IMPROVEMENTS IN ENGINES FOR OBTAINING MOTIVE POWER
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Francis Alton Calvert, of the City of Manchester,
Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN ENGINES FOR OBTAINING
MOTIVE POWER."
Sealed the 28th March 1865, and dated the 17th October 1864.
PROVISIONAL, SPECIFICATION left by the said Francis Alton Calvert
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
17th October 1864.
I, FRANCIS ALTON CALVERT, of the City of Manchester, Engineer, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN ENGINES
FOR OBTAINING MOTIVE POWER," to be as follows:-
The nature of my Invention consists in supplying the cylinder with water
until the crank has attained about its full leverage, when the impact of steam,
water, or other compressed fluids can be advantageously applied to the piston
or plunger, thereby avoiding all vacant spaces, such as portways and working
space, until about the full leverage of the crank is attained.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Francis Alton Calvert in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
15th April 1865.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-eighth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her beirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Francis Alton Calvert, Her special license that I, the said Francis
Alton Calvert, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said Francis Alton Calvert, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times
thercafter 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 ENGINES FOR OBTAINING MOTIVE POWER," upon the condition
(amongst others), that I, the said Francis Alton Calvert, my executors or
administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their
bands 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 Francis Alton Calvert, 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 "fol-
lowing statement (that is to say):-
C
The nature of Invention consists in supplying the cylinder with water
until the crank has attained about its full leverage, when the impart, of steam,
water, or other compressed fluids can be advantageously applied to the piston
or plunger, thereby avoiding all vacant spaces,, such as portways and working.
space, until about the full leverage of the crank is attained..
And in order that my. Invention may be fully understood I will proceed to
describe the accompanying Sheet of Drawings, which represents one of my
improved engines for obtaining motive power by the aid of steam,, but water
or other compressed fluid may be. employed instead of steam...
Figure 1 is an elevation in section, Figure 2 is another. elevation, partly in
section, and Figure 3 is a plan of the engine.
a is the cylinder, open at the top and closed at the bottom by the foot
valve b; this valve answers the purpose of the breathing valve described in
the Specification of Letters Patent granted to me on the Twenty-first day of
October One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, Number 2625; the
eylinder is secured to the top of the cistern.c, to which are fixed the standards d
supporting the bearings e of the crank shaft f; within the cylinder a is the

page_text: piston a', connected to the crank shaft f by the rod f; between the piston a
and the foot valve b is the float g, which is made by preference of two metal
dises with flanges secured, together by bolts. To one side of the cylinder a is
fixed the steam chest h, within; which is the valve box ;ii, are two flat
valves connected to one spindle, and i¹ is the valve rod, connected above to
the lever j, which is moved up and down by the cam f2, shewn detached, in
Figure 4, fixed. on the crank shaft f;. the cam is provided with an inclineḍ
projection acting on the bowl.at the upper end of the rod j', the lower end of
this rod is connected to the lever, which, with the lever is fixed to the
cross shaft j³. The lever j² is prolonged for lifting the valves i by hand. The
lateral position of the bowl acting on the cam f is regulated by the governor k,
the spindle of, which acts on the elbow lever, one arm of which is con-
nected by the link 12 to the lever 12, the upper end of this lever being forked
to take hold of and move the said bowl. To the crank shaft f is fixed a
pulley for driving the governor k, and a cam f³ for opening the foot valve b;
the-cam facts on a bowl connected to the rod 6', the lower end of which is
jointed to the lever b³ which acts on the spindle of the valve b..
The mode of operation is as follows, and the Drawing represents the parts
in the relative positions they occupy when the steam has been admitted to the
cylinder through a series of small holes which connect the valve box h¹ to the
interior of the cylinder :-When the piston arrives at the top of its stroke, and
the crank has turned over its top centre, the down stroke commences, and the
camfs then opens the foot valve 6 to allow the water under the float to escape
as the float descends; in descending, the float uncovers the exhaust ports m,
which are also a series of small holes covered by a flap valve m¹; the air or
steam escaping through the ports m is carried off by the pipe c¹ connected to
the cistern. When the crank has arrived at the bottom centre, the piston is
close to the top of the float, and as the piston begins to rise in the cylinder
the flap valve m¹ closes the exhaust ports m, and the float is compelled to
follow owing to the vacuum that would be formed by the advance of the
piston; in rising, the foot valve b is raised off its seating by the same cause
and allows the water from the cistern to fill the space under the float. As
soon as the crank has arrived at or near the position for rendering the full
leverage available, the steam is again admitted between the piston and the
top of the float, the descent of which is prevented by the pressure on the float
closing the foot valve, and the piston then continues its ascent by the force
exerted by the steam or other fluid under pressure.
I wish to observe that the float may be dispensed with, and that it is totally
unnecessary when water under pressure is the motive power. I wish also

page_text: to remark that the engine may be placed horizontally or in any other desired
position.
Having thus stated the nature of my Invention, and described the inanner
of performing the same;. I declare that I claim supplying the cylinder of
motive-power engines with water or other non-elastic fluid, either with or
without a float, to act as an abutment to the steam or other fluid under
pressure acting on the piston, in the manner and for the purposes: described.
And I also claim-the-valves i, i, with flat seatings when combined with
the cylinder of a motive-power engine, in the manner and for the purposes
described:
In' witness whereof, I, the said Francis Alton Calvert, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Eleventh day of April One thousand eight
hundred and sixty-five.
T. A. CALVERT
(L.S.)