Improvements in Single-acting Fluid-pressure Engines.
Year: 1890

page_text: Date of Application, 1st Apr., 1890
Complete Specification Left, 1st Jan., 1891-Accepted, 28th Feb., 1891
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Single-acting Fluid-pressure Engines.
I, NOEL CHANDLER, of Cannock Chase Engine Works, Hednesford, in the
County of Stafford, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be
as follows:-
My invention of improvements in single acting fluid pressure engines relates
more particularly to a novel arrangement of expansion gear for such engines.
According to one arrangement the distributing valve is a hollow cylinder, and
contains within it a piston cut-off valve, designed to close the steam admission
ports in the hollow cylindrical valve, and so cut off the admission of steam to the
cylinder at any desired point of the piston's stroke. The hollow cylindrical valve
and the internal cut-off valve are each worked by a separate eccentric on the crank
shaft, both eccentrics being inside a closed chamber and arranged between
a cheek or web of the crank, and the adjacent bearing. The position of the cut-
off eccentric may be regulated by hand or by a centrifugal governor according
to the purpose for which the engine is designed.
'
If the regulation is to be effected by the governor I fix the governor on the
crank shaft outside the engine case, and cause the governor weights to partially
This
rotate a spindle which passes through a hole bored in the crank shaft.
spindle has a lever at each end, the lever at the outer end being operated by the
governor, and the lever on the inner end operating the cut-off eccentric which
has a suitable projection or lug formed upon it, carrying a drag link (or other
suitable means of connection) connecting it to the lever.
According to a modification the arrangement of governor gear, hollow crank
shaft, and shifting eccentric, is applied to, single acting engines having only one
valve.
To balance the steam pressure on the cut-off valve I employ a balance piston,
secured on the same spindle or rod as the cut-off piston valve, but above the latter,
the balance piston having pressure on its underside only.
The rod or spindle of the hollow circular valve, is hollow, and works through a
stuffing box, and the spindle of the cut-off valve passes through it, the hollow
spindle of the hollow circular valve being also fitted with an ordinary packing
box at its lower extremity, through which the cut-off valve spindle works.
The admission exhaust, and compression points are controlled by the hollow
circular valve which always maintains its relative position with the piston. The
cut-off valve, controls the cut-off only of the working fluid.
The compression may be effected by a valve of the kind set forth in the Speci-
fication of a former Patent granted to me No. 5792 of 1888.
I construct the crank chambers of engines according to my invention with
large openings or doorways both back and front, such openings being closed by
movable doors or covers that extend from about the level of the middle of the
crank shaft, to the top of the crank chamber; to the latter the steam cylinder is
bolted together with the bottom cylinder cover which has the piston and valve
rods stuffing boxes upon it. These large doorways give easy access to the packing
or stuffing boxes under the cylinder.
In order to cause oil to be thrown to the top of the crank chamber of a large
engine of the kind herein described even when the engine is running too slowly to
cause sufficient lubricant to be splashed up by the crank, I arrange within the
crank chamber and partly immersed in the oil and water therein a trough of a
semi-circular form into which the lubricant flows; and upon one of the crank webs
I fix a metal blade the arrangement being such that when the crank rotates the

page_text: blade will pass through the trough and force lubricant before it, and cause the
same to rise to a considerable height in the crank chamber.
The discharge end of the trough is preferably made of nozzle form so that it
does not permit of free exit of the lubricant, which consequently being forced
through the nozzle by the action of the blade issues as a jet that lubricates the
piston rod and valve guides and other parts contained in the crank chamber.
The blade can be made a good fit in the trough but so as not to touch it. The
trough can be perforated laterally to admit lubricant.
I can employ two or three cylinders tandem fashion, the top or high pressure
cylinder being the smallest the second or intermediate cylinder being larger
than the smallest and the third or low pressure cylinder (when there is a third
cylinder) being the largest. In such case I arrange the cut-off valves to control
the entry of the working fluid in all the cylinders simultaneously, or I may omit
the cut-off valve in the lower cylinder or cylinders and only employ it for the top
or high pressure cylinder. In each cylinder the steam, or other working fluid,
operates first on the top of the respective piston and is then exhausted to the
underside of the same piston until it is finally exhausted from the underside of
the low pressure piston to a condenser or to the atmosphere, as the case may be..
It is evident that engines according to my invention may be constructed having
one or two cranks each crank having one, two or three cylinders above it, or I
may construct engines with two cranks set opposite to each other, with one high
pressure cylinder above one crank, and one low pressure cylinder above the other,
and opposite crank, the high pressure cylinder being fitted with the cut-off valve
working inside the hollow circular valve as before explained, and the low pressure
cylinder being fitted with a piston valve worked by an eccentric fixed on the crank
shaft between the cranks.
Thus the high pressure cylinder would exhaust into the low pressure cylinder,
the high pressure and low pressure cylinders being side by side.
Dated this let dew of Anvil 1900
W. LLOYD WISE,
Per F. J. Brougham,
46, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, W.C., Agent for the Applicant.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Single-acting Fluid-pressure Engines.
I, NOEL CHANDLER, of Cannock Chase Engine Works, Hednesford, in the
County of Stafford, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention, and
in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement :-
I now
My invention relates, in part, to the novel arrangement of expansion gear
proceed to describe with reference to the accompanying illustrative drawings, in
which,
=
Fig. 1 is a vertical section, in the plane of the axis of the crank shaft, of a single
acting fluid pressure engine constructed according to this invention.
Fig. 2 is a vertical section taken in a plane_passing_through-the-valve-chamber-
in a direction at right angles to Fig. 1.
Fig. 3 shews in end elevation to a larger scale, a centrifugal governor hereinafter
described.
Fig. 4 is a detail view, also to a larger scale, illustrating the connection between
the governor spindle and the eccentric for operating the cut off valve.
1 is a distributing valve in the form of a hollow cylinder, within which works a
piston cut-off valve, 2, designed to close the steam admission ports 1* in the valve 1,
and so cut off the admission of steam to the cylinder 1* at any desired point of the
piston's stroke. The hollow cylindrical valve 1 and the internal cut-off valve 2 are
worked by separate eccentrics 3 and 4 respectively on the crank shaft. 5, both

page_text: eccentrics being inside a closed crank chamber 6 and arranged between a cheek or
web 7 of the crank pin 8, and the inner end of the adjacent bearing 9.
The rod or spindle 10 of the hollow cylindrical valve 1 is hollow, and works
through a stuffing box 11, and the spindle 12 of the cut-off valve 2 passes through
it. The hollow spindle 10 is fitted with an ordinary packing box 13 at its lower
extremity, through which the cut off valve spindle 12 works. The eccentric rod 14
of the cut off eccentric 3 is jointed to the lower end of the spindle 12 and is slotted
at 15 to admit of free play for the connection between the upper end of the
eccentric rod 16 of the eccentric 4 and the enlarged lower part 10% of the spindle 10
which works through a guide at 17.
To assist in balancing the steam pressure on the cut-off valve 2, I employ a
balance piston, 18, secured on the same rod or spindle 12 as the cut-off piston
valve 2, but above the latter as shewn. This balance piston is arranged to work in
a. cylinder 19, and is subjected on its underside only to the pressure of steam
admitted to the valve chamber 1 through the inlet 20.
The "admission," "exhaust," and "compression," points are controlled by the
hollow cylindrical valve 1 which always maintains its relative position with the
piston. The cut-off valve, 2 controls the cut off only of the working fluid.
The compression may be effected by a hollow sleeve valve 21 of the kind set
forth in the Specification of a former Patent granted to me No. 5792 of 1888. This
sleeve valve in the example shewn is made in one with the valve 1 and mores
therewith, but it can be separate therefrom, and be fixed to the valve spindle 10.
Steam is admitted by the valve 1 to the upper end of the cylinder 1* the steam
supply being controlled by the cut-off valve 2. It afterwards exhausts through
that part of the valve chamber 1b that is below the cut-off valve and thence through
the sleeve valve 21 and port 22 to the lower end of the cylinder. The sleeve
valve 21 is so adjusted that as the piston nears the lower end of its stroke, it will
close the exhaust port 23 to a sufficient extent to ensure a compression of the
exhaust steam in the cylinder on the return of the piston in a manner and for
purposes well understood. The cut-off eccentric 3 is made with an eye 3* for the
passage of the crank shaft 5 and with arms or lugs 24 in one with or directly
connected to the eccentric. At a point within the bearing of its strap, it is
journaled on a pin 25, driven from the crank shaft (Fig. 4). This pin is shewn as
fixed to an extension of one of the crank arms 7. The position of the cut off
eccentric 3 may be regulated by hand, or by a centrifugal governor, according to
the purpose for which the engine is designed. In the example shown the regulation
is effected automatically by a centrifugal governor which comprises weights 26
subjected to centrifugal force and to the force of springs 27 the two forces acting
in opposite directions. The weights are pivoted at diametrically opposite points 28
on the fly wheel or plate 29 which is fixed on the crank shaft outside the bearing 9.
The weights have pivoted to them rods 30, carrying the coiled springs 27 which
abut against the regulating nuts 27* aud against stops 27b fixed to the fly wheel or
plate 29, and have a tendency to oppose the outward movement of the respective
weights due to centrifugal force.
To establish the necessary connection between the governor thus located outside
the crank shaft bearing 9, and the eccentric 3 located at the inner end of the said
bearing and within the erank chamber 6, I adopt the following arrangement. The
weights 26 are connected by links 31 to the two euds of a lever 31* fixed on a
spindle 32 which passes through an axial hole in the crank shaft 5 and has fixed to
it at its other or inner end a lever 33 (Fig. 4) the ends of which are cach connected
by a link 34 to one of the arms or luge 24 of the eccentric 3. By arranging the
eccentric and other working parts of the engine at the inside of the crank shaft
bearing 9, whilst the centrifugal governor is located at the outside of the said
bearing, complete accessibility is afforded at all times to the governor.
To regulate the position of the eccentric 3 by hand, a handle or lever is fixed to
the outer end of the spindle 32 so as to be capable of being moved by hand and
afterwards fixed in any desired position.

page_text: For an engine working with a low rate of expansion, a separate cut-off valve
such as 2 may be dispensed with, and the cut off can in this case be varied by
operating the distributing valve 1 by the shifting eccentric 3, controlled in the
manner described by an external governor or hand lever through a spindle 32
passing through the crank shaft. In this case the top of the hollow valve 1 would
be closed to prevent steam passing through it.
I construct the crank chambers of engines according to my invention with large
openings 35 (Fig. 2) both back and front, such openings being each closed by a
movable door or cover 36 that extends from about the level of the middle of the
crank shaft 5 to the top of the crank chamber 6. To the latter the steam cylinder 1*
is bolted together with the bottom cylinder cover 37 which carries the piston and
valve rod stuffing boxes 38 and 11 respectively. These large doorways give easy
access to the packing or stuffing boxes under the cylinder..
In order to cause oil to be thrown to the top of the crank chamber of a large
engine of the kind herein described, even when the engine is running too slowly to
cause sufficient lubricant to be splashed up by the crank, I, arrange within the
crank chamber and partly immersed in the oil and water therein, a trough 38
(Fig. 2) of a semi-circular form into which the lubricant flows; and upon one of
the crank webs 7 I fix a metal blade 39, the arrangement being such that
when the crank rotates, the blade 39 will pass through the trough and force
lubricant before it, and cause, the same, to rise to a considerable height in the
crank chamber.
The discharge end 38" of the trough 38 is preferably made of nozzle form, so
that it does not permit of free exit of the lubricant, which consequently being
forced through the nozzle by the action of the blade 39, issues as a jet that rises
to a sufficient height to lubricate the piston rod, valve guides, and other parts
contained within the crank chamber. The blade 39 can be made a good fit in the
trough 38, but so as not to touch it. The trough can be perforated laterally as
shewn at 40 to admit lubricant. thereto.
It is evident that engines according to my invention may be constructed having
one or two cranks each crank having one, two or three cylinders above it, or I may
construct engines with two cranks set opposite to each other, with one high pressure
cylinder above one crank and one low pressure cylinder above the other and opposite
crank, the high pressure cylinder being fitted with the cut-off valve working inside
the hollow cylindrical valve as before explained, and the low pressure cylinder being
fitted with a piston valve worked by an eccentric fixed on the crank shaft
between the cranks. Thus the high pressure cylinder would exhaust into the
low pressure cylinder, the high pressure and low pressure cylinders being side
by side.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
:-
1. A single acting fluid pressure engine in which the admission and exhaust of
motive fluid to and from the engine cylinder, or to and from the high pressure
cylinder if the engine be a compound one, are controlled by a hollow cylindrical
distributing valve and the cut off is controlled by a piston valve arranged to work
within the said distributing valve and provided with a balance piston, the dis-
tributing valve being operated by an eccentric fixed on the crank shaft, and the
cut-off valve being operated by a shifting eccentric, substantially as hereinbefore
described.
2. In a fluid pressure engine, the combination with a cut off valve, or with a
distributing valve, of a shifting or cut-off eccentric driven by and surrounding the
crank shaft and located at the inner end of one of the crank shaft bearings, a
spindle that extends through an axial hole or passage in the crank shaft and is
capable of being partly rotated from the outer end of the said bearing, and link-
work connecting the said spindle to the eccentric so that the position of the eccentric

page_text: can be varied by partial rotation of the spindle, substantially as herein described
for the purpose specified.
3. In a fluid pressure engine, the combination with a shifting or cut-off eccentric,
a spindle extending through an axial hole or passage in the crank shaft, and link-
work connection between the eccentric and spindle as referred to in the preceding
claim, of a centrifugal governor arranged on the crank shaft outside one of the
crank shaft bearings and adapted to partly rotate the spindle and automatically
effect the regulation of the position of the shifting or cut-off eccentric, substantially
as herein described.
4. In a fluid pressure engine constructed with a crank chamber to contain
lubricant, a trough of semicircular form into which lubricant can flow, and a blade
driven by the crank shaft, the arrangement being such that when the crank shaft
rotates, the blade will pass through the trough and force lubricant before it and
cause the same to rise to a sufficient height in the crank chamber to lubricate the
piston rod and other parts within this chamber, substantially as hereinbefore
described.
5. My improved single acting fluid pressure engine substantially as described
and shown, whether with or without the means described for lubricating the moving
parts within the crank chamber.
T
W. LLOYD WISE,
Per F. J. Brougham,
46, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, W.C., Agent for the Applicant.