IMPROVEMENTS IN VALVES USED, AS IN THE CASE OF SLIDE VALVES, FOR REGULATING THE FLOW OF STEAM,, WATER, AND OTHER FLUIDS
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joseph Lewis, of Manchester, in the County of
Lancaster, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN VALVES USED,
AS IN THE CASE OF SLIDE VALVES, FOR REGULATING THE FLOW OF STEAM,,
WATER, AND OTHER FLUIDS."
Sealed the 30th October 1866, and, dated the 1st May 1866.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joseph Lewis at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 1st,
May 1866.
I, JOSEPH LEWIS, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Engineer, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN VALVES
USED, AS IN THE CASE OF SLIDE VALVES, FOR REGULATING THE FLOW OF STEAM,
WATER, AND OTHER FLUIDS," to be as follows:-
My improvements consist in an arrangement whereby I am enabled. to'
rotate or oscillate the valve upon a centre of motion: To accomplish this' I;
use a cylindrical valve rotating or oscillating within a casing. In this casing:
I form the ports and the inlet and exhaust passages in the moveable part.
The valve is separated for one arrangement in.'two parts by an annular
groove, from which there are other grooves in the direction of the axis, but
not extending through the entire face of the valve.. The steam is admitted.

page_text: to the annular groove and passes into the axial grooves above mentioned, and
from thence through the ports in the casing as the rotary motion brings them
coincident. For the exhaust I form openings diametrically through the valve
at right angles to the grooves formed for the inlet, and which discharge
through the centre. The centre of motion of the valve is placed excentrically
to the line of ports. The valve so constructed I apply to steam and other
fluid engines, and to meters for measuring water and other fluids. If it be
desired to use the valve for admitting the fluid to one side only of a piston,
then one-half of the above-described arrangement is used.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Joseph Lewis in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 1st
November 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSEPH
LEWIS, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the First day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the twenty-ninth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Joseph Lewis, Her special license that I, the said Joseph Lewis, my,
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Joseph
Lewis, 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
VALVES USED, AS IN THE CASE OF SLIDE VALVES, FOR REGULATING THE FLOW OF
STEAM, WATER, AND OTHER. FLUIDS," upon the condition (amongst others) that
I, the said Joseph Lewis, by an instrument in writing under my hand and.
seal, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Inven-
tion, 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 Joseph Lewis, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following,
statement and accompanying Drawings (that is to say):-

page_text: My improvements consist in an arrangement whereby I am enabled to
rotate or oscillate the valve upon a centre of motion.
In the accompanying Drawings Fig. 1 represents the valve detached and
in longitudinal section; Fig. 2 is a cross section thereof taken in the line
A, B; and Fig. 3, a similar section taken in the line C, D; Fig. 4 is a
longitudinal section of the valve adapted to an engine; Fig. 5, a cross section
taken in the line E, F ; and Fig. 6, a section in the line G, H.
The valve is formed with a cylindrical section extending from a to b, and
is situate within a casing c cast with the cylinder d, and is composed of two
principal portions e, f, g, h, between which is an annular space i communicating
with the steam pipe j. The valve is formed slightly conical, the end 6 being
of the larger diameter, and it is adjusted fluid-tight by turned rings k placed
between it and the cylinder covers l, m, the said covers therefore close the
casing c as well as the cylinder d. The rings k may be changed as they or
the valve wear, or other ordinary means may be used to set the valve up.
The exhaust pipe is formed upon the cover m. The two principal portions
e, f, g, h, of the valve are each provided with two axial passages n, o, p, q, the
one set being at right angles to the other; they communicate at their inward
ends with the annular chamber i, at their outward ends they are stopped by
the solid parts r of the valve. The portions e, f, g, h, are also each provided
with two diametric perforations s, t, u, v, each pair being at right angles to the
other, and establishing communications from the outward circumference of
the valve to a hollow portion thereof extending from w to w*. According to.
the position of the parts shewn in the Drawing the piston y is supposed to be
moving in the direction of the arrow, and the exhaust steam is passing out
through, the port z, from thence through the perforation into the hollow
part w, w, of the valve, which, as before described, is in communication-with
the exhaust pipe n. During this time steam has been passing through the
pipe into the annular chamber i, and from thence along the axial. passage
and port 1 to the steam side of the piston y. The valve supposed to be con
tinuously revolving will, when the stroke has been performed, bring the axial
passage 9 coincident with the port z, while at the same time the perforation t
will have arrived coincident with the port 1, and thus the steam and exhaust
sides of the piston will be changed, and so on for every quarter revolution of
the valve, and it therefore follows that for every revolution of the crank:shaft
of the engine the valve must perform one half revolution.
I have, for the sake of rendering my explanation clear, described hitherto
the application of my valve to oue cylinder only, I will now proceed to shew
its adaptation to two cylinders, referring to the cross section, Fig. 7. The

page_text: valve is constructed, precisely as above described, with two sets of axial steam
passages
and two sets of diametric exhaust passages, the whole being placed
in a casing c situate between two cylinders d, d*. According to the position
shewn in the Drawing the piston in the cylinder d is supposed to be coming
towards the observer, the exhaust steam passing out through the ports, per-
foration v, and central chamber w, and the position therefore corresponds with
that shewn at Fig. 6. In the other cylinder d* the piston is retreating
from the observer, and steam is passing therein through the axial passage n
and port, the positions corresponding therefore to those shewn at Fig. 5.
On the other side of the piston in the cylinder dan axial passage (n in the
formerly described Figures) is in a line with the perforation v, and is therefore
delivering steam to the cylinder, while on the other side of the piston in
the cylinder da perforation (v in the formerly described Figures) is in
a line with the axial passage n, and through which the exhaust steam is
passing to the passage w, w*. A further rotation of the valve will effect a
change of ways precisely as above described. Rotatory motion may be com-
municated to the valve spindle by any ordinary mechanical arrangement, but
at Fig. 8 I have shewn one method by which it may be effected. The crank
shaft of a pair of engines is shewn at 2, upon which is a bevil pinion 8 taking
into another 4 mounted upon a shaft 5. At the other end of this shaft is a
spur pinion taking into another 6 of twice the number of teeth and mounted
upon the valve spindle 7; the valve will therefore, as before mentioned, per-
form one-half revolution for each revolution of the crank shaft. The governor
may be driven from the shaft 5, as shewn. I have above described my
improved valve as applied to steam engines, but it is equally applicable to
water engines, meters for measuring fluids, and generally to purposes for
which slide valves are employed.
In reference to water meters the valve may be adapted in conjunction with
metallic pistons, flexible diaphragms, or other such ordinary arrangement,
and the reciprocating motion of the pistons or diaphragms may be converted
into rotatory motion for actuating the "count" by any suitable ordinary
.contrivance; I have, however, at Figs. 9 and 10, shewn one method by which
this may be accomplished, the former being an end view and the latter a side
view of a double-cylinder meter. The two cylinders are shewn at 8, 9, and
are in this instance supposed to be furnished with diaphragms, there being
flanges as at 10 for confining their edges; they may, however, be fitted with any
ordinary pistons and arranged with fittings at pleasure, the Figs. being merely
used to shew a method of converting the reciprocating motion of the piston
rods into a rotatory motion for the count. The piston rod of one of the

page_text: cylinders is shewn at 11, to the outward end of which is attached a plate 12
furnished with a slot, within which is a sliding block 13 carrying a crank
pin 14 formed upon a crank 15, which is fixed upon a shaft 16 carried by a
bracket 17. The piston rod of the other cylinder is also furnished with a
similar apparatus, and the several parts thereof are marked with the same
letters of reference with the addition of an *, the two cranks 15, 15*, how-
ever, are placed at right angles to each other. Upon the shaft 16 is a worm
wheel 18 taking into another worm wheel 19 fixed to the spindle 20 of the
valve, which valve is in the casing c and acts precisely in the manner described
in reference to the former Figures. As the piston rods 11, 11*, are forced to
and fro they carry with them the frames 12, 12, and thus by causing the
blocks 13 to slide in their slots effect a turning of the cranks 15, 15*. I lay
no claim to this motion, as it is now known and in use, nor do I limit myself
thereto, but have merely described it by way of example. The worm wheels
18, 19, are what are called skew spur gear, and are formed with teeth, as is
well understood, which enable them to work with their shafts at right angles
to each other. At 21 is a spindle carried by a bush, and which spindle may
carry the count to be driven by ordinary gearing from the valve spindle.
According to the above description of my improved valve it has been supposed
to rotate constantly, but it is evident that such rotation may be effected at
intervals if desired, or that instead of rotating always in one directed it may
be caused to oscillate upon its centre of motion. I have also described two
steam axial passages and two diametric passages to each of the two principal
parts of the valve, but these passages may be multiplied by two or more if
desired; only in such case the rotation of the valve must be proportionately
slow. The Drawings show a valve with but very little lap, but it will be seen
that such lap may be increased to any desired extent. In applying my valve
to any purpose in which it is desired to admit steam or other fluid at one
side of the piston only then one only of the portions e, f, or g, h, will be
required; but in any case it will be observed that the said valve works in
equilibrium. The valve might be reversed by admitting steam into the
chamber w, w*, and using the annular chamber i for the exhaust, the only
alteration required being to make the pipe n the steam pipe, and the pipe j
the exhaust. It will be observed that the valve is placed excentric to the
openings of the ports, and this accomplishes the same object as is effected by
ordinary excentrics working slide valves.
Having thus described and ascertained the nature of my said Invention,
and the mauner in which the same is to be performed, I desire it to be
understood that I claim as secured to me under the above in part recited

page_text: Letters Patent, and for the purposes set forth, the use of a rotating or
oscillating valve provided with axial and diametric passages and an internal
longitudinal passage.
: In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Lewis, have hereunto set my
band and seal, this Thirty-first day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six.