AN IMPROVEMENT IN STEAM PUMPING ENGINES
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Adams Knight, of No. 4, Symonds Inn,
Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, for the
Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT IN STEAM PUMPING ENGINES."-A com-
munication from abroad by Wellington Lec, of 197, East 19th Street,
New York, in the United States of America.
Sealed the 18th March 1862, and dated the 28th September 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Adams Knight at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
28th September 1861.
I, JOHN ADAMS KNIGHT, of No. 4, Symonds Inn, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "AN IMPROVEMENT IN STEAM PUMPING ENGINES," being a
communication to me from abroad by Wellington Lee, of No. 197, East
19th Street, New York, United States of America, to be as follows:-
So arranging two or more steam cylinders and the valve gear for working
same that the valve of one cylinder may be actuated or worked by the move-
ment of the piston of the other cylinder, one portion always being at mid or
half-stroke, while the other is at full stroke or at the end of the stroke.
I also claim in connection with and as necessary to the foregoing such an
arrangement of steam valves and steam ports that the exhaust of the steam
from the cylinder may be arrested at such a point of the stroke as will prevent
the overreaching and striking of the piston against the heads of the cylinders,

page_text: the object being to dispense entirely with cranks, eccentrics, and fly wheels
ordinarily used in steam-pumping engines, and giving a more uniform and
equal flow of water or other liquid at all points of the stroke, allowing the
pistons to pause at the end of each stroke, thereby permitting the valves of
the pumps to close more gently and with less shock than they otherwise 5
would.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Adams Knight in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 28th March 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
ADAMS KNIGHT, of No. 4, Symonds Inn, Chancery Lane, in the County of
Middlesex, Patent Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-eighth day of September, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fifth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said John Adams Knight, Her special license that I, the said John
Adams Knight, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said John Adams Knight, 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
and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "AN
IMPROVEMENT IN STEAM PUMPING ENGINES," being a communication from abroad
by Wellington Lee, of No. 197, East Nineteenth Street, New York, in the
United States of America, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
John Adams Knight, 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 John Adams Knight, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed and to the
letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-

page_text: This Invention of "An Improvement in Steam Pumping Engines" relates
to a novel or improved mode of arranging and working the valve gear of the
steam cylinders of engines for pumping or forcing water.
In carrying out the Invention two or more steam cylinders are arranged
side by side or in any other convenient position, and the valve gear for
working the valve of one cylinder is actuated or opened and closed by the
movement of the piston of the other or contiguous cylinder. It will be found
convenient in practice to arrange the working of the pistons in such a manner
that when one piston is at mid or half-stroke, the other piston shall be at the
end of the stroke. The operation of the valves and the arrangement of the
ports for the induction and eduction steam is also so contrived (as will be
hereafter explained) that the exhaust of the steam from the cylinder may be
arrested at such a point of the stroke as will prevent the piston from over-
reaching or striking against the heads of the cylinders. By this means the
cranks, excentrics, and fly wheels usually employed in steam engines may be
dispensed with; and when the Invention is applied to pumping engines a more
uniform and equal flow of water or other liquid at all points of the stroke is
effected. The pistons will also be allowed to pause at the end of each stroke,
thereby permitting the valves of the pumping cylinders to close more gently
and with less shock than they otherwise would.
In the accompanying Drawing I have shewn various views of a steam-
pumping engine constructed according to the present Invention, and combining
various improvements in steam pumping engines, for which Letters Patent,
bearing date the Twenty-eighth day January, One thousand eight hundred
sixty-two, have been granted to William Edward Newton.
These latter improvements and also the present Invention have been com-
municated to the respective Patentees by Mr. Wellington Lee, and they are
shewn in the accompanying Drawing for the purpose of exhibiting a complete
machine of the most improved arrangement. I do not, however, mean to
claim such improvements as constituting any part of the present Invention.
Fig. 1 is a longitudinal vertical section taken through one of the steam
cylinders and valve chest, and one of the pumping cylinders, and the valves
belonging thereto; Fig. 2 is a plan view of the engine complete, the covers of
the valve chest being removed to shew the interior arrangement of the same;
Fig. 3 is a transverse vertical section taken in the line 1, 2, of Figures 1 and 2,
and looking towards the left hand end, or towards the steam cylinders;
Fig. 4 is a similar sectional view taken in the same line 1, 2, but looking
owards the right or the forward ends of the pumping cylinders. A, A, are
he steam cylinders, and A¹, A', the pumping cylinders; B, B, are pistons

page_text: fitted on one end of the piston rods C, C, and one of these pistons work
in cach of the steam cylinders; and B is a trunk piston fitted on the
other end of the piston rod, and working in one of the pumping cylinders; D is
the valve box of the steam cylinder, and d the valve which is worked therein
over the steam ports b, b, by means of the valve stem c, which passes
through a suitable stuffing box in the end plate of the valve chest, and is
connected at its outer end by means of a link i, to a vibrating lever e on the
rocking shaft f. In connection with the other steam cylinder there is a
similar rocking shaft f', carrying at one end a vibrating lever e¹, which through
a link communicates motion to the stem c', and the valve d of the other
cylinder. On the opposite ends of the rocking shaft f,f', are keyed two
levers g and g¹, which are connected at their lower extremities by means of
links to the pendent arms of blocks h, h', which are keyed or otherwise secured
near the middle of the piston rods C, C¹. On referring to the Drawing it will
be seen that on the advance of the piston B in the steam cylinder A, the
block on the piston rod C of that cylinder will through the intervention
of the vibrating lever g, cause the shaft f' to rock in its bearings, and push
forward the valve stem c¹ of the other cylinder, and thereby open the valve of
that cylinder, and on the other hand, the block h¹ on the piston rod C, and
shewn by dots in Fig. 1, will through the intervention of the other vibrating
lever g (also shewn by dots in the Figure), cause the shaft f to rock in its
bearings, and thereby communicate motion to the valve stem c, and valve d of
the first-mentioned cylinder. Of course on the return stroke, the reverse action
of the valves takes place. It will thus be understood that the piston rod of
steam cylinder No. 1 will actuate the valve gear of the cylinder No. 2, and
the piston rod of the latter will actuate the valve gear of the cylinder No. 1
It is of course necessary that the pistons of the two cylinders, and the valvo
gear should be so arranged that the pistons are never at the same par
of the stroke at the same moment of time. By this means, the engine wil
be made to act smoothly, and a continuous flow of water from the pumping
cylinders through the exit pipe F will be ensured.
In order to form a cushion of steam in front of the piston at the end of the
stroke, the exhaust ports are closed before the piston reaches the end of th
cylinder. An arrangement for effecting this object is shewn in the Drawing
in which it will be seen that there are five steam ports b, b, b1, b¹, and b. Th
ports b, b, are the induction ports for admitting steam to the ends of th
cylinders. The steam is supplied to the valve chest D in the ordinary manne
but the supply pipe is not indicated in the Drawing, in order to avoid com
plexity of parts; b, b', are the eduction passages, which by means of the hollo

page_text: space d¹ in the valve d, communicate with the central eduction passage b²,
which is common to both the passages 61, b. It will therefore be understood
that instead of using the same port alternately as an induction and eduction
passage as heretofore, the ports b, b, are never used except as induction pas-
sages, and the ports b', 61, are always used as eduction passages. By this
arrangement of ports, the piston as it arrives near the end of its stroke is
made to close the eduction passage b' as shewn in Fig. 1, and thereby confine
a cushion of steam between the face of the piston and the end of the cylinder,
as the induction passage 6 will not be opened until the piston has rested for a
second of time, so as to give time for the valves to be charged. The induction
passage 6 will then be opened by the piston of the other cylinder moving the
valve, and on the admission of steam the piston B will be driven back.
Having now described this Invention of "An Improvement in Steam
Pumping Engines," as communicated to me by my foreign correspondent, and
having explained the manner of carrying the same into effect, I claim as the
Invention secured to me by Letters Patent as aforesaid, arranging two or more
steam cylinders, and the valve gear for working the same, in such a manner
that the valve of one cylinder may be actuated by the piston or piston rod of
the other cylinder.
I also claim, subdividing the steam ports into separate induction and educ-
tion passages, and so arranging them as herein set forth, that the exhaust of
the steam from the cylinder may be arrested at such a point of the stroke as
will allow of a cushion of steam being retained in the cylinder in front of the
advancing piston, so as to prevent the latter from striking against the ends of
the cylinder.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Adams Knight, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, the Seventeenth day of February, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.
TEXT CHT
JOHN ADAMS KNIGH
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