CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM ENGINES
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Hartley, of Bury, in the County of
Lancaster, Engineer, for the Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN
STEAM ENGINES."
Sealed the 3rd July 1860, and dated the 1st February 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Hartley at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 1st
February 1860.
I, WILLIAM HARTLEY, of Bury, in the County of Lancaster, Engineer, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS
IN STEAM ENGINES," to be as follows:-
The nature of my Invention consists, first, in an improved combination of
machinery for regulating the traverse of the cut-off or expansion valve, such
cut-off or expansion valve working at the back of the admission valve, so as to
cut off the steam at any portion of the stroke of the piston.
The arrangement of the valves for admitting the steam into the cylinder,
and for cutting it off, may be as follows:-The steam admission valves may be'
plate valves with openings or passages for the steam to pass through; the cut-
1

page_text: off valves are plate valves, and are placed at the back of the steam admission
valves; the variation in the traverse of the cut-off valves may be regulated by
the action of the governor or otherwise. For the attainment of a variable ex-
pansion or cut-off motion, I employ a lever which vibrates on its centre or
centres by means of an excentric or crank or by the vibration of any other
suitable part. The vibrating lever has a T or V formed groove in the direc-
tion of its length; into this groove is fitted a block which can be moved to or
from the centre of vibration by means of a screw which passes through it; this
screw is acted upon by bevel wheels with ratchet teeth, also catches and levers
which may be connected to the governor or otherwise.
To the moveable block is connected a rod, the other end of which is con-
nected to the cut-off valves by means of rods or rods and levers. The position
of the block in the vibrating lever determines the part of the piston's stroke at
which the steam is cut off from the cylinder. At one end of the screw which
moves the block is fixed a bevel wheel which gears into the two other bevel
wheels placed on the centres or axes of the vibrating lever; the two last-named
bevel wheels are each furnished with two sets of ratchet teeth cast or fixed to
them in such a way that the angles of their teeth are in opposite directions.
To the frame or box which carries the necks of the vibrating lever are fixed
two studs, and on each stud are two catches and one lever; these studs are the
centres on which the catches and levers move when acted upon by the gover-
nor or otherwise. When the engine is working at its proper speed, the catches
are kept clear from the ratchet teeth by means of the levers, thereby allowing
the bevel wheel with ratchet teeth to vibrate with the vibrating lever, but if
the speed of the engine varies one catch at each side of the vibrating lever is
put into geer with its corresponding ratchet teeth and bevel wheels, by the
action of the governor. The catches and wheels that are in operation are at
opposite sides of the vibrating lever. One of the catches holds one of the
bevel wheels by its ratchet teeth stationary, whilst the vibrating lever moves
in a forward direction, thereby causing the bevel wheel on the screw to turn say
from right to left, whilst the other bevel wheel with its ratchet teeth moves on
the shaft or axis of the vibrating lever and its catch slips; but when the vibra-
ting lever moves backward, the bevel wheel with ratchet teeth which was
moving becomes stationary, and the one that was stationary begins to move
in the same direction as the vibrating lever, thereby causing the bevel wheel on
the screw to continue its rotary motion from right to left; but when the other
set of catches is in operation, the screw moves from left to right, or in the
contrary direction; hence the block in the vibrating lever can be moved to or

page_text: from the centre of vibration, thereby regulating the point of cut off or amount
of expansion. When the engine regains its proper speed, the catches are dis-
engaged by the action of the governor, and the point of cut off thus determined
remains until another variation in the speed of the engine takes place.
Instead of the double set of ratchet teeth above referred to, I can employ
ordinary toothed wheels with suitable formed catches.
The second part of my Invention relates to an improved mode of working
exhaust slide valves with excentrics, and consists in connecting the exhaust valve
rod to a lever or levers in such a way that the lever or levers are connected to two
excentrics set at different angles, but so that their action at certain parts of their
revolutions or traverse nearly counteracts the motion which would have been
communicated to the exhaust valves, if they had been connected singly and
direct; but at certain parts of excentric's revolutions or traverse they give an
increased speed to the motion of the exhaust valves; hence the exhaust valves
open and close quickly, and then remain open nearly the whole length of the
piston's stroke; by this arrangement a quick motion is obtained for opening and
closing the exhaust valves, consequently their traverse and size or area may be
greatly diminished.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Hartley in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
28th July 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
HARTLEY, of Bury, in the County of Lancaster, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the First day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-third year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said William Hartley, Her special licence that I, the said William
Hartley, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said William Hartley, 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 " CERTAIN
IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM ENGINES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I,

page_text: the said William Hartley, my executors or administrators by an instrument in
writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should par-
ticularly 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 William Hartley, 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:-
The nature of my Invention consists, first, in an improved combination
of machinery for regulating the traverse of the cut-off or expansion valve;
such cut-off or expansion valve may work at the back of the admission valve
or otherwise, so as to cut off the steam at any portion of the stroke of the
piston.
And, secondly, my Invention relates to an improved mode of working
exhaust slide valves with eccentrics, and it consists in connecting the exhaust
valve rod to a lever or levers in such a way that the lever or levers are con-
nected to two eccentrics set at different angles, but so that their action at
certain parts of their revolutions or traverse nearly counteracts the motion
which would have been communicated to the exhaust valves, if they had been
connected singly and direct, but at certain parts of the eccentric's revolutions
or traverse they give an increased speed to the motion of the exhaust valves;
or the same effect can be obtained by connecting the exhaust valve rod to one
arm of an elbow lever whose fulcrum is fixed in the admission valve rod, and
whose other arm is jointed to a radius rod.
And in order that my Invention may be fully understood and readily carried
into effect, I will proceed to describe the two accompanying Sheets of
Drawings reference being had to the figures and letters marked thereon.
On Sheet 1, Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 represent my improved com-
bination of machinery for regulating the traverse of the cut-off valve, such
traverse determining the point at which the steam is cut off from the cylinder
according to the speed of the engine.
The arrangement of the valves for admitting the steam into the cylinder,
and for cutting it off, may be similar to that shewn in Figure 2, of Sheet 1
of the Drawings forming part of the Specification of Letters Patent granted
to me on the Thirtieth day of September, One thousand eight hundred and
fifty-nine, number 2213. The steam admission valves are plate valves, and

page_text: they are made with openings or passages for the steam to pass through; the
cut-off valves are placed at the back of the steam admission valves; the varia-
tion in the traverse of the cut-off valves may be regulated by the action of
the governor or otherwise. For the attainment of a variable expansion or cut-
off motion, I employ a lever a, which vibrates on centres b, by means of an
eccentric c, as shewn in Figure 7, or by a crank, or by the vibration of any
other suitable part of the steam engine, acting on the connecting arm d. The
vibrating lever a has a groove in the direction of its length, into which is fitted
a block e, which can be moved to or from the centre of vibration by means of
a screw f, which passes through it; to the moveable block e is connected a rod
g, the other end of which is connected to the spindle of the cut-off valve, either
direct or by means of rods or rods and levers. The position of the block e, in
the vibrating lever a, determines the part of the piston's stroke at which the
steam is cut off from the cylinder. At one end of the screw f, which moves
the block e, is fixed a bevel wheel h, which gears into the two other bevel
wheels i and j, placed loose on the centres or axes 6 of the vibrating lever a;
the two last-named bevel wheels are each furnished with two sets of ratchet
teeth cast or fixed to them in such a way that the angles of their teeth are in
opposite directions, as shewn best in Figure 5; to the frame of the box k,
which carries the necks of the vibrating lever a, are fixed two studs 1, and
on each stud are two catches m and n, and one lever o; these studs are the
centres on which the catches and levers move when acted upon by the governor ;
each lever o being jointed to the lower end of a rod p, the upper ends whereof
are connected to a lever which is influenced by the governor.
When the en-
gine is working at its proper speed, the catches m and n are kept clear from
the ratchet teeth by means of the levers o, which remain horizontal or nearly
so, as shewn in Figures 3, 5, and 6, thereby allowing the bevel wheels i and j
with ratchet teeth to vibrate with the vibrating lever a; but if the speed of
the engine varies, one catch at each side of the vibrating lever is put into geer
with its corresponding ratchet teeth and bevel wheels by the action of the
governor on the rods p.
The catches and wheels that are in operation are at opposite sides of the
vibrating lever a; one of the catches m holds the bevel wheel i stationary by
its ratchet teeth, whilst the vibrating lever a moves in a forward direction,
thereby causing the bevel wheel h on the screw f to turn say, from right to
left, whilst the other bevel wheel j, with its ratchet teeth, moves on the shaft
or axis of the vibrating lever a, and its catch n slips over the ratchet teeth;
but when the vibrating lever a moves backward, the bevel.wheel i, with

page_text: ratchet teeth which was moving, becomes stationary, and the one that was
stationary begins to move in the same direction as the vibrating lever, thereby
causing the bevel wheel h on the screw f to continue its rotary motion from
right to left, but when the other set of catches is in operation the screw moves
from left to right or in the contrary direction; hence the block e in the vibrat-
ing lever can be moved to or from the centre of vibration, thereby regulating
the point of cut off or amount of expansion. When the engine regains its
proper speed, the catches m and n are disengaged by the action of the gover-
nor, and the point of cut off thus determined remains fixed until another
variation in the speed of the engine takes place. Instead of the double set
of ratchet teeth above referred to, I can employ ordinary toothed wheels
with suitably formed catches.
On Sheet 2, Figure 8 is an elevation, Figure 9 a plan, and Figure 10 an
end elevation, of part of a steam engine to which my improved mode of
working the exhaust slide valves is applied. In these views the eccentric
for working the admission valves is fixed on the crank shaft as usual, and the
eccentric q for working the cut-off valves is also fixed to the crank shaft, but
at different angles to each other. The rod 8 of the eccentric serves as
fulcrum for the lever t, the lower part of which is connected by the link to
the stud t³ in the bridle of the eccentric q, and the upper part is connected
with the exhaust valves by the rod t¹. By this improved arrangement of
eccentrics and lever, the exhaust valves open and close quickly, and remain
open nearly the whole length of the piston's stroke, as will be more fully
described in reference to Figures 11, 12, and 13, which represent three views
of a modification of this part of my Invention. In these views the eccentric
for working the admission valves is fixed on the crank shaft, as above
described, and the eccentric's rod s is made with an eye or slot, through which
passes the elbow lever t. The horizontal arm of this elbow lever is jointed to
the upper end of the radius rod t2, and to the upright arm of the elbow lever
is jointed the exhaust valve rod t¹. The full lines in Figure 11 represent the
position of the elbow levert when the eccentric r is about at the centre of its
stroke. The radius rod t is now vertical, and its action on the elbow lever t
has moved the exhaust valves very nearly to the extremity of their stroke.
During the first quarter revolution of the eccentric r, the radius rod is moved
to the position indicated by the dotted line t', and the elbow lever t moves
from the position shewn in full lines to that indicated by the dotted line to,
thus completing the traverse of the exhaust valves. During the second
quarter revolution of the eccentric 7, the elbow levert is brought into the

page_text: position indicated by the dotted lines t; after the third quarter revolution
of the eccentric r, the radius rod assumes the position to, and the elbow lever t
is brought into the position shewn by the dotted lines ts, and when the fourth
quarter's revolution is completed, the parts are again brought into the positions
shewn by the full lines. From this it will be seen that during the first and
third quarter revolutions, or during the time that one of the admission valves
is is giving steam, the exhaust valves remain nearly stationary, as the action of
the eccentric is almost counteracted by the varying positions of the eccentric's
rod, the elbow lever, and the radius rod, but during the second and fourth
quarter revolutions the traverse of the exhaust valves is greatly accelerated
by the same means; hence the exhaust valves open and close quickly, and
remain open nearly the whole length of the piston's stroke, as before stated,
and by these arrangements the traverse of the exhaust valves, and their size
or area, may be greatly diminished.
Having thus stated the nature of my Invention, and described the manner
of performing the same, I wish it to be understood that I do not limit myself
to the details given, as they may be varied or modified without departing from
the peculiar character thereof; but what I claim is,-
First, the improved combination of machinery, shewn and described in
reference to the various Figures on Sheet 1, for regulating the traverse of
the cut-off or expansion valve according to the speed of the engine.
And, secondly, the improved combinations of eccentrics and levers for
working exhaust valves of steam engines, as shewn and described in reference
to the various Figures on Sheet 2.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Hartley, have hereunto set my
band and seal, the Twenty-sixth day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty.
WN. HARTLEY. (L.S.)