IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM AND OTHER PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Green, of Peckham, in the County of
Surrey, and John George Freeman, of Newington, in the same County,
Engineers, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM AND OTHER
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Robert Green and
John George Freeman at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,
with their Petition, on the 21st November 1867.
We, WILLIAM ROBERT GREEN, of Peckham, in the County of Surrey, and
JOHN GEORGE FREEMAN, of Newington, in the same County, Engineers, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for " IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM AND
OTHER MOTIVE-POWER ENGINES AND IN VALVES FOR ENGINES," to be as follows:-
Engines constructed according to our Invention have a plain cylinder, that
is to say, a cylinder without outlet or inlet ports, and the cylinder has a recipro-
cating motion for effecting the various purposes to which it may be applied. In
applying it for pumping purposes, for example, we attach the plunger or
bucket rod to the lower end of the cylinder, and by the action of the latter
water or other liquid is drawn in and forced out in the ordinary manner.
We fit the other or open end of the cylinder with a cover, through which we

page_text: pass two pipes, one of which acts as a supply pipe and the other as the
exhaust (when steam is used); the pipes are connected at the upper end to &
fixed cross head forming part of the framing, while the lower ends are
attached to the piston cover. The piston is composed of two parts, viz., the
body and the cover; the body is hollowed out on the upper side, and has a
partition in it so as to form two chambers, in which chambers the ends of
the pipes before mentioned terminate. There are two apertures through both
the piston body and cover in which valves are free to move as hereafter
described. The two pipes, the supply and the exhaust, serve as guide rods for
the to-and-fro movements of the cylinder; the cylinder may be fitted to work
vertically as before described or horizontally or otherwise. In some cases we
make the cylinder fixed and cause the piston and the pipes (which form the
piston rods) to move; the pipes would in this case be passed through stuffing
boxes in a pipe of larger diameter.
Our improvements in engines further consist in means of regulating the
amount of steam or motive fluid used according to the work done when the
engine is used as a pumping engine. We use an ordinary air vessel fitted with
a piston and spiral spring, from which we carry up a rod, and we connect this
rod to a throttle valve. According to the greater or less pressure in the air
vessel so is the throttle valve more or less opened, and the amount of steam
or fluid supplied to the engine thereby regulated.
Our valves for the engine herein-before described, but which are likewise
capable of being used in a modified form in other engines, consist, first, of an
inlet valve of spherical or analogous form having two opposite faces to
take the seats on the interior of the piston, this valve has two pins projecting
from it, one above and the other below, each of these pins being provided
with a spring which tends to lessen the concussion at the end of each stroke
when the valve is shifted by striking against the inner faces of the cylinder
ends; secondly, of an exhaust valve composed of two puppet valves of the
ordinary construction, but made in one piece so as to act in two directions,
the
opposite faces of this valve work on seats on the outside of the piston. On
the completion of each stroke the valve strikes against a spring pin in
the cylinder end, whereby the valve at that end is pressed down upon its seat,
and the other valve opened for the exhaust in the return stroke. The
pressure of the steam on the surface of the piston on either side keeps the valve
down upon its seat during the movement of the cylinder in either direction.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Robert Green and John George Freeman in the
Great Seal Patent Office on the 21st May 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, WILLIAM
ROBERT GREEN, of Peckham, in the County of Surrey, and JOHN GEORGE
FREEMAN, of Newington, in the same County, Engineers, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirty-first year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto us, the said William Robert Green and John George Freeman, Her
special licence that we, the said William Robert Green and John George
Freeman, our executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as we,
the said William Robert Green and John George Freeman, our 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM AND OTHER MOTIVE-POWER
ENGINES AND IN VALVES FOR ENGINES," upon the condition (amongst others) that
we, the said William Robert Green and John George Freeman, or one of us,
our executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under our, or one
of our, 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 we, the said William Robert Green and John
George Freeman, do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and
in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, reference being had to
the Drawings hereunto annexed, that is to say :-
Engines constructed according to our Invention have a plain cylinder, that
is to say, a cylinder without inlet or outlet ports, and the cylinder has a
reciprocating motion for effecting the various purposes to which it may be
applied. In applying it for pumping purposes, for example, we attach the

page_text: plunger or bucket rod to the lower end of the cylinder, and by the action of
the latter water or other liquid is drawn in and forced out in the ordinary
manner, and when used in an ordinary engine we attach the connecting rod to
the side or bottom of the cylinder and connect it with the crank shaft in the
usual way. We fit the upper or open end of the cylinder with a cover, through
which we pass two pipes, one of which acts as a supply pipe and the other as
the exhaust; the pipes are connected at the upper end to a fixed cross bead
forming part of the framing, while the lower ends are attached to the piston
cover. The piston is composed of two parts, viz., the body and the cover;
the body is hollowed out on the upper side, and has a partition in it so as to
form two chambers, in which chambers the ends of the pipes before mentioned
terminate. There are two apertures through both the piston body and cover
in which valves are free to move as hereafter described. The two pipes, the
supply and the exhaust, serve as guide rods for the movements of the cylinder;
the cylinder may be fitted to work vertically as before described or horizontally
or otherwise.
The valves consist, first, of an inlet valve of spherical or analogous form
having two opposite faces to take the seats on the interior of the piston; this
valve has two pins projecting from it, one above and the other below; each of
these pins may be provided with a spring which tends to lessen the concussion
at the end of each stroke when the valve is shifted by being struck by the
inner faces of the cylinder ends, but we have found in practice that these
springs may generally be dispensed with; secondly, of an exhaust valve com-
posed of two puppet valves of the ordinary construction, but connected by a
pin so as to form one valve which acts in two directions, the opposite faces of
this valve work on seats on the outside of the piston. On the completion of
each stroke the valve is struck by a spring pin in the cylinder end, whereby the
valve at that end is pressed down upon its seat, and the other valve opened for
the exhaust in the return stroke. The pressure of the steam on the surface of
the piston on either side keeps the valve down upon its seat during the move-
ment of the cylinder in either direction.
Our Invention will be more clearly understood by the accompanying
Drawings, which represent a small or donkey engine arranged for pumping
purposes.
Figure 1 is a front elevation; Figure 2 is the same elevation with the
cylinders in section; Figure 3 is a side elevation with the cylinder and piston
in section; Figures 4 and 5 are respectively a vertical section and a plan of
the piston on a larger scale.

page_text: a is the cylinder which as before stated has no inlet or outlet ports; 6 is the
plunger or bucket rod which is attached to the lower end of the cylinder a; c is
the pump barrel; d, the suction pipe; and e, the outlet or force pipe. The upper
end of the cylinder a is provided with a cover f through which two pipes g, h, are
passed; the pipe g acts as the supply pipe, and the pipe has the exhaust pipe for
the steam or other motive fluid; these pipes g, h, are connected at their upper end
to a fixed cross head i forming part of the framing k, while the lower ends of the
pipes are attached to the cover of the piston. The pipes g, h, serve as guide rods
for the movements of the cylinder a. The piston is as before stated composed of
two parts, the body and the cover m; the body is hollowed out on the upper
side as shown, and has a partition n which divides the hollowed out portion
into two chambers o, p, in which chambers the pipes g, h, terminate. The
piston body and cover and m have each two apertures in which valves are
free to move; one of these valves q is the inlet valve, and has two opposite
faces as shown to take the seats on the interior of the piston; it has two
pins, r, projecting from it which are struck by the respective ends of the
cylinder a at the completion of each stroke, whereby this valve is shifted; the
other valve is the exhaust valve, and is composed of two puppet valves 8, 8,
made in one piece so as to act in two directions; the opposite faces of this
valve work on seats on the outside of the piston; on the completion of each
stroke the double valve 8, 8, is struck by a spring pin t in the cylinder end,
whereby the valves at that end is pressed upon its seat, and the other valve s
opened for the exhaust in the return stroke. Figure 6 is a section on a larger
As before stated the pressure of
scale showing one of the spring pins t.
the steam on the surface of the piston on either side keeps the valve s, s, upon
its seat during the movement of the cylinder a in either direction.
And having now described the nature of our said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, we declare that we claim,-
First. Constructing engines in which the cylinder moves and the piston is
stationary, and in which the valves are contained in the piston, substantially
as herein-before described and represented in the accompanying Drawings.
Second. Constructing engines in which the cylinder moves and the piston is
stationary, and in which supply and exhaust pipes form guide rods for the
movements of the cylinder, substantially as herein-before described and
represented in the accompanying Drawings.
Third. Constructing or arranging valves for engines substantially as herein-
before described and represented in the accompanying Drawings.
Fourth. The combination of parts of engines consisting of cylinder, piston,

page_text: valves, supply pipe, and exhaust pipe, arranged and acting substantially as
herein-before described and represented in the accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, we, the said William Robert Green and John George
Freeman, have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Twenty-first day of
May, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-
eight.
WILL. ROBT. GREEN.
(L.S.)
JOHN GEORGE FREEMAN. (L.S.)