  A piston is generally a cylindrical piece which slides backwards and forwards inside a hollow cylinder. The piston may be moved by the action of fluid pressure upon it as in a steam-engine, or it may be used to give motion to a fluid as in a pump. A piston is usually attached to a rod, called a piston rod, which passes through the end of the cylinder inside which the piston works, and which serves to transmit the motion of the piston to some piece outside the cylinder, or vice versÂ. Fig. 46. Fig. 46. A plunger is a piston made in one piece with its piston rod, the piston and the rod being of the same diameter. A piston which is provided with one or more valves which Simple Piston.—The simplest form of piston is a plain cylinder fitting accurately another, inside which it moves. Such a piston works with very little friction, but as there is no adjustment for wear, such a piston is not suitable for a high fluid pressure if it has to work constantly. This simple form of piston is used in the steam-engine indicator, and also in pumps. Fig. 46 shows the piston of the circulation pump of a marine engine. A is the cast-iron casing or barrel of the pump; B is a brass liner fitting tightly into the former at its ends, and secured by eight screwed Muntz metal pins C, four at each end; D is the piston, which is made of brass, and is attached to a Muntz metal piston rod E. The liner is bored out smooth and true from end to end, and the piston is turned so as to be a sliding fit to the liner. The wear in this form of piston is diminished by making the rubbing surface large. Exercise 46: Piston for Circulating Pump.—Draw the vertical sectional elevation of the piston, &c., shown in fig. 46, also a half plan and half horizontal section through the centre. Scale 4 inches to a foot. Pump Bucket.—The next form of piston which we illustrate is shown in fig. 47. This represents the air-pump bucket of a marine engine. The bucket is made of brass, and is provided with six india-rubber disc valves. The rod is in this case made of Muntz metal. Air-pump rods for marine engines are very often made of wrought iron cased with brass. It will be observed that there is a wide groove around the bucket, which is filled with hempen rope or gasket. This gasket forms an elastic packing which prevents leakage. This is an old-fashioned form of packing, and is now only used for pump buckets. Exercise 47: Air-pump Bucket.—Draw the sectional elevation of the air-pump bucket shown in fig. 47. Also draw a half plan looking downwards and a half plan looking upwards. Scale 4 inches to a foot. Fig. 47. Fig. 47. Fig. 48. Fig. 48. Ramsbottom's Packing.—The form of packing used in the air-pump bucket, fig. 47, is not suitable for steam pistons. For the latter the packing is now always metallic. The simplest form of metallic packing is that known as Ramsbottom's. This form is very largely used for locomotive pistons, and for small pistons in many kinds of engines besides. A locomotive piston for an 18-inch cylinder with Ramsbottom's packing is shown in fig. 48. The particular piston there illustrated is made of brass, and is secured to a wrought-iron piston rod by a brass nut. Two circumferential grooves of rectangular section are turned out of the piston, and into these fit two corresponding rings, which may be of brass, cast iron, or steel. In this example the rings are of cast iron. These rings are first turned a little larger in diameter than the bore of the cylinder (in this example 1/2 inch), and then sprung over the piston into the groves prepared for them. Their own elasticity causes the rings to press outwards on the cylinder. At the point where a ring is split a leakage of steam will take place, but with quick-running pistons this leakage is unimportant. The points where the rings are cut should be placed diametrically opposite, so as to diminish the leakage of steam. Exercise 48: Locomotive Piston.—A part elevation and part section of a locomotive piston, for a cylinder having a bore 18 inches in diameter, is shown in fig. 48. Draw this, and also a view looking on the nut in the direction of the axis of the piston rod. Scale 6 inches to a foot. Note.—The reason why the part of the piston rod within the piston has such a quick taper is that the piston has to be taken off the rod while it is in the cylinder. The cross-head being forged on the end of the piston rod prevents the piston and piston rod being withdrawn together. Large Pistons.—Pistons of large diameter are generally provided with two cast-iron packing rings placed within the same groove. These rings are pressed outwards against the cylinder, and also against the sides of the groove by one or more springs. One form of this packing (Lancaster's) is shown in fig. 49. Here one spring only is used, and it is first made a straight spiral spring, and then bent round and its ends united. The action of the spring will be clearly understood from the illustration. For the purpose of admitting the packing rings the piston is divided into two parts, one the piston proper, and the other the junk ring. In fig. 49, A is the junk ring, which is secured to the piston by means of bolts as shown. Exercise 49: Marine Engine Piston.—The piston illustrated by fig. 49 is for the high-pressure cylinder of a marine engine. The piston, junk ring, and packing rings are of cast iron. The piston rod and nut are of wrought iron, so also are the junk ring bolts. The nuts for the latter are of brass. The spiral spring is made from steel wire 3/8 inch diameter. An enlarged section of one of the pack First draw the vertical section of this piston, next draw a plan, one-third of which is to show the piston complete, one-third to show the junk ring removed, and the remaining third to be a horizontal section through between the packing rings. The details (a) and (c) need not be drawn separately. Scale 3 inches to a foot. Fig. 49. Fig. 49. Proportions of Marine Engine Pistons.—Mr. Seaton, in his 'Manual of Marine Engineering,' gives the following rules for designing marine engine pistons:—
Exercise 50: Design for Marine Engine Piston.—Calculate by Seaton's rules the dimensions for a marine engine piston 40 inches in diameter, and subjected to an effective pressure of 36 lbs. per square inch. Then make the necessary working drawings for this piston to a scale of, say, 3 inches to a foot. Note.—Take the dimensions got by calculation to the nearest 1-16th of an inch. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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