IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM PUMPS
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Tijou, of Great George Street, in the
City of Westminster, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN STEAM PUMPS."
Sealed the 17th November 1868, and dated the 20th May 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Tijou at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
20th May 1868.
I, WILLIAM TIJOU, of Great George Street, in the City of Westminster,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of my said Invention for "Im-
PROVEMENTS IN STEAM PUMPS," to be as follows, that is to say:-
This Invention relates to a peculiar construction and arrangement
of direct-action steam pump for feeding steam generators, and for
other purposes where water or other fluids are required to be forced
or injected, whereby greater simplicity and cheapness combined with
compactness are obtained.
In carrying out my Invention I employ an ordinary steam cylinder
and piston, the former being provided with the usual steam and exhaust

page_text: ports or passages communicating with a peculiar valve nerei-alter
described; the piston rod works through a stuffing box and is prolonged
sufficiently to form the piston rod or ram of an ordinary or other force
pump which is situate in the same axial line as the working cylinder,
the combined apparatus being thus direct acting.
The peculiar form and arrangement of valve and the means for
working or actuating the same constitute an important feature of this
Invention. The valve itself consists of a hollow cylinder accurately
fitted into a corresponding shaped valve case, which may be cast in one
piece with the cylinder or bolted thereto as found most convenient in
practice. The steam and exhaust ports are disposed longitudinally
along the valve case. Along two longitudinal centre lines in the
circumference of the cylindrical valve there are formed an oblong recess
or chamber in the thickness of the metal and a port or opening entirely
through the thickness of the metal and communicating with the internal
hollow space or cavity of the valve. The positions of the oblong recess
and the port or opening are reversed in the two faces of the valve, so
that on turning the valve partly round on its axis the port or opening
will bring alternately first one and then the other of the steam ports
into connection with the centre or hollow of the valve, which is in
constant communication with the steam generator, whilst at the same
time the corresponding oblong recess establishes a communication
between the opposite steam port and the exhaust. By chambering or
recessing a portion of the circumference of the valve a saving of material
and a reduction of rubbing surface and consequently of friction may bo
effected. With a view to assisting the lubrication and easy working of
the valve, which by reason of its peculiar construction is in equilibrio,
or nearly so, steam communications may be established through the
closed end of the valve between the interior of the valve and the end of
the cylindrical valve case. The spindle of the valve works through a
stuffing box, and the requisite partial rotatory motion may be imparted
thereto by any convenient mechanical contrivance; but the peculiar
arrangement which I prefer to use for that purpose consists of a scroll
or slotted frame keyed on to a rocking spindle, which may or may not
form a continuation of the valve spindle; this rocking spindle works
in one or more bearings bolted down on to the bed plate, and serves
not only to transmit the requisite partial rotatory motion to the valve,
but also serves to prevent any such motion being imparted to the

page_text: working piston and piston rod, as will be herein-after explained. In the
working piston rod there is keyed a short arm projecting at right angles
thereto, which arm may be provided about the middle of its length
with an antifriction roller working against the sides of a differential
groove or slot in the scroll frame, and causing such frame to rock on its
axis and transmit the same motion to the valve spindle and valve. The
extreme end of the short arm above referred to slides to and fro freely
along the rocking spindle which carries the scroll frame, the said spindle
thereby at the same time acting as a guide to the arm and effectually
preventing any lateral or rocking movement therein. If desired, the
exhaust may be turned into the suction pipe of the pump, cither through
the bed plate or otherwise, whereby I not only economise heat by raising
the temperature of the water as it enters the pump, but at the saing
time create a vacuum or partial vacuum in the working cylinder.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Tijou in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 19th November 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
TIJOU, of Great George Street, in the City of Westminster, Engineer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Hor
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of May, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the thirty-
first year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said William Tijou, Her special license that I,
the said William Tijou, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said William Tijou, my executors, administrators,
or 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 STEAM PUMPS," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Tijou, my executors
or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my hand and
seal, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said

page_text: 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 Tijou, 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 accompanying
Drawings, and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is
to say :-
My said Invention relates to a peculiar construction and arrangement
of direct-action steam pump for feeding steam generators, and for other
purposes where water or other fluids are required to be forced or injected,
whereby greater simplicity and cheapness combined with compactness
are obtained.
In carrying out my Invention I employ an ordinary steam cylinder
and piston, the former being provided with the usual steam and exhaust
ports or passages communicating with a peculiar valve, hercin-after
described. The piston rod works through a stuffing box, and is prolonged
sufficiently to form the piston rod or ram of an ordinary or other force
pump which is situate in the same axial line as the working cylinder,
the combined apparatus being thus direct acting. The peculiar form and
arrangement of valve and the means for working or actuating the same
constitute an important feature of this Invention. The valve itself
consists of a hollow cylinder accurately fitted into a corresponding
shaped valve case, which may be cast in one piece with the cylinder or
bolted thereto as found most convenient in practice. The steam and
exhaust ports are disposed longitudinally along the valve case. Along
two longitudinally centre lines in the circumference of the cylindrical
valve there are formed an oblong recess or chamber in the thickness of
the metal and a port or opening passing entirely through the thickness
of the metal and communicating with the internal hollow space or cavity
of the valve. The positions of the oblong recess and the port or opening
are reversed in the two faces of the valve, so that on turning the valve
partly round on its axis the port or opening will bring alternately first
one and then the other of the steam ports into connection with the
centre or hollow of the valve, which is in constant communication with
the steam generator, whilst at the same time the corresponding oblong

page_text: recess establishes a communication between the opposite steam port and
the exhaust. By chambering or recessing a portion of the circumference
of the valve a saving of material and a reduction of rubbing surface and
consequently of friction may be effected. With a view to assisting the
lubrication and easy working of the valve, which by reason of its peculiar
construction works in eqilibrio, or nearly so, steam communications
may if found requisite be established through the closed end of the valve
between the interior of the valve and the end of the cylindrical valve
case. The spindle of the valve works through a stuffing box, and the
requisite partial rotatory motion may be imparted thereto by any con-
venient mechanical contrivance, but the peculiar arrangement which
I prefer to use for that purpose consists of a scroll or slotted frame keyed
on to a rocking spindle which may or may not form a continuation of
the valve spindle. This rocking spindle works in one or more bearings
bolted down on to the bed plate, and serves to transmit the requisite
partial rotatory motion to the valve, as herein-after explained. To the
working piston rod there is keyed a short arm projecting both upwards
and downwards at right angles thereto, which arm is provided at its
lower extremity with an antifriction solid or spring roller of steel or other
suitable metal, or with a roller composed of hard wood or compressed
leather or other material capable of working easily and with little or no
noise against the sides of a differential groove or slot in the vibrating or
oscillating scroll frame herein-before referred to, thereby causing such
frame to rock on its axis and transmit the same rocking or partial
rotatory motion to the valve spindle and valve. The extreme upper end
of the short arm above referred to slides to and fro freely along a guide
rod, the said rod acting not only as a guide to the arm, but effectually
prevents any lateral or rocking movement in the piston.
And in order that my said Invention may be fully understood I shall
now proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose
shall refer to the several Figures on the annexed Sheet of Drawings,
the same letters of reference indicating corresponding parts in all the
Figures.
Figure 1 of my Drawings represents a plan of my improved direct-
action steam pump; Figure 2 is a longitudinal sectional elevation of
the same; Figure 3 is a transverse vertical section taken along the line
1-2, in Figure 2; Figure 4 is a similar section taken along the line 3-4,
and Figure 5 is a vertical section taken along the line 5-6; Figure C is

page_text: an enlarged longitudinal section of the valve in its valve case; Figures
7 and 8 are enlarged views of the sections, Figures 3 and 4; and Figure 9
is an enlarged elevation of the cylindrical valve detached.
A is the cast-iron bed plate of the steam pump, to one end of which
is cast, bolted, or otherwise secured the steam cylinder B, and to the
opposite end the pump barrel C. The piston rod D is prolonged so as
to form the ram or plunger of the pump, as shown clearly in Figure 2.
The working cylinder B has the usual steam ports a, a, and exhaust
port b cast therein, which are governed by the cylindrical valve E
(Figure 9) working inside a corresponding valve case F, shown more
clearly in Figure 6; c is a cavity or chamber made inside the valve,
and in constant communication with the steam in the boiler through
the steam pipe G. At different angles from this central cavity are
formed two radial openings a', a', and in a longitudinal line with each of
these openings (but in reversed positions, as shewn in Figure 9) there is
formed a recess or chamber & in the metal of the valve, which chambers
serve to connect one or other of the steam ports with the exhaust port
according to the direction in which the valve is moved; d is a chamber
formed partly round the valve on the side opposite to the steam and
exhaust passages for the purpose of saving material and reducing the
rubbing surface. The valve spindle H works through a stuffing box e
in the valve case, and is coupled at f to a rocking spindle I which
works in bearings g, g. This rocking spindle I has keyed thereon the
segmental frame K and centre guide piece L, both of which are so shaped
as to form a differential endless slot or groove h, seen more clearly in
Figure 1. Within and along this sloth works the antifriction roller M,
carried on the lower end of the arm N, which is keyed on to the piston
rod D. An eye is made in the upper end of the arm N which slides to
and fro along the guide rod O extending between and secured to the
cylinder and pump barrel respectively, with a view to ensure smoothness
and little or no noise or jarring when at work. I prefer that the anti-
friction roller or bowl M be composed of hard wood such as lignum vita
for example, or of compressed leather, or be provided with elastic
material in the centre, and the sides of the slot may be lined with or
composed of wood or compressed leather, hard india-rubber, or other
similar material for the same purpose. On admitting steam to the
cylinder with the valve in the position shewn in the Figure 2 the piston
will be forced outwards, driving at the same time the piston or plunger

page_text: of the pump inwards, the exhaust taking place through the opposite
steam port and through the recess or chamber in the valve, which
connects it for the time being with the exhaust port b. During the
time the piston is moving outwards the bowl or antifriction roller M is
travelling along the straight portion of the differential slot h, the valve
consequently remaining stationary for a time, but by the time. the piston
has nearly completed its stroke the bowl M will have entered the curved
portion of the slot h, and will thereby cause the frame K and centre
guide piece L with the rocking spindle I to rock or turn over to one
side, the extent of such rocking motion being sufficient to bring the
other valve port and recess into action, thereby admitting the steam to
the front end of the cylinder and exhausting from the rear end. This
position of the valve is maintained so long as the bowl M is travelling
back along the straight portion of the slot h on the opposite edge of the
frame to that by which it had last travelled, whilst the bowl moves
along the curved portion " of the slot the valve will be turned partially,
and will have assumed its original position, shewn in Figure 2, by the
time the piston has completed its stroke, the movements being then
continued as already described should it be found necessary. In order to
insure that the bowl or roller M shall always complete its course along
the slot before the piston commences its return stroke, a small fly wheel
or disc P, as shewn in Figure 10, may be added mounted on a spindle Q
carried by the end of the cylinder or cylinder cover, and provided with
a crank pin R, which is connected to the arm N by a connecting rod S.
It is obvious that the peculiar valve and mode of operating the same is
equally applicable to steam hammers or to steam engines provided with
reciprocating pistons.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of
my said Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be
used or carried into effect, I would observe in conclusion that what I
consider to be novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention
secured to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,―
First. The general construction, arrangement, and combination of
parts constituting a direct-action steam pump, as herein-before described.
Second. The peculiar construction of cylindrical valve, as hercin-
before described.
Third. The mode of actuating a cylindrical rocking or partial rotating
valve in steam pumps by means of a differential groove or slot in the

page_text: rocking frame worked direct from the piston rod of the driving cylinder,
substantially as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Tijou, have to this my
Specification set my hand and seal, the Seventeenth day of
November, One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight.
WILLIAM TIJOU. (L.S.)