UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LEWIS KIRK, OF READING, PENNSYLVANIA.4

IMPROVEMENT IN STEAM TRIP-HAMMEas.

Spcifilicaiioii forming part of Letters Patent No. 5,044, dated April 3, 1647.

'.Zo nZZ whom it may concern;

Be it known that I, LEWIS KIRK, of Reading, in the county ofBei-ks and State of Pennsylvania, haveinvented a new and' usefulImprovement in .the -Steain-Ilaminer for Forges, &c.; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the principle or character which distinguishes-it i'roinall other things before known, and of the manner of making, constructing, and using the same, reference being had tothe accompanying drawings making part'of this speciiication, which.-

Figure l is a side elevation ;`Fig. 2, a longitudinal vertical ,section taken-at-the line X X of Fig. 3, and representing'the steam way and cylinder cut open by a Vertical plane; liig. 3, a plan; Fig. 4,across vertical section,taken at the line Y )I ot Fig. 1, looking inthe direction ofthe arrow, and Fig. 5 a like section taken at the line Z Z of Fig. 2- and looking in the direction ofthe arrow.

The same letters indicate like parts in all the figures.

. The object of my inventionis to apply the direct action of a steam-piston to operate the helvc or lever ofa'hammer 5 -and the nature of my invention consists in so combining a steamengine with the helve or; lever of a hammer and between the hammer and i'ulcrum that when the steam is let in under thepiston it shall lift up theliam m'cr,and when the exhaustvalve is opened the piston willbe at liberty to be carried down by the weight ofthe hammer, the steam and exhaust slide-valves being operated each by a separate arm on the shaft ofthe helve or lever, and the end of these two arms being so connected with the valverods by slots, which permit the arms to move for some distance before they begin to act on the valves, so that the hammer shall nearly reach the end of its downward motion before the steam-valve is opened t0 admit steam to produce the next upward motion,'and soof the 'exhaust-valve during the upward motion ofI the hammer, the admission of steam to the steam-valve being governed by a slide-valve that commands a steam-portin a plate immediately above the steam-valve, and operated by hand, by means of which the attendant can start and stop the hammerl at any time and 'at any portion ot' its motion; and my in- Vention also consists in combining with the hammer vthus Ioperated a slide-plata?witlia port in it under the steam-valve, and a like plate under the exhaustvalve, so that the attendantcan, bysliding these plat-es by a screw or lever,.cause either the steam or exhaust valves to open or close sooner or later, and thus regulate the length of stroke ofthe hammer.

In the accompany ing drawings, A represen ts a hammer ofthe usualconstruction on theend of a lever or ihelve B, which passes'through a husk or sleeve, G, from the sides of which pro.- ject trunnions O, that constitu te the shaft, with journals on the ends that turn-in appropriate boxes in standards O 0 ofthe bed-plate P,

placed a vertical steam-cylinder, H, open at both ends; and secured to the bed-plate P by appropriate 4flanges, .and this cylinder is4 provided with a steam-piston, R, ofthe usual construction, the `rod of which is attached to a cross-head. y, (parallel withthe shaft 0,) tha-t slides vertically in Ways y' y on each side ot' the upperend of the cylinder. The uppersun face ot'this cross-head has alsemicircular sock# et, in which rests the semi cylindrical cud of a rocker, N, the upper end of which is also semi-cylindrical, and fitted `to at semicircular socket in the under side of the husk or sleeve Gr, so that the hammer helveor lever rests on the cross-head of the steam piston bytheinterposition of this rocken-which, as the piston moves up and downina Vertical line, will rock to accom modate itself to the segment of acircle described about the axis of moti n ot' the hclve by that end. ot' the rocker on which the helve is supported.

The husk or sleeve of the hammerhelve is connected with the cross-head by means ot'two joint-links,lxx, one on each side, which embrace the ends ot" the cross-head y, `that pro-Y ject out beyond the vertical ways y y', and corresponding ears, z z, on the sides ot the huski-Elhese links are-made adjustable by propriate pertain the usual manner ot' mak ing steam and exhaust ports; and en these plates and under the steim and exhaust valves c and c' are placed sliding plates or regulating-.valves fand f', one for each valve, and these plates have each a port for the passage of steam corresponding with the port in the bed, and interposed between the bed and the valves c c', which are of' the usualconstruction.

The steam and exhaust-valves c and e are operated by arms I and l', that project downward from the shaft O, the ends of the arms working in a slot, e and e', in the end of the valve rods dand d', and the slots in the rods are of such length that the arms can v.brate for some distance without moving the valves, so that when the hammer descends it nearly reaches the end of the downward movement before the steam-valve begins to open to admit steam for the next upward motion, and so ot' the exhaust-valve for the upward motion.

It is of great importance that a forge-hammer should be susceptible of having its range of motion in either direction variable, so 'that the attendant can regulate the force ofthe blow and so adjust the parts that the valves may be opened by a. longer or a shorter range of motion 'of the hammer, the valves being carried by a motion dependent on the motion of the hammer. This important end is attained by the sliding plates or. regulatingvalves f ff, for if these plates are moved in either direction the ports will be kept open for alen ger or shorter time, and thus increase or decrease the range of motion ot' the steam piston and hammer, and therefore these slidng plates have' each of them a rod, g g, which `passes through a stuffing-box in the steam and exhaust chamber with their outer end tapped and passed through a nut h and h', which turns in a collar, h and h, so' that by turning either of these nuts the attendant can slide' the sliding plates or regulatingvalves f or f in either direction and cause either the steam or the exhaustI valves, or both', to open and close sooner or later, and thus give a greater range of motion to the piston l and hammer at his pleasure. It' he moves, the slid-e under the steam-valve in the direction of the arrow as the hammer is descending, the valve will open soonerto admit steam to lift the hammer before it reaches the anvil. [t he moves it in the reverse direction, the valve will not close so soon, and hence the hammer will be permitted to descend lower before the fresh supply of steam is admitted, so that in this way the attendant has perfect command of the range of motion of the pistonand hammer'for it will be obvious that, the exhaust-valve -having the same arrange-` ment, the upward motion ot' the piston and hammer will be regulated in like manner as its downward mot-ion is by the steam valve. Innuediately above 'thc steam-valve there is a stop valve, a., operated by a hand-lever, b, jointed to the valve-rod a and to the bedplate l, and, as this valve is placed in the steam-chest l), and between the steam'pipe S and the steam-valve c, the attendant can at any time regulate the quantity to steam to be admitted or stop the hammer at any time and at any'portionoi' its stroke.

From the foregoing it will be seen that by this arrangement a .very great range ot' motion can be given to a. hammer by an engine of very short stroke, and that the motions ot' the hammer can be controlled, varied in force, or stopped at any time with facility by the attendant.I Instead oi' operating" the sliding plates or regulating-valves by screwnuts,this can be done by levers or other mechanical equivalents.

What I claim as in yinvcntion, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The arrangement ot' the vertical singleacting steam-engine, substantially as described, when this is combined with the helve or lever ot' the hammer by means ot' the rocker on the cross head and the jointed links, substantially' as described.

2. The sliding plates or regulating valves below the steam and exhaust valves, in combination with the engine, combined with the hammerhelve or lever, substantially as dccribed, whereby the range of motion of the hammer can be increased or decreased by the attendant at pleasure, as described.

LEWIS KIRK.

Witnesses: I

GHs. M. KELLER, U. P. BRoWNE.