IMPROVEMENTS IN POWER HAMMERS
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edward Hamer Carbutt, and George Alfred
Clough, both of Bradford, in the County of York, Engineers, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN POWER HAMMERS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edward Hamer Carbutt
and George Alfred Clough at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,
with their Petition, on the 23rd October 1862.
We, EDWARD HAMER CARBUTT, and GEORGE ALFRED CLOUGH, both of
Bradford, in the County of York, Engineers, do hereby declare the nature
of the said Invention for." IMPROVEMENTS IN POWER HAMMERS," to be as
follows:-
This Invention relates to certain improvements in steam hammers, whereby
they are rendered self-acting, the length of stroke being adjustable in either
direction.
According to one method of carrying out this Invention, an incline groove
or its equivalent is made to communicate with a bowl sliding in a transverse
groove on the hammer frame through a lever of the second order, or any
other mechanical expedient by which we can gain our object, namely, giving
the incline groove first referred to very little deviation from the vertical in
proportion to its length, and gaining the travel we lose by the incline by the
lever or its equivalent in connection, with the bowl, which transmits its motion
to the valve through wedges made adjustable by screws on a special moveable
frame in connection with valve. One of these wedges has means provided
by which its pitch or inclination can be regulated; this adjustment regulates
the amount of steam supplied to the cylinder, or the steam can be entirely

page_text: shut off from the upper side of the piston. The moveable frame admits (as
also does the means of gaining travel) of many modifications.
By another method we render steam hammers self-acting by causing the
steam actuating the hammers to move the valve directly.
Our means of accomplishing this is by causing an adjustable arrangement
of valves to travel a certain determined distance relatively with the tup, the
length of stroke of which is regulated by altering, by the said adjustment, the
time at which the said arrangement of valves uncover a port leading to a
piston in communication with the valve or on to the valve itself. We thus
by this arrangement get the steam on the top of the piston a moment
after the blow is actually struck. Or we render steam hammers self-acting
by compressing an amount of air in a suitable chamber in connection
with a small cylinder in which works a piston in connection with the main
valve; the passage between the said chamber and the cylinder is opened
or shut (as the case may be) by a second valve pressed upon by an adjustable
spring so that when the air has attained a sufficient density it opens the
second valve and passes on to the small cylinder, the piston of which it moves
and thus alters the main valve.
L
According to the second part of our Invention, we propose to form steam ham-
mers known 'as single-action hammers in à peculiar manner. We form the
tup cylindrical, and of a diámeter in proportion to the size of hammer. Means
are provided on the said 'tup at its upper end för attaching a wrought iron,
or any other, metal cylinder to it; the annular space thus formed between the
tup and the cylinder attached to it is occupied by the main piston; which
is a fixture, and is attached to the hammer frame. We also substitute for
the present steam valve a pendulous one, where the exhaust passes outside the
case or through the valve while the outside of the valve is surrounded with
steam. We also in some cases take a first motion from the tup by a frictional
bowl or truck in contact with the said tup, and transmit such motion to 'the
main valve by any suitable arrangement of tappets. We form the pistons for
steam hammers with radial or concentric corrugations, or both combined.
i
.
..
-197
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Edward Hamer Carbutt and George Alfred Clough in the
Great Seal Patent Office on the 23rd April 1863.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, EDWARD
HAMER CARBUTT, and GEORGE ALFRED CLOUGH; both of Bradford, in the 3:
County of York, Engineers, send greeting. .

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-third day of October, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-sixth year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto us, the said Edward Hamer Carbutt and George Alfred Clough, Her
special license that we, the said Edward Hamer Carbutt' and George Alfred
Clough, our executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as we,
the said Edward Hamer Carbutt and George Alfred Clough, our executors,
administrators, or 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 POWER HAMMERS,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said Edward Hamer
Carbutt and George Alfred Clough, our executors or administrators, by
an instrument in writing under our hands and seals, or under the hand
and seal of one of them, should particularly describe and ascertain 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 we, the said Edward Hamer Carbutt and George
Alfred Clough, do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and
in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following statement, reference being had to the
accompanying Drawings, and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that
is to say:-
Our said Invention relates to certain improvements in steam hammers,
whereby they are rendered self-acting, the length of stroke being adjustable in
either direction. According to one method of carrying out this Invention an
inclined groove or its equivalent is made to communicate with a bowl sliding in
a transverse groove on the hammer frame through a lever of the second order
or any other mechanical expedient by which we can gain our object, namely,
giving the inclined groove first referred to very little deviation from the
vertical in proportion to its length, and gaining the travel we lose in the incline
by the lever or its equivalent in connection with the bowl which transmits its
motion to the valve through wedges made adjustable by screws or levers on a
special moveable frame in connection with the valve. One of these wedges has
means provided by which its pitch or inclination can be regulated; this

page_text: adjustment regulates the amount of steam supplied to the cylinder, or the
steam can be entirely shut off from the upper side of the piston. The move-
able frame admits (as also does the means of gaining travel) of many
modifications.
By another method we render steam hammers self-acting by causing the
steam actuating the hammers to move the valve directly. Our means of
,accomplishing this is by causing an adjustable arrangement of valves to travel
a certain determined distance relatively with the tup, the length of stroke of
which is regulated by altering, by the said adjustment, the time at which the
said arrangement of valves uncover a port leading to a piston in communi-
cation with the valve or on to the valve itself. We thus, by this arrangement,
get the steam on the top of the piston a moment after the blow is actually
struck. Or we render steam hammers self-acting by compressing an amount
of air in a suitable chamber in connection with a small cylinder in which
works a piston in connection with the main valve, or constituting the main
valve itself; the passage between the said chamber, and the cylinder is opened
or shut, as the case may be, by a second valve pressed upon by an adjustable
spring, so that when the air has attained a sufficient density it opens the
second valve and passes on to the small cylinder, the piston of which it moves,
and thus alters the main valve, or the spring may be applied to the rod of the
main piston valve in the small cylinder.
According to the second part of our Invention we proposed to form steam
hammers known as single-action hammers in a peculiar manner. We form
the tup cylindrical and of a diameter in proportion to the size of hammer.
Means are provided on the said tup at its upper end for attaching a wrought-
iron or any other metal cylinder to it, the annular space thus formed between
the tup and the cylinder attached to it is occupied by the main piston, which
is a fixture and is attached to the hammer frame. We also substitute for the
present steam valve a pendulous one, where the exhaust passes outside the
case or through the valve, while the outside of the valve is surrounded with
We also, in some cases, take a first motion from the tup by a fric-
tional bowl or truck in contact with the said tup and transmit such motion to
the main valve by any suitable arrangement of tappets. We form the pistons
for steam hammers with radial or concentric corrugations, or both combined.
steam.
And in order that our said Invention may be fully understood we shall now
proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose we shall
refer to the several Figures on the Sheets of Drawings hereunto annexed, the
same letters of reference indicating corresponding parts in all the corresponding
Figures.

page_text: Figure 1 on Sheet 1 of our Drawings represents in side elevation and
partial section an ordinary steam hammer provided with our improved valve
and valve motion, the latter being self-acting and affording facility for regu-
lating the length of stroke in either or both directions. A is an inclined
groove made in the tup or hammer, and B is a lever working on a fixed stud
or centre at its upper extremity and carrying a bowl or pulley at C, which
bowl works in the groove in the hammer or tup. The lower extremity of the
lever B is connected by a link to a block D sliding to and fro in a horizontal
groove in the hammer framing; E, E, are two wedges or inclined planes, the
positions of these wedges being adjustable in the frame F by the aid of the
two screw spindles and hand wheels G, G. The block D comes in contact
with each of these wedges alternately, and elevates or depresses the frame F,
which, by being connected through the rod H with the hammer valve I,
imparts the desired motion thereto. By this arrangement of lever B and
inclined groove A, a small amount of travel is obtained from the tup, and this
is increased by the lever so as to give the proper traverse to the block D. If
:desired, one of these wedges may be provided with a cam or eccentric K
(Figure 2), whereby the inclination of the hinged face E of the wedge may
be increased or diminished, thus affording a ready means for wholly or
partially cutting off the steam from the upper side of the piston. The
valve I in Figure 1 has a pendulous or circular reciprocating movement, being
actuated in any convenient manner from the rod H of the moveable frame F.
The steam may either surround the valve at a, a, or it may enter at 6, and
occupy the spaces c, c.
Figure 3 represents a modified form of pendulous or reciprocating valvė,
wherein the steam surrounds both sides a, a, of the valve I, and the exhaust
passes out through the central passage d.
Figures 4 and 5 represent another arrangement of self-acting valve motion,
in which an eccentric or cam D is employed in lieu of the sliding block D in
Figure 1: This eccentric or cam is brought in contact with the wedges E, E,
alternately by the action of the lever B, which receives an oscillating or rocking
motion from a bowl C working in the inclined groove in the hammer or tup,
herein-before referred to in Figure 1. Each of the wedges is adjustable for
the purpose of varying the length of stroke by means of the screw spindles
G, G, in connection with the main valve, the spindles being turned by hand
wheels, as herein-before described.
Figure 6 represents á sectional view of an arrangement for actuating the
main valve by direct steam pressure. L is a sliding rod or spindle actuated
by the inclined groove A on the hammer or tup, or in any other manner, and

page_text: having a right screw thread loose thereon and a left screw thread formed upon
it, as shewn at e, e'. On each of these screwed portions is fitted a slide valve
M, M', working in the valve box N, which is supplied with steam. O is a
small cylinder communicating at the top and bottom by ports or passages
ff', with the valve box, which latter is provided also with exhaust ports g,g'..
A piston P works within the cylinder O, its rod being in connection with the
main valve of the hammer, and consequently moves that valve each time
the piston P is elevated or depressed. The slide valves M, M', being adjust-
able along their spindle, they can be made; to uncover the ports f, f¹, at
different periods according to the desired length of stroke of the hammer; it
will thus be seen that the hammer valve is actuated by the pressure of the
steam at an earlier or later period upon the upper and under sides of the small
.piston P alternately.
Figure 1 on Sheet 2 of our Drawings represents a sectional elevation of
an arrangement of air-actuated: valve. às applied to a small or tilt steam
hammer. On the rising of the piston A the air contained, above it in the
upper part B of the main cylinder is compressed' until it attains a sufficient
-density to overcome the pressure of the helical spring C surrounding the
spindle of the valve; D. This valve is piston-shaped, and works within the
cylindrical valve box E, the upper part of which is in communication with
the top of the main cylinder by the passage or port a, so that the compressed
air will act directly upon the top of the valve D, and tend to force it down.
The downward movement of the valve D opens the exhaust port b; and allows
the hammer to descend; the compressed air then escapes by a small aperture c
made in the side of the valve box, as shown in the detailed section at Figure 2,
this passage being uncovered by the descent of the valve D. The air pressure
thus removed, the valve D is elevated again by the action of the helical spring,
and opens the steam port or passage d, when the hammer. is lifted again, and
the operations are repeated. F is a small valve opening outwards from the
side of the main cylinder, and preventing the return of the compressed air
from the valve box E; it is shown on a larger scale in Figure 3. An air
inlet valve G (Figure 3) is fitted to the main cylinder cover for the purpose
of allowing a fresh supply of air to enter therein as the piston. A descends.
Figure 4 represents, in vertical section, a slight modification of the arrange-
ment, herein-before last described. In this case the main valve D and valve
box.Ė are situate on the top of the cylinder cover, and the small valves F
and G are dispensed with, the latter being replaced by a cock at g. a is the
compressed air passage leading direct into the valve box; b is the exhaust
port, and d the steam inlet.

page_text: Figure 5 represents a sectional elevation of a single-action steam hammer
.constructed according to another part of this. Invention, and Figure 6 is. a
horizontal section taken through the upper part of the main framing. cylinder
and hammer bar. A is the hammer bår or tup; and B is a wrought-iron cylinder
secured to the upper end of the tup in any convenient. manner. The piston
C is cast in one piece with the main framing, or is fitted thereto by bolts.or
otherwise; but in all cases it is intended to remain fixed or stationary, whilst
the cylinder works over it in conjunction with the liammer tup! a; a, repre-
sent a series of annular grooves cut in the circumference of the piston to serve
the purpose of packing, or, if preferred, ordinary metallic. or other packing
may be employed. Steam is supplied through a port 6 (Figure 6) 'made in
the fixed piston, and-enters the annular space c, c, in the top of the inverted
cylinder, the lower end of the cylinder being entirely. open, as shown 'in
Figure 5. This arrangement, by reason of the length of bearing surface,
ensures great steadiness of blow, and is generally of a more substantial
character than ordinary steam hammers.
We have not considered it necessary to give an illustrative drawing of the
arrangement for working a steam hammer valve by the aid of a friction bowl
in contact with the hammer or tup, as this arrangement will be well under-
stood, from the description herein-before given; the motion of the bowl is
transmitted to the valve by any convenient combination of tappets, levers, or
cams. Neither do we deem it requisite to illustrate our peculiar form of
piston for steam hammers, which consists simply in making radial and con-
centric corrugations, combined or separately, upon the upper or under or both
surfaces of the piston, thereby ensuring great strength combined with extreme
lightness:
L
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of our said
Invention and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried
into effect, we would observe in conclusion, that what we consider to be novel
and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to us by the herein-
before in part recited Letters Patent, is,-
1st, the general construction and arrangement of power hammers, sub-
stantially as herein-before described.
2nd, the combinations and arrangements of machinery or apparatus for
working the valves of power hammers, substantially as herein-before described
and illustrated by Figures 1, 4, and 5, on Sheet 1 of our Drawings.
3rd, the application and use of a wedge, the inclination of which is made
adjustable by means of a cam or other suitable contrivance, substantially as
herein-before described.

page_text: 4th, the peculiar combination and arrangement of apparatus for working the
valves of power hammers by steam pressure, as herein-before described and
illustrated by Figure 6, on Sheet 1 of our Drawings.
5th, the peculiar constructions of valves for power hammers, as herein-
before described and illustrated by. Figures 1 and 3, on Sheet 1 of our
Drawings.
6th, the actuating of the valves of power hammers by the aid of compressed
air generated by the piston of the hammer, substantially as herein-before
described.
7th, the application and use to and in power hammers of a cylinder open
at the lower end, and connected at the top to the hammer or tup, and
working over. a stationary piston, substantially as herein-before described and
illustrated in Figures 5 and 6, on Sheet 2 of our Drawings.
8th, the working of the valves of power hammers from a bowl or truck in
frictional contact with the tup, as herein-before described.
169
9th, the making of the pistons of power hammers, with radial or annular
or radial and annular, corrugations, as herein-before described.
In witness whereof; we, the said Edward Hamer Carbutt and George
Alfred Clough, have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Twenty-
second day of April, One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three.
EDWARD HAMER CARBUTT. (L.S.)
GEORGE ALFRED CLOUGH.
(L.S.)
EDWARD HAMER CARBUTT. (L.S.)
GEORGE ALFRED CLOUGH.
(L.S.)