IMPROVEMENTS IN MOTIVE-POWER AND PUMPING MACHINERY
Year: 1881

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Weir and George Weir, both of Glasgow, in the
County of Lanark, North Britain, Engineers, for an Invention of “IMPROVE-
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Weir and George
Weir at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 10th March
1881.
JAMES WEIR and GEORGE WEIR, both of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark,
North Britain, Engineers. "IMPROVEMENTS IN MOTIVE-POWER AND PUMPING
MACHINERY."
This Invention has principally for its object the construction of improved motive-
power and pumping machinery of the class in which the motive-power piston acts
directly on a pump piston or plunger without the intervention of a rotating shaft
or flywheel. The improved machinery at the same time comprises various details
which are advantageously applicable separately either for motive-power or pumping
purposes.
In one modification of the improved machinery a motive-power cylinder to be
worked by steam or other fluid under pressure and a pump cylinder or barrel are
placed vertically with the motive-power cylinder uppermost. The motive-power
piston has attached to it an enlarged piston rod or trunk so as to reduce the area
of its underside, such rod or trunk passing through a stuffing box in the bottom
of the cylinder, and being continued of the same diameter or of a reduced diameter
through a stuffing box in the top of the pump cylinder, and having the pump
piston attached to its lower end. The stuffing boxes are by preference packed in
an improved manner hereinafter described. The steam is made to act on the
compound system, each quantity first entering beneath the piston and operating on
the smaller area, and then being transferred to the upper end of the cylinder to act
on the larger area. The bottom of the pump cylinder communicates with a space
between two check valves or two sets of check valves, the water or other fluid to
be pumped entering by the lower or foot valve or valves when the pump piston
rises and passing through the other valve or valves when the pump piston
descends. The passage above the upper check valve or valves communicates with
the top of the pump cylinder and with the discharge passage or pipe through
which the fluid has to be pumped or forced. When the pump piston ascends it
forces the fluid from the upper end of the cylinder into the discharge pipe, and
Pine R71

page_text: when the pump piston descends the upper end of the cylinder receives the fluid
from the lower end less the quantity corresponding to the space occupied by the
piston rod or trunk, which quantity passes directly into the discharge pipe.
The passages of the motive power cylinder communicate with ports on a flat
port face, on which there is between the two ports a third one communicating with
the exhaust pipe. On this port face there is fitted to slide a valve something like
a common slide valve with the usual exhaust cavity, but made with a passage
passing round such cavity, and which in one position of the valve puts the cylinder
ports into communication with each other, so that the steam may be transferred
from the lower to the upper end of the cylinder, as hereinbefore described. In the
other position of the valve the upper cylinder port is in communication with the
exhaust port, and fresh steam is admitted to the lower cylinder port. The valve
is made with a small cylinder at each end of it, the cylinders having in them
pistons fixed on a rod passing through an intervening pipe. The pistons have
blocks projecting from their outer sides and bearing against guide surfaces formed
in the ends of the valve casing and at right angles to the main port face, so that
the adjustment of the main valve in relation to the main port face is not interfered
with by any action between the small cylinders and their pistons. The main valve
is moved by the action of steam between the inner ends of the small cylinders and
the pistons, the latter being practically stationary, and this action is controlled by
a small subsidiary slide valve working on a face on one side of the main slide
valve. The subsidiary valve is worked by means of tappets or levers, or other
connections with the main piston on its rod so as to receive a small movement. at
the end of each stroke. Two passages, by preference drilled at right angles to the
port face, communicate with each small cylinder, the steam entering by one which
is quite at the end, and exhausting by the other, which is at a small distance
inwards from the end, so that it is covered by the piston on the end of the stroke
being approached, and so as to retain some steam to form a cushion and prevent
shock. The subsidiary valve moves in the opposite direction to the motion which
it causes the main valve to take. Thus on the subsidiary valve uncovering the
steam port however slightly at one end when moving to the right, for example,
the steam entering immediately causes the main valve to move to the left, which
insures the uncovering of the port to its full extent. The same action takes place
with the exhaust from the small cylinders, and by these actions all dead points
are avoided, and continued operation of the machine is secured. The passages of
the motive-power cylinder are by preference made to enter the cylinder a short
distance inwards from the ends so that the piston may pass and close them and
become cushioned. A slight but practically advantageous pause is thus obtained
at the ends of the strokes, and small passages or pipes fitted with regulating valves
are arranged to communicate with the passages and the extreme ends of the cylinder
to admit steam for the return strokes. Owing to the smallness of these passages
the piston can start into, motion slowly only, the precise rate being determinable
by adjusting the regulating valves.
The improved packing of the piston-rod stuffing boxes consists of metallic rings,
of which there is an inner one cut into two or more parts, and encircled by an
outer one also divided but with the divisions in different positions to those of
the inner ring, and these two rings are placed between an upper and a lower ring.
The upper ring is formed with a flat upper surface and a hollow conical under
surface, and the lower ring is like the upper ring reversed. The middle rings are
conically shaped above and below to fit the hollow conical surfaces of the upper
and lower rings. The combination of rings being placed in the stuffing box one or
more springs are applied to exert upon them a compressive force, which can be
adjusted by external screws, and this force through the wedge action of the conical
surfaces tends to make the middle rings contract and fit tightly upon the piston
rod.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said James Weir and George Weir in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
9th September 1881.
JAMES WEIR and GEORGE WEIR, both of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark,
North Britain, Engineers. "IMPROVEMENTS IN MOTIVE-POWER AND PUMPING
MACHINERY,"
Our said Invention has principally for its object the construction of improved
motive-power and pumping machinery of the class in which the motive-power
piston acts directly on a pump piston or plunger without the intervention of a
rotating shaft or flywheel. Our improved machinery at the same time comprises
various details which are advantageously applicable separately either for motive-
power or pumping purposes.
In one modification of our improved machinery a motive-power cylinder to be
worked by steam or other fluid under pressure and a pump cylinder or barrel are
placed vertically with the motive-power cylinder upperinost. The steam is made
to act on the compound system, each quantity first entering beneath the piston and
operating on a smaller area, and then being transferred to the upper end of the
cylinder to act on the larger area. The pump and its passages and valves are
arranged so that the water is first drawn in below the piston, then transferred to
the upper end of the cylinder, and afterwards passed from the latter into the
discharge pipe.
The passages of the motive-power cylinder communicate with ports on a flat
port face, in which there is between the two ports a third one communicating
with the exhaust pipe. On this port face there is fitted to slide a valve something
like a common slide valve with the usual exhaust cavity, but made with a passage
passing round such cavity, and which in one position of the valve puts the cylinder
ports into communication with each other, so that the steam may be transferred
from the lower to the upper end of the cylinder, as hereinbefore described. The
valve is made with a small cylinder at each end, the cylinders having in them
pistons which in one modification are fixed on a rod passing through a pipe or passage
in the valve. Or the pistons may be fixed to or formed on the ends of the valve,
and the cylinders be movable thereon. The main valve is moved by the action of
steam between the small pistons and cylinders, the parts which are movable
relatively to the valve being practically stationary through the action of guides or
stops, or of the steam pressure itself in the valve casing. The action of the steam
between the pistons and cylinders of the valve is controlled by a small subsidiary
slide valve working on a face on one side of the main slide valve. The subsidiary
valve is worked by means of tappets or levers or other connections from the main
piston or its rod, and moves in the opposite direction to the motion which it causes
the main valve to take; or the subsidiary valve may be moved transversely so as
to have an equivalent effect. On the subsidiary valve uncovering the steam port
however slightly at one end when moving longitudinally to the right, for example,
the steam entering immediately causes the main valve to move to the left, which
insures the uncovering of the port to its full extent. The same action takes place
with the exhaust from the small cylinders, and by these actions all dead points
are avoided and continued operation of the machine is secured.
Our improved packing for the piston-rod stuffing boxes consists of a combination
of metallic rings and springs, of which there is an inner ring cut into two or more
parts and encircled by an outer ring, and these are placed between an upper and a

page_text: lower undivided ring, each formed with a concave conical surface to bear on convex
conical surfaces formed on the upper and lower faces of the middle rings. Pressure
is applied by an adjustable spring or springs to the upper ring, and the action of
the conical surfaces of it and the bottom ring tends to make the middle rings
contract and fit tightly upon the piston rod.
And in order that our said Invention and the manner of performing the same
may be properly understood, we hereunto append three sheets of explanatory
Drawings to be hereinafter referred to, and representing various modifications of
our improved machinery.
Figures 1 and 2 on Sheet 1 of the accompanying Drawings are an elevation and
vertical section of one modification of our improved combined motive-power and
pumping machinery; Figures 3 and 4 on Sheet 2 are an elevation and a vertical
section showing the application of a modification of our improved valve details to
an ordinary combined steam cylinder and double-acting pump; Figures 5 to 9 on
Sheet 3 are enlarged views of a third modification of the valve details, and Figure 10
is an enlarged section explanatory of our improved stuffing box packing. In these
Drawings the same reference numerals are employed to mark the same or like parts
wherever they are repeated.
In the direct-acting steam pump shown in Figures 1 and 2, a steam cylinder 11
is placed vertically and above a pump cylinder or barrel 12, and the motive
piston 13 has attached to it an enlarged piston rod or trunk 14, so as to reduce
the area of its underside, such rod or trunk passing through a stuffing box 15 in
the bottom of the cylinder, and being continued of the same or of a reduced
diameter through a stuffing box 16 in the top of the pump cylinder 12, and having
the pump piston 17 attached to its lower end. The stuffing boxes 15, 16, are by
preference packed in the improved manner hereinafter described with reference to
Figure 10. The bottom of the pump cylinder 12 communicates by a passage 18,
partly indicated by dotted lines in Figure 2, with a space 19 between two check
valves 20, 21, (or it might be two sets of check valves) the water or other fluid to
be pumped entering from an inlet passage 22 by the lower or foot valve 20, when
the pump piston 17 rises, and passing through the other valve 21 when the pump
piston descends. The passage 23 above the upper check valve 21 communicates
with the top of the pump cylinder 12, and also with the passage 24 through which
the fluid has to be discharged or forced. When the pump piston 17 ascends it
forces the fluid from the upper end of the cylinder into the discharge pipe 24, the
lower end of the cylinder then filling through the foot valve 20, and when the pump
piston descends the upper end of the cylinder receives the fluid from the lower end
through the upper check valve 21, less the quantity corresponding to the space
occupied by the piston rod or trunk, which quantity passes directly into the
discharge pipe 24.
The passages 25, 26, of the motive cylinder 11 communicate with ports on a flat
port face, in which there is between the two ports a third one 27, communicating
with the exhaust pipe. On this port face there is fitted to slide a valve 28, some-
thing like a common slide valve with the usual exhaust cavity 29, but made with a
passage 30 passing round such cavity, and which in the position in which the valve
is shown puts the cylinder passages 25, 26, into communication with each other, so
that the steam may then be transferred from the lower to the upper end of the
cylinder. In the other position of the valve the upper cylinder port and passage 26
is in communication with the exhaust port 27, and fresh steam is admitted to the
lower cylinder port and passage 25. The valve 28 is made with a small cylinder
at each end of it, the cylinders having in them pistons 31, 32, fixed on a rod 33,
passing through a central bore or pipe. The outer ends of the pistons 31, 32, or
blocks on them bear against guide surfaces formed on the ends of the screw pins 34,
which can be adjusted by screwing, and which do not interfere with any slight
movement or adjustment of the valve upon the cylinder port face. The main
valve 28 is moved by the action of steam between the inner ends of the small

page_text: cylinders and the pistons 31, 32, the latter being practically stationary; and this
action is controlled by a small subsidiary slide valve 35, working on a face on the
outer side of the main slide valve 28. The subsidiary valve 35 is worked by means
of a rod 36 passing through stuffing boxes, and which is in this modification moved
by a tappet arm 37, fixed to the piston rod or trunk 14. Stops 38 are adjustably
fixed on the valve rod 36, and the tappet arm 37 acts on one or the other as it
approaches the ends of its stroke. Two small passages, by preference drilled at right
angles to the port face on the main valve 28 communicate with each small cylinder,
and between these there is a port communicating with the exhaust cavity 29 of the
valve. In Figure 2 the subsidiary valve 35 is shown as having been moved down-
wards sufficiently to just open a communication admitting steam into the lower
cylinder, and this will cause the main valve to rise. The motion of the main valve
is thus opposite to that of the subsidiary valve, and the consequence, which it is
important to notice, is that the opening for admitting steam to act in the small
cylinder of the main valve is thereby increased, and the complete movement of the
main valve insured. The same action takes place with the exhaust from the
small cylinders, and in working the various parts can never assume any relative
positions such that the admission of steam will not at once start the machine into
operation.
In the modification shown in Figures 3 and 4 on Sheet 2 of the Drawings, both
the steam or motive cylinder 11 and the pump cylinder 12 and the accessories are
constructed or arranged to be worked in the ordinary way, each being double
acting, and the steam operating on the non-compound system. The main steam
slide valve 28 is made with the exhaust cavity 29, but without the additional
passage (30) of the previously described modification, and it is made with pistons on
its ends on which work cylinders 31, 32, acting in substantially the same manner
as the pistons of the other modification. Instead of the connecting rod (33) being
used there are stops formed on a port-face plate 39 (a detached view of which is
given at the side of Figure 4), and the inner edges of the cylinders 31, 32, abut
against these stops, the steam pressure on the outsides of the cylinders keeping
them in contact with the stops. To prevent displacement however in the absence
of steam, and also to moderate any concussive action, springs 40 are applied to the
outer ends of the cylinders 31, 32. The subsidiary valve 35 works over single
instead of double ports communicating with the cylinders 31, 32; and instead of
the valve rod 36 receiving abrupt movements at the ends only of the strokes of
the main piston it is moved continuously throughout the stroke by means of a
lever 41, consisting of a pair of rods jointed on an arm 42, fixed to the piston
rod 14. The lever 41 is centered on a pin 43, held in the eye of a screw bolt 44
adjustably fixed to a bracket 45, the rods forming the lever passing through bores
in the pin 43, one on each side of the bolt eye, and the rods are similarly connected
to the valve rod 36 by passing through bores in a pin 46, held in an eye formed on
the bottom of the valve rod.
In our Provisional Specification relative to our said Invention we described
certain arrangements of the cylinder passages for cushioning the piston and pre-
venting the too sudden reversal of the motion, but we do not now consider such
arrangements novel or useful, and do not make any claim for them. We now
prefer to use a simpler and we believe a better device for the same purposes, and
have shown it in Figure 4. The valve rod 36 is continued to work a pair of
cylindrical valves 47 fitted for covering a cylindrical inlet port 48, by which the
main supply of steam enters the valve casing. As the steam piston 13 approaches
either end of its stroke, one of the valves 47 closes the inlet port 48, and shuts off the
main supply of steam; but to prevent complete stoppage a small supply can still
find its way in by a branch pipe 49 having on it a regulating valve 50, by which
the amount passing can be adjusted to what is just sufficient for the purpose in
view.
Figures 5 and 6 on Sheet 3 of the Drawings are enlarged elevations as at right

page_text: angles to each other of the main valve 28, as slightly modified from what is
herein before described; Figure 7 represents the subsidiary port face, and Figures 8
and 9 are separate views of the upper end and under sides of the subsidiary
valve 35. In this modification the subsidiary valve 35 is arranged to move
transversely to the motion of the main valve 28, being guided so as not to move
with the main valve by guides 51 fixed to or forming extensions of the stops on
the main port-face plate 39. The transverse movement is given by the longi-
tudinally moving valve rod 36, which has fixed to or formed on it an oblique
piece 52 to work between oblique guides on the back of the subsidiary valve 35.
The transverse movement may however be imparted in any other convenient
way, as for example by means of a rocking movement of the longitudinal
spindle 36, or by placing the spindle transversely and arranging it to work through
a stuffing box in the side of the valve casing and with suitable external connections.
On considering the action of the parts due to the arrangements shown, it will be
seen that whenever the subsidiary valve 35 opens the ports leading to the small
cylinders 31, 32, however slightly, the consequent movement of the main valve will
open those ports more fully, and ensure the completion of the movement just as in
the previously described modifications.
Our improved stuffing-box packing, shown in Figure 10 on Sheet 3 of the
Drawings consists of the following combination, namely, a bottom ring 53 formed
with a concave surface on its upper face; an inner ring divided circularly, or in
other words a pair of rings 54 encircled by an outer ring 55, the rings 54 and 55
being combined and formed with convex conical surfaces below and above; a top
ring 56.formed with a concave conical surface on its under face, and a spring or
springs 57 bearing down on the top ring 56. The middle rings 54 and 55 are cut
into segments to allow of the rings contracting, but the segments are placed so as
to cover or cross each other's joints or divisions. The pressure of the spring 57 is
adjusted by screwing in the gland 58 more or less, and the action of the top and
bottom rings 56, 53, which are not divided is to make the middle rings 54, 55, fit
tightly on the piston rod.
Our various improvements are hereinbefore described as applied to vertical steam
cylinders and pumps; but they are also applicable when the steam cylinders and
pumps are placed horizontally or at any inclination.
Having thus particularly described our said Invention and the manner of
performing the same, we have to state that we do not restrict ourselves to the
precise details herein described or delineated, but that what we believe to be
novel and original, and claim as the Invention secured to us by and in terms
of the hereinbefore in part recited Letters Patent is,-
1. The combination of a compound-acting motive-power cylinder with a pump
cylinder in which the fluid pumped is passed from one side of the piston to the
other, the parts being arranged and operating substantially in the manner
herein before described.
2. The arranging or combining together of the pump and its passages and
valves, substantially in the manner hereinbefore described with reference to
Figures 1 and 2 of the accompanying Drawings.
3. The arranging or combining together of the main steam valve and its
accessories, substantially in the improved manner herein before described and
shown on the accompanying Drawings.
4. The combination of a main steam valve with small cylinders and pistons for
moving it, and with a small subsidiary valve working on a port face on the main
valve, the ports and passages in the main valve being arranged so that the
movement of the main valve due to the action of the subsidiary valve is opposite to
the movement of the subsidiary valve or otherwise, such as to increase the opening
of the ports controlled by the subsidiary valve, the parts being arranged and
operating substantially as herein before described.
5. The combination of metallic rings forming packing for a piston-rod stuffing

page_text: box and herein before described with reference to Figure 10 of the accompanying
Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Weir, on behalf of myself and of the
said George Weir, have hereunto set my hand and seal, this Eighth day
of September, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and
Witness,
EDMUND HUNT,
Patent Agent,
Glasgow.
JAMES WEIR. (L.S.)