IMPROVEMENTS IN ASHES LIFTERS FOR STEAM SHIPS
Year: 1879

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Robert Baird Lindsay, of Glasgow, in the County of
Lanark, North Britain, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
ASHES LIFTERS FOR STEAM SHIPS."
Sealed the 6th April 1880, and dated the 9th October 1879.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Robert Baird Lindsay at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 9th October 1879.
ROBERT BAIRD LINDSAY, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North Britain,
Engineer. “IMPROVEMENTS IN ASHES LIFTERS FOR STEAMSHIPS.”
This Invention has for its object the construction of improved apparatus for
lifting ashes up out of the stoke holes of steamships.
The improved apparatus is intended to be fixed to a bulkhead in any convenient
position near the boilers, and it comprises a vertical steam cylinder provided with
passages and a valve for admitting steam below a piston, the rod of which has a
toothed rack attached to it. This rack gears with a pinion made in one piece with
or fixed to a large pulley which is carried on a horizontal stud upon a plate bolted
to the bulkhead. A chain fixed to the pulley is led by guide pulleys to the venti-
lating shaft or other way up which the ashes are to be taken, and there when in
use passes up to an overhead pulley and down again to the ashes bucket.
It is important to have effective and convenient means for controlling the
rapidity of the action of the apparatus, and for this purpose there is provided
according to one modification a second cylinder, the piston of which is connected to
the rack of the steam cylinder. The second cylinder is to contain water or other
liquid, and in a passage connecting the top and bottom of it there is a screw valve
by which the rate of How of the liquid from one end of the cylinder to the other
can be regulated, and the speed of the steam piston and parts connected therewith
will be thereby controlled.
In a second modification there is no second cylinder, but the steam admission
valve is moved by means of a screw spindle which can be turned by means of a

page_text: pair of bevil wheels and a handwheel, or by means of a handwheel directly applied
to it. The screwed part of the spindle works in an internal screw formed in a
block which is connected to the main pulley or rack so as when the steain piston
rises to move in the direction for closing the steam admission valve. The attendant
has consequently to continue turning the screw spindle if he wishes to keep the
valve open, and the result of the arrangement is that the steam is admitted and
the piston rises just in proportion to the continuance of the turning of the spindle,
so that the speed of the piston depends on the speed with which the attendant
turns the spindle, and is thus easily regulated.
The apparatus may be modified when desirable by placing the cylinder hori-
zontally or in an inclined position, and by arranging the passages and valves so
that the steam may act on upper side of the piston.
'
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page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Robert Baird Lindsay in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 7th
April 1880.
ROBERT BAIRD LINDSAY, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North Britain,
Engineer. "IMPROVEMENTS IN ASHES LIFTERS FOR STEAM SHIPS."
My said Invention has for its object the construction of improved apparatus for
lifting ashes up out of the stokeholes of steamships.
The improved apparatus is intended to be fixed to a bulkhead in any convenient
position near the boilers, and it comprises a vertical steam cylinder provided with
passages, and a valve for admitting steam below a piston, the rod of which has a
toothed rack or equivalent attached to it. In one modification the rack gears with
a pinion made in one piece with or fixed to large pulley, a chain from which is
led to the ventilating shaft or other way up which the ashes are to be taken, and
there when in uso passes up to an overhead pulley and down again to the ashes
bucket. The details of the improved apparatus are susceptible of considerable
modification.
And in order that my said Invention and the manner of performing the same
inay be properly understood I hereunto append two Sheets of explanatory
Drawings to be hereinafter referred to, and representing various modifications of
my improved apparatus. In these Drawings the same reference numerals are used
to mark the same or like parts wherever they are repeated.
Figure 1 on Sheet 1 of the accompanying Drawings is a vertical section, and
Figure 2 is a side elevation corresponding to Figure 1 of one modification of my
improved apparatus, in which a vertical steam cylinder 1 is employed having at one
side on the same sole plate a cylinder 2 of somewhat smaller area. The cylinders
1, 2, are bolted at one side to a bulkhead 3 in any convenient position near the
boilers, and on the cover 4 there are fixed a pair of vertical brackets or standards
5, 6. The steam cylinder 1 is provided at the lower part of one side with a valve
chest having a vertically sliding valve 8, which works over the ports of an exhaust
passage 9 and cylinder passage 10 communicating with the bottom of the cylinder 1
which is fitted with a piston 11. The valve 8 is worked by means of a bellcrank
hand lever 12 centered on a bracket on the valve box. Steam is admitted to the
valve chest by an inlet 14. The piston rod 16 passes through a stuffing box in the
cylinder cover 4, and has fixed to it a vertical toothed rack 17 which gears with a
pinion 18 forming part of the boss of a grooved pulley 19, which is on a short
shaft carried in bearings formed in the tops of the standards 5, 6. An antifriction
pulley 20 is centered on a pin fixed across the standards 5, 6, for guiding the
rack 17. A chain 15 attached to the periphery of the grooved pulley 19 is led by
guide pulleys to the ventilating shaft or other way up which the ashes are to be
taken, and there when in use passes up to an overhead pulley 21 and down again
to the ashes bucket.
It is important to have effective and convenient means for controlling the
rapidity of the action of the apparatus, and for this purpose in the modification
now being described the second cylinder 2 is provided. A piston 22 in this
cylinder 2 and its rod 23 are rigidly connected by a cross piece 24 to the rack 17
and piston rod 16 of the steam cylinder 1. The second cylinder 2 is to contain
water or other liquid, and in a passage 25 formed in the cylinder side and connecting
the top and bottom of it there is a screw valve 26, by which the rate of flow of the
liquid from one end of the cylinder to the other can be regulated, and the speed
of the steam piston and parts connected therewith will be thereby controlled.
In a second modification, shown in sectional elevation in Figure 3 and in side
elevation in Figure 4, there is no second cylinder, but the steam admission valve is
moved by means of a vertical spindle 27 which is screwed at its upper end. The

page_text: lower end of the spindle 27 is connected by a swivel joint to the rod of the slide
valve 8, and is passed upwards through a horizontal bracket 28 cast on the
cylinder 1. The upper screwed end of the spindle 27 is inserted into an internally
screwed block on a small toothed rack piece 29 having a spindle at its upper part
guided in an eye on a plate 30 fixed upon a bulkhead. The rack 29 gears with a
pinion fixed on a toothed segment 31 which gears with the pinion 18 acted on by
the large rack 17 and fixed to the large pulley 19. A small bevil wheel 32 through
which the spindle 27 passes loosely is supported on a small bracket 33, and gears
with a bevil wheel on a horizontal spindle of a handwheel 34 carried also by the
bracket 28. By turning the handwheel 34 the bevil wheel 32, by means of a
feather on the spindle 27, causes the spindle to rotate and to rise by the action of
its screwed end in the block piece 29, thus raising the slide valve 8 and admitting
steam under the piston 11. The piston in rising, by means of the rack 17, causes
the pinion 18 to rotate, which then through the segment 31 and rack 29 depresses
the spindle 27 and closes the valve 8. Consequently, in order to maintain tho
valve 8 open, the attendant worker will have to turn the handwheel in proportion
as the segment 31 tends to close the valve, and the result of the arrangement is
that the steam is admitted and the piston rises just in proportion to the continuance
of the turning of the handwheel, so that the speed of the piston depends on the
speed with which the attendant turns the handwheel, and is thus easily
regulated.
Figure 5 on Sheet 2 of the accompanying Drawings is a plan; Figure 6 is a
vertical section, and Figure 7 a vertical section as at right angles to Figure 6, of a
third modification of my improved apparatus. In this modification the toothed
rack 17 is encl. sed in the vertical steam cylinder 1, and in a pipe 41 fixed to the
top thereof, and is attached directly to the piston 11. The rack 17 gears with a
pinion 35 carried on a spindle in bearings in an enlargement formed at the upper
part of one side of the cylinder 1, and moves in contact with a guide formed inside
at the top of the cylinder. One end of the spindle of the pinion 35 extends through
a stuffing box in the side of the enlarged part of the cylinder, and has on it a spur-
wheel 36 gearing with a pinion 37. This pinion 37 is on the outer end of a shaft
having on it a grooved pulley 38 for the chain 15, and also a brake pulley 39, fitted
with a friction brake strap controlled by a handle 40 for regulating the action of
the apparatus. Steam is admitted to the cylinder by a slide valve 8, actuated by
means of a handled bellcrank lever, as in the first modification.
In a fourth modification, shown in front elevation in Figure 8, and in side clevation
in Fig. 9, there is substituted for the rack, pinion, and large pulley of the preceding
modifications an equivalent arrangement of multiple pulleys, and a chain or rope
for obtaining the necessary extent of movement. The chain 15 connected to the
ashes bucket has its other end fixed to a frame 42 fixed above the cylinder 1, and
carrying on a spindle a series of six grooved pulleys 43. The piston rod 16 has a
crosshead 44 fixed at its upper end, and carrying six upper pulleys 45, and the
chain 15 is passed alternately round one of the upper and one of the lower pulleys,
and finally to the overhead pulley (21.) The piston-rod crosshead 44 has straps 46
fixed to it, and these extending down through a buckle strap 47, and between it
and the sides of the lower pulley frame 42, serve as a brake strap for regulating
the motion, a screw and handwheel 48 being provided for tightening them as
required.
In a fifth modification, shown in vertical section in Figure 10, the piston rod 16
and certain parts connected with it are contained and enclosed within the steam
cylinder, which is elongated. The piston rod 16 is guided by a bridge 51 formed
across the cylinder 1 slightly below its middle, and it has a crosshead 44 at its
upper end, from which two chains 49 pass down to and round two pulleys 50.
These pulleys 50 are carried one at each side of the piston rod 16 upon a spindle
which is carried in bearings formed in the cylinder, and slightly to one side of the
cylinder clear of the piston rod. One end of the spindle of the pulleys 50

page_text: extends through a stuffing box in the side of the cylinder, and carries a
grooved pulley 19 for the chain connected to the ashes bucket. In some cases
a chain may be substituted for the piston rod, such chain having one end attached
to the piston, and its other end passed round and attached to a pulley or barrel
enclosed in the cylinder 1, the spindle of the pulley passing out through a stuffing
box, and being connected by suitable gearing with the external grooved pulley 19.
In this modification the steam moves the piston from the internal pulley or barrel
when raising the ashes bucket.
Having thus particularly described my said Invention, and the manner of
performing the same, I have to state that I do not restrict myself to the precise
details herein described or delineated, but that what I believe to be novel and
original, and claim as the Invention secured to me by and in terms of the herein-
before in part recited Letters Patent, is,-
1. The combination and arrangement of parts of apparatus forming an improved
ashes lifter, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figures 1
and 2 of the accompanying Drawings.
2. The second cylinder (2) containing a liquid, and having its piston (22) con-
nected to the piston (11) of the steam cylinder for regulating the action of the
apparatus, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figures 1 and 2
of the accompanying Drawings.
3. The combination and arrangement of parts of apparatus forming an improved
regulated ashes lifter, substantially as herein before described with reference to
Figures 3 and 4 of the accompanying Drawings.
4. The combination or arrangement of parts by means of which the steam
valve (8) is worked, as hereinbefore described with reference to Figures 3 and 4
of the accompanying Drawings.
5. The combination and arrangement of parts of apparatus forming an improved
ashes lifter, substantially as herein before described with reference to Figures 5, 6,
and 7 of the accompanying Drawings.
6. The combination and arrangement of parts of apparatus forming an improved
ashes lifter, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figures 8 and 9
of the accompanying Drawings.
7. The combination and arrangement of parts of apparatus forming an improved
ashes lifter, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figure 10 of
the accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Robert Baird Lindsay, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Third day of April, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and eighty.
Witness,
EDMUND HUNT,
Patent Agent,
Glasgow.
R. B. LINDSAY. (L.S.)