IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR DIRECTING MOTION IN RIGHT LINES
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Vincent Newton, of the Office for Patents, .
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughts-
man, for the Invention of "IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR DIRECTING MOTION
IN RIGHT LINES."-A communication from abroad by Andrew Buchanan,
of Jersey, and William Alexander Righter, of Newark, both in the State
of New Jersey, United States of America.
Sealed the 19th January 1864, and dated the 7th September 1863.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Vincent Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
7th September 1863. -
I, ALFRED VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR DIRECTING
MOTION IN RIGHT LINES," to be as follows:-
There are many instances in machinery in which the direct application of
fixed guides to a body which is desired to move rectilinearly is inapplicable
or inconvenient, and to meet such instances what is termed a "parallel
motion" has been used, but this does not produce a perfect rectilinear
movement.
The object of the Invention is to obviate the imperfection of the "parallel
motion," and to obtain a perfect rectilinear movement of a body without the
application of fixed guides directly to it, and to this end it consists in the

page_text: combination of one or more oscillating and longitudinally moving arms by
means of an attached slide or roller, with a fixed arc or covered surface,
whereby a certain point in the said arm or arms is caused in its oscillation to
describe a right line and to produce a rectilinear movement of any body that is
attached to it at that point. This improved apparatus is particularly applicable
to the slide valves of steam engines.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Alfred Vincent Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 7th March 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, J, ALFRED
VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventh day of September, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-seventh year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Alfred Vincent Newton, Her special license that I, the said Alfred
Vincent Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
cas I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, 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
""IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR DIRECTING MOTION IN RIGHT LINES," being a com-
munication from abroad upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Alfred Vincent Newton, by an instrument in writing under my hand and
seal, 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 I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, do hereby
declare the nature of the 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 Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the
letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
There are many instances in machinery in which the direct application of

page_text: fixed guides to a body which is desired to move rectilinearly is inapplicable
or inconvenient, and to meet such instances what is termed a "parallel
motion" has been used, but this does not produce a perfect rectilinear
movement.
The object of the present Invention, as communicated to me by my foreign
correspondent, is to obviate the imperfection of the "parallel motion," and
to obtain a perfect rectilinear movement of a body without the application of
fixed guides directly to it. This is effected by the combination with one or
more oscillating and longitudinally moving arms of an attached slide or roller
working in a fixed arc or covered surface, whereby a certain point in the said
arni or arms is caused in its oscillation to describe a right line thus producing
a rectilinear movement of any body that may be attached to the said arm
or arms at that point.
Fig. 1 in the accompanying Drawing is a longitudinal vertical section of
the valve chest of a locomotive engine illustrating the application of the Inven-
tion to direct the motion of a slide valve in such manner as to prevent unneces-
sary pressure and friction on the seat, the section being taken in such plane as
to show a side view of the improvement; Fig. 2 is a transverse central section
corresponding with Fig. 1; Fig. 3 exhibits a section of the valve with the
Invention applied thereto; and Fig. 4 is a top view of the valve chest with the
cap which covers the improvements removed. Similar letters of reference
indicate corresponding parts in the several Figures.
A is, the valve chest of the usual construction except that it has in its
cover A' a square opening a, a, for the reception of the cast-iron standard B which
is fitted snugly into recesses a¹, a', in the ends of the opening, and supported by.
means of set screws b, b, screwing through its flanges c, c, and resting on the
top of the cover A¹. This standard has in its upper part a transverse vertical
slot d, and in its lower part a transverse arc-formed slot e which may be fitted
with steel lining pieces f, f', at the top and bottom. C, C, are two precisely
similar arms arranged to oscillate one on each side of the standard B upon-a
horizontal pin g. This pin passes through a slide h (which is fitted to slide
up and down in the vertical slot d), and through the upper ends of the rods C.
The lower ends of these rods are connected rigidly together by means of a
pin i which passes through a cross piece D, and also connects the arms with
the slide valve E by projecting through the lugs j, j, formed on the valve.
The valve and seat are faced perfectly flat. F is a slide fitted snugly but to
work freely back and forth between the lining pieces f, f, of the slot e in the
standard, and connected with the two oscillating arms C, C, by means of a
pink passing through it and through the said arms, which arms pass through

page_text: the opening a, a, in the valve chest. The arcs of the faces of the lining
pieces f, f, are not arcs of circles but arcs of varying radius, and their form is
obtained by first erecting a perpendicular on a rectilinear base, then taking a
line of a length equal to the length of the arms between the centres of the
holes which receive the pins 9 and i, and placing the lower end of the said
line upon the base, and the upper end on the perpendicular, and moving the
lower point on the base, while the upper end is compelled to move on the
perpendicular, and in this movement two points in the said line at distances
from its ends corresponding with the distance at which the top and bottom
of the slide F are desired to be from the centres of the pins g, i, will describe
the required arcs. The faces having been brought as nearly as possible to this
form the several parts are put in place, and the standard B adjusted by the set
screws b, b, to bring the valve in contact with its seat, and if the valve will not
touch every part of its seat the surfaces of the 'lining pieces are finished by
scraping in the manner commonly practised by engineers to obtain a very
accurate fit or bearing until the valve touches the seat in every position, which
proves that its movement is rectilinear. When the valve will touch equally on
every part of the seat, the set screws b, b, are adjusted to regulate the pressure
of the valve on the seat, or set it so that it will just work in contact with the
seat without any considerable friction. The upper lining piece f¹ is represented
made adjustable by set screws to enable it to be accurately adjusted relatively
to the lower one fand to compensate for wear.
The said lining piece f may
be omitted, as pressure of the steam on the back of the valve would obviate
the necessity of any upper track for the slide F, and keep it always in
contact with the face f; but in the application of the Invention to most other
purposes the slide will require two guiding surfaces like f, f¹. In the
operation of the valve or of any other body to which the Invention is
applied, the rods C, C, have besides their oscillating movement on the pin ga
longitudinal movement which is permitted by the slide h and slot d in the
standard.
The opening a, a, and standard B are covered by a cap G which is fitted
to the cover A¹ of the valve chest with a steam-tight joint. This cap is made
with a broad head, the area of which is nearly equal to that of the valve and
which though of cast iron is thin enough to have a certain degree of flexibility,
and to this head the upper end of the standard B is connected by means of a
screw bolt and nut n in such a manner that a portion of the pressure of the
steam on the valve is transferred in a downward direction to the said head.
This pressure on the head is counteracted by the pressure of the steam on the
lower side of the said head, aud by screwing down the nut n inore or less the

page_text: upward pressure of the steam on the said head is caused to relieve the valve
of a greater or less portion of its pressure, and in this way the pressure and
friction of the valve on its seat may be regulated. Instead of the slide F
there may be a roller applied to the pin k, to work between the guides f, f¹,
and instead of the two arms C, C, a single forked arm may be used.
Having now set forth the nature of the Invention of improved apparatus for
directing motion in right lines as communicated to me from abroad and
explained the manner of carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be under-
stood that under the above in part recited Letters Patent I claim, transmitting
motion in a right line to slide valves and other bodies requiring such motion
by means of oscillating arms governed in the movement in the manner above
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Seventh day of March, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
A. V. NEWTON. (L.s.)