CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR PROPELLING VESSELS AND OTHER MACHINES CAPABLE OF BEING PROPELLED BY STEAM, AND IN BOILERS APPLICABLE TO THE SAME AND ALSO TO OTHER PURPOSES
Year: 1829

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
CHURCH, of Heywood House, near Birmingham, in the County of Warwick,
Esquire, send greeting.
WHEREAS His present most Excellent Majesty King George the Fourth,
by His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Fifteenth day of October, One thousand eight hundred and
twenty-nine, in the tenth year of His reign, did, for Himself, His heirs and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said William Church, His especial.
licence that I, the said William Church, my executors, administrators, and
assigns; or such others as I, the said William Church, my executors, admi-
nistrators, 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 mentioned, should
and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and.
the Town of Berwick upon Tweed, my Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS
IN MACHINERY FOR PROPELLING VESSELS AND OTHER MACHINES CAPABLE OF BEING
PROPELLED BY STEAM, AND IN BOILERS APPLICABLE TO THE SAME AND ALSO TO OTHER
PURPOSES;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso, obliging me, the
said William Church, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal;.
particularly to describe and ascertain the nature of my said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, and to cause the same to be enrolled
in His Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and
immediately 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
William Church, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention and
the manner in which the same is to be performed are particularly described
and ascertained in and by the Drawings hereunto annexed, and the following
description thereof (that is to say):
'-
My improvements in "Machinery for Propelling Vessels and other Machines
capable of being Propelled by Steam" consist in the peculiar construction and
arrangement of several of the parts and appendages necessary to the con-
structing and working of a steam engine, which are designed for the purpose of
rendering the engine as a whole more compact, less ponderous, and at the
same time capable of exerting a greater effective power than any other engine
hitherto made, in proportion to the quantity of steam employed under a given
pressure; and also in the construction and arrangement of the paddles or
wheels for propelling ships, boats,.and other vessels by the agency of steam.
And my improvements in "boilers applicable to the same, and also to other
purposes, consist in a peculiar mode of connecting a series of vessels to con-
stitute a boiler for generating steam, and of forming the passages for the flow
of the water and steam, and of the flues by which the fire and heated vapour
is conducted and made to act upon the water with better effect than has been
heretofore done in any other construction of boiler; and also, in a new con-
trivance adapted to the apparatus for supplying the furnace with fuel, and.
in an appendage to the safety valve; all which said "improvements are fully
set out in the accompanying Drawings, and will be perfectly understood
by reference thereto with the assistance of the following description, that is.
to say:-
Fig. 1 is an elevation of the steam engine complete, designed for propelling
vessels, as it would appear when seen on the side; Fig. 2 is an elevation of the
same, taken on the right hand of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a representation of the
engine as seen from above; Fig. 4 is a section taken through the engine in a
horizontal direction at the line A, B, in Figures 1 and 2; Fig. 5 is a vertical
section taken through the cylinder in the line C, D, in Fig. 4; Fig. 6 is a
section taken vertically through the air pump, hot water cistern, and force.
pump; in all which several Figures the corresponding letters refer to similar
parts of the engine. The cylinder is enclosed within a jacket a, a, and receives
its, supply of steam from the boiler through the pipe b, which leads into the
passage c; c, extending up one side-between the jacket and the cylinder, and
over the ends between the end plates d, d, and the outer caps. The end plates
d, d, of the cylinder are perforated, for the purpose of performing passages for
the induction and eduction of the steam, which passages are opened and closed

page_text: alternately by a sliding valve e, e, fitted to each end plate and working between
it and the top or bottom cap or casing, the lower slider e being held up to the
lower plated by springs. I shall proceed to describe the construction of these
end plates d, d, and the sliding valves e, e, with the method of actuating them.
Fig. 7 is a horizontal view of one of the end plates as it would appear on its
outer surface; Fig. 8 is a section of the same, that is, about an inch of the
thickness of the plate on the outside being removed, for the purpose of exhibiting
the eduction apertures and recesses within the said plates; Fig. 9 is one of the
sliding valves detached, as it would appear on that side which acts against the
outer surface of the end plate. Let it now be supposed that the steam from
the passage c, c, is in the act of entering the cylinder through the upper end
plate (as in Fig. 5) in order to depress the piston: the upper sliding valve e, e,
must be in such an advanced situation as shall leave the induction appertures
open, when the steam, passing freely round the upper slide valve, will enter the
cylinder at the appertures f.f; at the same time the lower slide valve e, e,
will have receded, shutting off the steam at the lower part of the cylinder and
opening the apertures f.f, in the lower end plate d to the recesses in the slide
valve, and through them to the cavity and eduction passages of the end plate,
from whence the volume of steam that had previously acted in raising the
piston will now pass off into the chamber g, g,g, within the jacket surrounding
the cylinder, as shewn in Figures 5 and 8, and from thence through square
passages j,j, Fig. 2 & 4, to the condensor, which is formed by the pedestals of
the framework. The sliding valves e, e, are connected by rods h, h, to cranks
at the ends of the vertical shaft i, i, which shaft, being driven round, works
the sliding valves to and fro, and produces the induction and eduction of
the steam, which puts the piston in action, as above described. The shaft i
is put in motion by means of a peculiarly formed cross or star-wheel k, fixed
upon the shaft, as seen in Fig. 1, 3, 4, & 5. This cross or star-wheel has
four grooves cut in it, in radial directions, at equal distances apart, which
grooves are intended to receive the tappets that are to drive it round each
one-fourth of a revolution; and between the grooves the periphery of the
star-wheel is cut into as many concave segments, which are designed to work
against the circular part of the rotary tappet wheel 1, seen best in the
horizontal view, Fig. 4. This tappet wheel consists of two segment plates; the
one fixed upon a vertical shaft m, the other adjustable thereon, and both are
driven round by bevel gear above, connected to the rotatory horizontal shaft.
which works the air pump. Upon the tappet wheel segments there are two
pins or tappets n, n, one of which at about every half revolution of the wheel
strikes into one of the radial grooves of the star-wheel k, and turns it one
..

page_text: .
quarter of a revolution; thus it will be seen that in every quarter of a
revolution of the star-wheel the cranks on the shaft i will be moved one
quarter round, which by means of the connecting rods will at every such
movement shift the sliding valve e, e. Now, supposing that the sliding valves
stand in the situation shown in Fig. 5, that is, the upper one projected
forward, leaving the passages f, f, open for the induction of the steam into the
upper part of the cylinder, and the lower one drawn back, shutting off the
steam and opening the eduction for the discharge of the steam from the lower
part of the cylinder, the first movement of the star-wheel will draw the
upper slide valve back a short distance and push the lower one foward; this
will merely have the effect of shutting off the supply of steam at the upper
part of the cylinder, allowing that steam which is within the cylinder to
expand and force the piston through the remainder of its stroke. The second
movement of the star-wheel will cause the upper slide valve to open the
éduction passages from the upper part of the cylinder, and at the same time
the lower slide valve will be so situate as to admit the steani into the lower
part of the cylinder in order to raise the piston. The third movement of the
star-wheel will place the parts in the same relative situations as the second;
and the fourth movement will bring them to the situation from which we
started, as shewn in Fig. 5; thus a continued rotation of the tappet, which'
will, through the intervention of the star-wheel, put the valves in action, and
cause the engine to perform its functions. Here it should be observed that'
the tappet on the fixed segment above described is that which is employed for
opening the induction, and for opening and closing the eduction passages, and
the adjustable tappet for closing the induction only. The jet of water for
condensation being injected into the condensor in the ordinary way, flows with
the condensed stream along the passage n*, Fig. 6 and 4, to the foot valve o
The construction of the air and hot water pumps will be best seen in the
section Fig. 6, where the water, having washed the foot valve o, passes through
it into the cylinder of the air pump p. The depression of the bucket q will
cause the water to flow, through the clack valves 1, 2, and by the rising of the
bucket the water will be lifted into the cistern; and made to flow away at the
waste pipes. The bucket is made tight by sacking t, t, which is confined by
a circular gland, capable of being tightened up by nuts on the outside. The
piston rod of the air pump constitutes the plunger of the hot water pump,
which is a hollow cylindrical tube or rod u, with a valve at top opening
upwards; on thè descent of the plunger a vacuum is produced in the barrel v
of the hot water pump, into which the water from the cistern flows by small
apertures through the hollow rod into the pump barrel v, and on the ascent of

page_text: the plunger, the volume of water occupying the barrel is carried forwård
through the valve at top by a pipe to supply the boiler. It is to be observed,
that by the general arrangement of the several parts of the engine above.
described, the weight of the piston with its rod, and other appendages is
balanced by the atmospheric pressure on the bucket of the air pump, and the
weight of the parts appended thereto. In order to effect this important ad-
vantage, the action of the two crank shafts may be conveniently connected
together by spur wheels w, w, fixed respectively on the ends of the crank shafts
of the piston and of the air pump, in such positions, that when the piston of
the engine is ascending, that of the air pump is descending, and vice versa..
The power of the engine is communicated by the piston rod to the cross head,
to which the perpendicular rods x, x, are affixed, extending down on both sides
of the cylinder. To the lower ends of these perpendicular rods the connecting
rods y, y, leading from the cranks on the main shaft, are attached by pins, which
pins are the axles of antifriction rollers z, z, working between guides affixed to:
the inside of the framework. The main shaft having thus obtained its rotary
motion, the power may be communicated from either extremity of the shafts
to propel or drive other machinery. In constructing a steam engine with my
improvements to be used for raising water or other stationary purposes, I
propose to place the cold water pump immediately under the center of the
steam cylinder in such a way that the axes shall coincide in the manner shewn
in Fig. 10, which is a front view of the engine, and Fig. 11, a side view of
the same.
The perpendicular side rods x, x, as described above, are extended
downward below the base of the cylinder, and their extremites attached to a
cross beam A; and the connecting rods Y, Y, leading from the main cranks are
also attached to the end of cross beams, as sweep rods are usually connected
to cross heads. To the center of the beam the plunger or piston rod B of the
cold water pump C is attached, and which extends downwards into the working
barrell, forming a parallel motion for both the steam piston and pump rod.
When this pump is used simply for the supply of the engine, I sometimes
construct it in such a manner as to produce a double action, raising the water
in the first place from the well, and then, after it has passed through a filterer,
carrying it foward to the engine. The rising main D is a tube, fixed by a
flange in the bottom of the cistern E, having a valve at top opening upwards.
On the outside of the tube D the plunger B is intended to slide, being
made tight by a stuffing box, which plunger B works in the barrel C, also
made tight by a stuffing box, both of them being at top. The ascent of
the plunger B produces a vacuum within it, and also within the barrel of
the pump, causing the water to rise through the main D into the plunger,

page_text: and on the descent. of the plunger the water so raised becomes displaced
from the plunger, and is caused to flow through the valve at top over into
the cistern. In the lower part of the cistern there is a false bottom,
supporting a filterer through which the water descends, and from the lower
compartment is forced forward through the tube F into the column of the
framework by the second action of the pump in the descent of the plunger B,
from whence it passes into the condensor. It is obvious that the order of the
pumps may be reversed, that is, instead of water being discharged from the
well into the upper compartment of. the cistern, it may be delivered into
the lower compartment and filtered upwards. In situations where it may
be desirable to einploy a governor, I adapt the following contrivance for
cutting off the steam at an carlier or later period of the stroke, as may be
required. In Fig. 10, the ordinary construction of governor for regulating
the throttle valve will be seen at G, having a sliding tube H upon and
feathered to the perpendicular shaft m, extending down toward the tappet
wheel, where it is enlarged, to receive the collar appended to the adjustable
tappet above described. From this collar there extends a small pin, which
acts. in an oblique slot in the enlarged part of the tube H, and when by the
centrifugal force of the balls the tube H is drawn up, the oblique slot, through
the medium of the pin, causes the adjustable tappet to be shifted from its rela-
tive position to the other tappet, and to follow it sooner in its rotation, thereby
cutting off the steam at an earlier period of the stroke. In order to enable
the engine to work the slides by hand, it is necessary to withdraw the clutch I,
from the star-wheel; this is done by pressing the foot upon the lever K,
which holds up the clutch by a garter and spring; the shaft i can then be
turned round, which moves the slide valves and effects the induction and
eduction. In high pressure steam engines, I propose to employ the same
constructions and arrangement of the parts as already described, dispensing
of course with such appendages as are required for effecting condensation,
and allowing the steam to pass direct from the jacket through a hot water
cistern to the open air. In high pressure condensing engines it is necessary.
to let nearly all the steam which is above the pressure of the atmosphere
escape until it descends to the point of pressure commonly used in condensing.
engines. I effect this by a peculiar arrangement of valves, which will be fully
understood by reference to Figs. 12 and 13.
a is the eduction passage; b, the
passage open to the air; c, the passage to the condensor. In these passages
are placed the valves d and e, which are connected together by a link and
joints f; steam entering from the cylinder by the eduction passage will exert
its force against the upper valve d, which is much larger than the lower one 6,

page_text: and consequently d will be thrown open at the same time the lower valve
closing, when all the steam above the pressure of the atmosphere will
escape by the passage 6. But on the pressure of the atmosphere and the
steam becoming nearly equalized, the valve d will fall and close by its gravity,
the connecting link at the same time opening the lower valve c, when the
remaining part of the steam will be free to. pass off by the passage e to the
condensor, where it may be acted upon by the jet of water in the usual way.
My improvement in the construction and arrangement of the paddles or wheels
for propelling ships, boats, and other vessels consists in the following combina-
tion-I employ two wheels, each having a series of bent paddles, revolving
on a common axle but in opposite directions. These wheels are surrounded
cach by a cylindrical rim, to which the peripheries of the paddles are attached.
Fig. 14 is a front view of one of the paddle wheels, with the cylindrical
rim a, a, a, surrounding it; Fig. 15 is a longitudinal representation of the two
paddle wheels, the rims being cut in section perpendicularly through their
diameters, for the purpose of shewing the construction of the wheels within. I
sometimes employ the two wheels with bent paddles, as represented in the two
last-mentioned Figures, revolving in opposite directions within a fixed cylinder.
It is only necessary to obscrve that the axis of the wheels is intended to be
placed paralled to the keel of the vessel, and they may be driven by any of
the ordinary modes of driving two wheels upon the same axle in opposite
directions..
My improvements in boilers applicable to steam engines consist, in the
first place, in adapting a series of vessels arranged as shewn in the Drawings,
of which Fig. 16 is a front view, exhibiting the caps of the several vessels,
and also the fire door, ash pit, and the several doors for clearing the flues;
Fig. 17 is a top view of the same, the roof of the casing being removed, in
order to shew the three upper vessels, and the manner of uniting them
together, that is, by bolting them to flanges. Fig. 18 is a horizontal section,
taken through the center of the lower vessels on a line with the furnace; and
Fig. 19 is a vertical section, taken transversely through the series of vessels;
a being the furnace; 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, and 7, the several vessels
occupied with water and steam; and c1, c2, and c 3, the flues leading from
the furnace to the chimney. Fig. 20 is a.section of the boiler, taken through
the front plate, parallel to its plain, shewing the passages of communication
d, d, d, for water and steam from ono vessel to another. These connecting.
passages lead through the flanges e, e, e, surrounding the ends of the vessels,
as above said, the passages as well as the flanges being east with the front
plate fff, seen in Fig. 17 & 18. The water is introduced. into the boiler

page_text: at the lower part of the two upper side vessels 65 and 66, through the feed
pipe g, from whence it flows by the side passages d, d, into the vessels 61 and
62, and from thence upwards through the oblique passages d, d, to the
vessels 68 and 64. The height of the water in the vessels 63 and 64 will
be regulated by a long cylindrical float h, acting on a wire with a crank much
in the usual way, which shuts off the supply of water when it has risen to the
proper level. It will now be obvious that the steam generated in the vessels
containing water will pass through the several passages to the upper vessel 67,
and from thence through the steam pipe to the engine. It will be perceived
by the section, Fig. 19, that the space between the several vessels are divided
into longitudinal compartments which constitute flues. The flame and heated
vapour from the furnace on reaching the further end divides, and, passing
under the lower side vessels 61 and 62, returns to the front of the flues cl
and c 2, formed under each, then rising upwards it surrounds the necks of
those vessels and proceeds into the flucs c 3 and c 4, under the vessels 65 and
66, and ultimately escapes into the chimney. These vessels and flues are
enclosed by a casing of thin sheet iron, which is lined with a stratum of
pulverized charcoal or other imperfect conductor of heat, for the purpose of
preventing its escape by radiation. I do not intend to confine myself to the
precise number of steam generating vessels shewn and described above, as
the arrangement exhibited at Fig. 21 would be equally cligible, when a larger
capacity of boiler may be required.
My. new contrivance, adapted to an apparatus for supplying the furnace
with fuel, consists in a mode of projecting small quantities of coal into the
furnace at different periods over the entire surface of the fire. Fig. 22 is a
front view of a boiler with the improved apparatus adapted thereto; Fig. 23
is the side view of the same, as it would appear at the right hand of
Fig. 22; and Fig. 24 is the opposite side, Fig. 25 being a vertical section
taken in the same direction. a is a hopper, containing coal broken into small
pieces, the mouth of which is covered with a grating b, designed to prevent
large pieces of coal being passed into the hopper; c is a feeding roller, which
as it revolves deposits small quantities of coal upon shelf d. Upon this
shelf the pusher e is intended to act, for the purpose of projecting the coal
into the furnace; f is a pinion shaft, which is to be driven by any convenient
connection to the engine; g is the pinion at the end of the shaft, which takes
into and drives the wheel h affixed to the feeding roller; i, i, are levers
on the shaft j, which are connected by joints to the rods of the pushers;
k is a bent lever, fixed on the end of the shaft j; 'l is an excentric wheel on
the pinion shaft; m is a roller or pin, projecting from the side of the bent

page_text: lever; h is a heart wheel, affixed to the end of the axis of the feeding roller.
Let it now be supposed that motion is given to the pinion shaft f and com-
municated to the feeding wheel c, coals will be deposited in small quantities on
the shelf d. The pusher being drawn back by the excentric l acting against
the pin. m into the position shewn in the Figures, it remains retained in that
situation by the catch O until the excentric has arrived at the position where it
presents its shortest radius to the pin m. At this time a pin p in the excentric.
raises the catch and allows the spring q to throw forward the pusher with con-
siderable force, until its further progress is arrested by the toe of the bent
lever striking against the heart wheel n, when the coals that had been
deposited on the shelf are thrown off on to the fire bars. Now it will be seen
that the heart wheel as it revolves will stand in various positions in relation to
the toe of the bent lever; the force of the strokes will be also varied, and
consequently the coals projected to different distances and distributed with
considerable regularity over the whole area of the fire bars. By reference to
Figs. 22 and 24 it will be seen that the pinion above described is held in
geer with the wheel on the axis of the feeding wheel by a pair of jointed
bars 8, s, the bearing of the shaft being held in a slot, the intention of which
is to allow the pinion to be withdrawn for the purpose of stopping the feed of
fuel, in case of the water in the boiler becoming by any means so low as-to
render it unsafe to continue the fire under it. In order therefore to effect
this object, a wire u is broat from a float in the boiler and attached to the arm
of the lever v, and as the float descends the lever vis raised towards a vertical
position, and ultimately falls over into the opposite enclined position, and by a
pin at its lower extremity the jointed levers s, s, are tripped, and thus the
pinion is drawn out of geer when the feeding of the fuel ceases.
The improved appendage to the safety valve is shewn by Fig. 19, and
consists in guiding the conical valve to its seat without the intervention of
the ordinary guide rod and bridge, by means of a weight suspended from a
chain within side the boiler, and a lever and counterweight on the outside of
the
cap, which covers the valve and secures it against the possibility of its.
being over-weighted.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Church, have hereunto set my.
hand and seal, this Fifteenth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and thirty.
WILLIAM (L.S.) CHURCH.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Fifteenth day of April, in the
eleventh year of the reign of His Majesty King George the Fourth, the said
William Church came before our said Lord the King in His Chancery, and
acknowledged the instrument aforesaid, and all and every thing therein con-
tained and specified, in form above written. And also the instrument aforesaid
was stamped according to the tenor of the Statute made in the fifty-fifth year
of the reign of His late Majesty King George the Third.
Inrolled the Fifteenth day of April, One thousand eight hundred and
thirty.