AN IMPROVED SELF-ACTING SAFETY VALVE FOR LOCOMOTIVE. MARINE, AND OTHER STEAM BOILERS
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Humphrey, Engineer, of Brighton,
for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED SELF-ACTING SAFETY VALVE FOR
LOCOMOTIVE. MARINE, AND OTHER STEAM BOILERS."
Sealed the 6th October 1853, and dated the 8th April 1853.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Humphrey
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 8th April 1853.
I, GEORGE HUMPHREY, Engineer, of Brighton, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for. "AN IMPROVED SELF-ACTING SAFETY
VALVE FOR LOCOMOTIVE, MARINE, AND OTHER STEAM BOILERS," to be as
follows:-
My Invention relates to improvements in the safety valve of the
steam engine, which, in the ordinary construction, has its short end left
free. Now my improvement consists in attaching a spring to the short
end of the lever, making it double-acting. This spring is connected to
the lever by means of a rod working in a gland. The pressure of the

page_text: spring causes the valve to be brought into action much more readily
than the ordinary valve.
Figure 1, of the drawing annexed represents a plan of my improved
valve; and Figure 2, a section thereof. The spring a, a, may be
applied either above or below the lever, as may be most convenient.
I reserve the right to vary the details of my Invention.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said George Humphrey, in the Great Seal Patent
Office, on the 8th October 1853.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
GEORGE HUMPHREY, of Brighton, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eighth day of April, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, in the sixteenth
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said George Humphrey, Her special licence that I,
the said George Humphrey, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said George Humphrey, my executors, ad-
ministrators, 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 of "AN IMPROVED SELF-ACTING
SAFETY VALVE FOR LOCOMOTIVE, MARINE, AND OTHER, STEAM BOILERS," upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said George Humphrey, 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said George Humphrey, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particulalry described and ascertained in and
by the following statement:
My Invention consists of an improvement in the construction of the
safety valves for steam boilers or generators, the object of which is to
prevent any additional weight or pressure applied to the valve from in-
terfering with its action. I accomplish this purpose by means of a
spring secured to the short end of the lever. The accompanying draw-
ing represents a section of a steelyard valve made upon the improved
principle. A, is the valve; B, the valve seat; C, the lever; D, is a
spring case cast on and forming a part of the valve seat B, or it may
be separate therefrom; E, is a spring, acting on the rod F', secured to
the end of the lever C; G, is a nut or gland by which the pressure on
the spring is regulated; II, is a ring or collar, to prevent the nut G,
being screwed beyond a certain point. The valve spindle I, travels in
a guide K, in the usual manner. L, is a prop or guide, placed between
the valve and the balance or weight on the outer end of the lever. The
spring E, being properly attached to the rod F, which is to be secured
to the short end of the lever C, the nut G, is then screwed into the
spring case D; the pressure of the nut G, upon the spring E, regulates
the pressure at which the valve A, will rise. The depth to which the
nut G, is to be screwed being ascertained, a ring or collar H, is to be
turned to fit a space left for the purpose between the upper part of the
spring case and the nut G; this being fitted to its place will prevent
the nut G, from being screwed lower into the spring case D, and
consequently causing increased pressure on the spring. On the other
hand, it would be useless also to load the other end of the lever A, for
if the weight thereon be increased, or the balance spring screwed down,
the prop or guide I, acts as a fulcrum to the lever, and thus it relieves
the valve of the extra weight. The spring E, may be fitted either
above or below the lever A, as may be found most convenient.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner
of carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that I do
not bind myself to the precise arrangement herein-before described;

page_text: but I claim the improvement in self-acting valves substantially as
herein-before described, and shown by the annexed drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Humphrey, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Fifth day of October, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three.
GEORGE HUMPHREY. (L.S.)