IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM ENGINES AND BOILERS
Year: 1884

page_text: WILLIAM WILKINSON, Kempston in the County of Bedford, machine fitter, do
hereby declare the nature of my invention for IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM ENGINES
AND BOILERS to be as follows:-
To connect the main brackets or supports for carrying the crank shaft of
Portable simi portable and other engines at the top of boilers of the locomotive
type & to dispense in so doing as far as practicable with bolts through & bolt holes
in the boiler plates when so attaching the engine that it may be readily taken
away & replaced when required in case of repairs & at the same time give less
obstruction to rain or water from exhaust steam in running off these brackets
& adjoining portion of the boiler plates than in the present inode of joining the
same as an extension of the latter or otherwise I purpose rivetting to the outer
shell or cover plate at the fire box end preferabley in a vertical position two or
more angle or distant pieces or their equivelent on cach side of the boiler. To
these I bolt the Brackets which by preference are made of plate iron or steel and
in case of Traction, Cultivating and similar engines having a tender I purpose
bringing the sides of the same upwards and forwards as to form these brackets
in which cases intermediate as well as the Crank shaft are carried by the same but
instead of bolting to the boiler direct I secure them by means of bolts to the two
angle pieces on each side in like manner as previously referred too where no tender
is required To further dispense with bolts through the boiler in connecting the
Cylindier, steam Chest, safty valve, and such parts as may be fixed upon it, I
purpose rivetting a bridge of plate iron or steel to eithier side of the boiler and
spanning over it to which it may be rivetted at the top to this I bolt the cylindier,
the inlet & outlet pipes for the steam alone being bolted to the boiler-To assist
the governors in controling the steam I admitt a portion as to press upon an
auxilary piston in a tube being the standard of the governors or otherwise as to
aid the speed of the engine in expanding them more or less according to the
pressure in the boiler eithier by connecting the governor arms by links to a cross
head upon the piston rod as inside the standard of governors or through the
medium of a weight being made to move along a bar by the aid of steam as acting
on it through this piston with a spring to move it in the opposite direction & to
an adjusted degree on either side of the throttle valve spindle or its equivalent
upon which the bar is fixed as to aid the contraction of the governors at low
pressure as well as expansion of the same at high and with the foregoing
improvements the attainment of Improved engines for Agriculturel and other
purposes.

page_text: I WILLIAM WILKINSON Machine fitter Kempston Bedfordshire do hereby
declare the nature of my invention for IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM ENGINES &
BOILERS and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement:-
To connect the main brackets or supports for carrying the crank shaft of engines
over the top of boilers of the locomotive type as generally used for traction
portable, & similar engines in a way that the same may be readily removed and
replaced in case of repairs and to reduce the number of bolt holes in & bolts
through the boiler plates in connecting the engine above and at the same time
allow free access to rain or water from exhaust, steam to pass between these
brackets & adjoining portion of the boiler plate-For this purpose I rivett to the
outer shell or cover plate at the fire box end of this type of boiler as show at A
fig 1—2—3—in the drawings which accompany this specification two suitably
formed wrought iron distant pieces of plate metal marked B B or else one plate
formed as to serve the same purpose on either side of the boiler & secured thereto
by rivetts To these distant pieces I bolt the plates of steel or other suitable metal
forming the brackets at C which are stayed to each other for carrying the crank
shaft in bearings D Figs 1 & 3 and by so doing set the brackets away from the
boiler plates over a greater portion of their surfaces & thus dispense with
obstruction between the boiler plates and the brackets at a point where water
has a tendency to remain & cause rust. In case of the sides of tender & brackets
being formed together in which manner I prefer making my improved steam
engine one of the distant pieces B on each side are extended lower down to give
support, as in Fig 2. To further dispense with bolts through the plates of the
boiler when connecting the engine at the top I rivett a bridge of plate iron as
at E Figs 1 & 4 on each side to span over it; to which it may be rivetted at the
top & covered in at the ends to this bridge plate I bolt the cylinder & in this
way dispense with the rows of bolts generally used for connecting the cylinder
on each side of it through the boiler & allow of rivetts taking their places as with
the same & over a greater surface to make a better connection-In engines of the
above described type when using them for thrashing & other agricultural purposes,
I have found it advantageous in order to regulate the supply of steam according
to the pressure in the boiler to slide a weight along a lever on the spindle of the
throttle valve for to hold down the governors to some extent when steam is low
in the boiler & when steam is high to move it in the opposite direction, instead of
doing this by hand I construct a tube as at E fig 1 in which I place piston G and
on one side of it a spiral spring as represented at H and to the other I admitt
steam from the boiler-I place a screwed rod & thumb nut at I as a means of
adjustment and connect the same to the weight on lever fixed to throttle valve
spindle at J by means of a light chain and keep the same taut as with the weight
by a spiral spring placed to hold in the opposite direction upon the lever which
I construct as to allow of the weight to move on either side of the point, where it
is fixed to the spindle Fig 1-A represents boiler of the locomotive type
B B Angle or distant plates shaped of suitable form as lie flat against the boiler
at one edge & project about two inches from it at the other-C-side brackets as
for carrying the crank crank shaft D shows bearings for Crank shaft.
Fig 2-A shows fire box end as above—B B distant pieces C side brackets when
combined with sides of tender.

page_text: Fig 3 represents end view of Figs 1 & 2 A being the front of fire box end
BB distant plates as rivetted to the boiler & extending well upwards to support
side brackets at C which are attached by bolts-D shows bearing for Crank shaft.
Fig 4 is smoke box end of boiler with bridge plate at E rivetted thereto for
carrying the cylinder above.
Fig 5 shows a modification of tube & piston as applied with spiral spring direct
to the governors K being the tube & forming standard, L Rod with piston at lower
end m spiral spring-n screwed plug-o cross head free to turn between two
collars PP are links for connecting the same to arms of the governors.
The Action & advantages of my improved steam engine & boiler are as follows
the side brackets for carrying the crank shaft being connected by the distant
plates allows of water freely to run off the boiler & thereby has less tendency to
rust than where the two are joined together and being secured by bolts to other
than the boiler, the cylindier, and also these brackets & sides of tender are much
easier taken away & replaced in case of repairs. Also when the pressure of steam
has become high in the boiler the steam in tube F presses on piston G overcomes
more or less as the case may be spiral spring H the rod as connected to chain at I
moves the weight on lever at J which is so connected to the governors as to aid
the same in rising & closing the valve but with an opposite effect when the steam
has become low and by so doing give it a freer course to the main cylinder & piston
to overcome the work to be done-In the modification Fig 5-the tube forms part
of the governors the rod L extending through screwed plug n is connected with
the cross arm as shown & free to turn between two collers & connected to arms
by links P P The steam at the lower part of K from the boiler overcomes the
spiral spring above the piston and aids the governors in rising, the tube & piston
being made of such dimensions as not to overcome but for the steam to aid the
governors in rising & in unison with the centrefugal force to more or less degree
according to pressure in the boiler & thereby giving a greater tendency to close the
throttle valve when steam is high than when it is lower.
Having now perticularly described my invention for Improvements in steam
engines & boilers & in what manner the same is to be performed together with
a modification of one part of my invention I claim as follows
First Improved method of attaching side brackets as for carrying the crank
shaft over boilers of the locomotive type by means of distant plates in like
manner as described & for the purposes mentioned herein.
Secondly Application of a bridge plate rivetted thereto for the purpose of
carrying the Cylinder as shown.
Thirdly In traction engines & engines of a similar type the application of piston,
spring, & tube for the purpose of sliding weight along a lever by the aid
of steam or acting direct on governors as described.
Dated this 30th day of September 1884.
WILLIAM WILKINSON.