Improvements in and relating to Steam and other Engines.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 4th June, 1892
Complete Specification Left, 4th Mar., 1893-Accepted, 29th Apr., 1893
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
[Communicated from abroad by WILLIAM DRYLAND, of 18, Avenue de l'Opera,
Paris, in the Republic of France, Gentleman.]
Improvements in and relating to Steam and other Engines.
I, JOHN THOMAS KNOWLES, Manager to the firm of D. Young & Co., Patent
Agents, 11 & 12, Southampton Buildings, in the County of London do hereby
declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention relates to improved steam and other engines in which oscillating
or wing pistons are employed, working in chambers having the form of segments or
sectors of a cylinder, which chambers I will, for convenience, herein term cylinders.
Engines of this kind or class possess several important advantages over the
engines hitherto employed in which reciprocating rectilinear movement is imparted
to the piston, and the latter is made with a rod extending through one end of the
cylinder and coupled to the crank-pin by means of a connecting-rod. For instance,
a much longer connecting-rod can be conveniently employed and the friction in
the bearings and guides thus greatly diminished; the usual cross-head and guides
can be dispensed with the engine can be more compactly built, so that it will
occupy less space than an ordinary reciprocating engine of equal power. More-
over, for marine purposes, the engine can be so constructed that its centre of
gravity is very low.
My improved engines can be constructed to be worked by means of steam or
other fluid.
An important feature of my said invention consists in mounting the rock-shaft
on which the piston is formed or fixed, in suitable bearings outside the cylinder,
and so constructing the said cylinder that there is a space between the said shaft
and the portion of the cylinder surrounding the same, which space is closed by
suitable packing to prevent the passage of the fluid from one to the other side of
the piston. I find it advantageous to arrange the said bearings in suitable guides,
and to provide them with adjusting-screws and holding-down bolts. By these
means, provide for permitting easy access to the said bearings for adjustment or
repairs, and I am enabled to adjust the said bearings relatively to the cylinder
in such a manner as to keep the said shaft concentric with the arc-shaped surface
of the cylinder, notwithstanding wear of the said bearings or of the journals of the
rock-shaft.
The said rock-shaft has fixed upon it outside the cylinder, one or more arms or
levers coupled by means of one or more connecting rods to the crank-pin or crank-
pins of the engine.
Another important feature of my said invention is the provision which I make
for efficiently packing the pistons so as to form fluid-tight, or approximately fluid-
tight, joints between the piston and the cylinder. For this purpose, I provide the
edges of the wing-pistons with flanged packing-pieces which are held, by the fluid
pressure or by suitable springs, in close contact with the corresponding surfaces of
the cylinder.
The packing-pieces at the lateral edges of the piston are made with bosses or
hubs, which are fitted upon the aforesaid rock-shafts. The said bosses or hubs
are preferably acted upon by springs enclosed in recesses or cavities in or sur-
rounding the said rock-shaft or otherwise suitably arranged. The said packing-
pieces are connected with the piston by means of tongue-and-groove joints, so that,
whilst they are compelled to move with the piston, they can be pressed outward by
the fluid-pressure or by the said springs.
I also provide flanged packing-pieces in one or more longitudinal grooves in the

page_text: rock-shaft, to prevent the passage of the fluid between the said shaft and the portion
of the cylinder surrounding it. To form an efficient connection between these
packing-pieces and the aforesaid bosses or hubs, I make the former in two or more
lengths, which are connected by tongue-and-groove or other suitable joints so that
they can move longitudinally relatively to each other through a short distance
without becoming disconnected; moreover I make the end lengths or sections of
the said packing-pieces with V-shaped or dovetail heads, which fit into corresponding
recesses in the said bosses or hubs. Therefore the said end lengths or sections,
while free to move radially outward, must move longitudinally with the said
bosses or hubs when these are moved outward or pressed inward relatively to the
rock-shaft.
The side and end packing-pieces are also connected by tongue-and-groove or
other suitable joints, so as to prevent the passage of the fluid, whilst permitting the
required relative movement of the said packing-pieces. Or I construct and connect
these pieces as above described with reference to the side pieces and the aforesaid
bosses or hubs.
I find it advantageous to arrange the valve for the distribution of the steam or
other fluid, and also the cut-off valve when such is employed, at the smaller part
or apex of the cylinder, so as to minimize the length of the admission-ports. In
some instances, however, I arrange the said valve or valves at the side of the
cylinder. prefer to use oscillating distributing and cut-off valves enclosed.in
casings formed with or rigidly secured to the cylinders. These valves may be
conveniently arranged to be operated by one or more eccentrics on the crank-shaft.
The exhaust takes place either through a passage formed in the cylinder-
casing or through the rock-shaft, which is, in this case, made hollow for the
purpose.
I sometimes make two high-pressure cylinders, or the high and low pressure
cylinders of a compound or multiple expansion engine, in a single casting, and
mount the wing pistons of the two cylinders upon a single rock-shaft. By this
arrangement, the pressure upon the bearings of the said rock-shaft is reduced and
the friction consequently diminished. A jacket or casing may be combined with
the cylinders thus formed, and such jacket may, in the case of a compound or
multiple expansion engine, serve as a receiver between the high and low pressure
cylinders. In other instances, 1 provide for conducting the exhaust from the high-
pressure cylinder directly into the low-pressure cylinder. Or I combine therewith
any other suitable receiver.
In compound or multiple-expansion engines, the wing pistons of the high and
low pressure cylinders are sometimes made of the same length but of different
width. They can, however, be made of equal width but of different length.if
deemed desirable.
My improved engine can be very advantageously used for marine propulsion, as
it can be made to occupy a very shallow space in proportion to its power, as
compared with the ordinary vertical marine engines. It can also be used with
advantage for torpedoes, and for locomotives.
In making a marine engine according to the present invention, it is advantageous
to so construct the engine that the pistons thereof will hang vertically like
pendulums, so that the action of gravity will tend to arrest the movement of the
piston in either direction. The momentum to be overcome at either end of the
stroke of the piston is thus diminished. The cylinders are, in this case, preferably
provided at the wider portion thereof with suitable flanges whereby they are firmly
secured to the lower sections or members of an entablature or bed-plate in which
the crank-shaft is supported in suitable bearings. The said cylinders are also, if
necessary, provided at their narrow or smaller portion with flanges whereby they
are rigidly secured to the upper sections or members of such entablature. The
said cylinders may, however, be otherwise suitably secured to the entablature or
bed-plate. Suitable bearings are, moreover, provided in or upon the said
entablature or bed-plate for the rock-shafts of the several pistons.

page_text: By making the engine with the bearings for the rock-shaft outside the cylinder,
I am enabled to provide for the removal and replacing of the piston in a very
simple and convenient manner when the same is hung like a pendulum as above
mentioned. For this purpose, I divide the cylinder into two parts so that the
plane of division extends through the stuffing-boxes of the rock-shaft and is
preferably coincident with the axis thereof, and I unite the two parts by means of
screws or bolts so that the upper part can be readily lifted off. Moreover I
make the said bearings with removable caps, so that, when the top of the
cylinder is taken off, the said rock-shaft and the piston can be lifted out of the
cylinder.
These engines are very advantageous for use in vessels of small draught, the
depth of the space occupied by the engines being very small, and the construction
and arrangement of the cylinders enabling them to be placed very near the bottom
of the vessel.
To facilitate the packing of the stuffing-boxes through which the rock-shaft
extends, whilst permitting the placing of the bearings of this shaft as near as
practicable to the cylinder, I divide the glands of the said stuffing-boxes longi-
tudinally, so that, when the gland has been withdrawn from the stuffing-box, it
can be removed from the shaft to permit access to the stuffing-box for packing the
same.
I find it advantageous in some instances, in engines with two or more cylinders,
to connect the vibrating arms fixed on the rock-shafts of opposite cylinders, with
each other, in such a manner that the power exerted by the same is in opposite
directions, thereby establishing an equilibrium of force.
say,
Four cylinders may with advantage be used in my improved engine, that is to
for instance, four high-pressure cylinders, or two high-pressure and two low-
pressure cylinders, the pistons of one high-pressure and one low-pressure cylinder
being, in the latter case, coupled to each crank-pin, and the high-pressure cylinders
exhausting into the low-pressure cylinders respectively.
In making a very compact engine, for example for use in a torpedo, I find it
advantageous to so arrange the parts that the crank-shaft extends through the
space between the four cylinders, and to connect all the pistons with the said shaft.
Moreover I sometimes provide each cylinder with a separate distribution valve
and work all of these valves by means of a single eccentric or by means of two or
more eccentrics. If desired I make these cylinders in pairs formed of a single
casting and provide a cover at the side which serves for both cylinders. And I
sometimes connect the vibrating arins of these cylinders together and connect only
one of the same with the crank-pin, and I provide a closed bearing at one end of
each cylinder for the rock-shaft thereof, the said rock-shaft extending through a
stuffing-box at the other end of the said cylinder. In small engines, I sometimes
provide a bearing for the rock-shaft within the stuffing-box, the packing being
inserted outside the said bearing.
In locomotive engines, the cylinders are preferably provided with a flange which
is radial to the rock-shaft, and whereby the cylinders are supported upon and firmly
secured to the frame of the locomotive. The supporting flange may, however, be
otherwise suitably arranged.
Two of the aforesaid segmental cylinders are, in some instances, secured side by
side, and the pistons of the two cylinders coupled together by means of a con-
necting-rod, one of the said pistons being also coupled by means of another
connecting-rod to the crank-pin, so that the pressure on both pistons will be
transmitted to the crank-shaft through the last named connecting-rod.
DAL
L 1
е
1000
D. YOUNG & Co.,
11 & 12, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicant.

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in and relating to Steam and other Engines.
I, JOHN THOMAS KNOWLES, Manager to the firm of D. Young & Co.,
11 & 12, Southampton Buildings, in the County of London, Patent Agents,
do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is
to be performed to be particularly described and ascertained in by and the following
statement
This invention relates to steam and other engines in which oscillating or wing-
pistons are employed, working in chambers having the form of segments or
sectors of a cylinder, which chambers I will, for convenience, herein term
"cylinders;" and the said invention is designed to improve the construction and
increase the efficiency of such engines.
Engines of this kind or class possess several important advantages over the
engines hitherto employed in which reciprocating rectilinear movement is imparted
to the piston, and in which the piston is made with a rod extending through one
end of the cylinder and coupled to the crank-pin by means of a connecting-rod.
For instance, a much longer connecting-rod can he conveniently employed and the
friction in the bearings thus greatly diminished; the usual cross-head and guides
can be dispensed with; and the engine can be more compactly built, so that it
will occupy less space than an ordinary reciprocating engine of equal power.
My improved engine can be constructed to be worked by means of steam or
other suitable fluid, and can be very advantageously used for marine propulsion, as
it can be so constructed that it will occupy a very shallow-space in proportion to
its power, and so that its centre of gravity is very low down, as compared with the
ordinary vertical marine engines. It can also be used with advantage for other
purposes; for instances, in torpedoes, and for locomotives.
An important feature of my said invention consists in mounting the rock-shaft of
the piston in suitable bearings outside the cylinder, and so constructing the said
cylinder that there is a space between the said shaft and the portion of the cylinder
surrounding the same, which space is closed by suitable packing fitted in a groove
in the rock-shaft, so as to prevent the passage of the fluid from one to the other
side of the piston. I find it advantageous to arrange the said bearings in suitable
guides and to provide them with adjusting-screws and holding-down bolts. By
these means I provide for permitting easy access to the said bearings for adjustment
or repairs, and I am enabled to adjust the said bearings relatively to the cylinder
in such a manner as to keep the said rock-shaft concentric with the arc-shaped
surface of the cylinder, notwithstanding wear of the said bearings or of the journals
of the rock-shaft.
Another important feature of my said invention is the provision which I
make for efficiently packing the pistons so as to form fluid-tight, or approxi-
mately fluid-tight joints between the piston and the cylinder. For this
purpose I construct and arrange the packing-pieces as follows, that is to say,
I provide the edges of the wing-pistons at one side and at the ends thereof,
with flanged packing-pieces, which are held, by the fluid pressure or by suitable
springs, in close contact with the corresponding surfaces of the cylinder. The
packing-pieces at the ends of the piston are made with bosses or hubs, which are
fitted upon the aforesaid rock-shaft. The said bosses or hubs are sometimes
combined with springs enclosed in recesses or cavities in or surrounding the said
rock-shaft or otherwise suitably arranged, which springs tend to press the said
packing-pieces against the corresponding ends of the cylinder. The said packing-
pieces are connected with the piston by means of tongue-and-groove joints, so that,
whilst they are compelled to move with the piston, they can be pressed outward by
the fluid-pressure or by the said springs.

page_text: I also provide flanged packing-pieces in one or more longitudinal grooves in the
rock-shaft to prevent the passage of the fluid between the said shaft and the portion
of the cylinder surrounding it. To form an efficient connection between these
packing-pieces and the aforesaid bosses or hubs, I make the former in two or more
lengths which are connected by tongue-and-groove or other suitable joints so that
they can move longitudinally relatively to each other through a short distance
without becoming disconnected; moreover I make the end lengths or sections of
the said packing-pieces with V-shaped or dovetail heads which fit into corre-
sponding recesses in the said bosses or hubs. Therefore the said end lengths or
sections, while free to move radially outward, must move longitudinally with the
said bosses or hubs when these are moved outward or pressed inward relatively to
the rock-shaft.
The outer edge and end packing-pieces are also connected by tongue-and-groove
or other suitable joints so as to prevent the passage of the fluid, whilst permitting
the required relative movement of the said packing-pieces. Or I construct and
connect these pieces as above described with reference to the packing-pieces in the
rock-shaft and the aforesaid bosses or hubs.
When my improved engine is made with the bearings for the rock-shaft ontside
the cylinder, I am enabled to provide for the removal and replacing of the piston
in a very simple and convenient manner, when the said piston is hung like a
pendulum as hereinafter mentioned. For this purpose I divide the cylinder into
two parts so that the plane of division extends through the stuffing-boxes of the
rock-shaft and is preferably coincident with the axis thereof, and I unite the two
parts by means of screws or bolts so that the upper part can be readily lifted off.
Moreover I make the said bearings with removable caps so that, when the top of
the cylinder is taken off, the said rock-shaft and the piston can be lifted out of the
cylinder.
My said invention, moreover, comprises other improvements hereinafter set
forth.
In the accompanying drawings,
Figure 1 is a front elevation, and
Figure 2 a transverse section on the line e, a, Figure 1, showing one form of
marine engine constructed according to my invention, with the piston extending
downward from the rock-shaft, so that it will swing like a penduluin.
Figure 3 is an end elevation, partly in vertical section,
Figure 4 a front elevation, and
Figure 5 a transverse section on the line,, Figure 4, showing another form
or arrangement of my improved marine engine, in which the piston extends
horizontally or laterally from the rock-shaft.
Figure 6 is a side elevation, partly in section, of the rock-shaft and piston of my
improved engine.
Figure
7 is an edge view of the said rock-shaft and piston.
Figure 8 is a sectional plan of the same.
Figure 9 is a section on the line,, Figure 6.
Figure 10 is a section on the line, Figure 6.
Figure 11 is a plan, partly in horizontal section, and Figure 12 an end elevation,
partly in vertical section, showing another form or modification of my improved
engine, some of the parts being removed.
Figure 13 is a front elevation, and
Figure 14 an end elevation showing the valve-motion and reversing-gear.
Figure 15 is an end elevation showing a further modification of my improved
engine.
Figure 16 is a plan of a liner such as I sometimes use in the slide-valve casings.
Figure 17 is a transverse section of the said liner, and
Figure 18 is a transverse section of one of the oscillating distributing-valves
hereinafter described.
Like letters indicate corresponding parts throughout the drawings.

page_text: A, A are the cylinders; B, B are the vibrating pistons, which are formed or
fixed on the rock-shafts C.
In making a marine engine according to my present invention, I prefer to
construct the same, as shown in Figures 1 and 2, so that the pistons B thereof
hang vertically like pendulums. By this arrangement, I ensure that the action of
gravity shall tend to arrest the movement of the piston from its central position in
either direction, and thus diminish the momentum to be overcome at either end
of the stroke or movement of the piston. In some instances, however, I arrange
the pistons horizontally as shown in Figures 3 to 5.
The cylinder A is provided with flanges A¹ whereby it is firmly secured to a
suitable bed-plate D. The rock-shaft C extends through and works in stuffing-
.boxes E and is supported in bearings F, outside and independent of or separate
from the cylinder, which bearings are secured to the entablature D', by suitable
holding-down bolts. The said rock-shaft is so arranged within the cylinder that
there is a space between the said shaft and the portion of the cylinder surrounding
the same, which space is closed by suitable packing fitted in the said shaft as
hereinafter described, to prevent the passage of the fluid from one to the other
side of the piston.
I find it advantageous to arrange the bearings F for the rock-shaft C between
suitable guides F1, and to provide them with adjusting-screws F2, F3, whereby they
may be adjusted relatively to the cylinder in such a manner as to keep the said
shaft concentric with the arc-shaped surface of the cylinder notwithstanding wear
of the said bearings or of the journals of the rock-shaft.
The motion of the piston B is communicated to the crank-shaft a through one
or more arms or levers b fixed upon the rock-sbaft C outside the cylinder, and
coupled by a connecting-rod c to the crank-pin a'. The oscillating distributing-
valve d is fitted in a casing d' at the smaller part or apex of the cylinder, thus
minimizing the length of the admission-ports A2, A³ The oscillating cut-off-
valve e is arranged in a casing e' above the casing d¹. These valves are worked
by means of eccentrics on the crank-shaft or in any other convenient manner. is
the exhaust-port; g is an arm or lever fixed upon the rock-shaft C for the purpose
of working the pumps.
To enable the removal and replacing of the rock-shaft C and piston B to be
readily effected, I divide the cylinder into two parts so that the plane of division
extends through the stuffing-boxes E of the rock-shaft C and is preferably
-coincident with the axis of the said shaft, as shown at A'; and I unite the two
parts of the cylinder by means of screws or bolts so that the upper or smaller part
of the cylinder can be readily taken off. Moreover I make the bearings F with
removable caps F so that, when the said caps are removed and the top or smaller
part of the cylinder is taken off, the said rock-shaft and piston can be lifted out of
the cylinder without the necessity for removing the ends of the said cylinder.
To facilitate the packing of the stuffing-boxes E, whilst permitting the placing
of the bearings F as near as practicable to the cylinder, I divide the glands of the
said stuffing-boxes longitudinally, so that, when either gland has been withdrawn
from the corresponding stuffing-box, it can be removed from the shaft to permit
access to the stuffing-box for packing the same.
I provide the edges of the wing-pistons B and also the rock-shaft C with flanged
packing-pieces which are held, by the fluid pressure or by suitable springs, in close
contact with the corresponding surfaces of the cylinder, and are constructed and
connected as hereinafter described, that is to say ;-The flanged packing-pieces h,
Figures 6 to 10, at the ends of the piston B, are made with bosses or hubs h' which
are fitted upon the ends of the rock-shaft C, and into recesses C in the enlarged
part of the said rock-shaft. The said bosses or hubs h¹ may, if desired, be acted
upon by springs enclosed in recesses or cavities in or surrounding the said rock-
-shaft. The said packing-pieces h, are, moreover, connected with the piston B by
means of tongue-and-groove joints, as shown at h³, so that, whilst they are

page_text: compelled to oscillate with the piston, they can be pressed outward by the fluid
pressure or by the springs.
Flanged packing-pieces ; are similarly arranged at the outer edge of the piston..
These packing-pieces extend around the ends of the piston within the flanges of the
packing-pieces h as shown in Figures 6 and 7, and are connected with the said
packing-picces by means of dowels k. The packing-pieces ; are, moreover,.
connected with each other by a tongue-and-groove joint as at j. They are
therefore free to move end wise relatively to each other together with the packing--
pieces, and also to move outward or away from the rock-shaft relatively to the
packing-pieces h, without at any time opening a passage for the steam or other
fluid from one to the other side of the piston.
I also provide flanged packing-pieces in a longitudinal groove in the rock-
shaft C, to prevent the passage of the fluid between the said shaft and the portion
of the cylinder surrounding the same. To form an efficient connection between-
these packing-pieces and the bosses or hubs h¹ of the packing-pieces h, I connect.
the said packing-pieces by a tongue-and-groove joint as at so that they cans
move longitudinally relatively to each other through a short distance without at
any time opening a passage for the steam or other Huid from one to the other side
of the piston. Moreover I make the outer ends of the said packing-pieces with.
V-shaped or dove-tail heads which fit into corresponding recesses in the said.
bosses or hubs. Therefore the said packing-pieces l, while free to move radially
outward from the rock-shaft relatively to the packing-pieces h, must move
longitudinally with the said packing-pieces when these are moved outward or
pressed inward relatively to the piston.
The construction and arrangement of the packing-pieces as above described is
an important feature of my said invention, as great difficulty has hitherto been:
experienced in preventing the passage of the fluid from one to the other side of:
the piston in engines of this kind or class..
I find it advantageous to arrange the valve for the distribution of the steam or
other fluid, and also the cut-off valve, when such is employed, at the smaller part
or apex of the cylinder as shown in Figures 1 to 5. In some instances, however,
I arrange the said valve or valves at the side of the cylinder.
I sometimes make two high-pressure cylinders, or the high and low-pressure.
cylinders of a compound or multiple expansion engine in a single casting, and mount
the wing-pistons of the two cylinders upon a single rock-shaft. By this arrange-.
ment, the pressure upon the bearings of the said rock-shaft is reduced and the
friction consequently diminished. A jacket or casing may be combined with the
cylinders thus formed, and such jacket may, in the case of a compound or multiple
expansion engine, serve as a receiver between the high and low pressure cylinders..
In other instances, I provide for conducting the exhaust from the high-pressure
cylinder directly into the low-pressure cylinder. Or I combine therewith any
other suitable receiver.
In compound or multiple expansion engines, the wing-pistons of the high and low-
pressure cylinders are sometimes made of the same length but of different width..
They can, however, be made of equal width but of different length if deemed
desirable.
The engines above described are very advantageous for use in vessels of small
draught, the depth of the space occupied by the engines being very small and the
construction and arrangement of the cylinders enabling them to be placed very
near the bottom of the vessels.
I find it advantageous, in some instances, in engines with two or more cylinders,.
to connect the vibrating arms fixed on the rock-shafts of opposite cylinders with
each other in such a manner that the power exerted by the same is in opposite
directions, thereby establishing an equilibrium of force.
Four cylinders may with advantage be used in my improved engine, that is to
say, for instance, four high-pressure cylinders, or two high-pressure and two low-
pressure cylinders, the pistons of one high-pressure and one low-pressure cylinder-

page_text: being, in the latter case, coupled to each crank-pin, and the high-pressure cylinders
exhausting into the low-pressure cylinders respectively.
In Figures 11 to 14, have shown a very compact engine made in accordance
with my invention, for use in a torpedo. This form of my improved engine is also
useful for other purposes, such as the driving of dynamo-electric machines or the
propulsion of steam-launches. It comprises four cylinders A and its parts are so
arranged that the crank-shaft a extends through the space between the four
cylinders; moreover the four distribution-valves are operated by a single slide-link
and pair of eccentrics, though they may, if desired, be operated by separate sets of
slide-links and eccentrics.
In these small engines, I find it advantageous to provide a bearing for the rock-
shaft C within the stuffing-box E at one end of the cylinder, suitable packing being
inserted in the stuffing-box outside the said bearing, and to support the rock-shaft C
in a closed bearing G at the other end of the cylinder. The rock-shafts C are
provided with arms or levers 6', and the arms or levers b' of the pair of cylinders
at each side of the crank-shaft, are coupled together by a connecting-rod m; the
rock-shaft C of one cylinder of each pair has also fixed upon it an arm or lever b
which is coupled by a connecting-rod c to the corresponding crank-pin a'. Each
cylinder is provided with a separate distribution-valve d and these valves are
worked by means of a single slide-link p and two eccentrics fixed upon an
extension a² of the crank-shaft, and connected with the said slide-link by the usual
straps and rods. The said valves & are connected as follows, that is to say ;-One
of the valve-spindles d' is provided with a lever which is connected in the usual
manner with the slide-link p. This spindle is connected with the other valve-
spindles through the medium of links s, s¹, s³ and levers r³, ², god, go, go, gott
The engine shown in Figures 11 to 14 is provided with a cylinder t for reversing
the notion thereof by fluid-pressure, the piston-rod t of the said reversing cylinder
being connected by a link with a lever u coupled to the slide-link p by means of
links u¹.
In the modification of my improved engine shown in Figure 15, the crank-shaft a
is arranged below the lower cylinders so as to permit the employment of longer
connecting-rods and eccentric rods, thus diminishing the friction in the bearings.
This result may also be obtained by arranging the crank-shaft above or at either
side of the set of cylinders.
To facilitate the accurate formation of the fluid-supply and exhaust-ports and to
provide for the ready renewal, when worn, of the surface on which the valve works,
I sometimes employ in each valve-casing d', a separate liner V of gun-metal or
other suitable material, in which are accurately formed, as shown in Figures 16
and 17, the admission-ports A2, A3 and the exhaust-port f.
In adapting my invention to locomotive engines, the cylinders are preferably
. provided with flanges whereby they are supported upon and firmly secured to the
frame of the locomotive, so that the pistons are suspended vertically from their
rock-shafts, and can swing like pendulums. The supporting flanges may, however,
be otherwise suitably arranged.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed as communicated to me
by my foreign correspondent, I declare that what I claim is :-
First. A vibrating-piston engine wherein the rock-shaft of the piston is mounted
in bearings outside the cylinder in such a manner as to leave a space between the
said shaft and the part of the cylinder within which it works, and the said shaft
and piston are provided with suitably connected packing-pieces for forming fluid-
tight joints between them and the cylinder, substantially as herein before described
and for the purposes specified.
Second. The combination, with the piston and rock-shaft, of packing-pieces in a
groove in the said shaft, having V-shaped or dovetail heads, and packing-pieces at
the ends of the piston provided with bosses or hubs which are fitted upon the said

page_text: rock-shaft and engage with the V-shaped or dovetail heads, substantially as,
for the purposes, above specified.
and
Third. A cylinder for a vibrating-piston engine, constructed with two parts
which are suitably united, and which are separable in a plane extending through
the stuffing-boxes of the rock-shaft, substantially as, and for the purposes, above
specified.
Fourth. The combination, with the cylinder and the vibrating-piston, of the
bearings outside and separate from the said cylinder, in which the rock-shaft of the
said piston is supported and which are adjustable vertically and laterally, as, and
for the purposes, above specified.
Fifth. A vibrating-piston engine in which the bearings for the rock-shaft are
placed outside the cylinder close to the same, and the glands of the stuffing-boxes
around the said shaft are divided so that, when withdrawn from the stuffing-boxes,
they can be removed from the shaft, substantially as, and for the purposes, above
specified.
Sixth. A vibrating-piston engine wherein the cylinders are arranged relatively
to each other and to the crank-shaft substantially as described with reference to
Figures 11 and 12 or to Figure 15 of the drawings, for the purposes above specified.
Seventh. A vibrating-piston engine wherein two or more of the piston rock-
shafts are coupled together and connected to a single crank, substantially as, and
for the purpose, above specified.
Eighth. The improved vibrating-piston engine constructed substantially as
described with reference to Figures 1 and 2 or to Figures 3, 4 and 5 or to
Figures 11, 12, 13 and 14 or to Figure 15 of the drawings and operating as above
Fet forth.
יים
D. YOUNG & Co.,
11 & 12, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.