IMPROVEMENTS IN LOCOMOTIVE AND OTHER STEAM ENGINES
Year: 1842

page_text: MORRIS' SPECIFICATION.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
MORRIS, of Cateaton Street, in the City of London, Merchant, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria 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-second day of December, One thousand eight
hundred and forty-two, in the sixth year of Her reign, for Herself, Her heirs
and successors, to give and grant unto me, the said James Morris, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, Her special licence, 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, within that part of Her said Majesty's Dominions called England,
Her Dominion of Wales, and Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN LOCOMOTIVE AND OTHER STEAM ENGINES," in such
manner as to me, my executors, administrators, and assigns, shall seem meet,
and as 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 for
that end Her said Majesty requires, and strictly commands all Her subjects
whatsoever, within England, Wales, and Berwick-upon-Tweed aforesaid, that

page_text: they shall not, neither directly nor indirectly, make, use, or put in practice,
my said Invention, or any part thereof, nor in anywise counterfeit, immitate,
or resemble the same, nor make any addition thereto or subtraction therefrom,
whereby to pretend himself or themselves to be the inventor or inventors
thereof. And whereas the said Letters Patent contain a proviso obliging me,
the said James Morris, particularly to describe and ascertain the nature of my
said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, by an instru-
ment in writing under my hand and seal, and to cause the same to be enrolled
in Her Majesty's High Court of Chancellerie 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
James Morris, do hereby declare that the nature of the Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described and
ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, reference being had to
the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked thereon,
that is to say-
The Invention has for its object improvements in the apparatus for working
and regulating, the slide valves of locomotive, and other steam engines, where
it is, desired to use steam expansively, so as to have convenient means of
.varying from time to time, as, occasion may require, the portion of the stroke
during which the steam shall be permitted to enter the cylinder. And in order
.that. the Invention may be most fully understood and readily carried into
effect, I will proceed to describe the same.
This Invention is, as before stated, applicable to steam engines, where steam
is employed expansively, but more especially to locomotive engines, as by the
aid of the improvements the engine-man may cut off the supply of steam to
the cylinder when the piston has passed through. a certain length of the cylin
der, and the piston will then move to the. end of its course by the expansive
property of the steam. The ordinary regulator may be always left quite open
so that the steam máy exert its full pressure upon the piston, and that the
expansive power of the steam may be employed as usefully as possible. It is by
varying at will, by the apparatus hereafter. described, the portion of the stroke
during which the steam may freely enter the cylinder, that the power of the
engine may be varied as circumstances may require.. The Drawing. represents
a part of a locomotive engine having improvements applied thereto. Figure 1.
shews an elevation; and Figure 2 a plan, of part of à locomotive engine having
the improvements applied thereto. The Figures 3 to 12 represent, on an enlarged
scale, the details of the principal pieces employed in carrying out this.Invention.

page_text: A and A¹, Figures 1 and 2, represent a steam cylinder; B and B', the piston
rod; C and C¹, Figures 1, 2, and 6, is a slide valve. This valve may be
worked by eccentrics in the ordinary manner. D, D, and D, D¹, are slide
valves which regulate the cutting-off of the steam, as hereafter described:
E and E', Figures 1 and 2, is the rod of the slide valve C; F, and F¹,
Figures 1, 2, and 7, is the rod of the slide valves D and D¹; Z, Figures
1 and 2, is the valve chest; J, Figures 1, 2, and 11, is a shaft upon which are
fixed two levers G, and G'; K, and K¹, Figures 1, 2, and 10, are connecting
rods which connect the shaft of the valve D with the lever G¹; L, and L',
Figure 1, is the cross head affixed to the end of the piston rod: To this cross
head is attached the lever G, and motion is thus communicated to the con-
necting rod K; M, and M, Figures 1, 2, and 9, are socket pieces which
connect the rod of the valve D with the connecting rods K; T, T; Figures
1 and 12, are sockets which turn upon the shaft or axis L, and which slide
freely in the slot of the lever G; Q, Q, Figures 1, 2, and 8, is a boss
which carries a bevelled wheel R; N, Figure 1, is the ordinary lever
which communicates motion to the slide valve C; the valve C. is longer
than the ordinary valve. The upper and lower surface of this valve is even
and parallel, and it has two passages for the steam marked O, O¹. The
width of these passages should be about the same as that of the openings
in the cylinder, and the length of them should not exceed the length of the
openings in the cylinder. The upper face of this valve is in part removed,
in order to diminish the-friction of the valve. D, D, Figures 1, 2, 3, 'are
two slide valves which are: separate one from the other, and press at their
lower surface upon the upper face' of the valve C.
Figure 3 represents à plan and an elevation of one of these valves. This
valve has on its upper part the projecting pieces a, a¹. A bridge piece; P,
seen at Figure 4, has in it two openings which fit on to the two projecting
pieces a, a, of the valve in such manner that the bridge- piece P.and the
valve work together, as shewn in Figures 'and 2. In this bridge
piece is formed a female screw, which receives a male screw formed upon the
shaft F, hereafter described. One of these bridge pieces is formed with a
right-handed screw, and the bridge piece of the other valvė D. is formed
with a left-handed screw. The shaft F (of the valves D, D¹),. Figure 7, has
two screws, a, b, the threads of which correspond with those in the bridge
pieces, and the screws are also cut in oppsite ways to cause them to work in
the bridge pieces P, as may be seen at Figures 1 and 2.
Figure 5 shews the plan and elevation of another arrangement of valves
which may be used in place of those just described.,, Each of these valves

page_text: carries at its upper part a projecting piece, having female screws formed
therein, through which the screw of the shaft F works.
The first arrange-
ment, though somewhat less economical, is, I believe, preferable; for if the
shaft F should by any means become bent, the bridge pieces P might be
raised without breaking the connection between the valves D and C. The
shaft F passes through the piece M, M', and is tapped with a screw a distance
marked c, d, large enough to receive the socket piece M, in such manner that
the shaft F may turn freely in this piece, and the piece M is regulated to its
position on the shaft F by screw nuts, which are fixed by pins to prevent
them from turning. The part of the shaft marked in the Drawing f, c, is of
somewhat smaller diameter than that of the part marked c, g. The socket
piece M, shewn also in Figure 9, carries at each of the ends a pivot, to which
are joined the connecting rods K, K, seen at Figure 10, which are also joined
to the end of the lever G¹. The other end of the rod F slides freely in the
boss Q. Q (Figures 1, 2, and 8), which carries the bevelled wheel R. On
the boss is formed a neck piece, which allows it to take a rotatory movement
in the bearing S, S, Figures 1 and 2, and at the same time prevents its
moving out of its place. In the boss there is a cylindrical hole, in the
inner part of which is fixed a projecting or feather piece, which enters the
grove g, i, formed in the shaft F of the valve, as shewn in Figure 7, in
such manner as the shaft F, in its rotatory movement, presses against this
projection, and is prevented turning, except when acted upon by the boss Q,
yet at the same time it is capable of a sliding movement in the direction of its
length. Instead of making a cylindrical hole in this boss, a square hole may
be formed, and the end of the rod which slides therein made square to corre-
spond. Rotatory movement is given to the boss Q by means of wheelwork.
which receives motion from the wheel R, R¹, the shaft or axis of which is
carried to the back of the engine, to which a handle is attached, which may be
turned either one way or the other, as may be required.
The action of the machine is as follows:-
In the Drawing Figure 1, as the parts are shewn, the piston is at the lower
part of the cylinder, and is about to move upwards in the diretion indicated by
the arrow. The valve C is in the middle of its course, and is moving in the
direction indicated by the arrow. The valves D, D, may be considered at the
end of their upward course, and are about moving in an opposite direction to
that of the piston. It should be remarked, that at this time the valve C is
working at its greatest speed, and that the valves D, D, are working at their
lowest. The valve C moves in the direction indicated, and the steam enters at
the lower part of the cylinder; but by the simultaneous movement of the two

page_text: valves D, D, the passage into the lower part of the cylinder will be quickly
closed, and the piston will be forced on by the expansive force of the steam in
the cylinder. When the piston has arrived at the middle of its course, the
valve C will have arrived at the end of its course, and the opening O¹ will be
quite closed, as it was supposed to be before the valves D, D', would have
acquired their greatest speed, and the valve C would begin to move in the
same direction, but at its slowest speed) and the valves will have to return to
the position shewn at Figure I. before the opening O will again be in a position
to admit steam into.the cylinder. When the piston has arrived at the upper
end of the cylinder the opening O' will be in a position to admit steam to the
upper side of the piston, and similar results will be produced in the descending
course of the piston to those which have been described with respect to the
supply of steam to the lower part of the cylinder. It will be readily seen that
by bringing the valves D, D', nearer to each other, the opening for the entrance
of the steam into the cylinder will be closed later; the steam consequently
would enter at its pressure during a greater portion of the movement of the
piston, and the expansion would be to a less extent. They might be brought
so close to each other that the entrance of the steam would not be intercepted,
and the steam would work without expansion. If, on the contrary, the
valves D, D, are placed a greater distance from each other, the opening for
the introduction of the steam will be closed sooner, and the expanding
of the steam will be through a greater portion of the stroke. To vary the
distance between these valves it is only necessary to turn the shaft F, which
may be readily done by the engine-man by means of a handle placed upon
the shaft of the wheel R¹. The shaft F, having rotatory movement given
to it, gives motion to the valves D, D; and as the worms of the screws are
placed in opposite directions, the valves will move in opposite ways, and the
distance between each will encrease or diminish according to the direction of
the movement given to the boss Q. An indicator may be placed within sight
of the engine-man in order to shew the position of these valves, and conse-
quently the power at which the engine is working. The valve C and valves
D, D, working in opposite directions during the first half of the stroke, it will be
easy to close the opening for the entrance of the steam at any point of this
first half of the stroke; but when the two valves begin to work the same way,
the speed of the valves D, D, being greater than that of the valve C, the
openings for the entrance of the steam into the cylinder may be closed after
the piston has passed the middle of its stroke. In this arrangement, by
sufficiently lengthening the valves D, D, and encreasing the range of their
movement, the steam may be worked expansively at any part of the stroke.

page_text: Figure 13 shews an arrangement by which similar effects are obtained, that
is to say, in which the opening for the entrance of the steam is closed, as
required during the second half of the stroke. In this arrangement the rotary
axis J of the levers G, G', is attached above the point where the shaft of the
valves D; D, is fixed, consequently these valves move in the same direction as
the piston. During the first half of the stroke the valves D, D, and the valve
C work in the same direction, but in different directions during the second half
of the stroke. It is easy then, in varying the distance of these valves, to close
the opening for the admission of steam when the piston arrives at the middle
of its stroke, or at any point at the second half of the stroke.
:
In
Figure 14 represents another arrangement somewhat similar to the first. In
this there are two valves C. The chest or case of these two valves is divided
into two parts by a 'partition.. The rods of these valves carry two cross pieces.
These cross pieces are joined by rods which pass on the outside of each
side of the chest or case of the valves, in such manner that the two valves
would be joined to and move with them. The valves D, D, move in a separate
chest or case placed above those of the valves C; at the bottom of this chest or
case are the openings which communicate with these two chests or cases.
many other particulars it will be seen that the parts are the same as those pre-
viously described. The Drawings shew arrangements by which the steam may
be cut off at any point of the stroke up to three fifths of the stroke; but by
encreasing the faces of the slide valves D, D, in the direction of the length
of the cylinder and their range, the facility might be obtained, if it should be
found desirable, of cutting off the steam from the cylinder at any point up to
the end of the stroke. Instead of working the shaft F by the lever G, other
means may be resorted to.
Having thus described the nature of the Invention, and the manner in which
the same is to be performed, I would wish it to be understood that I do not
claim any of the parts separately, nor do I confine myself the precise details
shewn and described. But what I claim is, the mode of working and varying
the distance between the valves D, D, when working in combination with
a suitable valve or valves C, during the working of the engine, as above
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Morris, have hereunto set iny
hand and seal, this First day of June, in the year of our Lord Oue
JAMES (L.s.) MORRIS.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the First day of June, in the Sixth
year of the reign of Her Majesty Queen Victoria, the said James Morris 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 Third day of June, One thousand eight hundred and forty-
three