Improvements in and connected with Distribution Valves and Gearing for Steam and other Engines.
Year: 1891

page_text: Date of Application, 8th Dec., 1891
Complete Specification Left, 7th Sept., 1892-Accepted, 8th Oct., 1892
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in and connected with Distribution Valves and
Gearing for Steam and other Engines.
We, JAMES CARTER, SIDNEY CARTER, FRANK CARTER and EVERSHED
CARTER, trading as Carter Brothers of Newfields, Wisboro' Green, Billingshurst,
in the County of Sussex, Agricultural Engineers, do hereby declare the nature of
this invention to be as follows:-
Our invention relates to distribution valves for steam and other engines and also
to reversing gearing for engines having such valves.
According to our invention we employ a disc valve adapted to be rotated for
instance by means of a chain or by gearing from the crank shaft of the engine.
This disc valve is provided with two openings one or the other of which serves
to admit steam to the cylinder according to the direction in which the engine is
running and with a recess on one face which serves to place the cylinder ports
alternately in communication with the exhaust port.
In order to operate the valve to cause the engine to run in the desired direction
the valve is provided with a hollow shank having in it a spiral groove of such
pitch that the reciprocation of a rod provided with a pin or lug sliding in the
hollow shank and entering the spiral groove causes the partial rotation of the
valve.
The shank of the valve fits within a sleeve which rotates with the valve under
ordinary circumstances and having a longitudinal slot or slots into which the pin or
lug engaging with the spiral groove also engages to prevent the pin from rotating
relatively with the valve.
Lof Danombor 1901
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, Finsbury, London, Agents for the Applicants.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in and connected with Distribution Valves and
Gearing for Steam and other Engines.
We, JAMES CARTER, SIDNEY CARTER, FRANK CARTER and EVERSHED
CARTER, trading as Carter Brothers, of Newfields, Wisboro' Green, Billingshurst,
in the County of Sussex, Agricultural Engineers, do hereby declare the nature of
this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement :—
Our invention relates to distribution valves for steam and other engines and also
to reversing gearing for engines having such valves.
According to our invention we employ a disc valve adapted to be rotated for
instance by means of a chain or by gearing from the crank shaft of the engine.
This disc valve is provided with two openings, one or the other of which serves
to admit steam to the cylinder according to the direction in which the engine is
running, and with a recess on one face which serves to place the cylinder ports
alternately in communication with the exhaust port.
The shank of the valve fits within a sleeve which rotates with the valve under
ordinary circumstances.

page_text: To enable our invention to be fully understood we will describe the same by
reference to the accompanying drawing, in which :-
Figure 1 is a longitudinal section of our valve and gearing shewn in conjunction
with an engine cylinder.
Figure 2 is a view of the working face of the valve.
Figure 3 is a view of the face upon the cylinder against which the valve works.
Figure 4 is a view of the working face of a plate which serves to cover one or
the other of the two openings formed in the valve according to the direction in
which the engine is to run.
Figures 5 and 6 are views illustrating the operation of the valve; and,
Figure 7 is an elevation of a detail.
Figure 8 is a sectional elevation illustrating a modification of our invention.
Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several figures.
a is the engine cylinder, the piston, c, c¹ the steam inlet ports and d the exhaust
port.
e is the rotary valve which is provided with the induction ports or openings f, fl
extending quite through it and with the recess 9 which places the ports e,
alternately in communication with the exhaust port d. is the shank with which
our valve is provided and i is the sleeve in which the said shank fits, the said sleeve
being adapted to rotate with the valve in the stuffing box ; in the cover k of the
valve chest. This sleeve i has formed upon it a flange of the same diameter as
the valve e in which are two openings m, m' adapted to be in coincidence with one
or the other of the openings f, 1 in the valve e according to the direction in which
the engine is to rotate, but so arranged that when the port fis in coincidence
with the opening m the port f¹ will be out of coincidence with the opening m³
and vice versa.
Upon the valve shank h we mount a bevel wheel n and upon the sleeve i we
mount another bevel wheel o the two wheels fitting one against the other as shewn
in Figure 1, and having a corresponding number of teeth. p is a sleeve rotating in
a bearing and having formed upon one end bevel wheel r, the teeth of which
engage with the teeth of the wheel n, and s is a shaft extending through this sleeve
and having fixed to it a bevel wheel t adapted to engage with the teeth of the
wheel o.
In the sleeve we form spiral grooves p₁, pinto which enter pins u, u upon a
bush or sleeve adapted to be moved to and fro within the sleeve p, the said pins
also extending through the bush into straight slots u², u' in the shaft s.
With this arrangement it will be obvious that when the bush is moved from
the position shewn in Figure 1 inwards the sleeve will be rotated together with
its wheel r, thereby rotating the wheel n secured to the valve stem h, whereby the
valve is rotated to the required extent to cover one or the other of the openings f, f
and uncover the other. In practice it will be necessary to so construct the slots p',p'
that the movement of the sleeve p in one or the other direction will rotate the valve
half a revolution and as shewn in Figure 1 the gear wheels r, n are in the pro-
portion of one to 3 it follows that the slots p', ' must be constructed as shewn in
Figure 7 so that the wheel r shall rotate one and a half times.
8
The shaft & is connected by suitable gearing to the crank shaft of the engine so
that the valve will be rotated once for each revolution of the crank shaft to effect
the required distribution of the steam.
It will be understood that during such operation of the valves the two wheels r, t
move at the same speed and that the wheels n, o for the time being practically form
one wheel.
The operation of the valve hereinbefore described is as follows:- -Assume the
opening m in the flange to be in coincidence with the induction port f in the
valve e, assume also that the opening fis just establishing communication between
the interior of the valve chest and the port c (as shewn in Figure 5) and the
recess has just established communication between the port c' and the exhaust
port d. Steam now enters through the port c and drives the piston in the direction

page_text: of the arrow, Figure 1, the steam from the other side of the piston being exhausted
through the port d the recess 9 and the exhaust port d. By the time that the
piston has reached the opposite end of its stroke the valve has rotated so far that
the port is just establishing communication between the port c¹ and the valve
chest and the recess g between the port c and the exhaust port d; the steam then
enters to drive the piston in the reverse direction.
If it is desired to reverse the direction of the rotation, the sleeve u' is pushed
inwardly in order to rotate the wheel and the wheel n to move the valve through
half a revolution so that the induction port f¹ will be in coincidence with the
opening m in the flange and the induction port moved out of coincidence with
the opening m, as shewn in Figure 6. The operation of the valve will then be the
same as that herein before described except that the steam will enter through the
port instead of through the port causing the engine to run in the reverse
direction.
0
In order to reduce the pressure of the valve against its face as much as possible
we place a collar o around the sleeve i the said collar being against the back of the
flange and thereby reducing its exposed area against which the steam can act and
at the same time serving as the bottom of the stuffing box around the sleeve. To
prevent the packing in the stuffing box and this collar from rotating both the
latter and the bottom of the stuffing box gland are formed with projections w.
Instead of effecting the reversal of the valve by the arrangement shewn in
Figures 1 and 7 we sometimes employ the arrangement shewn in Figure 8. In
this arrangement the shank h of the valve is made hollow and has formed in it the
spiral slots. Within the shank is a sliding rod u to which are fixed the
pins u, u working in the slots p', p', the said pins also extending into slots u², u* in
the sleeve i to prevent the said rod from rotating relatively to the sleeve i. In
this arrangement the slots p¹, pl are so constructed that the movement of the rod
in one or the other direction will turn the valve half a revolution.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is :-
1. A rotary distribution valve for steam and other engines having formed in one
side thereof a recess serving for placing the inlet ports alternately in communication
with the exhaust port and having formed through it two openings or induction
ports one or the other of which is designed to admit steam to the cylinder
according to the direction in which the engine is to run, substantially as
described.
2. The combination with a rotary valve having formed in it two openings or
induction ports and having a shank for driving the valve, of a sleeve surrounding
the shank and provided with a flange also containing two openings adapted to
coincide with one or the other of the induction ports in the valve, substantially as
described.
3. The combination with a rotary valve constructed as hereinbefore described
and provided with a flanged sleeve, of mechanism for altering the position of the
valve relatively with the sleeve, substantially as set forth.
4. The combination with a rotary distribution valve constructed as hereinbefore
described, of a collar o forming the bottom of the stuffing box through which the
stem of the valve works and serving to reduce the area of the valve exposed to the
steam, substantially as, and for the purpose, described.
5. The improvements connected with distribution valves of steam and other
engines herein before described and illustrated in the accompanying drawing.
Dated this 7th day of Sentember 1892
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, Finsbury, London, Agents for the Applicants.