IMPROVEMENTS IN ENGINES FOR PROPELLING STEAM LAUNCHES AND YACHTS, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES
Year: 1876

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Eustace Ernest Wigzell and Claude Halsey, both of
82, Mark Lane, in the City of London, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN ENGINES FOR PROPELLING STEAM LAUNCHES AND YACHTS, AND FOR OTHER
PURPOSES"
Sealed the 12th December 1876, and dated the 20th September 1876.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Eustace Ernest Wigzell and
Claude Halsey at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 20th
September 1876.
EUSTACE ERNEST WIGZELL and CLAUDE HALSEY, both of 82, Mark Lane, in the
City of London. "IMPROVEMENTS IN ENGINES FOR PROPELLING STEAM LAUNCHES
AND YACHTS, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES."
This Invention has for its object improvements in engines for propelling steam
launches and yachts and for other purposes.
We employ three cylinders, one placed directly over the crank and the others
one on either side of the first-mentioned cylinder and inclined at angles of
sixty degrees to it. The main frame encloses the crank and the two side cylinders
are fitted as liners into passages formed in the frame to receive them. The third
cylinder is bolted on to the top of the frame; at its ends fore and aft the frame is
closed by separate pieces bolted on; one of these pieces contains the shell of the
valve and the other a long bearing in which the crank shaft is carried. The side
cylinders are closed at their outer ends and receive steam only on the side of the
piston opposite to the crank, and from the other side of the piston in each case a
connecting rod passes to the crank. The third cylinder which is directly over the
crank contains a piston which is provided with a hollow rod or trunk; this cylinder
receives steam only on the under side of the piston, and the trunk works through a
stuffing box in the cylinder bottom; this cylinder is also provided with a cover
at the top and the space beneath the cover is in communication through the trunk
with the space in which the crank works. By this arrangement loss of heat by
radiation is to a great extent avoided, and oil for lubrication can be introduced
from time to time through the trunk into the chamber in which the crank works.
The valve is of conical form and it is mounted on the forward end of the crank
shaft which carries it round with it as it rotates. From each cylinder a passage

page_text: leads to the valve shell and terminates in two ports; one of which is employed
when turning ahead and the other when turning astern. Fitted into the conical
valve shell is a liner or hollow cone, its larger end is closed with a cover on which
is a stem passing out through a stuffing box on a cover which closes the outer end
of the valve shell; this stem receives a lever handle by which it can be turned
partly round and it carries the conical liner with it. In the sides of the liner there
are slits or ports so arranged that when the liner is thus moved it closes one of the
ports into the steam passage of each cylinder and opens the other port, and so alters
the time at which steam is admitted to the cylinders by the rotating valve that
the direction of rotation of the crank shaft is reversed. By placing the reversing lever
and the liner which it moves midway between the two ends of its travel, the
admission of steam may be altogether stopped and the engines brought to rest.
In other positions of the reversing lever the steam will be cut off earlier than when
the lever is fully over, and the speed of the engine will be reduced accordingly.
The rotating valve has two cavities in it, which through ports in the side and
opening in the lining communicate respectively with steam and exhaust pipes
connected at the side of the valve shell, and in the side of the valve there are ports
or openings from both of these chambers, which when they coincide with the open
ports of the passages leading to the steam cylinders allow of the free flow of steam
to and from the cylinders to work the engine.
It will be observed that the connecting rods from the two side pistons thrust
upon the connection; they are formed with heads which abut upon the crank pin.
The other connecting rod has the strain in the opposite direction, but in neither
case is it ever reversed, so that the engine works noiselessly.
The last-mentioned connecting rod is forked at the head, and it is bored to
receive the crank pin and the heads of the other connecting rods, and also two
filling pieces or brasses which are fixed to it on opposite sides of the crank pin, and
between which there is free space for the head of the other connecting rods to work.
For engines which do not require to be reversed the construction can be
simplified by omitting the moveable shell in the valve case, and by employing but
one set of ports.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Eustace Ernest Wizgell and Claude Halsey in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 20th March 1877.
EUSTACE ERNEST WIGZELL and CLAUDE HALSEY, both of 82, Mark Lane, in the
City of London. "IMPROVEMENTS IN ENGINES FOR PROPELLING STEAM LAUNCHES
AND YACHTS, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES."
This Invention has for its object improvements in engines for propelling steam
launches and yachts, and for other purposes.
We employ three cylinders, one placed directly over the crank, and the others,
one on either side of the first-mentioned cylinder and inclined at angles of sixty
degrees to it. The main frame encloses the crank and the two side cylinders are
fitted as liners into passages formed in the frame to receive them. The third
cylinder is bolted on to the top of the frame; at its ends fore and aft the frame is
closed by separate pieces bolted on; one of these pieces contains the shell of the
valve and the other a long bearing in which the crank shaft is carried. The side
cylinders are closed at their outer ends and receive steam only on the side of the
piston opposite to the crank, and from the other side of the piston in each case a
connecting rod passes to the crank. The third cylinder which is directly over the
crank contains a piston which is provided with a hollow rod or trunk; this cylinder
receives steam only on the under side of the piston and the trunk works through a
stuffing box in the cylinder bottom; this cylinder is also provided with a cover
at the top and the space beneath the cover is in communication through the trunk

page_text: with the space in which the crank works. By this arrangement loss of heat by
radiation is to a great extent avoided, and oil for lubrication can be introduced
from time to time through the trunk into the chamber in which the crank works.
The valve is of conical form and it is mounted on the forward end of the crank
shaft which carries it round with it as it rotates. From each cylinder a passage
leads to the valve shell and terminates in two ports, one of which is employed
when turning ahead and the other when turning astern. Fitted into the conical
valve shell is a liner or hollow cone; its larger end is closed with a cover on which
is a stem passing out through a stuffing box on a cover which closes the outer end
of the valve shell; this stein receives a lever handle by which it can be turned
partly round and it carries the conical liner with it. In the sides of the liner there
are slits or ports so arranged that when the liner is thus moved it closes one of the
ports into the steam passage of each cylinder and opens the other port, and so alters
the time at which steam is admitted to the cylinders by the rotating valve that
the direction of rotation of the crank shaft is reversed. By placing the reversing
lever and the liner which it moves midway between the two ends of its travel, the
admission of steam may be altogether stopped and the engines brought to rest.
In other positions of the reversing lever the steam will be cut off earlier than when
the lever is fully over and the speed of the engine will be reduced accordingly.
The rotating valve has two cavities in it, which through ports in the side and
openings in the lining communicate respectively with steam and exhaust pipes
connected at the side of the valve shell, and in the side of the valve there are ports
or openings from both of these chambers, which when they coincide with the open
ports of the passages leading to the steam cylinders allow of the free flow of steam
to and from the cylinders to work the engine.
It will be observed that the connecting rods from the two side pistons thrust
upon the connection; they are formed with heads which abut upon the crank pin.
The other connecting rod has the strain in the opposite direction, but in neither case
is it ever reversed, so that the engine works noiselessly.
The last-mentioned connecting rod is forked at the head, and it is bored to receive
the crank pin and the heads of the other connecting rods, and also filling pieces or
brasses which are fixed to it on opposite sides of the crank pin, and between which
there is free space for the heads of the other connecting rods to work.
For engines which do not require to be reversed the construction can be
simplified by omitting the moveable shell in the valve case and by employing but
one set of ports.
In order that our said Invention may be most fully understood and readily
carried into effect, we will proceed to describe the Drawings hereunto annexed.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 is a transverse section, and Figure 2 is a longitudinal section; Figure 3
is a side elevation of an engine constructed according to our Invention.
a, b, and
c are three cylinders, the cylinder is placed directly over the crank d of the
crank shaft d, and the cylinders a and c are placed on either side of the cylinder b,
and are inclined at an angle of 60 degrees to it; e is the main frame enclosing the
shaft ; it has passages formed in it into which the cylinders a and c are inserted ;
it has also a face formed on it at the top against which the cylinder b is bolted.
The frame e is open at the two ends, and to one of these openings a cover f is fitted
in which is formed a long conical bearing for the crank shaft. The cover g at the
other end also forms the case of the valve. The pistons of the cylinders a and c
are solid, and these cylinders receive steam only at their outer ends, so that their
connecting rods h, h, exert a thrust upon the crank during the inward or efficient
stroke, and during the return stroke the connecting rod and piston is thrust back
by the crank. The piston in the cylinder b is provided with a trunk from which a
connecting rod i passes to the crank. Steam is admitted only on the under side of
the piston in the cylinder b, so that it is the outward stroke of the piston which is

page_text: effective. The connecting rod. i is forked at its lower end, and each extremity
takes the form of a ring which encircles the crank pin embracing the thrust blocks
of the connecting rods h, h, and also a third similar block on the under side of the
crank pin and which is fixed to the rings of the connecting rod ..
The construction of the valve is shown to a larger scale in Figure 4, which is a
longitudinal section; Figure 5 is an elevation; Figure 5a is an end view; and
Figures 6, 7, and 8 are transverse sections taken on the lines 1, 1, 2, 2, and 3, 3,
respectively. g, g, is the valve case which also forms the cover for the end opening
in the frame e. In the conical sides of the valve case there are three wide ports
communicating with passages leading to the cylinders a, b, and c, one port for each
cylinder, or if more convenient each wide port may be divided into two narrower
ports. k is a liner within the valve case; it is fixed to the spindle ¹ which passes
through a stuffing box in the lid which closes the end of the valve case; m is a
lever handle on the spindle ¹ by which it can be turned partly round. The liner k
has in it six ports for the supply of each cylinder, one when the engine is
running forward and the other when it is reversed. In the position in which the
liner is represented in Figure 4, the ports on the line 1, 1, are open to the steam
passages, and those on the line 2, 2, are closed; n is the cone valve; it revolves
within the liner receiving its motion from a prolongation d' of the crank d. The
valve has formed in it two steam ports, one on the line 1, 1, and the other on the
line 2, 2, and these as the valve revolves come to correspond in succession with the
ports in the liner which are on the same line with them, and when such correspondence
takes place and the port in the liner is open steam passes by it to the cylinders;
there are also in the valve two exhaust ports by which the steam returns from the
cylinders, one of the exhaust ports is on the line 1, 1, and the other on the line 2, 2,
and these exhaust ports are at all times open to the outlet passage o.
Steam from
the boiler is admitted to the back of the valve at p; q is an outlet by which water
deposited in the casing of the engine can escape into the outlet passage when it
rises to a certain level.
Where the power of reversing the engine is not required the liner is dispensed
with and the number of the ports is reduced.
The valve described may also be used in connection with three cylinder engines
in which the arrangement of the cylinders differs from that shown in the Drawings
at the Figures 1, 2, and 3; on the other hand engines of this construction may be
provided with rotary valves of other well known constructions or even with
slide valves worked by eccentrics, such modifications however are not recom-
mended by us.
Having thus described the nature of our said Invention and the manner of
performing the same, we would have it understood that we claim,―
First. The construction of the engine apart from the valve, substantially as
described.
Second. The construction of the valve of a three cylinder engine, substantially as
described.
Third. The combined engine and valve, substantially as described.
In witness whereof, we, the said Eustace Ernest Wigzell and Claude Halsey,
have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Seventh day of March in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-seven.