IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM ENGINES
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Rowan, of the Firm of John Rowan and
Sons, of Belfast, in the County of Antrim, Engineers, for the Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM ENGINES."
Sealed the 23rd August 1864, and dated the 23rd February 1864.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Rowan at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 23rd
February 1864.
I, WILLIAM ROWAN, of the Firm of John Rowan and Sons, of Belfast,
in the County of Antrim, Engineers, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM ENGINES," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists in a new arrangement of the parts of steam engines
shewn in the accompanying Drawing.
The principal object of this new arrangement is to obtain an increased
speed of piston, and also to allow of working steam at a pressure of, say, two or
three atmospheres, and of cutting off the steam early.
A is the cylinder; B, the beam, which, together with the connecting rod,
I prefer to make of malleable iron. The end a of the beam is attached to a
pair of columns C, which oscillate on trunnions D. The parallel motion is
obtained through two radius bars E. F is the air pump; G, the feed pump;

page_text: H, the crank; I, the connecting rod; J, J, are the valves for admitting
steam to the cylinder; K is the governor. The radius bars E are supported
on standards L on the top of the cylinder.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Rowan in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 23rd August 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
ROWAN, of the Firm of John Rowan and Sons, of Belfast, in the County of
Antrim. Engineers, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-third day of February, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-seventh year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant-unto-me,
the said William Rowan, Her special licence that I, the said William Rowan,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William
Rowan, 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,
aud vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the
Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM
ENGINES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William
Rowan, 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 William Rowan, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed,
that is to say:-
The principal object of my Invention is to construct a strong compact
engine possessing all the properties of the ordinary beam engine and at
less cost.
My Invention consists in a new arrangement of the parts of steam engines

page_text: shewn in elevation in Figure 1, and in plan in Figure 2, of the accompanying
Drawings.
By this new arrangement I obtain an increased speed of piston while the
motion of the working parts is produced as in ordinary beam engines, and I
allow of the steam being worked at a pressure of, say, three or four atmo-
spheres, and of being cut off early. By the expansion of the steam there is
an augmentation of power at a small cost for fuel.
By the new arrangement I also obtain a greater length of stroke than in
ordinary engines. This Invention is particularly adapted for screw steamers.
A is the cylinder; B, the beam, which, together with the connecting rod, I
prefer to make of malleable iron. The end a of the beam is attached to a
pair of columns C which oscillate on trunnions D. The parallel motion is
obtained through two radius bars E. F is the air pump; G, the feed pump;
H, the crank; I, the connecting rod; J, J, are the valves for admitting
steam to the cylinder; K is the governor. The radius bars E are supported
on standards L on the top of the cylinder. M, M, are diagonal stays for
counteracting the strain brought on the standards by the action of the
connecting rod I through the radius bars E.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim, the arrangement
of parts of steam engines herein-before described and shewn in the accom-
panying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Rowan, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twentieth day of August, One thousand eight
hundred and sixty-four.
WILL. ROWAN. (L.S.)