IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM ENGINES
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Robert Morrison, of the Town and County of New-
castle-upon-Tyne, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
STEAM ENGINES."
Sealed the 9th November 1855, and dated the 14th May 1855.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Robert Morrison at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with bis Petition, on the 14th
May 1855.
I, ROBERT MORRISON, of the Town and County of Newcastle-upon-Tyne,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN STEAM ENGINES" to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to the arranging and constructing the details of steam
engines of various kinds or classes in such manner as to effect the accurate
balancing or support of the heavy moving parts, such as the pistons, piston
rods, connecting rods, and the valves and gear. The working steam itself is
made to act as the balancing agent in these arrangements by fitting up and
attaching suitable steam cylinders and pistons to the proper parts of the
engines; such balancing cylinders may be attached in various ways. In
inverted cylinder direct-action engines, as largely used for marine purposes, the
balancing cylinder for the main working piston rod action is placed on the top
of the main cylinder, and in the same vertical axial line. The balancing piston

page_text: fitted in this cylinder is fast on the upper extreme end of a piston rod, the
lower end of which is fast to the main cylinder piston, and is passed through a
central stuffing box in the top cover of the main cylinder. The small balancing
cylinder is bolted down with its open end on the main cylinder cover, and its
upper end is completely closed, except that a small pipe passes from that part
above the piston to the condenser. The working steam is supplied from the
main cylinder steam chest to the balancing cylinder through a small pipe
opening into the lower part of the balancing cylinder below the balancing
piston. With this arrangement the main working piston & its connections
are completely supported by the steam and vacuum pressure, the area of
the balancing piston being determined so as to afford just so much sup-
porting power as may be required for overcoming the unbalanced weight
of the heavy moving parts. Similarly the weight of the slide valves & their
connections is carried by adjusting a separate cylinder and balancing piston
to each valve, spindle, or link. In this way the principle unbalanced weight
of steam engines is completely compensated for, so that the engines work
much more pleasantly, and develope much more actual work, than engines
of the ordinary unbalanced kind, or engines with dead balance weights. It is
obvious that this arrangement may be applied under a great variety of forms,
more or less dependant on the special form of engine to be balanced.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Robert Morrison in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
14th November 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ROBERT
MORRISON, of the Town and County of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourteenth day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the eighteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Robert Morrison, Her special license that I, the said Robert Morrison,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Robert
Morrison, my executors, administrators, or 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

page_text: vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britam and Ireland, the Channel
Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM ENGINES,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Robert Morrison; 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 months next and immediately after the date of the
said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Robert Morrison, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement in writing, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings, and
to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say :—
My said Invention relates to the arranging and constructing the details of
steam engines of various kinds or classes in such manner as to effect the
accurate balancing or support of the heavy moving parts, such as the pistons,
piston rods, connecting rods, and the valves and gear. The working steam
itself is made to act as the balancing agent in these arrangements by fitting up
and attaching suitable steam cylinders and pistons to the proper parts of the
engines; such balancing cylinders may be attached in various ways. In
inverted cylinder direct-action engines, as largely used for marine] purposes, the
balancing cylinder for the main working piston rod action is placed on the top
of the main cylinder, and in the same vertical axial line. The balancing
piston fitted in this cylinder is fast on the upper extreme end of a piston rod,
the lower end of which is fast to the main cylinder piston, and is passed
through a central stuffing box in the top cover of the main cylinder. The
small balancing cylinder is bolted down with its open end on the main cylinder
cover, and its upper end is completely closed, except that a small pipe passes
from that part above the piston to the condenser. The working steam is
supplied from the main cylinder steam chest to the balancing cylinder through
a small pipe opening into the lower part of the balancing cylinder below the
balancing piston. With this arrangement the main working piston and its
connections are completely supported by the steam and vacuum pressure, the
area of the balancing piston being determined so as to afford just so much
supporting power as may be required for overcoming the unbalanced weight
of the heavy moving parts. Similarly the weight of the slide valves and their
connectious is carried by adjusting a separate cylinder aud balancing piston to
each valve, spindle, or liuk. In this way the principal unbalanced weight
of steam engines is completely compensated for, so that the engines work

page_text: much more pleasantly and develop much more actual work than engines of
the ordinary unbalanced kind, or engines with dead balance weights. It is
obvious that this arrangement may be applied under a great variety of forms,
more or less dependent on the special form of engine to be balanced.
And in order that my said Invention may be properly understood, I shall
now proceed to describe the explanatory Figures on the Sheet of Drawings
hereunto attached.
Figure 1 on the Sheet of Drawings is a side elevation, and Figure 2 is a
plan, the former being partially in section, of a pair of vertical cylinder direct-
acting engines as constructed according to my improved system, being of the
class of engine used for driving the screw propeller. In these engines the
steam cylinders A are mounted upon a cast-iron framing B, of simple design,
being placed directly over the screw shaft C, which they drive. The steam
piston rods D work out through stuffing boxes in the bottoms of the cylinders,
and are fitted with cross heads working in slides, and upon which are jointed
the connecting rods E, which transmit the motion to the cranks F cf the
screw shafts C. The weight of the steam piston G and its connections just
mentioned, has in ordinary engines of this class a tendency to render the
motion irregular, by accelerating the downward and retarding the upward
stroke of the steam piston. The object of the present Invention, which is to
prevent this irregularity from taking place, is attained in the present instanco
by fitting upon the top of the steam cylinder A a cylinder H of smaller
diameter, and fitted with a piston I, which is connected to the steam piston G
by a rod J. This rod J may either be a continuation of the steam piston rod
1), or it may be a separate rod fixed in the top of the steam piston, and it
works through a stuffing box K in the cover of the steam cylinder A. Steam
is admitted into the small cylinder II below its piston I by the port L and
pipe M, which communicates with the valve casing or steam pipe, whilst the
upper part of this cylinder above the piston is in communication with the con-
denser by the pipe N. Both of the steam cylinders are provided with similar
details, and the steam pressure under the pistons I balances the weight of the
steam pistons and their connections, the pistons I being of a size or area
calculated to effect that object. The valves and their actuating details are
balanced in the same way as the steam pistons. A pair of small cylinders O
are for this purpose bolted down upon the top of the valve casing P, and as the
valve casing is always full of steam, these cylinders O are in direct com-
munication with it by their open bottoms, so that the steam pressure acts on
the under sides of the small pistons Q, which work in the cylinders O. These
pistons Qare fixed by short rods to the slide valves R, and are of a size or area

page_text: calculated to balance the weight of the valves and their actuating details, the
upper parts of the cylinders O being in communication with the condenser by
means of short branch pipes S joining the pipe N, so that the steam pressure
below acts against a vacuum. The valve rods T work out through stuffing
boxes in the bottom of the valve casing, and are actuated by the eccentrics U
on the screw shaft C below.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried into
effect, I may observe, in conclusion, that I do not confine or restrict myself
to the precise details or arrangements which I have had occasion to describe
or refer to, as many variations may be made therefrom without deviating from
the principles or main features of my Invention; but what I consider to
be novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by
the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent, is,―
First, the general arrangement and construction of steam engines, as herein-
before described.
Second, the system or mode of balancing the moving parts of vertical
cylinder direct-acting engines by means of pistons connected to such moving
parts, and subjected to an upward steam pressure acting against a vacuum, as
herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Robert Morrison, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twelfth day of November, One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-five.
ROBERT MORRISON. (L.B.)