CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM FIRE-ENGINES
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to David Blake, of Manchester, in the County of Lan-
caster, Engineer, for the Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM
FIRE-ENGINES." A communication from abroad by Lysander Button and
Robert Blake of Waterford Now Vosk USA
Senled the 3rd January 1865, and dated the 5th July 1864.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said David Blake at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
5th July 1864.
I, DAVID BLAKE, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Engineer,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "CERTAIN IMPROVE-
MENTS IN STEAM FIRE-ENGINES," a communication to me from abroad by
Lysander Button and Robert Blake, of Waterford, New York, U.S.A., to be
as follows:-
The Invention consists in the combination of a steam cylinder containing two
pistons with a water cylinder containing two pistons, the said steam pistons
being moved to and from each other by the steam entering the valves
alternately between them and at each end, and are connected by piston rods
one working within the other. The pistons in the water cylinder are operated
upon by their connection with the steam pistons so as to work in concert with
them. The pistons in the water cylinder are supplied with valves, so that as
the pistons move to and from each other the water is received at one end of
the cylinder and discharged at the other, passing through the said pistons.
By this description of pump, and its combination with the engine operating as
described, a continuous discharge of water is obtained, and great force and

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said David Blake in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 5th
January 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, DAVID
BLAKE, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifth day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-eighth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said David Blake, Her special license that I, the said David Blake,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
David Blake, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter
during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use,
exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,
the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "CERTAIN IMPROVE-
MENTS IN STEAM FIRE-ENGINES," a communication to me from abroad by
Lysander Button and Robert Blake, of Waterford, New York, United States
of America, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said David
Blake, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my,
or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and
ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent
Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the
said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said David Blake, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement and accompanying Drawings (that is to say):-
:-
The Invention consists in the combination of a steam cylinder containing
two pistons with a water cylinder containing two pistons, the said steam
pistons being moved to and from each other by the steam entering by valves
alternately between them and at each end, and are connected by piston rods

page_text: one working within the other. The pistons in the water cylinder are operated
upon by their connection with the steam pistons so as to work in concert with
them. The pistons in the water cylinder are supplied with valves, so that as
the pistons move to and from each other the water is received at one end of the
cylinder and discharged at the other, passing through the said pistons. By
this description of pump, and its combination with the engine acting as
described, a continuous discharge of water is obtained, and great force and
power is given to the water ejected, and great regularity and uniformity in the
working and freedom from shaking is obtained.
In order that the Invention may be better understood and explained in
detail, and that others skilled in the art may be enabled to make and use my
Invention, I will proceed to describe the same and the construction and
operation of the apparatus, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings,
in which Fig. 1 is a side elevation; Fig. 2, a vertical longitudinal section
through the same; Figure 3, a plan view of the same; and Fig. 4, a section of
the valve and detached part of the cylinder having the steam ports, similar
letters of reference being marked upon corresponding parts in all the Figures.
I have not thought it necessary to represent the engine mounted upon a
carriage, as this may be done in any form which the judgment and taste of the
constructor may dictate. I construct a frame a, a, secured to the boiler,
partially represented at 6, upon which frame the steam cylinder is secured c,
and the water cylinder d, each having two pistons e, f, and g, h, one in each
cylinder, and g being secured to a hollow piston rod i, and the other two e
and being secured to the rod j, which works within the hollow rod i. The
shaft a¹ is placed upon bearings b', ', and upon each end of the said shaft wo
place balance wheels k, and between the bearings two cranks, to one of which
is connected the piston rod j by means of the connecting rod 7, and in the balance
wheels (one of which is removed in Fig. 1, so as to represent the parts behind
it) I place crank pins c', c', to which are attached the connecting rods d', d',
and the opposite ends are attached to a cross head m, which is secured to the
hollow piston rod i. The valve n is worked by means of the crank or eccentric
e¹, connected with the arm f¹ upon the rocking shaft g¹, and the valve rod h¹
being connected to the said rocking shaft by means of the arm . The steam
is admitted at the end of the cylinder through the ports ¹, j, when the valve
is in position, as in Fig. 2, forcing the steam pistons to the centre and the
water pistons to the ends of their respective cylinders, the steam exhausting
through the ports P, k³, and as the valve is changed the steam is admitted to the
centre port, and the several pistons are forced in opposite directions. To
accomplish these results the valve is peculiarly constructed so as only to require

page_text: a single valve to operate the two pistons, the opening m¹ admitting steam
to the port, and having a chamber n through which the steam exhausts
through the port k', when in position, as in Fig. 4, and at the opposite end by
way of the chamber o and the port k¹, at the same time admitting steam to
the centre through the opening p in the valve and port A, and thus alternately
working the tables as desired, the said pistons being governed in their exact
motion by means of the double cranks connected to the respective piston rods
as described, and securing a uniform and exact motion to the respective
pistons and valve as described and represented, thereby securing a simple and
compact construction, and the working of the pistons against each other in the
respective cylinders being such as to produce equalization of strain upon the
frame and steadiness of motion to the whole machine.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention, together with the
method of carrying the same into practical effect, I wish it to be distinctly
understood that I claim,-
First, the combination of two pistons moving in opposite directions at the
same time in one steam cylinder, operating two pistons in one water cylinder
(in opposite directions) connected by two piston rods, one working within the
other, the motions of which are governed by a double crank or other equivalent
having direct connection with the piston rods, substantially in the manner and
for the purpose described.
Secondly, I claim the construction of the single valve having openings and
chambers for the admission and exhaustion of the steam at the ends and
centre of the cylinder so constructed that both pistons are operated upon in
opposite directions at the same moment as herein-before described, set forth,
and fully illustrated in the Drawings attached.
In witness whereof, I, the said David Blake, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fourth day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and-sixty-five.
Witnessed by
JOHN L. DAVIES, C.E.,
Office for Patents,
Manchester.
DAVID BLAKE. (L.S.)