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278,841
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Jun. 05, 1883
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Compound Balanced Steam Engine
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Justin R. Wells |
Brooklyn, Kings County, NY |
Clute Bros. & Co. was mentioned in a Dec., 1876 Technologist is one of the manufacturers of this steam engine along with Robinson , Rea & Co., Pittsburgh, PA, and John J. Hayes, Brooklyn, NY.
Abstract:
I make an engine which is compact and may be conveniently portable, if desired, and which is compound, by which I mean working the steam first in a small cylinder and expanding afterward in a larger one, the steam-pressure, momentum, and weight of its pistons and connections are perfectly balanced.
My invention consists in so arranging the cylinders and transmitting the power to the crankshaft of a compound engine that all of the strains, either from steam-pressure or momentum of moving parts, are balanced, and by this means all the friction the crankshaft encounters in revolving in its bearings is that due to the force of gravity. The bed-plate, columns, &c., are also largely relieved from strain, and the vibration or throb caused by the falling mass of one piston, piston-rod, and connecting-rod is entirely obviated by reason of the balance maintained by the simultaneously and equally ascending mass of the other piston and connected parts. By reason of this relief from strain, my engine can be constructed much lighter for the same power than any other form of engine, and on account of balanced momentum of moving parts I can attain a much higher piston speed, thereby reducing the engine in size, weight, and cost below any at present constructed. I accomplish this in the following manner: The high and low pressure cylinders are placed in line, one on the top of the other, and rigidly connected. A rigid ,to partition separates the high-pressure cylinder from the low-pressure cylinder. The high- pressure piston connects by a piston-rod and connecting-rod to a central crank. The low-pressure piston connects by two piston-rods and connecting-rods to two cranks, which latter are set directly opposite to the crank for the high-pressure piston, one on each side thereof. As the pistons work always in opposite directions, the valves of the two cylinders can be correspondingly worked in opposite directions. I connect both to a single lever, so that the weight of the valves is perfectly balanced. I employ a link-motion so arranged that a single link and actuating-eccentrics operate both valves.
Claim:
The small cylinder A and larger cylinder B, arranged in line, as shown, in combination with the two pistons a b, moving in opposite directions, and with three piston-rods, cross-heads, connecting-rods, and cranks, arranged for joint operation as and for the purposes herein specified. |