IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR CONTROLLING BY HAND THE MOVEMENTS OF ENGINES
Year: 1880

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Reynold Henry Newton Alleyne, of Butterley Park,
Alfreton, in the County of Derby, for an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
APPARATUS FOR CONTROLLING BY HAND THE MOVEMENTS OF ENGINES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Reynold Henry Newton
Alleyne at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 9th March
1880.
REYNOLD HENRY NEWTON ALLEYNE, of Butterley Park, Alfreton, in the County
of Derby. "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR CONTROLLING BY HAND THE
MOVEMENTS OF ENGINES."
In many engines, especially those of large size, instead of working the slides or
valve gear directly by hand for the purpose of stopping, starting, reversing, or
varying the speed, subsidiary cylinders are employed having their pistons connected
to the main valve gear, and the hand is applied to work the valves on slides of such
subsidiary cylinders on the pistons of which steam or water pressure is thus made
to act so as to work the main valve gear. My Invention relates to means of so
connecting the hand gear employed in this manner to the piston that works the
main valve gear as to effect a rapid and complete control of the latter, and
consequently of the main engine, so that it can be easily and quickly stopped,
started, reversed, or varied in speed as required for the work which it has to
perform. The arrangements which I am about to describe for this purpose are
applicable to steam engines generally, but they are particularly applicable to engines
for rolling mills or for winding at mines or collieries, where frequent and rapid
changes of direction and speed are required: -The subsidiary piston is usually
connected to an arm on a rocking shaft or to a lever by which motion is com-
municated to the link or other known gear for moving the slide or valves of the
main engine. On a fulcrum on this arm, or on the piston rod, or on an arm linked
to the piston rod so as to move with it I mount a hand lever which is linked to
the slide or valve of the subsidiary cylinder. When I move the hand lever so as
to shift the slide or valve of the subsidiary cylinder I thus admit steam or water
under pressure to act on the subsidiary piston so as to move it in the one direction
or the other according to the direction in which I have moved the hand lever. By
holding the handle of the hand lever at rest while the subsidiary piston moves,

page_text: carrying with it the fulcrum of the band lever, the subsidiary slide or valve is
thereby moved in the direction opposite to that in which it had been moved by
hand until it comes to a position where it cuts off the supply of fluid to the
subsidiary cylinder, the piston of which thereupon is brought to rest. If, on the
other hand, having moved the hand lever, I continue to move it in the same
direction, while the subsidiary piston is making its stroke, I can retain the subsi-
diary slide or valve in such position that it continues to supply the fluid acting on
the subsidiary piston which may thus be made to complete its stroke. Thus by
the movement of the hand lever to a greater or less extent in the one direction or
the other I am enabled to determine the extent and direction of stroke of the
subsidiary piston, which by its action on the link motion or other main valve gear
determines the direction and speed of the main engine. In order to avoid sudden-
ness in the stroke of the subsidiary piston I connect it to a piston working in a
cataract cylinder charged with water, oil, or other liquid which can flow from one
end of the cataract cylinder to the other end by a passage governed by a stop-cock
or valve. By closing this cock or valve more or less the resistance of the cataract
piston can be varied as desired, and thereby the speed of the subsidiary piston can
be controlled.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Reynold Henry Newton Alleyne in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 2nd September 1880.
REYNOLD HENRY NEWTON ALLEYNE, of Butterley Park, Alfreton, in the County
of Derby.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR CONTROLLING BY HAND THE
MOVEMENTS OF ENGINES."
In many engines, especially those of large size, instead of working the slides or
valve gear directly by hand for the purpose of stopping, starting, reversing, or
varying the speed, subsidiary cylinders are employed having their pistons connected
to the main valve gear, and the hand is applied to work the valves or slides of such
subsidiary cylinders on the pistons of which steam or water pressure is thus made
to act so as to work the main valve gear. My Invention relates to means of so
connecting the hand gear employed in this manner to the piston that works the
main valve gear, as to effect a rapid and complete control of the latter and conse-
quently of the main engine, so that it can be easily and quickly stopped, started,
reversed or varied in speed as required for the work which it has to perform. The
arrangements which I am about to describe for this purpose are applicable to teams
engines generally, but they are particularly applicable to engines for rolling mills
or for winding at mines or collieries, where frequent and rapid changes of direction
and speed are required. The subsidiary piston is usually connected to an arm on a
rocking shaft or to a lever by which motion is communicated to the link or other
known gear for moving the slide or valves of the main engine. On a fulcrum on
this arm, or on the piston rod, or on an arm linked to the piston rod so as to move
with it I mount a hand lever which is linked to the slide or valve of the subsidiary
cylinder. When I move the band lever so as to shift the slide or valve of the
subsidiary cylinder I thus admit steam or water under pressure to act on the
subsidiary piston so as to move it in the one direction or the other according to
the direction in which I have moved the hand lever. By holding the handle of
the hand lever at rest while the subsidiary piston moves, carrying with it the
fulcrum of the hand lever, the subsidiary slide or valve is thereby moved in the
direction opposite to that in which it had been moved by hand until it comes to a
position where it cuts off the supply of fluid to the subsidiary cylinder, the piston
of which thereupon is brought to rest. If, on the other hand, having moved the
hand lever I continue to move it in the same direction while the subsidiary piston
is making its stroke, I can retain the subsidiary slide or valve in such position
that it continues to supply the fluid acting on the subsidiary piston which may
thus be made to complete its stroke. Thus by the movement of the hand lever to
a greater or less extent in the one direction or the other I am enabled to determine
the extent and direction of stroke of the subsidiary piston, which by its action on
the link motion or other main valve gear determines the direction and speed of
the main engine. In order to avoid suddenness in the stroke of the subsidiary-
piston I connect it to a piston working in a cataract cylinder charged with water,
oil, or other liquid which can flow from one end of the cataract cylinder to the
other end by a passage governed by a stop cock or valve. By closing this cock or
valve inore or less the resistance of the cataract piston can be varied as desired, and
thereby the speed of the subsidiary piston can be controlled.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
•

page_text: shaft D so as to shift the eccentric link, or otherwise alter the timeing of the valves
of the main engine. The ports of the cylinder A are governed by a slide E. e is
the steam supply pipe to the middle cavity of the slide, and e¹, e¹, are the discharge
pipes from the ends of the slide case. The rod F of the slide E which has stops f
is linked to the hand lever G which has its fulcrum at g on the arm C. On pulling
the lever G, for example, to the right as shewn, steam entering the right hand end
of the cylinder A forces back its piston, and thus draws back the arm C. If the
hand applied at the top of the lever G be held stationary, then by the backward
movement of the fulcrum g the slide E will be pushed back so as to cut off steam
and stop the backward movement of the piston in A. But if, as the fulcrum g
retreats, the hand continues to move the lever G to the right the slide E can be
kept in its position until the piston in A completes its back stroke. In like manner
by pushing the lever G to the left the piston of A can be advanced as far as desired
to the right. Fig. 2 is a vertical section of a modified arrangement of the apparatus,
the parts of which corresponding to those in Fig. 1 are marked by similar reference
letters. In this case the subsidiary cylinder A. has an ordinary D slide E, the rod
of which F is linked to the hand lever G having its fulcrum at g on an arm h on
the rocking shaft H opposite to the arm h¹ which is moved by the piston of A.
This piston works also the arm C on the rocking shaft D connected to the main
valve gear, and its motion is controlled by the cataract B. When the hand lever G
is pulled to the right, as shewn, so as to advance the slide E the piston of A
advances causing the fulcrum g to retreat, and thus, if the hand applied at the top
of G be held stationary, moving back the slide E; or if the hand be advanced
while the piston of A advances the slide E may be held stationary till the piston
completes its stroke. Obviously the form and action of the slide E might be varied
and the position and connections of the hand lever G, provided these be arranged
in such a manner that the movement of the piston of A shall so act on the slide E
as to cut off the steam which propels the piston, unless the hand lever G be also
moved so as to make up by what would be a forward movement of the slide E for
the backward movement imparted to it by the piston of A.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, I claim in respect of engines having their valve gear
shifted by the piston of a subsidiary cylinder, the movement of which is governed
by hand,-
First. Connecting the handle which works the slide or valves of the subsidiary
cylinder to the piston thereof in such a manner that the movement of that piston
resulting from a movement of the subsidiary slide or valves shall tend to cut off
the supply of steam which is acting on the subsidiary piston, substantially as and
for the purpose herein set forth.
Second. The arrangement of the subsidiary cylinder and its valve gear herein
described with reference to Fig. 1 of the accompanying Drawings.
Third. The arrangement of the subsidiary cylinder and its valve gear herein
described with reference to Fig. 2 of the accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Reynold Henry Newton Alleyne, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Thirtieth day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and eighty.
REYNOLD H. N. ALLEYNE. (L.S.)