MENTS IN STEAM OR COMPRESSED AIR ENGINES
Year: 1884

page_text: I NOËL CHANDLER, of Cannock Chase Foundry, Hednesford, in the County of
Stafford, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of my Invention for IMPROVE-
MENTS IN STEAM OR COMPRESSED AIR ENGINES, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:-
My Invention relates to improvements in that class of vertical engine having
the cylinders above the crank shaft, the pistons of which receive the pressure upon
the top sides only.
I will now describe the parts and principal of my Invention and at the same
time allude to the letters and Figures on the Drawings. Like Figures refer to like
parts in all the Drawings. Fig. 1. is a front elevation. Fig. 2 is a section through
line A. Fig. 3, a plan.
I claim as my Invention the principal and method I employ of disposing of
superfluous water which collects in a specially constructed chamber D which I shall
hereinafter call the exhaust box, and which, owing to the combination and action
of parts, regulates the level of lubricant in the crank box B.
Into the exhaust box D, I insert a pipe G, the lower end of which is about the
same level as I desire to maintain the lubricant which floats on the water in
the crank box B. A. A. are the steam cylinders, of ordinary construction. H. is
the crank shaft which in its rapid motion splashes oil or other lubricant to all the
working parts. C is the partition which divides the crank box B and the exhaust
box D. At the bottom of the partition C are small holes d, d, d, which allow
water to pass from box B to box D, thus it will be seen that the level of the
liquids on both sides of the partition C will be the same.
My object in having the small holes at the bottom of the partition is to prevent
the oil or other floating lubricant from passing away and being wasted; to make
this economy of lubricant even more certain I place at E thin inetal plates
perforated with small holes; these plates have the effect of preventing a mixing
between the lubricant and water under the plates E, thus, any commotion which
may be caused by the motion of the moving parts above the plates shall not take
place in the bottom of the crank box, and under the plates E. E. F. F. are the
exhaust steam passages leading from the cylinders directly into the exhaust box D,
the exhausted steam then passes away through pipe G, carrying with it any water
which may rise to the level of the lower end of the pipe.

page_text: The Drawings and description illustrate the best method of carrying my
Invention into practical use, but details and forms of parts may be varied
considerably and the same end gained, thus the exhaust box can be a separate
tank or chamber and connected by means of pipes to the bottom of the crank
box D, but I claim as my Invention the principal as illustrated by the Drawings
and description in connection with single acting vertical engines with inverted
cylinders. When the motive power is compressed air, water is placed in the crank
hot, to bring the lubricant to the desired level.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
Invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is:
Claim 1. The principal and method of maintaining in the exhaust box, or
exhaust chamber, of single acting vertical, steam or compressed air engines, having
inverted cylinders, a certain uniform level of water, which regulates the level of
oil or other lubricant in the crank box of such engines, the level of water in the
exhaust box being automatically. controlled by the action of the exhaust steam
from the cylinders, which passes into the exhaust box which is in communication
with the crank box at the bottom that only water may pass out leaving the oil or
other lubricant floating at the top of the water in the crank box.
Claim 2. The combination of parts in connection with the working of the
principal above and before described; such as; the thin perforated plates in the
crank box for preventing a mixing of lubricant and water; the partition plate C
with connection at the bottom thereof that only water may pass from box D to B,
by way of the small holes.d, d, d, or pipes which I sometimes employ, leading
from the bottom of the crank box to the bottom of the exhaust box.
Claim 3. The specially arranged pipe G which is the means of maintaining a
constant and uniform level of water in the exhaust box by carrying away any
superfluous condensed steam or water thus regulating the head or level of liquid
in the crank box.