IMPROVEMENTS IN LUBRICATORS; 'ESPECIALLY APPLICABLE TO STEAM ENGINES.
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Elliott, of Manchester, in the County. of
Lancaster, Engineer, for the Invention of IMPROVEMENTS IN LUBRICATORS;
'ESPECIALLY APPLICABLE TO STEAM ENGINES."..
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Sealed the 13th March 1860, and dated the 17th September 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Elliott at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 17th
September 1859.
I, THOMAS ELLIOTT, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Engineer, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
LUBRICATORS, ESPECIALLY APPLICABLE TO STEAM ENGINES," to be as follows:-
My Invention relates to the construction of apparatus for lubricating the
cylinders and pistons of steam engines, where the lubricating matter is intro-"
duced by means of pipes or tubes around the periphery of the cylinder in
whatever part of the periphery they may be situated, and consists,-
First, in the employment of a self-acting valve or clack at or near, the
delivery end of such pipes or tubes. in order to prevent waste of steam caused
by the filling and emptying of such pipes or tubes at each stroke of the
engine. In cases where the delivery end of the tubes is above the piston I
groove channels in the sides of the cylinder in such manner as to allow of the
oil or tallow in its passage downwards towards the piston, spreading over a'
space equal to several times the diameter of the mouth of the tubes, and thus
rapidly lubricating the whole circumference of the piston.
Second, in an arrangement for connecting the oil or tallow cup with the
tubes leading to the cylinder, so as to permit the oil or tallow to flow freely.
[Price 8d.1

page_text: into the cylinder when required, and while the engine is standing. This
arrangement consists of stop-cock and pipes, so adapted that on opening the
cock the oil or tallow from a cup or reservoir will pass freely down the pipe
into a feed pipe through the valve or clack at the end thereof into the
cylinder. The cock will then be shut, and the engine set going. The engine
moves a lever, which causes an opening in a revolving plug to communicate
with the oil or tallow cup or reservoir, the opening in the plug will fill with oil
or tallow, and as soon as the lever returns, the oil or tallow passes down into
the feed pipe, and thence into the cylinder.
Third, in an arrangement for admitting and discharging oil or tallow into
the cylinder of high-pressure engines, while such engines are at work under
full pressure. In this arrangement there is an oil or tallow cup, and below
or at the bottom of, and communicating with it, are two revolving plugs
which are connected, and kept in their relative positions to each other, by
a pair of small toothed spur wheels on the axes thereof, outside the cup.
Openings are formed in each plug, and they may be so adjusted as to receive
and discharge at the same time if thought desirable or otherwise. The wheels
also cause the plugs to revolve, and motion is communicated to them by a
ratchet wheel on the shaft of one of them or otherwise..
SPECIFICATION
in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Thomas Elliott, in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 17th
March 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
ELLIOTT, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of September, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-third year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Thomas Elliott, Her special licence that 1, the said Thomas
Elliott, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Thomas Elliott, 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 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
LUBRICATORS, ESPECIALLY APPLICABLE TO STEAM ENGINES," upon the condition

page_text: (amongst others) that I, the said Thomas Elliott, my executors or administrators,
by an instrument in writing under my, 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 I, the said Thomas Elliott, 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 being, had to the Drawings hereunto annexed
that is to say:-
My. Invention relates to the construction of apparatus for lubricating the
cylinders and pistons of steam engines, where the lubricating matter is intro-
duced by means of pipes or tubes around the periphery of the cylinder in
whatever part of the periphery they may be situated, and consists,-
First, in the employment of a self-acting valve or clack at or near the
delivery end of such pipes or tubes, in order to prevent waste of steam caused
by the filling and emptying of such pipes or tubes, at each stroke of the engine.
In cases where the delivery end of the tubes is above the piston, I groove
channels in the sides of the cylinder, in such manner as to allow of the oil or
tallow in its passage downwards towards the piston, spreading over a space
equal to several times the diameter of the mouth of the tubes, and thus rapidly
lubricating the whole circumference of the piston.
Second, in an arrangement for connecting the oil or tallow cup with the.
tubes leading to the cylinder, so as to permit the oil or tallow to flow freely
into the cylinder when required, and while the engine is standing. This
arrangement consists of stop-cock and pipes so adapted that on opening the
cock the oil or tallow from a cup or reservoir will pass freely down the pipe
into a feed pipe through the valve or clack at the end thereof, into the cylin-
der. The cock will then be shut, and the engine set going. The engine
moves a lever, which causes an opening in a revolving plug to communicate
with the oil or tallow cup or reservoir; the opening in the plug will fill with
oil or tallow, and as soon as the lever returns, the oil or tallow passes down
into the feed pipe, and thence into the cylinder:
Third, in an arrangement for admitting and discharging oil or tallow into
the cylinder of high-pressure engines, while such engines are at work under
full pressure.
In this arrangement there is an oil or tallow cup, and below
or at the bottom of and communicating with it, are two revolving plugs, which
are connected and kept in their relative positions to each other by a pair of

page_text: small toothed spur wheels on the axes thereof, outside the cup. Openings are
formed in each plug, and they may be so adjusted as to receive and discharge
at the same time if thought desirable, or otherwise. The wheels also cause
the plugs to revolve, and motion is communicated to them by a ratchet wheel
on the shaft of one of them, or otherwise.
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawings, shows in sectional elevation, and
Figure 2 in front view, a lubricator constructed according to the first and
second parts of the foregoing description. A is a self-acting valve or clack
placed at or near the end of the pipes E, E, by which lubricating material is
led to the cylinder B, from a cup or reservoir F; b, b, are channels or grooves
formed in the cylinder B, through which lubricating material from the pipes
E, E, circulates; C is a pipe led from one of the pipes E, E, and forming a
communication with the cup or reservoir F, the said pipe C is fitted with a
cock or tap D, which is kept open while the engine is at rest or standing, in
order to allow lubricating material to pass down the pipe C, and pipes E, E,
to the grooves in the cylinder B to lubricate the latter and the piston.. So
soon as the engine starts the tap D is closed, and the cylinder is kept sufliciently
lubricated in the following manner: H is a lever in connection with a plug I.
J, J, are passages leading from the cup or reservoir F to the plug I, and K, K,
are pipes leading from the said plug I to the pipes E, E. As the engine
moves it raises the lever H to the position G, shown by the dotted lines, which
motion brings the passages formed in the plug I in a line with the passages
J, J, and pipes K, K, which allows a sufficient quantity of lubricating
material to pass down the pipes K, K, to the pipes E, E, and thence through
the clacks A to the channels b, b, in the cylinder B. Another movement of
the engine brings the lever back to the position shown at H which cuts off the
supply of lubricating material; K', K', are cocks or taps fitted to the pipes
K, K, for regulating or wholly cutting off the supply of lubricating material;
Figure 3 shows in sectional elevation, and Figure 4 in front view an arrange-
ment for admitting or discharging lubricating material into the cylinders of
high-pressure engines. The cup or reservoir for holding the lubricating
material is similar to that before described, but below it are two revolving
plugs L, L; M, M, are spur wheels mounted on the shafts M, M", which
carry the plugs L, L; O is a ratchet wheel mounted on the shaft M' to which
motion is communicated by a lever or paul taking into the teeth thereof;
N, N, are openings formed in the plugs L, L, by which the lubricating material
passes to the pipes below, and thence to the cylinders. Cocks or taps similar
to those marked C, D, in Figures 1 and 2 can be fitted to the arrangement
just described, with reference to Figures 3 and 4; Figure 5 is a front view

page_text: and Figure 6 a sectional elevation of a lubricator suitable for high or low
pressure steam engine cylinders also constructed according to my Invention.
A are the valves or clacks, as before described; B. B, are the grooves or
channels in the cylinder: D is a channel for the passage of steam from the
boiler for high-pressure engines or locomotives: E is a plug or stopper
provided with a passage for lubricating material to pass from the reservoir
above to the cylinder: so soon as the plug E revolves round into the position
shown in Figure 6, the steam in the passage D forces the lubricating material
into the cylinder through the clack A. as the steam in the cylinder is always
at a less pressure than in the steam pipes or boiler from which the latter is
fed. The cup or reservoir for holding the lubricating material is divided into
separate compartments, as shown in Figures 5 and 6, thus each pipe or tube
is fed separately with the lubricating material, by which means, if one of the
pipes becomes stopped, it can at once be detected, cleaned, and replaced.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed. I declare that I claim, as my
improvements in lubricators.-
First, the arrangement or arrangements for lubricating the pistons of steam
engines, as herein-before described and illustrated at Figures 1 and 2 of the
accompanying Drawings.
Second, the means and appliances for admitting lubricating material into
the cylinders of high-pressure steam engines, while such engines are at work
under full pressure, as herein-before described and illustrated at Figures 3 and
4 of the accompanying Drawings.
Third, the arrangement for lubricating the cylinders of high or low pressure.
engines, as described and illustrated with reference to Figures 5 and 6 of the
accompanying Drawings.
And, fourth, the division of the oil or tallow reservoir into separate com
partments, as herein-before described and illustrated at Figures 5 and 6 of
the accompanying drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Elliott, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of March One thousand eight
hundred and sixty.
THOMAS ELLIOTT. (L.S.)