IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM PUMPING ENGINES
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Samuel Walker and Edward Holt, both of
Radcliffe, in the County of Lancaster, Engineers, for the Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM PUMPING ENGINES."
Sealed the 21st June 1870, and dated the 24th December 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Samuel Walker and
Edward Holt at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
their Petition, on the 24th December 1869.
We, SAMUEL WALKER and EDWARD HOLT, both of Radcliffe, in the
County of Lancaster, Engineers, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM PUMPING ENGINES," to be as
follows:-
Our Invention relates principally to a certain class of "portable" or
self-contained steam pumping engines or steam pumps, the distinguishing
feature of which said class is the non-employment of rotating crank
shafts to control the movements of the valves which regulate the
admission and emission of the steam to and from the steam cylinders
of the said engines, but our said Invention may be adapted to other
descriptions of pumping engines having the said distinguishing feature

page_text: but not being portable or self-contained as aforesaid. In such engines
or pumps as aforesaid it is necessary that the action or movements of
the slide valve or valves, or of the valve or valves employed for the
purpose as aforesaid, shall be controlled without the use of the excentric
or other equivalent employed in engines having revolving crank shafts,
and that such movements shall be in unison with the movements of the
piston of the steam cylinder, and the said Invention consists of a novel
method of effecting such controlling.
In engines of the class above. named we prefer to employ a slide
valve or slide valves of a cylindrical form, such valve or valves being
fitted to slide to and fro in a cylindrical valve chest which is formed
on or attached to the steam cylinder, and is bored out and suitably
prepared to receive the said valve or valves. The said valve we usually
form in two portions, and connect the said portions by means of a rod
or connecting piece, or the said connecting piece may be cast or other-
wise formed in one piece with the said valve or portions of the valve.
In the said connecting piece is formed a slot in which an excentric or
crank pin or a block fitted on the said excentric or crank pin is fitted to
slide so that when the shaft on which the excentric or crank is fixed or
formed is caused to rock on its axis, that is to say to rotate, in each
direction alternately, a to-and-fro motion will be communicated to the
aforesaid slide valve or valves. The said shaft works in a bearing
formed in or fixed to the side of the aforesaid steam chest, the said
bearing being formed as or provided with a gland or stuffing box to
prevent the escape of steam, and on the said shaft is loosely mounted
a crank or lever, the end of which is connected by means of a rod or
link with the piston rod, or with a block or cross head attached thereto,
so that as the piston works to and fro in the cylinder a vibrating motion
will be communicated to the said crank or lever. The said crank or
lever herein-after styled the vibrating lever acts against fixed stops
formed on or attached to a disc crank lever or segment fixed on the
aforesaid rocking shaft, the arrangement being such as that when the
said vibrating lever is acting on one of the said stops so as to cause the
rotation of the said rocking shaft the said shaft will be at liberty to be
rotated to a greater extent than would be due to the action of the said
lever, such additional rotation being effected by the action of the exhaust
steam on the outer ends of the slide valve or valves in manner as will
be understood from the following description of the action of the

page_text: various parts during one stroke of the piston. Supposing the piston to
be travelling towards the forward end of the cylinder the aforesaid
lever will be acting on one of the stops and will thereby be causing the
rotation of the aforesaid rocking shaft, and as a consequence the move-
ment of the slide valve or valves. When the piston approaches the
said forward end of the cylinder the said movement of the slide valve
will have shut off the steam from admission to the rear of the piston
and will have begun to uncover the rear port, so as to allow of tho
escape of the steam from the rear of the piston, and as the opening
through which the exhaust steam passes from the valve chest will at
this time be covered by the valve the issuing steam will act against the
rear end of the valve, and the said valve will by a quick movement
uncover the rear port and also the said opening, thereby allowing of the
free emission of steam from the rear of the piston, and at the same time
the forward port will be uncovered for the admission of steam to the
front of the piston. We prefer that the aforesaid rocking shaft shall
make about one half of a revolution in each direction and that about
one half of such portion of a revolution shall be due to the action of
the aforesaid vibrating lever, and the other half thereof to the action
of the steam as aforesaid, in which case the aforesaid stops will be so
arranged as to permit the said rocking shaft to have a "play" with
respect to the said vibrating lever of about one quarter of a revolution,
but these proportions may be modified' as desired or found to be advan-
tageous. The movements of the said slide valve or valves being entirely
controlled by the aforesaid vibrating lever during the greater part of the-
stroke of the piston the steam may be worked expansively if desired or
found to be advantageous. If preferred' a connecting rod or link may
be employed to connect the valve or valves or each valve to the crank
fixed or formed on the aforesaid rocking shaft.
30 SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Samuel Walker and Edward Holt in the Great
Seal Patent Office on the 24th June 1870.
STTATT

page_text: .
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of December, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the
thirty-third year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto us, the said Samuel Walker and Edward Holt,
Her special license that we, the said Samuel Walker and Edward
Holt, our executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
we, the said Samuel Walker and Edward Holt, our executors, ad-
ministrators, 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, usc, exercise, and vend,
within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel
Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM
PUMPING ENGINES," upon the condition, amongst others, that we, the said
Samuel Walker and Edward Holt, by an instrument in writing under
our hands and seals or the hand and seal of one of us, should particu-
larly 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 Samuel Walker, do hereby
declare the nature of our said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement and accompanying Drawings, that is to
say:-
Our Invention relates principally to a certain class of portable or self-
contained, steam pumping engines or steam pumps, the distinguishing
feature of which said class is the non-employment of rotating crank
shafts to control the movements of the valves which regulate the
admission and emmission of the steam to and from the steam cylinders
of the said engines, but our said Invention may be adapted to other
descriptions of pumping engines having the said distinguishing feature
but not being portable or self contained as aforesaid. In such engines
or pumps as aforesaid it is necessary that the action or movements of
the slide valve or valves, or other valve or valves employed for the pur-
pose as aforesaid, shall be controlled without the use of the excentric or
other equivalent employed in engines having revolving crank shafts, and
that such movements shall be in unison with the movements of the
.

page_text: piston of the steam cylinder, and the said Invention consists of a novel
method of effecting such controlling.
In engines of the class above named we prefer to employ a slide valve
or slide valves of a cylindrical form, such valve or valves being fitted to
slide to and fro in a cylindrical valve chest which is formed on or attached
to the steam cylinder, and is bored out and suitably prepared to receive
the said valve or valves. The said valve we usually form in two portions,
and connect the said portions by means of a rod or connecting piece, or
the said connecting piece may be cast or otherwise formed in one piece
with the said valves or portions of the valve. In the said connecting piece
is formed a slot in which an excentric or crank pin or a block fitted on
the said excentric or crank pin is fitted to slide, so that when the shaft on
which the excentric or crank pin is fixed or formed is caused to rock on
its axis, that is to say to rotate in each direction alternately, a to-and-fro
motion will be communicated to the aforesaid slide valve or valves. The
said shaft works in a bearing formed in or fixed to the side of the aforesaid
steam chest, the said bearing being formed as or provided with a
gland or stuffing box to prevent the escape of steam, and on the said
shaft is loosely mounted a crank or lever, the end of which is connected
by means of a rod or link with the piston rod, or with a block or cross
head attached thereto, so that as the piston works to and fro in the
cylinder a vibrating motion will be communicated to the said crank or
lever. The said crank or lever herein-after styled the vibrating lever
acts against fixed stops formed on or attached to a disc crank lever or
segment fixed on the aforesaid rocking shaft, the arrangement being
such as that when the said vibrating lever is acting on one of the said
stops so as to cause the rotation of the said rocking shaft the said shaft
will be at liberty to be rotated to a greater extent than would be due to
the action of the said lever, such additional rotation being effected by
the action of the exhaust steam on the outer ends of the slide valve or
valves in manner as will be understood from the following description
of the action of the various parts during one stroke of the piston :-Sup-
posing the piston to be travelling towards the forward end of the
cylinder the aforesaid lever will be acting on one of the stops, and will
thereby be causing the rotation of the aforesaid rocking shaft, and as
a consequence the movement of the slide valve or valves. When the
piston approaches the said forward end of the cylinder the said movement
of the slide valve will have shut off the steam from admission to the
rear of the piston and will have begun to uncover the rear port, so as to

page_text: allow of the escape of the steam from the rear of the piston, and as the
opening through which the exhaust steam passes from the valve chest
will at this time be covered by the valve the issuing steam will act
against the rear end of the valve, and the said valve will by a quick
movement uncover the rear port and also the said opening, thereby
allowing of the free emmission of steam from the rear of the piston, and
at the same time the forward port will be uncovered for the admission of
steam to the front of the piston. We prefer that the aforesaid rocking
shaft shall make about one half of a revolution in each direction, and
that about one half of such portion of a revolution shall be due to the
action of the aforesaid vibrating lever, and the other half thereof to the
action of the steam as aforesaid, in which case the aforesaid stops will be
so arranged as to permit the said rocking shaft to have a "play" with
respect to the said vibrating lever of about one-quarter of a revolution,
but these proportions may be modified as desired or found to be advan-
tageous. The movements of the said slide valve or valves being
entirely controlled by the aforesaid vibrating lever during the greater
part of the stroke of the piston the steam may be worked expansively if
desired or found to be advantageous. If preferred a connecting rod or
link may
be employed to connect the valve or valves or each valve to
the crank fixed or formed on the aforesaid rocking shaft.
In order that our Invention may be better understood we have fur-.
nished to accompany this our Specification a Sheet of Drawings
illustrating a steam pump according with our said Invention, thesaid
Drawings having figures of reference marked thereupon.
Referring in this place to the said Drawings, Fig. 1 is a side elevation
of the steam pump partly in section; Fig. 2 is a cross section on
the line A, B; and Fig. 3 a cross section on the line C, D, in Fig. 1;
and Fig. 4 is a longitudinal section through the valve chest, all the said
Figures being drawn about one-eighth of the full size.
In Fig. 1, a is the pump which may be of any ordinary construction,
6 is the steam cylinder, c is the valve chest, and d, d', are the steam
valves. The said valves in this instance are each fitted with a packing
ring or semi-ring e, and are connected together by a central spindle in
which is formed the slot fin which slot a block is fitted to slide. The
said block is mounted on a crank pin g shewn in the enlarged view
Fig. 7, the said crank pin being formed on the spindle h, on which
spindle is fixed the diso i.
On the said spindle is loosely mounted the

page_text: h
lever & the end 1 of which lever is connected by means of the rod with
the block m fixed to the piston rod n so that as the engine piston works
to and fro a reciprocating motion will be imparted to the said lever.
The other end 2 of the said lever is in contact alternately with one or the
other of the cheeks or stops 3 and 4 formed by the removal of a portion
of a projecting flanch formed on the face of the disc i, the positions of
the said stops permitting the said disc to be rotated about one-quarter
of an entire revolution without a movement of the lever k taking place.
The steam is admitted through the passage o to the central space between
the two valves, and the exhaust from each end of the cylinder into the
corresponding end of the valve box, as shewn by the arrows in Fig. 1.
The action of the various parts may be described as follows, namely,
supposing the piston to be commencing a rearward stroke the positions
of the parts will be as shewn in Figs. 1 and 5, and the, lever k will be
moving in the direction of the arrow, the disc i being thereby rotated in
the direction indicated. This movement and consequent revolution of
the spindle produces through the crank g a movement of the valves in
the direction of the arrow in Fig. 1 the described movements continuing
until the lever k is in position as shewn in Fig. 8, and the valves as
shewn in Fig. 4, in which position of the said valves the admission of
steam to the front of the piston has ceased, and the exhaust of steam
from the cylinder through the port 5 to the space marked 6 will have
commenced. The steam flowing into the said space will now press on
the valve d', and both valves will thereby be moved towards the right
hand in Fig. 4, thereby opening the ports 5 and 7 for the emission of
the exhaust steam, and the port 8 for the admission of steam to the
rear of the piston. During the said movement of the valves due due to
the pressure thereon of the exhaust steam the disc i will move in the
direction of the arrow until the stop 4 will come into or nearly into
contact with the end of the lever k, so that on the direction of motion
of the said lever being reversed it will immediately begin to rotate the
said disc in a direction contrary to that indicated by the arrow, and the
movements of the valves as above described will be repeated in a contrary
direction, the piston at the same time moving towards the left hand in
Fig. 1. The parts represented in Fig. 6 are in the positions assumed at
about the middle of a rearward stroke, that is to say, a stroke made in
the direction of the arrow in Fig. 1. In Fig. 8 the action of the exhaust
steam has partly rotated the disc i.

page_text: Having now described the nature of our said Invention, and our method
of carrying the same into practical effect, I would have it to be distinctly
understood that we do not confine ourselves to the precise details as hereín
described, but that we desire to claim the method of giving motion to
and controlling the movements of the valves of such engines as herein-
before mentioned substantially as herein-before described and as
illustrated in the accompanying Drawings or any mere modification of
the said method.
In witness whereof, I, the said Samuel Walker, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-third day of June, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy.
Signed and sealed by the said
Samuel Walker in the
presence of
EDWARD K. DUTTON,
SAMUEL WALKER. (L.S.)
Agent to the Patentoes,
3, Smithy Door,
Manchester.