Improvements in Steam or Vapor Engines.
Year: 1895

page_text: Date of Application, 25th June, 1895-Accepted, 17th Aug., 1895
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Steam or Vapor Engines.
I, CHARLES ALBERT WRIGHT, of River Bank, Riverton, Burlington County,
New Jersey, United States of America, Card Manufacturer, 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 :-
Heretofore it has been customary to build multicylinder engines having their
pistons working in connection with a common crank shaft, and in which the
cylinders were arranged at an angle to each other and operating in connection with
the single crank, or in which the cylinders were arranged in the same plane with
the shaft and operating upon different cranks set at an angle to each other. It has
been customary in these types of engines to employ slide valves, either made flat
or cylindrical. In high speed engines of this class great difficulty has been had
from the high surface speed of the valves relatively to their seats, and also to the
valve gear necessary for operating them. Furthermore, in the practical use of
engines of this class reversing gears have to a large extent been unsatisfactory, in
many cases failing to act promptly with frequent mishap to the launch. Further-
more, engines of this class have been made to work under a fixed admission of
steam, and were not suitable to operate under varying expansions at the will of the
engineer, consequently they were very wasteful when the duty was light, such as
occurs after the boat has been gotten under full headway.
My invention is designed to provide a construction of an engine adapted to
overcome all of these objections, and I have secured these improvements after
careful experiment. In carrying out my invention I provide three cylinders
arranged at an angle to each other of 120 degrees, and connect the pistons of the
several cylinders through their connecting rods with a common crank upon the
power shaft. To the rear of the cylinder I arrange a valve chest of large diameter
and circular, through the face of which the steam ports from the cylinders are
arranged. Upon this valve seat I place a large circular rotary valve having a
large number of ports for admitting steam to the cylinder and for permitting the
exhaust therefrom, the ports in the said valve being adapted to be brought into
line with the ports in the valve seat. Resting upon the circular valve is a valve
cap which may hold the valve in place upon its seat and at the same time supply
live steam to the valve, and has its ports approximately in line with the ports in
the valve seat, but capable of lateral adjustment relatively thereto so as to vary
the point of cut off when desired. The cap of the valve chest has a port through
which steam enters and finds its way into the valve cap, the connection between
the chest cap and the valve cap being by means of a piston and cylinder connection.
In this manner, by the proper proportioning of the parts, the requisite degree of
pressure may be secured to enable the valve cap to hold the valve positively to its
seat and yet avoid excessive friction. By this contrivance I am enabled to
dispense with the use of springs and also to make my valve closely approximate a
balanced valve. The main portion of the valve chest is formed into a chamber
communicating with the exhaust, and is thus reversed in order with the usual
custom. To insure the circular valve rotating, I employ a type of planetary gear
more specifically consisting of a pinion upon the crank shaft meshing with a pinion
which in turn meshes with an internal gear on the valve. The pinion is also
provided with a smaller pinion which in turn meshes with an internal gear of
smaller diameter than the internal gear of the valve and which rests upon the valve

page_text: and capable of rotary adjustment. From this it will be evident that there will be
a differential movement imparted by the various gears, and that while the pinion
travels around the pinion on the crank shaft, the valve itself is only moved a fraction
of a revolution for each complete revolution of the crank. In this manner the valve
moves slowly but positively, and hence it is not subjected to excessive wear.
Furthermore, by simply adjusting the valve cap, the cut off may be varied so as to
work the steam under any degree of expansion desired. By operating the internal
gear last above described the position of the valve may be shifted in relation to
the crank so as to make the engine run in the reverse direction. These movements
may be accomplished by means of a lever which when thrown in one direction
runs the engine backward, and when thrown in the other direction makes it move
forward, and vary its expansion by each additional movement in the last mentioned
direction.
The particular arrangement of the cylinders or cranks is immaterial, as my
improved valve may be applied to any multicylinder engine.
In the drawings:
Fig. 1 is a rear elevation of my improved engine;
Fig. 2 is a similar view with the valve chest cap removed;
Fig. 3 is a similar view to Fig. 2 with the valve cap and reversing internal gear
removed;
Fig. 4 is a sectional elevation on the line - of Fig. 1;
Fig. 5 is an elevation of the steam valve;
Fig. 6 is a cross sertion of the steam valve on the line y―y;
Fig. 7 is a cross section of the valve on the line =-=;
Fig. 8 is an elevation of the valve cap;
Fig. 9 is an elevation of the reversing gear;
Fig. 10 is a cross section on the line t-t of Fig. 4 showing the safety valve;
and
Fig. 11 is a modified form of safety valve adapted to be used in place of that
shown in Fig. 10.
A is the main casting of the engine and may be of any suitable shape or
configuration. A¹ are three cylinders arranged at an angle of 120 degrees with
respect to each other, the said cylinders having pistons A² to which are hinged
connecting rods A working upon a common crank shaft B. It is quite evident
that the three cylinders might be arranged in any other suitable manner if so
desired as is well known in the common practice of manufacturing multicylinder
engines. I prefer to arrange the cylinders at an angle to each other so as to
be permitted to place them in the same transverse plane and employ a single crank
as such construction is more durable and permits the use of a stronger crank shaft.
At the rear of the cylinder I arrange a valve chamber E which is circular in form
having a valve seat E' through which the steam ports e from the outer ends of the
cylinders A' open.
C is a steam valve and is made circular in shape and is provided near its
periphery and entirely about its circumference with a series of steam ports c and
exhaust ports c¹ arranged alternately. In my preferred form the said steam ports
extend transversely through the valve, while the exhaust ports open into the edge
thereof as very clearly shown in Figs. 3, 5, 6 and 7. The valve chest has
recesses e¹ in its sides at the points where the steam is permitted to exhaust into the
valve chamber E. Resting upon the opposite face of the valve C and preferably
holding it in position upon the valve seat is a cap D which is clearly shown in
Figs. 4, 2 and 8. This cap has enlarged faces resting upon the valve and has
steam ports d opening through said faces in alignment with the ports E of the
cylinders. The said ports d are three in number corresponding to the number of
cylinders, and united at the center where they receive steam in the manner to be
now described. F is the cap of the valve chest and is bolted to the rear thereof
and receives steam from the steam pipe F through the port of cast therein, the said
port extending to the center of the cap and opening into the central part of the

page_text: valve cap
D through a cylinder and piston connection H which is clearly shown in
Fig. 4. F is the exhaust pipe leading from the interior of the valve chest. It
will now be seen that steam enters the pipe F1, passes through the port f, thence
through the ports d to the valve, which by its ports controls the admission of the
steam to the ports E of the cylinders. The clear passage for this steam is shown
in Fig. 4 from the steam pipe F' to the lower cylinder A₁. As the valve C rotates,
the ports are so arranged as to supply steam successively to the several cylinders. In
exhausting, the steam passes from the cylinder through the port E into one of the
ports C of the rotary valve and thence into the recess E¹, thence into the valve
chest and out by the exhaust pipe F².
It will be observed that my improved method of admitting the steam to the
cylinders enables me to make the valve C substantially balanced and thereby secure
its movement with a minimum degree of friction. This is advantageous in a case
such as the present on account of the large size of the valve. In the particular
construction it is only necessary for the valve C to make 1 of a revolution for each
revolution of the crank shaft, consequently provision must be made between the
crank shaft B and the valve C to secure this slow movement. I will now describe
the mechanism which I employ for this purpose and which experience has shown
me to be remarkably well adapted to the purpose. The inner end of the crank
shaft B is supported in a bearing plate N suitably secured to the frame A of the
engine. To the rear end of the crank shaft is secured a pinion J which is capable
of proper adjustment. To secure the minutest adjustment of the said pinion upon
the crank shaft I split the end of the shaft over which the pinion is placed and
screw in a tapered screw 6 which expands the shaft and firmly locks the pinion
to it. In this manner there is no need of being particular as to the exact location
of the teeth upon the valve as the most perfect adjustment can be secured. The
pinion J is made of considerable length so as to offer a long surface or bearing to
the pinion L which meshes with said pinion J and at the same time travels about
it. The pinion L is keyed upon a shaft K having at each end circular journals k.
The journal k at one end works in an annular groove n in the bearing plate N,
the said groove preventing the outward movement of the pinion at this end. The
other end of the pinion L. meshes with the internal gear C¹ on the valve C. Also
secured upon the shaft K is a smaller piuion M, and this smaller pinion works in
connection with the internal gear 1' of a reversing frame I which is clearly shown
in Figs. 4, 2 and 9. This reversing frame is provided with enlarged flat surfaces or
wings which rest upon the surface of the valve and thereby secure support. It is
of the same diameter as the valve chest and valve and consequently, as in the
case of the valve and valve cap D, is sustained against lateral displacement by the
valve chest itself. The valve cap D and the reversing frame I are normally
stationary, and it is evident that as the internal gear l' is of smaller diameter than
the internal gear C, and likewise the pinion M is of smaller diameter than the
pinion 1, the rotation of the pinion J must necessarily cause a positive rotation of
the pinions L and M relatively upon their own axes and at the same time about the
crank shaft and pinion J.
In the particular construction shown, the said movements are intended to secure
one complete revolution of the pinions L and M about the pinion J for every
twelve revolutions of the crank shaft B. The effect of this movement is to cause
a corresponding movement to the valve C. As the gear M works against the
internal teeth of the reversing frame I, there is a tendency to move that end of the
shaft K toward the shaft B and thereby cause excessive wear on the teeth, and
ultimately the disengagement of the parts M and 1. To prevent this the journal k
upon the adjacent end of the shaft K is caused to roll in contact with a roller
bearing P which is journalled at p to the valve cap D. By means of the bearings n
and roller bearing P the shaft K with its pinions L and M are required to travel
positively about the pinion J and at the same time maintain absolute parallelism
with the crank shaft B.
It is evident that to reverse the engine, some provision must be made to cause a

page_text: relative shifting of the valve C with respect to the position of the crank, and this
is readily secured by a slight movement of the reversing frame 1. To secure this
inovement, the reversing frame I is provided with a cam groove i with which a
crank engages, the said crank being operated by a shaft R extending through the
cap and provided with a lever S adapted to be moved by the hand. It is
evident that if the lever S be moved to the right, the crank will cause a rotation
of the frame I, and with it the internal gear I. The effect of this is to turn the
valve C backward a corresponding degree so that the relative moment of bringing
the ports C and E in alignment is changed relatively to the position of the crank,
thereby causing the engine to move in the reverse direction. The cam groove i is
so arranged that a movement of the lever S in the opposite direction or that to the
left, will not shift the reversing frame I (if the said frame be set in a normal
position) for the forward running of the engine.
If the
To cause the engine to cut off and work expansively under different degrees of
adjustment, it is provided with a valve cap D with a cam groove d' similar to the
groove i but in the reverse direction. Working with the said groove is arranged
a crank also secured to the shaft R, as is very clearly shown in Fig. 2. It is
evident now that when the lever S is moved to the right, the ports d remain
immediately over the ports e, but the lead of the valve is changed by the shifting of
the frame I so that the engine runs backward under full head of steam.
When the
shaft R and the crank r, r, are in the position shown in Fig. 2, the valve is in
position to cause the engine to run forward with a full head of steam.
lever S be turned to the right as if to reverse the engine it will move the valve in
the act of changing its lead of the ports into such positions that the action of the
steam on the pistons will be balanced, and hence the engine will stop if the lever S
is held for a moment intermediate of the forward and reversing position. To enable
the engine to work expansively, it is only necessary to throw the lever S further to
the left, and this secures a movement of the valve cap D in the same direction
as the movement of the crank shaft B so as to cause the valve to cut off the supply
of steam to the cylinders sooner or later according to adjustment. When the
lever S is operating to move the frame 1, the valve cap D remains in its normal
position and without cut off adjustment, and when the valve cap is moved to produce
cut off the reversing frame I remains in its normal position or with the adjustment
for forward motion. These two parts never move simultaneously.
Referring to Fig. 1 we see that the upper part of the hand lever S moves over
a segment T which has upon it the words and positions for the stop, ahead and back
movements for the engine. The free end of the lever S on the left hand side is
provided with a pivoted detent S¹ which catches in a beveled notch t in said
segment when the lever S is thrown to the left thereby holding the lever at the
"ahead" position. The tendency of further movement to the lever under the
ordinary running of the engine is to the left, and consequently there is no tendency
of the lever being moved in the opposite direction, and hence need not be secured
against such movement. When the lever is moved to the "stop" position the
engine comes to rest, and then, of course, there is no tendency to move the lever S.
When it is thrown fully over to the "back" position, the tendency to move the
lever is in the opposite direction, and hence it remains in that position. If desired,
it may be locked in any of these positions by the clamping nut S². The segment
is, furthermore, provided with a series of notches corresponding to the various
points of cut off, and when the detent S¹ is adjusted to any of those notches a
corresponding degree of cut off will be insured. These notches may be similar to
the notch or may be rectangular. The advantage of this controlling device is
evident, for, assuming that the yacht was at a condition of rest, the party in charge
has simply to move the lever S to the left as far as it will go and the boat goes
ahead with full head of steam. If there is any reason for instantly reversing the
engine, he has simply to push the lever S fully to the right as far as it will go.
The lever will remain in either of these two extreme positions when once moved to
If the boat is moving forward, and there is no occasion to change the
them.

page_text: direction of running of the propeller the engineer may then at his leisure adjust
the lever and the detent to any one of the expansion notches which he desires. In
any of these the lever S is locked against further movement to the left, but should
sudden danger occur requiring instant backing of the boat it is simply necessary
for the engineer to press the detent and lever to the right as far as it will go and
instantly the engines will be reversed. It is clear, therefore, that the most ordinary
common sense alone is necessary to fully control this engine, and the controlling
parts are always in such condition that there is no possibility of them being in any
condition which might interfere with instant control. The most ignorant man could
not fail to control the engine at a moment's thought.
To prevent excessive action of steam upon the valve cap D I have provided the
port with a safety valve which is shown in Figs. 1 and 10. In this construction,.
more clearly shown in Fig. 10 the port f opens by a port f¹ into the interior of the
valve chest, and, of course, into connection with the exhaust F. G is a safety
valve carried upon a spring arm G', the tension of which may be adjusted by an
adjusting thumb screw 9. By this means any degree of pressure may be insured
upon the valve cap, and excessive or sudden strain prevented. In place of the
particular construction just described, I may employ that shown in Fig. 11 in which
the central portion of the chest cap F is provided with an escape port O opening
into the valve chest and controlled by a safety valve Q, which safety valve is
pressed forward by a spring Q, the tension of which may be adjusted by an
adjusting nut and stuffing box Q. The spindle of the valve extends to the outside
of the engine and terminates in a ball q which may be pulled if desired to relieve
the pressure upon the valve, if from any cause instant relief was necessary in
starting.
Such details of construction as have been shown and described for the purpose of
illustrating and explaining the invention, are not to be taken as limitations, but
may be varied without departing from the invention.
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:
1. The steam or vapor engine constructed and operating substantially in the
manner described.
2. The combination with the rotary valve of a multi-cylinder engine, having a
series of steam and exhaust ports, of a valve cap having ports for admitting steam
or vapor to the ports in the rotary valve.
3. Means for adjusting the valve cap for varying the cut-off.
4. The reversing mechanism for adjusting the rotary valve relatively to the
crank shaft to change the lead of the valve and thereby reverse the engine.
5. The piston and cylinder device acting on the valve cap which is provided with
the steam ports to press the valve cap elastically on the valve.
6. The safety valve when arranged to relieve the excessive pressure acting on
the cylinder and piston device.
7. The differential gearing between the crank shaft and the valve, embracing
the freely moving pinion L.
Dated this Thintinth day of Anvil & D 1895
CHARLES ALBERT WRIGHT.
Haseltine, Lake & Co.,
45 Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.