US344032A - Asjigstoe to the clarke - Google Patents

Description

(No Model.)

G. CLARKE.

STEAM AGTUATBD VALVE. No. 344,032. Patented June 22, 1886.

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GEORGE CLARKE, OF CINCINNATI, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO THE CLARKE AUTOMATIC STEAM-VALVE COMPANY, OE SAME PLACE.

ST EAM-ACTUATED VALVE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 344,032, dated dune 22, 1886.

Application tiled February 23, 1886. Serial No. 192,830. (No model.)

.T0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that l, Gnonen CLARKE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Cincinnati, in the county of Hamilton, State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Steam-Actuated Valves, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein tothe accompanying drawings.

The object of this invention is to improve the peculiar form oi' direct-acting steam-engine seen in Letters Patent No. 281,836, granted to me July 24:, 1883, which patent was subsequently assigned to The Clarke Automatic Steam Valve Company,7 of Cincinnati, Ohio.

The iirst part of the present improvements comprises a novel combination of devices for operating the main valves of the engine so as to cut oftl steam at any part of the stroke, the cut-off devices being arranged to act automatic-` ally, or to be controlled by the engineer, as hereinafter more fully described.

The second part of the present improvements comprises a novel combination of devices for reversing the engine, which devices can, if desired, be suddenly brought into service without closing the throttle-valve, thereby rendering the engine especially serviceable for locomotive purposes, as hereinafter more fully described.

The third part of the presentimprovements consists in providing the engine with a pair of reciprocating rotary valves that control the inlet-ports, said valves being operated by a peculiar combination of devices, the details of which will be hereinafter more fully described.

In the annexed drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of my improved direct-acting steamengine. Fig. 2 is a vertical section through the steam-chest and the upper part of the cylinder, the piston being supposed to be traveling in the direction indicated by the arrow on the same. Fig. 3 is aV horizontal section through one of the inlet-valves. Fig. 4 is a transverse section through the upper part of the steam-chest andits attachments. Fig. 5 is a horizontal section through one of the bonnets of the engine.

A represents the upper part of a steamcylinder of any desired diameter and stroke, and a is aportion of the piston of the same. Se-

cured to this cylinder, or cast therewith, is a steam-chest consisting of a central or exhaust chamber, B, and a pairof live-steam chambers, C C', the latter having suitable openings, c o', to admit the branches (l cl of a steam-pipe, D. Furthermore, the chambers C C have, respectively, shells E E to receive inlet-valves G H, said valves being preferably cylinders open at each end and having at bottom portsg h and at top lugs g h, which lugs traverse slots ef of said shells. These ports g h communicate with the inlet-ports l J oi' the cylinder, while the lugs g 7i have attached to them rods K L, that connect with hangers 7c Z,Whose upper ends are suitably pivoted within'the chambers C C. The lower ends of these hangers are coupled to the stems m m, projecting rigidly from the opposite ends of a slide-valve, M, having on its under side a customary recess, on, adapted to communicate alternately between the passages N N and exhaust-port n. This slide-val ve is chambered or bored out at M to admit a nxed cylindrical piston, O, which is maintained in position by rods o o', secured to the partitions that separate the steam-chambers C C from the exhaust-chamber B.

P 1? are inlet-ports in the lower side of valve M, and p p are exhaust-ports in the upper side thereof.

bis the outlet of the exhaust-chamber B, which ventage may communicate with the escape-pipe ofthe engine.

Q, Q are the stems of the cylindrical valves G H, said stems being passed through the cap B of Ythe steam-chest and having slotted arms q q secured to their outer ends. These slotted arms are coupled to the opposite ends 0f a side bar, R, supported by two links, r r', the latter being jointed to a bearer, S, having ears s s', Within which is journaled aroclr-shaft, T. Projecting rigidly from this rock-shaft, and extending across the steam-chest, as seen in Fig. 4., is alever, t, pivoted to a suitablebearing, t', and having a governorrod, t, attached to it. One end of this lever traverses a keeper, U, provided with a series of perforations, a, to receive a screw, bolt, or pin, u, when it is desired to retain said lever at any speciic adjustment. w is a wrist-pin that connects the side bar, R, to a slide, XV, capable of being shifted within the groove :v of a IOO s row on the same.

cylinder-heads, 3 3.

pendulous yoke, X, the latter being pivoted at Y to a bracket, y, bolted to the steamchest. The inner ends of a pair of connecting-rods, Z Z', are coupled to this yoke at x', the outer ends of said rods being jointed to the arms z z of a pair` of shafts, l l', journaled in bonnets 2 2, bolted to the opposite The inclosed portions of these shafts have cranks 4 4', operated by the slotted levers 5 5 of a pair of rockers, 6 6, the latter being hung in suitable bearings of the cylinder-heads, as seen in Fig. 5, andbeing provided with toe-pieces 7 7', playing within slots 8 8 of said heads.

' Attached to the yoke X is one end ofa rod, 9, the other extremity thereof being coupled to an ordinary reversing-lever.

c c are spurs projecting from opposite sides of the piston c, which spurs are chamfered off to avoid any sudden jar when they come in contact with the respective toepieces of the rockers.

To illustrate the action of this engine, I will suppose the arm e has first been swung over in the direction indicated by the arrow on the same in Fig. l,which act will cause all the operative parts to assume the positions seen in Fig. 2. Reference to this last illustration shows that the toe-piece 7 is elevated, the toe piece 7 depressed, the cylindrical valve G closed,the other cylindrical valve, H, opened, and the slide-valve M advanced to afford communication between the passage N and the exhaust-port n. Consequently live steam iows through the chamber C, openended cylinder-valve H, and communicating ports h J, thusfilling the cylinder A and driving its piston a in the direction of the ar- This advance ofthe piston expels the exhaust-steam through the channel N, recess m, and port n, because the inletport I is now closed by the valve G, it being understood there is no communication between said port I and channel N. It will also be noticed that the inlet-ports P P of the chambered slide-valve M M are now closed, on account of said ports being over the solid portions of the seat upon which this valve travels. -The instant the piston completes its stroke the spur a comes in contact with the toepiece 7, thereby depressing the latter and elevating the slotted lever 5 of rocker 6, which act raises the crank 4 and swings its arm z over in the direction indicated by the arrow on the same in Fig. 1. While the valve G is opening the slide-valve M is being shifted far enough to bring its inlet-ports P P in communication with theA upper ends of channels N N in order that the live steam between the piston c and head 3 may How up the channel N and port P, so as to act against the fixed piston O, thereby completing the retraction of said slide-valve before valveG is fully opened, and causing the recess m to form a communication between the channel N and exhaustport n; but when valve G is completely opened its port g is in line with the inlet-port I, while the opposite inlet-port, J, is immediately closed by the other valve, H. Live steam then iiows through the chamber C, valve G, ports g I, and drives the piston toward the head 3', the exhaust-steam being discharged through the channel N recess m, and outlet n; but before the piston can strike against said head the spur a comes in contact with the now elevated toe-piece 7, thereby forcing the latter down, again opening the valve H,and closing the other valve G, as previously described, which operations are repeated at each and every stroke of the engine.

From the above description it is apparent that the retraction of the slide-valve M is initiated by the opening of the appropriate inletvalve, but is 'completed by the action of live steam at boiler-pressure, thus retaining the principal feature of the invention seen in my old patent, previously alluded to. apparent that the steam which is exhausted from the chamber M through the portspp at every stroke of the valve M escapes at the outlet b in the same manner as described in said patent. The present invention, however, includes a cut-off and reversing appliances not seen in said patent, the cut-oft1 being rendered positive by inserting the bolt u in either one of the perforations u of the keeper U, according to the duty required of the engine. If it is desired to have but a limited cut-off, the lever t is depressed within said keeper, so as to elevate the side bar, R, and cause it to approach the pivot Y of pendulous yoke X. Consequently said bar will impart a very limited stroke to the slotted arms q q', that operate the stems Q Q of,inlet-va1ves G and H. If, on the contrary, it should be desired to open and close said valves very quickly, the lever t is set so as to drop the side bar, R, and cause the yoke to impart a greater swing to the same. To work the cut-off automatically, the pin or bolt `u is dispensed with and a governor-rod, t, is then coupled to the lever t.

Another feature peculiar to my present invention consists in attaching the rod 9 to the yoke X, which rod enables the engineer to reverse7 in an instant and Without taking time to close the throttle, thus rendering the new engine especially serviceable for locomotives. This instantaneous reversal is due to thefact that the engine is perfectly balanced in all its parts and can be pulled over when running at the highest possible speed and Without employing much force or breaking any of the connections. y i

In some cases it-may be desirable to connect thelever t with another lever or appliance that will enable the engineer to operate said lever from a cab, and thereby adjust the cut-off to the special vrequirements of any locomotive service. By prolonging the slotted arms q g',

' so as to enable the side bar, R, to be elevated as high as the pivot Y of swinging yoke X, as indicated by the dotted lines in Fig. 1, the swinging motion of said arms will be instantly arrested. Hence it is apparent the engineer It is also IOO IIO.

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can immediately stop the engine Without taking time to close the throttle. Finally, reference to Fig. 3 shows there is ample space at each end of the valve G g to permit the unobstructed entrance of steam into this inlet device.

I claim as my invention- 1. The combination,inadirect-actingsteam` engine, of apair of reciprocating rotary inletvalves, a chambered and ported-outlet-valve sliding Within a special exhaust-chest, and devices for initiating the movement of this outlet-valve from the main piston of the engine, the stroke of said valve being completed by live steam operating against a stationary piston fitted Within it, substantially as herein described.

2. The combination, in a direct-acting steamengine, of a pair of reciprocating rotary inletvalves, a chambered and ported outlet-valve sliding Within a special exhaustchest,and devices i'or initiating the movement of this outlet-valve from the main piston of the engine, the stroke of said valve being completed by live steam operating against a stationary pis ton fitted within it, said reciprocating rotary valves being coupled either to a positive or automatic cut-off mechanism, for the -purpose described.

3. The combination, in a direct-acting steamengine, of the spurred piston ct a a, rockers 5 6 7 5 6 7, cranks 4 4', shafts I 1Q arms .e z', and suitable connections for operating the inlet-valves of the engine, substantially as herein described.

4. The combination, in adirectacting steamengine, of the valve-stems Q Q', slotted arms q q', sidebar, R, slideWw, pendulous yokeX x Y, and links r r', Which latter are capable of being raised and lowered for the purpose of regulating the stroke of said arms, substantially as described.

5. Thecombinatiomwiththesidebar,R,slide of cylinder A, piston a, steam-chest B C C,

valveseats E c F f, reciprocating rotary valves G g Hh, ports IJ, rods KL, swinging hangers lc l, chambered sliding` valve M M m mf m P Pp p', and channels N Nn, the opposite sides of said piston being furnished with spurs a a", for actuating rockers that operate said valves G g II h, in the manner described.

8. The bonnets 2 2, secured to the opposite cylinder'heads of a direct-acting steam-engine, and having fitted within them the'crauked shafts l 4 4l 4, and rockers 5 6 7 5 6 7, that actuate the inlet-valves of the engine in the manner described.

9. A pendulous yoke situated at the side of a direct-acting steam-engine, and having coupled to it a pair of rods that receive motion from devices actuated by the main piston, and another pair of rods that transmit motion to the inlet-valves, said rods being connected to said yoke below its point of suspension, as herein described, and for the purpose stated.

In testimony whereof I aix my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

GEORGE CLARKE.

Vitnesses:

RoB'r. W. CARROLL, WM. DISNEY.

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