Steam Hammer
2 of the 7 encyclopedias on this shelf carry an entry for Steam Hammer. Both are reproduced below, so you can see where they agree and where they differ.
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
a hammer worked by means of steam. The idea of a steam hammer seems to have occurred first to James Watt, who patented it in 1784. William Deverell also took out a patent for a steam hammer in 1806; but it does not appear that in either case the idea was carried into operation. In 1839 James Nasmyth invented the steam hammer called after him, and patented it in 1842. In the older forms of steam hammer, the hammer head, attached to one end of a lever, was raised by the action of a cog wheel or cam acting on the other end of the lever, and was then allowed to fall by its own weight. Hammers of this description are often called steam tilts. In Nasmyth's hammer the head is attached to the piston rod of an inverted cylinder supported vertically, and the piston is raised by the action of the steam admitted into the cylinder below the piston. The hammer is allowed to fall by its own weight, or is driven downward with still greater ve- STEAM NAVIGATION. See SHIP locity by the action of steam admitted into the cylinder above the piston. The admission of steam into the cylinder 's regulated by a side valve worked by a lever, and the force of the stroke can be controlled to such an extent by regulating the admission of steam, that the largest hammer can be made to crack a nut, or to come down on a mass of iron with a momentum of many hundred foot tons. The weight of the hammer ranges from about 200 pounds to 25 tons; and the object to be struck is placed on an anvil consisting of a slab of iron resting on a huge mass of piles and concrete, which frequently descends a great depth other forms. STEAM NAVIGATION. In 1815 a steamboat made a passage from Glasgow to London, and in 1818 one plied from New York to New Orleans. In 1819 the "Savannah," an American vessel of 380 tons burden, with side wheels, built at Corlear's Hook, N. Y., by Crocker and Fickett, made the first trip by steam across the Atlantic, sailing from the United States to England and thence to St. Petersburg. At Liverpool she made a great sensation, being mistaken at one time for a vessel on fire. Canvas was because after about 12 days out the engine had consumed all the coal which could be carried. There was no room for cargo when she was stored with coal. It was not till 1820 that steam packets packets were established between Holyhead and Dublin. The year 1838 is memorable in the history of steam navigation. The steamer "Sirius" sailed from Cork on April 4, the "Great Western" from Bristol on the 8th of the same month, both arrived in New York on the 23d, the "Sirius" being only 12 or 14 hours ahead of the "Great Western," the latter having made the trip in about 14 days. The passage is now often made from Queenstown to New York in less than five days. The opening of the Suez Canal greatly promoted swift steam communication with India, China, and the East, and Australia. Steam vessels are now to be found on all seas and lakes and navigable streams. See STEAMBOAT; SHIP AND SHIPPING. STEAM TURBINE. The principles underlying the steam turbine are very simple, much more so, indeed, than those of the reciprocating engine. It is, therefore, not surprising that turbines of a single and crude type were invented very early in history. The first steam turbine is believed to have been constructed by Hero of Alexandria, in the year 120 b. c. He boiled water in a cauldron, caused the steam to pass through pipes to two jets, fixed at opposite edges of a disc, the jets being turned at right angles to the plane of the disc and in opposite directions. The force of the escaping steam caused the disc to revolve. Nearly eighteen hundred years later, in 1629 A. D. Branca turned a wheel by impinging a jet of steam on to paddles fixed to the circumference. These two simple turbines illustrate the two types now in use the reaction turbine and the impulse turbine, motion being produced in the former by the reaction of steam escaping from an orifice, and in the latter by the into the ground. There are numerous impact of particles of steam upon a mov able vane. The next invention on these lines, after Branca's, was that of Wolfgang de Kempelen, who produced a reaction turbine in the year 1784, James Watt constructing a similar machine almost simultaneously. It was not, however, until the comparatively recent date of 1883 that the steam turbine received practical application. In that year De Laval designed a turbine which he used to turn an early model of the cream separator which is still associated with his In his machine, which is of the name. impulse type, a specially constructed used during the last part of the voyage, nozzle causes a jet of steam to impinge on to buckets arranged on the rim of a revolving cylinder. The velocity of the steam is very high, as much as 2,500 feet per second, and the cylinder revolves at from 10,000 to 30,000 revolutions per minute, the higher speed being in machines used of smaller size. Owing to this high velocity, this type of turbine is not used for marine engines, but finds a common application for driving dynamos. C. A. Parsons, of England, built the first large turbine in 1884. This was capable of producing about 10 horse power and made use of both the impulse and the reaction principle. It consisted of ha cylindrical case, containing a shaft or spindle, the diameter of this spindle being less than the internal diameter of the cylinder. An annular space was thus left between the two. On the inside of the cylindrical case were numerous rings of inwardly projecting blades, while, on the shaft, were mounted corresponding outwardly projecting blades. These two sets of blades occupied the space between the cylinder and the spindle. When steam was admitted it met a ring of fixed blades on the wall of the cylinder. These blades deflected it in such a manner that it impinged upon the corresponding blades of the spindle, and imparted to them a rotary motion. The diameter of the cylinder increased in successive stages toward the exhaust. The blades in the first few rows are of copper, the others of a special brass alloy. The Curtis turbine is similar to the Parsons, but depends upon the impulse principle, steam being admitted through a series of nozzles. The steam is expanded almost to exhaust pressure in the nozzles, so that there is no appreciable difference of pressure between the front and back end. It follows that the end thrust, which has to be taken care of in the Parsons turbine, is almost entirely avoided in this engine. Moreover, owing to the expansion of steam in the nozzles, the front blades are not subjected to the action of superheated steam and so do not require to be constructed of special metal for resisting high temperatures. Regulation of speed is obtained by closing one or more nozzles. Other types of turbine are the Riedler- Stumpf, the Rateau, the Melins and Pfenniger, the Schulz, and the Zölly. its special features While each one has , they all follow the general principles outlined above. As an indication of the speed at which the shafts run in different engines, the following figures may be taken as representative. The velocity of the tips of the rotating blades in the Parsons turbine is 100-150 feet per second at the front end, and at the back end, where the diameter of the shaft increases, 300-350 feet per second. In the Rateau, the speed is 350-400 feet per second, and in the Curtis a little higher. On the other hand, the buckets in the De Laval and the Riedler-Stumpf turbines reach a velocity of 1,000 feet per second.
The Encyclopedia of Founding (1892)
This powerful hammering-machine was originally invented by Mr. Nasmyth, Patricroft, England, in 1842, and is used for the purpose of beating malleable materials into the required form, etc. In its original form it consisted of an inverted cylinder, to whose piston an iron block which formed the hammer-head was attached. This hammer was raised by steam entering below the piston, and the hammer fell when the steam was allowed to escape. Steam-jet Cupola, patented by Herbertz, who claims it as one of the most important metallurgic inventions of modern times. He further says "that it will surely have a great future by reason of its enormous advantages over the systems now in use. It is not merely an improvement of the present system, but a complete revolution. "It naturally follows that there will have to be a complete change in the manner of doing business wherever smelting-furnaces are used. Up to the present time all cupolas were worked by blast-air. To produce this, complicated machinery was necessary, and large and expensive buildings. A hearth solidly built in masonry was indispensable, and this had to be hermetically sealed on account of the heavy interior pressure. "The steam-jet cupola is the exact reverse of this. It works by means of atmospheric air breathed or sucked into the furnace by a jet of steam placed in the upper part of the shaft. It has a movable hearth, which can be raised or lowered at will, and which forms with the shaft an annular opening by which the air needed for combustion is introduced. This cupola requires no motive force, and the vacuum produced in the shaft by the suction allows every stage of the smelting process to be observed by means of valves and tubes placed at different heights, thereby furnishing a convenient means of controlling the work. "The furnace and the hearth are rendered independent, the work may be carried on under perfect control, and necessary repairs can be easily and promptly attended to--a most embarrassing thing in the old furnaces with solid mured hearth. "The workings of the steam-jet cupola can be divided, accordingly, into the following groups and sub-groups: "I. Smelting of metals: 1. Smelting of pig iron; 2. Smelting of steel and malleable cast iron; 3. Smelting of other metals and metallic ores. "II. Production of metals by the reduction of their ores or slags: 1. Production of pig iron; 2. Production of lead; 3. Production of raw copper, copper-scoria, and copper-slate. "III. Calcination of ores and minerals, such as lime, dolomite, malachite, etc., for instance, minerals, demanding the expelling of carbonic acid; also, for smelting glass."