IMPROVEMENTS IN VATED GRAD DAD STEAM AND OTURD
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Jonathan Shelmerdine, Manager, William Walker,
Draughtsman, and Edward Holt, Engineer, all of the Albion Iron
Works, Miles Platting, Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, for
the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN VATED GRAD DAD STEAM AND OTURD
Sealed the 15th December 1868, and dated the 20th June 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Jonathan Shelmerdine,
William Walker, and Edward Holt at the Office of the Com-
missioners of Patents, with their Petition, on the 20th June 1868.
We, JONATHAN SHELMERDINE, Manager, WILLIAM WALKER, Draughts-
man, and EDWARD HOLT, Engineer, all of the Albion Iron Works, Miles:
Platting, Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, do hereby declare the.
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN VALVE GEAR FOR STEAM.
AND OTHER MOTIVE ENGINES," to be as follows:-
Our improvements relate to that class of valves where one valve is
worked by an excentric or other means to regulate the admission and

page_text: exhaust of the steam, and another valve is applied to the first-named or
primary valve to be moved with it by the friction caused by the pressure
of the steam upon the second valve; this second or supplementary valve,
acting when its movements are stopped, to cut off the supply of steam to the
primary valve, which then slides under it, and the object of our Invention
is to stop by an improved arrangement of mechanism the movements of
the supplementary valve at different parts of its traverse, so as to cut off
the supply of steam to the cylinder at a different part of the stroke,
and thus regulate the expansive working of the steam, this being
done by adjusting the valve gear by hand or by connecting it with a
suitable "governor," which will vary the time of cutting off the steam
according to its pressure, or to the load upon the engine so as to keep
the speed uniform, the full pressure of the steam being admitted into the
cylinder and therein expanded to the fullest practicable extent.
Our improvements consist in attaching a rod to the supplementary
valve in the line in which the primary valve moves, this rod passing to
the outside of the valve chest through a suitable stuffing box, and in
jointing this rod to one end of a lever, the fulcrum of which is fixed in
relation to the oscillatory movement imparted to the lever by the
supplementary valve, and in arranging a slide to move in the direction of
the centre radial line of the lever at mid-stroke, this slide carrying either
one or two adjustable stops; two if the stops are arranged to act upon
the sides of the lever, and one if to act upon inner parallel flanges or
in a parallel slot in the lever. By moving the slide by hand or by con-
nection with. the governor the arc of movement permitted in the lever
will be increased or decreased. The "stops" may be fixed in position,
and the lever may have motion imparted to it in the direction of its
length, and the stops may be cither round or excentric or of other
suitable form, or they may be formed by parallel ribs or edges. Instead
of the above-described arrangement one end of a lever may be jointed
to a die made to slide across the supplementary valve at a right angle
to its movement, the other end of this lever being jointed to a rod
passing through a stuffing box to the outside of the valve chest, which
may be either actuated by hand or by connection with the governor, and
one or two adjustable stops may be fixed to the valve chest to come in
contact with the lever to limit its oscillatory movement, as herein-before
explained. Or one end of a lever may be jointed to the supplementary

page_text: valve, and the other may be arranged on a fulcrum within the valve
chest, and the stop or stops may be mounted upon a slide to act and be
actuated, as herein-before explained. The system and arrangement of
stops, either when the stops have motion or when the lever is lengthened
or changed in position and the stops are stationary, may be used when
the supplementary valve gives oscillatory movement to an arm on a
shaft.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Jonathan Shelmerdine, William Walker, and
Edward Holt in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 18th December
1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, Jonathan
SHELMERDINE, Manager, WILLIAM WALKER, Draughtsman, and
EDWARD HOLT, Engineer, all of the "Albion Iron Works," Miles
Platting, Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of June, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the thirty-
first year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto us, the said Jonathan Shelmerdine, William Walker, and
Edward Holt, Her special license that we, the said Jonathan Shelmerdine,
William Walker, and Edward Holt, our executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as we, the said Jonathan Shelmerdine, William
Walker, and Edward Holt, our 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 VALVE GEAR FOR STEAM AND OTHER
MOTIVE ENGINES," upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said.
Jonathan Shelmerdine, William Walker, and Edward Holt, by an
instrument in writing under our hands and seals (or under the hand.
and scal of one of us) should particularly describe and ascertain the

page_text: 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 we, the said Jonathan Shelmerdine, William
Walker, and Edward Holt, do hereby declare the nature of our said Inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement and accom-
panying Drawings (that is to say) :-
Our improvements relate to that class of valves where one valve is
worked by an excentric or other means to regulate the admission and
exhaustion of the steam, and another valve is applied to the first-named
or primary valve to be moved with it by the friction caused by the
pressure of the steam upon the second valve; this second or supple-
mentary valve acting when its movements are stopped to cut off the
supply of steam to the primary valve which then slides under it, and the
object of our Invention is an improved arrangement and combination
of mechanism to stop the movements of the supplementary valve at
different parts of its traverse, so as to cut off the supply of steam to the
cylinder at a different part of the stroke of the piston, and thus regulate
the expansive working of the steam, this being done by adjusting the
valve gear by hand or by connecting it with a suitable governor, which
will vary the time of cutting off the steam according to its pressure, or
to the load upon the engine so as to keep the speed uniform, the full
pressure of the steam being admitted into the cylinder and therein
expanded to the fullest practicable extent.
The main feature of our Invention consists in arranging the supple-
mentary valve so as to be connected with a lever, the end of which plays
between fixed parallel ribs or stops, the variations of the traverse of the
valve being obtained by changing the point of connection between the
valve and lever, and this can be done by changing the position of
the fulcrum of the lever. Or the lever may be connected with the sup-
plementary valve, so that the position of its fulcrum can be changed in
relation to fixed stops. Or the lever may be fixed in position and the
stop or stops may be changed in position, or the length of the lever from
its fulcrum to its end may be varied. But before entering into any

page_text: arrangement and combination of mechanism which we prefer to use for
carrying our Invention into effect, and then the modifications thereof
will be more readily understood.
Fig. 1 is a longitudinal section of a valve chest and part of a
cylinder in which our improvements are illustrated; Fig. 2 is a cross
section of the same, and Fig. 3 is a plan section looking towards the
inside of the valve chest lid, the parts being supposed to have been cut
off and turned over; Fig. 4 is a longitudinal section of a valve chest
where two separate valves are used, one at each end of the cylinder.
a is part of the cylinder; a', the passages to each end of the cylinder,
a², the exhaust port; b, the primary valve which regulates the admission
and exhaustion of the steam worked by means of the valve rod (')
by an excentric or other means. The primary valve (6) has two
ports (62 and 3) in it at each end through which steam is admitted,
and a port (b) at each end through which the steam passes to the
ports (a) of the cylinder. The supplementary valve (c) is fitted in
dovetail slides on the back of the primary valve (b) as shewn, and it
has two ports (c¹) in it to correspond with the inner ports (6) in the
back of the primary valve (b). There is a stud (2) fixed in the back
of the supplementary valve (c) and a die (c) is fitted to swivel upon
this pin, which die fits into a parallel slot in a lever (d) so that the
lever can slide to and fro on the die. The fulcrum (d) of the lever
is upon a stud fixed in a die or block (d) that can slide to and fro
in guides formed in the lid of the valve chest (e), and this die or block
has a rod (d) screwed in it which passes through a stuffing box (e¹)
to the exterior of the valve chest, this rod being connected with the
ordinary ball governor of the engine by rods and levers or other suitable
means, so that when the speed of the engine increases the rod will
be pushed inwards and vice versa when the speed of the engine decreases.
The end of the lever (d) plays between parallel ribs or stops which
arrest its movement. These ribs or stops are formed by two brackets (f)
fitted in parts projecting from the steam chest lid (e) so that they can
be slided to and from each other, and they are secured by bolts (ƒ¹)
one for each stop. Each bolt has a small excentric formed upon it
which enters a suitable slot (shown in dotted line in Fig. 3) in the

page_text: stop, so that by rotating the bolt the position of the stop can be adjusted
and then the bolt can be secured by the lock nuts (f2). Upon each
stop a series of thin plates (f³) are loosely secured one against the
other by two screws (as shown) to deaden the shock or blow which the
end of the lever gives upon the stop. Any other suitable substance or
arrangement may be employed for this purpose.
The arrangement of the parts forming our Invention as shewn in
Fig. 4 is substantially the same as that above explained in reference
to Figs. 1, 2, and 3 except that the primary and supplementrary valves
may be supposed to be divided into two halves each connected so as to
work together by rods. The rod (c) connecting the two half supple-
mentary valves carries the stud (c) upon which the die (c) is fitted
The brackets or stops (f) in this case are secured close against the
steam chest lid (e). In place of the die (c) being fitted upon a stud
in the supplementary valve, it may be fitted to slide in a groove across
the valve at a right angle to its movement and may swivel upon a
stud secured in the free end of the lever (d), the stops in this case
may be formed by two narrow adjustable brackets secured to the steam
chest lid or by two bolts, the head of each being excentric to the axis
of the bolt, by turning which and securing by lock nuts the stops may
be adjusted to their correct position, and in this case the plates (ƒ³)
may be secured to each edge of the lever which need not be slotted.
When the rod (d) is moved with this arrangement the die will be
slided in the groove in the back of the valve. If parallel ribs are
formed on each side of the lever (d), or the lever is formed with a
parallel slot in it sufficiently wide, one stop may be used in place of
two, but we prefer to use two stops for convenience of adjustment.
The end of a lever (d) may be jointed to one end of a short link
the other end of which is jointed on a stud in the back of the supple-
mentary valve, and the other or fulcrum end of the lever may be
mounted on a stud on a bracket secured to the side of the steam chest,
and then one or two stops accordingly as the lever is a slotted or ribbed
lever may be mounted on a slide to move to and fro across the valve
at a right angle to its movement, this slide being formed in the steam
chest lid and connected with the rod (d) passing through the stuffing
box (el).
Modifications of the arrangements above described may be emploved

page_text: when the supplementary valve is connected with a rod passing in the
line of the valve's motion through a stuffing box in the valve chest.
The dic (c) is then fitted on a stud in the end of the rod at the
exterior of the valve chest and the stops (f) and fulcrum (d) of the
lever are carried in any suitable brackets secured to the framing of
the engine. The stuffing box (e') with this arrangement is then
unnecessary. When a valve spindle coming to the exterior of the valve
chest is connected with the supplementary valve as last described, one
end of a lever may be jointed to it by means of a short connecting
link and the other end may be jointed on a fulcrum carried by any
suitable bracket. Then one or two stops according to the form of the
lever may be mounted upon a slide or other arrangement to slide in
a line passing lengthway of the lever at midstroke, and this slide may
be connected and actuated by the governor as above described.
From the explanation given above it is plain that cither the stops
or the lever may have motion for the purpose of producing the variations
in the travel of the supplementary valve. The stops may be either
round, excentric, or of other suitable form where they are moved by the
governor, and fixed parallel ribs may be used where the lever is moved
by the governor.
The lever arrangements may be also used when the supplementary
valve is connected with an arm or lever secured on the end of a shaft
perpendicular to the face of the valve, this shaft passing through a
stuffing box in the valve chest lid. An arm on this shaft on the
exterior of the valve chest may be made to play between two round
or narrow stops carried by a slide actuated by the governor, or the arm
may have a parallel slot in it or two parallel ribs on it and one stop
may then be used carried by a slide actuated by the governor.
We have now particularly described the nature of our Invention,
and the mode of carrying it into effect and claim as our Invention,―
Firstly. The combination and arrangement of mechanism substantially
as herein-before described and illustrated by the Drawings.
Secondly. We claim a lever adjustable by the governor or by hand
with or without a parallel slot or ribs, or a lever where the stops are
adjustable by the governor or by hand for varying the traverse of a

page_text: supplementary valve substantially as herein-before described and illus-
trated by the Drawings.
In witness whereof, we, the said Jonathan Shelmerdine, William
Walker, and Edward Holt, have hereunto set our hands and seals,
this Seventeenth day of December, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight.
Witness,
PETER J. LIVSEY,
Patent Agent,
Manchester.
JONATHAN SHELMERDINE. (L.S.)
WILLIAM WALKER.
EDWARD HOLT.
(L.S.)
(L.S.)