IMPROVE- MENMS IN RECIPROCATING MOTIVE POWED ENGINEO " MENTS IN RECIPROCATING MOTIVE POWED ENGINES
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Anderson, of Southwark Street, in the
Borough of Southwark, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENMS IN RECIPROCATING MOTIVE POWED ENGINEO "
MENTS IN RECIPROCATING MOTIVE POWED ENGINES"
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Anderson at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 30th June 1874.
I, WILLIAM ANDERSON, of Southwark Street, in the Borough of
Southwark, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inven.
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN RECIPROCATING MOTIVE-POWER ENGINES," to be as
follows:-
The object of this Invention is to construct reciprocating engines
which shall be capable of running at great velocity. The difficulty
hitherto experienced in running engines at great velocity has been due
to the reverse pressure upon the bearings and joints by which they are
speedily deteriorated, and the engine when in action is caused to rattle..
To avoid this I now propose to make the engine single acting and

page_text: thereby ensure that the pressure of the motive power and the active
force employed to give the return stroke shall be in the same direction
on the bearing parts, and the valve gaer I so arrange as to act in a
similar manner. Thus for example, the valve rod I make of sufficient
diameter to ensure that the pressure upon the end of the valve rod of
the steam in the valve box shall move the valve in one direction, and I
rely upon the excentric on the crank shaft to move it in the opposite
direction. This arrangement is applicable both to condensing and non-
condensing engines, but in the former case the cylinder will at one side
of the piston be permanently connected with the condenser.
My improved engine will be particularly applicable to the driving of
centrifugal, circulating, and other pumps, and screw launches and other
high speed machinery.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Anderson in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 30th December 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
ANDERSON, of Southwark Street, in the Borough of Southwark, Engineer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Thirtieth day of June, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in the thirty-
eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said William Anderson, Her special licence
that I, the said William Anderson, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said William Anderson, 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
RECIPROCATING MOTIVE-POWER ENGINES," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said William Anderson, my executors or administrators,
by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands

page_text: 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 William Anderson, 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, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto
annexed and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to
say) :-
The object of this Invention is to construct reciprocating engines
which will be capable of running at great velocity. The difficulty
hitherto experienced in running engines at great velocity has been due
to the reversed pressures upon the bearings and joints by which they are
speedily deteriorated, and the engine when in action is caused to rattle.
To avoid this I now propose to make the engine single acting and
thereby ensure that the pressure of the motive power and the active
force employed to give the return stroke shall be in one and the same
direction on the bearing parts, and the valve gear I so arrange as to
ensure a similar action on the joint in connection therewith. To this
end I apply to the single acting engine a fly wheel of sufficient weight
or power to attain a momentum during one half a revolution sufficient
during the other half revolution to keep the engine running steadily.
Under such circumstances it will be seen that as the fly wheel is driven by
the piston during one half of its revolution and is the driver of the piston
in the reverse direction during the other half, the strain or pressure on
the joints and journals must always be in nearly the same direction,
and therefore no knock or rattling is possible.
In applying my Invention to non-condensing engines I adopt the
arrangement shewn in the Drawing, where Fig. 1 is an end elevation,
Fig. 2, a. vertical section, and Fig. 3, a sectional plan view of a single
acting trunk engine. If however it is desired to avoid the friction and
cooling effects of a trunk the engines may be of the ordinary type,
but with one end of the cylinder always open to the exhaust steam
passing from the other end.
In the case of condensing engines the last arrangement is imperative,
one end of the cylinder must be always connected to the condenser

page_text: without which the pressure of the atmosphere would to a certain extent
make the engine double acting.
The valve gear of the single acting engine I so arrange that the valve
shall be moved in one direction by weights, springs, or steam pressure,
and in the opposite direction by the excentric or crank of the fly wheel
shaft. I thus ensure that the pressure on the joint and valve rods
shall always be in the same direction, and I thereby make knocking
impossible. The most convenient arrangement for working the valves is
that shewn in the Drawing, where the valve spindle is made large
enough in diameter to act as a piston for moving the valve in one
direction. The valves may be of any approved description, balanced or
otherwise, as most convenient.
My improved engine will be particularly applicable to the driving of
centrifugal, circulating, and other pumps, screw launches, and other
high speed machinery.
Having now set forth the nature of my Invention of "Improvements
in Reciprocating Motive-power Engines," and explained the manner of
carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that under the
above in part recited Letters Patent I claim, the means above described
for preventing the rapid deterioration of the bearings and joints of
reciprocating motive-power engines due to the reversed pressures to
which they have been heretofore exposed.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Anderson, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Thirtieth day of December, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
four.