AN IMPROVED METHOD OR METHODS OF GENERATING STEAM POWER, AND APPLYING THE SAME TO PLOUGHING, HARROWING, AND OTHER AGRICULTURAL PURPOSES, WHICH METHOD OR METHODS IS OR ARE ALSO APPLICABLE TO OTHER PURPOSES TO WHICH THE POWER OF STEAM IS OR MAY BE APPLIED
Year: 1837

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
UPTON, of Horsleydown Lane, Surrey, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Fourth day of November, One thousand eight hundred and
thirty-seven, in the first year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said John Upton, Her especial
licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said John
Upton, my exors, admors, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John
Upton, my exors, admors, 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
expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within
England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick upon Tweed, my Invention of
"AN IMPROVED METHOD OR METHODS OF GENERATING STEAM POWER, AND APPLYING
THE SAME TO PLOUGHING, HARROWING, AND OTHER AGRICULTURAL PURPOSES, WHICH
METHOD OR METHODS IS OR ARE ALSO APPLICABLE TO OTHER PURPOSES TO WHICH THE
POWER OF STEAM IS OR MAY BE APPLIED;" in which said Letters Patent is con-
tained a proviso that I, the said John Upton,shall cause a particular description
of the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be inrolled in Hes aid Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six
calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said in part recited

page_text: Letters Patent,as in aud by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more
fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
John Upton, do hereby declare that the nature of my Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described
and ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, reference being
lind to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked
thereon, similar letters and figures referring to similar parts in all the Figures
(that is to say):-
Firstly, as regards my improved method or methods of generating steam
power, 1 declare that 1 effect the same by an arrangement of cylinders and
tubes which presents within any given space a greater amount of heating
surface than any other arrangement or method with which I am acquainted,
and furnishes at the same time a sure preventive against the incrustation of
the interior of the cylinders and tubes by earthy or mineral deposits. Figure 1
is a section of a boiler on this improved plan; it consists of an upper and a
lower cylinder A and B, A being of six or eight times greater diameter than B.
These two cylinders are connected together by two sets of metal tubes C, C,
and D, D; the former being of a serpentine, and the latter of a slightly
curved shape. The serpentine tubes cross each other, so that they are inserted
in the upper cylinders on the side of the boiler opposite to that on which they
are inserted into the lower cylinder. The slightly curved tubes are not crossed.
To the exterior of one end of the upper cylinder there is affixed a glass index
tube (protected as usual) which shews to the eye at a glance the height of the
water in the boiler. This glass tube is fixed in a pair of brass stuffing boxes
F, F, (see Figures 6 and 7,) which are attached to a pair of brass connectors,
each of which has a plug H, H, to turn off the steam or the water whenever
it may be necessary either to clear or replace the glass tube. I, I, is an iron
casing, within which thecy linders and pipes are enclosed. By the arrangement
here represented, all the sediment produced from the evaporation of the water
subsides down into the lower cylinder A, which is not only provided with a
blow-off cock E, (see Figures 6 and 7,) for cleaning out the sediment as it is
collected, but has its end plates bolted, so that they may be taken off to allow
of the interior being scraped cleau at any time. The end plates of the upper
cylinder are also bolted on,so that when a tube is required to be taken out and
replaced by another, this can be speedily done in any situation in which the
boiler may be placed. The boiler may either be fixed in brickwork, masonry,
or iron. It has two fire doors, one for the upper part, below the upper cylinder
at J, and one for the lower part, on the top of the lower cylinder at K; the

page_text: flame of the lower chamber passing between the tubes, and through the fuel of
the upper chamber. The tubes form of themselves the necessary fire bars,
and are not, like solid bars, liable to generate cliukers.
And, secondly, as regards the application of the steam power generated by
the before-described boiler to ploughing, harrowing, and other agricultural
purposes,as well as generally to all other purposes to which the power of steam
is or may be applied, I declare that I make use of a rotary engine, such as is
herein-after described; (that is to say,) Figure 2 is an end view of theengine,
with the side plates of the outer and inner cylinders removed, to show the
interior. The engine consists of an outer cylinder K, and of an inner one L,
which revolves within the other,and carries round the pistons,to be afterwards
mentioned, the shaft c passing through the centre of both cylinders. On the
upper part of the outer cylinder there is either cast or fixed the nozzle M, N,
with double steam ways O, O; and upon the nozzle is fixed a brass or other
metal steam box, with its slide valve and piston working through a stuffing
box P. The outer cylinder has two side plates Q, Q, Fig. 3, bolted on the
outside, to which are fixed a pair of stuffing boxes R, packed as usual.
Within the two outside fixed plates are two revolving plates S, (one of which
side plates is shown detached at Figure 4.) grooved on one side only at T, T,
(for the sides of the pistous herein-after mentioned to work in,) and with
expansion rings inside to make the joints steam-tight. These said plates and
rings are bolted together through the inuer or revolving cylinder L, L, which
contains and carries round the four sliding pistons V,V,V,V, one piston being
connected to that on the opposite side of the revolver by rods W,W, passing
through the shaft c of the engine. The revolving cylinder in carrying.round
the pistons works close against the lower curve of a triple eccentric X steam-
tight, which is struck from two different centres, the side ones being alike
eccentric, and which eccentric thrusts in the piston on one side of the revolver,
at the same time thrusting out its corresponding one on the opposite side.
At the backs of the pistons at their junction with the connecting rods are
placed compensation springs, to allow for wear and tear, and to keep the
edges of the pistons constantly against the eccentrics; and the inner surface
of the outside cylinder (as shewn separately at Figure 5). By pushing in
or pulling out the piston rod of the steam-box valve the engine may be
made to reverse its motion instantly. The engine which I have last hérein
described is for working high-pressure steam, but it may be worked as a con-
densingengine, byuddingto it the ordinarycondensingapparatus, ashereinafter
described, and shewn in the same Figures 2 and 3. Y is the condenser,
contained in the cold water cistern Z; a, the air pump; b, the hot water or

page_text: feed pump; these pumps are worked by rods attached to eccentrics on the
engine shaft c. In applying my said improved boiler and engine to ploughing,
harrowing, and other agricultural purposes, I mount them ou a carriage in
the manner represented in the Drawings, Figures 6 and 7; Fig. 6, being
an elevation, and Fig. 7 an end view. d, d, is a framework to which the
boiler e, e, cylinderf, water tank g, coal box h, and other parts of the a apparatus
are firmly bolted or secured; this framework is connected with the hind
wheels i, i, by the springs j, j, and with the fore wheels k, by the bearings and
turnplates. The hind wheels have one cominon axle m, but this axle passes
through two hollow cylinders n, n, bolted on to the nave of each wheel; o,o,
are the steering handles, connected by an upright shaft p, to the pinion q,
which takes into the cogged segment on the edge of the under turnplater, and
turning the fore wheels k. In order that the carriage may turn in a small
space, either of the hind wheels is made to lock by means of the treadles, the
levers t, t, and clutch . The treadle s is kept up, and the hind wheels
free from the action of the clutch by the spiral spring v; one treadle lever and
clutch is provided for each wheel, and is put in action as required by either
foot of the steersman depressing the treadle. The steam generated in the
boiler e, e, issues through the steam pipe w, working the pistons in the cy-
linder f; the spent steam escapes through the eduction pipe ., and on to the
surface of the water in the tank, heating the same, and passes off by the pipe y
into the chimney z. The boiler is supplied from the tank by the feed pump 1,
worked by an eccentric on the shaft of the hind wheels. On the shaft of the
engine c are placed the pinions 2, 2, which takes into the cog wheels 3, 3 on
the hollow cylinders enclosing the axle of the hind or driving wheels i, i. The
ploughs or harrows are to be attached behind the carriage by a chain or other
suitable means.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention,and the manner
in which the same is to be performed, I declare that I do not claim any of the
parts of the boiler and rotary engine herein-before described as being in them-
selves separately new. But that what I claim as my Invention is the general
arrangement and combination of parts of which the said boiler and rotary
engine respectively consist, and which constitute my improved method or
methods of generating steam power, and applying the same And I declare
that my said improved method or methods are more particularly applicable to
ploughing, harrowing, and other agricultural purposes, because of the direct
application of the steam to the shaft, being in such cases of great advantage,
but that the same are also applicable to all other purposes to which the power
of steam is or may be applied, such as the propulsion of ships and locomotive