EXPLANATION OF THE PLATES.
335
PLATE VIII.
Fig. 1. represents a section of the steam pipes and valves of Messrs. Fenton
and Murray’s 1 double engine, Plate xiv.; and Fig. 2. the communicating rods.
The steam enters by the pipe C, which has a throttle valve at a, to regulate the
supply of steam to the engine, (art. 544.) It is regulated by the action of the
governor balls on the lever b, by the connecting rod c: the rotary motion is com
municated to the axis of the governor, by means of a band passing from a pulley
on the crank shaft to a similar pulley d on the axis of the governor. The governor
consists of two bent levers e e, passing through a slit in the middle of the spindle,
and turning upon an axis at /. The upper part of the spindle has a slide h, which
is connected to the levers by the rods i and ascends when the centrifugal force
of the governor increases, so as to cause the balls to rise, and descends when it
decreases ; and the lever l moves with it, and consequently the valve. When the
engine is at rest, the balls j j rest against the arms k k; the upper end of the
levers e e are nearer to each other; and the rod c is raised so that the throttle
valve may be quite in a horizontal direction, and the pipe completely open for the
passages of the steam. See art. 550.
By the pipe D D, the steam passes either to the top or bottom of the cylinder
from the throttle valve zz, and by the eduction pipe E E the steam from either
passes down to the condenser. The valves n o have each a cylindrical tube or
spindle passing through the stuffing boxes r s ; the upper end of each of these has
a stuffing box, the upper one at t, the other at zz, for the rods of the valves p q,
which open to the eduction pipe E, so that either the steam or eduction valves may
be opened without allowing steam to escape.
Fig. 2. is a front view of the two sliding rods which give motion to the
valves n, o, p, and q. These rods are kept in a perpendicular direction by the
pieces z z, and the guide 1; the lower end of the rods have friction rollers 3 3,
which are acted upon by the two eccentric pieces 4 4, on the horizontal shaft Z,
which derives its motion from a shaft Y, placed at right angles to, and communi-
1 In reference to these nozles and side pipes, Fenton and Murray brought an action against
Boulton and Watt for an infringement on their patent for working one valve through the other;
but it was decided that Mr. Boulton’s Mint Engine had been working with valves similarly con
structed for a length of time previous to their patent.