AN IMPROVEMENT IN THE PISTONS OF STEAM ENGINES, WHICH IMPROVEMENT IS ALSO APPLICABLE TO AIR PUMP BUCKETS."
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Buckley, Engineer, of Neepsend, in the Parish
of Sheffield, and Levi Smith, Plumber, of Oughtibridge, in the Parish of
Ecclesfield, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT IN THE PISTONS OF
STEAM ENGINES, WHICH IMPROVEMENT IS ALSO APPLICABLE TO AIR PUMP
BUCKETS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Buckley and Levi
Smith at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their Petition,
on the 26th June 1866.
We, WILLIAM BUCKLEY, Engineer, of Neepsend, in the Parish of Sheffield,
and LEVI SMITH, Plumber, of Oughtibridge, in the Parish of Ecclesfield, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVEMENT IN THE
PISTONS OF STEAM ENGINES, WHICH IMPROVEMENT IS ALSO APPLICABLE TO AIR PUMP
BUCKETS," to be as follows:-
Our Invention consists of a peculiar construction of spring for expanding
the metallic rings of steam engine pistons or air pump buckets, which
spring acts equally in all directions from the centre, is inexpensive, and is
easily renewed.
In carrying out our Invention we take a helical spring of a suitable
strength and of a length equal to rather more than three times the diameter
of the piston or air pump bucket, and we bend such helical spring into a

page_text: circle until its two ends meet, and after compressing such spring (so formed),
we place it between or inside of the metallic packing rings of the piston or
air pump bucket. The effect of this spring will be to expand the packing
rings equally in all directions from the centre so as to keep the piston or air
pump bucket always steam or air tight. The wire or rod forming the helical
spring may be of a round, square, oblong, or other section, and it may be
formed into a spring by coiling round a cylindrical rod or round a bar of a
semi-cylindrical, triangular, or other suitable form, and then hardened and
tempered in the usual manner. We prefer to make the spring of a flat
section so that the two ends of the spring when bent into a circle may be
screwed into each other, and instead of making the circle of one long coiled
piece we sometimes make it of two, three, or more pieces screwed into each
other, by which means a more equal action is obtained, and any portion of the
spring may be renewed when required without the necessity for an entirely
new spring.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Buckley and Levi Smith in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 22nd December 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, WILLIAM
BUCKLEY, Engineer of Neepsend, in the Parish of Sheffield, and LEVI SMITH,
Plumber, of Oughtibridge, in the Parish of Ecclesfield, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-sixth day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the thirtieth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the
said William Buckley and Levi Smith, Her special licence that we, the said
William Buckley and Levi Smith, our executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as we, the said William Buckley and Levi Smith, our executors,
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 "AN IMPROVEMENT IN THE PISTONS OF STEAM ENGINES, WHICH
IMPROVEMENT IS ALSO APPLICABLE TO AIR PUMP BUCKETS," upon the condition
(amongst others) that we, the said William Buckley and Levi Smith, our ex-
ecutors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under our, or one of

page_text: our, or their, or one of their hands and seals, 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 we, the said William Buckley and Levi Smith,
do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement in writing, and on reference to the accompanying Sheet
of Drawings, that is to say :-
Our Invention consists of a peculiar construction of spring for expanding
the metallic rings of steam engine pistons or air or water pump buckets,
which spring acts equally in all directions from the centre, is inexpensive,
and is easily renewed. The springs are sometimes coated with copper to
prevent corrosion.
In carrying out our Invention we take a helical spring of a suitable strength
and of a length equal to rather more than 3 times the diameter of the
piston or air pump bucket, and we bend such helical spring into a circle until
its two ends meet, and after compressing such spring (so formed) we place
it between or inside of the metallic packing rings of the piston or pump
bucket. The effect of this spring will be to expand the packing rings equally
in all directions from the centre so as to keep the piston or pump bucket'
always steam or air or water tight. The wire or rod forming the helical
spring may be of a round, square, oblong, or other section, and it may be
formed into a spring by coiling round a cylindrical rod or round a bar of a
semicylindrical, triangular, or other suitable form, and then hardened and
tempered in the usual manner. We prefer to make the spring of a flat
or square section so that the two ends of the spring when bent into a circle may
be screwed into each other, and instead of making the circle of one long coiled
piece we sometimes make it of two, three, or more pieces screwed into each
other, by which means a more equal action is obtained, and any portion of the
spring may be-renewed when required without the necessity for an entirely
new spring.
Such being the nature and object of our said Invention for "An Improve-
ment in the Pistons of Steam Engines, which Improvement is also applicable
to Air Pump Buckets," we will now proceed to describe, more in detail, the
manner in which the same is to be or may be performed or carried into
practical effect. And in order that the same may be distinctly understood we
have annexed hereunto a Sheet of Drawings illustrative thereof, and have

page_text: marked. the same with figures and letters of reference corresponding with those
in the following explanation thereof, that is to say,-
For the sake of illustrating our Invention we have shown in the annexed
Drawing the application of a single helical spring made from wire of a
square section for expanding the packing rings of a steam engine piston.
We take a sufficient length of a coiled or helical spring as shown at a, a,
Figure 1, and bend it round into a circle of a larger diameter than the piston
or bucket, as seen at Figure 2 screwing the ends together and inserting therein
a peg or block a*, a, which assists it in maintaining the circular form. We
then insert the body b, b, of the piston or bucket, and the lower packing ring
c, c, (the upper ring and cover being removed into the cylinder, and having
compressed the spring a, a, therein, as shewn at Figure 3, we place on it the
upper ring d, d, and screw down the cover e, e, as shown at Figures 4, 5, and
6; Figure 4 being a plan view; Figure 5 a side elevation; and Figure 6 a
section of the piston complete.
Having now described the nature and object of our said Invention for "An
Improvement in the Pistons of Steam Engines, which Improvement is also
applicable to Air Pump Buckets," together with the manner in which the
same is to be or may be performed or carried into practical effect, we would
remark in conclusion that we claim as our Invention the use or employment
of a helical or coiled spring for expanding the packing rings of a steam engine
piston or pump bucket, substantially as berein-before described and illustrated
in the accompanying Sheet of Drawings.
In witness whereof, we, the said William Buckley and Levi Smith, have
bereunto set our hands and seals, this Twentieth day of December, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six.
WILLIAM BUCKLEY. (L.S.)
LEVI SMITH.
(L.S.)