IMPROVEMENTS IN ENGINES WORKED BY STEAM OR OTHER MOTIVE FLUID
Year: 1884

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
I ROBERT WELFORD of Hunter's Hall, Durhamn Road, Sunderland, in the
County of Durham, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of said invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN ENGINES WORKED BY STEAM OR OTHER MOTIVE FLUID" to bo
as follows:
This invention has reference to single acting engines worked by steam or other
motive fluid and relates to arranging the distributing valve (or valves) in such a
manner and position that it (or they) travels (or travel) in a direction (or directions)
at right angles to the planes in which the connecting rods vibrate, and parallel to
the axial line of the crank shaft. The valve or valves is or are situated and move
on the working end or ends of the cylinder or cylinders which end or ends also
form the valve's face and a result of the arrangement is that a specially fixed
exhaust cavity between the valve's face and cylinder is dispensed with-whereby a
minimum of clearance and length of passage is secured,
In a four cylinder engine according to this invention, arranged to work on the
compound principle, one valve inay distribute the actuating fluid to the two high
pressure cylinders, and another perform the same office for the two low pressure
cylinders. These cylinders may work in pairs on to two cranks, or side by side
on to four cranks of one common shaft. The ports may be so formed in the valve
that one high pressure and one low pressure cylinder inay work together.
Commonly for an engine only two cylinders will be used worked by one valve
on the high pressure expansive system as making the most useful and simplest
arrangement.
The valves may be of the ordinary flat slide valve type and may be balanced,
but piston valves and other varieties of valves may be used. Expansion valves
may also be arranged to work in combination with the main valves, and be con-
trolled by a governor or by hand. When an engine is made to work on this
principle and required to run at high speeds two or more ports may be formed and
brought into operation for the relief of pressure from each cylinder.
I prefer more particularly to actuate the distributing valve from and in their
own exhaust cavity or recess, by means of an eccentric or crank situated within
the exhaust cavity and worked by a shaft situated between the cylinders and
driven by bevil or mitre wheels from the crank shaft of the engine, but it is by no
means essential that this plan should be followed, and it is evident that valves
arranged in a position according to this invention may be made to reverse and
may be actuated in many different ways and by different means.
Dand his 10th day of Ton 1984A
W. LLOYD WISE,
Applicant's Agent.

page_text: 1, ROBERT WELFORD, of Hunters. Hall, Durham Road, Sunderland, in the
County of Durham, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of my invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN ENGINES WORKED BY STEAM OR OTHER MOTIVE FLUID
"and
in_what_manner the same is to be performed; to-be-particularly described-and-
ascertained in and by the following statement:-
=
This invention has reference to single acting and other engines worked by steam
or other motive fluid and relates to arranging the distributing valve (or valves)
in such a manner and position that it (or they) travels-for-travel-in-a-direction (or
directions) at right angles to the plane or planes in which the connecting rod (or
-reds) vibrates (or vibrate) and parallel to the axial line of the crank shaft. The
Falve or valves is or are situated and moves or move on the end or ends of the
cylinder or cylinders which end or ends also forms or form the cylinder face or
faces against which the slide valve or valves acts or act and a result of the
arrangement is that a specially formed exhaust cavity between the valves' face (or
valves' faces) and cylinder occupying a considerable depth between tho cylinder
valve-face and the cylinder is dispensed with and a minimum clearance and length-
of passage is secured_An_exhaust passage-may-bo-conveniently_formed_com
municating with the exhaust cavity of the slide and passing along the side of the
cylinder to any convenient exit, but this passage does not in any way necessitate
-the lengthening of the steam ports as is usual in most arrangements of slide valves;
And in order that the nature of my invention and the manner of carrying it into
practical effect may be fully understood I proceed to describe the same with
reference to the accompanying sheet of illustrativo drawings in which Fig 1 is a
'plan or top view of a vertical single acting engine with the slide valve chest and
slide valve in section and shewing a method of actuating the slide valve by means
of an eccentric (or a crank) and Fig 2 is a vertical section of the engine on the
line A. B. Fig 1, some of the working parts being shown in elevation. Fig 3 is an
elevation at right angles to Fig 2. Fig 4 is a sectional plan or top view drawn to
an enlarged scale shewing the slide valve, the eccentric actuating mechanism and
incans for compensating the wear of the parts in contact, and Fig 5 is a vertical
section of the same with adjacent portions of the cylinders. Fig 6 is a plan or
top view showing the position of the ports in the cover at the top of theo cylinders.
a is the base plate of the engine carrying the supports for the cylinders, crank shaft,
plummer blocks, and other parts. b. bare the cylinders. c is the cover of the
working ends of the cylinders; its outer face forms the cylinder valve faco in
which are formed the ports communicating with the cylinders, namely, the two very
short ports 61, d. d' are deep pistons connected by connecting rods c. o' to the
crank shaft f g is a shaft or spindle situated between the cylinders (or outside
the cylinder when one only is used) and geared with the crank shaft by mitro
wheels h. h for the purpose of actuating the slide or distributing valve i by means
of the eccentric and eccentric block k¹.
I prefer to actuate the said slide or distributing valve from and in its own
exhaust cavity or recess by means of the said eccentric and eccentric block or
by means of a crank, situated within the exhaust cavity and worked by a shaft g
as shown and described, as by this arrangement I dispense with stufling boxes.
Z is a port open to the exhaust cavity of the slide valve i through the exhaust
ports (Fig 6) in the cylinder valve face c and passing to the atmosphere, or to
a condenser, or to another pair of engines, as the case may be, m is the valve chest

page_text: provided with a supply inlet n for steam or other actuating fluid. ³, 12, are lining
strips of suitable material such as phosphor bronze in the exhaust cavity of the slide
valve, set up by the set screws for the purpose of taking up wear of the moving
parts.
The action of an engine such as illustrated and described abovo is as follows :-
The throws of the cranks being opposite each other the notion of the one
piston will always be the reverse of the motion of the other and consequently the
one slide will serve the two cylinders through the two short ports 6" 6 Thus
if the slide i be moved to the right hand steam will be admitted to the port b
and the port 6 will be open to the exhaust cavity to allow of the escape of the
exhaust steam from the right band cylinder (Fig 2) while steam is being admitted
to the left hand cylinder.
The slide valve can be constructed to cut off the steam automatically or other-
wise as required. The example of slide valve herein shewn and described is of the
ordinary flat slide valve typo and may be balanced, but piston slide valvos and
other varieties of valves may be used. Expansion valves may also be arranged to
work in combination with the main valves and be controlled by a governor or by
hand. When an engine is made to work on this principle and required to run at
high speeds two or more ports may be formed on the cylinder valvo face and
brought into operation for the exhaust of fluid from each cylinder.
Although I have only shewn and described my invention as applied to a vertical
double cylinder single acting engine it will be readily understood that it may be
applied to double acting engines generally, as for instance to a horizontal double
acting engine working either on the compound principle or not.
Commonly, for an engine only two cylinders will be used, these being worked
by one valve on the high pressure expansive system as making the most useful and
simplest arrangement, but in a four cylinder engine according to my invention,
arranged to work on the compound principle, one valve may distribute the actuating
fluid to the two high pressure cylinders, and another perform the same office for tho
two low pressure cylinders, it being understood that to this end the exhaust from
the pair of high pressure cylinders is to be connected with the valve chest of the
two low pressure cylinders. The two cylinders may work in pairs on to two
cranks or side by side on to four cranks on one common shaft.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is
-
1. In a fluid pressure engine having a piston or pistons operating a vibrating
connecting rod or rods arranging a distributing valve on the end or cover of the
cylinder or cylinders and causing motion to be imparted to such valve in a direction
at right angles to the plane or planes of vibration of the connecting rod or rods
substantially as described, that is to say, by means of a shaft or spindle g geared
with a crank shaft and actuating the slide or distributing valve i by means of an
eccentric and an eccentric block k¹, or by means of a crank situated within the
exhaust cavity i.
Dated thin 9th dox of October 1884