Improved Arrangements of Appliances for Operating the Valves of Central Valve Engines.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 17th Aug., 1894
Complete Specification Left, 17th May, 1895-Accepte:1, 6th July, 1895
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improved Arrangements of Appliances for Operating the Valves of
Central Valve Engines.
We,
CHARLES EVERARD BEAUMONT, of 16 South Grove, Peckham, London,
and GEORGE PRYCE WALLINGTON, of 15 Bellenden Road, Peckham, London,
Engineers, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
--
This invention relates to improved means for actuating the distributing valves
of central valved engines and automatically varying the cut off of such engines by
means of a governor.
The invention consists in the employment of an adjustable crank or disc, or it
may be a pin movable in a slot, and pivotting thereto an arm which is vibrated
through a given are by means of a lever, one end being connected to said vibrating
arm, and the other end by means of a link to the distributing valve it is desired to
control.
At any predetermined point intermediate of the ends, the above mentioned lever
is connected to the main connecting rod preferably midway between the gudgeon
and crank ends by and from which it obtains its motion to move the valve; or the
end of said lever may be connected to the main connecting rod, and the valve link
occupy the intermediate position.
The position of the crank, crank disc, or its equivalent may be varied by means
of a hand lever fixable in the required position by any known device, whereby we
are enabled to regulate the degree of steam expansion to suit the load put upon the
engine and can moreover effect this while the engine is running. The movable or
adjustable crank by which the varying cut off is obtained may be in direct
connection with a governor, in which case the expansion is automatically regulated
to the varying conditions of work.
As an alternative but equivalent arrangement the lever may be caused to slide
through a guide eye capable of moving upon its axis to suit the varying angularity
of said lever, and also be automatically moved to change its relative position to
alter the cut off.
Dated this 17th dor of August 1904
H. GARDNER,
Patent Agent, 166 Fleet Street, London,
Agent for the said Charles Everard Beaumont and
George Pryce Wallington.
Improved Arrangements of Appliances for Operating the Valves of
Central Valve Engines.
We, CHARLES EVERARD BEAUMONT, of 16 South Grove, Peckham, London,
and GEORGE PRYCE WALLINGTON, of 15 Bellenden Road, Peckham, London,
Engineers, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the
same is to be performed to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement :-
This invention relates to improved means for actuating the distributing valves

page_text: of central valved engines, and automatically varying the cut off of such engines by
means of a governor.
The invention consists in the employment of an adjustable crank or disc, or it
may be a pin movable in a slot, and pivotting thereto an arm which is vibrated
through a given arc by means of a lever, one end being connected to said vibrating
arm, and the other end by means of a link to the distributing valve it is desired
to control.
At any predetermined point intermediate of the ends, the above mentioned lever
is connected to the main connecting rod preferably midway between the gudgeon
and crank ends by and from which it obtains its motion to move the valve. Or
the end of said lever may be connected to the main connecting rod, and the valve
link occupy the intermediate position.
The position of the crank, crank disc, or its equivalent may be varied by means
of a hand lever fixable in the required position by any known device, whereby we
are enabled to regulate the degree of steam expansion to suit the load put upon the
engine, and can moreover effect this while the engine is running. The movable or
adjustable crank by which the varying cut off is obtained may be in direct
connection with a governor, in which case the expansion is automatically regulated
to the varying conditions of work.
As an alternative but equivalent arrangement, the lever may be caused to slide
through a guide eye capable of moving upon its axis to suit the varying angularity
of said lever, and also be automatically moved to change its relative position to
alter the cut off.
Our invention will be thoroughly understood upon reference to the accom-
panying sheet of drawings, in which
Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of a central valve engine showing our improved
arrangement of appliances for operating the valve and obtaining an automatic
variable cut off.
Figure 2 is a view of alternative but equivalent appliances for obtaining the
same result.
Figure 3 is a perspective elevation of a central valve engine showing the
arrangement adopted for operating the valve when a fixed and predetermined
cut off is preferred; Figure 4 being another method of obtaining the same
result.
Figure 5 is a diagrammatic view illustrating an alternative arrangement of
attaching the valve to its gear and is applicable to any of the preceding figures.
The particular features of our invention consist in causing the end of the lever,
to and by which the valve is connected and operated, to partake of such a motion
that it will impart to the valve the necessary movement for effecting the admission
cut off expansion, exhaust, and cushion of the steam in such a manner that it can
be regulated under the action of a governor (or by hand if desired) to automatically
vary the cut off to suit the varying conditions of load or speed, and moreover to
accomplish this without varying the lead of the valve to steam admission.
To obtain this in practice, the connecting rod or rods A that transfer the motion
of the piston to the crank A' is formed with an arm B projecting therefrom at a
given point between the crank and gudgeon ends C, D, respectively, to this arm B
is pivotted what is hereinafter termed a vibrating lever E at a point intermediate
of its ends F, G, as in Figure 1; or the connecting rod may be reversed for the
arm B to be attached to the end F of the lever E, and the valve link H occupy
the intermediate position, as in Figure 5.
Referring back to Figure 1, it will be seen that the end F of the vibrating
lever is connected to the valve J by means of the link H and that the other end G
is pivoted to a crank K.
The rocking centre or shaft L of the crank K is connected to a supplementary
lever M which may be in the shape of a cradle to embrace the crank K as shown,
or in any convenient and desired form. The said centre or shaft L is variable
as to its position anywhere between the dotted lines a, b, by turning its supporting

page_text: shaft M¹ that is pivotted in any convenient manner to the engine base N, the
exact position being determined by the action of a governor as represented by the
sleeve N which is connected by means of any suitable intervening mechanism such
as the levers P, Q, R, S, to the shaft M' that carries the supplementary lever M;
or the lever S may be movable by hand and fixable in any convenient manner.
The varying position of the rocking centre L by the governor causes a corre-
sponding and relative variation in the point of cut off by reason of the altered
direction of motion the end G of the vibrating lever E is caused to take as will
be clearly understood upon reference to Figure 1 in the light of the following
description.
The rocking centre or shaft L being in the middle vertical position between the
lines a, b, it will be seen that the tangent of the arc of the crank K movement
under the reciprocating action of the vibrating lever E is a horizontal line and
with the end G of the lever moving in the direction of this tangent a given point
of cut off is obtained. Now by moving the rocking centre L of the crank K to
any other position between the dotted lines a, b, the resulting tangents of the are
movements will be changed in angularity and direction, thereby correspondingly
changing the movement of the end of the vibrating lever E from the
horizontal to the angular, the degree and direction of angularity and consequent
movement and point of cut off of the valve J varying in proportion as the rocking
centre is caused to approach the lines a, b.
The movement therefore of the valve is obtained from the end F of the vibrating
lever E, the lap and lead of the valve being equal to half the difference of the
vertical travel of the arm B and the end of the lever E as represented by the
dotted lines c, d, Figure 1, the further movement requisite to give the full opening
of the port being obtained by the combined angular movements of the arm B and
the crank K which as before described varies with the position of its rocking
centre L but inasmuch as the end G of the lever E is always in the same position
when the piston is at either end of its stroke, no matter what the position of the
centre L is, it follows that the valve has always the same amount of lead.
As in an equivalent arrangement to that just described we may instead of
connecting the end of the vibrating lever to a crank cause it to slide in a slotted
guide T, Figure 2, which may be moved to any angle by the governor, or it may
be adjustable and fixable in any given position by hand in any convenient manner
and serves the same purpose as the supplementary lever M and crank K.
When it is desired to use the engine with a fixed point of cut off, the supple-
mentary lever M is dispensed with as shown in Figure 3, in which case the
crank K is connected to the engine base; or the vibrating lever may be caused
to move or slide through a guide eye U as shown in Figure 4 that oscillates to
accommodate itself to the varying angularity of the vibrating lever E.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what we
claim is :-
1. The hereinbefore described improved arrangement of appliances for operating
the valves of central valve engines.
2. Operating the distributing valve of central valve engines from the motion
of the connecting rod by means of a vibrating lever pivotted at any predetermine.
point to an arm projecting from said rod and articulating the vibrating lever to
the distributing valve and to a crank, slotted guide, or its equivalent, as described
and in the manner substantially as shown.
3. Varying the cut off of central valve engines by altering the direction of
motion of the end of the vibrating lever by means of a supplementary lever
adjustable and fixable by hand, or controlled automatically by the governor
and maintaining a constant lead, as described and substantially in the manner
shown in the drawings.
4. In central valve engines, the use of an arm projecting at any predetermined

page_text: point from the connecting rod intermediate of the crank and gudgeon ends for
actuating the vibrating lever, and the combination therewith of a crank, crank disc,
or oscillating guide eye for the purpose described.
The 17th day of May 1805
H. GARDNER,
Patent Agent, 166 Fleet Street, London,
Agent for the said C. E. Beaumont and
G. P. Wallington.
H. GARDNER,
Patent Agent, 166 Fleet Street, London,
Agent for the said C. E. Beaumont and
G. P. Wallington.