IMPROVEMENTS IN ENGINES WARPED BY STAY ADATHER WORKED BYTEAM OR OTHER ELASTIC FLUIDS
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joseph Alexander Franklin and Alexander Caesar
Frederick Franklin, both of Abingdon Street, in the City of West-
minster, Engiucers, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN ENGINES
WARPED BY STAY ADATHER"
Sealed the 18th August 1871, and dated the 22nd February 1871.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joseph Alexander
Franklin and Alexander Caesar Frederick Franklin at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with their Petition, on the 22nd
February 1871.
We, JOSEPH ALEXANDER FRANKLIN and Alexander CAESAR FRED-
ERICK FRANKLIN, both of Abingdon Street, in the City of Westminster,
Engineers, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN ENGINES WORKED BY STEAM OR OTHER ELASTIC FLUIDS," to be as
follows:-
This Invention consists in the combination of two or more cylinders
fitted with pistons and regulating valves and valve gear. These pistons
are connected by means of suitable connecting rods to cranks formed
upon or attached to a driving shaft at such angles that the pressure-
·

page_text: upon the cranks causing the shaft to revolve may be continuous and
uniform. For this purpose we make the cylinders open at one end (so
that the pressure may be upon one side only of the pistons) and we cause
the pressure of the steam or other clastic fluid to act only upon the
other sides of the pistons fitted in them. And we make the cylinders
of different diameters, and we admit the steam or other clastic fluid
behind the piston in the cylinder of the smallest diameter first, and we
arrange the valve gear so that when the piston has completed or nearly
completed its stroke, a communication is opened from this cylinder
into the next cylinder which is of larger diameter, the piston of which
is then just commencing its stroke, and when this second piston has
completed or nearly completed its stroke a communication is opened
in turn between the second cylinder and the third cylinder, which is of
larger diameter than the second cylinder, and in which the third piston
is about to commence its stroke, and so on successively. And when the
piston in the third or last cylinder has completed or nearly completed
its stroke we open a communication by means of a valve and suitable
gear with a condenser, in which the steam may be condensed, or with
the open air. And we so arrange the valves and gear by which the
steam or other elastic fluid is allowed to enter and escape from the
several cylinders that the valves between the first and second cylinders
may
be worked by the same excentrics or link motion, the steam or
other clastic fluid being allowed to escape through the exhaust port of
the first cylinder into a valve chest in which the admission valve of
the second cylinder works. And we arrange a third valve, worked by
another excentric or link motion, between the second and third cylinders,
so that this valve may act as an exhaust valve to the second cylinder,
and as an admission as well as exhaust valve to the third cylinder. In
this way we gain great economy in space and fuel and we are able to
expand the steam or other clastic fluid to any extent that may be desired.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the. Letters Patent,
filed by tho said Joseph Alexander Franklin and Alexander Caesar
Frederick Franklin in the Great Scal Patent Office on the 22nd
August 1871.

page_text: both of Abingdon Street, in the City of Westminster, Engineers, seud
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of February, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the
thirty-fifth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto us, the said Joseph Alexander Franklin
and Alexander Caesar Frederick Franklin, Her special licence that we,
the said Joseph Alexander Franklin and Alexander Caesar Frederick
Franklin, our executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
wo, the said Joseph Alexander Franklin and Alexander Caesar Frederick
Franklin, our 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN ENGINES WORKED BY STEAM OR OTHER ELASTIC FLUIDS,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said Joseph Alexander
Franklin and Alexander Caesar Frederick Franklin, our executors or
administrators, by an instrument in writing under our, or their, or one
of their hands and scals, 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 we, the said Joseph Alexander Franklin and
Alexander Caesar Frederick Franklin, do hereby declare the nature of
our said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed,
to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, and accompanying Drawing:-
This Invention consists, first, in the combination of two or more
cylinders of different diameters fitted with pistons, the cylinders being
open at one end, so that the pressure of the steam or other elastic fluid
may be upon one side only of the pistons, with connecting rods from the
pistons to cranks formed upon or attached to a driving shaft at such
angles that the pressure upon the cranks causing the driving shaft to
revolve may be continuous and uniform. The cylinders being arranged
so that the steam or other clastic fluid is admitted first behind the piston

page_text: in the cylinder of smallest diameter, and when the piston has completed
or nearly completed its stroke a communication is opened from this
cylinder into the next cylinder, which is of larger diameter, behind the
piston which is then just commencing its stroke, and when this second
piston has completed or nearly completed its stroke a communication is
opened in turn from this second cylinder into the the third cylinder,
which is of larger diameter than the second behind the piston which is
then just commencing its stroke, and so on successively through other
cylinders of increasing diameter if necessary. And when the piston
in the last or largest cylinder has completed or nearly completed its :
stroke we open a communication from it to a condenser in which the
steam may be condensed, or to the open air. By the arrangement
described we are enabled to expand the steam or other clastic fluid to
any required extent, and by properly proportioning the diameters of the
cylinders we cause the pressure upon the cranks to be uniform or nearly
so, and the shaft which is driven by the cranks revolves with great
steadiness. And the cylinders being each open at one end we gain
considerable economy in space, as the connecting rods can be attached
directly to the pistons in the usual way.
Second. In the arrangement of valves and gear by which the steam :
or other elastic fluid is allowed to enter and escape from the several
cylinders in such a manner that the valves between the first and second
cylinders may be worked by the same excentrics or link motion, the
steam or other elastic fluid being allowed to escape through the exhaust
port of the first cylinder into a valve chest in which the admission valve !
of the second cylinder works.
Where three cylinders only are used another valve worked by anotlier
excentric or link motion is placed between the second and third cylinders
and is so arranged that it may act as an exhaust valve to the second
cylinder, and as an admission valve as well as an exhaust valve to the
third cylinder.
Where more than three cylinders are used the valve last described is
placed between the last cylinder and the cylinder next to it, and
valves of the kind first described are placed between all the other
cylinders.
The annexed Drawing is an elevation, partly in section, of an engine
constructed according to our Invention, and having three cylinders and
three cranks. A, B, and C are the three cylinders shewn in section,

page_text: A being the smallest and O the largest. Each of these cylinders is
closed at its upper end and open at its lower end, and the three cylinders
are arranged in a line parallel with the shaft G, upon which are formed
three cranks H, I, and K, at equidistant angles from one another (in
end view), the centre of the crank H being in a line with the cylinder A,
that of the crank I with the cylinder B, and that of the crank K
with the cylinder C. In the cylinder A is fitted a piston D, in the
cylinder B a piston E, and in the cylinder C a piston F, and these
pistons are connected to the cranks by means of the connecting rods
L, M, and N.
We prefer to make trunks upon the pistons working through the open
ends of the cylinders, and we make these trunks of thin cylinders of steel
or other metal, working freely within the cylinders, and we prefer to
line them with wood, felt, or other suitable non-conducting material, so
that the external air has no access to the interior of the cylinders when
the pistons are at the top of their strokes, and in this way loss from
condensation is prevented.
The action of the engine is as follows:-The steam or other clastic
fluid is admitted at a high pressure (by means of the valves herein-after
described) between the piston D and the top of the cylinder A. When
the piston D has thus been forced to the other or open end of the
cylinder A or nearly to its end, the crank I has brought the piston E
to the upper end of the cylinder B, and a communication is then opened
between the cylinder A and the upper end of the cylinder B. The area of
the cylinder B being greater than that of A, and the pressure being the
same in each, the piston E is forced down and the piston D is brought
up by the crank H as the shaft G continues its revolution. In the same
way when the piston E has reached or nearly reached the end of its
stroke a communication is opened between the cylinder B and the
top of the cylinder C, in which the piston l' is then at the top, and the
communication between the cylinders A and B is at the same time
closed. The piston F having a greater area than the piston E it is forced
down to the outer end of the cylinder C, and at the same time the
piston E is brought up by the crank I to the upper or closed end of the
cylinder B. When the piston F has reached the end of its stroke the
communication between the cylinders B and C is closed, and a com-
munication is opened between the cylinder C and a condenser, if the
engine is a condensing steam engine; if not the steam or elastic fluid

page_text: in the cylinder C is allowed to escape into the open air, and the piston
is forced up to the closed end of the cylinder by the revolution of the
shaft G. We prefer so to proportion the areas of the cylinders that
when the last piston has reached the end of its stroke the steam or
clastic fluid shall have a pressure little above that of the atmosphere.
By the arrangements shown and described we gain great economy
of space in the height of the engine and great simplicity in its con-
struction, and we are enabled to expand the steam or other clastic
fluid to the furthest possible extent, and so to effect great economy
in fuel.
For the purpose of duly opening and closing the communication
between the different cylinders and between the cylinder and the boiler
or the condenser or open air, we prefer to use the arrangement of valves
shewn in the Drawing. O is a slide valve working in a valve chest
attached to the cylinder A. This valve clicst communicates with
the boiler or other source from which the steam or other clastic
fluid is supplied, and when the valve O is at its lowest point the
steam is admitted in the usual way above the piston D. When the
valve is raised the steam is cut off and a communication is opened
by means of the inside of the valve O between the cylinder A and a
valve chest R attached to the next cylinder B. In this valve chest R
is a simple slide valve Q, which opens a passage to the top of the
cylinder B when it is raised and closes the passage when it is drawn
down. The valves O and Q are coupled and worked together by means
of the excentric or excentrics and link reversing motion T. By this
arrangement when the piston D has nearly reached the bottom of its
stroke the valves O and ˜Q are raised sufficiently to cut off the steam
from the cylinder A. and to admit it through the inside of the valve O
to the valve chest R, and by means of the valvo Q to the top of the
cylinder B above the piston E. To the cylinder B is also attached
another valve chest S containing a valve P similar to Q, and to the
cylinder C is attached a valve chest V containing a valve W, the interior
of which communicates by the passage X with a condenser or with the
open air. The valves T and W are coupled and worked together by
means of the excentric or excentrics and link reversing motion Y in the
same way as the valves O and Q. By the arrangement described when
the piston E has nearly reached the bottom of its stroke the communi-
cation with the cylinder A is shut off by the valve Q, and at the same

page_text: time the valve P opens a communication between the cylinder B and the
cylinder C above the piston F, which is then at the top of its stroke.
When the piston F has reached the bottom of its stroke the valve W
shuts off the communication between the cylinders B and C, and at the
same time opens a communication by means of the passage X between
the interior of the cylinder and a condenser or the open air.
By the use of two or more cylinders arranged in the way described, and
cachi open at one end, and of the valves and gear described, we are enabled
to expand the steam or other clastic fluid to the fullest possible extent,
and to regulate with great simplicity its admission to and escape from
the several cylinders.
In witness whereof, we, the said Joseph Alexander Franklin and
Alexander Caesar Frederick Franklin, have hereunto set our
hands and seals, this Twenty-second day of August, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one.
JOSEPH ALEXANDER FRANKLIN.
ALEXANDER C. F. FRANKLIN.
(L.S.)
(L.S.)