IMPROVEMENTS, IN APPARATUS USED, FOR STOPPING STEAM ENGINES: AND: OTHER) FIRST MOVERS
Year: 1849

page_text: ...DONISTHORPE'S SPECIFICATION.
TO, ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, GEORGE
EDMOND DONISTHORPE, of Leeds, Manufacturer, and JAMES MILNES, of Brad-
ford,, both in the County of York, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearring date at Westminster, the Seventeenth day of
November, One thousand eight hundred and forty-nine, in the thirteenth
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto us, the said George Edmond Donisthorpe. and John Milnes, our exors,
adiñiors, and assigns,. Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and autho-
rity, that we, the said George, Edmond Donisthorpe, and James Milnes, our
exors, adiñors; and, assigns,, and such, others as we, the said George Edmond
Donisthorpe. and James, Milnes, our 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, ours Invention of." IMPROVEMENTS, IN APPARATUS USED, FOR STOPPING
STEAM ENGINES: AND: OTHER) FIRST MOVERS;" in which said Letters Patent is
contained a proviso, that we, i the said George Edmond Donisthorpe and James
Milnes, or one of us, should cause a particular description of the nature, of
our said: Invention; and in what manner the same is to be performed, by an
instrument in writing under our hands and seals,, or under the hand and
seal-of-one of us, to be inrolled in Her said Majesty's High Court of Chancery

page_text: within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being there-
unto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, we, the said
George Edmond Donisthorpe and James Milnes, do hereby declare that the
nature of our said Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be
carried into effect, are fully described and ascertained in and by the following
description thereof, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed,
and to the figures and letters marked thereon, that is to say :-
The object of our Invention is, so to arrange apparatus in connection with
steam engines, and other first movers, that in the event of any derangement of
the mechanism put in motion by, and yet at a distance from, the steam engine
or first mover, or other accident taking place, by which the almost sudden
stopping of the steam engine or other first mover is of great importance, this
may be readily done. I would state, that the Invention is particularly appli-
cable to cases where the steam engine or other first mover gives motion to
machinery or apparatus arranged in rooms, or places of considerable distances
from such steam engine or other first mover, and where considerable loss of
time must take place between the accident taking place and the getting to the
engine or other first mover, or in communicating with the engine-man or
person superintending the same. In order that our Invention may be under-
stood and readily carried into effect, we will proceed to describe the nature of
our Invention.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 shews the apparatus, partly in section, arranged to stop a conden-
sing steam engine. Figure 2 shews a plan of some of the parts, and
Figure 3 an elevation of other of the parts. In order that their nature may
be more clearly understood, a is the steam supply pipe from the boiler to the
steam cylinder, capable of being closed by the valve b. c is a pipe opening
into the condenser, or it may be into the pipe leading from the steam passage
to the condenser; and as such parts are well understood, we have not thought
it necessary to shew the same here. The outer end of the pipe c has a stop-
cock d, by which a communication may be opened to the atmosphere when
the cock dis open; and one peculiarity of this arrangement consists in
admitting atmospheric air to the condenser when it is required to stop the
engine, whereby the vacuum will be destroyed and the working of the steam
engine will almost instantly cease. It will be seen, the plug of the cock d
has affixed to it the weighted lever e, which, when the steam engine is in

page_text: motion, is supported by the sliding plate f, such sliding plate f being sup
ported with a capability of sliding on the bracket g; and it is attached to the
one end of the lever h, which turns upon the centre h', and at its upper end
is weighted, so that it may have a tendency to keep the plate f under the
end of the lever e. i, i, are wires attached to the lever h, for the purpose of
withdrawing the sliding support f. These wires i extend to the different
apartments of the mill or other building where it may be necessary to have
a capability of quickly stopping the engine without the necessity of communi-
cating with the engineer. They are arranged in the manner of ordinary bell
wires; and although we have only shewn two of them, it will be evident that
their number will depend upon, the extent of premises where the controlling
power over the steam engine is required to be obtained. The wires termi-
nate in any suitable bell-pull, but we prefer that such pulls should be so
arranged, that when they have been pulled they may have to be reset by a
foreman, or other person having charge of the premises, or part of the pre-
mises where the pull is fixed. The object of so arranging the pulls is, that
it may be indicated which pull has been the means of stopping the engine,
and thus to prevent any person doing so unnecessarily, or simply for mischief.
In the arrangement of the bell-pull shewn, we have affixed upon the spindle
of the pull ka ratchet wheel, which is enclosed in the box l, and is taken
into by the spring click m, which, when the handle k is turned round in the
direction of the arrow, prevents its returning till the click is released, and
this can only be accomplished by opening the door of the box l, and this
door we keep under lock and key. The rod of the valve 6 is connected by
means of the link m to one end of the lever n, which turns upon the axis n',
and has a handle n² formed at the other end, so as readily to open and close
the valve 6 in the ordinary manner. But in carrying out our Invention, we
attach to the handle n² the socket o, which by means of the cotter p is capable
of being made fast to a pin projecting from the standard which is made
fast to the floor or other part of the apartment near the engine; and wheu
the parts are so arranged, the steam is capable of flowing freely to the engine.
The cotter pis connected to one end of the bell-crank lever r, the other end
of which is connected to the strap s, which is formed to receive the lever t,
which turns upon the centre t', and at its other end is connected by means of
the link u to the rod of the valve v, for closing the pipe w, which also opens
into the condenser or the pipe leading from the cylinder to the condenser.
In first starting the engine, the parts having been arranged as shown, the
valve v is kept closed by the levert being upheld by a pin q' passing through
one of the holes in the standard q; but so soon as the vacuum in the con-
9,

page_text: '
denser is complete the pin is withdrawn, and the atmosphere, acting upon the
valve, will keep the same closed until the vacuum is again destroyed. It will
thus be evident, from the description already given, that in order to operate
with this apparatus, it will only be necessary to operate upon any one of the
wires in connection with the lever-h, in order to withdraw the plate f from
supporting the end of the lever e, when the weight on that lever will cause it
to fall into the position indicated by red lines, when the cock d' will be opened,
and air will be admitted to the condenser, which will destroy the vacuum
therein. At the same time the pressure on both sides of the valve v will be
equalized, and the weight on the outer end of the lever t will cause that lever
to descend into the position indicated by the red lines, when it will act upon
the strap s, and thence upon the crank lever r, to withdraw the cotter p, when
the weight n³, on the end of the lever n, will cause that lever to assume the
position indicated by the red lines, and thus close the valve 6, and cut off the
supply of steam to the engine. In the case of high-pressure engines where
there is no vacuum chamber, it will simply be necessary to connect the wires i
to the cotter P, in order to withdraw the same, and thus cut off the supply of
steam to the engine. And in connection. therewith, we prefer to use apparátus
in connection with a suitable brake to act upon the fly wheel; by which such
fly wheel may speedily be stopped.
"
Figure 4 shows an arrangement according to this part of our Invention. A, A;
is a double strap connected together, and turning upon a pin at B, the other ends
being connected by means of links to the arms C, C, on the shaft D; to which
is affixed the weighted lever E. This lever is supported so as to keep the
straps A off the wheel F, by means of the plate f, which is similarly arranged,
and capable of being similarly acted upon to that above described. When the
wires are acted upon, the plate f will be withdrawn, and the weighted end of
the lever E will fall, causing the axes or shaft D to make a partial revolution;
when the arms C; C, will bring the straps A on to the wheel F: ..It will be
evident that this part of the Invention is equally applicable to the fly wheels
of other first movers than those of steam engines, and to other revolving sur-
faces in connection with first movers, which it may be desirable to stop, the
apparatus, according to our Invention, stopping or disconnecting the power,
and also bringing apparatus into action to stop thé momentum.
Figure 5 shows a mode of acting upon the floodgates of a watermill in
order to shut off the same, and thus stop the action of the water wheel when
required. a is the wheel, which may be of the 'ordinary kind; b is 'a flood-
gate, which is capable of being raised and lowered by pinions c on the shaft d,
such pinions c 'taking into racks affixed to the floodgate, as is well understood.

page_text: And in the ordinary working of the wheel the floodgate would be adjusted to
its proper height by means of a handle on the shaft d; or by other suitable
gearing, as is well understood; but in order to the floodgate being colored: by; a
person at some distance from the power, and where a derangement of thic
machinery or other accident may have taken place, we apply apparatus: such
as we will now explain: On the shaft d is affixed the drum or pulley. e; and
there is another pulley or drum a partly around- which passes the. band y,
which also passes] partly around the drum or pulley e.. The drum or pulley r
is affixed to the shaft a', which, when the water wheel is in motion, is by
suitable means receiving motion therefrom, but the strap under ordinary
circumstances passes loosely under the pulley e. Should it be necessary from
any cause suddenly to stop the action of the water wheel,, this can readily be
done by a person at a distance pulling wires, such as above described in con-
nection with other parts of our Invention, and so arranged as to act when
pulled to withdraw the slide f, and allow the lever z to fall. Such lever z
turns upon the axis z', and carries at its other end the roller, which will
then press against the strap, causing it to press on the drum or pulley e, which
will then have motion given to it and cause the shaft c to revolve, and by
means of the pinions close the floodgate.
Having thus described the nature of our said Invention, we would have it
understood, that we do not confine ourselves to the details herein shown and
described, so long as the peculiar character of any part of our Invention be
retained, the great object of the Invention being so to arrange apparatus, that
in case of a person's dress being entangled in machinery, or other accident
happening at a distance from the source of power, or, in fact, in cases of other
sudden requirement, the power may be caused to cease to be communicated
by a simple act done in the distant locality were the occasion for stopping
the engine or power has arisen, without the necessity of communicating with
the engine-man or other person situated at the locality of the power.
What we claim is, the arranging and applying apparatus in communication
with and at a distance from a steam engine, or other first mover, by the use
of which, in case of accident or other sudden requirement, the power and
momentum caused by a steam engine or first mover may be stopped.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Edmond Donisthorpe have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Sixteenth day of May, One thousand
eight hundred and fifty.
G. E. (L.S.) DONISTHORPE.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Sixteenth day of May, in the
year of our Lord 1850, the aforesaid George Edmond Donisthorpe came
before our said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the
Specification aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified,
in form above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped
according to the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Enrolled the Seventeenth day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty.