AN IMPROVED ARRANGEMENT OF STEAM ENGINE, AND AN IMPROVED PACKING TO BE USED THEREIN
Year: 1852

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Beale, of East Greenwich, in the
County of Kent, Engineer, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED
ARRANGEMENT OF STEAM ENGINE, AND AN IMPROVED PACKING TO BE
USED THEREIN."
Sealed the 19th March 1853, and dated the 23rd November 1852.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Beale at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
23rd November 1852.
I, JOHN BEALE, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "AN IMPROVED ARRANGEMENT OF STEAM ENGINE, AND AN IMPROVED
PACKING TO BE USED THEREIN," to be as follows:
The chief object of my invention is to produce a compact, effi-
cient, and economic engine, more especially applicable for steam-
ships and boats.
These advantages I obtain by the following means:-I apply to
the piston of the steam cylinder a central trunk or tube, on the
bottom of which a plummer block is secured. The connecting rod
works in this tube, it being fastened by a pin to the plummer box,
and thence proceeds direct to the crank. Standing up from the

page_text: bottom of the cylinder are two uprights or guide rods, of a length
somewhat greater than the stroke, and two tubular chambers are
formed for their reception within the central tube, the chambers
being closed by screw plugs, to prevent the escape of steam from
the cylinder. One central guide rod might be employed, but as it
would lead to a more complex, heavy, and expensive arrangement,
I prefer two, but do not confine myself to any number.
Each guide
rod, though accurately fitting its tubular chamber, must have
suitable recesses made in it to allow free steam way into the chamber.
The cylinder cover and piston are recessed, for the purpose of ren-
dering the arrangement more compact. Other forms of guides
than those described may be employed in carrying out the spirit of
my Invention; as for an example, guides, which would be partly
engulphed in the tube at each rise of the piston might be fixed to
the frame; these guides would not be cut right through in the usual
manner, but only recessed in a sufficient depth to allow of the
working therein of the arms of a long forked guide piece attached
to the piston; and numerous other modifications might be em-
ployed, but I prefer that first shewn and described, by the aid of
which more power, with less weight and expense, may be placed
in a given space than by any means in use.
I employ as a packing for the stuffing box two or more flat rings,
formed of any of the usual metallic alloys or other suitable material,
and in their edges I make radial saw cuts, commencing alternately
at their outer and inner edges, whereby the diameter of the rings
will admit of being increased when it has been reduced by wear.
These rings are applied so as to break joint, and they are used in the
manner common to other metallic packing. They are at first turned
somewhat smaller than the exterior diameter of the tube, and they
are sprung on; and when the elasticity is impaired by wear, they
are removed, and forced through a taper hole to expand the saw
cuts; after which they are again available as packing.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters
Patent, filed by the said John Beale in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 23rd May 1853.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
JOHN BEALE, of East Greenwich, in the County of Kent, Engineer,
send greeting,
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty third day of November, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty two, in
the sixteenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said John Beale, Her special
license that I, the said John Beale, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said John Beale, my executors,
adininistrators, 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 IMPROVED
ARRANGEMENT OF STEAM ENGINE, AND AN IMPROVED PACKING TO BE USED
THEREIN," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John
Beale, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, 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
imonths next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Beale, 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, reference being had to the Drawing
hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon,
(that is to say):
The object of this Invention is to produce an efficient and economic
engine suitable for marine and land purposes, more compact than

page_text: any yet in use.
This result I obtain, first, by recessing the piston
so as to allow of the depression of that part of the cylinder cover
which carries the packing; second, by fitting this kind of piston
with a hollow rod, in which the connecting rod may work; and,
third, by providing guides to take the lateral thrust of the piston.
In the accompanying Drawing, Fig. 1, represents in vertical sec-
tion my improved arrangement of engine taken through the centre
of the cylinder, at right angles to the crank shaft, and Fig. 1* is a
sectional plan of the same, taken in the line 1, 2, of Fig. 1. A, is the
framing of the engine; B, the crank-shaft; C, the connecting rod;
D, the cylinder; E, the piston, either bolted to or in one piece with
the hollow piston rod or tube F; G, are two guide tubes, set one on
either side of the connecting rod C; H, is the cylinder cover, through
which the hollow rod F, works; I, is the packing for the hollow rod;
and K, the packing ring; L, are the guide columns over which the
guide tubes G, work. The lower end of the connecting rod C, is
forked, for the purpose of embracing the plummer block as shewn.
This forked end carries a pin, which is forged in one piece therewith
and works in the plummer block on the piston. In the piston an
annular recess is formed around the hollow rod F, of as great a
depth as is consistent with leaving sufficient strength of metal in
the piston; and the cylinder cover H, is formed to correspond
thereto; by thus recessing the piston, I am enabled to place the
packing of the piston rod nearer to the bottom of the cylinder than
could otherwise be done, and also to bring the crank shaft nearer
to the cylinder, without finding it requisite to increase the diameter
of the hollow rod or tube F, which must be of sufficient diameter to
allow of the vibration of the connecting rod C.
On the descent of the piston, the two guide tubes; which are closed
at their upper ends by screw plugs or bonnets, slide down over the
guide columns. I prefer to surround the hollow rod or tube, F,
with my improved metallic packing.
Fig. 2, shews a portion of this packing. It is composed of two or
more flat rings, of any of the metallic alloys usually employed for
such a purpose; which rings are provided with numerous openings,

page_text: or slots, cut nearly through them, commencing at the interior and
exterior circumference of the ring alternately; the object being to
give the rings sufficient elasticity to admit of their being sprung on
to the piston rod. The rings are placed flat one upon the other, and
arranged so that the openings of the one are closed by the spaces of
the ring immediately above it. The packing is secured in its place
by means of the flange K, which is bolted to the cylinder cover H.
This flange has rising from it a tube, the internal surface of which
fits the external surface of the piston rod or tube F, and it is made
to stand as high as possible consistent with its being clear of the
range of action of the connecting rod. This tube serves as an
additional guide surface for the piston. Two methods of fixing the
guide columns are shewn at Figures 3, and 4. At Fig. 3, the column
is fixed to the bottom of the cylinder by a centre bolt, which can
readily be got at by merely taking off the bonnet upon its guide
tube; and at Fig. 4, the guide column is provided with a flange at
foot, which is bolted to the cylinder bottom. These columns, how-
ever fixed, should be left so that they can be shifted, to allow of
adjustment; suitable steam ways must be provided to admit of free
ingress and egress of the steam to the guide tubes G. For this
purpose an opening or openings may be made in the columns, at
or near their flanges, and running up the centre of the columns.
I do not confine myself to the use of two guide columns, for
taking the lateral thrust of the piston, as I may find it convenient
to employ one in the centre of the cylinder. In such case the
connecting rod would require to be forked so as to admit of the
connecting rod working over the tube of the central column; or
two separate connecting rods might be employed in lieu of the
forked connecting rod, or the central guide might be a hollow co-
lumn of a diameter nearly as great as that of the tube F: In this
case a suitable annular space would be required to be formed within
the tube F, for the reception of the column on the descent of the
piston.
Instead of employing the cylindrical guides shewn at Fig. 1, and
1*, I may in some cases use external guides, as shewn at Fig. 5,

page_text: which is a modification of the above described arrangement of
engine. A, is one of a pair of flat guides, which receive the arms
of a long forked guide piece B, secured to the piston by screw bolts.
In this instance the guide piece acts the part of the guide tubes G,
of Fig. 1; and the guides A, are the substitutes for the columns L.
It will be obvious that this improved arrangement of engine may
be set horizontally, or at an incline from the vertical line, if thought
desirable, instead of upright, as shewn in the Drawing.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner
of carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that
under the above in part recited Letters Patent I claim the construc-
tion and use of a piston having an annular recess to receive a cor-
responding projection from the cylinder cover, when such piston is
fitted with a hollow rod for the purpose above set forth. And I
likewise claim the employment, in conjunction with a piston fitted
with a hollow rod in which the connecting rod vibrates, of a guide
or guides for taking the lateral thrust of the piston when such
guides are set in or work in tubes carried by the piston. And
lastly, I claim the metallic packing above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Beale, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty third day of May, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty three.
Witness,
A. V. NEWTON.
JOHN BEALE. (L.S.).