IMPROVE- MENTS IN THE ARRANGEMENT AND CONSTRUCTION OF LOCOMOTIVE ENGINES
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joseph Robert Whitgreave, of Rugeley, in the County
of Stafford, Gentleman, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joseph Robert Whitgreave
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 9th April 1856.
I, JOSEPH ROBERT WHITGREAVE, of Rugeley, in the County of Stafford,
Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE ARRANGEMENT AND CONSTRUCTION OF LOCOMOTIVE ENGINES, to be as
follows:-
My improvements in the arrangement and construction of locomotive
engines has reference to the peculiar arrangement of the steam cylinders in
connection with two driving axles and two pairs of driving wheels.
In con-
structing engines according to my Invention, I place the steam cylinders
midway between two pairs of driving wheels and axles, which are so disposed
as to bear nearly the whole weight of the engine; a third or fourth pair of
wheels is added to the locomotive as leading or trailing wheels, to complete the
complement of six or eight wheels, required for the safety of the engine. The
cylinders are placed horizontally, and are fitted with the ordinary valves and
valves gearing, worked in the usual way; but instead of having the piston

page_text: rod emerging only at one end of the cylinder, it is carried quite through the
piston and out at both ends of the cylinder, both ends being fitted with covers
and stuffing boxes for the steam-tight passage of the rod; connecting rods are
attached to both ends of the piston rod of one cylinder, the one connecting rod
communicating with one of the cranks on the leading driving wheel axle, and
the other with one crank of the rear driving wheel axle, both of which cranks
are acted on simultaneously by one cylinder and piston, and caused to revolve
in the same direction. The opposite cylinder is similarly fitted and furnished,
the connecting rods communicating with cranks on the leading and rear driving
axles, which cranks are placed at right angles to the cranks, before mentioned,
on their respective shafts, as well understood, in order that both engines may
not be at the same time on the dead point. By thus arranging the cylinders
and pistons to act in opposite directions at the same time, the tendency to
oscillation is avoided, &, collectively, a greater amount of power exerted on the
driving wheel axles, which further have an increased hold or bite on the rail,
from the whole weight being brought to bear on them, or nearly so, without
risk to the running of the engine.
Another of my improvements in locomotive engines refers to the method of
connecting the tender thereto, & consists in forming the end of the locomotive
convex, & presenting a section of a cylinder with vertical axis; the tender is
concave to fit the convexity of the engine. The engine and tender are con-
nected by a draw bar, fixed by one end at the point or centre from which the
curves are described, the other end being attached to the tender in any suitable
manner, whereby it may be drawn & held close up. By this arrangement the
engine & tender is easily enabled to turn the curves of small radius, & at the
same time admit of the tender being brought close up to the engine. An
cliptical spring may or not be placed between the contact of the engine &
tender. Instead of the end of tender being concave & the engine convex, the
reverse may be the case, with equal advantage as regards turning curves.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Joseph Robert Whitgreave in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 9th October 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSEPH
ROBERT WHITGREAVE, of Rugeley, in the County of Stafford, Gentleman,
send greeting.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Ninth day of April, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the nineteenth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Joseph Robert Whitgreave, Her special licence that I, the said Joseph
Robert Whitgreave, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Joseph Robert Whitgreave, 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 law-
fully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE ARRANGEMENT AND CONSTRUCTION OF LOCOMOTIVE
ENGINES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Joseph Robert
Whitgreave, 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 Joseph Robert Whitgreave, 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
following statement, reference being had to the two Sheets of Drawings
hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is
to say:
My improvements in the arrangement and construction of locomotive engines
have reference, in the first place, to the peculiar arrangement of the steam
cylinders in connection with two driving axles and two pairs of driving wheels.
In constructing engines according to my Invention, I place the steam cylinders
midway between two pairs of driving wheels and axles, which are so disposed
as to bear nearly the whole weight of the engine; a third or fourth pair of
wheels is added to the locomotive as leading or trailing wheels, to complete
the complement of six or eight wheels, required for the safety of the engine.
The cylinders are placed horizontally, and are fitted with the ordinary valves
and valve gearing, and worked in the usual way; but instead of having the
piston rod emerging only at one end of the cylinder, it is carried quite through
the piston and out at both ends of the cylinder. Both ends of the cylinder are
fitted with covers and stuffing boxes for the steam-tight passage of the rods;

page_text: thus the weight of the piston and its rods are carried by the guides, and the
friction of the piston upon the under side of cylinder is thereby prevented.
Connecting rods are attached to both ends of the piston rod of one cylinder,
the one connecting rod communicating with one of the cranks on the leading
driving wheel axle, and the other with one crank of the rear driving wheel
axle; both of these cranks are acted on simultaneously by one cylinder and
piston, and caused to revolve in the same direction. The opposite cylinder is
similarly fitted and furnished; the connecting rods of the one cylinder commu-
nicate with cranks on the leading and rear driving axles, which cranks are
placed at right angles to the other cranks on their respective shafts, in order
that both engines may not be at the same time on the dead point. By thus
arranging the cylinders and pistons to act in opoosite directions at the same
time, the tendency to oscillation is avoided, and, collectively, a greater amount
of power exerted on the driving wheel axles, and the revolving force of one
wheel being communicated to the other through the piston rod, which wheels
further have an increased hold or bite on the rail, from the whole weight being
brought to bear on them, or nearly so, without risk to the running of the
engine.
Another of my improvements in locomotive engines refers to the method of
connecting the tender thereto, and consists in forming the end of the tender
convex, and presenting the section of a cylinder or circle with a vertical axis;
the end of the engine is concave, to suit the curved end of the tender. The
engine and tender are connected by a draw bar, suitably attached to the engine,
and jointed at the point or centre, from which the curve of the junction is
struck, from which point to the rear draw hook the draw bar is continued, and
slides in suitable bearings. The tender is held close up to the engine while
running. The joint pin of the draw bar may or may not be fixed to the
tender; thus the engine and tender are made as one body, the one steadying
the other, and preventing any side motion, and giving a clear floor and secure
footing to the engine driver.
By this arrangement, the engine and tender are easily enabled to turn
curves of small radius, and at the same time admit of the tender being brought
up close to the engine. An eliptical spring may or may not be placed between
the points of fixture of the engine and tender. Instead of the end of tender
being convex and the engine concave, the reverse may be the case, with equal
advantage as regards turning curves, and also insures the proper working of the
junction.

page_text: Fig. 1, Sheet A, represents a side elevation of a locomotive engine con-
structed according to my Invention, with the framing and wheels of the near
side removed to show more clearly the construction of the engine. Fig. 2,
Sheet A, is a transverse vertical section of the engine, partly on the line a, b,
Fig. 1, immediately behind the fire box and partly on the line c, d. Fig. 3,
Sheet B, represents a plan of the engine with the body of the boiler removed.
C, C, are the cylinders, which are placed about midway in the length of the
boiler, and secured thereto by bolts or otherwise; they are fitted with covers D, D,
and furnished with stuffing boxes c, c, to pass the piston rods E, E, at both
ends. F is the piston, seen dotted in each of the cylinders; guide frames G,G,
are fixed to the cylinder ends to carry the cross heads on each end of the rods,
to guide them in their traverse to and fro; the frames G, G, are further stayed
and otherwise properly secured to the boiler by stays D, D. The two con-
necting rods H, H, of the one cylinder C lead in opposite directions, and
connect the rod E with two cranks K, K, one on the fore driving wheel axle I,
and the other on the rear driving wheel axle L, which cranks are respectively
always at the same point of their respective revolutions. While the piston of
one cylinder C is midway in its stroke and in full action, the cranks K, K, of
cylinder C' are at the dead, as seen in the plan; the one crank on each axle
therefore is made in the same relative position with respect to the other on the
same axle, as is usually observed in such engines. e, e, are the eccentrics,
actuating the slide valves by their rods f,f; one valve for each cylinder is alone
requisite. M is the steam chest, placed immediately over the cylinder, to
which the steam pipe 9, 9, leads, and passes directly through the boiler to the
valve boxes of the engines; N is the exhaust, leading to the smoke box, and
constituting the blast in the chimney, as usual.
The several parts in detail of a locomotive engine and boiler being well
understood, it will be unnecessary to enter into any particular description
thereof, as the Drawing represents the whole sufficiently to render the con-
struction perfectly intelligible. I would remark, that although I have
represented in the annexed Drawings an engine arranged and constructed
with inside cylinders, yet that the principle of my Invention may be carried
out with cylinders applied and arranged as outside cylinders, and as will be
generally well understood.
The second part of my Invention, which relates to the junction of the engine
and tender, is represented in Fig. 3, Sheet B, and also in longitudinal vertical

page_text: section Fig. 4, and in plan Fig. 5. The plan, Fig. 3, represents the curved
junction of the two parts of the engine and tender. The two parts R and S
(the one R concave, the other S convex,) of the engine and tender I make
of iron, and turn or otherwise truly form the contact bearing surfaces to a
radius suitable for the purpose. The whole framework of the engine and
tender are represented as of iron. Below the foot plate of the engine arcs
of T iron are placed transversely between the side frames, to'afford strength to
resist the concussion between the engine and tender, and also to fix the draw
bar P. The draw bar P is attached to plates h, h, of iron, placed between the
curved Tirons by a pin joint r; it passes thence freely through an opening
in R and through a slot opening in S, which permits any requisite amount of
motion of the one curved part on the other. In Fig. 5 the draw bar is
jointed at 1, from thence it is supported in a bearing m, & also in the end of
framing, and terminates in the draw hook p. In order to keep the engine and
tender in close proximity without being screwed hard up, I place a spring 9 at
the rear of the tender, between the frame and the nut r, screwed on the draw
bar. The spring, which is in two parts, one above and the other below the
draw bar, is suitably embraced, and held by the plate and clips s, s, against
which the nut r presses. The nut is furnished with a lever and ball, for screw-
ing it up and holding it in its place when so adjusted. By thus fitting the
draw bar, the draught is conveyed direct from the engine to the train of
carriages without being first communicated to the tender and thence to the
train. By this arrangement, close proximity is at all times maintained between
the engine and tender, which at the same time will havo free motion sideways
on the centre e, to allow for any irregularity or curve in the line of rails, &
will thereby permit great freedom in running, particularly on curves, with
the advantages of a close connection between the engine and tender at all
times.
It will be unnecessary particularly to describe the other part of the framing
of the tender, as it is sufficiently clear in the Drawings, and generally well
understood.
Having described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of performing.
the same, I would have it understood that I do not confine myself to the pre-
cise detail herein-before described necessarily to illustrate my Invention, as
the same may be varied without departing from the principle of either part of
my Invention; but that what I do claim as my Invention, and to be secured
by the before in part recited Letters Patent, is,―
First, constructing locomotive engines with steam cylinders, each having a

page_text: piston with two piston rods projected in opposite directions and connected to
the cranks of two separate driving wheel axles, as herein-before described.
And, secondly, I claim as my Invention the circular curved junction between
the engine and tender, with the draw bar of the train attached to the engine
and communicating to the train without the intervention of the tender in its
draught, for the purpose and as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Robert Whitgreave, have herc-
unto set my hand and seal, this Seventh day of October, in the year
of Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
JOS. R. WHITGREAVE. (L.B.)
Witness,
W. CLARK, Patent Agent,
53, Chancery Lane, London.