IMPROVEMENTS IN THE ARRANGEMENT OF VALVES FOR STEAM AND OTHER ENGINES, AND IN THE MEANS OF OPERATING THE SAME.
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Peterkin Douglas Camp, of the International
Patent Agency, 100, Fleet Street, in the City of London, for the In-
vention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE ARRANGEMENT OF VALVES FOR STEAM AND
OTHER ENGINES, AND IN THE MEANS OF OPERATING THE SAME. A com-
munication from abroad by Henry Steele, of Jersey City, State of New
Jersey, United States of America.
Sealed the 13th June 1862, and dated the 22nd February 1862.
his
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Peterkin Douglas
Camp, at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
Petition, on the 22nd February 1862.
I, JAMES PETERKIN DOUGLAS CAMP, of the International Patent- Agency,
100, Fleet Street, in the City of London, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE ARRANGEMENT OF VALVES FOR STEAM
AND OTHER ENGINES, AND IN THE MEANS OF OPERATING THE SAME," being a
communication to me from abroad by Henry Steele, of Jersey City, State of
New Jersey, United States of America, to be as follows:-
This Invention is more particularly intended for direct-action steam engines
for pumping, blowing, and other purposes, for which a reciprocating motion is
required, and no rotary motion is necessary. It consists in certain arrangement
and means of operating a secondary valve for admitting steam. to act upon

page_text: pistons to complete the movement of the main valve after its movement has
been partly accomplished by a connection with the main piston rod.
For a more exact description, I will describe my improvements in connection
with an engine cylinder, which is provided with an ordinary valve chest having
attached to it at opposite ends two short cylinders standing in line with each
other, and parallel with the main cylinder, these two short cylinders are open
to the valve chest at their inner ends, but closed at their outer ends, except
that the left one has a stuffing box for the passage of the valve rod.. The main
valve is of the kind known as the short three-port valve at the side of its seat,
and either parallel or in the same plane with it is the seat of a secondary valve
which is like the main valve, only narrower, and works over a system of ports
which are arranged and spaced in the ordinary way, but narrower than the
main ports, as
they are required for the passage of a very much smaller quantity
of steam. The ports communicate by passages with the outer ends of the short
cylinders, and the exhaust port communicates with the main exhaust port, or
is in any other way brought into constant communication with the exhaust
pipe. The short cylinders are fitted with pistons, one each, the inner ends of
which are always exposed to the pressure of steam in the valve chest, the said
piston being rigidly secured to the valve rod. The secondary valve is also
connected with the valve rod by a pin secured to the rod entering between two
lugs on the back of the valve or by any other means by which the said, valve
can be operated without any lost motion relatively to the rod. The main valve
is connected with the valve rod by means of a slot in the rod and a tenon on
the back of the valve, the slot being longer than the tenon to allow a consider-
ablo degree of lost motion of the rod with respect to the valve. The connection
may be made by any other means that will allow of the lost motion, the object
of which is that while both valves are operated by the same rod the secondary
valve may always have the lead of the main valve. The valve rod is connected
outside of the cylinder by a connecting rod with a short crank which is loose
on a fixed stud secured in a rigid arm attached to the main cylinder, or in any
other fixed support. This crank serves to limit the movement of the valves,
and also to effect the first part of the movement thereof in either direction as will
be presently described. The stud has also fitted loosely to it a lever on which
there is formed a fork embracing the crank, but made so much wider as to
permit the crank to make a quarter of a revolution within the said fork. The
said lever is fitted into a sleeve which is.pivoted by a pin to an arm that is
rigidly secured to the main piston rod.
The operation of the said valves is as follows:-The first part of the movement
of both of them is effected by the action of an armi of. the main piston rod on

page_text: the said lever, the prongs of the fork of said lever operating alternately on
opposite sides of the crank to bring the said crank from a horizontal position
on either side of the stud to the vertical position, and the movement of the
valves is completed by the action of the valve rod produced by the admission
of steam by the secondary valve to act upon the piston of either short cylinder,
the crank being by that means brought from the vertical position to the hori-
zontal position opposite to that from which it started.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said James Peterkin Douglas Camp, in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 1st August 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
PETERKIN DOUGLAS CAMP, of the "International Patent Agency, " 100, Fleet
Street, in the City of London, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of February, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-fifth year of
Hér reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said James Peterkin Douglas Camp, Her special licence, that I, the
said James Peterkin Douglas Camp, my executors, administrators and assigns,
or such others as I, the said James Peterkin Douglas Camp, 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 ex-
pressed, 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 THE ARRANGEMENT OF VALVES
FOR STEAM AND OTHER ENGINES, AND IN THE MEANS OF OPERATING THE SAME," a
communication to me from abroad by Henry Steele, of Jersey City, State of
New Jersey, United States of America, upon the condition (amongst others),
that I, the said James Peterkin Douglas Camp, my executors or adminis-
trators, 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said James Peterkin Douglas Camp, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the

page_text: same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement thereof, reference being had to the accompanying
Drawings, forming a part of this Specification, in which Figure I. is a vertical
longitudinal section of the principal parts of an engine, with my Invention
applied; Figure II. a transverse vertical section of the cylinder and valve chest ;
Figure III. a plan of the machine, with the valve chest in section; Figure IV.
a perspective view of a forked lever, constituting part of the mechanism for
operating the valves. Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts
in the several Figures.
My Invention is more especially intended for direct-action steam engines for
pumping, blowing, and other purposes, for which a reciprocating motion is
required, and no rotary motion is necessary. It consists in a peculiar arrange-
ment of parts for operating a secondary valve for admitting steam to act upon
pistons to complete the movement of the main valve after its movement has
been partially accomplished by a connection with the main piston rod.
A is the engine cylinder; B, the piston; C, the piston rod; D, the valve
chest, having attached to it at opposite ends two short cylinders E, E', standing
in line with each other, and parallel with the main cylinder A. These
cylinders E, E', are open to the valve chest at their inner ends, but closed at
their outer ends, except that E has a stuffing box C' for the passage of the
valve rod F. G is the main valve, which is of the kind known as the short
three-port" valve, and a, a, is its seat, having the usual arrangement of
steam ports b, b, and exhaust port c. At the side of the valve seat a, and
either parallel or in the same plane with it is the seat of the secondary valve H,
which is like the main valve G, only narrower, and works over a system of
ports d, d, e, which are arranged and spaced like b, b, c, as shown in Figure III.,
but narrower as they are required for the passage of a very much smaller
quantity of steam. The ports d, 'd', communicate by passages h, h', with the
outer ends of the cylinder E, E¹, and the port e communicates with the main
exhaust port c, or is in any other way brought into constant communication
with the exhaust pipe. The cylinders E, E', are fitted with pistons I, I¹, one
each, the inner ends of which are always exposed to the pressure of steam in
the valve chest; the said pistons being rigidly secured to the valve rod.F.
The secondary valve H is connected with the rod F by a pin f, secured to the
rod, and entering between two lugs 9, 9', on the back of the valve, or any
other means by which the said valve can be operated without any lost motion
relatively to the rod. The main valve is connected with the rod F by means
of a slots in the rod, and a tenon i on the back of the valve, the slot being
longer than the tenon to allow a considerable degree of lost motion of the rod

page_text: with respect to the valve. The connection may be made by any other means
that will allow of the lost motion, the object of which is, that while both valves
are operated by the same rod F, the secondary valve H may always have the
lead of the main valve. The valve rod F is connected outside of the cylinder E
by a connecting rod with a short crank K, which is loose on a fixed stud L,
secured in a rigid arm M, attached to the main cylinder, or in any other fixed
support. This crank serves to limit the movement of the valves, and also to
effect the first part of the movement thereof in either direction, as will be
presently described. The stud L has also fitted loosely to it a lever N, of
which Figure IV. is a separate view, on which there is formed a fork j, j',
embracing the crank K, but made so much wider as to permit the crank to
make a quarter of a revolution (of the crank) within the said fork. The
lever N is fitted into a sleeve P, which is pivoted by a pin k to an arm Q that
is rigidly secured to the main piston rod C.
The operation of the valves is as follows:-The first part of the movement
of both of them is effected by the action of the arm Q of the main piston rod
on the lever N, the prongs of the fork j, j, of the said lever operating alter-
nately on the opposite sides of the crank K, to bring the said crank from a
bórizontal position on either side of the stud L to the vertical position shown
in Figure 1, and the movement of the valves is completed by the action of the
valve rod, produced by the admission of steam by the secondary valve H, to
act upon the piston I or I', the crank K being by that means brought from
the vertical position to the horizontal position opposite to that from which it
started.
To illustrate the operation clearly, I will first suppose the main piston B to
be completing its stroke to the left, as represented in Figure 1. In doing this
the arm Qhas moved the lever N to such a position that the prong; of its
fork has brought the crank K from a horizontal position on the left side of the
fixed stud L to a vertical position above the said stud, as shown, and the crank
has moved the valve rod pistons I, I', and valves to the right, far enough for
the secondary valve H to have commenced opening its port d to the steam in
the chest D, and its port d¹ to the exhaust port e, but not far enough for the
main valve G to have opened the port b to the steam, and the port b¹ to the
exhaust. This condition is represented in Figure II., the steam entering by
the port d and passage h to the cylinder E, while the port d' and passage h¹
are open to the exhaust, acts very quickly on the piston I, and causes the valve
rod, the valve, and the other piston I¹ to move quickly to the right, far
enough to give the port 6 a wide opening to the steam, and a wide opening
to the exhaust pipe. This movement is limited by the crank K arriving in a

page_text: horizontal position on the right side of the fixed stud L. The main piston
then commences moving to the right, and as it completes the said movement
causes the projection 1 on the lever N to bring the crank again to the
upright position represented in Figure I., and so moves the valves H and G to
such a position that the opening of the port d' to the steam, and d to the
exhaust, has commenced when steam enters by the passage h¹ into the
cylinder E', and acts upon the piston I', thereby causing the further move-
ment of both valves in a sudden manner to the left as far as permitted by the
crank K, thus completing the opening of the port d to the steam and d to
the exhaust, and effecting the opening of the main port 6' to the steam and
6 to the exhaust, and so causing the movement of the main piston to the left
to take place. In completing its movement to the left, the arm Q acts upon
the lever N, and causes the prong j of the said lever to bring the crank to the
upright position represented in Figure 1. The continual operation is but a
repetition of that described. Instead of the lever N and crank K being both
loose on a fixed stud, as described, either may be secured to a rock shaft upon
which the other is fitted loosely.
I do not claim effecting the completion of the movement of the main valve
by the action of steam upon pistons connected with it; but what I claim is,
the arrangement of the secondary and main valves side by side in the same
chest, and in direct connection with the same operating rod, the said rod
having attached to it the pistons for completing the movement of the main
valve, and having a lost motion with respect to the main valve, but none with
respect to the secondary valve, all substantially as herein described.
And I also claim the crank K and forked lever N, applied substantially as
described in combination with each other, and with the valve rod and main
piston rod, for the purposes set forth.
In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-
fifth day of June, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred
and sixty-two.
JAMES PETERKIN DOUGLAS CAMP. (L.S.)