IMPROVE- MENTS APPLICABLE TO VALVES OF STEAM ENGINE CYLINDERS
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Richardson, of Oldham, in the County
of Lancaster, Mechanical Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS APPLICABLE TO VALVES OF STEAM ENGINE CYLINDERS."
Scaled the 10th May 1870, and dated the 13th November 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Richardson
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 13th November 1869.
I, WILLIAM RICHARDSON, of Oldham, in the County of Lancaster,
Mechanical Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS APPLICABLE TO VALVES OF STEAM ENGINE CYLINDERS," to be
as follows:-
My Invention refers to those valves which are usually called cut-off
valves, whether they are caused to close more or less by the action of
the governor, or are opened and closed at variable speeds independently
of the said governor. Such valves as I allude to are, as in the case of
the Corliss valve actuated by the motive power, but through the medium
of apparatus which may be disconnected therefrom, and it is to the

page_text: means of effecting this disconnection that my Invention refers. For
this purpose I use revolving or vibrating discs or other such surfaces at
times in gear with each other, but one of such surfaces is caused by its
motion to separate the driving power and thus allow the cut-off to be
effected by a spring, weight, or similar contrivance.
My Invention may be illustrated as follows, supposing at present that
the valve is rotatory as in the case of the Corliss valve:-Upon the valve
spindle is a loose disc having projections which take into cavities formed
upon another disc fast upon the said spindle and which is provided
with pins passing through it. Beyond these two discs are inclines
corresponding in number to the said pins, which when they ascend.
the said inclines disengage the driving power by causing the loose disc
to slide upon its spindle, and the valve is then.at liberty to be closed by
springs, weights, or other ordinary means.
The inclines I have alluded to may be stationary, but I propose to
connect them to the governor by which they will be caused to vibrate
and effect the cut-off at an earlier or later period, and the shape of the
inclines may also be made subservient to that purpose.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Richardson in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 13th May 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
RICHARDSON, of Oldham, in the County of Lancaster,. Mechanical
Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her 2
'Letters Patent, bearing date the Thirtieth day of November, in tho
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the
thirty-third year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said William Richardson; Her special
license that I, the said William Richardson, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Richardson,
(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

page_text: and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS APPLICABLE TO VALVES OF STEAM ENGINE CYLINDERS," upon the
condition, amongst others, that I, the said William Richardson, 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 William Richardson, 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 and accompanying Drawings (that is
say):-
My Invention refers to those valves which are usually called. cut-off
valves whether they are caused to close by the action of the governor or
are opened and closed at variable speeds independently of the said
governor. Such valves as I allude to are, as in the case of the "Corliss
valve," actuated by the motive power but through the medium of
apparatus which may be disconnected therefrom, and it is to the means
of effecting this disconnection that my Invention refers, but I shall in
order fully to explain my Invention describe other parts of a steam
engine to which it may be adapted.
In tho accompanying Drawings Fig. 1 represents a portion of the
engine in side elevation; Figure 2.. an end view of the same, and
Figures 3,, 4, 5, detached views upon a larger scale of the disengaging
apparatus which constitutes my Invention.
The steam cylinder is shown at a, the exhaust valve boxes at b, and
the inductive valve boxes at c, there being two of each as in the known
Corliss arrangement, and provided with the usual rotatory valves, the
spindles of which are shewn at d, d, e, e. Upon the side of the
cylinder is formed a bracket which carries a stud f, and upon this is.
mounted looscly a disc g. To this disc is connected the eccentric rod h.
and it is therefore caused to oscillate upon its centre of motion. Upon
the exhaust valve spindles d, d', are levers i, ², connected to rods j, j',,
which at their other ends are jointed to the disc. g, to which are also
connected two other rods 1, F, which at their other ends are jointed to
discs m, m, mounted loosely upon the inlet valve spindles 1, F, but
supposing them to be fast the said valves would of course bo turned so

page_text: as to admit steam to the cylinder, and according to my Invention they
are at times locked therewith to accomplish the said admission of steam,
but are detached therefrom when the cut-off is to be effected, and to
explain this I will now particularly refer to the detached Figures 3, 4, 5.
Ate is the valve spindle above mentioned in reference to Figures 1, 2,
and upon it is mounted loosely the aforesaid disc m. This disc is
provided with projecting pieces p abutting (according to the position
shewn) against other projecting pieces 7 situated in cavities formed
within a disc r, which is permanently fast upon the valve spindle, and
the loose disc mis pressed in contact therewith by a spring & enclosed
within a box t, which is carried by the valve spindle e. The fast disc ris
perforated with four holes, within which are situate pins u, their outward
ends bearing against the loose disc m, and their inward ends against a
plate which is mounted loosely upon the valve spindle c. Upon one
face of this plato are formed four projecting inclines 20, and upon the
other side is a pin x, to which is connected a rod y (Fig. 1) passing
from it to a similar pin ³ of the other induction apparatus, and after
this it is connected to the governor by a rod y. It will now be seen
that as the rod vibrates by the usual eccentric it imparts a similar
movement to the disc m, and this being connected to the fast disc by
the projecting picces p the valve spindle will be turned so as to effect
the induction, but during this operation the vibration of the disc will
carry with it the pins u, and as they travel onward they arrive in contact
with and ascend the inclines wo, by which means they are thrust forward
and cause the loose disc m to slide against the force of the springs & upon
the valve spindle e, by which sliding motion the projecting parts pare
removed from gear with the other projecting parts q and the discr
together with the valve spindle e, become disengaged from connection
with the eccentric, and the said spindle is therefore free to be suddenly
turned so as to effect the required cut-off. This closing of the valve
may be effected by any convenient arrangement of springs, weights, or
similar apparatus, but I have shewn and will now describe that which
I employ. Upon the fast disc is a pin 1 connected to a rod 2 which
extends downwards and is jointed at its lower end to a spring 3 mounted
on a block 4, which is carried by the engine frame and the bottom of
the rod is provided with a buffer, beneath which is a cellar of india-
rubber 5 enclosed in a case 6. Assuming the valve spindle to be moving
in the direction of the arrow shewn at the right-hand side of Figure 1,
the spring 3 is drawing the rod 2 downward, and as the discs r,m,

page_text: oscillate in the said direction the spring 3 will become further charged
with power, and this may continue or not or for longer or shorter interval
according to the action of the governor, but when it is in a position for
requiring the cutt-off to take place the pins " as before-mentioned ascend
the inclines to, and by separating the two discs r, m, allow the charged
spring 3 to draw downward the rod 2 and consequently turn the valve
spindle so as to close the valve as before described. It will thus be seen
that as the governor is connected to the loose plate o, it moves the
inclines to near to or further from the pins ", and the desired cut-off
is therefore effected according to the requirements of the engine or the
said cut-off may be deferred for a number of strokes. The use of the
india-rubber 5 is to deaden the shock when the rod 2 is drawn downward.
The spring 3 as shewn is mounted so as to be capable of swivelling upon
a centre 8 carried by a block 9, and this block is mounted in another
which is capable of adjustment upward or downward by screws so as to
regulate its tension.
In the foregoing description I have alluded to a certain description of
valve as employed in conjunction with my Invention, but I do not limit
myself thereto or to the particular arrangement of engine or parts con-
nected therewith, I have also spoken of my Invention as being connected
with the governor, so that the cut-off it effects is regulated thereby, but
if desired the said cut-off apparatus may be stationary and constant in
its action, or it may be moveable and adjusted by hand so as to alter
at pleasure the positions of the inclines w, whereby the cut-off may be
effected at an earlier or later period of the stroke, that which I claim
as secured to me under the above in part recited Letters Patent being
the use of the fast and loose surfaces m, r, capable of separation by
their own oscillation substantially as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Richardson, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twelfth day of May, in the year
of our Lord One thousand cight hundred and seventy.