IMPROVEMENTS IN THE APPLICA TION OF STEAM POWER TO TURN CERTAIN KINDS OF MILLS OR MACHINES WITH CONTINUOUS ROTARY MOTION
Year: 1847

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, 1,
HASTIE, of Grenock, in Scotland, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS I did by petition humbly represent unto Her most Excellent
Majesty Queen Victoria, that I had invented "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE APPLICA
TION OF STEAM POWER TO TURN CERTAIN KINDS OF MILLS OR MACHINES WITH
CONTINUOUS ROTARY MOTION;" and Her said Majesty being willing to give
encouragement to all arts and inventions that may be for the public good,
was graciously pleased, by Her Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal
of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, bearing date at
Westminster, the Twenty-ninth day of July (One thousand eight hundred
and forty-seven). in the eleventh year of Her reign, for Herself, Her heirs
and successors, to give and grant unto me, the said John Hastie, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, Her special license, full power, sole
privilege and authority, that I or they, by myself or themselves, or by my or
their deputies, servants, or agents, or such others as I or they should agree
with, and no others, during the term of fourteen years from the date of the
said Letters Patent, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend
my said Invention within that part of Her said Majesty's Dominions called
England, Her Dominion of Wales, and Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, in
such manner as to me, my executors, administrators, and assigns, shall seem
meet, and so that I or they shall enjoy the whole profit and advantage arising
by reason of the said Invention during the said term of fourteen years;
and whereas the said Letters Patent contain a proviso obliging me, the
said John Hastie, particularly to describe and ascertain the nature of my said
A

page_text: Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, by an instrument
in writing under my hand and seal, and to cause the same to be enrolled in
Her Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next
and immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent, as in and by
the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large
appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
John Hastie, do hereby declare that my said Invention is described and
ascertained in manner following, and by the aid of the two Sheets of Drawings
hereunto annexed, that is to say :-
The object of my said improvements is, to simplify the application of steam
power to turn certain mills or machines with continuous rotatory motion,
by making the axis of the revolving crank of the steam engine serve also for
the axis of the mill or machine, with a fly wheel on that axis as may be
requisite, and which axis may be either in a vertical or a horizontal position,
as is usual and most suitable for the particular sort of mill or machine which
is to be constructed according to my improvements; for instance, in corn
mills the axes are vertical, but in paper mills the axes are horizontal. I will
first describe my improvements represented in the Drawings, which are
simplified applications of steam power to turn the millstones of corn mills,
and will serve by way of example for other mills or machines with vertical
axes. Sheet I. shews the application of steam power to turn one pair of
millstones by one steam cylinder and piston. Figure 1 is a lateral elevation,
and Figure 2 a horizontal plan; and the same letter of reference are used in
both Figures to denote the same parts. A is the steam cylinder wherein the
piston is impelled backwards and forwards alternately in a horizontal direction
by the force of steam in the usual manner of high-pressure steam engines.
a is the piston rod, and B the connecting rod jointed to the piston rod a at one
end and to the pin of the crank 6 at the other end, the joints at both those
ends being capable of motion in all directions, in the manner of universal
joints, as will be further explained. The crank 6 is formed on the vertical
axis D, D, of the upper or running millstone E, which, together with the
lower or stationary millstone F, and the case H surrounding and enclosing
the two millstones, and the hopper I, are as usual in ordinary corn mills,
except as to having the crank 6 formed on the upright axis D, D; and also a
small fly wheel K, may be fastened on the said upright axis D, D, in order to
regulate the rotary motion, and the circumference of the fly wheel K will
serve to receive an endless strap or belt for, turning machines for dressing
flour; likewise an excentric is fastened on the upright axis D, D, at d, for

page_text: giving suitable motion by the excentric rode and valve rod c to the slide
valve which is enclosed within the steam box L, and which slide valve being
moved backwards and forwards by the excentric rod e over suitable apertures
at the lower part of the steam box L, one or other of those apertures
alternately is uncovered by the valve so as to admit steam alternately into
one or other of the ends of the cylinder A, in order to impel the piston
backwards and forwards therein; and the same slide valve also uncovers the
apertures so as to communicate with the interior hollow of the valve in a
suitable manner for permitting that steam which has impelled the piston to
make its escape (as waste steam) from that end of the cylinder towards
which the piston is about to be impelled by the steam which is admitted into
the opposite end of the cylinder, so that such waste steam may offer no
material impediment to the motion of the piston. The steam boiler is not
represented, but, as well as the furnace, may be on any of the constructions
usual for the furnaces and boilers of high-pressure engines. (In Sheet II: a
boiler is shewn, and, although much larger than necessary, will serve for an
example.) The high-pressure steam is conveyed from the boiler by the
steam pipe f, which joins laterally below the steam box L, into which
the steam enters through a passage which is never closed by the slide
valve, so that the upper part of the box above that valve is always kept
supplied with high-pressure steam from the boiler ready to be admitted into one
or other of the ends of the cylinder according as the motion of the slide valve
uncovers one or other of the apertures before mentioned, which are at the ex-
tremities of passages leading to the two ends of the cylinder; and the waste
steam is permitted to make its escape through one or other of the said aper-
tures, which is uncovered by the motion, of the valve, into the interior hollow of
the valve, and thence by the eduction aperture (which is between the aforesaid
two apertures) to the eduction pipe M, which is continued to the open air or
to the chimney, so as to convey the waste steam freely away from the engine.
The valve rod c passes from the slide valve through a stuffing box in one end
of the steam box L, which prevents escape of steam around the rod c, and the
end thereof is united by a joint to the end of excentric rod e, which at the other
end has a hoop surrounding the excentric on the axis D, D, at d. The
excentric d is fastened on that axis, so to have moved the slide valve to the
midway of its backward and forward motion, somewhat before the piston has.
arrived at the full extent of its backward and forward motion in the cylinder,
all which, as well as the packing of the piston and the stuffing box in the
cylinder cover for the piston rod to pass through, may be as usual in high-
pressure engines, and, being well known, does not require farther description.

page_text: The steam cylinder A is supported in its horizontal position on legs (see
the end view, Figure A) with feet at their lower ends, which are firmly
fastened by bolts upon a long horizontal bed plate N, extending beneath
the lower end of the axis D, D; and a small standard O (see the end view,
Figure 0) is fastened on the bed plate N, to support a bearing for the lower
end of the axis D, D, so as to retain it without deviation from its proper ver-
tical position, notwithstanding the action of the connecting rod B, on the
crank b, but the axis can turn freely round within the bearing brasses of the
standard O. Also a standard P (see the end view, Figure P,) is erected upon the
bed plate N, and sustains a guide for the end of the piston rod a, to retain the
same in its proper straight horizontal line, notwithstanding the oblique action
of the connecting rod B. The universal joints whereby (as already mentioned)
the connecting rod B is jointed to the piston rod a, and to the pin of the
crank b, are represented in Figure 3, which is a horizontal plan of those parts.
The connecting rod B is double, and although it appears in Figure 1 like a
single straight rod, it is, in fact, two rods B, B, Figure 3, which act together
just the same as one rod would do, but they leave a space between them of suffi-
cient width to receive the end of the piston rod a, and its fixed guide at the
upper end of the standard P, without interference by either rod B during the
oblique or lateral and endway motion thereof. The joint by which one end of the
connecting rod is united to the piston rod a is formed by a cross pin g, Figure 3,
fastened on the rod a by a key, and projecting upwards and downwards from
the rod a in a vertical direction, so that the imaginary horizontal central line
of the piston rod a is intersected by the vertical central line of the cross ping,
and the upper and lower ends of the said cross pin 9, 9, are fitted into bearing
brasses lodged in suitable cells formed in the upper and lower parts of a sort
of box or square frame h, h, of metal, which surrounds the piston rod at the
place where the cross pin g is fastened on it, the interior hollow of the box or
frame h, h, being large, to allow ample space for the rod and the cross pin; and
from the two outsides of that box h, h, two short round pins, i, i, project outwards
horizontally like trunnions, one in continuation of the other, the imaginary
central lines or axes of both trunnions i, i, being in the same straight horizontal
line, and which line also crosses the aforesaid intersection of the central ver-
tical line of the cross pin 9, 9, with the horizontal central line of the piston
rod a; and upon the said two trunnions i, i, the ends of the two rods B, B, are
titted and are retained thereon by washers and pins inserted into holes across
the ends of the trunnions i, i. The other ends of the two rods B, B, are in
like manner fitted on two similar trunnions n, n, which project out horizon-
tally from each side of the bearing which is fitted on the crank pin of the

page_text: crank b, with brasses in that bearing, the imaginary central lines or axes of the
two trunnionsn, n, being in the same horizontal straight line. The joint formed by
the upper and lower ends of the cross pin 9, 9, performs the office of the usual
joint of a connecting rod, whereby it is at liberty to assume any obliquity to the
direction of the piston rod, which may be required for following the motion of
the crank pin in its circular orbit. The brasses already mentioned, between
which the upper and lower ends g, g, of the cross pins are fitted, can be
tightened by keys k, k, Figures 1 and 3, to form a correct joint; those keys
being driven horizontally through key ways which cross near to the cells
wherein the brasses are lodged, and loose filling pieces are inserted in the
cells behind the brasses to fill up between the keys k, k, and the brasses. The
bearing which is fitted around the crank pin has a cap fastened on by two
screw bolts, the nuts of which serve to tighten the brasses when required;
those bolts, as well as the trunnions n, n, and the bearing in which one of the
bearing brasses is lodged, are all in one piece of iron. There will be scarcely
any sensible motion of the ends of the rods B, B, about their joints, which are
formed by the trunnions i, i, and n, n, in the regular motion of the engine;
but those joints will allow the bearing brasses of the crank pin, as well as those
of the upper and lower ends g, g, of the cross pin, to accomodate themselves
to that small rise or fall of the crank pin in the direction of its length,
which must take place in all the upright spindles of the millstones of corn
mills when such spindles are raised or lowered endways or in the direction
of their length, in order that the upper millstone may be set to a greater
or less distance from the lower one, so as to suit the space between
them to the fineness to which the grain is intended to be ground. The
lower end of the axis D, D, is not supported endways by the bearing already
mentioned in the standard O, but only laterally; and there is a hardened steel
pivot in that lower end, which rests upon a hardened steel plate lodged at the
bottom of a cell formed in a bearing lever J, Figure 1, whereof one end is
sustained on a centre pin or fulcrum in a low standard Q, fastened upon the
bed plate N, and the other end of the same lever J is suspended by a long
perpendicular screw bolt j, which being turned round (or a nut fitted upon the
screw thereof being turned round), when required will raise or lower the end of
the lever J, and that will give a diminished motion of the same kind to the
hardened steel plate upon which the hardened steel pivot at the lower end of
the upright axis D, D, rests, so as to sustain the weight thereof, together with
that of the upper millstone E, and of the fly wheel K, and thus, by means of
the screw of the upper millstone E, can be set with accuracy to its intended
distance from the lower one F in the usual manner of setting millstones. The

page_text: lower millstone F is supported upon two strong beams of wood R, R, which,
together with a third, are framed together (in the form of the letter A), as is
seen in the Plan, Figure 2. The two ends of the beams R, R, are built into
the masonry of the wall S; and their other ends, which meet and are united
together, are supported by an upright column T, Figure 1, of cast iron. which
is erected on the end of the long bed plate N. The lower part of the column T
is formed with an opening through it, for the end of the bearing lever J to pass
through, and that end is guided laterally in the opening. The frame R, R,
forms a triangle, on which the lower millstone F rests, and is surrounded by a
square frame of wood U (see Figure 2), the ends of two sides of which frame
are also fastened into the masonry of the wall S. The square frame U is
bolted down upon the triangular frame R, R, and there are four setting screws
P. p. p. p. Figure 2, which are fitted through the sides of the square frame U
with nuts let into the wood; the ends of those screws apply to the circumference
of the lower millstone F, so that by turning the setting screws p, p, p, p, that
stone can be moved a little on the triangular wood frame R, R, in order to
adjust its position, so as to place the axis D, D, truly vertical. The neck at
the upper part of that axis is sustained in the usual manner in a bearing
collar Z, Z, Z, which is fixed fast into the central hole of the lower millstone F
by wedging. The bearing collar is shewn separate at Figure Z, with three
bearing brasses fitted into cells, and having a wedge behind each of those
brasses to adjust each one to fit true around the neck at the upper end of the
axis D; the said cells are formed in a casting, which is circular at its exterior,
and is fastened into the central hole of the lower millstone F by wooden wedges
driven into the hole around it. The upper end of the axis D, above the
bearing collar Z, Z, has the cross z fixed upon it for sustaining the upper
millstone E. All the aforesaid particulars of the millstones and their axis D, D,
with the bearings and framework for sustaining and adjusting those bearings,
are nearly the same as usual in ordinary corn mills, but may be varied in any
of those particulars by the adoption of any other modes which are in use in
such mills. For instance, instead of the four setting screws p, p, p, p, being
applied to the circumference of the lower millstone F, similar setting screws
may be applied in the standard O to adjust the position of the bearing brass,
by which the lower end of the axis D, D, is sustained. The only differences
from what is usual in ordinary corn mills is the crank 6 in the vertical
axis D, D, and the excentric d and fly wheel K fastened upon that axis. The
Drawing shews a governor, with revolving pendulums V, V, adapted to the steam
engine for governing or regulating the speed of its motion. The governor V, V,
may be placed in any convenient place, but is best near to the engine. In the

page_text: Drawing it is represented at one side of the steam cylinder A, its upright axis
being supported at the lower end thereof by a standard fixed on the ground,
and at the upper end by a bracket affixed to the steam pipe f; and the governor
is turned round by an endless strap or belt passing around the axis D, D,
and also around a pulley g fastened on the axis of the governor near to its
upper end. The revolving pendulums V, V, are elbow levers (as appears by
dotted lines in Figure 1) suspended on joint pins borne by the upright axis of
the governor, and the short arms of the elbow levers act with joint pins at their
ends in slotted holes formed for those pins at the ends of two arms which
project out from the sliding collar w, which is fitted upon the upright axis so
as to slide up or down thereon when the pendulums V, V, expand or collapse
in revolving, and the sliding collar w has a grove around it for the reception of
a fork at the end of a short lever arm on the horizontal spindle of the throttle
valve s, in the steam pipe f; so that, without any intervening lever or rod
between the governor and the throttle valve lever v, any acceleration or re-
tardation of the rotary velocity of the millstones will cause the revolving
pendulums V, V, to expand or collapse, and their short arms, raising or lowering
the sliding collar w, will act directly upon the lever arm v to close or open the
throttle valve s more or less, as may be requisite to correct the acceleration
or retardation of the velocity, and thereby produce an uniform velocity. The
throttle valve s may be of the usual construction for high-pressure engines
which are regulated by a governor. The short lever arm v is not permanently
fastened on the horizontal spindle of the throttle valves, but is fitted thereon
at the side of another shorter lever arm x, which is fastened thereon (see the
separate view, Figure v); and a regulating screw y is applied in a collar
jointed laterally to the end of the arm a, to act in a nut jointed laterally
to the tail end of the lever v, wherefore by turning that regulating screw y
the degree of opening of the throttle valve s can be regulated independantly
of any action of the governor, in order to permit as much steam to pass
as will approximate to what is required according to the work that is to be
done, and the governor will render the regulation complete by opening the
throttle valve s a little wider and allowing more steam to pass whenever the
engine moves slower than its intended speed, or vice versa, closing the
valve s a little, so as to allow less steam to pass whenever the engine
moves quicker, all which is the same as the usual operation of a governor
to a steam engine. The Drawing being on a scale of one inch to a foot, or
one twelfth part of the real size, the dimensions of the principal parts can be
ascertained by measuring the Drawing. The millstones are four and a half feet
diameter. The diameter of the steam cylinder is nine inches, its piston making

page_text: a stroke of sixteen inches, and it should make about one hundred and ten or
one hundred and twenty strokes or revolutions of the upper millstone E per
minute, for grinding wheat into flour. That speed may be attained if the
steam in the boiler is kept up to a pressure of twenty or twenty-five pounds
per square inch above the atmosphere, and the entrance of the steam into the
cylinder for impelling the piston may be cut off when the piston has moved
through two thirds of the length of its stroke of sixteen inches, and the
remaining third of the stroke will be performed by the expansive action of the
steam contained in the cylinder at the time of cutting off the further admis-
sion of steam from the boiler; or if the steam is kept up to a pressure of
thirty or forty pounds per square inch in the boiler, then the entrance of steam
from the boiler into the cylinder may be cut off when the piston has moved
through half the length of its stroke; or if it is intended to work with the
steam in the boiler, at twenty or twenty-five pounds, and to cut off at half
stroke, then the cylinder should be larger, or about ten inches diameter. The
said cutting off of the entrance of steam into the cylinder may be performed
by the action of the slide valve, if the ends of that valve are made to overlap
the apertures which the valve is to slide over; or the cutting off may be per-
formed by a separate valve for the purpose in the steam pipe or passage, to
be opened and shut by action of a suitable camm fastened on the axis D, D,
of the crank b. The mode of cutting off in either of those ways being well
known and commonly practised in steam engines, does not require any farther
explanation; and it is not necessary to my improvements that the steam
should be cut off, but it will economize fuel to do so. And note, a fly wheel
such as K is the more necessary, and should be heavier, according as it is
intended to work the engine with a greater extent of expansive action, because
the expansive action of the steam, after the further admission of steam from
the boiler is cut off, is less forcible to impel the piston than the previous
impelling action of the steam when admitted from the boiler; and therefore
when the admission of steam is cut off at one half or earlier there will be so
much more impelling force exerted by the piston during the first half of the
length of its stroke in the cylinder than during the latter half thereof, as to
require a fly wheel for regulating and producing tolerable uniformity of the
rotatory motion.
And note, an additional throttle valve, or a stopcock, for
regulating the steam by hand, should be provided in that part of the steam
pipe which intervenes between the boiler and the throttle valves, which is
represented in the Drawing, and regulated by the governor. The feeding
pumps for supplying the boiler with water may be constructed as usual for
high-pressure locomotive steam engines, and worked by a suitable excentric

page_text: fastened on the upright axis D, D. And note, the piston of the engine will
require to be worked with greater rapidity than usual in the high-pressure
engines commonly employed for turning mill work, but not with more rapidity
than locomotive steam engines for conveying passengers on railways are.
adapted to be worked when travelling quickly; and therefore the construction
of the slide valve and its motion, and the proportion that the area of its
apertures bear to the area of the steam cylinder, should be such as are well
known and in common use in such locomotive engines. And the slide valve
should not be confined to keep in close contact with the surface against which
it slides, so that in case of water getting into the cylinder it may be able to
make its escape by lifting up the slide valve. The Drawing, Sheet I., will
also serve to explain how two millstones may be worked according to my
improvements by the same steam engine. Suppose another pair of millstones
with all accessaries, exact duplicates of those represented on the left-hand side
of Sheet I., to be provided on the opposite or right-hand side of that Drawing,
and at an equal distance from the steam cylinder A, which is to be twice the
area (or about thirteen inches diameter), and to have its piston rod prolonged
through a stuffing box at the centre of the left-hand end of the cylinder A, so
as to correspond to the piston rod a, and with a guide on a standard like that
marked P; and suppose a connecting rod corresponding to B to extend from
the said prolongation of the piston rod to the crank of the upright axis D, D,
of the additional millstones on the right-hand side, except that no excentric
rod will be required, because the slide valve will be moved by the excentric
rod on the left-hand side, as shewn in the Drawing; in this manner the
same boiler, steam cylinder, and piston will give motion to both millstones,
and the same governor will regulate the motion of both. The boiler in such
case must be capable of producing twice as much high-pressure steam, and
the feeding pumps capable of supplying twice as much water as would be
required in case of the smaller sized cylinder A driving one pair of mill-
stones, as in the Drawing. In case it required to work only one of the two
millstones which are thus connected with the same engine, the other mill-
stone may be disconnected by removing the connecting rod B of that mill-
stone which is to stand still, the double rods B, B, of that connecting rod
being taken off from the trunnions i, i, and n, n, at each end of each of
those two rods; and in order to provide for the case, that it may be the mill-
stone oo the left hand which may be required to be thus disconnected, the
upright axis D, D, of the other millstone on the right hand should have an
excentric such as d properly fastened upon it, and the excentric rod e should be
removed from the excentric d and valve rod c on the left hand, and applied

page_text: with its hoop around the excentric on the right hand, and the opposite end of
that excentric rod should be jointed to the end of a supposed prolongation of
the valve rod c, which prolongation passing from the slide valve within the
steam box L, and through a stuffing box at the right-hand end of that box,
should have a joint at the right-hand extremity of the prolongation suitable
for jointing to the end of the excentric rod. In this way the requisite motion
for the slide valve could be derived from either excentric on the left-hand side
or on the right-hand side, according as the excentric rode might be applied to
one or to the other. Also the right-hand upright axis D, D, should be duly
prepared for receiving the endless strap or belt by which the governor is to be
turned round, so that the motion for the governor may be derived either from
the left-hand side, as in the Drawing, or from the right-hand side; and there
should be a duplicate feeding pump on the right-hand side for supplying the
boiler with water, and worked by an excentric fastened on the upright axis on
the right-hand side, in the same manner as herein-before stated respecting the
feeding pump worked by an excentric on the axis D, D, on the left-hand side.
In such case there would be two feeding pumps at work for supplying the
boiler when both millstones were at work, but either millstone being discon-
nected, then the pump belonging thereto would stand still, and the other pump
belonging to that millstone which was at work (and which pump would con-
tinue in action), would be sufficient to supply the boiler with water when only
one of the two millstones was at work. And note, the same excentric which
gives motion to the slide valve might also serve for working the feeding pump
if that excentric is broad enough to receive two excentric hoops side by side
around the excentric, one for working the slide valve and the other for working
the feeding pump, without fastening a distinct excentric on the upright axis
for working the feeding pump; and my mode, herein-before described, and
represented in Sheet I., of applying steam power to turning a millstone, may
be used in windmills or watermills in order to work the millstone or millstones
thereof when there is a failure of the wind or the water to turn the mill. In
such case, everything being as in Sheet I., the upright axis D, D, may have
upon it the usual spur pinion, by which the upright axis of a millstone is
commonly turned round in wind and water mills. Such spur pinion should be
fitted on the upright axis D, D, at the part thereof which is above the crank b,
and beneath the fly wheel K, in the usual manner of such a pinion in corn
mills, so that it can be lifted as much upwards upon its upright axis as to
take its teeth above the level of, and out of gear with, the teeth of the usual
large spur wheel of the wind mill or water mill, by which wheel the pinion and
the millstone is to be turned when the pinion is let down on the upright axis

page_text: of the millstone, so as to bring the teeth of the pinion to the level of and into
gear with the teeth of the spur wheel. When that is the case, the connecting
rod B and excentric rod e being removed, together with the other excentric
rod which works the feeding pump, and no steam being allowed to get to
the steam cylinder A, the millstone may be turned by the large spur wheel
of the wind or water mill in the usual manner of such mills, without any
difference being occasioned in consequence of the vicinity of the steam
engine, which would remain wholly inactive. Or if the said pinion is raised
upwards on the axis D, D, by the means well known and commonly practised
in corn mills, so that the pinion is raised above the level and out of gear
with the large spur wheel, and the connecting rod B and the excentric rod e.
and that for working the feeding pump, are replaced, and steam supplied
from the boiler to the cylinder, the millstone may be turned by the steam
power in the manner herein-before described, without any difference being
occasioned by the vicinity of the wind or water mill, which would remain
wholly inactive.
Sheet II. shews another application of steam power to turn two or three
millstones by one steam cylinder and piston. Figure 4 is a lateral elevation,
and Figure 5 a horizontal plan. The same letters of reference being used as in
Sheet I. to denote corresponding parts, the foregoing description of Sheet I. will
explain the chief parts of Sheet II., and it will be sufficient to explain the
differences. The upright axis D, D, Sheet II., with the crank 6 formed therein,
and having the excentric d and fly wheel K fastened upon it (instead of being,
as in Sheet I., the upright axis of a millstone), is a distinct upright axis, having
also a spur cog wheel W fastened upon it, and giving motion to all the three
or more upright axes t, t, t, of the three or more pairs of millstones, by means of
three or more pinions X, X, X, on those axes t, t, t, which are arranged around
the wheel W, so that its teeth will gear with those of all three pinions; where-
fore the upright axis D, D, corresponds to the upright axis of the large spur
wheel herein-before mentioned, as usually employed in wind and water corn
mills, except as to the crank 6 being formed in the upright axis D, D, Sheet II.,
and as to the excentric d and fly wheel K being fastened upon it, and also
the spur wheel W being of smaller size than usual for the said large spur
wheel of a wind or a water mill; for the wheel W, Sheet II., it is only twice
the diameter and number of teeth of each of the pinions X of the millstones.
As the axis D, D, Sheet II., does not require to be raised or lowered endways,
the connecting rod B is not made with universal joints at its ends as in
Sheet I. The connecting rod B, Sheet II., is forked, as shewn in Figure 4,
the space between the prongs of the fork admitting the piston rod a and its

page_text: When
guide P to work between those prongs. The construction of the other parts
of the engine and its governor is the same as already explained respecting
Sheet I. The governor for Sheet II. is shewn in Figure 6, which is an end
view of the cylinder. A high-pressure boiler is shewn in Sheet 2.
either of the three millstones is not required to work, then the pinion X
thereto belonging is raised upon its upright axis t, so that its teeth will be
above the level of the teeth of the spur wheel W, and consequently out of gear.
The mode of raising the pinion X is shewn in Figure 4 to be a nut screwing
on a screw thread cut on the axis t, that nut being beneath a washer which
slides upward upon the axis t when the nut is turned round, and that washer
has arms spreading out and rising up from it to connect it with a ring which
applics beneath the pinion X so as to raise the same upwards upon the axis t,
and to keep it up when so raised, or by means of such a nut the pinion X
may, if preferred, be let down upon its axis t, so that its teeth will be below
the level of those of the wheel W, and consequently out of gear, or other
modes of putting the pinions out of gear which are in common use in corn
mills may be substituted. The upright axis D, D, Sheet II., may be pro-
longed upwards by another upright axis Y, Figure 4, for transmitting motion
by suitable wheelwork and pullies and belts to machines for dressing flour in
the usual manner of ordinary corn mills. The millstones in Sheet II. are
four and a half feet diameter, and as there are three of them the steam
cylinder A, to be equivalent to the dimensions herein-before stated respecting
Sheet I., should be about eighteen inches diameter, its piston making a stroke
of two feet and working fifty-five or sixty revolutions of the crank 6 per
minute, so that the millstones will be turned one hundred and ten or one
hundred and twenty times per minute. And note, although three pairs of
millstones are represented in Sheet II., four or more such pairs might be
arranged with their pinions X, X, around the spur wheel W, and the area of
the steam cylinder A may be as much larger than herein-before stated as will
be proportionately to the number of millstones; but as one pair out of the
number may be always expected to be standing still for dressing or
repairing the furrows of the millstones, the steam cylinder of eighteen inches
diameter already mentioned may be sufficient in the case of four pairs of
stones, and although the improvements herein-before described have been
stated to be applications of steam power to turn corn mills, the same description
will apply to other kinds of mills which operate with similar millstones to those
used for grinding corn into meal, such for instance, as grinding malt and
barley for breweries and distilleries, shelling or removing the husks of rice,
shelling oats for groats, grinding cement or dry clay to powder, or grinding

page_text: animal charcoal that is made of charred bones. And the description herein-
before given will also serve by way of example of the mode of applying steam
power according to my improvements to turn other mills or machines which
operate with a vertical axis, such, for instance, as the mills commonly used
for grinding bark for tanners. The vertical axis of suck mill carries a cone
furnished with steel cutting edges around its exterior, and that revolving cone
is enclosed within a fixed hollow inverted cone furnished with cutting edges
around its interior, and the bark being thrown into the fixed inverted cone, in
a space around the revolving cone, is cut and ground between the moving and
the fixed cutting edges, with an action very similar to that of steel mills for
grinding coffee or pepper, but constructed on a large scale. In order to turn
the said upright axis of such a bark mill, according to my improvements, a
suitable fly wheel is to be fastened on the upper end of the axis, so as to be
above the bearing by which the upper end of the axis is retained in its intended
vertical position, and in one of the arms of the fly wheel (of suitable strength)
a crank pin is to be fastened so as stand up above the plane of the fly wheel,
with a long connecting rod extending from that crank pin to the piston rod of
the steam cylinder, such as A, Sheet I., except that it should be longer, in
order that the piston may make a long stroke, because the bark mill does not
require to be turned rapidly round. If the cylinder is nine inches diameter,
and the piston makes a stroke of four and a half feet, and makes twenty
revolutions per minute, it will be suitable for an ordinary bark mill. The
bearing above mentioned for the upper end of the axis should be fixed to, or
be part of, a casting answering the purpose of the bed plate N, Sheet I.,,
but the legs by which the cylinder is supported should be shorter, so that the
cylinder will be nearer to that casting than the bed plate N, in Sheet I.
The cylinder will be on an upper level, or a story above the floor on which
the bark mill stands. Instead of an excentric being fixed on the upright
axis for moving the slide valve, the upper end of the crank pin above the
part on which the connecting rod is jointed may have a second smaller
crank fastened upon it, or formed upon it, the crank pin of which second
crank will be suitable for working the slide valve, which is a mode known.
and in use. The feeding pump for the boiler may be worked by a suitable
excentric on the upright axis. The connecting rod may be jointed to the
crank pin and to the piston rod, with universal joints, as already described.
But note, if the crank pin is made of a spherical form at the part upon which
the brasses at the end of the connecting rod are fitted, and those brasses are.
adapted to fit around the spherical form of the pin, the joint so formed will be
capable of as much latitude of universal motion as can be required, in order
to answer the same purpose as the trunnions n, n, Figure 3, Sheet I., and the

page_text: said spherical crank pin may be substituted therefor in such cases as Sheet I..
or in such as that of the bark mill now describing; and the description
herein-before given will also serve by way of example of the mode of applying
steam power, according to my improvements, to turn mills or machines which
operate with a horizontal axis, such, for instance, as large grinding stones
for grinding gum barrels, or castings, or other metal work. Such grinding
stones are usually turned by endless straps or belts passing around pullies
on the horizontal axis of the stones, and also around revolving drums turned
by mill work; but according to my improvements a short crank is to be
formed or fastened on the axis of the grindstone, with or without a fly wheel,
and to the pin of that crank the connecting rod from the piston rod of a steam
cylinder is to be jointed, which steam cylinder may be such as represented
in Sheet I., except that its position must be adapted for the crank being on
a horizontal instead of a vertical axis, all which may be explained by re-
ferring to the parts A, a, B, b, D, D, K, and E; also d, e, c, and L, in Figure 1,
Sheet I.; and supposing those parts (considered separately from others) to be
represented in a horizontal plan instead of an elevation, in which case E may
be supposed to represent the grinding stone, and D, D, the horizontal axis
thereof, but which must be sustained on a pivot at its extreme end, beyond the
stone E, the crank 6 being formed in that axis D, D, and the fly wheel K and
excentric d being fastened thereon, and with the excentric rod e extending to
the valve rod c and to the slide valve within the steam box L, which box will
be at the side of the cylinder instead of being over it, and with the surface
against which the valve slides in a vertical instead of in a horizontal plane.
In case of a very large and heavy grinding stone, the fly wheel may not be
necessary, but independently of its action as a fly wheel it may in some cases
be useful as a drum to receive an endless strap or belt around its circumference
for turning small and fine grinding stones or polishers, which require a very
rapid motion to be given to them. Or instead of the horizontal axis D, D,
being supported at its end at O, beyond the crank b, it may be supported by a
bearing applied between the crank b and the excentric d, that bearing being
as near to the crank 6 as it can be, and will, therefore, be between the crank
and the fly wheel (if any fly wheel is used); and in such case the end of
the axis beyond crank 6 at O may be omitted; or instead of the crank b
being formed on the horizontal axis D, D, that axis may be straight, and the
fly wheel K may be fastened on the extreme end of the axis, where that end
projects beyond the bearing, and a crank pin may be fastened into one of the
arms of the fly wheel (of suitable strength) so as to project out horizontally
beyond the plane of the fly wheel, and the connecting rod may be jointed
upon that crank pin; and instead of moving the slide valve by an excentric

page_text: fastened on the horizontal axis, it may be moved by means of a second small
crank fastened upon the extreme end of the crank pin, provided that the
crank (or the fly wheel) which carries that pin is on the extreme end of the
horizontal axis, in the manner already mentioned (in describing the mode of
turning a bark mill) to be a mode known and in use for giving motion to a
slide valve; and, respecting paper mills for grinding rags with water to form
pulp, by means of a cylindrical revolving roller, mounted on a horizontal axis
and furnished with cutting edges around the circumference of that roller, in
order to cut the rags by acting against other fixed cutting edges at the
bottom of a trough or cistern containing water and rags, such revolving rollers
are usually turned rapidly round by means of toothed pinions on the extreme
ends of their horizontal axes; but according to my improvements the horizontal
axis of the revolving roller is to be turned round by means of a crank and fly
wheel upon such axis, the crank pin of such crank having the connecting
rod from the piston rod of a steam cylinder jointed upon that pin.
The foregoing description of the manner of turning revolving grinding
stones on horizontal axes will apply equally to the manner of turning the
revolving rollers of paper mills; in the latter case a fly wheel will always
be required; the horizontal axis of the revolving roller may be supported on
pivots at both its ends, the crank being formed in the axis and the fly
wheel and excentric fastened upon it, as well as the revolving roller; or the
crank may be on one end of the axis where it projects over beyond the
bearing for that end, the fly wheel being at the contrary side of that bearing
to the side thereof where the crank is, or the fly wheel may be on the said
end of the axis where it projects over beyond the bearing, instead of the crank
being on that end, the crank pin being in such case fastened into. one of
the arms of the fly wheel; all which is the same as already described in
respect to a grinding stone. Grinding stones and the revolving rollers of
paper mills require to be turned round with a rapid motion, and therefore
the piston for actuating them should move with a short stroke in the
steam cylinder. A stroke of fifteen inches, and steam cylinders of eight
inches diameter, will be suitable for a revolving roller of a paper mill thirty
inches in diameter, or for a large grinding stone; but grinding stones vary
so much in their size and weight and velocity of motion, according to the work
they have to perform, that the size of the cylinder must be adapted to suit the
size and sort of grinding stone that is to be turned by it; and although it is
represented in the Drawings and is implied in the foregoing description that
the steam cylinder is always to be in a horizontal position, it is to be understood
that in case of horizontal axes for grinding stones, and for the revolving
rollers of paper mills, and other cases of horizontal axes, that the steam

page_text: cylinder may be either in a horizontal position (as represented in the Drawings
and implied in the foregoing description), or the cylinder may be in a vertical
position, or in an inclining position, as may be most convenient, and in the
latter cases the cylinder may be either above or below the level of the horizontal
axis of the crank as may be most convenient. For instance, the horizontal
axes of grinding stones are usually at or below the level of the ground, and
therefore if the cylinder is to be placed in a vertical or inclining position, it
should be above the level of the horizontal axis of the crank and supported by
a suitable frame with legs, the direction of the piston rod pointing downwards
in a vertical or reclining direction towards the centre of the horizontal axis.
But, on the contrary, the revolving rollers of paper mills are usually placed on
a floor above the level of the ground, and therefore if the cylinder is to be
placed in a vertical or inclining position, it should be below the level of the
horizontal axis, with the direction of the piston rod pointing upwards,
either in a vertical or inclining direction towards the centre of the horizontal
axis. And although it is represented in the Drawings and stated in the
foregoing description that a connecting rod is to be jointed to the crank
pin at one of its ends, and to the piston rod at the other of its ends, such
connecting rod may be dispensed with, and the end of the piston rod jointed
to the crank pin, if the cylinder is suspended so as to be at liberty to vibrate
or oscillate on trunnions projecting out from each side of the cylinder, in a
similar manner to the two trunnions of a cannon, all which is well known
and commonly used in what are called vibrating or oscillating steam engines.
The central line of the two trunnions is in all cases to be parallel to the
central line of the axis of the crank, and the two trunnions are hollow
to form passages through one of them for the admission of steam from
the boiler to the valve box, and through the other of them for the escape
of waste steam from the eduction passage. The junctions of the ends of the
two trunnions with the ends of the steam pipe and eduction pipe are made
tight by packing held in stuffing boxes which will not permit steam to escape.
The slide valve and the steam box in which it is contained partake of
the vibrating motion of the cylinder, and the connection between the
excentric rod and the valve rod is made in a suitable manner, so that
the vibrating motion of the cylinder will not materially influence the
motion that is to be transmitted from the excentric on the axis of the
crank to the slide valve, the means of doing which are well known and
in common use in ordinary vibrating or oscillating steam engines. The
trunnions of the vibrating cylinder are to be supported in bearings formed
in a fixed frame, which is part of or is firmly affixed to the bed plate
or other metal frame in which the bearing for the axis of the crank is formed,

page_text: or to which that bearing is affixed; the said frame of the bearings for
the trunnions must allow free space for the cylinder to perform its vibrations.
Such a vibrating cylinder may be substituted for a fixed cylinder in any of
the cases herein-before described, and the engine will occupy
less space, because
no connecting rod being used the cylinder will in consequence come nearer to
the axis of the crank, and the end of the piston rod is to be jointed to the
crank pin; or, if more convenient, the end of the piston rod may have some
suitable prolongation firmly fastened to it, so as to be like one piece with the
piston rod, the end of that prolongation being jointed to the crank pin.
Having now described my said improvements, I, the said John Hastie, do
hereby declare that the new Invention, whereof the exclusive use is granted
to me by the Letters Patent herein-before recited, consists in the simplified
mode herein-before described of applying steam power to turn corn mills, bark
mills, and other mills which operate by continuous rotatory motion of vertical
axes; also, grinding mills with grindstones, paper mills, and other mills which
operate by continuous rotatory motion of horizontal axes, the said simplified
application being in either case performed by a direct action of the piston rods
and connecting rods (or of the piston rods) of the steam cylinders of steam
engines upon the pins of cranks formed or fastened upon the said vertical
or horizontal axes of the mills or machines, with suitable fly wheels and
excentrics on those axes, and which axes, at the same time that they form
part of the mill or machine, according to the usual construction thereof, also
answer the purpose of the revolving axes of the cranks and fly wheels and
excentrics, which axes, according to the said usual construction of steam
engines, form part of the steam engines by which the mills or machines are
turned, but according to my said simplified mode the same revolving axis may
be considered as forming part of the steam engine, and also as forming part
of the mill or machine, because it is made to serve the purpose of both.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Hastie, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-eighth day of January, One thousand
sight hundred and forty-eight
Signed, sealed, and delivered, by the
within-named John Hastie, in the
JOHN (L.S.) HASTIE.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Twenty-eighth day of January,
in the eleventh year of the reign of Her Majesty Queen Victoria, the said
John Hastie came before our said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and
acknowledged the Instrument aforesaid, and all and every thing therein
contained and specified, in form above written. And also the Instrument
aforesaid was stamped according to the tenor of the Statute made in the
fifty-fifth year of the reign of His late Majesty King George the Third.
Inrolled the Twenty-ninth day of January, One thousand eight hundred
and forty-eight.