach it securely to the flange of the piston head.
By another arrangement I use a flat or spiral spring attached to
the ends of the packing rings to assist to open them.
'
In horizontal cylinders I place the set screws before mentioned in
the lower part of the piston heads. I prefer to screw the end of the

page_text: piston rod into the piston head, and pass. a. rivet through the boss on
the piston. and through the piston rod..
SPECIFICATION filed in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters
Patent, and of an Order of the Lord Chancellor, by the said William
George Beattie in the Great Seal Patent Office, on the 18th
September 1868..
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
GEORGE BEATTIE, of South Bank, Surbiton, in the County of Surrey,
Engineer, send greeting..
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fourteenth day of March, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the thirty-first
year of Her reign,, did for Herself,. Her heirs, and successors, give and
grant unto me,. the said William George Beattie,. Her special licence that
I, the said William George Beattie, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said William George Beattie, my exe-
eutors, administrators, and 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
STEAM PISTONS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
William George Beattie, my executors or administrators, by an instru-
ment in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands: and' seals,
should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Inven-
tion, and in what manner the same was to be performed, and cause the
same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office on or before the
Eighteenth day of September One thousand eight hundred, and sixty-
eight.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William George Beattie, 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 thereof, reference also being had to the
illustrative Drawings accompanying this my Specification and forming

page_text: part thereof, and to the numerical figures and letters of reference marked
thereon respectively, that is to say :—
I form the body of the piston in one piece with a projecting flange
to contain the packing rings, and I prefer such body to be of malleable
cast iron or of steel. In its periphery I turn a groove wide enough to
receive two or more cut metallic packing rings side by side. I make
the cut packing rings of cast iron or steel, and line them internally
with rings of brass or any metal or alloy which will expand by the
application of heat more rapidly than the cast iron or steel packing
rings which surround them will expand. The inner lining rings may
be brazed to the packing rings, or they may be otherwise attached
thereto at the parts where they are cut. When the combined rings
are subjected to the action of the heat of the steam, the lining rings
will expand and the outer surface of the combined rings will be thereby
forced or pressed against the inner surface of the cylinder. The
combined rings can be extended or sprung open so as to pass over
the piston body and be placed in the groove turned to receive them;
in such a manner that the part where one ring is cut shall not coincide
with the part where the other is cut, but shall break joint so as to
prevent the passage of steam when the rings open by reason of their
wear, or otherwise. I turn the piston body smaller in diameter than
the cylinder, and I place in its flange two or more set screws at those
parts where the packing rings are cut, and adjust them so as to press
small cover plates against the joints formed by the ends of the rings,
and by this arrangement the body of the piston is prevented from
touching the cylinder and from wearing away, and the entrance of steam
behind the rings through the joints of the rings is prevented.
By another arrangement the set screws can be made hollow and
contain spiral springs, which can thus be set up against the packing
rings as they wear. I form the heads of the set screws square, and I
place on them a thin iron washer plate fitting them and abutting
against the body of the piston, and secured on the heads of the set
screws by split pins or solid bent pins passing through the heads of
the set screws above them. The set screws are thus retained in their
position.
By another arrangement I place a continuous corrugated steel spring
between the packing rings and the piston body, and I. form the piston
head with a loose ring carrying the external flange of the groove to

page_text: contain the packing rings. This flanged ring is placed in position
after the packing rings are inserted in their place and the set screws
pass through it and attach it securely to the flange of the piston head..
By another arrangement I use a flat or spiral spring. attached to the
ends of the packing rings to assist to open them.
In horizontal cylinders I place the set screws before mentioned in
the lower part of the piston heads. I prefer to screw the end of the
piston rod into the piston head and pass a rivet through the boss on
the piston and through the piston rod.
Figure 1 (Sheet 1) is an elevation of the piston, and Figure 2 (Sheet 1)
is a vertical section of the same.
The body A, A, is formed in one piece, and has a continuous flange
B, B, in which a groove is formed to contain the packing rings. The
packing rings C, C, are each constructed of an outer wearing ring of
cast iron or steel, to which is attached an inner ring of brass or any
other metal which expands by heat more rapidly than the metal of
the outer ring. The inner and outer rings are cut and are attached
to each other at the ends where they are cut either by brazing or
rivetting together. The rings C, C, can be sprung open to place them
in their positions in the groove in the piston body A, A, and I prefer
that they be placed in such a manner that they break joint, as shewn
in plan at D and E in Figures 3 and 4 (Sheet 1).
The piston
head A, A, should be turned smaller than the cylinder, and I use
the adjusting set screws F, F, to adjust the position or carry the
weight of the piston head. The set screws F, F, press upon the cover
plates G, G, which serve to distribute the pressure equally to the
rings, and also to prevent the entrance of steam behind the rings
through the joints. The screws are secured in their places and
prevented from slackening back by the check plates H, H, which
abut against the piston body, and are in turn secured by the split
pins through the square heads. I prefer that the piston rod J, J, shall
be screwed into the piston head and secured by a rivet. The steady
pins K, K, prevent the rings from altering their position in the groove
of the piston head.
piston, and Figure 2
The set screws L, L,
Figure 1 (Sheet No. 2) is an elevation of a
(Sheet No. 2) is a vertical section of the same.
are hollow and contain spiral springs M, M, which can be thus adjusted
against the piston rings, and serve to open them and press them against

page_text: the inside surface of the cylinder. The piston body is also prevented
from coming into contact with the cylinder.
Figure 3 (Sheet No. 2) shews another arrangement by which the
'corrugated steel spring N, N, is placed between the packing rings and
the piston head and serves to expand the packing rings and to keep the
piston body in position....
.
Figure 4 (Sheet No. 2) shews another arrangement by which the
flattened spiral spring O, O, is attached to the ends of the cut packing
rings P and serves to expand it. The spring can be contained in the
space between the packing rings and the cylinder body, and one or]
more set screws may be also used to carry the weight of the piston
body or to adjust its position from time to time as the rings wear.
Steady pins Q, Q, are shewn in Figure 5 to secure the packing rings
in their positions.
Having described the nature of my said Invention, and in what 1
'manner the same is or may be performed, I wish it to be understood
that I do not claim any of the parts taken separately; but that what
I claim as my Invention of improvements in steam pistons is, the
combinations and arrangements for packing steam pistons, substantially
as herein-before mentioned and described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William George Beattie, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of September,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-
eight.
WILLIAM GEORGE BEATTIE. (L.S.)