CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM ENGINES, AND ALSO IMPROVEMENTS IN COMMUNICATING STEAM OR OTHER POWER FOR DRIVING MACHINES
Year: 1849

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EVAN
LEIGH, of Ashton-under-Lyne, in the County of Lancaster, Cotton Spinner,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Eighteenth day of July, in the thirteenth year of Her reign,
and in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-nine, did,
for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said Evan
Leigh, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I,
the said Evan Leigh, my exors, adññiors, and assigns, and such others as I, the
said Evan Leigh, my exors, adiñors, or assigns, should at any time agree with,
and no others, from time to time and at all times during the term of years
therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend,
within England and Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Inven-
tion of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM ENGINES, AND ALSO IMPROVEMENTS IN
COMMUNICATING STEAM OR OTHER POWER FOR DRIVING MACHINES;" in which said
Letters Patent is contained a proviso that I, the said Evan Leigh, shall cause
a particular description of the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be enrolled in Her Majesty's High
Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and inmediately 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that, in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Evan Leigh, do hereby declare that the nature of the said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, is particularly described and
ascertained in and by the Drawings hereto annexed, and the following explana.
tion thereof, that is to say:-
My Improvements consist, firstly, in certain novel arrangements and
constructions, forming various parts of a steam engine;
Secondly, in the construction of that part of the apparatus used for gene-
rating steam; and,
Thirdly, in a peculiar mode of transmitting motion from steam engines,
or other motive power, and in the mode of connecting steam engines to the
paddle wheels or other propellers of steam vessels.
In reference to the first head of my Invention, I have, for the sake of
illustration, described my various improvements as applied to an engine on
the oscillating principle; there are several features thereof, however, which are
equally applicable to engines of other ordinary constructions, all of which will
be clearly pointed out hereafter.
And in order that my Invention may be more clearly understood, I have
appended to this my Specification two Sheets of Drawings, which I will now
proceed to describe, remarking that in all the Figures similar letters and
numbers denote the like parts of the machinery.
Fig. 1, Sheet 1, is an end elevation of an engine, provided with four oscilla-
ting cylinders, as hereafter to be described; Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same;
Fig. 3 is a detached view in section of one of the cylinders, shewing the varous
steam passages and valves for opening and closing the same; Fig. 4 is a detached
view in section of the air pump; and Figs. 5 and 6 are detached views of the
apparatus herafter to be described, for working an expansion valve to regu-
late the flow of steam into the cylinder. The framework of the engine is
shewn at a, a, a, keyed by suitable means upon two foundation chambers b, b, b,
which constitute the condensor of the engine; the crank shaft is shewn at c, c, c,
and has two cranks d, d, formed thereon, actuated by piston rods e, e, e, e, working
in their respective cylinders f,ff.f. To each crank are connected, by the ordi-
nary means, two of the piston rods e, e, e, e, the one of each pair passing through a
fork formed in the other, as shewn in the Drawing. The cranks d, d, are so
arranged that they form an obtuse angle of 135 degrees, so that during the
operation of the engine the shaft c, c, c, will receive a fresh impulse at every
quarter of its revolution. Instead of mounting the cylinders upon hollow
trunions, which form steam passages, as in the ordinary mode of constructing
oscillating engines, I suspend them upon centres 9, 9, affixed to bosses h, h,

page_text: cast upon or affixed to the framework of the engine; the outward end of one
of these bosses h* to each cylinder is formed hollow, as shewn by dots at i in
Fig. 2, and communicates by means of a passage k, k, (also shewn by dots
in Fig. 2) formed in the framework a, a, with the steam pipe which leads
from the boiler. The bosses are provided with ordinary stuffing boxes,
through which, at the centre of oscillation, a pipe m, m, is passed communi-
cating with the chamber i, and from thence to the steam pipe 7; the pipe m is
then bent round, and its other extremity attached to the steam box n. Steam,
therefore, being admitted from the boiler to the pipe l, will flow through the
passage k, from thence through the hollow formed in the boss h*, and by means
of the pipe m into the steam box n, and passing through passages formed in the
cylinder, as shewn at 0, 0, will be admitted at the top or bottom of the cylinder
as regulated by the slide valves p,p. The steam, having exerted its expansive
power within the cylinder, is discharged through apertures q, q, into a chamber
r, r, formed by an outer casing or jacket surrounding the cylinder, and from
thence is conveyed by a flexible pipes, s, to the condensor, or to the atmosphere,
according to the description of engine to which it is applied. The pipe s, s,
may be constructed, of various materials, provided the means are obtained of
allowing sufficient elasticity to provide for the oscillation of the cylinder. I
prefer, however, constructing it of vulcanized indian-rubber and cloth, with a
wire coil or rings enclosed. The attachment of the pipe s, s, to the cylinder
should be as near to the bottom thereof as possible, so as to draw off any water
which may accumulate from the condensation of steam. In the case of large
engines, instead of using the flexible hose, I attach a metal pipe to the chamber
?, r, and bend it round to the centre of oscillation in the boss h in a similar
manner to that described in reference to the induction pipe m, the boss h in
this case being constructed hollow, so as to form an exhausting passage, and
provided with a stuffing box, as described in reference to the boss h. The
method I adopt in constructing and applying the slide valves of the engine is
as follows:-Upon the face of the cylinder are screwed guides t, t, which guides
are accurately planed, and lap over ledges formed on the sides of the valves,
which are thereby kept in their places, and always exposed to view, affording
thus the opportunity of regularly applying oil, and of easily detecting any
inaccuracies in their working. The valves are attached to cross heads u, u,
connected together by means of rods, as shewn in Fig. 1, and have the
On the top
requisite sliding motion given to them in any ordinary manner.
of the cylinder, immediately under the cap, is formed a chamber v, which I use
as a receptacle for oil, thereby affording at all times a regular amount of lubri-
cation to the piston of the engine. A similar chamber W is also formed in

page_text: the top of the gland, in order in like manner to supply oil to the piston rod
the oil being admitted to the chamber vand gland w through suitable pipes.
I will now proceed to describe a method I adopt of working steam expansively
This I effect by the use of an expansion valve worked by a distinct eccentric to
that by which the ordinary slide valves are put in motion. And in order more
plainly to shew this part of my Invention, I will refer to the detached Figures
5 and 6, which are drawn upon an enlarged scale. Upon the crank shaft is
keyed or otherwise firmly attached an eccentric a, for the purpose of effecting
the ordinary motion of the slide valves, upon which eccentric is formed a ring
y, y, having a spur wheel with internal teeth formed therein. Mounted loosely
upon the boss of the excentric is another excentric, from which a rod
passes, which is connected with the expansion valve 1, Fig. 3; this latter
eccentric is provided with a similar spur wheel to that at y, y, as shewn at 2, 2.
A worm wheel 3, 3, is also mounted loosely upon the boss of the eccentric a,
and carries within it, by means of a short shaft turning freely therein, four
small pinions 4, 4, 4, 4, one pair of which pinions take into the teeth of the
toothed wheel upon the fast eccentric a, and the other into the similar
wheel attached to the loose excentric z, so that as the fast eccentric revolves
with the crank shaft, it will by means of its toothed wheel and pinions
turn round the other pinions, which will communicate motion through the
spur wheel to the loose eccentric , and at an uniform speed and in the same
direction with that of the fast eccentric x, providing that the worm wheel 3
shall remain stationary, in which case the eccentrics and will actuate the
slide valves and expansion valve uniformly at every stroke of the engine. But
if the said worm wheel shall be caused partially to revolve, then, by means
of the pinion 4, 4, the loose eccentric will be caused to move around the crank
shaft, and its position relatively with that of the fast eccentric will be altered;
and in order to effect this, I connect the worm wheel with the governor of the
engine by means of a worm mounted on a shaft, the other extremity of the said
shaft being provided with a roller running upon a friction disc as shewn in
Fig. 1 of the Drawings. By this method of working the steam expansively
I am enabled to dispense with the usual throttle valve, and to open the expan-
sion valve the full width of the thoroughfare at each stroke of the engine,
however soon it may be cut off. The construction of air-pump I employ in
connection with condensing engines is shewn in Figs. 1 and 2, and also
in the detached sectional view at Fig. 4. The cylinder of the pump is shewn
at 5,5, within which is placed a piston of any ordinary construction. In this my
improvement, however, I dispense with the usual bucket valves. The passage
leading to the condensor is shewn at 6, 6, which condensor consists, as before

page_text: stated, of two chambers b, b, extending under the framework a, a, of the engine;
the two chambers b, b, are connected by means of a cross channel 7, 7, and it
is to this cross chanel that the passage 6, 6, is opened; the passage from the
air-pump is shewn at 8, 8, and may be taken off in any convenient manner.
Upon the face of the air-pump a slide valve 9 is mounted in a similar manner
to that described in reference to the mode of fitting up my improved steam
slide valves, which valve 9 is connected by means of a rod 10, to an eccentrix
mounted upon the crank shaft of the engine; the piston is also worked by an
eccentric, the cross head of the rod thereof moving in guides, as shewn in the
Drawing, or in any other convenient manner. In the position of the parts
shewn in Fig. 4 the piston in its ascent will force the air and water through
the apperture 11, formed in the cylinder, and from thence through the cavity in
the valve into the discharge pipe 8, the space below the piston in the meantime
being filled from the passage 6, the air and water ascending through the
cavity 12 in the valve, and flowing into the cylinder through the opening 13
formed therein; the cylinder having descended and the valve shifted into
the position shewn by red lines in Fig. 4, the air and water will be taken
in on the upper side of the piston, and discharged at the bottom. To prevent
the liability of the steam valves drawing air, I cut a channel from the steam
thoroughfare round the other thoroughfares on the face of the cylinders which is
covered by the valve, and if from neglect they get out of order they will blow
steam. I also cut a channel round the face of the air-pump valve, by which
oil may be distributed over the face while working.
My first improved mode of communicating power from steam or other engines,
consists in attaching to the crank of the engine a connecting rod or rods, as shewn
at 14, 14, in Fig. 2, such rod or rods being similarly connected by means of a
crank or cranks to the shaft to which it is desired to communicate motion; and
I would observe that this mode of communicating power will be found particularly
available when used in conjunction with my plan of working steam expansively
in four cylinders connected to one shaft for in such case, by the use of a short
stroke, the speed. necessary for driving the machinery may be got up at once
without the intervention of the gearing now commonly used. My improve-
ments in communicating steam power to paddle wheels or other propellers of
vessels consists in detaching the said propellers, and in connecting an engine
or pair of engines to each, so that the propeller on one side of the vessel may
be actuated independently of the other. For this purpose I convey the worm
shaft 16 in a vertical direction above deck, by turning which shaft the quantity
of steam given to one engine or pair of engines is regulated; by these means
the vessel is immediately steered in any required direction without the aid of a

page_text: rudder.
I also effect the same object by the employment of two throttle valves,
so connected together that by turning the handle one valve is opened wider,
and the other partially closed, or, in case of sudden emergency, one engine or
pair of engines may be reversed.
My improvements in that part of the apparatus used for generating steam
are shewn in the several Figures of Sheet 2 of the accompanying Drawings,
in which Fig. 1 is an end elevation of a pair of boilers on my improved plan;
one of such boilers being shewn in section Fig. 2, is a transverse section of
one boiler taken in the line a, b, of Fig. 3, which latter Fig. is a longitudinal
section of the same, and Fig. 4 is a partial horizontal view, one of the boilers
being shewn in section. The boiler is shewn at A, A, and, instead of being
set in brickwork according to the usual method, is supported by chambers
B, B, B, formed of thin metal plate, which chambers are filled with the water
intended to be used in supplying the boiler; and in order that steam may not
be generated therein to an injurious amount, there must be a communication
in the upper part of the said chambers with the atmosphere. The hoppers
for supplying fuel to the furnace are shewn at C, C, from whence it falls on to
the dead plates D, D. The doors and door frames are shewn at E, E, and are
affixed to a shaft F, which turns in a step G attached to the boiler. This
shaft has a slow vibrating motion communicated to it by any convenient
connection with the engine. On the upper part of the door frame E, E, are
flanges H, H, which flanges, when moved inward, from the bottoms of the
hoppers C, C, as shewn best in Fig. 4. By this arrangement, as the shaft
F, F, is caused to vibrate to and fro, the flanges H, H, will be alternately
removed from under the hoppers C, C, and thus allow the fuel to fall on to
the dead plate of the furnace, the motion in the opposite direction alternately
closing the hopper, and by bringing the fire-doors and frame in contact with
the deposited fuel thrust it over the dead plate on to the fire-bars. Fire-bars
of the ordinary construction are shewn at I, I, I; in this instance, however,
every alternate bar is omitted, the spaces being filled by moveable or rocking
bars K, K, K. These bars are cast together upon a shaft L, which extends
under the ordinary bars I, I, I. At each end of the shafts L, L, cranks
M, M, extend, shewn by dots in Fig. 3, which cranks at their upper ends
turn upon centres attached to the boiler: Projecting downwards from the
shafts L, L, are other cranks N, N, connected by means of rods 0, 0, to
levers P, P, attached to the vibrating shaft F, F. By these means, as the
said shaft moves to and fro, the bars K, K, K; will be caused to oscilate upon
the centre pins of the cranks M, M, and thus prevent an accumulation of
clinkers between them. It will be perceived-by the Drawings that the bars

page_text: are divided into two sets, those at the back being connected by means of a rod
0, so as to partake of a similar motion to those in the front. There are also
two fire-places shewn to each boiler, which fire-places are divided by a water
chamber, as shewn in the Drawing, but connected by means of tubes Q. Q.
in order to gain an increased heating surface. Behind the bridge of the
furnace I also insert tubes R, R, R, R, transversely and vertically, which
tubes communicate at each end with the boiler.
Having thus fully described and ascertained the nature of my said Inven-
tion, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, I will proceed to
explain. the several points of novelty which I claim as secured to me under the
above in part recited Letters Patent.
Under the first head of my Invention I claim,―
Firstly, the mode of mounting oscillating cylinders of steam engines upon
pointed or other centres, not being steam passages, the steam being admitted
by pipes, as before described, or by any other similar and suitable arrangement:
Secondly, I claim the use of a flexible pipe, as before described, as applied
to the exhausting or exit passage of oscillating steam engine cylinders:
Thirdly, I claim the use of a jacket surrounding the working cylinder, into
which the exit steam is passed previously to its being discharged into the
condensor or atmosphere:
Fourthly, I claim the method described of mounting the slide valves,
whether as applied to oscillating engines or to those with stationary cylinders.
such method consisting in exposing them to view, instead of enclosing them
as ordinarily practised:
Fifthly, I claim the method described of using steam expansively, whether
such method be applied to oscillating or other engines, by which method the
expansion valve throws open the full width of the thoroughfare, however soon
it may be cut off:
Sixthily, I claim the use of the hollow cylinder lids and glands as above
described:
Seventhly, I claim the use of four steam cylinders operating upon one
shaft as before described, whether such cylinders are on the oscillating
principle or otherwise, for the purpose of obviating the necessity of a fly-
wheel:
And eighthly, I claim the peculiar construction of air-pump, the essential
feature of this part of my Invention consisting in the adaptation of a slide
valve for the purpose of opening the communication from the condenser to
the hot well alternately on each side of the piston.
With reference to the second head of my Invention, I claim as new the use

page_text: of water chambers from which the boiler is to be. supplied, as forming the
setting or support of such boiler, instead of the brickwork in ordinary use:
I also claim the method shewn of supplying the fires with fuel by means of
the moveable fire-doors and frames in conjunction with the hoppers:
And I claim the particular arrangement of oscillating fire-bars, as above
described.
Under the third head of my Invention I claim the method of communi-
cating power by means of cranks and connecting rods, as above described:
I also claim the method described of acting at pleasure, by distinct engines
with variable power, upon paddle wheels or other propellers of steam vessels,
such propellers being independant of each other.
In witness whereof, I, the said Evan Leigh, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Seventeenth day of January, in the year of our Lord