IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF PORTABLE OR TRACTION STEAM ENGINES, AND IN APPA- RATUS FOR CUTTING JOINTS. HEADS OF CONNECTING RODS. AND OTHER ARTICLES." PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joseph Lee and Benjamin Dutton Taplin, of the
Patent Crank Works, Lincoln, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE MANUFACTURE OF PORTABLE OR TRACTION STEAM ENGINES, AND IN APPA-
RATUS FOR CUTTING JOINTS. HEADS OF CONNECTING RODS. AND OTHER ARTICLES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joseph Lee and Benjamin
Dutton Taplin, at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
their Petition, on the 27th May 1861.
We, JOSEPH LEE and BENJAMIN DUTTON TAPLIN, of the Patent Crank
Works, Lincoln, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF PORTABLE OR TRACTION STEAM ENGINES
AND IN APPARATUS FOR CUTTING JOINTS, HEADS OF CONNECTING RODS, AND OTHER
ARTICLES," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in the manufacture of
portable or traction steam engines, and in apparatus for cutting joints, heads
of connecting rods, and other articles. The improvements in portable or
traction steam engines relate to ordinary portable steam engines mounted
upon four travelling wheels and fitted with single or double cylinders. The

page_text: traction gear consists of a pitch chain working upon a small wrought-iron cog
wheel lined with leather between the cogs, fitted on the crank shaft of the
engine, and a largo cog wheel upon the binder axle of the carriage wheel,
thereby obtaining a simple, effective, and direct action from the crank shaft
of the engine to the hinder travelling wheels. The axle-tree upon which the
chain wheel is made fast is fitted to the front end of the fire box part of boiler,
and is supported by two brackets which are securely fastened to the boiler;
upon the bearings of these axle-trees are fitted two carriages which are
bolted on these brackets that are secured to the boiler. In the brackets and
upon the carriages provision is made by means of slots to allow the carriages
to move backwards and forwards 5 or 6 inches for the purpose of tightening
the chain at pleasure.
And the first part of our Invention consists in arranging the carriage axles
so that they may move backwards and forwards at pleasure by means of
adjusting screws, eccentrics, or otherwise.
The second part of our Invention consists in improvements in apparatus
for raising and lowering the front end of the boiler when going up or down
hill, or along irregular roads, for the purpose of maintaining an equal amount
of water upon the fire box end of the boiler under all circumstances. This
we effect by a screw of suitable size fitted to the turn plate at the front end
of the boiler. This screw passes through the centre of the bed of the front
carriage; in this bed is fitted a hollow casting, in which casting is fitted a round
nut with a thread cut in it to receive the screw, this nut is made round as
also the seat in which it rests for the purpose of allowing the carriage to
move freely sideways as is required on uneven roads without straining the
screw; upon the top of the screw is fitted a spur wheel of suitable size, and in
this
spur wheel works a small worm wheel or screw, cut in the lathe to suit
the pitch of the spur wheel. This worm wheel or screw, which is made of
wrought iron and welded to a rod long enough to reach the fire box, where
the man stands to drive the engine, is securely fastened to the side of the
boiler in an inclined direction for the convenience of the driver, and upon the
end of this rod is a small wheel for the driver to work the worm wheel or screw
connected to the spur wheel, and by turning this wheel either way the front
end of the boiler is raised or lowered at pleasure.
The third part of our Invention consists in improvements in apparatus for
cutting joints, heads of connecting rods, and other articles. The apparatus is
constructed in the following manner :-
A maundril of cast steel is turned in the lathe and a screw cut upon it with

page_text: two lock nuts made to fit the screw, circular cutters of refined cast steel are
then bored to fit upon the screw, and after the teeth are cut and the cutters
properly tempered, they are placed upon the maundril at the requisite
distance apart. For cutting joints three cutters are fixed upon the maundril
and are kept at the requisite distance apart by means of turned collars placed
between them and the collars and cutters and made fast by the two nuts above
mentioned. The joint to be cut is placed in the slide rest of the lathe which.
being set in motion the centre cutter takes out the two sides of the inner part of
the joint, and the two outer cutters the two outsides, as the slide rest moves
gradually towards the centre. For different purposes any number of cutters
may be placed on the maundril at pleasure. When cutters of a large size are
required they are made in segments and fitted upon a cast or wrought iron
flange, the flange being bored to fit the moundril, and fastened with the nuts -
or keys if required.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Joseph Lee and Benjamin Dutton Taplin, in the Great
Seal Patent Office on the 27th November 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, JOSEPи
LEE and BENJAMIN DUTTON TAPLIN, of the Patent Crank Works, Lincoln,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of May in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fourth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the
said Joseph Lee and Benjamin Dutton Taplin, Her special licence that we, "
the said Joseph Lee and Benjamin Dutton Taplin, our executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said Joseph Lee and Benjamin
Dutton Taplin, 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 THE MANUFACTURE'
OF PORTABLE OR TRACTION STEAM ENGINES AND IN APPARATUS FOR CUTTING JOINTS,
HEADS OF CONNECTING RODS, AND OTHER ARTICLES," upon the condition (amongst
others) that we, the said Joseph Lee and Benjamin Dutton Taplin, our
executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under our or their

page_text: hands and seals, or under the hand and seal of one of us, or them, 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 imme-
diaely after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Joseph Lee, on behalf of myself and
the said Benjamin Dutton Taplin, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particu
larly described and ascertained in and by the following statement thereof,
that is to say:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in the manufacture of
portable or traction steam engines, and in apparatus for cutting joints, heads
of connecting rods, and other articles. The improvements in portable or
traction steam engines, relate to ordinary portable steam engines mounted
upon four travelling wheels and fitted with single or double cylinders. The
traction gear consists of a pitch chain working upon a small wrought-iron cog
wheel, lined with leather between the cogs, fitted on the crank shaft of the
engine, and a large cog wheel upon the hinder axle of the carriage wheel,
thereby obtaining a simple, effective, and direct action from the crank shaft
of the engine to the hinder travelling wheels. The axle-tree upon which the
chain wheel is made fast is fitted to the front end of the fire box part of
boiler, and is supported by two brackets which are securely fastened to the
boiler, upon the bearings of these axle-trees are fitted two carriages which
are bolted on these brackets that are secured to the boiler. In the brackets
and upon the carriages provision is made by means of slots to allow the
carriages to move backwards and forwards five or six inches for the purpose
of tightening the chain at pleasure.
And the first part of our Invention consists in arranging the carriago
axles so that they may move backwards and forwards at pleasure by means
of adjusting screws, eccentrics, or otherwise.
The second part of our Invention consists in improvements in apparatus
for raising and lowering the front end of the boiler when going up or down
hill or along irregular roads for the purpose of maintaining an equal amount
of water upon the fire-box end of the boiler under all circumstances. This
we effect by a screw of suitable size fitted to the screw plate at the front
end of the boiler; this screw passes through the centre of the bed of the
front carriage; in this bed is fitted a hollow casting, in which casting is
fitted a round nut with a thread cut in it to receive the screw; this nut is

page_text: made round as also the seat on which it rests for the purpose of allowing
the carriage to move freely sideways as is required on uneven roads without
straining the screw, upon the top of the screw is fitted a spur wheel of
suitable size, and in this spur wheel works a small worm wheel or screw
cut in the lathe to suit the pitch of the spur wheel; this worm wheel or
screw which is made of wrought iron and welded to a rod long enough to
reach the fire box where the man stands to drive the engine is securely
fastened to the side of the boiler in an inclined direction for the convenience
of the driver, and upon the end of this rod is a small wheel for the driver
to work the worm wheel or screw connected to the spur wheel, and by
turning this wheel either way the front end of the boiler is raised or lowered
reach the ire DOX where the man stands to uTIVO the cagmo is securely
fastened to the side of the boiler in an inclined direction for the convenience
of the driver, and upon the end of this rod is a small wheel for the driver
to work the worm wheel or screw connected to the spur wheel, and by
turning this wheel either way the front end of the boiler is raised or lowered
at pleasure.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 5 is an end view showing the sliding axle in section on one side
of the brackets; O₁ is the cast-iron bracket in which the shaft Q works;
S, S, are two set screws which are used for tightening the chain or otherwise;
T is a space for india-rubber springs. It will be seen in Figure 6 that a
piece of plate is allowed to project over the end of the fire box, and in the.
plate a slot is cut which takes the weight of the axlo Q, there is also a space
allowed for the carriage O¹ to move backwards and forwards some four or
five inches, which is effected by turning the screws either way. On the
left-hand side of the sketch No. 5 is a section of the clutch o which is made
to throw in and out of gear by the levers L² when the engine is going round
corners or otherwise. The engine is supported upon four wheels made of
wrought-iron rims and spokes, and cast-iron naves, as shown in Figures 5
and 6, the spokes are drawn taper with a shoulder at the top which fits
between two angle irons as in section at Figure 5.
Figure 1 is an end view of raising and lowering apparatus. A is the centre
screw working throught the nut or ball C'; this nut or ball has two studs
welded upon it, one on each side, and takes a bearing across each side of the
centre of the axle Q which is made round on each side for that purpose.
A space is left in the centre of the axle Q to allow the free action sideways
of the nut or ball C; this space is seen best on Figure 3; this side action
allows the carriage wheels to play freely under all circumstances without
damaging the screw in the centre; (1), (1), are two angular rods going
from the boiler to the centre of the screw and perform an important duty in
holding the screw in position when travelling. Upon the top of the screw A

page_text: is fitted a bevel or toothed wheel C which is moved by the small wheel and
pinions C, C, these wheels are acted upon by the worm wheel or screw D,
seen best in Figure 2; upon this screw is welded a long rod D to reach
the engine driver at the fire box end of boiler, and by his turning this screw
or worn wheel, the screw may be raised or lowered at pleasure while the
engine is travelling;: Figure 2 is a side view of same with spherical ball B
working in a hollow casting B, A, and allowing the free action of the carriago
wheels sideways in the same manner as Figure 1, the casting B, A, is fitted
to a wood bed similar to those generally used in ordinary steam engines to
carry the front end of same and can be applied to any kind of portable
engine.
Figures 3 and 4 show a plan and side view. I would remark that this
part of our Invention is peculiar in respect to the manner in which the lifting
and lowering apparatus under the centre of the boiler is mounted on an
axle C', in Figure 1, and on a sphere B, Figure 2. This mode of mounting
a central lift is applicable whether a screw or other lifting agent be applied
for the purpose of carrying out this part of our Invention, which consists.in
combining apparatus for raising and lowering the boiler of a traction engine
centrally with the advantage of a side action as explained.
The third part of our Invention consists in improvements in apparatus for
cutting joints, heads of connecting rods, and other articles. The apparatus
is constructed in the following manner:-A maundrill of cast steel. is turned
in the lath and a screw cut upon it with two lock nuts made to fit the screw;
circular cutters of refined cast steel are then bored to fit upon the screw,
and after the teeth are cut, and the cutters properly tampered, they are placed
upon the maundrill at the requisite distance apart. For cutting joints three
cutters are fixed upon the maundrill and are kept at the requisite distance
apart by means of turned collars placed between them and the collars and
cutters, and made fast by the two nuts above mentioned. The joint to be
cut is placed in the slide rest of the lathe, which being set in motion the
centre cutter takes out the two sides of the inner part of the joint, and the
two outer cutters the two outsides, as the slide rest moves gradually towards
the centre. For different purposes any number of cutters may be placed on
the maundrill at pleasure. When cutters of a large size are required they
are made in segments and fitted upon a cast or wrought-iron flange, the
flange being bored to fit the maundrill and fastened with nuts or keys, if
required.
Having thus described the nature of our Invention and the manner of

page_text: performing the same, we would have it understood that we make no claim to
any of the mechanical parts separately; but what we claim is,-
First, the combined arrangement of mechanism for adjusting and driving
the hinder axle, as described.
Secondly, we claim the combined apparatus for raising and lowering the
boiler, as described.
And, thirdly, we claim the combined apparatus herein described for cutting
joints, heads of connecting rods, and other articles.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Lee, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-seventh day of November, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
JOSEPH LEE. (L.S.)