IN- PROVEMENTS IN OSCILLATING STEAM ENGINES AND IN THE VALVE MOTION THEREOF
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Christian Löbnitz, of the Town & County
of Renfrew, North Britain, Engineer, for the Invention of " IN-
PROVEMENTS IN OSCILLATING STEAM ENGINES AND IN THE VALVE MOTION
THEREOF."
Sealed the 7th March 1865, and dated the 9th September 1864.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Christian Löbnitz
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
9th September 1864.
I, HENRY CHRISTIAN LÖBNITZ, of the Town and County of Renfrew, North
Britain, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN OSCILLATING STEAM ENGINES AND IN THE VALVE MOTION
THEREOF," to be as follows, that is to say :-
This Invention relates to the construction of diagonal, vertical, or angular.
oscillating engines on the high and low pressure principle, whereby economy of
steam, simplicity and compactness of construction, together with durability
and efficient working action are obtained.
The construction of the engines is as follows:-There are a pair of cylinders
for each engine, viz., one small and one larger cylinder, which are either cast
or bolted together, and oscillate on one pair of trunnions for each engine, that
is to say, there is only one trunnion for each cylinder, and the two piston rods
of each engine act upon a pair of cranks which work together as if one crank.

page_text: The bigh-pressure steam is let in from the trunnion of the small cylinder, and
after having acted therein passes through the eduction passage into the large
cylinder, and after having acted therein, is let through the trunnion of the
said large cylinder into the condenser. The slide or other valves on the
cylinders of this engine are worked by one wiper shaft, the one end of the
lever of which is brought out by a bend to the centre of the trunnion of either
the large or small cylinder, and is acted upon direct by an eccentric or other
motion from the main shaft, without being transmitted through a quadrant or
sweep, such as is used in ordinary oscillating engines. The other end of the
said lever is connected direct to the valve spindle when the cylinder is arranged
with two valve casings, the wiper shaft or lever works between, and when only
one valve casing is applied the motion is transmitted by a connecting rod to
another wiper shaft that gives the motion to the two valves of the said engine.
When the cylinders of these engines are placed in an angular or diagonal
position, the four piston rods work upon the one pair of cranks, that is to say,
the two piston rods of the small cylinders work into one crank, and the two
piston rods of the large cylinders work into the other crank, or they may be
arranged with one large and one small cylinder piston rod on each crank, if
required; and the valves on these cylinders can all be acted and regulated by
the one eccentric, cam, or other motion already named. This valve motion
can also be applied to the ordinary angular, diagonal, or vertical oscillating
engines. These angular or diagonal high and low pressure engines when in
pairs may bo constructed with the cranks overhead or under, as may be
required for screw or paddle steamers. The air pump or pumps can be
worked by eccentrics or other motion as may be found suitable from the crank
shaft, and may be placed either in the condenser below the cranks or in any
other suitable position.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of tho Letters Patent, filed
by the said Henry Christian Löbnitz in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 7th March 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I; HENRY
CHRISTIAN LÜBNITZ, of the Town and County of Renfrow; North Britain,
Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS. Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Ninth day of September, in the year of our Lord 8
One thousand oight hundred and sixty-four, in. the twenty-eighth. year of

page_text: Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Henry Christian Löbnitz, Her special licence that I, the said
Henry Christian Löbnitz, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Henry Christian Löbnitz, 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
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 OSCILLATING STEAM ENGINES AND IN THE VALVE
MOTION THEREOF," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Henry
Christian Löbnitz, 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 Christian Löbnitz, 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 accompanying Drawings, and
to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say :-
My said Invention relates, firstly, to a novel arrangement and construction
of diagonal, vertical, or angular oscillating steam engines on the high and low
pressure principle; secondly, to the construction of valve motion for any class of
oscillating engines; and, thirdly, to the cut-off valves and the variable cut-off
motion adapted to the said cut-off valves; the said cut-off valve and cut-off
motion being applicable to oscillating or any other class of steam engines, in
all of which, whether applied separately or combined, economy of steam,
simplicity and compactness of construction, together with durability and
efficient working action are obtained.
These improvements may be carried out under various arrangements, but
according to one arrangement as specially adapted to oscillating engines, the
details are constructed as follows, viz., the construction of the combined high
and low pressure engines is the following: There are a pair of cylinders for
each engine, viz., one small and one large cylinder, which are either cast or
bolted together, and oscillate on one pair of trunnions, that is to say, there is
one trunnion on each cylinder, and the two cylinders oscillate on the one pair
of trunnions as if one cylinder. The piston rods of the two cylinders are
attached to one or two pair of cranks, and when a pair of engines are placed

page_text: opposite each other, the piston rods of the two engines, that is of four cylin-
ders, can work together in the said one or two pair of cranks. These cranks
may be arranged overhead or under, or in any other position found suitable
for screw or paddle propulsion. The bigh-pressure steam is let in through tho
trunnion of the small cylinder, and after having acted therein passes through
the eduction passage into the largo cylinder, and after having acted therein
is let through the trunnion pipe of the said large cylinder into the condenser.
The valve motion on the cylinders of this or any other class of oscillating
engine can be worked by wiper shafts, the one end of the lover of which is
brought out by a bend to the centre or near the centre of the trunnion, and
acted upon direct or through a link by an eccentric or other motion from the
main shaft without being transmitted to the wiper shaft through a quadrant
or sweep, such as is used in ordinary oscillating engines. The other end of
the said lever is connected direct to the valve spindles when the cylinder is
arranged with one upper and one lower valve casing, the wiper shaft working
in the space between these casings; but when only one or more than two
casings are used, the connection to the valve spindles may be arranged in
different ways. This lever can be used for giving motion to slide, piston, or
any other sort of valve. When a pair of engines are placed angularly or
opposite to the crank, the valves may be acted upon and regulated by one or
more eccentrics, or by other suitable motion, and the same motion applies to
the ordinary angular, diagonal, or vertical single cylinder oscillating engine.
The "cut-off valves" which are applicable to oscillating as well as any other
class of steam engine are arranged as follows, viz., the steam ports in the
slide valves are incased in such a manner that the steam admitted to the
cylinder has to be let in through the back or outer side of the slide valve, and
upon the said outer side of the slide valve slides a flat plate or plates, which here
receives the term "Löbnitz's 'variable and simple 'cut-off valves," and which
regulates the steam admitted through the ports of the slide valve into the
cylinder. These cut-off valves can be acted upon in oscillating engines by a
wiper shaft, similar to the one already described in this Specification for
working the "slido valves," and in any class of steam engine, oscillating or
otherwise; the motion of these "cut-off valves" can be arranged in a variety
of ways as may bo found suitable. The cut-off valves are acted upon by an
eccentric, cam, or other motion placed on the main shaft, or upon another
shaft receiving its motion from the said main shaft or otherwise, all of which
are embraced in the term here applied of "Löbnitz's variable cut-off regu
lator." The said regulator is loose on the shaft, and is capable of being
shifted into any desired position at an angle to the crank when the engines

page_text: are in motion, in order to cut off the steam admitted through the outer side
of the slide valve at any point desired by the "variable cut-off valve." This
regulator can be applied to any description of cut-off valves, cylindrical or
otherwise.
And in order that my said Invention of improvements in steam engines,
valves, and valvular motions may be properly understood, I shall now proceed
to describe the several Figures on the explanatory Sheet of Drawings which I
have hereunto appended for the purpose of showing some of the arrangements
under which my Invention may be judiciously carried out in practice, that is
to say:-
Figure 1 represents a section of one arrangement of a pair of cylinders for
a high and low pressure engine on the oscillating principle. The high-pressure
cylinder A and the low-pressure cylinder B are in this instance bolted together.
The high-pressure steam enters the small cylinder through the trunnion pipe C,
and after having acted in the cylinder A passes through the eduction passage
D, D, into the cylinder B, and after having acted therein passes through the
large cylinder trunnion pipe E into the condenser. One end of the wiper
shafts F, F, working the slide valves of the cylinders are in this instance bent
out to about the centre of the trunnions, and the pins G, G, are acted upon
direct or through a link or other mechanism by an eccentric, cam, or other
motion from the main shaft without being transmitted through a quadrant or
sweep, such as is used generally in ordinary oscillating cagines, and the
pins H, H, are in this case connected direct to the valve spindles; these
wipers being capable of giving motion to the slide, piston, or any other sort of
valve. Figure 2 is a longitudinal section of the valve casings of a diagonal
oscillating engine to show one application of the encased steam slide valve
K, K, and "variable cut-off valve "L, L, with outside view of the eccentrics A',
rods A³, links A³, and wiper shaft R, R, connected to the slide valve spindle
M, M. Figure 3 is an outside view of the same engine seen from the opposite
side, showing one application of the "variable cut-off regulator" by an
eccentric N attached by the rod O to the wiper shaft P, P, giving motion to
the valve spindle Q, Q, Figures 2 and 3, attached to the "variable cut-off
valves L, L, shown in Figure 2. Figure 4 is a plan of the same enginė
showing one application of the variable cut-off regulator, eccentric N con-
nected with the rod O to the wiper shaft P, P, giving motion to the variable.
cut-off valve, and also showing the eccentric A³, giving motion through the
rods A and link A³ to the wiper shaft R, R, which is connected to the steam
valve. This view also shows the wiper shafts P, P, and R, R, bent out to
the centre or near the centre of the trunnion, where the rod A from the

page_text: steam valve eccentrics and the rod O from the variable cut-off eccentric N
are connected, and give motion to the cylinder, steam, and cut-off valves
by the pins G, G. Figure 5 is a section of the variable cut-off regulator
eccentric N attached to a long cylindrical boss N, N, surrounding the shaft S;
in this boss is cut a slot T, shown in Figure 4, parallol or inclined to the centro
line of the shaft S, in which slides the pin U fixed on the clutch V; the point
of the pin U is further let into an angulated slot W in the shaft S, by moving
the lover X along the quadrant Y the clutch V will be shifted and move the
pin U, which will be guided in the slot W, and shift the variable cut-off
regulator eccentric N to any desirable position, and accordingly cut off the
steam at any point required while the engines aro in motion. The variable
cut-off regulator is capable of being shifted in many different ways while the
.engines are in motion by various contrivances, and is applicable to any
description of marine, locomotive, or land steam engine. The cut-off valvo
can be either cylindrical, sliding, or of any other description moved by this
variable cut-off regulator. The one or other or whole of these arrangements
may be applied, combined, detached, or modified in a variety of ways, and
this said Specification is here intended to embrace the whole of these appli-
cations, combinations, detachments, or modifications.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and the manner in
which the same is or may be used or carried into practical effect, I would
observe in conclusion that what I consider to be novel and original, and
thereforo claim as the Invention secured to me by the herein-before in part
recitod Letters Patent, is,-
First, the general arrangement and construction of two cylinders oscillating
on one pair of trunnions on the high and low pressure principle, as herein-
beforo described and shown in the accompanying Sheet of Drawings, or any
more modification thereof.
Second, the construction of wiper shafts on oscillating engines, having the
end acted upon for giving motion to tho valves brought to or near the centro
of the trunnions, so as to avoid the use of a quadrant or segmentally slotted
bar ordinarily employed for communicating the motion of the eccentric to the
valves, as herein-before described, or any mere modification thereof.
Third, the construction of cut-off valves arranged to act on the back or
outer side of slide valves of oscillating or other cylinders for any description
of steam engine, as herein-before described, or any mere modification thereof.
Fourth, the construction of a variable cut-off regulator adjustable in a
variety of ways, by being shifted on the main or other shaft or shafts whilo
the engines are in motion, and applicable to any description of steam engine

page_text: for cutting off the steam at any point desired, as herein-before described, or
any mere modification thereof.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Christian Löbnitz, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Second day of March, One thousand eight
hundred and sixty-five.
HENRY CHRISTIAN LÖBNITZ. (L.S.)