IMPROVEMENTS. IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF STEAM ENGINES
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Cartwright, of the Dean, Broseley; in the
County of Salop, Gentleman, for the Invention of " IMPROVEMENTS. IN THE
CONSTRUCTION OF STEAM ENGINES."
Sealed the 26th January 1866, and dated the 9th August 1865.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Cartwright at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 9th
August 1865.
I, HENRY CARTWRIGHT,. of the Dean,. Broseley, in the County of Salop,.
Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF STEAM ENGINES," to be as follows:-
My Invention relates to direct-acting marine and stationary steam engines.
having fixed or stationary cylinders, and consists of an improved arrangement
of the parts whereby motion is transmitted from. the piston. rods to the crank
shafts of the said engines..
In some steam engines of the class above referred to, the ordinary arrange-
ment for this purpose consists of two cross heads, the upper one of which is
connected by a rod or stem proceeding from its centre to the crank pin, and
the lower one is fixed at its centre to the head of the piston rod, each of the
said cross heads being provided at its ends. with connecting rods. The con-
necting or distance rods on the cross head of the piston rod descend. by the
sides of the cylinders and terminate in guide blocks working in or on suitable
guides, and the connecting rods on the cross head of the crank pass outside

page_text: the first-mentioned connecting rods, being connected at their lower ends by
pins or pivots to the guide blocks above-mentioned.
In the arrangement of parts which constitutes my Invention, I dispense
with the upper cross heads and the rods or stems which connect them with
the crank pins, and I connect the upper ends of the outside connecting rods
(heretofore connected to the said cross heads), with the crank pins which are
of such a length as to allow the cross head on the piston rod, and the outside
and inside connecting rods to travel as required between the crank arms on
the ends of the crank and intermediate shafts, whereby the height of the
engine is reduced, and room is afforded for a longer piston stroke.
When the engines have two cylinders, the long crank pins pass through the
ends of the crank arms of the crank and intermediate shafts as well as through
the ends of the outside connecting rods, and are free to turn either in the ends.
of the crank arms or in the ends of the connecting rods, the said pins being
provided with collars or ferrules to prevent them from moving endways, and to
keep the ends of the connecting rods in their proper places on the said pins.
These collars or ferrules are fixed on the crank pins by means of set screws,
keys, or other suitable means. As the long crank pins occupy a considerable
portion of the space hitherto allotted to the crank and intermediate shafts, the
said shafts will be correspondingly shortened.
In order to preserve the parallelism of the pins which connect the crank
arms of the said shafts, and to prevent these parts from being strained, I mount
a shaft in bearings parallel to the said crank and intermediate shafts, and at
such a distance therefrom as to be out of the way of the arms of the cranks.
Toothed wheels having the same diameter and number of teeth are fixed on
the parallel shaft and engage with other toothed wheels fixed on the crank
and intermediate shafts, and the parallel shaft being made in one piece will
thus insure the parallelism of the long crank pins and tend to relieve them and
the parts in connexion with them from undue strain. The wheels on the
parallel shaft may be either of the same diameter as or of smaller diameter
than those on the crank and intermediate shafts, and the parallel shaft may
be provided with excentrics for working the valves, or the whole power of the
engine may be transmitted through the said shaft,
When my Invention is applied to a single cylinder engine having a fly
wheel, the said fly wheel may be fixed upon either the crank shaft or the
parallel shaft.
In applying my Invention to the engine of a screw propeller, I make the
sorew shaft straight from end to end with toothed wheels thereon. These
wheels engage with and are worked by toothed wheels fixed upon the crank

page_text: and intermediate shafts, which shafts turn in bearings parallel to the screw
shaft, and at a sufficient distance therefrom to enable the crank arms to clear
the said shaft which becomes in effect the parallel shaft herein-before described.
and preserves the parallelism of the long crank pins; the crank and intermediate
shafts, like those herein-before described, having long crank pins. The cylinders
are fixed above the said shafts, and the piston rods of the said cylinders may
work through either the top or bottom covers of the said cylinders. When
the piston rods work through the top covers of the cylinders, the ends of the
cross heads work in or on suitable guides and carry connecting rods, which
descend by the sides of the cylinders, and are connected to the long crank pins.
When the piston rods work through the bottom covers of the cylinders, the
inside and outside connecting rods, guide blocks, and guides herein-before
described have correspondingly inverted positions and actions, and the cross
head and rods work in between the arms of the cranks.
Instead of attaching the connecting rods and distance rods to sliding
blocks or sliding pieces, working in or on guides in the. manner berein-before
described, I sometimes attach them to the ends of levers, whereby they may be
caused to move in arcs not differing inconveniently from right lines.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Henry Cartwright in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 9th
February 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
CARTWRIGHT, of the Dean, Broseley, in the County of Salop, Gentleman, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Ninth day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-ninth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Henry Cartwright, Her special licence that I, the said Henry Cartwright,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Henry Cartwright, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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 CONSTRUCTION OF STEAM ENGINES," upon the condition (amongst others).:

page_text: that I, the said Henry Cartwright, 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 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 Henry Cartwright, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say :-
My Invention relates to direct-acting marine and stationary steam engines
having fixed or stationary cylinders, and consists of an improved arrangement
of the parts whereby motion is transmitted from the piston rods to the crank
shafts of the said engines.
In some steam engines of the class above referred to the ordinary
arrangement for this purpose consists of two cross heads, the upper one of
which is connected by a rod or stem proceeding from its centre to the crank
pin, and the lower one is fixed at its centre to the head of the piston rod, each
of the said cross heads being provided with connecting rods. The connecting
or distance rods on the cross head of the piston rod descend by the sides of
the cylinders, and terminate in guide blocks working in or on suitable guides,
and the connecting rods on the cross head of the crank pass outside the first-
mentioned connecting rods, being connected at their lower ends by pins or
pivots to the guide blocks above mentioned.
In the arrangement of parts, which constitutes my Invention, I dispense
with the upper cross heads, and the rods or stems which connect them with the
crank pins, and I connect the upper ends of the outside connecting rods (bereto-
fore connected to the said cross heads) with the crank pins, which are of such
a length as to allow the cross head on the piston rod, and the outside and
inside connecting rods to travel as required between the crank arms on the
ends of the crank and intermediate shafts, whereby the height of the engine.
is reduced and room is afforded for a longer piston stroke.
When the engines have two cylinders the long crank pins pass through the
ends of the crank arms on the crank and intermediate shafts, as well as
through the ends of the outside connecting rods, and are free to turn either
in the ends of the crank arms or in the ends of the connecting rods, the said
pins being provided with collars or ferrules to prevent them from moving end-
ways, and to keep the ends of the connecting rods in their proper places on
the said pins. These collars or ferrules are fixed on the crank pins by means

page_text: of set screws, keys, or other suitable means. As the long crank pins occupy
a considerable portion of the space hitherto alotted to the crank and inter-
mediate shafts, the said shafts will be correspondingly shortened.
In order to preserve the parallelism of the pins which connect the crank
arms of the said shafts, and to prevent these parts from being strained, I
mount a shaft in bearings parallel to the said crank and intermediate shafts,
and at such a distance therefrom as to be out of the way of the arms of the
cranks. Toothed wheels having the same diameter and number of teeth are
fixed on the parallel shaft, and engage with other toothed wheels fixed on the
crank and intermediate shafts, and the parallel shaft being made in one piece
will thus ensure the parallelism of the long crank pins, and tend to relieve
them and the parts in connexion with them from undue strain. The wheels
on. the parallel shaft may be either of the same diameter as or of smaller or
larger diameter than those on the crank and intermediate shafts, the relative
sizes of the said wheels on the said shafts respectively depending upon
whether it is required to drive the parallel shaft with a greater speed, or with
a greater power than the speed or power respectively of the crank and inter-
mediate shafts; and the said parallel shaft is intended to be provided with
excentrics for working the valves when it revolves with suitable speed for that
purpose, or the whole power of the engine may be transmitted through the
said shaft.
When my Invention is applied to a single cylinder engine having a fly wheel,
the said fly wheel may be fixed upon either the crank shaft or the parallel
sbaft.
In applying my Invention to the engines of a screw propeller, I make the
screw shaft straight from end to end with toothed wheels thereon. These wheels
engage with and are worked by toothed wheels fixed upon the crank and
intermediate shafts, which shafts turn in bearings parallel to the screw shaft,
and at a sufficient distance therefrom to enable the crank arms to clear the
said screw shaft, which becomes in effect the parallel shaft herein-before
described, and preserves the parallelism of the long crank pins, as in the case
herein-before described. The cylinders are fixed at a higher elevation than
the said shafts, and the piston rods of the said cylinders may be arranged so
as to work through either the top or bottom covers of the said cylinders.
When the piston rods work through the top covers of the cylinders the ends
of the cross heads work in or on suitable guides, and carry connecting rods,
which descend-by the sides of the cylinders, and are connected to the long
crank pins. When the piston rods work through the botton covers of the
cylinders, or when the cylinders are fixed in other than vertical positions, the

page_text: inside and outside connecting rods, guide blocks, and guides, herein-before
described, have correspondingly inverted or horizontal or oblique positions
and actions, and the cross heads and rods work in between the arms of the
oranks.
In some steam engines of the side-lever class, as ordinarily constructed, the
lower ends of the connecting rods carried by the upper and lower cross heads,
herein-before referred to, are jointed to and guided as required by the ends of
side levers, which vibrate on each side of the cylinder. In applying my
Invention to this class of engine, the lower ends of the connecting, rods are
jointed to, the side-levers in the usual manner; but instead of the upper ends
of the outside connecting rods being jointed to the crank cross head I dis-
.pense, with the said cross head and the stem thereof, and connect the said
upper ends of the said rods to the long crank pins, herein-before described, as
constituting part of my Invention, the parallelisin of the said crank pins being
preserved by means of the parallel shaft and toothed wheels herein-before
.described.
In some cases, if preferred, two short crank pins may be used, instead of
-one long crank pin for the ends of the connecting rods to be connected to
between the crank arms, provided the latter are suitably kept at the distance
apart required for the working of the connecting rods between them.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, I will proceed to
describe the manner in which the same is to be performed, reference being
had to the accompanying Drawings, and to the figures and letters marked
thereon.
Figure 1 is a front elevation of so much of a steam engine as is necessary
to illustrate the application of my Invention thereto, the parts not represented
in this and the succeeding Figures being of the ordinary kind, and consti-
tuting no part of my said Invention; Figures 2 and 3 are a side elevation and
a plan respectively of Figure 1. The same letters indicate the same parts in
Figures 1, 2, and 3.
A, A, are the cylinders. Portions of the upper flanges, and of the flanges
of the upper covers of the said cylinders are cut away, as shown, in order to
allow the distance rods, herein-after referred to, to pass on each side of the
said cylinders. B, B, are the piston rods, on which are fixed the cross
heads C, C; D, D, are connecting or distance rods, the upper ends of which
are affixed to the ends of the cross heads C, C, the lower ends of the said rods
being furnished with guide blocks d, d, which slide in the guides a, a. The
guide blocks d, d, carry pivots d', d', upon which vibrate connecting rods E, E,
the upper ends of which are attached to the crank pins f, f; F1, F2, are the

page_text: crank. and intermediate shafts respectively; and f¹,f', are the crank arms,
which are connected by the crank pins f³, f. These pins, which are of such
a length as to afford space for the cross heads C, C, and connecting rods D, D,
and E, E, to travel between the crank arms, may be so fitted as to turn in
the ends of either the crank arms or connecting rods, but I prefer to fix the
said pins in the ends of the crank arms by means of keys, or by making one
end of the said pins square (as shown dotted in Figure 2), or of any other
non-cylindrical figure, and fitting it into a correspondingly shaped hole in the
end of one of the crank arms; f³, f³, are collars fixed on the crank pins f²,ƒ,
by set screws f,f", which collars prevent the said pins from moving endways
in the crank arms, and keep the ends of the connecting rods E, E, in their
places; on the said pins G is a shaft carrying toothed wheels H, H, which
engage with other toothed wheels I, I, on the crank and intermediate shafts ;
J, J, is the frame of the engine, upon which frame are fixed plummer
block f, fs, and g, g, in which the shafts F, F, and G, respectively turn.
The motion of the piston rods B, B, and cross heads C, C, is communicated
by the connecting rods D, D, and E, E, to the crank pins f³, f2, and the
parts in connexion therewith, the parallelism of the said pins being preserved
by the shaft G, and the toothed wheels H, H, and I, I.
Paddle wheels, or pulleys, or drums (according to the class of engine to
which my Invention is applied) may be fixed either upon the ends of the
parallel shaft G, or upon the ends of the crank shaft F.
Figure 4 represents in side elevation certain portions of a side lever engine
having my Invention applied thereto. K is one of the side levers, which
vibrates on the centre k¹. The lower ends of the connecting rods D, E, are
attached to the end of the side lever K in the usual manner; the upper
ends of the said connecting rods being attached to the cross head of the piston
and to the crank pin respectively, in the manner represented in the pre-
ceding Figures. The lower ends of the connecting rods being guided in their
motion by the end of the side lever the guides a, a, are rendered un-
necessary. The end of the said side lever may be made to work pumps
or valves, or do other work.
Figure 5 is a side elevation of so much of the engines of a screw propeller
as is necessary to illustrate the application of my Invention to engines of this
class; and Figures 6 and 7 are an end elevation and a plan respectively of
Figure 5; Figure 8 is an end elevation of the framing of the engine; Figure 9
is a vertical section of one of the cylinders; Figure 10 is a side elevation of
the bottom cover of one of the cylinders; and Figure 11 is a plan of the upper
flange of one of the cylinders; Figure 12 represents one of the guide brackets,

page_text: herein-after referred to, The same letters indicate the same parts in the
several Figures.
A, A, are the cylinders, and a¹, a, a, a, are the top and bottom covers of
the same; the raised parts of the covers a³, a³, enter the cylinders (see
Figures 9 and 10), and the flanges of the said covers serve as foundation
plates and have projections, by which the cylinders are bolted to the frame B
of the engine. The top flanges of the cylinders, instead of being circular as
usual, have projections (see Figure 11), to which the feet c, c, of the guide
brackets C, C, (one of which is shown detached in Figure 12) are bolted.
The top and bottom flanges of the cylinders, and the flanges of the cylinder
covers are cut away more or less to make room for the connecting rods,
herein-after referred to, to work on each side of the cylinders; D, D, are the
piston rods, to which are affixed the cross heads E, E, the ends of which pass
through guide blocks F, F, which slide in the guides C, C;.G, G, are con-
necting rods, which vibrate on the cross beads E, E; H1, H2, are the crank
and intermediate shafts ; and h¹, h', are the.crank arms, which are connected
by the long crank pins h², h². These pins are of such a. length as to afford
space for the connecting rods G, G, to travel between the crank arms, and
are fitted into the said arms in the manner described, with reference to similar
parts in Figures 1 and 2; h³, h³, are collars fixed upon the said pins by means
of set screws h, h, which collars serve the purpose of the collars f³, ƒ³,
herein-before referred to; I is the parallel shaft to which the screw is affixed,
upon which shaft are fixed toothed wheels J, J, which engage with other
toothed wheels K, K, on the crank and intermediate shafts. The shafts H1, H2,
turn in bearings h³, hs, and the shaft I turns in bearings i, i. When the
piston rods work through the bottom covers of the cylinders the arrangement
of distance rods, connecting rods, and guides, shown at .Figures 1 and 2, is
intended to be adopted, the said rods and guides having inverted. positions and
actions, and the framing of the engine being suitably arranged for the purpose
of supporting the cylinders and shafts. When the cylinders are fixed in other
than vertical positions, the said connecting rods, distance rods, and guides have
positions and actions corresponding to the oblique or horizontal position of the
said cylinders.
.
I would here remark that inasmuch as the principal feature of my
Invention, as herein-before described, consists in arranging the crank arms
at a suitable distance apart to admit of the connecting rods working between
them for the purpose described, although I prefer to use one long crank pin
between the crank arms, for the said purpose short pins may be used, if
preferred. In this case each crank arm carries a separate short pin, which

page_text: passes through the end of one of the connecting rods, the parallelism of the
said pins being still preserved by the parallel shaft and toothed wheels herein-
before described.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I do not limit myself
to the precise details herein-before described and represented, as the same
may be varied without departing from the nature of my said Invention; but
what I claim as of my Invention is, the combination and arrangement of the
parts of steam engines, so as to dispense with the use of those cross heads
which have been heretofore connected to the crank pins by means of a central
rod or stem, and for this purpose to connect the outside or other connecting
rods (according to the description of engine to which my Invention is applied)
with single elongated crank pins of such length as to admit of the working of
the said rods between the crank arms, or with one shorter pin fixed to each
crank arm, the requisite parallelism of the said pins being preserved by means
of a parallel shaft and toothed wheels, as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Cartwright, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Seventh day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six.
HENRY CARTWRIGHT. (L.B.)