CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN OSCILLATING ENGINES WORKED BY STEAM, WATER, OR OTHER FLUIDS, WHICH ARE ALSO APPLICABLE TO THE RAISING OR PROPELLING OF FLUIDS
Year: 1844

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, BENJAMIN
BIRAM, of Wentworth, in the County of York, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the Twenty-first day of December, in the eighth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Benjamin Biram, my exors, adññiors, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Benjamin Biram, my exors, adiñiors, or assigns, should at any time thereafter
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter, Her
especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said
Benjamin Biram, my exors, adññiors, or assigns, might make, use, exercise, and
vend, within that part of Her Majesty's United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland called England, Her Dominion of Wales, and the Town of
Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN OSCILLATING
ENGINES WORKED BY STEAM, WATER, OR OTHER FLUIDS, WHICH ARE ALSO APPLICABLE
TO THE RAISING OR PROPELLING OF FLUIDS;" in which said Letters Patent there
is contained a proviso that I, the said Benjamin Biram, shall cause a particular
description of the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Benjamin Biram, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention

page_text: consists in an improved system of charging and exhausting the cylinders of
oscillating steam engines, which is also applicable to machines for the raising
or propelling of fluids, and that the manner in which the same is to be per-
formed is fully described and ascertained in and by the present Specification
thereof, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed (that is to
say) :-
Figure 1 of the said Drawings is a plan, Figure 2 a side elevation, and
Figure 3 an end elevation of a pair of oscillating steam engines constructed
according to my said Invention. The arrows denote the supposed direction
in which the steam and engines respectively operate. A is the steam chest,
which is divided into two parts by a steam-tight division B. C is the cylinder,
which has a hollow trunnion T, which oscillates within the steam chest A.
S is the induction pipe; E, the eduction pipe. A steamway communicates
with each end of the cylinder through the trunnion T, having two parts or
openings a, a, into each end, forming a passage alternately to each division.
The width of these openings I make equal to about two thirds of the angular
distance travelled by the periphery of the trunnion on each side of the centre.
The openings at each end of the cylinder have a valve (b, b,) wide enough to
cover both of them, which valve is fitted accurately upon the periphery of the
trunnion, and dovetailed at each end into moveable rings (c, c,) fitting on to the
trunnion on each side of the steam chest. These rings (c, c,) have on the upper
side each two notches (d, d,) to receive alternately the catches, (e¹, e²,) which
are fixed upon the sides of the steam chest, and kept in an adequate state of
tension by the springs s, s. f', f, f³, f, are tappets, which are screwed on to
the trunnion on each side of the valves, one side of these tappets radiating to
the centre, for the purpose of raising the valves, and the other side forming a
tangent to the circle of the trunnion, for the purpose of raising the catches when
the cylinder is upon its centre at either end of the stroke; one port, communicating
with each side of the steam chest and with the opposite ends of the cylinder, is
half open; when the cylinder has travelled through one third of the angular
distance on either side, the ports are wide open; the tappets f and f³, or f
and f, then come in contact, on opposite sides with the valves, while at the
same instant one of the other tappets for f¹, clear the catch e² or e¹, as the
case may be, and the valves travel with the trunnion through the remaining
two thirds of the distance; the other catch then drops into its notch, and
retains the valves until the trunnion has travelled to one third of its distance
on the other side of the centre, when the same process is repeated by the
opposite tappets on the reverse side. The catches, if so placed as not to be
likely to fall into their places by their own gravity, may be assisted by springs

page_text: suitably adapted to them. The effect of this arrangement is, that the steam
and eduction ports are wide open by the time the crank has passed through
the distance (g, h,) at either end of the stroke (which will be found to consti-
tute a very small proportion of the length of the stroke), and remain wide open
to the half stroke, or as far as the point i between the distances i, h, they are
closing (the order of the letters representing the direction in which the crank
is revolving), and at h they begin to open to the reverse ends, of the cylinder.
The steam is admitted and withdrawn through the valve box k, and the
supply of steam is regulated, cut off, or the motion of the engine reversed, by
(partially or totally closing the passages or reversing the communications by
the valves v, v.
Figures 4, 5, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 exhibit a different mode of carrying my
improved system of action into effect. Figure 4 is a plan, and Figures 5 and
5 two side elevations of an engine. Figures 6, 7, and 8 represent the trun-
nion and valves in different positions, and Figure 9 is a front elevation partly
in section. v, v, v³, v', are valves for opening and closing the steam ports,
which are acted on by the projections p, p, upon the trunnion by the oscillat-
ing action of the cylinder. These valves are united together and maintained
at the proper distance from each other by an arched segment at each end
(coloured blue), which fits tightly against the sides of the steam chest so as
not to be moved by the motion of the trunnion, except when pressed by the
projections p, p. The engine, as represented in the Drawing, Figure 5, is
supposed to be upon the near centre. When the crank pin arrives at the point.
a (about 02 of the stroke), the steam port 1 will be wide open for the
admission of steam from the lower and the steam port 2 for its escape into
the upper section of the steam chest, at which point the projections p, p, will
begin to act upon the valves v³, v', and move them forward until the crank pin
arrives at B, when the relative positions of the trunnion and valves will be as
in Figures 5 and 6. The cylinder now moves in a contrary direction, thereby
gradually closing the steam ports between that point and b, a little before the
completion of the stroke. The steam then begins to be admitted to the steam
port 3, and to escape by the steam port 4, the ports being half open when the
crank is upon the far centre (as in Figure 7), and wide open when it has
arrived at c, or about 03 of the return stroke. The projections p, p, then
press against the valves v' and v³, removing them to their first position at the
point D, Figures 5 & 5ª, where the direction of oscillation is again reversed,
after which the ports gradually close until at d, and at A they are again in the
position shewn in Figure 5. The width of the opening into the steam ports
should, as in the arrangement first described, be two thirds of the distance

page_text: travelled by the periphery of the trunnion from the centre line to the greatest
angle of oscillation, and the distance between them should be twice that width,
with the addition of the projecting pin or tappet p. The opening between the
valves v', vs, and v2, 4, should be equal to the width between the steam ports.
Whichever of the arrangements before described is adopted, it will obviously
make no difference whether the engines are worked by steam, water, or any
other fluid, or whether they are stationary or locomotive; or whether they are
fixed horizontally or at any angle with the horizon. It must, however, be
observed, that when worked by water pressure, the moveable valve upon the
trunnion should be dispensed with, and the ports be made equal in width to
the full oscillating distance on either side. The length of the cylinder, in pro-.
portion to its width, might also, perhaps, be in that case advantageously
increased.
In Figures 10, 11, and 12 I have shown how a pair of oscillating steam
engines, constructed according to my improved system of action, may be applied
to the propelling of a railway locomotive carriage. Figure 10 is a side elevation,
partly in section, of the engines; Figure 11 is an end elevation, and Figure
12 a plan. The engines are placed fore and aft, and worked in connection
by means of double cranks, as shown. The arrangement of ports and valves
here adopted is that represented in Figures 1, 2, and 3, and before described.
In Figures 13, 14, and 15 the application of the same improved oscillating
system of action to the raising of water is exemplified by the case of a loco-
motive pump worked by an excentric on the shaft of the driving wheels of an
engine, Figure 13 being an external view of the pump, with the valve box in
section; Figure 14 a vertical section of the valve box, and Figure 15 a plan.
And in Figures 16, 17, and 18, I have exemplified the application of the
system to the propelling of fluids by a fire engine constructed according to
that system, of which Figure 16 is a side elevation, Figure 17 an end view,
with the part across the valve box in section, and Figure 18 a plan, with the
pump and valve box in section.
As the details of both of the two applications last before mentioned are similar,
I shall confine myself to describing those of the fire engine. A (Figures 16,
17, & 18), is the cylinder mounted on trunnions, through one of which the
water is supplied from the valve box through the passages a, a (Figures 17
& 18). The piston rod 6 passes through a stuffing box at each end of the
cylinder, and is connected at each end to the cranks C', C', which are turned
by the handles d, d, by men facing each other on each side of the engine.
v, v², v, v, are the four valves. When the handles are in the position as
shewn in Figure 17, the water would issue into the cylinder through the valve

page_text: v, and from the cylinder into the air vessel through v'; when the handles and
cranks are in the opposite half of their revolution, v' and would be closed,
and the water would pass through v² and v³.
The advantages to be derived from the adoption of this arrangement in fire
engines are, that the work would be performed with one cylinder which is now
done by two of the same diameter, whereby the friction would be reduced one
half, and that a rotary mode of working would be substituted for the recipro-
cating, by the former of which it is generally considered that a man can employ
his strength with greater effect.
In Figures 19 and 20 I have shewn another arrangement for a fire engine,
where the piston is worked by an upright lever, the cylinder oscillating to a
smaller extent, and the valves being arranged as before. By this plan the
action of rowing would be substituted for the rotary action, the former of which
is allowed on all hands to be the most effective mode of all of employing a
man's strength.
The modification last described is also well adapted for a ship's pumps,
in which case the pipe above the valve box should be conveyed through the
ship's side, as near as conveniently may be above the level of the load water
line. It will be also evident, that by attaching a horizontal rod (indicated by
the dotted line) to the end of the upright lever, and passing handles through it
at convenient distances (say about a yard asunder), a great number of men
might be conveniently employed at the same pump. And further, that by
attaching an air vessel it would at once become a powerful fire engine, by
which the water could be sent to any part of the vessel. The cylinder may be
also either oscillating or fixed, only that if fixed, the usual provision must be
made for securing the parallism of the piston.
In Figure 21 (an elevation) and 22, a plan, I have shewn how an air
pump may be constructed on the same principle as the different engines
before described. a, a, represent the air passages connected with the cylinder,
and 6, 6, those communicating with the atmosphere and the receiver. By
turning the handle the passages a and b coincide, forming a communication
with one end of the cylinder and the receiver, and with the opposite end and
the atmosphere. By turning the handle in one direction it is a condensing
pump, and by reversing the motion it becomes an exhausting pump. The tap
c is for closing the communication when the operation ceases. x, x, are two
clasps whereby the pump can be screwed to the edge of a table.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I lay no claim to any of
the valves, tappets, or other contrivances before described as being employed

page_text: for the opening: and closing of the ports in so far as regards the form thereof,
individually and separately considered, each or all of which may be varied
in that respect according to circumstances; and that what I claim is,―
First, the constructing of oscillating engines, whether worked by steam,
water, or any other fluid, with passages placed, as before described, for the
entrance and exit of the steam, water, or other fluid to and from the
cylinders, and opened or closed wholly or partially, in manner also before
described, according as the progress of the cranks and the state of the steam
in the cylinders may require.
Secondly, the application of the same peculiar system of action to water
pumps, air pumps, fire engines, and other machines and instruments em-
ployed in the raising or propelling of fluids, as before respectively exemplified
and described.
In witness whereof. I have hereunto set my hand and cool