Year: 1887

page_text: Date of Application, 16th Apr., 1887
Complete Left, 16th Jan., 1888
Complete Accepted, 2nd Mar., 1888
JAMES CUNNINGHAM SIMPSON Engine & Boiler Inspector 9 Midland Street Hull
Yorks. do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
A valve having a rotary or oscilating movement for admitting steam or other
motive power to engines and a cut off or expansion valve working in combination
with said rotary or oscilating valve the cut off valve having an oscilating movement
derived from a Speed Governor for a clearer description I will take the case of a
steam cylinder.
The cylinder face on which the valve works has a port leading to each end of
cylinder in the usual way, the valve is a circular dise turning on its axis, having one
port through from back to face, through which the steam passes to each end of
cylinder alternately as the valve is turned round by any convenient working part of
the engine, diametrically opposite to this port is an exhaust port which passes through
the face only of the valve & opens simultaneously with the steam whereby the
exhaust passes away through the interior of the valve either to the L. P. cylinder &
condenser or to atmosphere.
On the back of this valve is an expansion valve working on the main valve spindle,
it is connected to a speed Governor by a small rod passing through a stuffing box on
valve chest and as the Governor rises, the cut off edge of expansion valve, meets the
cut off edge of main valve, & cuts the steam off early or late, according to the
requirements of the load.
Dated this 9th day of May 1887.

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
A Valve and Cut off Arrangement for Steam or other Engines.
I, JAMES CUNNINGHAM SIMPSON, 9 Midland Street, Hull, Yorks, Engine and
Boiler Inspector, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement :-
The object of my invention is to dispense with the slide valve or valves of
compound, single or duplex engines, and to substitute therefor a circular valve or
valves with a dise or plate for producing the requisite degree of expansion, the whole
being operated by a rotating or oscillating movement instead of a sliding movement
according to the usual method of operating the valves of the cylinders of steam or
other engines.
In order that my invention may be the better understood, I have appended the
accompanying three sheets of drawings in which Figure 1 represents an elevational
view of a circular valve and expansion plate according to my invention, and Figure 2
is a cross section of the same showing its application to the ports of a cylinder.
Figures 3 and 4 show two methods of operating the main valve, and Figure
represents an arrangement of levers and rods connecting the ordinary centrifugal
governor with the expansion or cut off plate. Figure 6 is a section of the valve
according to my invention as applied to a compound engine, and Figure 7 shows a
method of reversing an engine fitted with the improvements according to my
invention.
In carrying out my invention I provide a chamber A forming the main valve
Figures 1 and 2, having a radial port B passing through from the face C. Said radial
port B corresponds with the port F in the valve seat, and the opposite port D
communicates with the exhaust chamber E through the interior of the main valve Ạ.
The arrows show. the path of the steam or other fluid from the valve box surrounding
the valve into the cylinder through the steam port B and cylinder port F; then by
way of the cylinder port D on the exhaust side through the interior of the main
valve A into the exhaust chamber E. The main valve A is attached by a nut, a
polygonal or square socket, or by other suitable means to the shaft G which passes
through the cover of the valve box; a suitable stuffing box and gland, or any other
equivalent method of keeping the valve box air or water tight during the movement
of the shaft being provided. This movement may be rotatory as exemplified at
Figure, where the main valve A is driven by a pitch chain H engaging with two
serrated or denticulated wheels I and J of equal diameter, attached to the crank
shaft K and the valve shaft G respectively; or, the motion may be oscillatory as
exemplified at Figure 4 wherein the main valve A is caused to make a semi-revolution
by reason of the crank L attached to the valve shaft G being coupled by the lever M
to the main cross head N of the actuating engine.
Referring further to Figures 1 and 2 the direction of rotation or oscillation

page_text: of the main valve A, is shown by the arrows.
When the main valve A is
arranged to rotate, the ports on the valve] seat Care arranged equidistant
from the centre of the circular main valve A, and the expansion disc or
plate O is fitted upon the shaft G so that the latter revolves freely within it. The
ingress or cut off edges a a are radial, so that any vibrating motion imparted to said
expansion disc will lengthen or diminish the duration of the ingress of steam or other
fluid during the stroke of the engine. This vibratory motion is communicated.to said
expansion disc by a rod P pivoted to said disc at passing through a suitable stuffing
box e shown more particularly at Figures 3 and 5. A lever d serves to transfer the
vertical movement of a centrifugal governor of any suitable type to said expansion
disc, so that the "cut off" of the inlet port may be regulated by the cut off edges a a
being advanced or retired relatively to the rotatory or oscillatory motion of the main
valve A, said "cut off" or expansion being always proportionate to the load upon the
crank shaft of the engine. The pin b serving as a pivot by means of which the rod P
operates the expansion disc O is arranged to work in a slot formed in the head of the
rod P, so that the slight circular movement of said expansion disc cannot strain the
rod P, the motion of which is rectilinear in a vertical or horizontal direction; or I
may fit said expansion disc upon a sleeve, or form it in one piece with a sleeve which fits
the shaft G and passes through the gland and stuffing box in such a manner that said
expansion disc may be worked by a crank or lever, either from the crank shaft of the
engine, or by hand. I may in any case cause the main valve A to rotate by means of
a suitable bevel gearing connecting the shaft G to the crank shaft K Figure 3; or,
the shaft G may be driven by means of bevel or spur gearing from the vertical
governor shaft, in which cases I may provide and arrange mechanical reversing gear
for reversing the direction of the rotation of the crank shaft, as shown at Figure 7,
for instance, when driving by gearing, a set of three mitre wheels forms what is
generally known as differential gearing, the wheels QQ being arranged to run loose
upon the crank or other driving shaft K. The mitre wheel Q engaging with the
wheels Q, Q¹ is keyed fast upon the valve shaft or intermediate shaft G, so that when
either Qor Qare caused to rotate with the driving shaft K, the motion of Q may be
reversed according to whichever driving wheel Qor Q is at the time being used.
Said mitre wheels Q Q' are provided with clutch faces formed with double angular
jaws, and a corresponding sleeve clutch R sliding upon a feather or parallel sunk key
upon the shaft K serves to transmit the motion of the latter to either wheel by means
of the forked lever S which embraces the sleeve clutch, and causes it to slide upon the
shaft K and engage with the clutch faces upon the wheels Q Q'.
When applying the valve and cut off arrangement according to my invention to a
compound engine, I slightly modify the construction of the main valve A as shown at
Figure 6. When so applied the main valves A A' are respectively adapted to the
valve seats C, C₁ of the high and low pressure cylinders of a compound engine.
A hollow shaft T connects the two main valves A A', said shaft T being provided with
a suitable gland and stuffing box interposed between the two valve boxes U U¹, in
order that the main valves A A¹ may be freely pressed upon their respective valve
seats by the steam pressure. Rotatory motion is applied to the valves A A¹ by means
of the mitre wheels V V¹, actuated by the intermediate shaft K which is driven from
the crank shaft or other source of rotatory motion in direct synchronous connection
with the motion of the piston or pistons.
The steam or other fluid entering the valve box U through the pipe X, in the
direction indicated by the arrows, passes into the high pressure cylinder through the
port and actuates the piston moving within said cylinder. The exhaust steam from
the high pressure cylinder passing outward through the port D into the interior of the
the main valve A is transferred to the valve box U through the hollow shaft T, whence
it passes through the interior of the valve A' into the inlet port F¹ and thereby
actuates the low pressure piston as above described. The steam or other fluid upon
the exhaust side of the low pressure piston passes out through the port I)¹ into the
valve box U¹ and thence to the condenser or elsewhere as desired through the pipe X¹.
The passages provided for steam or other fluid in the chambered main valves A A¹ are

page_text: reversed in the high and low pressure valve boxes respectively when my invention is
applied to a compound engine as shown at Figure 6, since the exhaust chamber within
the main valve A corresponds within the pressure chamber within the valve A¹ and
the chamber within the main valve A corresponds with the pressure chamber within
the valve A¹ and the valve boxes U U₁ are in communication with the steam or fluid
pressure and exhaust respectively. The expansion disc O upon the high pressure valve
may be actuated by any centrifugal governor driven by the engine, a weigh shaft and
bell crank or other levers being interposed to transmit the motion satisfactorily.
My invention is further applicable to steam hammers, in such application the main
valve shaft G, Figures 1 and 2 is connected to a hand lever, so that the operator can
directly control the motion of the hammer, and the force of the blow delivered by it,
without interposing any intermediate gearing. It is also applicable to winding
engines, in which case the expansion plate hereinbefore referred to may be directly
controlled by the engine driver, and the speed and work performed by the winding
engine be thereby regulated. In the case of marine engines, said expansion plate or
disc may be provided with a weight and lever, so that "racing" of the engines may
be prevented when the stern of the vessel to which my improvements are adapted, is
lifted out of the water, the action of gravity keeping the expansion plate in
equilibrium.
My invention is also adapted for application to direct acting pumping engines of
any type. In such application the main valvo shaft would be operated by either the
beam, the piston or pump rod, by means of suitable levers and cranks.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is
First: The chambered valve herein described having a rotatory or oscillating
movement, synchronous with that of the engine to which it is adapted and a plate or
disc receiving a vibratory movement from a centrifugal governor, all substantially as
and for the purposes herein set forth and shown.
Second-The use of the chambered circular valve herein described one part of
which passes through the body of said valve and serves as the inlet, the interior
chambered portion forming the exhaust substantially as herein set forth.
Third The expansion disc O having an intermittent vibratory motion controlled
by the centrifugal governor of the engine and subject to the rate of speed of the
engine with the intermediate gear for actuating same, substantially as herein
set forth.
Dated this Fourteenth day of January 1888