CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM ENGINES
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Benjamin Goodfellow, of Hyde, in the County of
Chester, Engineer, for the Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN
STEAM ENGINES."
Sealed the 22nd March 1859, and dated the 27th October 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Benjamin Goodfellow at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
27th October 1858.
I, BENJAMIN GOODFELLOW, of Hyde, in the County of Chester, Engineer, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS
IN STEAM ENGINES," to be as follows:-
My Invention is particularly applicable to horizontal condensing engines,
and it consists in an improved combination and arrangement of parts whereby
the air pump is more conveniently situated and worked than heretofore.
When ny improvements are applied to compound engines, the air pump may
be worked slower than the piston of the high-pressure engine. The piston
rods of the high-pressure and low-pressure cylinders are connected as usual to
the same crank shaft, but the cranks instead of being of equal lengths are by
preference made of unequal lengths, that is to say, the high-pressure cylinder
is connected to a longer crank than the low-pressure cylinder. The air pump
bucket or piston is fixed to the piston rod of the low-pressure cylinder, and is
placed between the cylinder and the crank. By this arrangement the speed
of the air pump bucket is reduced, and all the parts are easily got to for
oiling, packing, and repairing; the valves between the air pump and condenser
are also more conveniently placed.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Benjamin Goodfellow in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
27th April 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, BENJAMIN
GOODFELLOW, of Hyde, in the County of Chester, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of October, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-second year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Benjamin Goodfellow, Her special licence that I, the said Benjamin
Goodfellow, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said Benjamin Goodfellow, 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 "CERTAIN
IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM ENGINES," upon the condition (amongst others) that
I, the said Benjamin Goodfellow, my executors or administrators, by an
instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals,
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 Benjamin Goodfellow, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement (that is to say):-
My Invention is particularly applicable to horizontal condensing engines,
and it consists in placing the air pump between the cylinder and the crank,
and in attaching the air pump piston to the piston rod of the cylinder. When
my improvements are applied to compound engines, the air pump may be
worked slower than the piston of the high-pressure engine by connecting the
piston rods of the high-pressure and low-pressure cylinders to cranks of
unequal lengths fixed to the same crank shaft, that is to say, the high-pressure
cylinder is connected to a longer crank than the low-pressure cylinder, to
which latter the air pump bucket or piston is fixed. By this arrangement the
speed of the air pump bucket is reduced, and all the parts are easily got to
for oiling, packing, and repairing; the valves between the air pump and

page_text: condenser are also more conveniently placed than in horizontal engines of the
usual construction. When my improvements are applied to beam engines the
high-pressure cylinder is connected to the beam at a greater distance from its
fulcrum than the low-pressure cylinder.
And in order that my Invention may be more fully understood and easily
carried into operation, I will proceed to describe the accompanying two Sheets
of Drawings, reference being had to the figures and letters marked thereon.
On Sheet 1, Fig. 1 is an elevation of the principal parts of a compound
horizontal condensing steam engine, shewing one mode of applying my improve-
ments; Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section, and Fig. 3 a plan of the same. a is
the high-pressure cylinder, in which works a piston connected to a piston
rod b, the connecting rod c of the piston rod b is jointed to the longer crank d
of the crank shaft e; f is the low pressure-cylinder in which works the piston g
fixed to the piston rod h, to which is also fixed the piston i of the air pumpj;
to the end of the piston rod h is jointed the connecting rod k, which is in
communication with the shorter crank 1, fixed to the crank shaft c. The steam
is supplied to the high-pressure cylinder a through the orifice a', see Fig. 3,
and after it has acted upon the piston in this cylinder, it is conveyed by
suitable pipes in the ordinary manner to the valve box f' of the low-pressure
cylinder f; the exhausted steam from this cylinder is conducted by the pipe f
to the air pump, which is double acting, being furnished at each end with an
ingress valve j and an egress valve j, as sometimes customary; these latter
discharge the condensed steam and air into the pipe ja, which is in communication
with a condenser surrounding the air pump, or which may be of the ordinary
construction. From the foregoing description and on referring to Fig. 2 it
will be clearly understood that the air pump is placed between the cylinder
and the crank, and consequently the valves and piston or bucket are in the
most convenient positions for being examined, oiled, packed, and repaired.
This part of my Invention is applicable to every description of horizontal steam
engines, although it is more particularly beneficial when applied to compound
engines of my improved construction, in which the piston of the high-pressure
cylinder is connected to a longer crank than that of the low-pressure cylinder,
for as the air pump piston is attached to the piston rod of the low-pressure
cylinder, it follows that the speed of the air pump does not exceed that at
which the valves or clacks can work advantageously, while the speed of the
piston of the high-pressure cylinder can be increased to the required extent
for working the steam with economy.
On Sheet 2, Fig. 4 is an elevation of the principal parts of a beam engine
to which a part of my improvements is applied. Fig. 5 is a plan of the same.

page_text: a is the high-pressure cylinder; b, the piston rod connected by a parallel
motion to the beam m; f is the low-pressure cylinder, and h the piston rod,
which is also connected to the beam m by a parallel motion; to the outer
extremity of the beam m is connected the connecting rod, the lower end of
which gives motion to the cranko and crank shaft p; the air pump 9 and the
condenser are situated and constructed as usual.
In the above arrangement the piston rods of the low-pressure cylinder and
the air pump move at the same speed, being both connected to the beam at
equal distances from its fulcrum, while the traverse of the piston of the high-
pressure cylinder is equal to the throw of the crank, or double the speed of the
low-pressure piston; but these details may be modified by varying the distances
of the points of connection of the piston rods and of the connecting rod. My
Invention may be further modified by connecting both the high and low
pressure cylinders to the same side of the beam, the high-pressure cylinder
being further from the fulcrum of the beam than the low-pressure cylinder.
Having thus stated the nature of my Invention and described the manner
of performing the same, I declare that I claim,
First, placing the air pump between the cylinder and the crank of horizontal
steam engines.
And, secondly, the so constructing and arranging compound steam engines
that the pistons of the low-pressure cylinder and the air pump may work
slower than the piston of the high-pressure cylinder.
In witness whereof, I, the said Benjamin Goodfellow, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-sixth day of April, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
Witness,
H. B. BARLOW,
Manchester.
B. GOODFELLOW.
DFELLOW. (L.S.)