IMPROVEMENTS IN COMPOUND STEAM ENGINES, ESPECIALLY APPLICABLE TO COMPOUND LOCOMOTIVES
Year: 1883

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Carl Pieper, Civil Engineer and Patent Agent resident
at 109-110 Gneisenaustrasse Berlin, S W. Prussia, for an Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN COMPOUND STEAM ENGINES, ESPECIALLY APPLICABLE TO
COMPOUND LOCOMOTIVES a communication to him from E. Ongley, Engineer
residing in Memel kingdom of Prussia and Dr. Proell and Scharowsky,
Engineers, residing at Dresden, kingdom of Saxony
"
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Carl Pieper at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents on the 21st May 1883.
CARL PIEPER, Civil Engineer and Patent Agent, resident at 109-110 Gneisenau-
Strasse, Berlin S. W. Prussia, "IMPROVEMENTS IN COMPOUND STEAM ENGINES;
ESPECIALLY APPLICABLE TO COMPOUND LOCOMOTIVES, a communication to me.
from E. Ongley Engineer, residing in Memel kingdom of Prussia, and Dr: Proell
and Scharowsky, Engineers residing at Dresden kingdom of Saxony,
This invention relates to steam engines having two cylinders of different
capacity and provided with valve gear operated by link-motion, the steam, after
having worked expansively in the small cylinder, being caused to act on the piston
of the large cylinder and thereupon to be exhausted. The invention is especially
applicable to compound locomotive engines.
The first improvement consists in an arrangement which allows the links of the
valve-gears of the two cylinders to be so controlled by one hand lever that the
grades of expansion to which the two links are simultaneously adjusted, will be
such as to cause the power produced by the steam in one cylinder, to be, as nearly.
as possible, equal to the power developed in the other. For attaining this object,
the rod connecting the hand-lever with the lever to which the link of the large
cylinder is suspended, is pivoted to a slide-block movable in a longitudinal slot in
the hand-lever. By the side of the said slide-block a roller is placed which engages
with a slot or guiding way in a stationary frame, this slot having approximatively
the form of a parabola turned with its apex downward. When the hand-lever
combined with this mechanism, is shifted from its central position in one direction
or the other, the parabolic way or slot will cause the slide-block to move away
from the fulcrum of the lever, in consequence whereof the increments of throw of
the connecting rod attached to the slide-block will progressively increase while the
motion of the hand-lever is uniform. The increments of the angular displacement
of the lever to which the link is suspended, and of the displacement of the link

page_text: itself, will therefore also become progressively greater. The valve gear belonging
to the small cylinder is connected with the hand-lever in the ordinary manner;
the movements of its parts will therefore be proportional to the movements of the
hand-lever.
The described arrangement may be inverted by placing the connecting rod of
the gear of the small cylinder under the control of a paraboliform way or slot the
apex of which is in this case turned upward, and by pivoting the connecting rod of
the gear of the large cylinder directly to the hand-lever. Moreover the like effect
may in either case be attained by attaching the guiding way to one of the two
connecting rods, and by causing the same to slide, or conduct itself on a fixed stud
or roller, when the connecting rod is moved. With this modification the guiding
way would have to be arranged in a position being the inverse of the position that
it has to occupy when it is stationary.
The particular form of the said parabolic way or slot varies more or less with the
kind of valve gear employed and with the proportion between the areas of the two
cylinders.
The second improvement relates to the combination with the hand-lever of a
screw by which the former may be shifted, and it consists in the particular construc-
tion of disconnecting mechanism which allows the lever to be used independently
of the screw.
The nut with which the screw engages, is made in two parts fitted into brasses
which are guided between two bars in a direction parallel to the screw. Besides,
these brasses engage each with a round part in a slot cut parallel to the center-line
of the lever into a frame forming a part of the latter. Each nut-half bas a stem or
shank attached to it passing through the brass and engaging at its outer end with
a bell-crank lever so connected with a latch on the band-lever, that, when the
hand-lever and the latch are grasped, the nut-halves will be drawn away from the
screw. The lever may then be moved forward and backward together with the
brasses and the nut-halves. When the lever and the latch are released, a spring
causes the nut-halves to reengage with the screw, so that then the latter may again
be made use of for adjusting the lever.
On
The third improvement relates to the combination of a receiver or intermediate
steam-chamber with the two cylinders, and it consists in means for shutting off
the cylinders from the receiver, and causing the small cylinder to exhaust into the
atmosphere, either through the funnel or otherwise, while the large cylinder is
supplied with steam directly from the boiler. For this purpose the receiver is
provided with a plate having two rows of ports with three ports in each row.
the back of the said plate the outer ports of one row communicate respectively
with the receiver and with the boiler, the central port of the same row with the
slide-valve box of the large cylinder. The outer ports of the other row, are in
communication (also on the back of the plate) respectively with the receiver and with
an exhaust-pipe leading into the atmosphere, and the central one with the exhaust
pipe from the small cylinder. By preference the said plate is cast with compartments
on it from which branch off the different tubes.
On the front of the plate there is a slide-valve with two divisions, one for each
row of ports. When this valve is in its normal position, steam will be exhausted
from the small cylinder into the receiver and supplied from the latter to the large
cylinder, whereas, when the valve is shifted into its opposite position, the small
cylinder will exhaust directly into the atmosphere, while the large cylinder will
receive steam from the boiler.
When the improvements are applied to locomotive engines, the receiver is by
preference placed in the smoke box, and the funnel carried through the same.
Besides it is in this case advantageous to arrange the aforesaid slide-valve on the
side of the receiver opposite to the large cylinder in order to counterbalance the
weight of the latter.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said Carl Pieper in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 19th November
1883.
"
•
CARL PIEPER, Civil Engineer and Patent Agent resident at 109-110 Gneisenau-
Strasse Berlin S. W. Prussia 'IMPROVEMENTS IN COMPOUND STEAM ENGINES,
ESPECIALLY APPLICABLE TO COMPOUND LOCOMOTIVES, a communication to me
from E. Ongley, Engineer, residing in Memel, kingdom of Prussia, and Dr : Proell
and Scharowsky, Engineers, residing at Dresden, kingdom of Saxony.
This invention relates to steam-engines having two cylinders of different capacity
and provided with valve-gear operated by link-motion, the steam after having
worked expansively in the small cylinder, being caused to act on the piston of the
large cylinder and thereupon to be exhausted. The invention is especially
applicable to compound locomotive engines.
The first improvement consists in an arrangement which allows the links of the
valve-gears of the two cylinders to be so controlled by one hand-lever that the
grades of expansion to which the two links are simultaneously adjusted, will
be such as to cause the power produced by the steam in one cylinder, to be
approximatively equal to the power developed in the other, whichsoever be the
total work done by the engine. The second improvement relates particularly to
the combination with the hand-lever for controlling the valve-gear, of a screw by,
which the former may be shifted, and it consists in a connecting and disconnecting
mechanism, which allows the lever to be locked in every position by the screw. and
to he used independently thereof, at will. The third improvement has special
reference to the combination of a receiver or intermediate steam-chamber with the
two cylinders, and its object is, to provide means for shutting off the cylinders from
the receiver, and causing the small cylinder to exhaust into the atmosphere, either
through the funnel or otherwise, while the large cylinder is supplied with steam
directly from the boiler.
"
On the annexed sheet of drawings Fig 1 represents the valve-controlling
mechanism in side-view, while Fig 2 is a transverse sectional view thereof. Fig 3
is a diagram showing the relative positions of the hand-lever and the levers to
which the links are suspended. Fig 4 is a transverse section through the smoke-
box and receiver of a locomotive engine provided with the third improvement,
the plan of section being indicated by the line 1-1 in Figs 5 and 6, which are
respectively horizontal sections according to the lines 2-2 and 2-3 of Fig. 4.
Fig 7 is a vertical longitudinal section through the upper front portion of the
engine, Fig 8 a vertical section on lines 4-4 of Figs. 4, 5 and 6, and Fig 9 a face-
view of the slide-valve I.
In order to attain the object of the first part of the invention, it is necessary to
provide means for shifting or adjusting the links of the two cylinders differently,
so that to any degree of expansion in the small cylinder corresponds the required
different degree of expansion in the large cylinder. But, as the adjustment of the
two links is to be effected by one hand-lever, it is necessary, for fulfilling the
above condition, to transmit motion from the hand-lever to the two links in
different manner.
According to Figs 1 and 2 the rod T'destined to operate the link of the small
cylinder is pivoted to the hand-lever H as usual, and in like manner it is
connected to the lever carrying the link. The displacement of this link will
therefore be proportional to the movement of the hand-lever. The rod T¹, how-
ever which conveys motion from the hand-lever to the lever to which the link of

page_text: the large cylinder is suspended, is pivoted by the pin f to a slide block h movable
in a longitudinal slit h' in the hand-lever. On the said pin f there is mo reover a
roller which engages with the slot or guiding track S in the fixed frame B, this slot
having approximatively the form of a parabola turned with its apex downward.
When the hand-lever is shifted, the point of attachment of the rod T¹ will thus be
guided in a curve corresponding with the slot S.
The influence which this arrangement has on the motion of adjustment of the
lever carrying the link of the large cylinder, is shown by the diagram Fig. 3, in
which the said lever is marked F', while F is the lever for the link of the small
cylinder, and H, as in Fig 1, the hand-lever, the levers F and F¹ being, of course,
movable independently of each other. The said three levers are shown in their
centre position o, and in three different positions to the left and to the right
thereof. It will be seen from this figure that when the hand-lever H is moved
from its centre position o in one direction or the other by successive equal angles,
the slide-block h moving away from the fulcrum of the lever, will cause the
increments of throw of the connecting rod T' corresponding to the said equal angles,
to increase progressively. The increments of the angular displacement of the
lever F¹, and of the displacement of the link itself will therefore also become
progressively greater in the same ratio. By these means the required proportions
between the different grades of expansion in the two cylinders are attained.
The described arrangement may be inverted by placing the connecting rod of
the gear of the small cylinder under the control of a paraboliform track or slot
whose apex is in this case turned upward, and by pivoting the connecting rod of
the gear of the large cylinder directly to the hand-lever. Moreover the like effect
may in either case be attained by attaching the guiding track to one of the two
connecting rods, and by causing the same to slide or conduct itself on a fixed stud
or roller when the connecting rod is moved. With this modification the guiding
track must be arranged in a position being the inverse of the position that it has
to occupy when it is stationary.
The particular form of the said parabolic track or slot varies more or less with
the kind of valve-gear employed, and, with the proportion between the areas of the
two cylinders.
For the purpose of shifting the hand-lever H, a screw E working in a nut
adapted to slide lengthwise in respect to the lever, is employed. This arrangement
in itself is not new; but, what I claim as the invention of my correspondents, is
the particular construction of the nut and the combination thereof. and of apper-
taining parts with the screw and the lever, which construction allows the nut to
be engaged with and disengaged from the screw at the will of the operator, and
by the very act of handling the lever H. To this effect the nut is made in two
parts a a having round stems or shanks passing through brasses 6 b, which are
guided between two bars 8 8 parallel to the screw. E. Besides, these brasses
project each with a round portion into a slide-block movable in a frame.q forming
part of the lever H, and the sides whereof are parallel to the centre line of the
lever. The nut together with the brasses b and the slide blocks may thus slide
lengthwise in respect to the lever. The stem or shank of each nut-half is arranged
to be acted upon by a bell-crank lever pivoted to the lever H. Preferably for
this purpose a brass p is screwed on the stem, the said brass being provided with
grooves on its sides adapted to engage with a forked portion of lever l. Between
each nut-half and the bottom of the corresponding cavity in the brass b. the
necessary amount of play is left to allow the nut-halves to be withdrawn from the
screw. The two levers are brought in relation to each other, for instance in
the manner shown in the drawing at 2, so that they will move in contrary
directions, and one of them is connected by a rod t¹ to a latch t pivoted to the
hand-lever. The parts being so arranged, the attendant of the engine on grasping
the hand-lever, will press the latch t against the lever-handle and thereby draw
the nut-halves away from the screw. The lever is then independent of the screw
and may be moved forward and backward together with the brasses and the nut-

page_text: halves. When the lever and the latch are released, a spring or springs, such as
are shown in the drawing as being placed below the horizontal arms of levers 1,
will cause the nut-halves to reengage with the screw. The lever will then be
locked in its position, and the screw may again be made use of for adjusting
the lever.
According to the third improvement the receiver A of the engine is provided
with a plate D; Figs 4, 5 and 6, having ports in it, which communicate respec-
tively with the receiver, the steam-pipe of the large cylinder, the boiler, the
exhaust-pipe of the small cylinder and the atmosphere, and which may be put in
communication with each other in the required manner by a slide-valve to be
adjusted by hand. The said plate forms by preference the front wall of a box G
cast with the compartments r¹, g¹, d¹, r, k¹ c¹, arranged in two rows, and having
in each of them one port. The compartments and r¹ are open to the receiver;
g¹ communicates by the pipe g with the slide-valve box of the large cylinder; d.
by a channel passing through c¹ and by pipe d with the boiler; % by pipe k with
the exhaust channel of the small cylinder, while from c¹ a pipe c leads into the
funnel, or otherwise into the atmosphere. (In Fig 7, d is shown communicating
with the inside steam-pipe of the boiler and the box of the regulator-valve m, so
that the passage of steam through d may be controlled.) I is the slide-valve, the
cavity of which is divided by a wall e into two parts corresponding respectively
to the two rows of ports. When this valve is in its normal position, in which it is
shown in the drawing, steam will be exhausted from the small cylinder through
pipe k, compartment k valve I and compartment into the receiver, and supplied
from the latter through compartment, valve I, compartment gl and pipe g to
the large cylinder. The ports o and i of the respective compartments d' and c¹
are meanwhile closed by the valve. When the valve is shifted into its opposite
position, the ports of both compartments r and will be closed and the receiver
thereby shut off from the cylinders, while. the small cylinder will exhaust through
k, k', I, c¹ and c directly into the funnel or the atmosphere, and the large cylinder
will receive steam from the boiler through d, d¹, I, g' and g.
The slide-valve has so much inside lap that, when it is shifted, the receiver will
-be shut off before the ports o and i are opened. These ports are made narrow, in
order that, when the slide has opened them, the discharge of steam from the small
cylinder and the admission of steam from the boiler to the large cylinder may not
take place with too great velocity. Besides, the steam may be throttled to any
extent by the slide-valve.
The valve-box is in communication with the receiver by a small channel n so
that the valve has steam-pressure on its back. Moreover, springs may be employed
to press the valve against the port-face.
By admitting fresh steam to the large cylinder by means of the described
valve-arrangement, the power of the engine may be temporarily increased in a
considerably greater degree than is possible with the ordinary system of twin
steam-engines. This is especially for locomotive engines an important advantage.
The large cylinder will certainly in such case do much more work than the small
one, but this is of no consequence even for locomotives, as the amount of force
transmitted to the driving wheels is limited by their adhesion to the rails, and as a
prejudicial oscillation during the working of other compound locomotives has not
been observed.
When the improvements are applied to locomotive engines, the receiver is by
preference placed in the smoke-box, and an uptake for the hot combustion gases is
carried through the same. This arrangement and the contact with the said uptake
to which the steam is exposed during its passage from the compartment to the
compartment, will be efficacious in drying the steam and even in superheating it.
The receiver may be connected to the boiler by a pipe and steam-regulating
valve v, Fig 7, serving to maintain the pressure of steam in the receiver as nearly
as possible uniform. Besides, through this valve steam enters into the receiver

page_text: when the boiler is being heated, the valve closing automatically as soon as the
proper pressure is attained.
Having thus described the nature and object of this invention and the manner
in which it is to be carried out in practice as communicated to me by my
correspondents, I hereby claim as new and important features of the same:
1, In a compound steam-engine the valve-gear of which is worked by links, the
arrangement for transmitting motion from a lever operated by hand, (either
directly or through the medium of a screw), to the connecting rod acting upon the
link of one of the two cylinders, which consists in conducting the end of the said
rod in or by a curved track, while this end is at the same time free to shift
relatively to the said lever in the longitudinal direction thereof, substantially as
and for the purpose specified.
2, The combination with a hand-lever H and a screw E for operating the same,
of the two nut-halves a a pressed against the screw by spring-power and guided
between bars 8 8. and in slots in the lever H, and arranged to be withdrawn
laterally from the screw by a latch t and bell-crank-levers lī, pivoted to the lever,
substantially as and for the purpose specified.
3. The combination with the receiver of a compound steam-engine, of a plate D
having two rows of three ports each, and of a slide-valve I with division e; the
outer ports of one row communicating respectively with the receiver and the boiler,
the central port with the slide-valve-box of the large cylinder, the outer ports of
the other row respectively with the receiver and the atmosphere, and the central
port with the exhaust-channel of the small cylinder, and the slide-valve I being
adapted to put in communication the central ports with either two corresponding
outer ports, substantially as described and for the purpose set forth.
In witness whereof I the said Carl Pieper have hereunto set my hand and seal
this second day of November in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred
and eighty three.
CARL FIEFER
L.S.)