IMPROVE- MENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF STEAM ENGINES, AND IN THE MODE OF WORKING THE SAME
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Ferrabee, of the Phoenix Iron Works, Stroud,
in the County of Gloucester, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF STEAM ENGINES, AND IN THE MODE OF
WORKING THE SAME."
Sealed the 3rd June 1859, and dated the 13th December 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Ferrabee at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
13th December 1858.
I, JAMES FERRABEE, of the Phoenix Iron Works, Stroud, in the County of
Gloucester, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF STEAM ENGINES, AND IN THE MODE OF
WORKING THE SAME," to be as follows:-
These improvements relate first to a novel mode of working the cut-off
valves of steam engines; secondly, to an improved method of constructing
cylinders and jackets with their covers, and combining two cylinders in
engines known as duplex cylinder direct-acting engines; thirdly, to a method
of passing a current of hot air round the jackets of cylinders to superheat
the steam in them, and subsequently conducting the air so employed to the
boiler furnace or the air-heating apparatus.
For working cut-off valves, I use a pair of spur wheels in connexion with a
Price Sd

page_text: crank and rod attached to the valve rod or to a way shaft connected with the
cut-off valve. One of these wheels is made fast on the crank shaft of the
engine, and the other is mounted in a frame that is supported on and is
capable of swinging round the crank shaft. The wheel keyed to the crank
shaft is twice the size of that carried by the swinging frame. The small
wheel has for its axle a crank shaft, by which the cut-off valve is worked, and
the swinging frame is so connected with the governor as to allow the small
wheel with its crank to roll round the larger wheel in either direction as the
governor balls rise or fall, thereby causing the valve to alter the time of its
cut so as to regulate the supply of steam to the cylinder without reducing its
pressure. This arrangement enables me to dispense with the ordinary throttle
valve. In connecting the gear of the cut-off valve to the governor, I arrange
it in such a way as to cause the action of the governor on the valve to cease
when all the steam is cut off on the full quantity being admitted. I also
arrange the gearing of the cut-off valve in such a manner that the attendant
may regulate it to cut off the steam at any portion of the stroke of the piston
while the engine is in motion.
In constructing cylinders according to my Invention, I cast the jacket and
cylinder in one piece, and make both the cover and bottom of the cylinder
hollow, so that the steam in the jacket will circulate through them when
screwed in their places. I connect the two cylinders of duplex cylinder
engines with their jackets together, so that the steam admitted into the jackets
may have free access to the case of the cut-off valve, and from it to the
cylinders. The cylinders and jackets and their valve cases I surround with
another jacket or case, leaving a space between for the circulation of hot air.
I connect the two piston rods together with a crosshead, and the crosshead to
the crank pin by a connecting rod and joints. Suitable guides attached to the
cylinders or the framework, and adjusting plates to the crosshead, are used to
take the thrust of the crank and keep the piston rods in their proper line.
In the flue at the end of the boiler I place a chamber filled with a number
of tubes in such a way as to allow all the heated gases after they have left the
boiler to pass through the tubes on their way to the chimney; this chamber
I connect with the case surrounding the jackets of the steam cylinder, and
I pass the pipe that conveys steam from the boiler to the jackets through the
tube that connects the hot-air chamber and the case together. The hot-air
chamber is furnished with a valve for admitting air. Attached to or connected
with the case that surrounds the jackets is a revolving fan (driven by the
engine) for drawing the air from the heated chamber into the cylinder case
and discharging it into the boiler furnace, hot-air chamber, or chimney, as

page_text: desired. The hot-air chamber may be beated by an additional fire or by a flue
from the boiler furnace, fitted with a regulator if desirable, the object of the
arrangement being to superheat the steam in the cylinder jackets immediately
before its admission to the cylinder. If found more convenient, the hot air
may be driven through the case, or hot-air chambers may be formed round
the boiler flues.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said James Ferrabee in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
13th June 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
FERRABEE, of the Phoenix Iron Works, Stroud, in the County of Gloucester,
Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of December, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-second year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said James Ferrabee, Her special license that I, the said James Ferrabee, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said James
Ferrabee, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION
OF STEAM ENGINES, AND IN THE MODE OF WORKING THE SAME," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said James Ferrabee, by an instrument in writing
under my hand and seal, 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 James Ferrabee, do hereby declare the
nature of my 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, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the
letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
My Invention relates firstly to a novel mode of working the cut-off valves

page_text: of steam engines, and consists in the use of an improved combination of parts,
whereby the supply of steam to the cylinder is cut off at any portion of the
stroke of the piston by a continuous motion of a cut-off valve, the time of the
cut-off being altered by the rising or falling of the governor balls, and the
supply of steam to the cylinder regulated without the intervention of a
throttle valve.
My Invention relates, secondly, to the construction and setting up of the
cylinders of steam engines, with the view of maintaining or increasing the
elasticity of the steam supplied thereto when discharged from the boiler. This
part of the Invention, which has reference chiefly to duplex cylinder engines,
consists in constructing the cylinders and jackets in one piece,in forming the
cylinder heads (which are made hollow) and attaching them so as to admit of
the steam from the jacket circulating through them, and in placing the
cylinders with the valve boxes in a close case made of iron or other suitable
material, and which case is connected by a pipe communicating with a hot air
chamber filled with a number of tubes placed in the flues at the end of the
boiler, whence hot air is drawn by a revolving fan and discharged into the
case, and after circulating through the case, and imparting heat to the steam in
the jackets, is returned again to the chamber, or it may be to the fireplace,
or to the chimney, as thought desirable.
In the accompanying Drawing, Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a portion of
the apparatus for working the cut-off valve according to my Invention, and
Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same; Fig. 3 is an elevation, partly in section,
of the governor for regulating the movements of the cut-off valve.
A is the cut-off valve connected by a guide rod B (which works through a
stuffing box in the valve chest C) by means of a connecting rod B¹ to a
crank a on a short shaft b, which shaft turns in bearings in a swinging frame
1 mounted loosely on the crank shaft E of the engine. On the shaft b is
fixed a wheel c, gearing into a wheel d fixed on the crank shaft E. The small
wheel cis half the diameter of the large wheel d, and makes two revolutions
for one of the wheel d. One extremity only of the slide valve A passes the
steam portf formed in the partition e of the valve box C. The slide valve A
makes a forward and a return stroke while the piston is making one stroke,
and in so doing it admits steam to the main slide valve F between the time
that that valve closes one cylinder port and opens the other. The time that
the port fremains open depends upon the distance the edge of the valve A
travels after opening the port f, which distance may be varied by rolling the
wheel c with its crank a round the wheel d, the crank of the shaft E being so
set as always to admit the steam to the main slide valve F at the proper

page_text: time. The swinging frame D, carrying the wheel c, with its shaft b and
crank a, is supported in position on the crank shaft E by a carriage G
fixed to the main frame H of the engine. Jointed to the swinging carriage
D) is a rod for establishing the connexion between it and the governor.
For the purpose of altering the cut-off valve by hand when the swinging
frame D is disconnected from the governor, a hand lever I is provided,
which being fixed to the frame D, and furnished with a catch i, may be
retained at any required position by the catch locking into a notched guide
K standing up from the main framing H.
The governor for working the swinging frame D transmits its regulating
power through a traversing screw and bell crank lever or other suitable con-
trivance to the rod h (Fig. 1), in the manner which I will now explain. The
rotary motion of the crank shaft E is communicated by bevel gearing in the
usual manner to the vertical spindle E' of the governor, and the rotation of
this spindle causes the pendulous weighted arms L, L, which are jointed to
the upper end of the spindle, to raise or fall according to the speed at which
the spindle is driven. Sliding freely on the spindle is a tube 1, which is con-
nected at its upper end to the pendulous arms L, L, by rods m, m. Keyed to
the opposite end of the sliding tube are the friction wheels n, n¹, which are
slightly conical on their periphery, and are made to fit into conical seats
formed in the back of the bevel wheels o, o', for the purpose of driving the
same. The bevel wheels o, o', are loose on the tube 7, and are supported by
collars p, p, attached to the spindle E' by cottars passing through mortices in
the tube l. In gear with the bevel wheels o, o', is the bevel pinion q, which
has a long boss threaded inside to receive a screwr; this screw r is fitted with
clutch collars s, t, which are made fast to it, and it is carried by a bracket u.
On opposite sides of the collars are two springs s², s2, (see the detached view
Fig.4,) which prevent the screw r from revolving by pressing against the edge
of a guide v on the bracket u. As the pendulous arms with the tube / rise, the
friction wheel n' is brought into contact with the wheel o¹, and driving it
round imparts motion to the bevil pinion q, and thus causes the screw r to
traverse, which being connected by a crank lever or other suitable contrivance
(as before mentioned) to the rod h (Fig. 1), will move the swinging frame D
and thereby alter the range of traverse of the cut-off valve. To prevent the
governor from overwinding the screw 2, one or other of the springs st, s2, will
slip off the guide when the screw has reached the end of its traverse, and thus
allow the screw to revolve with the wheel q in the required direction, the
other spring remaining meanwhile on- the guide to hold the screw from
revolving when the motion is reversed. When the pendulous arms collapse,

page_text: the wheel
is thrown into contact with the wheel o, and the motions of the
pinion q and screw 7 are reversed; the swing frame D) is therefore moved
round the crank shaft E as its centre of motion in the opposite direction. To
facilitate the disconnection of the governor from the swinging frame D, I
prefer to couple it with the rod h by means of a catch i and sliding tube k,
as shewn at Fig. 1.
In the arrangement above described I have shewn the cut-off valve as a
flat slide valve; but the valve I prefer using in connexion with the governor is
the equilibrium cut-off valve shown in vertical section at Fig. 5 in connexion
with the ordinary slide valve, and in sectional plan view at Fig. 6. In these
Figures A is the casing containing the equilibrium cut-off valve B and the
ordinary slide valve C; D is a cover furnished with stuffing boxes to receive
the rods a, a', of the valves B and C; b, b, are steam ports connected with the
cylinder, and c the eduction port; d is the steam port for admitting steam
from the boiler to the interior of the valve B; g is a gland for guiding the
valve rod a. The equilibrium valve B consists of a skeleton frame attached to
the valve roda, turned so as to receive the expanding rings i, i, i, shewn
detached at Figure 7,) which are fitted into grooves formed in it; the cylin-
drical part K of the casing A is bored out truly, and the valve B works freely
therein. In the casing K the circular steam ports e, e, e, are formed opening
into the chamber f; a portion of each of these ports opposite the oblique
division in the expanding rings i, i, i, is closed up to render the valve steam-
tight. When this valve is substituted for the flat cut-off valve A, it is worked
in the same way, and the quantity of steam admitted to the cylinder is regu-
lated in like manner, as already described.
It is sometimes found desirable to work the cut-off equilibrium valve in the
manner shown in Figures 8 and 9, Fig. 8 being an elevation, and Fig. 9 a
plan view, of a modification of my improved cut-off arrangement. A is the
crank shaft of the engine; B, a spur wheel keyed fast upon it; C is a
spur wheel half the size of the wheel B, into which it gears and receives
motion therefrom. This wheel C is made fast on the shaft D, which revolves
in suitable bearings, and carries the two excentrics E and F; G and H are
the rods of these excentrics and jointed to opposite ends of a connecting link I;
K is a lever fast on a rocking shaft L, and carrying a pin b, over which the
link I slides; M is a lever for working the equilibrium cut-off valve already
described by means of suitable rods and connexions; N is a rod for connecting
the excentric rod G with a lever O, which works on a joint pin a as its fulcrum;
P is a rod connected with the governor; Q is a counterbalance weight on the
lever O. As the wheel C makes two revolutions for one of the wheel B, the

page_text: cut-off valve B, Figure 6 and 7, makes a forward and a return stroke while
the piston is completing one stroke.
The excentric rods G, H, are of different lengths, and are adjusted so that
when the pin in the lever K is at one end of the connecting link I at the
commencement of the stroke of the engine, the valve just covers the ports
e, e, c, and commences a stroke in the direction which closes them, thereby
totally excluding steam from the chamber f. When the pin b is at the other
end of the link I, the ports e, e, e, are open, and the full required quantity of
steam is admitted to the chamber fin connexion with the slide valve C. The
link I, together with the excentrics and rods are arranged and connected to
the cut-off valve, so as always to open the ports e, e, e, at the proper time; and
and as the pendulous arms of the governor rise and fall, the connecting link I
will be traversed over the pin 6 by means of the connexion established between
it and the governor (consisting of suitable rods and levers attached to the rod
P), and the quantity of steam necessary to keep the engine to its proper speed
will be admitted to the chamber fin connexion with the slide valve C.
The slide valve for opening and shutting the cylinder ports in each case is
worked by an excentric in the ordinary way. I would here remark that I do
not confine myself to the working of the cut-off valve by wheels direct from
the crank shaft, as it may be found convenient to take the motion through
other means.
Fig. 10 is a sectional elevation of a duplex cylinder engine, shewing the
manner of arranging the same to effect the object of the second head of my
improvements. A, A, are the steam cylinders surrounded by jackets B, B,
and fixed in a case C. In connexion with the case C is a revolving fan D
driven from any convenient part of the engine. The pipe E leading into
the bottom of the case C is connected with the hot-air chamber placed at
the end of the boiler, and within the pipe E is the steam pipe F com-
municating with the jackets B, B, of the cylinders and with the steam boiler.
A pipe G leads from the case C to the fan D, and is continued to the hot-air
chamber before referred to. This hot-air chamber is furnished with a valve
for regulating the admission of air. The hot-air chamber is fixed in the flues
at the end of the boiler, and the heated gases as they leave the boiler are
caused to pass through or around it on their way to the chimney, causing the
air within it to be considerably heated; und by the revolutions of the fan the
air so heated will be kept in constant circulation through the case C,
whereby the heat of the steam in the jackets will be maintained at, or even
increased to, a higher temperature than that in the boiler, and thus a con-
siderable economy in the generation of motive power will be effected.

page_text: Having now set forth the nature of my Invention of "Improvements in
the Construction of Steam Engines,and in the Mode of Working the same,"
and explained the manner of carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be
understood that, under the above in part recited Letters Patent, I claim,-
First, the means herein-before described for working the cut-off valves of
steam engines.
And, secondly, the means above described for maintaining the temperature
or superheating the steam before its admission (past the slide valves) into the
cylinders of duplex cylinder steam engines.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Ferrabee, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Tenth day of June, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
JAMES FERRABEE. (L.S.)