CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM ENGINES
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William MacNaught, of Manchester, in the County
of Lancaster, Engineer, for the Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN
STEAM ENGINES."
Sealed the 2nd April 1861, and dated the 5th October 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William MacNaught at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, ou the
5th October 1860.
I, WILLIAM MACNAUGHT, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "CERTAIN
IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM ENGINES," to be as follows:-
1st, my improvement consists in applying to any condensing engine or
engines one or more auxiliary cylinders on engines connected to the engine
by geering, and supplying the said auxiliary cylinders with steam from the
boilers or main steam pipes, and passing the exhaust steam of the said
auxiliary cylinder or cylinders into the condenser or condensers of the aforesaid
condensing engine or engines.
2nd, my improvement consists in applying to the geering, and detached from
the engine, one or more cylinders or engines supplying the cylinders or engines
with steam from the boilers or existing main steam pipes, and passing the
exhaust steam of these cylinders or engines into the condenser or condensers
of the existing engine or engines.
3rd, my improvement consists in applying a cylinder or cylinders to the
engine known as the "Woolfe" engine, either direct to the crank shaft, or to
it through geering, or to the geering and detached from the engine supplying

page_text: the steam to these engines in any convenient manner, but exhausting the
steam into the condenser or condensers of the "Woolfe" engine or engines.
4th, my improvement consists in applying to beam engines an air pump, or
air pump and condenser, to the opposite end of the beam to that to which the
ordinary condensing cylinder and air pump are placed, and also in applying
two air pumps to one engine (of any description), so that the one is per-
forming the down stroke while the other is making the up stroke.
5th, my improvement consists in applying a lever and link or levers and
links to transmit the motion of the excentric to the slide valve or valves, so
as to alter the travel of the said valves without altering the "lead" given
to them (the said valves, and which may be regulated by hand or by the
governor.
6th, in the application of an auxiliary cylinder or cylinders to the form of
engine patented by myself and William McNaught, of Rochdale, and dated
Twenty-second January, One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, which
cylinder is outside the engine house, and may be either on the single or
compound principle.
7th, in a novel head gear applied to equilibrium throttle valves, consisting
of a bell crank with a slot in one arm and a bowl on the other, the slotted
arm being connected to the governer, and the bowl acting on a lever connected
to the valve.
8th, in an improved lubricator (solely as applied to steam engines) con-
sisting of three flat plates held down upon each other by screws and a spring,
the middle plate being caused to reciprocate, so that orifices made in the same
will be alternately filled and emptied.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William MacNaught in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 5th April 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
MACNAUGHT, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifth day of October, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-fourth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said William MacNaught, Her special license that I, the said William

page_text: MacNaught, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
1, the said William MacNaught, my executors, administrators, and 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
"CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM ENGINES," upon the condition, amongst
others, that I, the said William MacNaught, 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 per-
formed, 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 MacNaught, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement and accompanying Drawings, that is to say:
The first part of my improvements is shewn in the Drawings on Sheet 1,
Fig. 1, which represents an elevation of a condensing steam engine with my
A and B are
principle applied thereto; Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same.
two auxiliary cylinders, and in this case are placed at right angles to each
other, one horizontal and the others vertical, and connected to one crank, the
shaft of which is also the second motion shaft of the condensing steam engine.
The steam is admitted to these cylinders A and B by a pipe C joined to the
steam pipe or nozzle of the condensing steam engine, and after passing through
the stop and throttle valves of the latter, so that the same stop and throttle
valves regulate all the cylinders. The auxiliary cylinders are fitted with an
expansive motion to each, and the steam, after doing duty in them, passes
into the condenser D of the condensing steam engine. Thus the auxiliary
cylinders are capable of working at a high pressure expansively, and con-
densing also at a great speed in consequence of not having an air pump.
If requisite, they may be'attached to and perform as many revolutions as any
part of the geering, and at considerable distances from the existing engine,
increasing the power, improving the regularity of the motion, and working
on the most economical principle. This and all other modifications of this
part of my Invention is specially applicable to heavily loded expansion
engines. Although I have described this as an application or adaptation of
two cylinders to a condensing steam engine, yet one or more are equally
applicable, and a condensing cylinder or cylinders, or engine or engines can

page_text: be applied to existing high-pressure engine or engines, so that the action
when complete is as described, and thus arranged are equally a part of my
Invention. I am aware that engines usually termed compound or double-
cylinder engines condense their steam, but by condensing engines I mean
engines whose cylinders are supplied with steam direct from boilers, and which
pass the steam after doing duty in the cylinders direct into the condensers.
(These engines usually work expansively).
The second part of my improvement is shewn in the Drawings Sheet 1,
Fig 3 representing a condensing engine and two auxiliary cylinders E and F,
in this case also placed for convenience at right angles to each other; these
cylinders are connected to one crank, is fixed on to the geering, but not con-
nected to the existing engine and the cylinders exhaust their steam into the
condensing steam engine by the pipe G; in this case it will be necessary to
regulate the speed of the auxiliary cylinders by a separate governor and
throttle valve.
This part of my Invention is applicable to engines which are heavily weighted
and where the geering is light or weak, and can be applied direct to the shafting
at any suitable or convenient part; also the auxiliary cylinders being light and
having no air pump to hamper them there is no reasonable limit to the speed.
Thus a portion of any driven machinery can be detached from the main engine
or engines and worked by the auxiliary cylinders, whereby the existing engine or
engines are greatly relieved and also the geering, by direct and economical
additional power being provided, which may also be used in driving any
additional machinery without increasing the strain on the existing engine or
gearing. As before stated for the first part of my Invention so in this, one
or more cylinders applied as above described are equally part of my Inven-
tion, and also a condensing engine or engines can be applied. to existing
engines so that when complete the action will be the same as described, and
when thus done will equally form a part of my Invention.
Further, although in the Drawings for this and the preceding parts of my
Invention I have shewn the auxiliary cylinders or engines applied to beam
engines alone, yet they can be applied as described in the before-mentioned
parts of my Invention to direct-action engines and would form thus equally a
part of my Invention.
The third part of my Invention requires no Drawing to explain it, it consists
in applying to the engine commonly known as the "Woolfe" engine," a cylinder
or cylinders, either direct to the crank shaft or to it through the medium of
geering, or to the geering itself and detached from the engine supplying to these
cylinders or cylinder steam in any. convenient way and exhausting the steam

page_text: into the condenser. or condensers of the "Woolfe engines." By "Woolfe
engines," I mean engines with two cylinders placed together at one end of
the beam, and the steam after doing duty in one of the cylinders expanding
into the larger cylinder and after doing duty there passing into the condenser.
In the preceding parts of my Invention I have described these auxiliary
engines as on the simple expansion principle, but they can also be made on
the double cylinder or compound system, and thus made are equally a part of
my Invention.
The fourth part of my Invention is shewn in the Drawings. In Sheet 2,
Fig. 4, represents an outline of a beam engine in elevation with air pump and
condenser placed at the opposite end of the beam from that to which the
condensing cylinder and ordinary air pump are placed, and the aforesaid air
pump and condenser may be used for the existing cylinder or cylinders, or
for any additional cylinder that may be applied. Another modification of
this is shewn at Fig. 5, where two air pumps H and I, are connected to one
condenser and worked by a double bell crank, this is chiefly adapted for hori-
zontal engines, but may be used for any kind of engines by making a suitable
lever of the beam for working the air pumps. This arrangement is specially
adapted for engines working at high speeds, as having two air pumps, smaller
of course than one for the same size of cylinder, they will take less power to
work them; less shock will be experienced in delivering the water, and
the condenser will be more effectually cleared of the hot water than with
one pump, and consequently the vacium will be improved.
The fifth part of my Invention is shewn in Sheet 2, Fig. 6.
a, a, is the
ordinary eccentric and rod, which is made shorter than usual; b is a lever, in
which is a circular slot at c; this lever is formed in two parts, as shown in the
Drawing, with blocks screwed between; c¹ is a stud, projecting from this
lever, and supporting it; d is the "link" from the lever to the valve, or it
may be the "valve spindle. It is obvious that when the eccentric is revolving
in the direction of the arrow, and the eccentric rod is connected to the 1
of the slot c, its action on the link or spindle d is earlier than it would be if
connected to the end 2 of the same slot. It is also obvious that the motion
or traverse of the valve spindle is less when the eccentric rod is connected to
the end 1 than it is when connected to the end 2 of the said slot; by this
means, and by keeping the proportions of the parts nearly as shewn, the
"lead" of the valve may be kept the same when cutting off earlier, as when
cutting off later. The end of the eccentric rod may be shifted in the slot
either by hand or by the action of the governor. The end of the eccentric
rod is connected to two sliders one in cach circular slot in. the sides of the
>

page_text: lever. The rod E is also attached to the same sliders; on the other end of the
said rod E is a screw and nut, on which is the bevil wheel, driven by another
bevil wheel g, on the boss of which is a ratchett wheel connected by a
friction spring i. On the stud j is a boss, to which is attached the pair of
catches k, k, and also a spring or flexible lever l, the other end of which is
connected by the rod m to the governor. When the engine is at its proper
speed, the lever is held by the governor in the position shewn in the Drawing,
but if it should either increase or diminish in speed, the said rod m will be
raised or depressed, in which case the lower or upper catch will be brought
into contract with the ratchett wheel, and as the stud j is stationary, being
attached to the hanger or fixture n, which forms a fulcrum for the said lever b
by means of the stud c¹. The vibratory motion of the lever b will turn the
ratchet in the direction required to draw or push the rod E. The friction
spring is to prevent breakage when the sliders may have got to either end of
the slot c; or the rod e may be acted upon by ratchets by the application of an
Invention described as "fourthly" in the Specification of Patent granted to
William MacNaught, of Rochdale, and myself, dated the Eighth of October,
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, by connecting the lever h in
Figs. 13, 14, and 15 (shewn in the Drawings attached to the Specification of
the said Patent) to the rod m, or by any similar means.
The sixth part of my Invention is shewn at Fig. 7, a being the original
engine, and 6 the auxiliary alluded to in the Provisional Specification, which
may either exhaust into the original engine on what is known as the compound
system, or have its own air pump and condenser known as the single system.
The seventh part of my Invention is shewn at Fig. 8. a is a bell crank,
bung on a stud b. On the end of one arm is a roller, working in a slot cat
the end of the lever d, hung on the stud f from near the middle of which
lever d a pin projects into the eye on the top of the spindle 7, which is
connected to an equilibrium or other valve of any kind, and which has an
adjusting screw g to regulate the length thereof. The other arm of the bell
crank a is slotted, and has a moveable stud h, to which is attached the rod i,
connected to the governor; the use of this slot is to regulate the amount of
lift of the said equilibrum or other valve. When the parts are in the position
shewn in the Drawing, the valve is down, and cannot get any lower, the end
of the bell crank being in a vertical position, but if the rod i is raised it lifts
the spindle with a slow powerful motion at first, which gradually accelerates
and causes greater certainty and regularity in its action than a direct con-
nection of the rod i with the spindle E would pro luce; Fig. 9 being a plan
view of the same.

page_text: 1st, I claim the connection of one or more cylinders or engines by geering
to a condensing engine or engines, and passing the exhaust steam of these
cylinders into the condenser or condensers of the condensing engines.
2nd, I claim the application to the geering, but detached from the engine
of one or more cylinders or engines, and passing the exhaust steam of such
cylinder or cylinders or engines into the condenser or condensers of the
existing engine or engines, and this I claim for all engines (whether termed
compound, double cylinder, or condensing) having a condenser.
3rd, I claim the application of a cylinder or cylinders to the engine or
engines known as "Woolfe engines," either direct to the crank shaft, or to it
through the medium of geering, or to the geering, but detached from the
engine or engines, and exhausting the steam into the condenser or condensers
of the "Woolfe engines" on engines.
4thly, I claim the application or adaptation of beam engines of an air pump
and condenser, or air pumps and condensers, to the opposite end of the beam
from that to which the condensing cylinders and air pumps are placed, and
also in applying two air pumps to one condenser or engine, so that the one is
performing the up stroke when the other is performing the down stroke.
5th, I claim the novel and peculiar construction as described and shewn in
the Drawings of the apparatus for varying the traverse without varying the
"lead" of the valve, and also the means shewn in the Drawings and referred
to of shifting the position of the end of an eccentric rod in any slotted lever,
attached either to a valve or to a slider superimposed.
6th, I claim the application of an auxiliary cylinder or cylinders, either on
the single or compound system, to any of the forms of engine shewn in the
Drawings attached to the Specification of the Patent alluded to, dated
January Twenty-second, One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, one form
of which is shewn in the Drawings hereto attached.
7th, I claim the apparatus as shewn and described for connecting the
governor to any form of equilibrum or other throstle valve.
In witness whereof I, the said William MacNaught, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Fourth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
(ST)
M NAUGH.