IMPROVE- MENTS IN MULTIPLE LUBRICATORS FOR MACHINERY
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Stephen Alley, of Glasgow, in the County of
.
Lanark, North Britain, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN MULTIPLE LUBRICATORS FOR MACHINERY."
...
Sealed the 6th January 1874, and dated the 12th July 1873
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Stephen Alley at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
12th July 1873.
I, STEPHEN ALLEY, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North
5 Britain, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MULTIPLE LUBRICATORS FOR MACHINERY," to be as
follows, that is to say:―
This Invention has for its object to render more systematic, regular,
and controllable the lubrication of machinery in cases where several
6 separate parts require it, as for example, in the case of a set of marine
engines, or of a locomotive with its multiplicity of journals, joints,
guides, and sliding pieces..

page_text: The Invention consists in constructing one multiple lubricator to
serve a number of parts requiring lubrication, such lubricator having
separate pipes leading to the several parts, and each pipe having in
connection with it a valve connected to a lever or key by which an
attendant can act on any valve whenever it is necessary. There is
also fitted in connection with the valve levers a revolving shaft or barrel,
driven along with the machinery, and which by means of one or
more tappets, wipers, or cams acts in succession on the levers when the
machinery is in motion, the power of acting on them by hand being
provided rather for giving extra supplies of oil to particular journals or 1
parts when this may be requisite, or for oiling the machinery previously
to starting it, than for the ordinary supplies.
-
The oil is supplied to the multiple lubricator from a tank or vessel
placed at an elevation to impart the required pressure, or loaded
and supplied under pressure by pumps; and where steam is available a
steam pipe is connected to the lubricator so that steam can be admitted
to any pipe at any time to clear it out or to heat the oil.
In cases in which the action of an attendant is never required the
separate valves and levers may be dispensed with and a revolving
valve piece be substituted with an opening or openings which uncovers
the mouths of the branch pipes in succession. The multiple lubricator
is to be placed in a conspicuous and accessible position and the levers
or keys are to have names or equivalent indications of the journals
or other parts to which they relate distinctly marked on or beside
them.
Where any part to be lubricated is in a moving boosing 1:1.
1

page_text: Where steam is not available a hand pump may be connected to the
multiple lubricator for cleaning it by or for forcing oil to any particular
bearing with extra pressure when required.
не сопитиопо
filed by the said Stephen Alley in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 12th January 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, STEPHEN
ALLEY, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North Britain, Engineer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twelve day of July, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in the
thirty-seventh year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said Stephen Alley, Her special
licence that I, the said Stephen Alley, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said Stephen Alley, 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
MULTIPLE LUBRICATORS FOR MACHINERY," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Stephen Alley, my executors or administrators, by an
instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands 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.

page_text: following statement in writing, reference being had to the accompanying
Drawings, that is to say:-
My said Invention has for its object to render more systematic, regular,
and controllable the lubrication of machinery in cases where several
separate parts require it, as for example in the case of a set of marine
engines or of a locomotive with its multiplicity of journals, joints, guides,
and sliding pieces.
In carrying out my Invention various modifications of multiple lubri-
cators are employed, each constructed or arranged to serve a number of
parts requiring lubrication, and having separate pipes leading to the
several parts, the pipes having in connection with them a valve or valves
actuated in concert with the machinery. Provision is also made for
acting on the supply valve or valves by hand at any time, or the
apparatus may be modified so as to be entirely operated by hand.
And in order that my said Invention and the manner of performing ]
the same may be properly understood, I hereunto append a Sheet of
explanatory Drawings to be herein-after referred to, and representing
various modifications of my improved lubricating arrangements. In
these Drawings the same reference numerals are used to mark the same
or like parts wherever they are repeated.
Figure 1 on the Sheet of Drawings is a vertical section, and Figure 2
is a sectional plan of one modification of my multiple lubricators. The
parts are contained or carried by a metal body 1 of a circular form,
which may be supported on a pedestal or in any other convenient way;
and in this body 1 there is formed an annular channel or supply space 2, 2
into which the oil or other lubricant is admitted by a pipe 3. In the
bottom of the space 2 there are a series of valve seats forming the
entrances to passages 4, which communicate by means of small tubes or
pipes (not shown) with the various parts of the machinery to be lubri-
cated. The passages 4 are closed by conical valves on spindles 5, which 3
pass up through packed holes in an annular cover plate 6 fixed on the
body 1, light spiral springs being applied above the valves to insure their
closing after being opened. The valve spindles 5 are connected to a
series of levers or finger keys 7 centred in bearings made for them round
a rim formed on the cover plate 6, and the depression of the outer end 3
of any lever or key causes the lifting of the valve spindle 5. The levers
or keys 7 extend inwards beyond the valve spindles 5, and have pins 8

page_text: screwed into their inner ends, and which can be adjusted to project
downwards more or less. A vertical spindle or shaft 9 is mounted in
the centre of the body 1 of the lubricator, and has fixed on it a wiper or
cam piece 10; and the shaft being made to rotate in any convenient
way in concert with the machinery carries the wiper 10 under each
lover 7 in succession, and causes the valve spindles to be lifted in regular
rotation, the extent and duration of lift of each lever depending on the
adjustment of its pin 8. The supply pipe 3 has in communication with
it a branch for admitting steam as well as one for oil, a three-way cock 11
being fitted for opening the inlet to oil or steam as required. Thus it:
will be convenient to admit steam to any particular pipe when it is
required to clear it out or to force or heat the lubricant proceeding by
it ; and in cases in which steam is not conveniently available for clearing
out or forcing the lubricant a small hand pump may be connected to the
supply pipe for that purpose.
The ordinary supply of oil by the lubricator is derived from a tank or
vessel placed at an elevation or loaded to impart the required pressure,
or it may be supplied under pressure by pumps, and in the latter case
the quantities can be adjusted by regulating the speed of the pumps.
Figures 3 and 4 are a vertical section and a sectional plan of a modi-
fication resembling that shown in Figures 1 and 2, excepting that the
passages 4, the levers or keys 7, and other parts are disposed rectilinealy
instead of in a circle, whilst the revolving shaft 9 is placed horizontally
and has on it a barrel 12 having projections on it to act on each of the
levers 7.
In cases in which the action of an attendant is not often required the
separate levers or keys 7 may be dispensed with as in the modification
shown in vertical section in Figure 5 and in plan in Figure 6. In this
modification a revolving valve piece 13 formed or fixed on the shaft 9,
and having one or more holes, admits oil from the space 2 into the series
of passages 4 (of which one is shown in section in Figure 5). Each
passage 4 communicates with the tube 14 leading to the part requiring
lubrication through a hollow conical plug valve 15, the spindle of which
issues upwards through a stuffing box, and is formed to receive a special
key 16, such as is shown in sectional elevation in Figure 7. and in
inverted plan in Figure 8. The plug 15 is formed with lateral inlets,
one to communicate with the passage 4, another capable of being put in

page_text: communication with an outer channel 17, to which steam has access by
a pipe 18, whilst one can be put in communication with the oil space 2
beneath the revolving valve piece 13, to which last the oil has access by
the pipe 3. With this arrangement an extra supply of oil, or steam, or
compressed air from a pump can at any time be directed to any bearing
or through any tube 14 on suitably turning the corresponding plug valve
15. A disc 20 is fixed on the shaft 9 with numbers or other marks
round its edge to show by reference to a fixed pointer 21, which passage
4 is open, and to enable an attendant to open any one he wishes when
the shaft 9 is not being turned by the machinery. A spring catch 22 is
fixed inside the cover plate 6 to bear on ratchet teeth on the valve piece
13 to prevent its slipping back when the shaft 9 is turned with a ratchet
movement.
Figures 9 and 10 are a vertical section and a plan of a modification
in which a single central plug valve 19 combined with an upper valve
piece 23 is substituted for the series of valves 15 (Figure 5). The
upper valve piece 23 is constructed with an annular surface closing
a series of upper ports communicating with the lubricating tubes 14,
excepting at a point where a passage 24 is formed in it in communi-
cation with its central cavity occupied by the plug valve 19. Steam
has access to the hollow plug 19 by a pipe 18 through a lantern
bush 25 in the stuffing box, and through ports in the tubular centre
of the valve piece 23, and in the plug 19. A disc 26 is fixed on
the spindle 27 of the plug 19 for turning it by and for showing its
relative position by reference to a pointer 28 fixed on the disc 20 in
connection with the valve piece 23.
When the parts are in the positions shown steam has access to one
of the lubricator tubes 14, but if the plug valve 19 were turned a
quarter round oil would have access from the space 2 to the same
tube 14 instead of steam; whilst any one of the tubes may be opened
in this way to the steam or oil by turning round the disc 20, and with
it the upper valve piece 23. Thus, for example, a supply of oil may
be distributed to the various bearings prior to the starting of the
machinery by turning the disc 20 once or oftener, the upper disc 26
being set in the proper relative position for admitting oil to the hollow
plug 22.
Figures 11 and 12 are a vertical section and a plan of a simplified
modification arranged for cases in which a continuous regulated supply

page_text: .:
by each passage 4 can be used without disadvantage, instead of the
intermittent supplies given by the modifications herein-before described.
In this simplified modification the passages 4 are all open to the oil
space 2, supplied by the pipe 3, excepting when a valve piece 23, for
admitting steam, or air, or oil under extra pressure, is turned by hand
so as to bring its passage 24 to communicate with one of the passages 4.
The steam pipe 18 communicates with the valve piece 23 through a
stuffing box.
Figures 13 and 14 are vertical sections as at right angles to each
other of a modification of my multiple lubricator suitable for using
tallow, and for introducing oil or tallow into steam cylinders, or other
internal spaces having a pressure of steam in them. A conical valve
piece 13, which is made to revolve by preference in an intermittent
manner, is formed with a number of passages 29 in different radial
positions, and which communicate each in its turn with corresponding
ports 30 in the bottom of the cup or receptacle 31 containing the
tallow or lubricant, and which is shown as fitted with a strainer 32
and glass gauge tube 33. The valve piece 13 is made with a conical
central cavity which works on a conical nozzle 34, receiving steam
by a pipe 18, and formed with ports corresponding to those 29 of the
valve piece 13, but placed in a different position from the inlet ports 30.
The outlet ports 4 are arranged to agree radially with those in the
steam nozzle 34. Each passage 29 in the valve piece 13 becomes filled
with lubricant when it is vertical, and afterwards when it has moved
round into coincidence with the port 4 the steam entering from the
nozzle 34 forces the lubricant into the port 4 and along the tube con-
nected thereto.
•
In Figure 14 a simple contrivance is shown for turning the valve
picce 13 when a connection with a steam engine cylinder can be con-
veniently made. A jointed lever 35, acting with a frictional grip in one
direction, but freeing itself on its return, is centred on the spindle of
the valve piece, and is connected to a piston in a small cylinder 36.
The bottom of this cylinder, being in communication by a small pipe
with the steam engine cylinder, is subject to the variations of pressuro
in the latter which cause the piston to reciprocate and work the
lever 35, a spring assisting the downward movements of the piston.
Figures 15 and 16 are vertical sections as at right angles to each other
of a modification differing from that shown in Figures 13 and 14 in

page_text: having the passages 29 diametrically through the plug or valve
piece 13, whilst the ports for the steam are at one side instead of at the
centre.
Figure 17 is a sectional plan showing a convenient mode of applying
a lubricating tube 14 from one of my multiple lubricators to a
horizontal shaft bearing or other similar surface to which the oil is led,
by two or more passages. A bracket tube 37 is jointed like a gas
bracket to the tube 14 in such a way that a cross tube 38 at its end can
lie along the top of the bearing. The cross tube 38 is fitted with as
many vertical tubes 39 as are necessary to enter the inlet apertures of
the bearing, and the bracket tube 37 can be turned up with the cross
tube 38 and vertical tubes 39 when wanted out of the way.
Figure 18 is an enlarged section of a part of the cross tube 38, and
one of the vertical tubes 39, and shows the application of a screw-
regulating plug 40 fitted to each tube 39, so as to regulate the 1
proportion of supply by each.
When any part to be lubricated is in a moving bearing like a crank
pin the lubricant may be conveyed to it from my multiple lubricator by
flexible or jointed tubing. My multiple lubricator is to be placed in a
conspicuous and accessible position in connection with the machinery 2
to which it is applied, and the levers, keys, or corresponding parts are to
have numbers, names, or equivalent indications of the bearings or other
parts to which they relate distinctly marked on or beside them.
A multiple lubricator, such as is herein-before described, may be applied
to an entire mill, or to an entire railway train, or to any section of a 2
mill or train, so that the lubrication of all the machinery of a mill or
section of a mill, or of all the axles of a train or section of a train, may
be under the convenient control of one man.
Lamps or other illuminating appliances may be fitted in connection
with the multiple lubricators to render the keys and other parts dis- 3
cernible at night or in the dark.
Having thus particularly described my said Invention, and the
manner of performing the same, I have to state that I do not
restrict myself to the precise details herein described or delineated,
but that what I believe to be novel and original, and claim as the 3
.

page_text: Invention secured to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters
Patent is,-
1. The arranging or combining together of the parts of multiple
lubricators in the improved modes substantially as herein-beforc
described.
2. The arranging of a lubricator to supply several different bearings
or parts of a machine or set of machines, and to be actuated by the
machinery substantially as herein-before described.
3. The fitting of multiple lubricators actuated by machinery with
improved appliances for also being independently actuated by hand, and
substantially such as are herein-before described.
4. The fitting of multiple lubricators actuated by machinery or by
hand, or by both, with appliances for admitting steam or compressed air
or oil under extra pressure, substantially as and for the purposes herein-
before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Stephen Alley, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Ninth day of January, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four
▸ Witness,
EDMUND HUNT,
Patent Agent,
'
Glasgow.
STEPHEN ALLEY. (L.S.)