IMPROVEMENTS IN THE ARRANGEMENT OF SLIDE VALVES AND SIDE PIPES OR VALVE CASINGS OF STEAM ENGINES
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Hartley, of Bury, in the County of Lan-
caster, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE ARRANGEMENT
OF SLIDE VALVES AND SIDE PIPES OR VALVE CASINGS OF STEAM ENGINES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Hartley at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 31st
July 1858.
I, WILLIAM HARTLEY, of Bury, in the County of Lancaster, Engineer, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
ARRANGEMENT OF SLIDE VALVES AND SIDE PIPES OR VALVE CASINGS OF STEAM
ENGINES," to be as follows:-
The nature of my Invention consists in the arrangement of slide valves, by
which the steam and exhaust valves are worked independently of each other,
in such a way that the steam valves when moving are not influenced by the
eduction of steam or vacuum in the condenser, and the exhaust valves, when
moving are only exposed to the reduced pressure of the steam when about.
completing the stroke, and never when moving to the pressure of steam in tho
boiler or steam boxes, by which means the friction caused by the pressure of
steam or vacuum on the valves when moving is very greatly reduced. Also.

page_text: in the arrangement of the steam valves, by which they are worked indepen-
dently of each other, or otherwise, and the area of the steam and exhaust
valves are very greatly reduced, and which valves may be worked either with
or without a variable expansion or cut-off motion. In this arrangement of
valves the exhaust valves may be worked by an arm on the valve rod and
adjustable studs on the air-pump rod, or by other suitable machinery, and the
steam valves may be worked by the machinery for which Letters Patent were
granted to me in One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, or by means of
excentrics, tappets, or other suitable machinery.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Lotters Patent, filed
by the said William Hartley in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
29th January 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
HARTLEY, of Bury, in the County of Lancaster, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirty-first day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-second year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
William Hartley, Her special licence that I, the said William Hartley, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William
Hartley, 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 THE ARRANGE-
MENT OP SLIDE VALVES AND SIDE PIPES OR VALVE CASINGS OF STEAM ENGINES,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Hartley, my
_executors_or_administrators, 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 per-
formed, 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 William Hartley, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-

page_text: formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement (that is to say) :-
The nature of my Invention consists in so arranging the slide valves and
side pipes or valve casings of steam engines, that the steam and exhaust valves
are worked independently of each other, and in such a way that the steam
valves when moving are not influenced by the eduction of steam or vacuum in
the condensor, and the exhaust valves when moving are only exposed to the
reduced pressure of steam in the cylinder when about completing the stroke, and
not to the pressure of steam in the boiler or steam boxes, except when the steam
is admitted the whole length of the stroke, and then only one exhaust valve
is exposed to the action of the steam from within the cylinder, by which means
the friction caused by the. pressure of steam or vacuum on the valves when
moving is very greatly reduced. Also in the arrangement of the steam valves,
by which they are worked independently of each other, or otherwise. By
means of these improvements the area of the steam and exhaust valves, and
the traverse of the same, are very greatly reduced. The steam valves may
be worked either with or without a variable expansion or cut-off motion.
And in order that my Invention may be fully understood and readily
carried into effect, I will proceed to describe the means pursued by me,
reference being had to the accompanying two Sheets of Drawings, and to
the figures and letters marked thereon.
Fig. 1 is an elevation, partly in section, of an ordinary beam steam engine,
to which one mode of constructing my improvements is applied. a is the
steam cylinder, in which works the piston b, fixed to the piston rod C, which
is connected to the beam d. The cylinder a has an upper steam way e, and
a lower steam way f; g is the air-pump rod; h, the connecting rod connected
to the crank i, fixed to the crank shaft j. The foregoing, and all the other
parts of the engine that are not particularly referred to hereafter, are made as
usual. The mechanism for working the steam valves, which is shewn on an
enlarged scale in Figs. 2, 3, and 4, is somewhat similar to that for which
Letters Patent were granted to me on the Twenty-eighth day of March, One
thousand eight hundred and forty-nine, and on the Nineteenth day of August,
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven. The valve casings or valve
boxes and are connected respectively to the flanges of the steam ways e
and f. The upper steam valve m is fixed to the rod m¹, the lower end of
which is jointed to the link m², connected to the lever m³, see Fig. 3, and the
lower steam valve n is fixed to the tube 2 (through which the rod m³ passes),
the lower end of which is connected by side links n to the levers ³; one of

page_text: these links is shewn by dotted lines in Fig. 4. The lever m³ is fixed to the
shaft m, shewn best in Fig. 3, and as shewn in the Specification of Letters
Patent granted to me in One thousand eight hundred and forty-nine, to the
outer extremity of which is fixed the lever m³, and the levers n³ are fixed to
or cast with the hollow axle n', to the extremity of which is fixed the lever n5;
both levers m³ and no are influenced by the double cam o, the peculiar shape
of which is shewn best in Fig. 3. The cam o and the camp are united or
cast together, and they are slidden to and fro on the square part of the
shaft q by the stud p¹, shewn by dots in Figs. 2 and 3, in the manner described
in the Specification of the Letters Patent above referred to, granted to me in
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven; or the cams o and p may be
fixed to the shaft q, and the traversing motion imparted to the said shaft,
which revolves at the same speed as the crank shaft j, being turned by a pair
of mitre wheels, shewn in dots in Fig. 1.
The exhaust valves r and s are worked independently of the steam valves
by means of the adjustable studs g¹ and g², on the air pump rod g; these studs
act alternately on one end of the lever t, to the other end of which is suspended
the rod t; to this rod are connected by arms, the valve spindles to and t³,
passing through stuffing boxes, as shewn best in Fig. 4; the exhaust valves
open into the chambers r¹ and s', which are in communication with the con-
densor. The Drawing, Fig. 1, represents the various parts in the positions
they occupy when the piston 6 has performed a portion of its upward stroke, the
steam valve n being open to admit steam to the cylinder, and the exhaust valve
r being open for the passage of the steam to the condensor; the steam valve m is
shut, and so is the exhaust valve s. As soon as the proper amount of steam
has entered the cylinder (which amount is regulated by the governor acting
on the worm gearing in the worm wheel p³, shewn in Fig. 3, as described in
the Specification of my Patent of One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven,)
the valve n is closed, and the remainder of the stroke of the piston is effected
by the expansion of the steam, and as the steam acts on both sides of this
valve when it is moving, it is evident that the force required for working it is
principally that-due-to-the-friction, and resistance or vis inertia of the parts.
When the piston arrives at or near the top of the cylinder the position of the
exhaust valves is changed by the stud g acting on the lever t, that is to
say, the valve is closed and the valves is opened. The steam valve m may
be opened at any time after the closing of the exhaust valves, or after passing
the centre, to give steam above the piston; this valve is closed to cut off
the steam as soon as the proper amount has entered the cylinder, while

page_text: the exhaust valve s remains open until the down stroke is completed; at which
time the stud g¹ acting on the lever t again brings the exhaust valves into
the positions shewn in the Drawing.
It will be observed by the foregoing description and Drawings, that the
steam and exhaust valves will work with greatly reduced friction arising from
steam pressure and vacuum, independently of the size and traverse of the valves,
&c., that the size and traverse of the valves are greatly reduced, and that they
are stationary through one-half, or upwards, of each revolution, for all which
reasons the power required to work the same is greatly diminished.
In Fig. 5, Sheet 2, I have shewn a modification of my improved arrange-
ment of slide valves and side pipes; the principle difference between this and
the arrangement shewn in Fig. 1 is, that in the arrangement I am now going
to describe, the steam valves are connected and work simultaneously; whereas
in the former arrangement they act independently of each other; similar
letters of reference are employed to denote the parts that are common to both
arrangements.
The steam valves m and n are connected by the rod v, which passes below
through a stuffing box, and is worked up and down to give the requisite
motion to the valves, by the lever w¹ fixed to the shaft w, to which is also
fixed the lever w³, actuated by a cam somewhat different to that marked o, in
Fig. 1. The exhaust valves r and s, are in this case represented as being
worked direct from the beam d, by the rod a, to which the exhaust valves
are connected, in a similar manner to that described in reference to Fig. 1;
the rod a is furnished with a slot, into which a stud from the beam enters;
but the exhaust valves may be worked from the air-pump rod with a pro-
jecting arm instead of a lever, as shewn in Fig. 1, if preferred. The side.
pipes k and may be constructed as shewn in Fig. 5, or in Fig. 1, the
modification shewn in Fig. 5 being better adapted for engines of small
dimensions.
The Drawing is made with the valves in the positions they occupy when.
the steam is entering the lower steam way f, and the piston b has performed
a small part of its upward stroke, the steam valve m is closed, and the valve n:
is open, and the exhaust valve 2 is open while the valve s is closed; when
the proper quantity of steam has entered the cylinder, the valves m and n
are lowered sufficiently to close the port of the lower valve, but not sufficiently
to open the upper one, and both the steam valves remain closed until the
piston arrives at the top of its stroke; the exhaust valve r is then closed, and
the valve s opened by the stud in the beam acting on the top of the slot of

page_text: the rod ; the steam valves m and n are then again lowered to admit steam
above the piston by the valve 'm, but not sufficiently to open the valve n, which
remains closed until the piston is at the bottom of the stroke, when the steam
and exhaust valves are again brought into the positions shewn in the Drawing.
The arrangement above described possesses the same advantages, but not to
the same extent as that referred to in Fig. 1.
Fig. 6 is a sectional elevation, and Fig. 7 a longitudinal section of part of.a
horizontal steam engine, shewing the mode of applying my improvements to such
engines; the arrangement here shewn is similar to that represented in Fig. 5,
that is to say, the steam valves and the exhaust valves are both connected,
but they work independently of each other; the mechanism for working the
valves is not shewn in these views, but that for working the steam valves m
and n, may be similar to that shewn in Fig. 5, and the exhaust valves r and s,
may be worked by a stud on the guide block acting upon two adjustable studs
fixed to a rod which is in connection with the spindle y, to which the
exhaust valves are attached, or by any other suitable combination of
machinery.
Having thus stated the nature of my Invention, and described the manner
of performing the same, I wish it to be understood that I do not limit myself
to the details given; I would also remark that although I have shewn the
steam valves as being worked by machinery similar to that for which former
Letters Patent were granted to me, because I consider such machinery to be
the best adapted for the purpose, yet I do not confine myself thereto, as the
valves may be worked by any other suitable combination of mechinery; but
in order to define particularly what are the improvements herein claimed, I do
hereby declare that I limit and confine such claims to the following particulars,
namely, I claim,―
First, the improvements in the arrangement of the slide valves of steam
engines, by means whereof the steam and exhaust valves are worked inde-
pendently of each other, as shewn and described.
Secondly, the improvements in the arrangement of the steam valves, as
-shewn-and-described-in-reference to Fig. 1 by which each valve can be worked
independently of the other.
Thirdly, the improved arrangements of valves and side pipes or valve casings
of steam engines, by means whereof the area and traverse of the valves are
greatly reduced; and consequently the friction arising from steam pressure and
vacuum is greatly diminished.
Fourthly, the improved combination of machinery shewn and described in

page_text: reference to the various Figures on Sheets 1 and 2, for working the steam
valves independently of each other, or otherwise.
Fifthly, the improvements in the arrangement of the side pipes or valve
casings, by means whereof they are adapted to my improved arrangements of
slide valves, as shewn and described.
And, lastly, the improved mode of working the exhaust valves of steam
engines, as shown and described, in reference to Figs. 1 and 5.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Hartley have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Twenty-seventh day of January, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
Witness,
H. B. BARLOW,
Manchester.
WILLIAM HARTLEY. (L.S.)