to be Actuated by Steam or other Elastic Force.
Year: 1884

page_text: to be Actuated by Steam or other Elastic Force.
I, SAMUEL OCTAVIUS FERRY, Engineer, of 10 Blucher Street, Armley Road,
Leeds, in the County of York do hereby declare the nature of my invention
for AN IMPROVED ARRANGEMENT. OF COMPOUND MOTIVE POWER ENGINE TO BE
ACTUATED BY STEAM OR OTHER ELASTIC FORCE, to be as follows:-
The chief object of this invention is to provide a compound motive power engine
of simple construction suitable for driving dynamo and other machines at a high
speed and with great regularity.
To this end I arrange four cylinders in a line the first and fourth being high
pressure cylinders and the second and third being suitably proportioned to receive
the partially expanded steam from the high pressure cylinders. All the cylinders.}
are fitted with bucket pistons, the rods from which pass down from the open ended
cylinders and are connected to a four-throw crank. The four cylinders which may
form one casting receive steam from a forked steam pipe which is connected
to supply ports formed through walls of the cylinders 2 and and on opposite
sides of these two cylinders are situate the exhaust ports. The bucket or trunk
pistons in the cylinders 2 and 3 are cast with concentric passages at two different
levels. Thus the piston of cylinder No. 2 has an annular passage and above it two
segment passages, the annular passage being for the purpose of transmitting the
partially exhausted steam from cylinder No. 1 to cylinder No. 3. The shorter
passages are the one for leading high pressure steam directly to cylinder No. 1,
and the other for conducting the exhaust steam from cylinder No. 3 to say the
atmosphere. Similarly there is cored out in the bucket piston of cylinder No. 3
an annular passage and below it there are two segment shaped passages. These
passages when brought into coincidence with one or other of the ports in that
cylinder will take high pressure steam and transmit it directly to cylinder N° 4 or
lead the partially exhaust steam from that cylinder to No 2 or discharge the
exhaust steam of No 2 to the atmosphere.
From this explanation it will be understood that the relative movements of the
pistons are so timed that the supply, transference and discharge of the steam will
follow in consecutive order. Thus the steam supplied to the port of cylinder 2
will pass through the passage of No. 2 to cylinder 1, thence to 3, and from that
cylinder to the atmosphere. Again, the steam supplied to the port of cylinder 3
J

page_text: will pass from that cylinder to cylinder 4 thence to cylinder 2, and so through the
discharge port of cylinder 3 to the atmosphere.
This order of working will ensure a steady rotation of the crank shaft and from
the simplicity of the moving parts a high speed is attainable.
In the above described engine the power to reverse is not contemplated but
when the power to reverse is required the annular passages will be converted into
segmental passages and a corresponding alteration will be made in the arrangement
of the ports.
NEWTON & SON,
Agents for the Applicant.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
An Improved Arrangement of Compound Motive Power Engine
to be Actuated by Steam or other Elastic Force.
I, SAMUEL OCTAVIUS FERRY, Engineer, of 10 Blucher Street, Armley Road,
Leeds in the County of York do hereby declare the nature of this invention and
in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement :—
The chief object of this invention is to provide a compound motive power engine
of simple construction suitable for driving dynamo and other machines at a high
speed and with great regularity.
To this end I arrange four cylinders in a line, the first and fourth being high
pressure cylinders, and the second and third being suitably proportioned to receive
the partially expanded steam from the high pressure cylinders. All the cylinders
are fitted with bucket pistons, the rods from which pass down from the open
ended cylinders, and are connected to a four-throw crank shaft. The four
cylinders are preferably made in one casting, their upper ends being closed by a
covering plate, and their lower ends being open to an exhaust chamber which is
common to all the cylinders.-In this chamber the crank shaft is mounted,
suitable bearings being provided in the ends of the exhaust chamber to carry
it. The passages for the steam and the steam ports are cored out in the walls of
the casting, and the pistons of the low pressure cylinders are also formed with
steam passages for the purpose of taking the steam and transmitting it from one
cylinder to the other, as will be hereafter explained.
In the accompanying Drawing,
Fig. 1 is a plan view of the four cylinder engine with the cover removed and
shewing the positions of the steam passages formed in the main casting A.
Fig. 2 is a vertical section taken through the line of centres of the cylinders; and
Fig. 3 is an end elevation of the four cylinder engine shewing the position of the
governor for regulating the steam supply valve.

page_text: In these Figures, 1, 2, 3 and 4 are the steam cylinders arranged in a line and
fitted with bucket pistons B1 B2 B3 B*, which pistons are severally connected to the
crank shaft B by connecting rods b in the usual way. The cylinders 1 and 4 are
high pressure cylinders, and the cylinders 2 and 3 are low pressure cylinders. The:
steam admitted to the cylinder I, after acting upon the piston of that cylinder,
passes to the low pressure cylinder 3, to act upon its piston; when exhausted, it
passes, in the way to be presently described, into the exhaust chamber C.-.
Similarly, the steam admitted to the high pressure cylinder 4, after acting upon
its piston, passes to the low pressure cylinder 2, whence it escapes, after acting
upon the piston of that cylinder, into the exhaust chamber C, as will be presently
described. From this chamber the steam finds its way out into the atmosphere.-
This arrangement necessitates the setting of the cranks connected with the
pistons B and B of the cylinders 1. 3 in positions relative to each other, and
the cranks connected with the pistons B and B of the cylinders 4 and 2 also in
relation to each other, thus the pistons B and B³ will reach (as shewn in the
drawing) simultaneously the opposite extremities of their strokes, and the pistons B*.
and B will, at the same time, be at the intermediate position of their strokes, the
one advancing and the other receding.-The exhaust chamber C is formed of a
frame casting A¹ bolted to a bed plate A', and carrying the main casting A, to
which it is securely bolted.-The pistons of the cylinders 1 and 4 are simple
bucket pistons, but the pistons of the cylinders 2 and 3 are of a peculiar con-
struction, and are intended to perform the part of steam passages. Thus, the
piston B' is formed with a segment shaped passage 61, which is cored out in the wall-
of the piston, and connects with lateral ports 63 b³.-These ports b* 63 are in line
respectively with ports a' a³ formed in the casting A, the port a³ being in
communication with the passage a', which is also cored out in the casting A,
and the port b³ opening the way into the cylinder 1 through the port a³ for the
steam to act on the piston B'. The piston B2 is also provided, at a lower level,
with an annular passage b', which is furnished with two ports 68 66, the one
corresponding with the port a³, and the other with a port a' in the casting A on
the opposite side of the cylinder 2.-This port a* opens into a vertical passage a³,
which is in communication with a similar port a opening at a higher level into
the cylinder 3.-The annular passage b' with its ports is for the purpose of trans-
mitting the partially spent steam from the cylinder 1 to the cylinder 3. This
takes place when the ports a³ and b and the ports 66 and a correspond. At this
time the piston B will have arrived at the end of its back stroke, and the
piston B will be in a position to commence its outward stroke.
The arrangement of the steam passages in this piston B differs from the
arrangement of the piston B³, in that the annular passage is situate above instead
of below the segment shaped passage.-This is to provide for the transmission of
the steam from the supply passage a¹ to the cylinder 4, when the piston B* shall
have completed its return stroke, and for the transmission of the partially exhausted
steam from the cylinder 4 through the annular passage of the piston B³ to the
cylinder 2, when the piston B has completed its return stroke. 'a' is a second
vertical passage cored out in the casting A, and communicating by a port as with
the cylinder 3 near its lower end, while at its upper end it communicates by a
port a with the cylinder 2. For the purpose of transmitting steam to the
cylinder 4, the steam passage at is brought into communication with the cylinder 3
by a port al-The segment passage b in the piston B³, which is furnished with
ports 6 63, as explained with reference to piston B³, serves, when its port 6' comes
into line with the port al, to deliver steam by its port 6³ to the cylinder 4 through
the port a³.
Returning now to the cylinder 3, which received steam from the cylinder 1, it
will be understood that the expansion of that steam at the back of the piston B³,
forces down that piston until the port a* in the wall of the cylinder 2 is opened
by the movement of the piston B³. The steam will then, having entered the
passage as by the port a find its way out by the port a. At this time, this

page_text: port a will be covered by the bucket piston B', but an opening made through that
piston, at 67, will be in coincidence with the port a. A passage will thus be
opened for the exhaust steam to pass into the chamber C, and thence to the
atmosphere. The piston B' is also provided with a similar port 67 through its
wall, and for the like purpose, but situate so as to open a passage for the exhaust
steam from the port a' in the cylinder 2 to cylinder 3, and thence to the exhaust
chamber C.
From the foregoing description it will be understood how the supply of steam to
the several cylinders is cut off, the degree of expansion in the cylinders 1 and 4
being determined by the length of the ports 63 in the pistons B² and B³.
The steam is supplied to the passage a¹ by the pipe a, which is fitted with a
regulating valve controlled by the governor D.
To facilitate the balancing of the pistons of the low pressure cylinders, I may
extend the segment passages beyond their ports 62 63, and open ports beyond
these in the walls of the pistons. This will allow of the live steam pressing
equally on opposite sides of the cylinders.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
Invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is
The arrangement of four cylinder compound engine above described, in which
the pistons of the low pressure cylinders act as valves for admitting live steam
to their respective high pressure cylinders, and serve also to transfer the partially
spent steam to their adjacent low pressure cylinders, and likewise provide an escape
for the exhausted steam into the exhaust chamber.