IMPROVEMENTS IN OSCILLATING STEAM ENGINES
Year: 1885

page_text: .
I, ALEXANDER MELVILLE CLARK, of the firm of A. M. and Wm. Clark, of
53, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Fellow of the Institute of Patent
Agents, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN OSCILLATING STEAM ENGINES" a communication to me from abroad by Charles
Pitman Waldron of the City County and State of New York, United States of
America, Machinist to be as follows:-
This Invention consists of a new link movement for operating the slide valve of
oscillating steam engines and also of improved means for discharging water from
the cylinder of the engine.
The cylinder is trunnioned-in the frame in the ordinary way and the piston of
the engine is connected by the rod to the crank shaft in the ordinary way. The
link mechanism for operating the slide valve is connected to the valve by means of
a head that slides on a pin attached to the steam chest of the engine said head
being connected to the valve by a stem which is attached to the valve and works
in a stuffing box, fitted in the lower wall of the steam chest.
The link mechanism consists of a bell crank lever pivoted to the side of the
steam chest a segmentally slotted frame or plate attached rigidly to one standard
of the frame and of connecting rods the one connecting the horizontal arm of the
bell crank lever to the above mentioned sliding head and the other connecting the
vertical arm of the said bell crank lever to a sliding block fitted in the curved slot
of the slotted plate or frame. The block is attached by a rod to the reversing
lever which is pivoted to the frame and is provided with a spring catch adapted to
engage with any of the notches in a fixed segmental plate for holding the lever
and the block at any desired position. When the block is held in the centre of
the slotted plate the valve will close both the steam ports of the cylinder and will
be held from any sliding movement in the steam chest thus cutting off the steam
from the cylinder. By raising or lowering the block from this central position in
the plate the bell crank lever will be turned upon its pivot which will raise or
lower the sliding head and the valve thus opening the steam ports for starting the
engine. The block being locked in any position above or below the centre of
T

page_text: the slotted plate by the reversing lever, the oscillation of the cylinder will cause the
link mechanism to reciprocate the valve alternately opening and closing the ports
as required for operating the engine. By shifting the lever the engine may be
reversed.
For discharging the water from the cylinder I provide the cylinder at its lower
end with a pipe having a cock fitted in it and coupled by a hinge-coupling to a
pipe which telescopes into the horizontal portion of a waste pipe. The cock may
be operated for opening or closing the pipe by a lever that is pivoted to the frame
of the engine at the opposite side to the reversing lever and connected by a link
and pivoted coupling to the lever or arm of the cock so that by operating the lever
the cock may be opened and closed and when so opened or closed the oscillation of
the cylinder owing to the link and coupling will in no manner change the position
of the cock.
The arrangement of the valve lever upon one side of the engine and the lever for
discharging the water upon the other renders the engine very convenient and easy
to attend and the link mechanism is reliable and will not easily get out of order.
The hinge coupling for the discharge is composed of an outer shell that receives
the telescopic pipe at its lower end and of a core within the shell. This core
receives a pipe that connects the coupling with the cock and the shell is slotted to
permit the movement as a hinge the core turning in the shell as the engine
oscillates. The core is cut away to permit a free passage of water through the
coupling.

page_text: I, ALEXANDER MELVILLE CLARK, of the firm of A. M. and Wm. Clark, of
53, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Fellow of the Institute of Patent
Agents, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for IMPROVEMENTS
IN OSCILLATING STEAM ENGINES (a communication to me from abroad by Charles
Pitman Waldron of the City County and State of New York United States of
America Machinist) and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be
particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement:-
This Invention consists of a new link movement for operating the slide valve of
oscillating steam engines and also of improved means for discharging water from
the cylinder of the engine.
Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings forming part of this
specification in which similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in
all the figures.
Figure 1 is a front elevation of an oscillating steam engine having the invention
applied thereto, the steam chest being broken away to show the slide valve.
Figure 2 is a sectional elevation of the same, taken on the line x x of Figure 1.
Figure 3 is a similar view showing the opposite side of the engine and
Figure 4 is a detailed section of coupling in the waste pipe.
The cylinder A, is trunnioned in the frame B, in the ordinary way and the
piston of the engine is connected by the rod C. to the crank shaft D. in the ordinary
way. The link mechanism for operating the slide valve E. is connected to the
valve by means of the head F, that slides on the pin F, attached to the steam
chest G. of the engine, said head F being connected to valve E. by the stem E'
which is attached to the valve and works in the stuffing box E², fitted in the lower
wall of the steam chest G.
The link mechanism consists of the bell crank lever H. pivoted to the side of the
steam chest G, the segmentally slotted frame or plate I. attached rigidly to one
standard of the frame B. and of the connecting rods J. and K, the former connecting
the horizontal arm of the bell crank lever H. to the above mentioned sliding
head F, the latter connecting the vertical arm of the said bell crank lever H. to
the sliding block L. fitted in the curved slot of the plate or frame I.-The block L
is attached by the rod M to the lever N which is pivoted to the frame B at N¹
and is provided with the spring catch N adapted to engage with any of the
notches in the fixed segmental plate O for holding the lever and the block L at any
desired position When the block L is held in the centre of the curved plate I, the
valve E. will close both the steam ports a, of the cylinder A. and will be held from
any sliding movement in the steam chest, thus cutting off the steam from the
cylinder By raising or lowering the block L from this central position in the
plate I, the bell crank lever H. will be turned upon its pivot, which will raise or
lower the sliding head F and valve E, thus opening the steam ports for starting
the engine. The block L being locked in any position above or below the centre
of the slotted plate I by the lever N, the oscillation of the cylinder A will cause
the link mechanism to reciprocate the valve E. alternately opening and closing the
ports a, as required for operating the engine. By shifting the lever N. the engine
may be reversed.

page_text: For discharging the water from the cylinder I provide the cylinder at its lower
end with the pipe P. This pipe has the cock fitted in it and is coupled by the
hinge-coupling R. to the pipe S. which telescopes into the horizontal portion T¹ of
the waste pipe T that conducts the water away-The cock Q may be operated for
opening or closing the pipe P by the lever U. that is pivoted to the frame B. and
connected by the link U and pivoted coupling U2 to the lever or arm Q¹ of the
cock as shown clearly in Figures 1 and 2. so that by operating the lever U..
the cock may be opened and closed and when so opened or closed the oscillation of
the cylinder owing to the link U¹ and coupling U² will in no manner change the
position of the cock.
The arrangement of the valve lever N upon one side of the engine and the
lover U upon the other renders the engine very convenient and easy to attend and
the link mechanism is reliable and not easy to get out of order.
The coupling R. figure 4 is composed of the outer shell r, that receives the pipe S.
at its lower end and the core placed in the shell r: This core 1 receives the
pipe P¹ that connects the coupling with the cock Q and the shell r, is slotted at ra
to permit the movement as a hinge, the core 1 turning in the shell r, as the engine
oscillates. The core ¹ is cut away at r³ to permit a free passage of water through
the coupling.
The face plate G₁ of the valve or steam chamber G. is held in place by the
screws G2 so that by removing these screws the plate G¹ may be easily removed to
afford access to the slide E.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what
I claim is
1. The link mechanism herein described consisting of the bell crank lever H.
pivoted to the cylinder; the stationary segmentally slotted plate I, sliding block L,
operating lever N, and connecting rods K, M, all arranged to operate substantially
as described.
2. The slide valve E, provided with the stem E¹ in combination with the sliding
head F placed on rod F¹ and connected to the link mechanism, substantially as
described.
3. The cylinder A provided with the pipe P. having cock Q in combination with
the lever U pivoted to the frame and connected to the arm Q1 of the cock by the
rod U¹ and pivoted coupling U3 substantially as described.
4. The cylinder A provided with the pipe P and coupled to the pipe S. by the
pivoted coupling R. in combination with the waste pipe T, the pipe P being
provided with a cock Q substantially as described.
5. The cylinder A provided with the pipe P. having cock Q and coupled to the
pipe S. by the coupling R, in combination with the waste pipe T and lever U.
attached to the cock Q by the link U substantially as described.
6. The hinged coupling R. composed of the slotted shell r, and core 71 fitted in
the shell, the core being formed with a passage through it and to receive the
pipe P substantially as described.
1100K