IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM ENGINES.
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edward Blaud, of Bury, in the County of Lancaster,
Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM ENGINES.'
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edward Bland at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
6th June 1867.
I, EDWARD BLAND, of Bury, in the County of Lancaster, Engineer, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM
ENGINES," to be as follows:-
My improvements consist in the use and application of the common gridiron
valve in such a way that the steam and exhaust valves are placed in seperate
compartments, and as near to the inner side of the cylinder as the thickness
of metal of the cylinder side will allow. I place the admission valves at or
near the ends of the cylinder and at any convenient part of the cylinder's
circumference, and I place the exhaust valves also at or near the cylinder ends,
and on any other part of the cylinder's circumference that is not occupied by
the inlet valves that may be convenient.

page_text: The object of using the above-named valves and placing them in the
positions mentioned is to prevent undue waste of steam by having as little
space as possible between the valves and the interior of the cylinder.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Edward Bland in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
3rd December 1867.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDWARD
BLAND, of Bury, in the County of Lancaster, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Sixth day of June, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirty-first year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Edward Bland, Her special licence that I, the said Edward Bland, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Edward
Bland, 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 STEAM ENGINE,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Edward Bland, 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 Edward Bland, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement and accompanying Drawings (that is to say):-
My improvements consist in the use and application of the common gridiron
valve in such a way that the steam and exhaust valves are placed in seperate
compartments, and as near to, the inner side of the cylinder as the thickness
of metal of the cylinder side will allow. I place the admission valves at or
near the ends of the cylinder, and at any convenient part of the cylinder's

page_text: circumference, and I place the exhaust valves also at or near the cylinder ends,
and on any other part of the cylinder's circumference that is not occupied by
the inlet valves that may be convenient.
The object of using the above-named valves and placing them in the
positions mentioned is to prevent undue waste of steam by having as little
.space as possible between the valves and the interior of the cylinder.
Figs. 1 and 3 of the accompanying Drawing show the compartment and its
valve for the admission of steam, a being the outer part of the said compart-
ment or chest; b, the cover; c, the cylinder flange, or that part of the cylinder
to which the compartment or chest a is fixed. The parts marked d show the
gridiron valve, and in Fig. 1 a portion of the valve is broken off to show the
openings e passing to the cylinder. The seating on which the valve d works,
and through which the openings e pass, is marked by the letter f, and the rod
for moving the valve is shown at 9 passing through the stuffing box h, and
guides to keep the valve in its place are shown at i, . Fig. 3 is a section
through the middle of Fig. 1, the valve being shown closed or covering the
openings e, and when the valve is wide open the openings m in the valve
correspond with the openings e in the seating, and the steam passes through
the openings m and e at one and the same time.
Fig. 2 shows the way in which each exbaust valve is placed near the interior
of the cylinder. The valve is shown at d, and the seating at f₁; the compartment
carrying the seating is marked a₁, and the flange a, is used to secure the
said compartment a, and valve seating f₁ to the cylinder. The rod g₁ for
working the valve passes through a stuffing box placed near the cylinder end
so as to allow the valve d₁ to work as near the cylinder's circumference as may
be convenient.
Fig. 4 shows another view of a portion of the rod g, attached to the valve d₁.
These valves are placed in any convenient way so that there reciprocating
motion is in a direction parallel to the axis of the cylinder of the engine, or at
any angle to the said axis. Motion is given to the valves by tappets, cams,
eccentrics, or any other mechanism that may be found suitable. The openings
in the valves and seatings are shown in the Drawings of rectangular form,
their being three such openings m in the valve and four in the seating
inarked e. The number of these openings may be varied according to the
traverse wished to be given to the valve, or their shape may be triangular, or
any other shape or form that may be convenient. Four valves and seatings
are used to each cylinder, two for the admission of steam and two for the
exhaust, one for admission and one for exhaust being attached to each end of
the cylinder.

page_text: Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in which
the said Invention is to be performed, I.wish it to be understood that what. I
claim is, the arrangement of gridiron valves on the cylinders of steam engines
and combination of parts as herein described and set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edward Bland, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this. Second day of December, in the year of our.
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven.
EDW. BLAND. (L.S.)