AN IMPROVED PISTON AND VALVE FOR STEAM, GAS, AND OTHER ENGINES, ALSO AN IMPROVED METHOD OF LUBRICATING THE PISTONS, PISTON RODS, AND VALVES OR COCKS OF SUCH ENGINES, AND OF CONDENSING THE STEAM AND SUPPLYING WATER TO THE BOILERS OF SUCH STEAM ENGINES AS ARE WROUGHT BY A VACUUM PRODUCED BY CONDENSATION
Year: 1831

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, SAMUEL
HALL, of Basford, in the County of Nottingham, Cotton Manufacturer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS His present most Excellent Majesty King William the Fourth,
by His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date
at Westminster, the Twenty-second day of December, in the second year of
His reign, did, for Himself, His heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Samuel Hall, His especial licence, sole privilege and authority,
that I, the said Samuel Hall, my exors, admors, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Samuel Hall, my exors, admors, or assigns, should at any time
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times during the
term of years therein mentioned, should and lawfully might make, use, ex-
ercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-
Tweed, and also in all His said Majesty's Colonies and Plantations abroad,
my Invention of "AN IMPROVED PISTON AND VALVE FOR STEAM, GAS, AND OTHER
ENGINES, ALSO AN IMPROVED METHOD OF LUBRICATING THE PISTONS, PISTON RODS,
AND VALVES OR COCKS OF SUCH ENGINES, AND OF CONDENSING THE STEAM AND
SUPPLYING WATER TO THE BOILERS OF SUCH STEAM ENGINES AS ARE WROUGHT BY A
VACUUM PRODUCED BY CONDENSATION;" in which said Letters Patent is contained
a proviso that I, the said Samuel Hall, shall cause a particular description of
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be inrolled in His said Majesty's High Court of Chancery within
six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said in part

page_text: recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being there a
will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Samuel Hall, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, are particularly described
and ascertained as follows, that is to say):-
My Invention consists of four parts, as set forth in the title of my Patent,
videlicit,―
Firstly, an improved piston, which is so constructed as that the pressure of
the steam, gas, or other fluid shall, on whichever of the two sides of the piston
it be acting, force the packing thereof, whether of hemp or cotton, or
other material or mixture of materials, into closer contact with the sides of
the cylinder within which the piston works.
may
It
Secondly, an improved valve, which is of the kind called a slide valve.
consists of two parts, videlicit, the sliding part, which I call the sliding frame,
and a plate on which it works, which I call the seat plate. The former is so
constructed as that each side and end or other part of the face thereof shall,
independently of the others, have its separate bearing upon the latter, whereas
the sliding part of this description of valves is usually made of one piece of
metal, whereby the whole face forms one uniform bearing only, and con-
sequently each side and end or other part thereof cannot, independantly of the
others, adjust itself to the nozzle, or block, or to the seat against which it
works. The seat plate forms a facing to the cylinder block in which the
opening or openings for the entrance and exit of the steam, gasses, or other
fluids to and from the cylinder are formed, and is so constructed as to lessen
its liability to become uneven by unequal expansion by heat.
Thirdly, an improved method of lubricating engine pistons, piston rods, and
valves or cocks, with oil, melted tallow, or other proper lubricating matter or
mixture of matters. This consists in effecting a circuitous route thereof
through the valves or cocks, working cylinders, and other parts of steam or
other engines, separating such oil or other lubricating matter from the elastic
or non-elastic fluids on their quitting such engines in commixture with each
other, in order that such oil or other lubricating matter may be again passed
through the valves or cocks, cylinders, and other parts of the engines; thus
forming through them, as above stated, a continuous circulation of the same
oil or other lubricating matter, with occasional additions only to supply and
replace any waste thereof which may take place in the working of the engine.
Fourthly, an improved method of condensing the steam and of supplying
water to the boilers of such engines as are wrought by a vacuum produced by

page_text: condensation. This consists of a method of causing the water resulting from
the condensation of steam to become itself the internal condensing water,
which (after having performed its office of condensation, and having been
separated by the process or method before mentioned from the oil or other
lubricating matter which accompanies it on leaving the air pump) is returned
into the boilers again to undergo the same process, and so on in a regular
rotation. The result of which process is (the waste being always made up
by distilled or other sufficiently pure water) that none but such distilled or
pure water is internally used for condensation, or for supplying the boilers.
The condensation is carried on by means of a particular application of metallac
surfaces in conjunction with water herein-after described.
Having now stated in general terms the objects and methods comprized in
my Invention, I shall proceed, in the same order that I have already observed,
to describe them more fully, elucidating my description thereof by Drawings.
In describing the piston I shall consider it as attached to the lower end of
its rod, the same being in a vertical position. The piston consists of three
principal parts, viz*:-
Firstly, the middle part or block, which is attached to the lower end of the
piston rod by screwing them together, or by any other proper means.
Secondly, the lower párt or bottom, which is suspended underneath and
attached by screws to the middle block, which enters a little within such lower
part or bottom in such a manner as to allow the bottom, upon sufficient
pressure, to approach towards the middle block.
Thirdly, the upper part or cover which covers and receives into it a little of
the upper side of the middle block in such a manner as to allow the cover (as
has been mentioned with respect to the bottom) to approach towards the
middle block. In the centre of this cover is a hole through which the piston
rod passes when the cover is put upon the middle block, and the hole is
chambered at the top to form a recess for receiving packing round the piston
rod, and a ring to cover and press upon the packing.
These three parts will be more fully explained by the following description
and the accompanying Drawings, in which similar letters and numerals are
used to denote similar parts in all the Figures. A 1, 2, 3, and 4, Fig: 1, áre
views of the middle block, A 1 shewing its upper and A 2 its under side; A 8,
being a section of it as cut across in the direction and situation shewn by
dotted lines from a tó a; and A 4 being also a section of it as cut across in
the direction and situation shewn by dotted lines from 6 to b. B 1, 2, 3, and 4;
in Fig. 2, are views of the piston bottom, B1 shewing its upper and B2 its
under side; B 3, being a section of it as cut across in the direction and situation

page_text: shewn by dotted lines from e to e; and B 4, being also a section of it as cut across
in the direction and situation shewn by dotted lines from fto f. C 1, 2, 3,
and 4, Fig. 3, are views of the piston cover, C 1 shewing its upper and C2 its
under side; C 3, being a section of it as cut across in the direction and situation
shewn by dotted lines from g to g; and C 4, being also a section of it as cut
across in the direction and situation shewn by dotted lines from h to h. Fig. 4
shews sections of all the three parts of the piston when packed and put
together by screws in the manner hereafter to be explained; vizt: A 3 is the
section of the middle block, as shewn separately by A 3, Fig. 1; B 3 is the
section of the bottom, as shewn separately by B 3, Fig. 2; and C 3 is the sec-
tion of the cover, as shewn separately by C3, Fig. 3. D is the packing.
Fig. 5 shews the other sections of all the three parts of the piston when
packed and put together as above mentioned; viz*: A 4 is the section of the
middle block, as shewn separately by A 4, Fig. 1; B4 is the section of the
bottom, as shewn separately by B 4, Fig. 2; and C 4 is the section of the cover,
as shewn separately by C 4, Fig. 3. Fig. 6 is a side view or elevation of the
piston when packed and put together as above mentioned, B being the bottom,
C the cover, and D the packing. The three principal parts of the piston are
put together as follows:-The bottom is suspended from and attached to the
middle block by screws p, p, Fig. 4. These are screwed into the holes in the
bottom o, o, Figs. 2 and 4, and on putting the bottom to the block enter into
the holes therein, i, i, Figs. 1 and 4. The upper parts of these holes are
enlarged so as to receive the nuts q, q, which are screwed on the screws p, p,
till the bottom is brought up into its proper situation, viz, so as to leave a
space of about three fourths of an inch between it and the block; the lock
nuts r, r, must then be put tightly on the screws p, p, to keep the nuts q, q,
firmly in their places. These lock nuts and screws are shewn separately in
Fig. 4. In putting on the cover the packing D must first be inserted in its
place, and the perforated bosses 1, 1, Figs. 3 and 5, must enter the recesses
of the middle block k, k, Figs. 1 and 5, the screws 8, s, being screwed
into the holes j, j, at the bottoms of the recesses; then, by putting on
the nuts t, t, which enter the perforations m, m, of the bosses, Figs. 3 and 5,
the cover is forced down till the packing is brought into its situation, so
as to press very firmly against the sides of the cylinder within which the
piston is to work. The lock screws u, u, are to be put into the nutts t, t, with
considerable force, so as to press hard upon the screws 8, 8, and prevent the
nuts from coming off the screws. The plugs v, v, are put into the cover to
close the holes or perforations m, m, of the bosses 1, 1. These screws and nuts
are shewn separately in Fig. 5. The recess w, C 1, 3, and 4, Figs. 3, 4, and 5,

page_text: forms a stuffing box round the piston rod to be filled with packing, which is
pressed by the circular plate or ring x, x, C3 and 4, by means of screws,
into contact with the piston rod, so as to make it sufficiently steam tight.
The faces of the bottom and cover which come into contact with the packing,
and are shewn in the Drawings as being at an angle of forty-five degrees
with the sides of the piston, may be made so as to form any other angle
therewith which may be preferred.
Secondly, in describing my improved valve, I shall premise that although
I describe a valve of a particular construction, that is only by way of example,
for I lay claim, as herein-after mentioned, to my method of self-adjustment
in all the usual kinds of slide valves to which it is applicable. The valve,
as already stated, consists of two principal parts, viz, the sliding frame and
the seat plate on which it works. A 1, 2, 3, & 4, Fig. 7, are views of the
sliding frame, A 1 shewing the face, and A 2 the back thereof. a, a, and b, b,
are grooves to receive the packing, which may be composed of strips of linen
or cotton cloth cut exactly the widths and lengths of the grooves, so as to fit
into them correctly; but before the packing is put into the grooves there must
be inserted at the bottoms thereof four strips or bars of iron or other metal,
in the manner hereafter mentioned. A 3 shews the face of the sliding frame
with those four metallic strips so inserted. Two of them are made the
lengths and widths of the grooves b, b, and are to enter freely into them to
rest at their bottoms. The other two strips are to be inserted at the bottoms
of grooves a, a, and are to be just long enough to fill the spaces between the
other strips. All the four strips are to be of equal thickness, so as to form,
when in the grooves, a level and regular bottom or bearing for the packing to
rest upon.
Side and end views of one of these strips or bars are shewn
separately by d, d, Fig. 10. A 4 is another view of the face of the sliding frame,
shewing the grooves b, b, full of packing e, e, and two plates which I call
face plates f, f, in their proper situations. These face plates have ribs at
their backs which enter grooves a, a, to keep them in their places. The
spaces in the grooves a, a, between the face plates and the iron strips d, d,
are, as before stated, filled with packing, the ends of which abut to and press
against the packing in the grooves b, b. Side and end views of a face plate
are shewn separately by f, f, Fig. 10. B 1, 2, 3, and 4, Fig. 8, are views
of the seat plate, made of steel or other proper material, upon which the
sliding frame with its face plates and packing works; B 1 being the front,
B 2 the back, and B 3 the side thereof. B 4 is a section of it, being cut in the
direction and situation shown by dotted lines in B 1 and 2. B 5 is another
section of it cut down the middle; so as to separate the front from the back

page_text: in the direction and situation shown by dotted lines in B 3 and 4. i, i, in
B 3, 4, and 5, shew hollow channels formed in the seat plate h, h. B 1 are
small holes in the front of the seat plate connecting with such hollow channels
to admit the steam or other fluids to enter and pervade them freely. These
channels are formed with a view to render the whole of the seat plate of a
more uniform temperature when at work, and less liable to warp and become
unlevel by unequal expansion.
Having described the valve, I shall proceed to explain how the whole is
attached to the block of the working cylinder. C 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, & 7, Fig. 9,
are views thereof; C 1 being the front, C 2 the side, and C 3 the end view.
C 4, 5, and 6 are also front, side, and end views, shewing the valve and seat
plate fixed in their places; and C 7 is a section of them thus put together,
being cut down the middle in the direction and situation shewn by dotted
lines in C 4 and 6. k, k, in C 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7, shew the cylinder block,
to be faced by the seat plate; D, in C, 5, 6, and 7, is the seat plate, and f,f,
C 6 and 7, are the valve face plates. e, e, C7, is the cloth packing that
bears against them and presses them in contact with the seat plate. d. d, C7,
are the metallic strips placed in the bottoms of the grooves a, a, A 1, Fig. 7.
m, m, C 4, 5, 6, and 7, are flat metallic bars; and n, C 4, 5, 6, and 7, is
a plate of iron or other metal. These bars and plate are to attach the valve
to the cylinder block and retain it in its proper situation. These bars and
plate are shewn separately in Fig. 10. The shoulders formed in the bars
m, m, are to keep the seat plate pressing towards the cylinder block, there
being inserted and pressed between the seat plate and the cylinder block
about a dozen thicknesses of linen or cotton cloth steeped in oil, which should
be well stitched together so as to form one uniform packing of proper thick-
ness. This should be pressed so firmly between the seat plate and cylinder
block before the bars m, m, are put in their places as to keep the packing in
such a compressed state as to prevent the steam, gas, or other fluid from
passing between them. Holes must of course be cut in the cloth forming the
packing to correspond with the openings in the seat plate and cylinder block.
In the sides of the cylinder block and the seat plate recesses are cut to receive
the bevilled parts of the bars m, m; those in the seat plate are shewn by t, t,
B 1, 2, and 5, Fig. 8, and those in the block by t, t, 1 & 2, Fig. 9. There
are similar recesses cut in the plates n marked also t, t, Fig. 10, to receive
the straight parts of the bars m, m. o, o, C 5, 6, and 7, Fig. 9, are metallic
bars to press upon the back of the valve lying in the shallow grooves therein,
as shewn by g, g, A 2, Fig. 7. Back and end views of these bars are shewn
separately o, o, Fig. 10. The pressure of these bars upon the valve is effected

page_text: by screws p, p, which are screwed into the holes q, q, tapped in plate n, as
shown in Fig. 10. Lock nuts are put on those screws to screw tightly and
lock against the plate n, thereby securing the screws firmly in their places.
There are shallow holes bored in the backs of the bars o, o, to receive the
points of the screws p, p, and keep the bars in their places when in their
working position. By these bars and screws the slide frame is pressed
against the seat plate, and the regulation of the pressure of the valve face
plates and packing in grooves b, b, against the seat plate is effected by the
screws 8, 8, C 5, 6, and 7, which enter and screw into the holes c, c, in the
back of the slide frame, and press upon the metallic strips d, d, as already
mentioned. These bear upon and compress the packing within the grooves.
Such valves as are required to have steam-tight packings at the backs thereof,
and cannot in consequence have adjusting screws, as here described, may have
grooves at the sides to receive the packing, which must be pressed in with sufficient
force to cause it to act by its own elasticity, or a spring may be inserted at
the bottoms of the grooves, underneath the metallic strips on which the packing
rests. Uby C 6, shewn separately in Fig. 10, is a flat metallic bar bent at one
end, and attached by screws passing through the holes j, j, in the back of the.
slide frame, to receive the spindle for working such slide frame. The spindle
is attached to the bar by screwing it into the hole v, w. C 4, 5, 6, and 7,
is the spindle so attached for moving the slide frame upwards and downwards,
with its face plates and packing bearing against the seat plate x, x. C 7 is
the section of a box to be put over and enclose the valve, and to be screwed
to the cylinder block. y is a pipe to introduce the steam, gas, or other fluids
into the box on their way to the working cylinder, the entrance and exit to.
and from which are effected by the passages 1, 1; and the escape of such
steam, gas, or other fluids to the atmosphere or condenser takes place through
the middle passage 2, 2, in C 1 and 7, Fig. 9. z, z, in C 4, Fig. 9, and
shewn separately in Fig. 10, are holes perforated in the plate n, through
which a wrench is introduced to adjust the screws 8, 8, in the sliding frame of
the valve.
Thirdly, my method of lubricating engine pistons, piston rods, and valves or
cocks, consists of the repeated injection, either by a small forcing pump (which
may be worked by the engine) or by other means, of the same oil, melted
tallow, or other lubricating matter or mixture of matters, into the working
cylinder, or into the pipe which leads thereto from the boiler or generator.
But I prefer injecting the oil or other lubricating matter into the pipe between
the throttle valves and the valve or valves, cock or cocks, by which the
entrance and exit of the steam, gas, or other fluids to and from the working

page_text: cylinder are effected, for the lubrication in that case takes place underneath
the piston during its ascent, as well as above it during its descent, and by this
means the oil or other matter first lubricates the valve or valves, cock o
cocks, and then performs the same office to the piston and piston rod. After
which, if the engine be of the high-pressure description, it is ejected from the
working cylinder in commixture with the steam, gas, or other fluids, into a
vertical pipe of sufficient length and diameter to allow the lubricating matters
to subside and prevent their escaping with the elasting fluids. The upper end
of this pipe is open to the atmosphere, the lower one terminating in a vessel
which I call a separator or separating vessel, containing a quantity of water.
One or more of these vessels may be used. I have in these Drawings
delineated the plans and elevations of three of them, B1, B2, and B 3,
Fig. 11. C is the vertical pipe; a is a branch therefrom, which, in high-
pressure engines, is connected with the channel or pipe through which the
steam, gas, or other fluid escapes into the atmosphere from the working
cylinder, and which, in condensing engines, is connected with or leads from
the discharge valve of the air pump, B1 is the first separator, into which the
lower end of pipe C enters, so as to be immersed to the depth of about twenty-
four inches in the water, the height whereof is shewn by dotted lines r, r.
If the oil or other lubricating matter be in commixture with gasses which are
non-condensible by cold, the gasses will escape into the atmosphere through
the upper end of pipe C, while the lubricating matter will be deposited on the
surface of the water in the separator B 1. If the engine be wrought by
steam, and it be a high-pressure engine without condensation, the oil or other
lubricating matter will be ejected from it with the steam and any water which
may be produced by the condensation of a small portion thereof. The uncon-
densed steam itself will, as is above described of the gasses, escape into the
atmosphere, and the oil or other lubricating matter will, in commixture with
the water, fall into the separator. The water, from its superior specific gravity,
subsides to the bottom of the separator, while the greater part of the oil
or other lubricating matter floats at the top, and from thence a pipe b conducts
it to be again injected by the small forcing pump, or other means, into the
pipe leading from the boiler or generator to the working cylinder, or into the
cylinder itself. Thus a regular circuitous and continuous route of oil or other
lubricating matter is effected through the valve or valves, cock or cocks, and
working cylinder of the engine, and a very abundant lubrication takes place
at a comparatively small expence, or loss of oil, or other lubricating matter.
At or near the bottom of the separator B 1, a pipe c is attached to convey the
water to separator B 2, as it separates and subsides from the oil or other

page_text: lubricating matter in B 1; a second pipe, c 2, conveys in like manner the
water from B 2 to B 3; and a third pipe, c 3, conveys it away from B 3 for
supplying the boiler. These pipes reach up as near to the tops of the sepa-
rators as the oil or other lubricating matter is required to be kept within them.
The water passing from the first separator may possibly retain a small portion
of oil or other lubricating matter, but by being thus conveyed into a second,
a third, or any other number of separating vessels, it is sufficiently separated;
for what little oil or other lubricating matter may escape from the first
separator will pass to and float for the most part at the tops of the other
separators, and may occasionally be taken therefrom and put into the first
separator. When this method of lubricating is applied to a condensing
engine, the oil or other lubricating matter will not pass immediately from the
steam or working cylinder to the separator or separators, but will accompany
the steam, whether condensed or not, through the condenser and air pump,
lubricating in its passage the piston and piston rod, as well as the foot
and discharge valves thereof. The water in commixture with the oil or other
lubricating matter must then, as already intimated, be conveyed from the air
pump to the branch a of the vertical pipe, the lower end whereof enters, as
already stated, into the water contained in the first separator. When they are
separated, as already described, the oil or other lubricating matter is to be
drawn by the forcing pump or other means from the pipe 6, at the top of the
first separator, and conveyed to the working cylinders of condensing engines, or
to the pipe leading thereto, precisely in the same way that has been described
as proper to be adopted in high-pressure engines. I prefer oil or other lubri-
cating matter that is fluid at a low temperature, to tallow or other matter,
which requires a considerably higher degree of heat to cause it to be in a fluid
state, as tallow or other similar matter would, at a low temperature, become
in some degree solid, and in condensing engines might clog the refrigerating
pipes when the water therein is reduced (as is desirable, to the lowest possible
degree of temperature, and in high pressure engines would become so solid as
to stop the pipes leading from the separators to the forcing pump, and from
thence to the steam pipe or working cylinder, unless some means were
adopted of heating those matters. When, therefore, I use tallow or other
such material as aforesaid, in low or high-pressure engines, I adopt any
proper and well-known means of keeping it in a state of fluidity by the
application of heat.
Fourthly, my improved method of condensing steam, and of supplying water
to the boilers of such engines as are wrought by a vacuum produced by con-
densation, consists, so far as relates to the condensing of steam, of an improved

page_text: mode of using a system of metallic surfaces, which may be composed of vessels,
channels, passages, or pipes, of any convenient form and arrangement, for
condensing the steam and cooling the water resulting therefrom in its passage
from the condenser to the air pump. This system of metallic surfaces, which
I have represented in the Drawing as horizontal pipes, I call the refrigerator,
and the pipes k, k, of which it is composed the refrigerating pipes. C, Fig. 13,
is a plan of the refrigerator. D 1 is a section of it, as cut in the direction
and situation shewn by dotted lines from e to e, and D 2 is another section
of it, as cut in the direction and situation shewn by dotted lines from f to f
E is a pipe leading from the working cylinder to the condenser. F is the con-
denser, being a chamber connected with the internal surfaces of the refrige-
rating pipes by one end of each of them entering and opening into it. G is a
similar chamber, but somewhat narrower, connected with the internal surfaces
by the opposite ends of the pipes opening into it. These pipes should be in as
horizontal and level a position as convenient, and upon each end of every one
of them must be affixed a cap. These caps are intended to cause the pipes to
be occupied by water, and not principally (as is usual) by steam. The caps
effect this by retarding the passage through the pipes of the water produced by
the condensation of the steam. In the upper part of each cap a hole or holes
must be made to allow the steam, water, air, and any other matter that may
accompany them, to enter into the pipes by the ends projecting into the con-
denser F, and pass through them, and afterwards to escape into chamber G.
The aggregate areas of the holes in the caps on those ends which enter into
the condenser should be about equal to the area of the pipe that conveys the
steam from the steam cylinder to the condenser, and the holes in the caps on
the opposite ends of the pipes, videlicit, those which enter the chamber G,
should be considerably less. I use them of about one tenth part of such area
in an engine with a working cylinder nineteen inches in diameter, the piston
making a two feet stroke. To shew the mode in which the refrigerating pipes
are passed through and affixed to the two plates which form the ends of the
refrigerator, two small portions of the latter and the detached ends of the
former are drawn to the full size within red lines in Fig. 13, J 1 and J 2
being the pipe ends, and K 1 and K 2 portions of the plates. L2 and L 3 are
the caps
which are put on the pipe ends L 2, shewing the ends of the caps.
and L 3 sections thereof cut across in the direction and situation shewn by
dotted lines from p to p in L 2. The pipe end J 1 is screwed into the
plate K 1, and projects through it sufficiently to receive the cap. The holes
on one side of that plate, as well as the cap, are countersunk, so as to form a
recess between them to receive a cotton, hempen, or other ring of packing 2, q,

page_text: g
which, being pressed very tightly by screwing the cap on the pipe end, forms a
sufficiently steam-tight joint. The other pipe end J 2 passes in a similar
manner through plate K 2, except that it does not screw into it as pipe J 1
does into plate K 1, on which account two joints are made at this end of
the pipes by the holes in the plate being countersunk at both sides thereof,
one joint being made by the countersunk cap as before described, and the
other by the countersunk nut r on the other side of the plate. In the upper
sides of the caps are cut the apertures s and t, the former being, as I use them,
of about one tenth of the area of the others, as before mentioned. H, H, is a
cistern, which may be of any convenient shape and kind, besides that here
delineated, containing the refrigerating pipes. A stream of cold water should
constantly flow through it by which the external surfaces of the pipes are
enveloped. g is a pipe to conduct the cold water into the cisterns, and his
another by which the water is carried away. In order to distribute the water
flowing through the pipe 9 equally over the upper part of the cistern, there
may be placed in such upper part, beneath the mouth of the pipe g, an
horizontal plate to fit in the upper part of the cistern, which plate should be
throughout perforated with numerous small holes. The pipe must be
continued (taking an upward direction) so as to be high enough to keep the
cistern sufficiently full of water. i, i, is a plate perforated with a great number
of small holes placed in the condenser to equalize the entrance of the steam
into the refrigerating pipes, and prevent its otherwise rushing with violence
into some of them and scarcely entering at all into others. The aggregate
area of these holes should be about equal to the area of the pipe which
conveys the steam from the steam cylinder to the condenser. My improved
method of condensing steam and supplying water to the boilers as aforesaid,
so far as relates to the supplying of the water to the boilers, consists in
effecting the repetition of the following routine of water and steam through
the steam engine. The water with which the boilers are in the first instance
supplied, having issued from them in the form of steam, passes through the
working cylinder and is then reconverted (by the condensing process before
described) into water, in which state it proceeds through the refrigerator, air
pump, and separators, when being separated by the latter from the oil or other
lubricating matter, it is again supplied to the boilers instead of being taken
as is usual for that purpose on quitting the air pump without separation, and
of course in commixture with the lubricating matter which is supplied to and
passes through the engine. The effect of this routine or method of supplying
water to boilers is, that the same separated water repeatedly enters into them
instead of the mixture of water with lubricating matter and impurities which

page_text: accompany it when supplied to the boilers in the usual manner.
The waste
of water necessarily arising from working may be supplied by distilled or
other sufficiently pure water. I must here observe that the water may be
heated on its passage from the separators to the boilers, by the well known
means of passing it through pipes placed within the condenser, and that the
separators and refrigerating pipes as well as the boilers should be filled with
pure water preparatory to working the engines.
The particular parts of the apparatus and methods which constitute my
Inventions, and to which I lay claim, I shall now mention and distinguish in
the same order as before observed, as follows:―
Firstly, my improved piston, which consists in the apparatus already
described for causing the pressure of the steam, gas, or other fluid, when
acting against the bottom as well as when acting against the cover of the
piston, to press the packing more or less forcibly outwards and against the
sides of the cylinder within which it works, according as the pressure on the
piston is greater or less.
Secondly, my improved valve, which consists of such an arrangement of
parts as shall enable each side and end or other part of the face of the sliding
part to adjust itself as herein described to the seat plate, independently of the
others; and of a perforated seat plate for such sliding parts to work upon,
which is capable of being removed from the cylinder to which it is attached.
An ample lubrication of the packing of my improved piston and valve being
essential to its preservation and effectual operation, especially in high-pressure
engines, I claim my improved piston, and my improved valve, before described,
each severally in conjunction with and in combination with my improved
method of lubricating before described.
Thirdly, my improved method of lubricating engine pistons, piston rods, and
valves or cocks, which consists in the use of an apparatus capable of effecting
the separation of the oil or other lubricating matter used in reciprocating
engines (whether they be high-pressure or condensing engines), and of pre-
venting, in the latter, the mixing of dirty water with the oil or other matter
from the steam and water or gasses, on their quitting the engines in commix-
ture with each other, and returning with uniformity and regularity such oil
or other lubricating matter, with occasional requisite additions only, to repeat
as long as required the lubrication of the various parts of the engines, as
already described.
Fourthly, my improved method of condensing steam and supplying water
to the boilers of such engines as are wrought by a vacuum produced by con-
densation, which consists in the mode I have described of applying a system

page_text: of metallic surfaces to condense, or assist in condensing, steam in its passage
from the working cylinder to the air pump, and returning the water, after
passing the separators as before described, to the boilers. To the application
of metallic surfaces generally for the purpose of condensation, whether in the
form of vessels, channels, grooves, pipes, or otherwise, I do not lay claim. But
I do claim the improved method of applying them as already described,
videlicit, by keeping them occupied by water, by caps, plugs, partitions, or by
any other suitable means (instead of being for the most part filled, as is usual,
with steam) equalizing the entrance of the steam into such vessels, channels,
grooves, or pipes, by the perforated plate placed in the condenser, or by any
other proper means. Although I prefer the use of the metallic surfaces alone,
as I have described, I reserve to myself the privilege of using this part of
my Invention, in connection with a partial injection of cold water in the usual
way, to effect a sufficient condensation, for in some cases it may not be con-
venient to adopt so extensive a system of metallic surfaces as is necessary,
and in some situations an ample supply of cold water cannot be obtained to
come in contact with the external surfaces of the vessels, channels, passages,
or pipes used to constitute the refrigerator.
In witness whereof, I, the said Samuel Hall, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-second day of June, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and thirty-two.