IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM ENGINES to be as follows
Year: 1884

page_text: We WILLIAM EVANS of 12 Caroline Street Princes Road Lambeth in the County
of Surrey Engineer, and HAROLD OTWAY of Thanet Lodge South Lambeth Road
in the said county of Surrey gentleman do hereby declare the nature of our
invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM ENGINES to be as follows:-
"
This invention consists of a peculiar form of oscillating engine, each working
cylinder being bored out transversely through a cylindrical block enclosed in a
casing in which the steam ports are situated. This cylindrical block contains the
stean passages which are placed in communication' with the steam and exhaust
ports in the casing as the block vibrates.
Three cylinders are placed in line so as to avoid dead points. The middle
cylinder has recesses to form bearings for the trunnions of the two outer cylinders.
The engine may when desired be worked expansively or compound.

page_text: We WILLIAM EVANS of 12 Caroline Street Princes Road Lambeth in the County
of Surrey Engineer and HAROLD OTWAY of Thanet Lodge South Lambeth Road
in the said County of Surrey Gentleman do hereby declare the nature of our
invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM ENGINES," and in what manner the samo
is to be performed to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement:—
This invention relates more particularly to that class of engine commonly known
as high speed engines and has for its object the simplifying of the construction of
engines by doing away with all connecting rods, slide valves, and eccentrics together
with their attendant rods straps sheaves and other parts.
The engine is of the oscillating type and may be worked either with high or low
pressure steam or the cylinders may have the ordinary proportions of compound
engines in which latter case the steam would be used expansively in the usual
manner and condensed or not as desired. The working cylinders, advantageously
three in number, are bored out of cylindrical blocks of any suitable metal in such
a manner that their axes shall bo at right angles to the axes of the cylindrical
blocks and are placed in line with a crank shaft having its cranks set at angles of
120 degrees from each other, each of the cylindrical blocks contains four steam
passages two of which lead from either side respectively to the ends of the
contained working cylinder and these as is hereinafter more particularly shown are
placed alternately in communication with steam and exhaust chambers formed in
or upon an outer cylindrical metallic casing within which the cylinders oscillate.
This outer cylindrical casing is of such dimensions as to allow of the cylindrical
blocks and any suitable packing rings with which they may be fitted, working
steam tight within it, suitable slots admitting of the passage through and requisite
movement within them of the piston rods and their stuffing boxes.
The casing is provided at each end with suitable covers having at their centres
outwardly projecting bosses which when bored out serve to carry the trunnions of
the outer cylinders, the axial guidance of the inner cylinder being effected by two
short trunnions which work in suitable recesses formed upon the outer cylinders.
The cylindrical casing has also formed upon or attached to it, two steam
chambers extending nearly its whole length, these communicate by means of
suitable openings with the steam passages of the oscillating cylinders when by
their oscillation the steam passages are brought to coincide with the openings.
The admission of steam to one or other of the steam chambers is controlled by
one or more two way cocks or valves communicating by means of suitable pipes
with the steam chambers, the same two-way cocks or valves and pipes also serving
to control the passage of and convey away the exhaust steam from the cylinders as
hereinafter described.
The admission of steam to the cylinders in the case of the compound engine is
controlled by suitably arranging the two way cocks or valves so as to pass the
steam in the desired order from cylinder to cylinder.
Provision is made for converting the compound engine into a high pressure
engine by admitting high pressure steam into each of the cylinders. This is effected
by slides moving in the steam chests and actuated by suitablo levers.

page_text: of drawings.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 is a longitudinal section, Figure 2 (sheet 1) a transverse section taken
on the line A B. Figure 3 is an elevation and Figure 4 (sheet 2) an end elevation
of a three cylinder engine arranged and constructed in accordance with my
invention.
a. a. a. are the cylinders each being bored out transversely through cylindrical
blocks of metal a. a. a¹, enclosed in the fixed casing 6 in which the steam ports b¹
are formed.
6* are movable doors to close the man holes or openings on each side of the
casing b. Steam passages a². a². are formed in each of the cylindrical blocks a¹
which are brought alternately into communication with the steam and exhaust
ports b. . in the casing b as the blocks a¹ vibrate.
The outer cylinders vibrate on the trunnions a³. a³. the middle cylinder being
formed with recesses to form bearings for the trunnions of the two outer cylinders
As shown.
c. c. c. are the pistons and c the piston rods which are connected to the
cranks d. d. on the crank shaft or driving axis & which passes through stuffing
boxes in the lower casing b containing oil and water.
e is the steam pipe and el. ex. are two way cocks coupled together by the
connecting rod e² the cocks being opened and closed by moving the lever es to
admit steam to one or other of the steam passages e³. e. on each side of the
cylinders by means of the branch pipes et. et.
When steam is admitted by the two way cock c¹ through one of the steam
pipes e to one of the steam passages e³ and through the port b' and passages a³ on
one side of the cylinders the steam passages a' on the opposite side become the
exhaust and when the steam is admitted by the pipe e to the steam passage e³ on
the opposite side then the steain passages a² in the cylinders (which had previously
been the inlet) become the exhaust and so on vice versa. Thus the motion of the
engine is reversed by simply turning the two way cocks to admit steam through
one of the branch pipes e and open the exhaust on the other according to the
direction the engine is required to rup.
It will be seen on examining the diagrams Figures 5 and 6 (which show
horizontal sections of the steam cocks e¹. e*.) that steam is admitted by the
cock el but that both cocks act to conduct the exhaust steam to the connecting
pipe e and outlet pipe e².
I will now describe my improvements in compound steam engines of this
character in which the steam acts expansively in each cylinder in succession.
Figure 7 shows a longitudinal section Figure 8 a transverse section and Figure 9
Sheet 3 an end view of a three cylinder oscillating compound steam engine
arranged in accordance with this part of my improvements. Figure 10 is a plan
in section of the steam passage on one side of the cylinders. Corresponding
parts are marked with similar letters of reference to those in Sheets 1 and 2.
The arrangement and construction of the engine is similar to that previously
described except that the steam cylinders a. a. a. are of different diameters to admit
of the due expansion of the steam in the several cylinders.
The three two-way cocks el. el. are connected together and are actuated as in the
previous arrangement the diagram Figure 12 showing the course of the steam in

page_text: its passages to the small high pressure cylinder and from it through the two larger
steam cocks and cylinders in succession nud finally away through the exhaust pipo.
This engine is reversed in the same manner as before by reversing the position of
the steam cocks to admit steam to one or other of the steam passages o³. e.
The steam passages are arranged independently of each other when the
compound engine is working expansivoly dead stopis being formed in the steam
passage by means of fixed projections of and movable projections g¹ formed on
the slides g which remain in the position shown in Figure 10 whilst the engine is
worked expansively.
When it is desired to work all the cylinders of the engine with high pressure
steam the slides g are moved into the position shown in the horizontal section
Figure 11 so that the steam can pass to all the cylinders a simultaneously as will
be readily understood on examining the drawing the arrows showing the direction
of the steam. In this condition the engine will act as in the arrangement shewn
in Sheets 1 and 2 of the drawings the steam being admitted through the steam
cock o' on one side and exhausted through the other two cocks and connecting
pipes on the opposite side of the cylinders.
The slides g. g. on each side of the cylinders are moved from one position to
another by means of suitable levers g'. g. fixed on the way shaft g³ actuated by
the hand lever g*.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed we declaro that we
make no claim to any of the parts separately which are well known and in common
use but what we claim is
First—The improved arrangement and construction of steam engines in which
three oscillating cylinders are combined so as to work in the same casing and
actuated either with high or low pressure steam substantially in the manner
herein before described and represented in Sheets 1 and 2 of the drawings annexed.
Second Wo claim the improved arrangement and construction of steam engines
in which three compound oscillating cylinders are arranged to work in the same
casing expansively or with high or low pressure steam substantially in the manner
herein before described and represented in Sheet 3 of the drawings annexed.
Third We claim the improved arrangement and construction of steam cylinders
such as a bored transversely through a cylindrical block of metal al enclosed so as
to oscillate in a casing whether worked separately therein or where two or more of
such cylinders are combined to work together in the same casing substantially in
the manner herein before described and represented in the drawings annexed,