CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN PORTABLE AND OTHER STEAM ENGINES AND BOILERS, AND IN APPARATUS EMPLOYED IN THE CONSTRUCTION THEREOF
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Daniel Adamson, of the Newton Moor Iron
Works, near Hyde, in the County of Chester, Engineer, for the
Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN PORTABLE AND OTHER STEAM
ENGINES AND BOILERS, AND IN APPARATUS EMPLOYED IN THE CONSTRUCTION
THEREOF."
Sealed the 15th October 1869, and dated the 5th May 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Daniel Adamson at
the Oflice of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 5th May 1869.
I, DANIEL ADAMSON, of the Newton Moor Iron Works, near Hyde, in
the County of Chester, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN PORTABLE AND OTHER STEAM
ENGINES AND BOILERS, AND IN APPARATUS EMPLOYED IN THE CONSTRUCTION
THEREOF," to be as follows:-
My improvements in steam engines relate to the valves, and consist
in making three port valves of a segmental or cylindrical form working
in a cylindrical casing. The ports for admitting and exhausting the
Price Sd.1

page_text: steam are opened and closed alternately by moving the valve to and fro
in a curvilinear direction. The above improved valve may be modified
to act as a variable cut off valve by making the cylindrical valve hollow
and applying a segmental cut off valve within it or on its circumference,
the position of the said cut off valve being regulated by the governor or
by hand.
My improved portable steam boiler consists of a circular fire-box
casing fixed eccentrically to the circular barrel of the boiler. The fire-
box is also circular, and it is eccentric to both the fire-box casing and
the barrel of the boiler. The fire-box is made by welding together the
ends of a plate to make a circular ring or hoop, and welding the tube
plate and fire-door plate to this ring, or the tube plate and fire-door plate
may be rivetted to the ring when either is made of steel or copper. The
barrel of the boiler is made of tubes or rings with flanged seams, and in
making the barrel 1 employ the following apparatus, consisting of a
faced bed plate and of a pair of powerful circular or other shaped jaws
or clips (the inner diameter or shape of which must correspond to the
outer diameter or shape of the tube to be flanged). The clips are made
in two or more parts hinged together and secured by a key or other
equivalent, or the clips may be opened and closed by screws or other
equivalents to receive and release the tube. When the tube to be
flanged has been heated at one end in an open hearth or in a furnace it
is placed in the clip with the heated end projecting as much above the
clip as the width of the flange may require. This heated end of the
tube is then bent over on to the top of the clip either by hammers, or
by rollers, or by blocks forced into the end of the tube by steam or
other power, or by screws or other equivalents. When one flange has
been formed the other end of the tube is heated, and the other flange is
made in the same manner. When the second flange is being formed the
tube must be held up to the proper level by a packing face plate placed
on the bed plate; or the lower end of the tube may be supported on a
disc which is raised and lowered by a screw or steam or hydraulic
pressure, the ram of the press passing through the bed plate. This
apparatus may be used for making flanges on the flues or fire-boxes of
boilers.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Daniel Adamson in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 1st November 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, DANIEL
ADAMSON, of the Newton Moor Iron Works, near Hyde, in the County
of Chester, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fifth day of May, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the thirty-
second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Daniel Adamson, Her special licence
that I, the said Daniel Adamson, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Daniel Adamson, 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 terni 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 "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN
PORTABLE AND OTHER STEAM ENGINES AND BOILERS, AND IN APPARATUS EMPLOYED
IN THE CONSTRUCTION THEREOF," upon the condition (amongst others) that
I, the said Daniel Adamson, 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 Daniel Adamson, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement (that is to say):-
The nature of my Invention consists,―
First. In certain improved modes of constructing valves of a segmental
or circular form for portable and other steam engines.
Secondly. In an improved mode of constructing, portable and other
steam boilers.

page_text: And, lastly. In the apparatus used in bending flanges on the cylindrical
portions of steam boilers.
And in order that my Invention may be fully understood and readily
carried into operation, I will proceed to describe the two accompanying
Sheets of Drawings, reference being had to the figures and letters marked
thereon.
Figure 1 is a longitudinal section, and Figure 2 a transverse section
of the cylinder of a steam engine to which my improved valves are
applied. a is the cylinder, 6 the ports, and the passages for the
admission of the steam, and c, c', the exhaust ports and passages. The
2.
or
admission valves d are hollow cylinders and have passages d' through
themi, these passages are narrow as shewn in Figure 1, but they extend
the full width of the valve box as shewn in Figure 2, and the valve is
moved partly round by an eccentric of the ordinary construction
other equivalent acting on the lever fixed to the valve spindle.
Within the valve d is the cylindrical cut off valve e, through which is
the passage e', corresponding to the passages d' in the valve d; this cut
off valve is connected by means of the lever to the cut off gear
actuated by the governor or by hand. By this arrangement, the steam
has direct access to the cylinder, and a very slight variation in the
position of the valve admits or shuts off the steam. The exhaust valves
are made as usual in Corliss engines, and by turning them about one
fourth round the ports c are brought into communication with the
passages c¹.
Figure 3 represents a modification of my improved admission and
exhaust valve; the segmental valve works in a cylindrical case, and
by causing it to reciprocate to and fro, the steam is admitted to and
exhausted from the cylinder a. In this case no special cut off valve is
applied.
Figure 4 is another modification of my improved valve for admitting.
exhausting, and cutting off the steam; in this case the valve is similar
to the one shewn in Figure 3, but it is provided with the passage d',
and the cylindrical valve e, actuated as before described in reference to
Figures 1 and 2, is applied to cut off the steam.
Figure 5 is another modification of my improved valve for admitting
and cutting off the steam only, and without a communication to the
exhaust; in this arrangement, is the segmental, steam valve and e the
cylindrical cut off valve.

page_text: Figure 6 is one of my improved segmental three-port valves for
admitting and exhausting the steam; this valve is made to reciprocate
to and fro, thereby opening the passages b' alternately and forming the
communication from the passages b' to the exhaust passage e'.
Figure 7 is a modification of my improved segmental three-port valve
d, to which the segmental cut off valve e is applied.
Figure 8 is another modification of my improved segmental three-
port valve d³, to which the segmental cut off valve e is applied.
Figure 9 shews another arrangement of my improved circular or
segmental valves; in this case the steam after passing through the
circular casing of the cut off valve e enters the circular casing of the
admission valve d³, by which the steam is admitted to the passages b
alternately, and the passage d' forms the communication between the
passages and the exhaust passage c'.
On Sheet 2, Figure 10, is a longitudinal section of my improved
portable or other steam boiler, and Figure 11 is a transverse section
through the fire-box of the same; g is the circular fire-box casing
which is fixed eccentrically to the circular barrel of the boiler, the
fire-box is also circular, and it is eccentric to both the casing g and
barrel h. The smoke box j is also circular, and it is fixed concentric
to the end of the barrel le; the funnel is connected to the smoke box
as usual. The fire-box is made by welding together the ends of a plate
to make a circular hoop, and the tube plate 2' and fire door plate 23 are
welded to this hoop so as to form a solid fire-box, or if either of these plates
is made of copper or steel it may be rivetted to the hoop of the fire-box.
The tubes are connected in the usual manner to the tube plate 2' and
to the plate j forming part of the smoke box. The fire-box i is con-
nected to the fire-box casing g by means of the frame g' and the grate
bars g fit in the space within this frame. The box g is attached helow
to the casing g, and the fire can be raked by passing a rod between the
grate bars when the side doors g' are open. The barrel of the boiler is
made of hoops or rings united by a hoop over a jump joint and rivets
in the ordinary manner, as shewn in Figure 10, or with flanged seams
as shewn in Figures 12 and 13, which represent another mode of con
structing my improved boilers. The firing door, the manhole, and the
stays are made in the usual manner, but as all the parts of these
improved boilers are cylindrical, less staying is required than heretofore,
and the strength is considerably increased.

page_text: Figures 14 and 15 are elevations, and Figure 16 a plan of my improved
apparatus for bending the flanges on the ends of the hoops forming the
barrel of the boiler shewn in Figure 12, or on other portions of portable
or other boilers; m is the foundation plate to which is cast or fixed the
faced plate m', to the plate mare bolted the standards m², and to one
of these standards is jointed a pair of semicircular or other shaped jaws
or clips n, the inner diameter or shape of which must correspond to the
outer diameter or shape of the tube to be flanged. The jaws or clips
n may be made in more than two parts if desirable, and they are
secured together by a bolt and key n' as shown, or in any other convenient
manner; the handle n is to facilitate the opening and closing of the
jaws or clips. The mode of operation is as follows:-The tube to be
flanged after having been heated at one end in an open hearth, or in
a furnace, is placed in the jaws n with the heated end projecting above
them as much as the width of the flange may require, and with the
other end resting on the plate m', as shewn in Figure 14, the heated
end of the tube is then bent over on to the top of the clip either by
hammers or by rollers or by flanged blocks forced into the end of the
tube by steam or other power, or by screws or other equivalents. When
one flange has been formed in the manner above described, the clips
are opened to release the tube, which is then taken out to heat the other
end, a packing of the required thickness is then placed on the plate
m and the operation is then repeated as before.
Figures 17, 18, and 19 represent three views of a modification of
this part of my Invention; in this arrangement the standards m² above
described are dispensed with, and the jaws or clips n are jointed to the
foundation plate m; the face plate m' is attached to the camo which
fits in the hydraulic or steam cylinder o'; by admitting water under
pressure or steam to this cylinder and allowing it to escape therefrom
the level of the face plate m' can be varied to suit any depth of tube to
be flanged.
I wish to remark here that a screw or other equivalent,
may be employed to raise and lower the face plate m'.
Figure 20 represents a plan of another modification of this part of
my invention; in this arrangement steam or other power may be
employed to open and close the jaws n in the following manner:-To
each jaw is fixed a screw n³, one screw having a right hand and the
other a left hand thread, these screws pass through the bosses of bevel
wheels n', which are screwed and act as nuts; the wheels n' are driven

page_text: by wheels on upright shafts, both of which are driven by other wheels
on the shaft me, supported in bearings on the foundation plate. On the
shaft mare mounted the three pulleys m', the centre one being fast and
the others loose; these pulleys are driven by an open and a crossed strap
so as to be able to vary the direction of motion of the shaft m³, and
consequently of the wheels n', the jaws n in this manner can be opened
or closed in a direct line, and with great facility, or they may be
opened and closed by other mechanism, or by steam or water power
applied direct.
Figure 21 represents a portion of a boiler, or boiler tube, or flue with
one flange bent at one end; and Figure 22 represents a portion of a
boiler, or boiler tube, or flue with a flange at each end.
Having thus stated the nature of my Invention, and described the
manner of performing the same, I declare that I claim,-
First. The various improved cylindrical and segmental valves both
with and without cut off valves, as shewn and described in reference to
Figures 1 to 9, inclusive.
Secondly. The improved portable and other steam boilers, as shewn
and described in reference to Figures 10, 11, 12, and 13.
And, lastly. The apparatus for bending flanges or portions of steam
boilers, as shewn and described in reference to Figures 14 to 20
inclusive.
In witness whereof, I, the said Daniel Adamson, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-ninth day of October One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine.
DANIEL ADAMSON. (L.S.)