US30373A - Improvement in steam-engines - Google Patents

Description

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

RICHARD C. BARTON, OF TROY, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO E. D. BARTON AND W. J. HARLAN, OF JERSEY CITY, NEW JERSEY.

IMPROVEMENT IN STEAM-ENGINES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 30,373, dated October 9, 1860.

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, RICHARD C. BARTON, of Troy, in the county of Rensselaer and State 0f New York, haveiuvented a new and useful Improvement in Steam-Engines; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which- Figure l is a front view of a double steamengine constructed according to my invention. Fig. 2 is a side view of one cylinder and its crank and connections.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in both figures.

The principal objects of my invention are, iirst, to enable a steam-engine having a long cylinder, and consequentlyalong stroke of piston,to be brought within a comparatively small space, and, secondly, to enable two complete revolutions of the crank-shaft to be produced by the strokeof the piston back and forth; and my invention consists in connecting the piston-rod and crank of an engine by means of a system of toggles and connecting-rods applied and arranged substantially as hereinafter described,whereby the above objects are accomplished and an engine possessing superior qualities for driving the screw propeller is obtained.

A A represent parallel upright standards or side frames erected upon a bed-plate, B, and united by transverse cylinder-bearers C Oand bracesD D, the whole combining to constitute the framing of the engine.

E E are the two cylinders, supported side by side in xed horizontal positions on the bearers C.

F is the crank-shaft,having its axis arranged horizontally and transversely to the length of the cylinders at some distance below them and nearly opposite to the middle of their length.

G G are the two cranks,arranged one opposite to each cylinder and at right angles to each other.

H H are the two piston-rods, each of which is furnished with a cross-head, I, at one end. Each cross-head is connected by a pair of side rods, J J, passing on opposite sides of its respective cylinder, with the joint-pins a of a toggle, K K L, which is composed of a forked connecting-rod, L, connecting with its respect ive crank, and two rods, K K, arranged to vibrate upon a fixed horizontal shaft, M, which is arranged in or nearly in the same vertical plane with the crank-shaft at a distance above the cylinder.

The valves and valve-gear employed in connection with an engine having its parts thus arranged and constructed may be of any suitable kind that will cause the induction of steam to the proper end of the cylinder and its eduction from the other end to commence as the piston terminates its stroke in either direction. The piston in its movement gives motion to the toggle-joint by its connection at @,and the connecting-rod L, forming the lower arm of the toggle, gives rotary motion to the crank. One stroke of the piston back and forth produces two complete revolutions of the crank, but the single stroke, during which the crank passes nearest to the cylinder, produces less than one revolution, while the return-stroke produces more than one revolution, as may be understood by reference to Fig. 2, in which the black outline represents the condition of the toggle and crank at one end of the stroke and the red lines represent the toggle and crank in the position they occupy at the other end of the stroke. In order to prevent the unequal velocity of the crank,which might be consequent upon this unequal distance moved by it, I consider it always desirable, when practicable, to use two engines either connected with the same shaft or with two shafts geared together, the cranks being arranged at right angles to each other if upon the same shaft, or in a corresponding relation if on separate shafts; but a single engine may be used with a ily-wheel of suitable weight. In the use of two combined engines they may be arranged with their cylinders side by side, as represented, end to end, or in any other convenient manner, according to whether their pistons are to be connected with the same shaft or with two differentshafts, as in the case of working two serew-propellers arranged one on each side of the central plane of a vessel.

The distances moved by the crank in each stroke of the piston will be more or less nearly equal, according as the connecting-rod L and rods K K are of greater or less length. By the use of very long rods the distances moved byv the crank in the two strokes may be made very nearly equal; but shorter rods make the engine more compact.

The stroke of the piston in an engine of this kind cannot be less than four times the length of the crank, and with short rods K and L L may be even six times the length. The advantage of so great a length of stroke consists in the provision it affords for Working with a high degree of expansion. The advantage resulting from obtaining the double revolution of the crank consistsin its enabling the shaft to be driven at a YhighY velocity without gearing and in its saving half the steam that is usually lost in the clearances and steam-passages in an engine whose piston makes one stroke for every revolution. Besides these advantages the arrangement of the cranks and connections enable an engine of a given stroke to be arranged Within the shortest possible 1ongitudinal space, as room is only required in the direction of the length ofthe cylinder for the cylinder and the outward stroke of. the piston-rod from one end of it.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The connection of the piston-rod and crank of an engine by means of side rods, J J, and toggle-rods K K L, applied arranged in com binaton with the cylinder, pistonrod, and crank, substantially as herein specified.

- RICHARD C. BARTON.

Witnesses:

J ortN H. SCOTT, LEWIS W. BENDBR.

Images