IMPROVEMENTS IN ACTUATING THE VALVES OF WATER AND OTHER METERS, AND OF ENGINES FOR OBTAINING MOTIVE POWER
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Loftus Perkins, of 6, Seaford Street, Gray's Inn
Road, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN ACTUATING THE VALVES
OF WATER AND OTHER METERS, AND OF ENGINES FOR OBTAINING MOTIVE
POWER."
Sealed the 28th April 1868, and dated the 29th October 1867.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Loftus Perkins at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 29th
October 1867.
I, LOFTUS PERKINS, of 6, Seaford Street, Gray's Inn Road, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN ACTUATING
THE VALVES OF WATER AND OTHER METERS, AND OF ENGINES FOR OBTAINING
MOTIVE POWER," to be as follows:-
Heretofore it has been proposed to actuate the slide valve of a steam
engine by connecting it at each of its ends to pistons working in cylinders
formed at the ends of and open to the valve chest, so that by placing the back
ends of the two cylinders in the valve chest alternately in communication with
the exhaust the slide valve has been moved to and fro. The placing the
cylinders in communication with the exhaust has ordinarily been effected by
causing the piston of the engine when it arrives at one or other end of its

page_text: course to strike against and move back a tappet or cam in connection with a
valve, which except when so moved back closed a passage leading from the
end of one of the cylinders in the valve chest to one end of the main cylinder
of the engine. In some cases also the cylinders in the valve chest have been
placed in communication with the exhaust by a valve actuated by a lever
which carried a cam surface or tappets acted on by the piston rod.
According to this Invention the use of tappets or cams acted on by the
piston or piston rod is dispensed with, and the admission of steam or fluid to
the cylinders which work the valve or valves of the engine or meter, or the
putting these cylinders in communication with the exhaust is governed by a
valve moving reciprocally with the piston of the engine, that is, that it shall
both commence and end its stroke simultaneously therewith, it may either be
that the piston itself is made to form the valve, or an independent valve
making an equal stroke with the piston, or a stroke of any other desired
length may be employed.
-
According to this Invention I in one arrangement place a slide valve in the
interior of the piston of the engine or meter, the piston being made hollow
for the purpose, and I employ a hollow piston rod on each side of the piston,
one hollow rod for the inlet and the other for the outlet of the steam or fluid
employed for working the engine. The slide valve is arranged to move two
and fro in a direction. at right angles to the length of the cylinder, and to
work against a flat face through which ports are formed, the central port
being open to the hollow exhaust rod, and the two outer ports being open
respectively to two passages passing to the two opposite sides of the piston.
An inlet port is formed through the ends of the slide valve on each side of the
ordinary hollow or arched portion of the valve, and these ports or passages
are alternately brought to coincide with the two outer ports of the valve face,
the ends of the valve are prolonged beyond these ports and fit into two
chambers formed at the ends of the hollow chest in the piston in which the
slide valve works. From the outer ends of each of these chambers a passage
passes to the outer circumference of the piston of the engine; on opposite
sides of this passage are two, other passages, one connected with the steam
supply and the other with the exhaust; the outer ends of all three passages
are closed during the greater portion of the stroke of the piston by their being
in close contact with the sides of the cylinder, but when the piston arrives at
or near one or other end of its course two of these passages come opposite a
recess in the cylinder, and by; this means the passage leading from one
chamber is.opened to the steam supply, whilst the passage leading from the

page_text: other chamber is open to the exhaust, and thus the position of the slide valve.
is shifted.
According to another arrangement I govern the working of a slide valve
(contained in a chest outside the cylinder as usual) by a second slide valve
which receives motion from a lever actuated from the piston rod of the.
engine. The arrangement I prefer for effecting this is to cause the ends of
the slide valve or pistons connected to these ends to work in cylinders or
chambers formed in the valve chest. At the back of the main slide valve
and of these chambers or cylinders I form a second valve face, through the
centre of which is formed a large opening or port through which steam is at
all times free to pass to the back of the main slide valve. On each side of this
central port is another port from which a small passage leads to one or other of
the chambers' or cylinders in which the ends of the main slide valve are received:
In close proximity to each of these ports is another port from which a passage.
leads to the exhaust. Over this valve face works' a' slide valve, through the
centre of which is a large opening, so that the port for admitting steam to the
main slide valve is never covered; on each side of this central opening hollow
chambers are formed in the valve, and one or other of these chambers is
when the piston of the engine has arrived at or near the end of its course
brought over a port which is open to one of the cylinders which receive the
ends of the slide valve, and also over the adjoining port leading to the
exhaust; at the same time one edge of the central opening in the slide valve
passes beyond the passage leading from the other cylinder which receives the
opposite end of the valve, and thus steam is admitted to this chamber at the
same time that the other chamber is 'connected with 'the exhaust, and thus
the main slide valve is at once shifted.
In place of admitting steam to one of the cylinders employed for working
the valve and simultaneously connecting the other cylinder with the exhaust,
it is sufficient in many cases to connect one of the cylinders either with the
steam or fluid, or with the exhaust either direct or through the cylinder.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirty-first year of Her
reign, did, for. Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Loftus Perkins, Her special licence that I, the said Loftus Perkins, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or. such others as I, the said Loftus
Perkins, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN ACTUATING
THE VALVES OF WATER AND OTHER METERS, AND OF ENGINES FOR OBTAINING
MOTIVE POWER," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Loftus
Perkins, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under
my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and
cscertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
was to be performed, 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 Loftus Perkins, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say :-
Heretofore it has been proposed to actuate the slide valve of a steam engine
by connecting it at each of its ends to pistons working in cylinders formed at
the ends of and open to the valve chest, so that by placing the back ends of
the two cylinders in the valve chest alternately in communication with the
exhaust the slide valve has been moved to and fro. The placing the cylinders
in communication with the exhaust, has ordinarily been effected by causing
the piston of the, engine when it arrives at one or other end of its course to
strike against and move back a tappet or cam in connection with a valve,
which except when so moved back closed a passage leading from the end of
one of the cylinders in the valve chest to one end of the main cylinder of the
engine. In some cases also the cylinders in the valve chest have been placed
in communication with the exhaust by a valve actuated by a lever which
carried a cam surface or tappets acted on by the piston rod.
According to this Invention the use of tappets or cams acted on by the
piston or piston rod is dispensed with, and the admission of steam or fluid to

page_text: the cylinders which work the valve or valves of the engine or meter, or it
might be the putting these cylinders in communication with the exhaust, is
governed by a valve moving reciprocally with the piston of the engine, that is,
that it shall both commence and end its stroke simultaneously therewith; it
may either be that the piston itself is made to form the valve or an inde-
pendent valve, making an equal stroke with the piston, or a stroke of any
other desired length may be employed. One advantage of this arrangement
is that the engine or meter may at pleasure be worked equally well in either
direction:
In the Drawings hereunto annexed I have shown two arrangements of
engines or meters, the valves of which are operated in the manner above
described. I would' however have it understood that I do not confine myself
to the details of these arrangements, as other arrangements than those shown
might be adopted for causing the valve or valves which govern the working
of the main valve to move reciprocally with the piston of the engine as above-
described.
.:
On Sheet I of the Drawings I have shown one arrangement, by which the
piston of the engine or meter may itself be caused to form the slide valve for
governing the working of the main valve. In this arrangement' a slide valve
is placed in the interior of the piston of the engine or meter, the piston being
made hollow for the purpose. A hollow piston rod is placed on each side of
the piston, one for the inlet and the other for the outlet of the steam or:fluid
employed for working the engine or meter. To shift the water at each end
of the stroke of the piston the steam or fluid is caused to press against one or
other end of the valve by a communication being established between two
ports or openings at the side of the piston, one connected with the steam>
supply and the other leading to a chamber which the end of the slide valve
fits into, and this communication is established by the ports being by the
movement of the piston brought opposite a recess in the side of the cylinder,
the piston itself thus forming the moving part of the slide valve for governing
the working of the main slide valve of the engine or meter.
The several views, Figures 1 to 7, shown on Sheet 1, are sectional views,
the nature of which is marked upon the Drawings.
In all the views a is the cylinder of the engine or meter; b, the piston
which works to and fro therein; c, d, are the hollow piston rods connected to
the two ends of the piston; the rod c being the supply pipe for supplying.
steam or other fluid under pressure to the cylinder, and the rod d. being the
exhaust or outlet pipe, by which the steam or fluid passes from the cylinder;

page_text: e is the slide valve working to and fro within a recess in the piston; this slide
valve is made with a port or passage through it on each side of the ordinary
arched portion of the valve, and these ports or passages are alternately brought
to coincide with the two outlet ports of the valve face. The piston itself is
made in three parts, held together by the screws f,f; one of these parts is
composed of a disc d¹ formed on the end of the hollow exhaust rod d; the flat
surface of this disc forms the valve face, upon which the slide valve e works to
and fro; three ports are formed in this valve face, one (the central one)
leading to the hollow exhaust rod, and the two outer ports leading, one to one
end and the other to the opposite end of the piston. On the end of the hollow
inlet rod c is a disc c¹, between which and the disc d' is a third disc g, in which
is a rectangular recess g¹, in which the slide valve works to and fro, the sides
of the valve fitting against the sides of the recess. From the opposite ends of
this recess small passages 92 are formed leading to small ports or openings at
opposite sides of the piston. On each side of each of these ports g is another
port, one of which is connected by a small passage with the hollow exhaust
rod and the other with the steam supply rod; these ports at the side of the
piston are during the greater part of the stroke closed by the sides of the
cylinder, but when the, piston arrives at one or other end of its stroke, then
the central port 93 on each side of the piston is together with one of the ports
at its side brought opposite a recess a¹ formed in the side of the cylinder, and
so a free communication 'is established between the two ports thus brought
opposite the recess. As will be seen by the section shown at Figure 2 the
two recesses made on opposite sides of the cylinder near each of its ends are
in such a position that the central port 93 on one side of the piston will thus
be put in communication with the exhaust, whilst the central port 92 on the
other side of the piston is put in communication with the steam supply; the
slide valve is thus at once shifted, and the piston is caused to move back to
the opposite end of the cylinder. When the cylinder has again arrived at or
near the end of its stroke the valve is again caused to shift in a similar
manner, the central port g2 which before was connected with the exhaust
being now, connected to the steam supply, and the other port 98 which was
connected with the steam being now connected to the exhaust. The piston
of the engine or meter is prevented from turning in the cylinder by a cross
head on the piston rod, or otherwise.
The apparatus above described is more especially applicable as a water
meter, a registering apparatus being combined with it to register the number
of strokes made by the piston.

page_text: On Sheet 2 of the Drawings is shown a longitudinal section of an arrange
ment of engine, in which the working of the main valve is governed by a
sliding valve, which is caused to move reciprocally with the piston of the
engine by motion being imparted to it through a lever jointed to the end of
the piston rod. A transverse section through the cylinder and valve chamber
of this engine is shown on Sheet 3.
In the views shewn on Sheets 2 and 3 a is the cylinder of the engine; b,
the piston giving motion by its piston rod 6¹ and connecting rod 62 to a crank c¹
on the crank shaft c; the end of the piston rod is fixed to a slide 63 which can
slide to and fro on the bed 6%; this slide has jointed to it the lower end of a
lever d, the pin or fulcrum of which is carried at the end of a link e turning.
at its other end on a pin carried at the end of the valve box of the engine.
The upper end of the lever carries a slide which can be moved towards
or from the fulcrum by means of a screw f; this slide carries a pin g, from
which a connecting rod g¹ passes to the end of the rod of a slide valve h; this i
valve serves to control the working of the main valve of the engine, and in
the arrangement shewn in the Drawing also serves to shut off steam from the
cylinder at any desired part of the stroke to allow the steam in the cylinder of
the engine to work by expansion. The main valve of the engine is a balance
piston valve, consisting of four pistons k¹, ke¹, carried on one stem k; this
valve is capable of sliding to and fro in a cylindrical chamber ; in the centre
of this chamber openings are made through its side, and these openings
communicate with the exhaust; on each side of these openings are other
openings which by suitable passages communicate with the two ends of the
cylinder of the engine, and beyond these are other openings 13, by which steam
can pass into the two ends of the cylindrical valve chamber. The putting the
ports which lead to the two ends of the cylinder alternately in communi-
cation with the steam ports 1s and the exhaust ports l¹ is governed by the two
central pistons on the valve stem k, whilst the two outer pistons on this stem
serve to shift it endwise at the completion of each stroke of the piston of the
engine. For this purpose two ports 1, 15, are led from each end of the
cylindrical valve chamber to the valve face, upon which the slide valve h
works to and fro. Through the ports 1 steam can be admitted into the ends
of the chamber, whilst through the ports 15 the ends of the chamber can be
connected with the exhaust. The putting the two ends of the chamber
alternately in connection with the exhaust is governed by two n recesses in
the slide valve h, one of which at the end of each stroke of this valve is caused
to lap over one of the ports 1, and also over another port which leads to

page_text: the exhaust one end of the cylindrical valve chamber is at the end of each
stroke of the slide valve h thus put in connection with the exhaust, whilst the
opposite end of the chamber is at the same time opened to the steam by the
end of the valve h having, passed beyond the port 1, which leads from this
end of the chamber; the valve k is thus at once driven from one end of
its stroke to the other. As the valve k thus moves over from one end of its
stroke to the other it is stopped quietly without any blow as soon as the
foremost piston has moved beyond the port 15, which is then connected with
the exhaust, any steam remaining between the foremost piston and the end
of the chamber being then unable to escape will form a cushion to quietly
arrest the movement of the valve k. In some cases the piston of the engine
may when desired be similarly arrested' without shock. In order that the
slide valve h may cut off the supply of steam to the cylinder at any part of
the stroke of the piston of the engine two ports h* are formed through it near
its centre; one of these is for governing the admission of steam to one end of
the cylinder, whilst the other is for governing the admission of steam to the
opposite end of the cylinder; the upper surface of the central part of the slide
valve h works against another valve face m, which is formed in two parts,
that can be drawn nearer to or moved further from each other by turning the
hand wheel n (excentric pins on the axis of this wheel then moving the two
parts of the valve face to or from each other by means of rods n¹), the space
or opening between the two parts of the valve face can thus be increased or
diminished. The time during which one or other of the ports h* is moving
below the opening between the two parts of the valve face, and consequently
the time during which steam can pass through such port to the cylinder can
thus readily be adjusted. If it is not required to use the steam expansively the
valve face m may be omitted, and one large central opening be formed through
the slide valve h, through which steam is always free to pass. The lead which
is given to the slide valve k can be adjusted by varying the length of stroke
given to the valve h. In place of the valve which governs the working of the
main valve being actuated by a lever from the piston of the engine, the piston
of the engine may itself be caused to give motion directly to the valve or
valves which govern the working of the main valve; this may be effected by
fixing to both ends of the piston à rod, which rods project through the end
covers of the cylinder and are received in tubes fixed thereto; when the piston
is at one end of its stroke a recess in one or other rod is brought opposite a
branch passage leading from the tube in which such rod works; and steam is
so allowed to pass through such branch passage to shift the main valve of the

page_text: engine, or other arrangements might be adopted for causing the valve or
valves which govern the working of the main valve to move reciprocally with
the piston of the engine.
In witness whereof, I, the said Loftus Perkins, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Twenty-eighth day of April, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight.
LOFTUS PERKINS. (L.S.)