IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM ENGINES
Year: 1846

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
KNOWELDEN, of Great Guildford Street, Southwark, in the County of Surrey,
Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Thirty-first day of
December, One thousand eight hundred and forty-six, in the tenth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said William Knowelden, ny exors, adiñors, and assigns, Her especial
licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said William
Knowelden, my exors, adiñors, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
William Knowelden, my exors, adiñiors, or assigns, should at any time agrec
with, and no others, from time to time and at all times during the term of
years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, usc, exercise, and
vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my In-
vention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM ENGINES;" in which said Letters Patent is
contained a proviso, that I, the said William Knowelden, shall cause a parti-
cular description of the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal,
to be inrolled in Her Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar
months next and immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters
Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully
and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
William Knowelden, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed. are fully described and
ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, reference being had to
the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked thereon,
that is to say:-
My Invention consists of a mode of obtaining two revolutions of a shaft of
a reciprocating steam engine for each complete stroke of the piston. And in
order that my Invention may be fully understood and readily carried into
effect, I will proceed to describe the means pursued by me.
Figures 1 & 2 are an elevation and a plan of so much of a reciprocating
steam engine as will enable me to describe my improvements. a, a, is the
framing; b, the steam cylinder; c is the piston rod; e, the cross head; and f
the side connecting rods, which are at one end in connection with the cross
head, and at the other end-in connection with the connecting rod g, which is
forked, so as partly to embrace the cylinder, and to allow of its being in con-
nection with both of the rods f; and this connecting rod is at the end g¹ in
connection with the beam or lever h, by which the end g' of the lever g is
controlled to move to and fro in nearly a straight line, which is one peculiarity
of my Invention; and such beam or lever at one end moves on an axis at h';
its other end, by a connecting rod i, gives motion to the crank j, on the main
shaft of the engine; thus will the crank shaft be caused to make a complete
revolution each time the piston moves from end to end of the cylinder, and
therefore two revolutions for each complete stroke of the piston. 1, 1, are two
arms from the axis l, one on each side of the cylinder 6, in order that they
may be in connection with the two side connecting rods f. These arms are for
the purpose of controlling the working of the parts, and to ensure the end g¹ of
the link 9 making a uniform to and fro movement each time the piston passes
from one end to the other of the cylinder; but it is obvious that the same result
would be obtained if the ends of the rods f, g, were controlled by guides to
move in the same direction. Figures 3 & 4 shew the side view and plan of
another arrangement, differing from the previous one, inasmuch as the lever
or beam h moves on a fulcrum or axis intermediate of the point g¹ and of the
rod i, in place of the point g¹ being connected to the beam or lever h, inter-
mediate of the fulcrum h¹ and the rod i. In other respects the description
above given will apply to the arrangement now under description, and the
parts are marked with the same letters of reference. And I would state that
I do not confine myself to the use of the lever h to controul that end of the
rod 9, as the end 91 of the rod 9 may be guided or controlled by suitable

page_text: guides or slots, and have the connecting rod i attached thereto, and a like
result would be obtained.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, I would remark that
I am aware that it has before been proposed to obtain two motions for each
complete stroke of a reciprocating steam engine; 1 do not therefore claim the
same generally; but what I claim is, the mode of combining the parts f, g, i,
with a crank shaft or axis, so as to obtain two revolutions of such shaft or
axis for each complete stroke of a reciprocating steam engine.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Knowelden, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Thirtieth day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and forty-seven.