US1704143A - Steam locomotive - Google Patents

Description

March 5, 1929. .J. E. MUHLFELD STEAM LOCOMOTIVE Filed March 1.927 2 SheetsSheet 7 INVESTOR, %WMZ/Z /f/(Z MATT NEY Jzz March 5, 1929. J. E. MUHLFELD 1 704143 STEAM LOCOMQTIVE Filed March 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN NTOR l M ATTORNEY 1 g @izE/Wza $51263 v Patented Mar. 5, 1929.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN E. MUHLFELD, OF SCARSDALE, NEW YORK.

STEAM LOCOMOTIVE.

Application filed March 9, 1927. Serial No. 178,935.

with multiple cylinders for compounding and expansibly utilizing the steam.

It is the primary object and purpose of my present improvements to provide a novel arrangement of the high or of high and low pressure cylinders on each side of the locomotive or of high pressure cylinders on one side and low pressure cylinders on the opposite side andthe connection of the cylinder pistons with the driving wheels whereby a more distributed and uniform application of the powerful driving force is obtained, thereby reducing the tendency of the driving wheels to slip.

It is also an important object of the invention to provide an improved arrangement of the driving connections between the cylinder pistons and the driving wheels so that thedynamic augment or undesirable cifect of the mechanical-forces out of equilibrium, as when the piston of the high pressure cylinder is exerting a pushing impulse on the drive wheel crank pin while the piston of the low pressure cylinder is exerting a pulling impulse on the crank pin, will be appreciably reduced.

It is another important object of my present improvements to provide an arrangement of the. high and low pressure cylinders and the driving connections which will obviate localized stresses in the main frame and thereby greatly reduce fatigue, and in which such stresses incident to the power impulses of the cylinder pistons will be divided-and more or less equally distributed over the frame both forwardly and rearwardly of the main driving axle.

In a preferable embodiment of the invention, I mount or arrange .high and low pressure cylinders on each side of the locomotive at the front and rear ends respectively of the locomotive frame and in line ,with each other and connect all of the cylinder pistons with the same pair of driving wheels.

With the above and other objects in view, the invention consists in the improved steam locomotive and in the form, construction and relative arrangement of the several parts as will be hereinafter more fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings,

and subsequently incorporated in the suboined claims. I

In the drawings, wherein I have illustrated several simple and practical embodiments of the invention, and in which similar reference characters designate corresponding parts throughout the several views,

7 Figure 1 is aside elevation of a multiple cylinder compound locomotive embodying my present improvements and showing the pistons of the high and low pressure cyliners both connected with the axle of a single pair of driving wheels;

F g. 2 s an enlarged detail section illustratlng one Way of connecting the ends of the connecting rods with the crank pin of the drive wheel in the arrangement shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Ina co-pending application for patent filed November 26, 1926, Serial No. 150,886, I have n f 1 shown a high pressure compound locomotive having high and low pressure cylinders at opposite sides thereof arranged in longitudinally spaced relation. In this disclosure however, the high pressure cylinder is arranged above and at an oblique inclination with respectto the low pressure cylinder and the cylinder pistons are connected with separate pairs of'drivers. Also, the high pressure cylinders are located substantially midway of the length of the engine frame. The subject matter of. the present application, in one of its important features, distinguishes from my prior invention, in that at each side of the locomotive a low pressure-cylinder 5 is suitably mounted or arranged at the forward end of the locomotive fra'me while a high pressure cylinder 6-is mounted at the extreme rear end of the frame at each .side thereof, and these high pressure cylinders are in line with the respective low pressure cylinders 5. Any suitable means may be provided for supplying the high pressure steam from the locomotive boiler to the high pressure cylinders 6, the steam being conducted from said cylinders through suitable pipe connections indicated at 7 to the low pressure cylinders 5 where it again expands and exerts an additional power impulse against the pistons in said cylinders in the usual manner. It will of course, be understood that these cylinders are provided with the usual accessories whereby the steam is alternately admitted to the opposite ends of the cylinders so that there are four power impulses in each revolution on each side of the locomotive, namely, one at each end of each cylinder.

The piston rods 8 and 9 respectively, of the low and high pressure cylinders are connected in the usual manner with the cross heads 10 and 11. In Fig. 1 of the drawings, I show five pairs of driving wheels 12. As shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings, the crank pin 13 of the central pair of drive wheels at each side of the locomotive is connected by the forwardly extending connecting rod 14 with the cross head 10 of the low pressure cylinder and by the rearwardly extending connecting rod 15 with the cross head 11 of the high pressure cylinder. The crank pins of the other pairs of driving wheels at each side of the locomotive are coupled with each other and with the crank pin 13 by the rods 16.

In Figs. 2 and 3 of the drawings, I have shown the outer end of the crank pin 13 provided with a diametrically reduced portion 17 upon which the sleeve 18 is loosely engaged and is held against longitudinal shifting movement between the annular shoulder at the inner end of the part 17 of the crank pin and the plate 19 secured upon the outer end thereof by the nut 20. This sleeve is received in openings provided in the spaced arms 21 of the bifurcated end of the connecting rod 14, and is secured in fixed relation thereto by suitable screws 22. Upon the 1ntermediate part of the sleeve 18 between the arms 21, a collar 23 is loosely engaged and is received in an opening provided in the end of the other connecting rod 15, saidcollar being secured in fixed relation to the connecting rod by the screw 24.

From the above, it will be apparent that by the arrangement of the independent low and high pressure cylinders on each side of the locomotive at the front and rear ends respectively, of the frames, the Weight of the power producing and transmission means is more equally distributed over the driving wheels and the engine wheel base. Also, as the pistons working in these cylinders at each side of the locomotive are coupled with the same crank pin, the power impulses transmitted through the connecting rods will operate in unison as well as in equally spaced and overlapping relation with each other. This results in a more powerful and uniform application of the driving force on each of the main drive wheel crank pins and a corresponding reduction in the tendency for the driving wheels to slip. Also, when the piston of the high pressure cylinder is exerting a pushingimpulse on the crank pin and the piston of the low pressure cylinder is exerting a pulling impulse on said crank pin or vice versa, the dynamic augment or increase in the undesirable effect of the mechanical forces out of equilibrium which is incident thereto will likewise be reduced over that which is usually encountered where the connecting rods of the high and low pressure cylinders are connected with the crank pins of different pairs of driving wheels. This is particularly true in the usual arrangement of the high and low pressure cylinders. Also by reason of the mounting and arrangement of these cylinders at the opposite ends of the frame and the connection of one of the cylinders with the same pair of driving wheels, a more uniform distribution of the stresses over the frame will be obtained instead of being moreor less localized or concentrated on the frame structure between the main driving wheel axle and the front end of the frame as is the case in the conventional arrangement of these cylinders and power transmission means.

It will be apparent to the skilled locomotive engineer that the accompanying illustrations of the several novel features of my improvements are more or less diagrammatic and that in the form, construction and relative arrangement of the various mechanical parts, my present disclosure is susceptible of embodiment in various other structural forms. Accordingly, I reserve the privilege of resorting to all such legitimate changes therein as may be fairly embodied within the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed.

I claim:

1. In a steam locomotive, structurall independent cylinders mounted upon eae side thereof and at opposite ends of the locomotive frame, the driving rod to each cylinder on one side of the locomotive being directly coupled to the same crank pin of one pair of main driving wheels.

2. In a steam locomotive, structurally independent cylinders mounted upon each side thereof and at opposite ends of the locomotive frame, the driving rod to each cylinder on one side of the locomotive being coupled to the same crank pin of one pair of main driving wheels, the coupling including means for delivering the power thrust from each driving rod over. the same area of the crank pin.

3. In a steam locomotive, a group of coupled driving axles, steam cylinders mounted upon each side of the locomotive frame at the front and rear ends thereof, a pair of driving wheels carried by each of said axles, and means for directly coupling the driving rod to each cylinder on one side of the locomotive to the same coupling crank pin connection between one of said driving axles and the adjacent driving axles.

4. In a steam locomotive, structurally independent cylinders mounted upon each side thereof and at opposite ends of the locomotive frame, a group of coupled driving axles each ioo having a single crank pin and a pair of drivand loosely engaged upon said first named ing Wheels on each axle, and means for co-ubushing whereby the power thrust of each 10 pling the driving rod to eachcylinder on one driving rod is transmitted through the latter side of the locomotive to the crank pin on one bushing to the same area of the crank pin. driving axle, said means including a bush- In testimony that I claim the foregoing as ing mounted in one of the driving rods and my invention, I have signed my name hereto. loosely engaged upon the crank pin, and a bushing mounted in the other driving rod JOHN E. MUHLFELD.

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