IMPROVE- MENTS IN STEAM ENGINES
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Naylor, of Lorn Terrace, Mildmay Park,
in the County of Middlesex, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN STEAM ENGINES."
Scaled the 11th January 1867, and dated the 11th July 1866.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Naylor at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 11th
July 1866.
I, WILLIAM NAYLOR, of Lorn Terrace, Mildmay Park, in the County of
Middlesex, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM ENGINES," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to a peculiar construction and arrangement of the
valves of steam engines, and to the mode of operating the same, and has for
its object the effecting of greater economy in steam and the obviating of
compression" when working the steam expansively.
According to my Invention I employ two separate and distinct piston
valves working in cylindrical valve chambers of their own, and actuated either
directly by separate eccentrics working independently of each other or through
the intervention of a quadrant link, or one eccentric may be made to work
direct to the valve which regulates the ingress and egress of the steam to
and from the cylinder, whilst the expansion valve may be worked from two

page_text: eccentrics in connection with a quadrant link, so as to effect the "cut off
and expansion of steam at any desired point of the stroke of the main working
piston. The steam inlet and exit valve consists essentially of four pistons
fitted on to a spindle or pipe and working steam tight in a cylindrical valve
chamber extending the full length of the main cylinder. A port opens from
near each end of the valve chamber direct into the corresponding ends of
the cylinder, and at opposite ends of the valve spindle are two pistons which
when the valve is so placed as to admit the steam into the cylinder are on
opposite sides of the port. One of each pair of pistons serves to prevent the
access of steam to the opposite end of the cylinder, whilst the other prevents
the steam from escaping by the exhaust when the valve is in position for the
admission of steam to the cylinder. This arrangement of pistons moreover
ensures the valve being always in a state of equilibrium. From this valve
chamber and between the pistons of each pair are ports leading to the
expansion valve chamber, which is cylindrical like the first, and has working
steam tight therein two pistons situate one at or near each end of the
chamber. The steam from the boiler enters the expansion valve chamber
between its two pistons, and when one or other of the ports are opened the
steam is admitted between the two pistons of the corresponding end of the
adjoining valve chamber from which it enters into the cylinder. When both
valves are worked from the same point in the quadrant link, or from eccentrics
at the same angle, the amount of expansion will depend solely upon the
inlet and egress valve, but should it be required to increase the expansion
or to "cut off" at an earlier portion of the stroke then the connecting link
between the expansion valve spindle and the quadrant will have to be moved
to a different position in the quadrant according to the amount of expansion
required which will cause the steam to be cut off from the inlet valve and
consequently from the cylinder at an earlier portion of the stroke of the main
piston. When the expansion is required to be constant, then the eccentric
working the expansion valve will be placed at the required angle on the
shaft. As the inlet and egress valve always works at its full stroke the
exhaust will always be constant. This exhaust may be accomplished either
through pipes in the opposite ends of the inlet and egress valve chamber, in
the case of a solid valve rod or spindle being used, or by making such rod o
spindle tubular the steam from one end of the cylinder may be conveyed through
such hollow rod or spindle to the exhaust pipe at the opposite end of the
valve chamber, and thence to the usual exhaust pipe.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Naylor in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
11th January 1867.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
NAYLOR, of Lorn Terrace, Mildmay Park, in the County of Middlesex,
Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Iler most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eleventh day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the thirtieth year of Her reign,
did for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
William Naylor, Her special license that I, the said William Naylor, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William
Naylor, my executors, administrators, or 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 STEAM
ENGINES,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William
Naylor, my executors or administrators, 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 William Naylor, 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 accompanying Drawings, and to the
letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say :-
My said Invention relates to a peculiar construction and arrangement of
the valves of steam engines, and to the mode of operating the same, and has
for its object the effecting of greater economy in steam and the obviating of
"compression" when working the steam expansively.
According to my Invention I employ two separate and distinct piston valves
working in cylindrical valve chambers of their own, and actuated either directly
by separate eccentrics working independently of each other or through the
intervention of a quadrant link, or one eccentric may be made to work direct
to the valve which regulates the ingress and egress of the steam to and from

page_text: the cylinder, whilst the expansion valve may be worked from two eccentrics
in connection with a quadrant link so as to effect the "cut off" and expansion
of steam at any desired point of the stroke of the main working piston. The
steam inlet and exit valve consists essentially of four pistons fitted on to a
spindle or pipe and working steam-tight in a cylindrical valve chamber
extending rather beyond the full length of the main cylinder. A port opens
from near each end of the valve chamber direct into the corresponding ends
of the cylinder, and at or near each end of the valve spindle there is a pair of
pistons so situate that when the valve is placed so as to admit the steam
into the cylinder the two valve pistons at the end of the cylinder taking in
steam are on opposite sides of the port, one of the pistons in cach pair of
valve pistons serves to prevent the access of steam to the opposite end of the
cylinder (when working with bigh expansion), whilst the other prevents the
steam from escaping by the exhaust when the valve is in position for the
admission of steam to the cylinder. This arrangement of pistons moreover
ensures the valve being always in state of equilibrium. From this valve
chamber and between the pistons of each pair are ports leading to the
expansion valve chamber, which is cylindrical like the first, and has working
steam-tight therein two pistons situate one at or near each end of the chamber.
The steam from the boiler enters the expansion valve chamber between its
two pistons, and when one or other of the ports are opened the steam is
admitted between the two piston valves of the corresponding end of the
adjoining valve chamber from which it enters into the cylinder. When both
valves are worked from the same point in the quadrant link or from eccentrics
at the same angle the amount of expansion will depend solely upon the inlet
and egress valve, but should it be required to increase the expansion or to
"cut off" at an earlier portion of the stroke, then the connecting link between
the expansion valve spindle and the quadrant will have to be moved to a
different position in the quadrant according to the amount of expansion
required, which will cause the steam to be cut off from the inlet valve and
consequently from the cylinder at an earlier portion of the stroke of the main
piston. When the expansion is required to be constant then the eccentric
working the expansion valve will be placed at the required angle on the
shaft. As the inlet and egress valve always works at its full stroke, the
exhaust will always be constant relatively to the position of the piston. This
exhaust may be accomplished either through pipes or ports in the opposite
ends of the inlet and egress valve chamber in the case of a solid valve rod or
spindle being used, or by making such rod or spindle tubular the steam
from one end of the cylinder may be conveyed through such hollow rod or

page_text: spindle to a pipe at the opposite end of the valve chamber, and thence to the
usual exhaust pipe.
And in order that the said Invention may be fully understood, I shall now
proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose shall
refer to the several Figures on the annexed Sheet of Drawings, the same
letters of reference indicating corresponding parts in all the Figures.
Figure 1 of my Drawings represents a longitudinal section of a cylinder
provided with my improved valves; Figure 2 is a transverse section thereof, the
upper part of this Figure being taken along the line 1, 2, in Figure 1, and the
lower part along the line 3, 4, in the same Figure; Figure 3 shows one
arrangement of eccentrics and quadrant link for working my improved systent
of valves; Figure 4 represents in longitudinal section a slightly modified
arrangement of exhaust, and Figure 5 is an end elevation of the cylinder and
valve chambers. A is the main cylinder of the engine, and B, C, are the
respective cylindrical valve chambers of the ingress and egress valves a, a',
b, b', and expansion valves c, c', which chambers may be cast in one with the
cylinder A or be otherwise attached as found most convenient.
In Figure 1 of my Drawings the two sets of valves are supposed to be
driven from a quadrant link as shown at D (Figure 3) worked by two
eccentrics E, E', and the cylinder ports d, d', are both represented full open,
the piston F travelling in the direction of the arrow; e is the solid valve
spindle of the steam inlet and egress valves, and f is the spindle of the
expansion valves, both of which may be connected by valve links g (Figure 3)
with the quadrant link D direct. The two ports d and d¹ open direct from
the cylinder A into the valve chamber B near opposite ends thereof, an
annular recess being by preference made round the interior of the valve
chamber communicating with such ports respectively. The piston valves a, a¹,
and b, b', are so situate on the valve spindle as that they shall be on opposite
sides of the steam port which for the time being is supplying steam to the
cylinder as shown at d in Figure 1; h, h', are other ports which connect the
valve chamber B with the chamber C of the expansion valve, such ports h, h²,
being so situate with regard to the piston valves a, a', and b, b¹, respectively
as to be always between the pistons of the respective pairs of valves at
whatever part of their stroke they may be. The steam from the boiler first
enters the chamber C of the expansion valves by the branch G shewn in
Figures 2 and 4, this branch or steam inlet is cut away or removed in the
sectional view Figure 1, but it is situate about midway between the two
piston valves c, c', in the expansion valve chamber C; when the valves occupy
the position shown in Figure 1 the steam from the expansion chamber C

page_text: passes through the open part h¹ into the valve chamber B of the ingress and
egress valves, filling the space between the two pistons valves b and b¹, and
thus maintaining them in equilibrium; from thence it passes by the open
port d direct into the cylinder A whilst the exhaust is taking place, through
the opposite port d into the corresponding end of the valve chamber B,
from which it passes through the port or aperture i into the hollow chamber k
(shown in Figure 2) formed alongside the valve chambers B, C, and finally
escapes by the exhaust pipe either into the atmosphere direct or into a
condenser, according to the nature of the engine. When the valves occupy
the reverse position to that shown in Figure 1 then the steam passes through
the port h into the valve chamber B between the two pistons a, a', and thence
by the port d into the cylinder A, the exhaust taking place through the
port d into the end of the valve chamber B, thence by the aperture i¹ into
the chamber and exbaust pipe 7. In Figure 4 in lieu of having a solid
valve rod for the ingress and egress valves a, a, b, b', as shown in Figure 1,
I have represented the application of a hollow or tubular valve rod e, through
which the exhaust steam passes from one end of the valve chamber B to the
opposite end, where it enters the exhaust pipe direct at in lieu of having to
first enter a chamber as in Figure 1. The valves in Figure 4 are at about
half their stroke, the steam and exhaust ports being both closed; if the same
amount of lap and lead be given to the expansion valve and to the ingress
and egress valves of the arrangements herein-before described they will work
together as one valve when both are driven from the same end of the expansion
or quadrant link as shown by the full lines in Figure 3, but when one valve is
driven from one end of the expansion link, and the other valve from the opposite
end of such link, as shown by the full and dotted lines in Figure 3, one valve,
that is the ingress and egress valve (when the crank is passing the centre) will
be moving in a direction to give a greater opening of port whilst the other or
expansion valve will be moving in the opposite direction to close the port,
thereby cutting off" the steam for expansion. It will be obvious that when
the valves are driven from the two extreme ends of the expansion link, and
when the piston is at the end of the cylinder, and the crank on the centre of
the ingress and egress valve, or that nearest the cylinder has by its lead opened
the steam port equal to one-thirtieth its full stroke, the expansion valve will
be within one-thirtieth of its full stroke of "cutting off" the steam. The
"cut off" is regulated by the position of the rod in the expansion link, but
the valve nearest to the cylinder is supposed to be always worked through its
full stroke, thereby maintaining a constant point for the exhaust of the
steam.

page_text: Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be be used or carried
into effect, I would observe in conclusion that what I consider to be novel
and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the
herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is, the combination of two
separate and distinct piston valves working in separate valve chambers of
their own, such chambers being connected together and connected with the
main working cylinder by ports arranged and operating substantially in the
manner and for the purpose herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Naylor, have to this my
Specification hereunto set my band and seal, this Tenth day of
January, One thousand eight bundred and sixty-seven.
W. NAYLOR. (L.S.)