IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR PORTIONING STEAM POWER, AND ALSO IM- PROVEMENTS IN PLUGS, COCKS, OR TAPS FOR STEAM, GASES, AND LIQUIDS
Year: 1842

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
BISHOP, of Poland Street, Westminster, Jeweller, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by He
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the Twenty-ninth day of December, in the sixth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
John Bishop, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that
I, the said John Bishop, my exors, adññiors, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said John Bishop, my exors, adiñiors, or assigns, should at any time agree
with, and no others, from time to time and at all times during the term of
years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend,
within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR PORTIONING STEAM POWER, AND ALSO IM-
PROVEMENTS IN PLUGS, COCKS, OR TAPS FOR STEAM, GASES, AND LIQUIDS;" in which
said Letters Patent is contained a proviso that I, the said John Bishop,
shall cause a particular description of the nature of my said Invention, and
in what manner the same is to be performed, to be inrolled in Her said
Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and imme-
diately after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by
the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
John Bishop, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and the
manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described and ascer
tained in and by the following statement thereof, reference being had to the
Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked thereon
(that is to say):-
I will describe how the apparatus is to be arranged, according to my Inven-
tion, for proportioning power. It is well known that in many factories and
places powerful engines are employed to give motion to shafts, from which
motion is communicated to machinery belonging to different persons in dif-
ferent rooms or premises, and in different parts of a factory or place, and it
is usual for persons to pay to the proprietor of an engine in proportion to the
power employed, and it has long been desirable to have some means of pre-
venting any person taking more power than is paid for. Now, the object of
this part of the Invention is to transmit the power through such an apparatus
as is capable of regulating the quantity of power to be apportioned out to a
particular user of power, such apparatus being so arranged as to prevent
more work being put on to the engine by the particular party than is
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
John Bishop, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and the
manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement thereof, reference being had to the
Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked thereon
(that is to say) :-
:-
I will describe how the apparatus is to be arranged, according to my Inven-
tion, for proportioning power. It is well known that in many factories and
places powerful engines are employed to give motion to shafts, from which
motion is communicated to machinery belonging to different persons in dif-
ferent rooms or premises, and in different parts of a factory or place, and it
is usual for persons to pay to the proprietor of an engine in proportion to the
power employed, and it has long been desirable to have some means of pre-
venting any person taking more power than is paid for. Now, the object of
this part of the Invention is to transmit the power through such an apparatus
as is capable of regulating the quantity of power to be apportioned out to a
particular user of power, such apparatus being so arranged as to prevent
more work being put on to the engine by the particular party than is
paid for.
:
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
a is the main or driving shaft which receives motion from a steam engine or
other engine of power, and b is another shaft which receives motion by means
of mitre wheels, as is shewn, and this shaft 6 is supposed to be the one by
which motion is transmitted to machinery of a particular user of power, and
there may be many such shafts, each having an apparatus applied thereto, as
hereafter explained, in order to prevent more power being derived from the
shaft 6 than that agreed for; c is a clutch box which connects the shaft b
with the shaft d, and e is a drum, or it may be a cog wheel, by which the
power given to the shaft d from the shaft a may be communicated to the
machinery which is to be worked thereby, and the power so transmitted
through the shaft d to machinery will depend on the angular figure of the
teeth of the clutch box c, and on the strength of the spring used to press the
shaft d towards the shaft b, all which will readily be understood on examining.
the Drawing. And it may be remarked that the spring used may be varied,
or, in some cases, in place of a spring a weight might be used. The apparatus
shewn is to be covered over and locked up, in order to prevent its being got
at. It will be evident that if the apparatus be set for a given power, that
power cannot be exceeded, as the clutch box would separate on having a greater

page_text: strain applied thereto. I would remark that I do not confine myself to the
details herein shewn, provided the peculiar character of the apparatus be
retained. But what I claim is the mode of portioning power of an engine to
different users as above described.
I will now describe that part of my Invention which relates to the construc-
tion of steam cocks or plugs. It is well known that it is very difficult to
construct steam cocks, having conical plugs, in such manner as to prevent
them wearing unequally, and this has arisen from the circumstance of steam
cocks having heretofore been so constructed as to have the pressure of steam
(when the blank part of a plug of a cock is turned opposite the opening into
the steam pipe) pressing the plug away from that side. Now, the object of
this part of my Invention is so to construct steam cocks that wherever the
steam presses on one side with a tendency to force the plug over to the other
side, that the plug shall be so formed that the steam shall press equally on the
other or opposite side of the plug. Figure 1 shows a vertical section of two
cocks for a steam engine, a being part of the steain, engine cylinder; b and c
being the upper and lower steam ports; d, d, are the external cases of the
plugs, which consist of two hollow cones, within which the plugs of the cocks
work; e is a steam pipe from a steam boiler, by which steam is conveyed into
the hollow cones or cases d. The plug f of the upper cock is constructed in
the following manner :- may be called the main part of the plug or cone, in
which is formed two recesses, f and f³, the recess f2 opening upwards into the
steam space, the recess f³ opening downwards into the exhaustion space;
and it should be stated that at the opposite sides of the plug there are similar
recesses to those at f, f, so that whatever pressure may take place by the
steam being within the recesses f³, f³, may be counterbalanced by an equal
pressure of steam being on the opposite sides of the plugs f; f' is a conical
plate at a distance from the larger surface of the principal part of the plug f,
leaving what I call a steam space f³ between the plate f' and f, into which
steam constantly flows from the steam pipe when the engine is at work;
fe is another conical plate below the main cone f, so that there is what
I call the exhaustion space between the plates f and f, which is con-
stantly open into the eduction pipe f, and it will be seen that the
lower cock f is of similar construction to the upper one, but the posi-
tion of the parts is reversed, and in each cock the parts f. f, and f, are com-
bined together or made out of the solid, and connected by means of the
stem f, and the two plugs f, f, are combined together by means of rods g, g,
the lower one having a socket or tube keyed thereon, into which socket or tube
the upper rod 9 passes, and when the two plugs f, f, are properly in their seats

page_text: or hollow cones, the set screw h, passing through the socket, retains the upper
rod g securely combined with the lower one; and i is a projecting arm affixed
to the socket, which being acted on by any suitable apparatus worked by the
engine causes the recesses f2 of the two plugs f alternately to be brought
opposite the steam ports b, c, at their respective ends of the steam cylinder, so
that when the recess f² is open to the steam port at either end, the recess f³ of
the other plug will be opposite the steam port at the other end of the cylinder.
Figure 2 shews a plan of the parts shewn by Figure 1. I would remark, that
the means of accomplishing this part of my Invention may be varied, and yet
retain the principle of construction constituting the novel feature of these
improvements. Figure 3 shews another arrangement of cocks in which the
larger diameter of each plug is upwards, and they are coupled together by rods
g and a socket, the upper rod being fixed and adjusted into the socket by
screwing into it, and the socket is affixed to the lower rod g by means of a
screw. The arm in this case is affixed to the upper plug, and there is a
bridge j, with a screw through it, pressing on the upper plug, as is shewn. In
other respects the parts are similar to those shewn in Figure 1, and are marked
with the same letters of reference. In order to prevent the plugs wearing in
bands I cause the interior of the hollow cases or cones to be cut into the shape
shewn in section at Figure 4, making the sides gradually more approaching the
perpendicular, as is shewn. In case single acting steam cocks be required, then
I prefer to construct them as shewn at Figure 5, which represents a section of
the pipes and case; the steam passing through the plug has an opening in
opposite directions, so that the steam will at all times press in opposite direc-
tions at the same time, and the plug itself will not be so pressed on as to drive
it more on one side than another. Figure 6 shows another modification of the
plug of a steam cock according to this part of my Invention, and Figure 7 is a
section of the conical case. This arrangement is suitable for a steam regulator
for locomotive or other engines. The conical case in this instance is closed at
top and bottom, and such may be the case with other arrangements of steam
cocks according to my Invention, in order to allow of the steam pressing at the
upper and under end of the conical plug, as well as to counterbalance the
pressure, as above explained. The plug in this instance has two grooves in it
from top to bottom at opposite sides, so that the steam which enters by the
pipe may press on the upper and under surfaces of the conical plug, as well
as at the two sides where the grooves are. There are two eduction ways to
this cock at opposite sides of the case, with a proper branch pipe, and I prefer
that the openings for the eduction should be formed, as shewn, to allow of
what is called wiredrawing the steam. I would here remark that this part of

page_text: my Invention may be varied in the construction of the plug, and the conical
case in which the plug moves round; but so long as provision is made to allow
the steam to act at opposite sides of the plug used, so that it shall not be
pressed more in one direction than another, such will be according to the
peculiar character of my Invention.
And I would wish it to be understood, that what I claim as this part of my
Invention is, the so constructing conical plugs which turn in suitable hollow
conical cases, that where it is necessary to have a pressure of steam on one side
of a plug, that there shall be means provided on the opposite side of the plug
in order that the steam may press to counterbalance the pressure.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Bishop, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Twenty-eighth day of June, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and forty-three.