Improvements in Steam Hammers.
Year: 1890

page_text: Date of Application, 4th Feb., 1890-Accepted, 7th June, 1890
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Steam Hammers.
I, JULIUS EDUARD REINECKER, of Chemnitz, in the Kingdom of Saxony, German
Empire, Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what
manner the same is to be performed to be particularly described and ascertained in
and by the following statement :-
This invention has for object the construction of a compound steam hammer such
that there shall be sufficient expansion to produce a comparatively powerful effect
with a comparatively small consumption of steam.
The steam hammers heretofore usually employed may be divided into single acting
in which the piston and attachments fall by their own weight, and double acting, in
which the piston and attachments are also impelled downward by pressure of steam,
and mostly by live steam.
Double acting steam hammers give in comparison with the weight of their pistons
or tups heavy blows, but consume a very considerable amount of steam in comparison
to the work done. Daelen's double acting steam hammer is better from an economical
point of view than those hammers that work with live steam on both sides of the
piston. His hammer like the others alluded to, has only one cylinder and one piston,
to the underside of which latter is fixed a very thick piston rod. The live steam
passes into the cylinder under the piston, raises the piston, then passes above the piston
and acts with a downward pressure, resulting from the difference between the areas
of the upper and lower faces of the piston and the mean pressure of the steam
expanding above the piston. However, since, in the Daelen type of hammer, the
difference between the areas of the upper and lower faces of the piston is produced
solely by means of the piston rod which is attached to the lower face of the piston,
only a small amount of expansion can be obtained; because the effective piston areas
can, for practical reasons, be only in the proportion of one to four.
Now in a steam hammer according to the present invention, as illustrated in the
accompanying drawings, sufficient expansion is obtained by an arrangement of two
cylinders one above the other with two pistons a and b having a piston rod c common
to both.
The valve d is so operated that the steam passes first through the passage el into the
small cylinder below the piston a thus raising the hammer after which the valve
establishes communication (as shewn in the drawing) between the lower and upper
cylinders and steam passes from the small cylinder by the passages e¹ and e to the
large cylinder above the large piston b and impels the hammer downward.
The spaces in the cylinders above the small piston and below the large piston are in
communication with the atmosphere, in order to obviate unnecessary fluid resistance
to the operation of the hammer being set up during working, so that the full expansive
force of the steam may be utilized.
Fig. 1 illustrates the construction of a new hammer, and Fig. 2 illustrates a
hammer which has been altered into one working on the compound system.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what i
claim is :-
A steam hammer constructed with two cylinders and two pistons of different
diameters arranged tandem fashion with a piston rod common to the two pistons
and a distributing valve with ports and passages so arranged that live steam is

page_text: admitted to the smaller cylinder to raise the smaller piston, and afterwards passes
into the larger cylinder and acts on the larger piston to impel the hammer downwards,
the spaces above the smaller piston and below the larger piston being in communication
with the atmosphere for the purpose mentioned substantially as described and
illustrated in the drawings.
Dated this 4th day of February 1890.
J. E. REINECKER,
Per L. W.