IMPROVEMENTS IN LUBRICATORS FOR STEAM ENGINES.
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Francis Jackson, of Wigan, in the County of
Lancaster, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN LUBRICATORS FOR
STEAM ENGINES.".
Sealed the 26th October. 1869, and dated the 31st July 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Francis Jackson at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
31st July 1869.
I, FRANCIS JACKSON, of Wigan, in the County of Lancaster, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN LUBRI-
CATORS FOR STEAM ENGINES," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to improvements in apparatus employed for
lubricating the pistons and valves of steam engines, and particularly
to that class of lubricators which act by means of the condensed steam.
In one modification of my Invention I employ a receiver or vessel
fitted with a plug having a cup at the top and bored partly down the
centre to conduct the oil into the receiver or vessel and partly upwards
from the bottom to admit the steam and also to remove the condensed
water. The holes in this plug and also in the conical tube (inside the

page_text: receiver) in which it works are so arranged that in one position of the
handle the passage communicating from the cup with the inside of the
receiver or vessel is open and the other passages are closed. In this
position the vessel is charged with oil or tallow. A quarter of a turn of
the handle closes the first opening and opens the communication from
the lower end of the plug to the upper part of the vessel admitting the
steam, and as it condenses and falls to the bottom of the oil the latter
rises and a portion passes down the tube into the cylinder or valve box,
thus lubricating the piston or valve, A further quarter of a turn of the
handle closes this communication, and opens another near the bottom of
the vessel, so as to allow the water of condensation to flow out of the
vessel. The plug is made steam-tight by a metallic packing.
In another modification I employ a cup screwed or fixed on the top of
the oil vessel or receiver, and having a screw valve or tap which opens
or closes communication between the two. The valve or tap is so
arranged that when it opens the communication between the cup and
the vessel it closes the communication between the latter and the steam
tube, and vice versa. The steam tube communicates with the cylinder
or valve box, and its upper end opens inside the vessel near the top so
as to admit the steam above the oil or tallow. There is a second tube in
connection with the steam tube communicating therewith near the top,
and open at the lower end, which reaches near to the bottom of the oil
vessel or receiver. This tube is for drawing off the condensed water, and
acts either by the vacuum or by pouring oil into the vessel, the pressure
of which forces out the condensed water.
In a further modification of the same I divide the vessel internally
into two chambers. The cup is placed at the upper end of a tube which
is screwed through a stuffing box in the top of the vessel and com-
municates with the upper chamber; the lower end of this tube is made
Bolid and forms a valve to open or close communication between the two
chambers. The tube is provided with a stop tap beneath the cup, and
when the tube is screwed upwards so as to close the communication
between the two chambers this tap is opened and the upper ohamber
filled with oil. The tap is then closed and the tube screwed downwards
so as to allow the oil to flow into the lower chamber where it acts as in
the preceding arrangements.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Francis Jackson in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 31st January 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, FRANCIS
JACKSON, of Wigan, in the County of Lancaster, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Thirty-first day of July, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the thirty-third
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said Francis Jackson, Her special license, that I,
the said Francis Jackson, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said Francis Jackson, 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 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 LUBRICATORS FOR STEAK
ENGINES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Francis
Jackson, 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 Francis Jackson, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement and accompanying Drawings (that is to say) :-
This Invention relates to improvements in apparatus employed for
lubricating the pistons and valves of steam engines, and particularly
to that class of lubricators which act by means of the condensed steam.
In one modification of my Invention I employ a receiver or vessel
fitted with a plug having a cup at the top and bored partly down the
centre to conduct the oil into the receiver or vessel and partly upwards
from the bottom to admit the steam and also to remove the condensed
water. The holes in this plug and also in the conical tube (inside the

page_text: receiver) in which it works are so arranged that in one position of the
handle the passage communicating from the cup with the inside of the
receiver or vessel. is open and the other passages are closed. In this
position the vessel is charged with oil or tallow. A quarter of a turn of
the handle closes the first opening and opens the communication from
the lower end of the plug to the upper part of the vessel admitting
the steam, and as it condenses and falls to the bottom of the oil the
latter rises and a portion passes down the tube into the cylinder or
valve box, thus lubricating the piston or valve. A further quarter of
a turn of the handle closes this communication, and opens another near
the bottom of the vessel, so as to allow the water of condensation to
flow out of the vessel. The plug is made steam-tight by a metallic
packing.
In another modification I employ a cup screwed or fixed on the top
of the oil vessel or receiver, and having a screw valve or tap which
opens or closes communication between the two. The valve or tap is
so arranged that when it opens the communication between the cup
and the vessel it closes the communication between the latter and
the steam tube, and vice versa. The steam tube communicates with
the cylinder or valve box, and its upper end opens inside the vessel·
near the top so as to admit the steam'above the oil or tallow. There
is a second tube in connection with the steam tube communicating
therewith near the top, and open at the lower end, which reaches
near to the bottom of the oil vessel or receiver. This tube is for
drawing off the condensed water, and acts either by the vacuum or by
pouring oil into the vessel, the pressure of which forces out the con-
densed water.
:
In a further modification of the same I divide the vessel internally
into two chambers. The cup is placed at the upper end of a tube which
is screwed through a stuffing box in the top of the vessel and com-
municates with the upper chamber; the lower end of this tube is made
solid and forms a valve to open or close communication between the two
chambers. The tube is provided with a stop tap beneath the cup, and
when the tube is screwed upwards so as to close the communication
between the two chambers this tap is opened and the upper chamber
filled with oil; the tap is then closed and the tube screwed downwards
so as to allow the oil to flow into the lower chamber where it acts as in
the preceding arrangements.

page_text: It will be evident that other modifications might also be made without
departing from the characteristic features of my Invention.
Such being the nature and object of my said Invention for " Improve-
ments in Lubricators for Steam Engines," I will now proceed to describe
more in detail the manner in which the same is to be or may be
performed and carried into practical effect, and in order that the same
may be clearly understood, I have annexed hereunto a Sheet of
Drawings illustrative thereof, and have marked the same with figures
and letters of reference corresponding with those in the following
explanation thereof :-
In one modification of my Invention shewn in section at Fig. 1 of the
annexed Drawing I employ a reservoir or vessel marked d, fitted with a
plug having a cup a at the top. This cup is bored partly down its centre
as at from the top, and then transversely to the side of the plug at c.
This plug is used to conduct the oil into the upper part of the
reservoir or vessel above mentioned. The plug is also bored along its
centre for a short distance upwards from the bottom, as at e. The tube e
thus formed together with the tube / fitted therein serves to convey away
through the tube / any condensed water which may be formed in the
reservoir.
The manner in which the cup acts is as follows:-When oil is to
be poured into the reservoir the handle k is put in a line with Fig. 1
placed on a disc below it, when the bent tube described above is in
communication with the opening m, and the oil fills the space g. If at
the time the reservoir be full of water resulting from the condensation of
steam (as is the case with all displacement lubricators), that water will
be removed by the mere pressure of the oil on the surface of the water,
the latter being forced up into the tube and out through the tube h.
By turning the handle k till it is in a line with Fig. 2 on the disc the
opening to m is closed, and the opening p is open, and effects communi-
cation between the reservoir and the tube 4, while at the same time the
communication which existed between the cup a and the reservoir is
interrupted, so that steam in issueing through the tube h cannot escape
out of the vessel. This steam condénses and falls in drops of. water to
the bottom of the cup, and thus the oil is forced upwards, and it passes
out through the tube to the cylinder or part to be lubricated. The
plug is made steam-tight by metallic packing.
°

page_text: In another modification of my Invention shown in section at Fig. 2 I
employ a cup secured or fixed on the top of an oil vessel or reservoir and
having a screwed valve or tap which opens or closes the communication
between the cup and the reservoir. The valve or tap bis so arranged
that when it is screwed down on its seating, as shown at Fig. 2, it opens
a communication between the cup a and the vessel g, and at the same
time closes the space d, while the moveable valve or disc c placed on the
top of the central tube his lifted up so as to permit the escape of
condensed water down the same tube, the pressure of the oil from the
cup to the reservoir having forced it up the tubes e, e. When the vessel
has been charged with oil the valve b is screwed upwards, so as to close
the communication between the cup a and the vessel g, as shown at
Fig. 2. The central tube has a metallic casing which is movable in a
vertical direction. By screwing it downwards or upwards the space for
the condensation of steam is increased or diminished, and although I
prefer to use a common tube h for the admission of steam and the
emission of oil and condensed water, I do not deem this arrangement
absolutely necessary, for the steam pipe may be made to enter the side
of the upper portion of the reservoir, while the central tube h after being
provided with a steam tap below and outside the reservoir may be used
for the sole purpose of passing the condensed water out of the lubricator.
And although I prefer at present to use two tubes in the position
indicated in the Drawing (Fig. 2), I hold myself at liberty to use onc
or more tubes either placed along side by side of the central tube or
concentrically with it.
In a further modification of the above arrangement whereby the
lubricator may be filled when steam is on and the engine at work (as
shown in section at Fig. 3), the oil space or reservoir is divided trans-
versely into two chambers 9 and 1, which are therefore vertically one
above the other. A cup a is placed at the upper end of the tube m,
which is screwed through a metallic stuffing box in the top of and com-
municating with the upper chamber l. The lower end of this tube is
made solid, as at b, and forms a valve to open or close the communication
between the two chambers. The tube is provided with a stop tap
beneath the cup a, and when the tube is screwed upwards so as to close
the communication between the two chambers (see Fig. 3) and the tap
is opened, the upper chamber may then be filled with oil or melted
tallow. The tap a' is then closed and the tube m screwed downwards, so
°

page_text: as to allow the oil to flow into the lower chamber g. This lower chamber
is provided with precisely the same arrangement of tubes and valves as
the reservoirs already described with reference to Fig. 2; consequently
the processes of condensation, displacement of oil, and removal of
condensed water is similarly effected.
In a further modification of my condensing lubricator, seen in section
at Fig. 4, I employ the following. arrangement:-A cup a provided with
a steam tap m and a tube b similar to that already described is used.
This tube is bored down the centre. Steam is admitted through the
tube 1, on the top of which is placed a valve n, which permits the steam
to escape into and condense in the upper part of the chamber o, and
falling to the bottom of it displaces the oil which passes into the tube
through a small perforation or perforations p. In this perforation a
piece of cotton wick is placed. This cotton wick also serves as a
medium for the passage of the oil by capillary attraction into the tube m,
whence it is removed in one of two ways, cither by its passing under the
valve n, and thence directly down the central tube t, or by means of the
valve being lifted up by the force of the vacuum when the oil is drawn
into the central tube. The condensing space in this lubricator may be
increased or diminished by screwing the whole of the tube m. downwards
or upwards on the screw k. Or this lubricator may be used as a vacuum
lubricator pure and simple, with or without the cup plug on the top by
screwing down the valve n by means of the screw x, in which case the
ordinary method of removing the oil for the purpose of lubrication is the
lifting of the valve by means of vacuum. In this case the quantity of
oil may be regulated by the screw 8, or by the quantity of cotton wick r
used.
If the contents of the lubricator are to be entirely and suddenly
removed, this may be done by turning up the handle q and placing the
tube in continuous connection with the tube t, any condensed water
present may be thus removed.
Having now described the nature and object of my said Invention,
together with the manner in which the same is to be or may be per-
formed or carried into practical effect, I would remark in conclusion that
although I find the above arrangement of tubes convenient, I do not
bind myself to use no other.

page_text: I also claim the right of placing the valves and tubes in other situations
and of increasing and decreasing their number so long as their action is
substantially the same:
I claim in connection with the first three modifications of lubricators
described above (and in addition to particular arrangements of the
apparatus used therewith) the removal of the water formed by the con-
densation of steam in any vessel of whatever shape by means of oil or
melted tallow being poured into the said vessel.
In witness whereof, I, the said Francis Jackson, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-eighth day of January, in 1
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy.
FRANCIS JACKSON. (L.S.)
Witnessed by
JOHN HUGHES,
Clerk to George Davies, C.E.,
Office for Patents,
4, St. Ann's Sq.,
Manchester.