AN IMPROVEMENT IN WORKING THE VALVES OF STEAM HAMMERS BY A DIRECT SELF-ACTING MOTION
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Eastwood, of Derby, Engineer, for the
Invention of " AN IMPROVEMENT IN WORKING THE VALVES OF STEAM HAMMERS
BY A DIRECT SELF-ACTING MOTION."
Sealed the 16th April 1858, and dated the 17th October 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Eastwood at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 17th
October 1857.
I, JAMES EASTWOOD, of Derby, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "AN IMPROVEMENT IN WORKING THE VALVES OF
STEAM HAMMERS BY A DIRECT SELF-ACTING MOTION," to be as follows:-
My improvement in working the valves of steam hammers consists in the
employment of the following apparatuses in the following manner :-I place two
tripper slides on the hammer block of an ordinary steam hammer, one on the
front side and the other on the back. One of these slides is to open the valve
and admit steam to raise the hammer, and the other on the opposite side is to
shut the valve and allow the hammer to descend. On the hammer rising, the
slide comes in contact with a roller on the end of a lever working on a cross
shaft, the other end of which lever is attached to a worm wheel fixed on the
same shaft by a friction cone. On this shaft there is a lever or crank, which
is connected to the valve spindle by a suitable rod, the action of which closes
the valve and causes the hammer to descend. The slide on the opposite side

page_text: of the hammer coming in contact with another roller on the end of a
similar lever, opens the valve again to admit steam to raise the hammer, and
brings the other roller and lever forward to be acted upon on the return
stroke to cause the hammer to drop. The height and fall of the hammer are
regulated by moving the levers which act on the worm wheels, so that the
roller ends will come sooner or later in contact with the slides on the
hammer block to open or close the valve.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said James Eastwood in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
17th April 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
EASTWOOD, of Derby, Engineer, send greeting.
03.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of October, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twenty-first year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said James Eastwood, Her special licence that I, the said James
Eastwood, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said James Eastwood, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at
any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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 "AN IMPROVEMENT
IN WORKING THE VALVES OF STEAM HAMMERS BY A DIRECT SELF-ACTING MOTION,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said James Eastwood, 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 per-
formed, 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 James Eastwood, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the fol-
lowing statement thereof, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto
annexed, that is to say :-

page_text: My improvement in working the valves of steam hammers consists in the
employment of the following apparatuses in the following manner :-I place
two tripper slides on the hammer block of an ordinary steam hammer, one on
the front side and the other on the back. One of these slides is to open the
valve and admit steam to raise the hammer, and the other on the opposite
side is to shut the valve and allow the hammer to descend: On the hammer
rising, the slide comes in contact with a roller on, the end of a lever working
on a cross shaft, the other end of which lever is (attached to a worm wheel.
On this shaft there is a lever or crank which is connected to the valve spindle
by a suitable rod, the action of which closes the valve and causes the hammer
to descend. The slide on the opposite side of the hammer coming in contact
with another roller on the end of a similar lever, opens the valve again to
admit steam to raise, the hammer, and brings, the other roller. and lever
forward to be acted upon on the return stroke to, cause the hammer to drop.
The height and fall of the hammer are regulated by moving the levers which
act on the worm wheels, so that the roller ends will come sooner or later in
contact with the slides on the hammer block to open or close the valve.
In the Drawings hereunto annexed I have illustrated the manner in which
I carry my Invention into effect. Figure 1 is a front elevation, and Figure 2,
a side elevation of an ordinary steam hammer fitted with my improvement.
A, A¹, are the tripper slides upon the hammer block H. B, B', are rollers
carried respectively by the ends of the levers C, C', which work upon the cross
shaft D. On the hammer rising, the slide A on the front side of the hammer
block comes in contact with the roller B, and thereby raises the lever C. The
shaft D is thus turned round, carrying with it the crank arm F, to which is
jointed the connecting rod G, which thus closes the valve and shuts off the
steam. On the hammer descending in the usual manner, the slide A¹ on the
back of the hammer comes in contact with the roller B¹, on the lever C¹, and
by turning the shaft D in the opposite direction raises the crank arm F, and
the connecting rod G, and thus opens the valve. On the hammer again rising
the steam will be shut off as before. The upper ends of the levers C and C¹,
have attached to them worms e, e¹, in gear with the worm wheels E, E¹, which
are made fast on the cross shaft D. By turning the worms e, e¹, the positions
of the other ends of the levers C, C', may be varied in order to cause the slides
to take effect sooner or later upon the rollers B, B¹, for the purpose of
obtaining shorter or longer strokes.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I do not confine myself to
all the details of the arrangement before described, but I claim,-

page_text: First, working the valves of steam hammers by means of levers carried by
the hammer frame, and put in motion by guides attached to the hammer block,
essentially as herein-before described.
Second, the employment of a second slide on the hammer block:
Third, the employment of worm wheels or worm segments to alter the
'stroke of steam hammers; as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Eastwood, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Fifteenth day of April, One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-eight.
JAMES EASTWOOD. (L.S.).