US58478A - Improvement in steam-engines - Google Patents

Description

UNITED 'STATES PATENT OFFICE GEORGE H. REYNOLDS, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

IMPROVEMENT IN STEAM-ENGINES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 58.478, dated October 2, 1866.

To all whom it may concern..-

Be it known that I, GEORGE H. REYNOLDS, of the city and county of New York, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Steam-Engines, intended mainly for screwpropeller engines; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description thereof. 1

My invention relates to the framing of the structure with a view to better resist the strains toI which it is subject with little material and little expense, and to the construction and arrangement of parts connected with the valvemotion, with a view to better reduce the evils resulting from a looseness of the parts. The valve-motion is of the kind known as the f link-motion.

My invention provides for adjusting the position of the link and holding` itin position in a manner which is preferable to any before known to me.

I will irst describe what I consider the best means of carrying out my invention, and will afterward designate the points which I believe to be new.

The accompanying drawings forma part of this specification.

Figure l represents the entire engine, partly in elevation and partly in section, the section at the base on the left side being in the plane" ofthe shaft, and on the right side in the plane of one of the perpendicular rods. Fig. 2 is an elevation at right angles Ito Fig. l. Fig.3 is an .enlarged view ofthe link and link-block, with the back plate of the latterremoved. Fi g. 4 is a vertical section through thelink and link-block complete. Fig. -5 is a view of the link-block, corresponding to Fig. 3, and showing the lprovision for taking up the slack of the parts when any is produced by wear.

Similarletters of reference indicatelike parts in all the figures.

Tints are employed to aid in distinguishing parts, and do not indicate the material. The material may be of the usual kind.

A is the main shaft; B, a crankpin5 G, the castings forming what is commonly known as the bed-plate or bed-piece, c, the adjustable brasses fitted therein, and C the binders which are applied on the under side of the bed-piece, as indicated. D D are stout rods of wrought-iron, which extend from the cylinder E in straight lines through the bed-piece O and through the binders O', and are provided on the under side with stout nuts d. 11 is the'cross-head, guided on the rods D; e c, two piston-rods connected thereto, and G the connecting-rod.'

Steam being admitted and discharged in the ordinary manner, the pistou (not. represented) is reciproeated up and down, and communicates a rotatory motion to the shaft A, as usual, while the severe lifting-strain on the cylinder E which is experienced lwhen the piston is being depressedfand the severe depressing strain on the cylinder which is experienced when the piston is being elevated, are resisted by the rods D in a manner which is more direct than usual. The strain is direct between the cylinder E and the binders C. When the piston is moving down under the force of the steam above it, it presses down on the shaft A, and thus on the binders O O', with a force which isj ust equal to that with which the steam lifts on the cylinderE by pressing against the under side of its upper head, and the two forces pull against each other by receiving the strain directly in line of the axes of the straight' rods D. These rods are distributed as represented, so that all may pull alike, and the bed-piece C is not obliged to receive or transmit any of this strain. In case the engine is to be taken apart, it is easily effected by removing the nuts d, when the rods D may be lifted out of the bed-piece C. The nuts d may be secured by jam-nuts, cross-piece, or other ordinary means, in addition to their own binding force, if desired, and the binders may be adjustedwith all the delicacy which is desired.

H is the link, and 7i a rack or segment of gearing on the outer edge thereof. The link receives motion from two eccentrics properly placed on the shaft A, through the medium of two rods, I I2, and transmits the motion of the one or the other to the valve-stem J, accord ing as the link is shifted one way or the other, so as to reverse the engine and to vary the point of cut-off, as is familiar to steam-em gineers.

My means of operating the link with regard to its adjustment and confinement will now be described in detail.

The link-block, by means of which the peculiar motion of the link is transmitted to the valve-rod J, is made up of several pieces, which will be separately designated. The pin j is liked in the valve-stem J at right angles thereto. The piece M forms one side of the main body of the link-block, and lts nicely to the upper side of the pin j. The piece m forms the front plate of the link-block, and the two pieces M and m lap over upon the front and rear faces of 'the link,l so as to nicely guide the link when it is shifted. The piece L tits in a recess having parallel sides in fthe lower side of the piece M under the pin j, and lits nicely to the under side of the said pin. The piece K applies under both the pieces M and L, and, with said pieces, fills the entire breadth of the slot H in the link H.v This slot H is nicely finished and of uniform breadth throughout, asis usual in links of this character; but while it is common in ordinary links for the slot to wear, so as to become of variable widths after the link has been a long time in use, my invention provides for reducing this wear to an inappreciable amount.

I believe that my engine will work for an indefinite period Without any perceptible increase in the width of the slot, or in the bread th of the link-block made up as here described; but it is easy to compensate for any variation in the width of the block by shimming or applying' thin sheets of metal. Incase the entire link-block is to be increased in depth, I apply a thin piece across the entire lower faces of the pieces M and L, between them and the piece K.

The pin j, by its constant wear on the pieces M and L, is liable to acquire considerable play, the condition in that respect being about the same with my invention as with ordinary link-blocks, but my invention provides for taking this play: As soon as the pin becomes loose in the link-block I can raise the piece L, by shimming under it-that is to say, applying a thin piece of metal under the piece L between it and the piece K. This may be additional by one or more such pieces applied along the whole upper surface of the piece K, as before described.

P is' a shaft, mounted in portions of the pieces M and m which project above the upper edge of the link. It is provided with a handcrank, Q, by which it may be turned at will, and with a screw-thread, p, which receives a nut, R, provided with radial handles 1^, by which it may be conveniently turned. A gearwheel, O, is fixed on the shaft P, and meshes into the rack h, before described. This gearwheel is of little less thickness than the link. The back end of the pin P is provided with a ordinarily turned so as to press against the piece m. In order to shift my link I turn the nut R back, as represented. 'I then seize the handle Q and turn it around, which operation, by the working of the small pinion o in the rack h, moves the link in one direction or the other. When it has reached the desired position, I turn the nut R again, so as to cause it to press with force against the piece m. This compresses the link H so as to pinch it between the pieces M and'm with such force as to hold the link-block and its connection firmly to the link in the position desired.

It will be observed that force thus applied acts with a purchase, or as a lever, to press the link with greater force than is due to the direct pressure of the nut R-that is to say, the piece m acts as a lever having its fulcrum at m" and receiving the power at R, so that it compresses or pinches the upper half of the link, which stands between these points, with a force about double that due to the direct action of the nut. The engine will work now in this condition for any period without moving thelink-block or the link, and consequently Without inducing any wear between their surfaces. The adjustment may be made and changed while the engine is running.

Having now fully described my invention, what I claim as new therein, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is as follows:

l. The rods D, arranged as represented relatively to the cylinder E, cross-head F, bedpiece C, and binders C', so as to receive the crushing` and rending strain between the cylinder and the binders in the line of their axes, as herein set forth.

2. Arranging the link H to hold the lilikblock rigidly in the desired position thereon, substantially in the manner and for the purpose herein set forth.

. 3. The pinion o, carried on the link-block, in combination with the rack h on the link, and with means for confining the link firmly to the block in any desired position, so as to prevent loose play between the parts while the engine l is working, substantially as and for the purpose herein set forth.

4. The compound link-block M L K, adapted to allow of adjustment by shimming, substantially as herein set forth.

GEORGE n. nnYNoLns.

Witnesses D. W. STETsoN, D. L, FnEnBo'RN.

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