IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR LUBRICATING THE CYLINDERS OF STEAM ENGINES
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Robert Heaton Taylor, of Brightside, near Rother-
ham, in the County of York, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVED
Sealed the 14th June 1864, and dated the 21st December 1863.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Robert Heaton Taylor
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 21st December 1863.
I, ROBERT HEATON TAYLOR, of Brightside, near Rotherham, in the County
of York, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR LUBRICATING THE CYLINDERS OF STEAM ENGINES,"
to be as follows:-
In lubricating the cylinders of high-pressure steam engines by means of the.
ordinary tallow or grease cup, the tallow or oil is placed in the cup and the
tap opened, the whole of the tallow or grease passing almost immediately into
the cylinder, and chiefly at the time that the exhaust steam is passing out of
the cylinder, and thereby a great amount of tallow or oil is wasted by passing
off with the exhaust steam; and in condensing steam engines this waste of
tallow or oil is still greater, owing to the vacuum, which causes the greater
part thereof to pass at once from the grease cup through the cylinder into.
the condensor.
The principal object of my Invention is to obviate this waste, by causing
the tallow or oil to pass into the cylinder at the time that it is being charged

page_text: with steam, and at no other time, the pressure of the steam itself opening a
valve to admit the tallow or oil to the cylinder when charging with steam, and
the exhaust or vacuum closing the valve, so as to prevent the admission of
tallow or oil whilst the steam is passing from the cylinder.
The general arrangement of the grease cup is somewhat similar to the
ordinary one, being of a globular form, with a screw plug at the top for
supplying the tallow, and a tap below, the conical plug of which is perforated
with two holes, so as to open and close two passages simultaneously. These
two passages both communicate at their lower ends with the cylinder, the
upper end of the one terminating at the bottom of the grease cup, and the
other being provided with a tube, which extends upwards, and terminates near
the upper part of the inside of the grease cup. The upper end or orifice of
this tube is provided with a, valve opening upwards, and the orifice of the
other passage at the bottom of the grease cup is also provided with a valve
also opening only upwards, and these two valves are so connected together by
a cross head attached to the upper ends of their rods that the opening of the
one shall cause the simultaneous opening of the other, and vice versa. The
grease cup is to be charged with tallow or oil, and the screw plug replaced,
the tap below is then to be opened, and the effect will be that a portion of the
tallow or grease will be admitted to the cylinder at each stroke of the piston
when the cylinder is being charged with steam, but not at any other time. If
the steam is entering the cylinder when the tap is opened, the pressure thereof
will raise both the valves at the same time, and also admit steam above the
tallow or grease, so that the latter is "in equilibrio," and can flow into the
cylinder by its own gravity, but the instant that the exhaust port is opened,
and the steam begins to pass out of the cylinder, the partial vacuum closes
both of the valves immediately, and shuts off the supply of tallow or oil,
thereby preventing it from being wasted by passing off with the exhaust steam,
as the cylinder only receives the tallow or oil at the time that it is receiving
the steam, the vacuum merely causing the valves to shut closer.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Robert Heaton Taylor in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 21st June 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ROBERT
HEATON TAYLOR, of Brightside, near Rotherham, in the County of York,
Engineer, send greeting.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-seventh
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said Robert Heaton Taylor, Her special license that
I, the said Robert Heaton Taylor, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as 1, the said Robert Heaton Taylor, my executors, adminis-
trators, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from
time to time and 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 "IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR LUBRICATING THE CYLINDERS
OF STEAM ENGINES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Robert Heaton Taylor, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under my hand and seal, or under the hand and seal of one of them,
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 Robert Heaton Taylor, 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 in writing, and on reference being had to the accompanying
Drawing, that is to say :-
In lubricating the cylinders of high-pressure steam engines by means of the
ordinary tallow or grease cup, the tallow or oil is placed in the cup and the
tap opened, the whole of the tallow or grease passing almost immediately into
the cylinder, and chiefly at the time that the exhaust steam is passing out of
the cylinder, and thereby a great amount of tallow or oil is wasted by passing
off with the exhaust steam; and in condensing steam engines this waste of
tallow or oil is still greater, owing to the vacuum, which causes the greater
part thereof to pass at once from the grease cup through the cylinder into the
condenser.
The principal object of my Invention is to obviate this waste, by causing
the tallow or oil to pass into the cylinder at the time that it is being charged
with steam, and at no other time, the pressure of the steam itself opening a
valve to admit the tallow or oil to the cylinder when charging with steam, and
the exhaust or vacuum closing the valve, so as to prevent the admission of
tallow or oil whilst. the steam is passing from the cylinder.

page_text: The general arrangement of the grease cup is somewhat similar to the
ordinary one, being of a globular form, with a screw plug at the top for
supplying the tallow or oil, and a tap below, the conical plug of which is
perforated with two holes, so as to open and close two passages simultaneously.
These two passages both communicate at their lower ends with the cylinder,
the upper end of the one terminating at the bottom of the grease cup, and
the other being provided with a tube, which extends upwards, and terminates
near the upper part of the inside of the grease cup. The upper end or orifice
of this tube is provided with a valve opening upwards, and the orifice of the
other passage at the bottom of the grease cup is also provided with a valve
also opening only upwards, and these two valves are so connected together by
a cross head attached to the upper ends of their rods that the opening of the
one shall cause the simultaneous opening of the other, and vice versâ. The
grease cup is to be charged with tallow or oil, and the screw plug replaced,
the tap below is then to be opened, and the effect will be that a portion of the
tallow or grease will be admitted to the cylinder at each stroke of the piston
when the cylinder is being charged with steam, but not at any other time. If
the steam is entering the cylinder when the tap is opened the pressure thereof
will raise both the valves at the same time, and also admit steam above the
tallow or grease, so that the latter is in "equilibrio," and can flow into the
cylinder by its own gravity, but the instant that the exhaust port is opened
and the steam begins to pass out of the cylinder, the partial vacuum closes
both of the valves immediately, and shuts off the supply of tallow or oil,
thereby preventing it from being wasted by passing off with the exhaust
steam, as the cylinder only receives the tallow or oil at the time that it is
receiving the steam, the vacuum merely causing the valves to shut closer.
Such being the nature and object of my said Invention for Improved
Apparatus for Lubricating the Cylinders of Steam Engines," I will now
proceed to describe more in detail the manner in which the same is to be
or may be performed or carried into practical effect, and in order that the
same may be distinctly understood I have annexed hereunto a Drawing
illustrative thereof, and have marked the same with letters of reference
corresponding with those in the following explanation thereof, that is to
say:
The annexed Drawing represents a section of my improved apparatus
taken vertically through about the middle of the same, the valves being
shown in the position they would assume when the pressure of steam is on,
and the oil or tallow is being admitted to the cylinder.
a, a, is the globe or cup to hold the tallow or oil; b, b, is the screw plug,

page_text: which is to be removed when supplying the cup with tallow or oil, and then
replaced; c, c, is the conical plug of the tap, which has two perforations, so
as to open and close the two passages d, d, and e, e, simultaneously, and to
regulate the quantity of tallow or oil passing into the cylinder. This plug is
turned by the lever or spanner f, f, and may be furnished with a graduated
plate or index to show the amount of tallow or oil supplied; d, d, is the
tallow or oil passage for conveying the tallow or oil from the globe or cup to
the cylinder or other part of the steam engine where it may be fixed; e, e, is
the steam passage for admitting steam through the valve g, g, to the upper
part of the globe or grease cup above the tallow or oil; e, e, is a steam tube
inside the globe, and connected to the steam passage e, e; 9, 9, is a tubular
valve sliding in the upper end of the steam tube e*, e*, and having perforations
which (when the valve is raised by the pressure of the steam, as shown
in the Drawing) correspond with the perforations or steam ports i, i, in the
upper end of the tube e*, e, so as to admit steam above the tallow or oil;
j,j, is a cross head, which connects the spindle of the valve g, g, to the
spindle h, h, of the valve 1, 1, so that when the valve g, g, is raised, the
valve 1, 1, is raised also, and vice versâ; k, k, are two guides through which
the spindle h, h, works; 1, 1, is the valve for opening and closing the tallow
or oil passage d, d. The apparatus may be either fixed into the cylinder
cover or on to the steam chest or steam passage, in which latter cases the
valves as well as the cylinder will be lubricated. It will be evident that if
the plug or tap
c, is opened when the pressure of steam is on, the steam
will pass up the passage e, ex, in the direction of the arrows, and raising the
valve g, g, will fill the upper part of the grease cup above the tallow or oil,
thus placing the latter "in equilibrio," and as the two spindles of the two
valves g, g, and l, l, are connected together, the rising of the former will also
open the latter, and allow the tallow or oil to flow down the passage d, d, into
the cylinder or steam chest. The effect of the exhaust or vacuum will be, on
the contrary, to close both valves immediately, and thus prevent the waste of
the tallow or oil by passing off with the exhaust steam. The cylinder will
thus be lubricated at each stroke of the piston, and hence the friction and
consequent wear and tear of the cylinder and piston will be greatly reduced,
and consequently the consumption of fuel, as well as that of tallow or oil, will
be considerably economized.
66
Having now described the nature and object of my said Invention for
Improved Apparatus for Lubricating the Cylinders of Steam Engines,"
together with the manner in which the same is to be or may be performed
or carried into practical effect, I would remark in conclusion that I claim

page_text: as my Invention the peculiar novel combination and arrangement of apparatus
shown in the Drawing annexed, and above particularly described, or any mere
modification or imitation thereof, constructed and operating in substantially
the same or a similar manner.
In witness whereof, I, the said Robert Heaton Taylor, have hereunto 5
set my hand and seal, this Eighteenth day of June, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
ROBERT HEATON TAYLOR. (L.S.)