AN IMPROVED LUBRICATOR FOR OILING OR GREASING PISTONS, SLIDES, AND OTHER MOTIVE PARTS OF MACHINERY
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Otto Zabel, of Quedlinbourg, in the Kingdom
of Prussia, Chemist, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED LUBRICATOR
FOR OILING OR GREASING PISTONS, SLIDES, AND OTHER MOTIVE PARTS OF
MACHINERY."
Sealed the 22nd December 1869, and dated the 23rd June 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Otto Zabel at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
23rd June 1869.
I, OTTO ZABEL, of Quedlinbourg, in the Kingdom of Prussia,
Chemist, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN
IMPROVED LUBRICATOR FOR OILING OR GREASING PISTONS, SLIDES, AND OTHER
MOTIVE PARTS OF MACHINERY," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to an improved lubricator for automatically
eiling or greasing the frictional surfaces of pistons, slide valves, and
other motive parts of machinery, and consists in placing above the said
frictional surfaces a receptacle communicating therewith by means of a

page_text: tube, into which receptacle the lubricating material is poured from a
measure containing the requisite amount to fill it, the said receptacle
being subsequently closed by a screwed cover or otherwise to protect it
from dust.
When the machine is in operation, and the piston has passed the tube
communicating with the lubricator, the steam rushes through the said
tube and through a valve on the upper end thereof into the receptacle,
and pressing on the surface of the lubricating material forces it upwards
through a second tube and through a valve at the upper end thereof
communicating with the before-mentioned valve, the lubricating material
thence passing down the first tube with the steam (when the pressure
on the piston is reversed) into the cylinder. The valves can be regu-
lated at will so as to diminish or increase the pressure of the steam, and
thereby diminish or increase the supply of lubricating material, and a
cock is placed near the base of the supply pipe, so that the lubricator
can be filled when the machine is in motion. A steam jacket is
provided around the receptacle to prevent condensation, or this jacket
may be supplied with any non-conducting material for the same purpose.
It will thus be observed that the lubricating material is only supplied
when the machine is in motion, thus effecting great economy, and no
sediment can be formed at the base of the receptacle by reason of the
agitation therein caused by the rush of steam, thus preventing the
frequent abrasion from grit and other substances passing with the lubri
cating material to the frictional surfaces.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Otto Zabel in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 22nd December 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, OTTO
ZABEL, of Quedlinbourg, in the Kingdom of Prussia, Chemist, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-third day of June, 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

page_text: grant unto me, the said Otto Zabel, Her special licence that I,
the said Otto Zabel, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said Otto Zabel, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time
5 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 "AN IMPROVED LUBRICATOR FOR OILING
OB GREASING PISTONS, SLIDES, AND OTHER MOTIVE PARTS OF MACHINERY," upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Otto Zabel, 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 Otto Zabel, 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
following statement, that is to say :-
It is well known that the friction of pistons, slide valves, and other
motive parts of machinery absorbes from 20 to 30 per cent. of the entire
power of the engine. The modes of lubrication hitherto adopted do not,
except in rare cases, enable these parts to lubricate themselves auto-
matically. The system generally adopted is to lubricate the piston and
other parts from time to time by pouring a quantity of oil on them,
and this system is very injurious, because the oil is after a short time
thrust aside by the returning steam without having effectually operated.
The lubricator herein described enables the pistons and valves to be
lubricated automatically, and the whole quantity of oil which is generally.
let into the cylinder to no essential purpose will supply the pistons and
valves during the whole time the engine is at work with the requisite
lubricating material, and thus limit the loss of power to a minimum.
In order that the Invention may be clearly understood I will describe
the same as illustrated in the accompanying Sheet of Drawings.
By regulating the valves a¹ and 6' the influx of oil may be regulated
at will, and thus the same vessel is applicable both for small machines

page_text: and machines of several hundred horse power. It is to be noticed that
the box may be filled with tallow as well as oil or other lubricant. If
the machine is not acting no oil can flow, as the discharge opening.k is
above the level of the oil.
In Fig. 1 the box is screwed upon a horizontal engine. The oil is
poured into the vessel by a measure which holds the quantity requisite
to fill it, the vessel being subsequently closed by a stopper to protect it
from dust, &c. If, as in Fig. I., the piston approaches A the steam will
as soon as the piston has passed the opening rush into the tube a, a,
and the upper valve a¹ and fill the space above the oil with compressed
steam, but the moment the piston changes its direction and the steam
comes from the opposite side of the piston (Fig. II.) it will leave the
cylinder at the side A, and the compressed steam above the level of
the oil within the vessel will likewise return through the valve a¹ into
the cylinder. However as the area of the lubricator is considerably
larger than that of the tube a, a, and as the exit is moreover narrowed
by the valve a¹ the steam will require some time to quit the box,
and will meanwhile press upon the oil. The oil is in consequence forced
through the tube b, b, and the valve 6', thence through the passage k³
into the jet pipe a, a, where it passes into the cylinder. By screwing
down the valve b¹ the passage of the oil can be lessened, and by screwing
down the valve a¹ the time the steam requires for retiring can be pro-
longed, and thus the discharge of oil increased. Any desired quantity
of oil can therefore be consumed within a fixed time. For the regula
tion of the valves it is further to be noticed that the valve a¹ is wide
open and the consumption determined by the valve b. When the
latter is full open and a greater supply nevertheless necessary, then
the valve a¹ only is screwed down, the steam is thereby compressed, the
term of the pressure upon the oil prolonged, and a greater quantity of
oil forced through b'.
This improved lubricator is applicable both to horizontal and vertical
engines, and other machinery, as in all of them the oil is driven at every
stroke by the changing pressures through the jet. To lessen the con
densation of the vapour above the level of the oil as much as possible
steam is conducted round the oil receptacle. However it suffices to
heat the bottom of the inner receptacle by steam and to fill up the
interval with an insulating layer of felt, ashes, and other substances.
In vertical engines the oil is conveyed to the piston by a small groove

page_text: To fill the vessel whilst the machine is at work a cock as in Fig. III. is
used. No obstruction of the lubricators by dirty oil can occur, as the
whole mass of oil is discharged at 6 over the cavity in the bottom, thus
preventing the formation of settlings. The tube k, b, b, is besides cleaned
by the steam rushing at every stroke into the vessel, and the oil therein
stirred up, so that no dirt can accumulate, but is incessantly discharged
together with the oil.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention I claim, the
improved lubricator for oiling or greasing pistons, slide valves, and other
motive parts of machinery, as herein described and illustrated in the
accompanying Sheet of Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Otto Zabel, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-first day of December, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine.
UITO ZABEL.
(L.S.)