IMPROVEMENTS IN GRADUATING THE ADMISSION OF STEAM TO THE CYLINDERS OF LOCOMOTIVE AND OTHER STEAM ENGINES BY MEANS OF THE REVERSING AND REGULATOR GEARING
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Ortton, of No. 34, Courland Grove,
Wandsworth Road, in the County of Surrey, Engineer, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN GRADUATING THE ADMISSION OF STEAM
TO THE CYLINDERS OF LOCOMOTIVE AND OTHER STEAM ENGINES BY MEANS
OF THE REVERSING AND REGULATOR GEARING."-A communication from
abroad by William Aspley Robinson, of the City of Hamilton,
Ontario, in the Dominion of Canada, Engineer.
Sealed the 16th July 1869, and dated the 23rd January 1889.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Ortton at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
23rd January 1809.
I, JOHN ORTTON, of No. 34, Courland Grove, Wandsworth Road, in
the County of Surrey, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN GRADUATING THE ADMISSION OF STEAM
TO THE CYLINDERS OF LOCOMOTIVE AND OTHER STEAM ENGINES BY MEANS OF THE
REVERSING AND REGULATOR GRARING," a communication to me from abroad
by William Aspley Robinson, of the City of Hamilton, Ontario, in the
Dominion of Canada, Engineer, to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object the graduation of the admission of
steam to the cylinders of locomotive and other steam engines, in such

page_text: .
manner that the quantity admitted may be in exact proportion to the
work to be performed, so that not only is steam thereby economised, but
there is also a diminution in the quantity of fuel required.
This object is effected either by the improved arrangements herein-
after described in the gearing for opening and closing the regulator
valve, or by improved arrangements (also herein-after described) of the
reversing gear. In all these arrangements the one end is kept in view
and 'accomplished, namely, that any movement of the primary operating
part, however limited, communicates by the means adopted to the part
regulating the admission of steam a movement so small in-proportion,
that the admission may be regulated to the minutest degree in the most
perfect manner.
The precise nature of these arrangements may be readily ascertained
by the following description :-
I. Instead of using a regulator lever of the ordinary form I construct-1
a lever with a quadrant-shaped tap, on the upper surface. of which
quadrant is formed a toothed rack. Into this rack is geared a toothed
wheel or pinion worked upon a fixed centre or arbour by a hand wheel,
to which the wheel or pinion is keyed. By one revolution, or there-
abouts, of the hand wheel, the regulator valve is opened "full,"
"and any
portion of a revolution can be made available for opening or closing
the valve to any required degree. The limits of movement of the
quadrant-shaped levar or of the hand wheel may be determined either
by stop lugs" or by a guide stud fitted to a groove in the wheel.
II. In this arrangement the lever has a projecting stud near the top
or upper end. This stud is acted upon by means of a scroll-shaped slot
formed in a hand wheel, in such a manner that one revolution, or there.
abouts, of the wheel will open or close the regulator valve, the relative
movement of the latter to the hand wheel being slower during the first
quarter revolution of the wheel than the second and the succeeding
quarters. The scroll slot can be made of any required throw, so as to -
give any desired degree of movement to the valve at any portion of the
revolution of the hand wheel.
III. This plan is similar in all essential parts to the arrangements at
present in use upon locomotives, but possesses the advantage of giving
an increased power when opening the valve, that is to say, at the com-
mencement of the movement of the lever. This is accomplished in the
following manner :-The regulator lever is formed in two separate parts.

page_text: These two parts are so coupled together at a joint at an intermediato
point in their lengths that the upper part can be moved upon the joint
named as its centro independently of the lower part of the lever, and by
means of a "stop lug" on quadrant guide acting as a fulcrum the
movement of the handle of the upper part of lever is made to act upon
the lower part of the lever through the joint to a proportionately less
degree according to the position of the joint. The effect of this arrange-
ment in the proportion of parts is, as, for example, if the handle with
fulcrum be made midway, it will be required to be moved through
double the space to operate the regulator valve through the first quarter
of its opening to what is required in its movement during each suc-
cceding quarter of the whole opening. In this way double the power is
given where the greatest resistance occurs, that is to say, at the first
opening of the valve.
IV. In this arrangement the lever, which is very similar to those at
present in use, has a quadrant-shaped attachment placed behind it, and
is so contrived that this attachment can be moved upwards and down-
wards by means of an eccentric pin or bolt, to which there may be
either a handle or a hand wheel fixed for the purpose of working the
same. On the top of the quadrant-shaped attachment is formed a rack,
into which is geared a worm wheel or pinion. This worm wheel or
pinion is keyed upon a shaft which is supported by brackets, and on each
end of this shaft is fixed a hand wheel or lever, by means of which the
shaft is made to revolve, carrying with it the worm wheel or pinion.
Hence by revolving the shaft the worm wheel or pinion will cause the
quadrant to move, which will effect the movement of the lever, and
through it the opening of the regulator valve to the extent required.
By reversing the position of the eccentric pin the attachment before
mentioned can be instantly thrown out of gear, and the lever can then
be used in the ordinary way.
V. The lever in this arrangement has a double eye at the upper end,
which double eye receives the ends of two links whose other ends are
connected to a nut which is made to work on a screw cut on a cross
shaft. By revolving this shaft the nut travels along any required
distance. In so doing the movement of the lever is effected, and
through it motion is given to the valve, the opening or closing of which
is accomplished with greater precision than can be done by the ordinary
lever.

page_text: VI. In this arrangement the lever has a quadrant-shaped top, to
which is secured a curved rack, into which is geared a suitable worm
wheel or pinion. The manner of working this arrangement is merely
identical with that described in the part of this Provisional Specification
marked IV., but it cannot like that arrangement be thrown out of gear
in order that the lover may be worked in the usual way.
VII. In this arrangement the lever is made in two parts, which parts
are jointed together at an intermediate point in their lengths. On the
joint pin or bolt is fixed a toothed wheel or pinion, which is geared into
a suitable toothed rack fixed in such a manner that the extent of the
rack will correspond with the distance that the lever will be required to
move to give the necessary opening to the regulator valve.
VIII. To the lever called the reversing lever I attach an additional
lever having a graduating quadrant, and connected in such a manner
with the reversing lever and its connecting rod that the smallest move-
ment of the rod by means of the reversing lever can be subdivided into
a lesser movement to any required degree by means of the graduator.
When the reversing lever connecting rod is connected with the lower end
of the reversing lever, instead of at an intermediate point in its length,
as in the before-mentioned case, I attach a bell-crank lever or graduator
at the lower end. This graduator is attached at its centre to the lower
end of reversing lever, and at its two extremities respectively to the
connecting rod and hand gear connection. In this case the movement
of handle is transmitted to the reversing rod by means of the bell-crank
lever, thus giving the same result as in the case before mentioned. The
same result may be obtained by different modifications of the same
Invention, as, for example, the graduator may be made to move by
means of worm screw and toothed quadrant formed upon the upper
portion of the graduator. In the application of the graduator to old
engines the quadrant may be so made as to be separate or affixed to the
reversing lever.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Ortton in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 22nd July 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
ORTTON, of No. 84, Courland Grove, Wandsworth Road, in the County
of Surrey, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-third day of January; in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nino, in
the thirty-first year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said John Ortton, Her speciał
licence that I, the said John Ortton, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said John Ortton, 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 GRADUATING THE ADMISSION OF STEAM TO THE CYLINDERS OF LOCOMOTIVE AND.
OTHER STEAM ENGINES BY MEANS OF THE REVERSING AND REGULATOR GEARING,"
a communication to me from abroad by William Aspley Robinson,
of the City of Hamilton, Ontario, in the Dominion of Canada, Engineer,.
upon the condition (amongst others) that I the said John Qrtton
my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under-
my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly.
deseribe 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 John Ortton,, do hereby declare
the nature of the 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 :-
This Invention has for its. object the graduation of the, admission of
steam. to. the cylinders of locomotive and other steam engines in such
manner that the quantity admitted may be in exact proportion to tho

page_text: work to be performed, so that not only is steam thereby economised, but
there is also a diminution in the quantity of fuel required.
This object is effected either by the improved arrangements, herein-
after described, of the reversing gearing, or by improved arrangements
(also herein-after described) in the gearing for opening and closing the
regulator valve. In all these arrangements the one end is kept in view
and accomplished, namely, that any movement of the primary operating
part, however limited, communicates by the means adopted to the part
regulating the admission of steam a movement so small in proportion
that the admission may be graduated or regulated to the minutest
degree in the most perfect manner.
The precise nature of these arrangements may be readily ascertained
by the following description, reference being made to the accompanying
Sheets of Drawings numbered 1 and 2.
I. On Sheet No. 1 of the accompanying Drawings Figures 1, 3, and 6
represent an clevation of the improved reversing lover gear for a
locomotive engine, and Figures 2, 4, and 5 are the transverse sections
respectively of Figures 1, 3, and 6.
To the lever A, Figures 1 and 2, called the reversing lever, I attach an
additional lever B, which I call a graduator, supplied with a graduating
quadrant C, and connected in such a manner with the reversing lever A
at joint E, and its connecting rod D at joint F, that the smallest move-
ment of the rod D by means of the reversing lever A can be subdivided
into a lesser movement to any required degree by means of the
graduator B.
When the reversing lever connecting rod is connected with the lower
end of the reversing lever, as shewn in Figures 3 and 4, instead of at an
intermediate point in its length, as in the before-mentioned case, I
attach a bell-crank lever or graduator at the lower end, as shewn at H.
This graduator H is attached at its centre K to the lower end of the
reversing lever G, and at its two extremities respectively to the con-
necting rod L at M, and hand gear or graduating quadrant connection
at O. In this case the movement of handle P is transmitted to the
reversing rod L by means of the bell-crank lever H, thus giving the
Bame result as in the case herein-before mentioned.
The same result may also be obtained by different modifications of the
bame Invention, one of which is shewn in Figures 5 and 6, when the
same description of graduator B, as shown in Figures 1 and 2, is made

page_text: to move by means of what is called a worm screw R and toothed
quadrant S formed upon or attached to the upper part of the gra-
duator B, giving the same advantages as in the other arrangements.
In applying the reversing lever graduator, as described (Figures 1
and 3), to any engine the quadrant O may be made either solid in one
picce or separate, and affixed to the reversing lever.
On Sheet No. 2 of the accompanying Drawings Figures 7 to 22 repro-
sent the improved arrangements of gearing for graduating the admission
of steam to the cylinders by means of the ordinary regulator valve.
II. In Figures 7 and 8, instead of the ordinary lever which is keyed
on the regulator spindle, I construct a lever a with a quadrant-shaped
top, on the upper surface of which quadrant is formed a toothed rack b.
Into this rack b is geared a toothed wheel or pinion o worked upon a fixed
centro or arbour by a hand whrel d, to which the toothed wheel or
pinion is keyed. By one revolution or thereabouts of the hand wheel
the regulator valve is opened full, and any portion of a revolution can
be made available for opening or closing the valve to any required
degree. The limits of movement of the quadrant-shaped lever or of tho
hand wheel may be determined either by "stop lugs," as shown at e, or
by a guido stud fitted to a groove in the wheel.
g
III. In Figures 9 and 10 at the lever a has a projecting stud near
the top or upper end. This stud is acted upon by means of a scroll-
shaped slot formed in a hand wheel d, in a similar way to that shewn
in the Drawing, in such a manner that one revolution or thereabouts of
the wheel will open or close the regulator valve. The relative movement
of the valve to the hand wheel will be that the valve in opening will bo
slower during the first quarter revolution of the wheel than the second
and the succeeding quarters; but the scroll slot g may be made of any
required throw, or so as to give any desired degree of movement to tho
valve at any portion of the revolution of the hand wheel.
IV. In Figures 11, 12, and 18 the plan is similar in all essential parts
to the arrangements at present in use upon locomotive engines, but
possesses the advantage of giving an increased power when opening
the valvo, that is to say, at the commencement of the movement of tho
lover. This is accomplished in the following manner :-The regulator
lover is formed in two separate parts. These two parts are so coupled
together at a joint at an intermodiato point in their lengths that the

page_text: upper part a' can be moved upon the joint named as its centre, inde-
pendently of the lower part a of the lever, and by means of the "stop
lug" on the quadrant guide acting as a fulcrum the movement of the
handle of the upper part of lever is made to act upon the lower part of
the lever through the joint to a proportionately less degree according
to the position of the joint h. The effect of this arrangement, taking the
proportion of parts for an example, as shewn in Figures 11 and 12, is
that the handle on the upper part of the lever a will move through
double the space to operate the regulator valve through the first quarter
of its opening to any succeeding quarter required for its full opening.
In this way double the power is given where the greatest resistanco
occurs, that is to say, at the first opening of the valve.
V. In Figures 14 and 15 the lever a, which is very similar to those at
present in use, has a quadrant-shaped attachment i placed behind it,
and is so contrived that this attachment can be moved upwards and
downwards by means of an eccentric pin or bolt J, to which there may
be either a handle or a hand wheel fixed for the purpose of working the
same, On the top of the quadrant-shaped attachment is formed a rack,
into which is geared a worm wheel or pinion. This worm wheel or
pinion is keyed upon a cross shaft k, which is supported by brackets 2, 12,
and on cach end of this shaft is fixed a hand wheel m or lever, by means
of which the shaft is made to revolve, carrying with it the worm wheel
or pinion. Hence by revolving the shaft the worm wheel or pinion will
cause the quadrant to move, which will effect the movement of the
lever, and through it the opening of the regulator valve to the extent
required. By reversing the position of the eccentric pin or bolt J. the
attachment before mentioned can be instantly thrown out of gear, and
the lever can then be used in the ordinary way.
VI. In Figures 16, 17, and 18 the lever a' has a double eye on the
upper end, which double eye receives the ends of two links n, n¹, whose
other ends are connected to a nut o, which is made to work on a screw
cut on a cross shaft k. By revolving this shaft the nut travels along
any required distance. In so doing the movement of the lever is effected
and through it motion is given to the valve, the opening or closing of
which is accomplished with greater precision than can be done by the
ordinary lever.
VII. In Figures 19 and 20 the lever a has a quadrant-shaped top, to
which is screwed a curved rack p, into which is geared a suitable worm

page_text: wheel or pinion q. The manner of working this arrangement is nearly.
identical with that described in the part of this Specification marked V.
(Figures 14 and 15), but it cannot, like that arrangement, be thrown
out of
gear in order that the lever may be worked in the usual way.
VIII. In Figures 21 and 22, the lever is made in two parts a, a',
which parts are jointed together at an intermediato point in their
lengths. On the joint pin or bolt his fixed a toothed wheel or pinions,.
which is geared into a suitable toothed rack & fixed' in such a manner
that the extent of the rack will correspond with the distance that the
lover will be required to move to give the necessary opening to the
regulator valve.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this
Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, what
I claim is, the attachment to to the levers used in locomotive and other
steam engines for the purpose of regulating and reversing the motion
of the slide valve of an additional lever and graduating quadrant, as
shewn at B and C (Figures 1 and 2), and B and 8 (Figures 5 and 6),
or a bell-crank lever and graduating quadrant, as shewn at H and P
(Figures 3 and 4), which arrangements I call graduators, and describe
in that part of this Specification marked I., and illustrate in the accom-
panying Sheet of Drawings numbered 1. These arrangements refer to
the reversing gear; but I also claim the arrangements for opening and
closing the regulator valve, as described in that part of this Specification
marked II. to VIII., and illustrated in Figures 7 to 22, in the Sheet of
Drawings numbered 2 accompanying this Specification.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Ortton, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-first day of July, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nino.