Designs of Horizontal Engine Beds. Engine Details. Presentation of the Indicator at the Newcastle Meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science. Much of my time was now devoted to working out improvements in the design of the engine, some of which had occurred to me during the exhibition, and which I was anxious to have completed before bringing the engine to the notice of builders. The first point which claimed my attention was the bed. The horizontal engine bed had already passed through three stages of development. The old form, in common use in the United States, was a long and narrow box, open at top and bottom. The sides and ends of this box were all alike, and their section resembled the letter H laid on its side, thus ⌶. This on some accounts was a very convenient form. The surface of the bed was planed, and everything was easily lined from this surface. The cylinder was made with two flanges on each side, which rested on the opposite surfaces of the bed, permitting the cylinder to sink between them as desired. The pillow-block rested on one or the other of these surfaces, according as the engine was to be right or left hand. The guide-bars were bolted on these opposite surfaces. The first break in this monotony was made by Mr. Corliss, and was remarkable for the number and the radical nature of its new ideas. The cylinder was provided with broad feet near its ends, and was planted on the foundation. The pillow-block was provided with similar supports and was also secured to the foundation. The bed, so called, was a tie-beam uniting the cylinder and pillow-block, and not otherwise supported. It was of T section. The horizontal member was behind the center line of the engine, and was made very deep in the middle of its length to prevent deflection. The vertical member extended equally above and below the former and carried the guides, which were top and bottom V-grooves, between which the cross-head ran and the connecting-rod vibrated. The cross-head was provided with shoes fitting these V’s, and was adjustable vertically between them. The connection with the cylinders was made by a circular head supported by curved brackets. This connection was firm on one side only. The bed was reversible to suit right- or left-hand engines by merely turning it over. In the bed for my engine, Mr. Richards struck out another design, which avoided some objections to the Corliss bed. The guides were supported from the foundation, and the connection with the cylinder was more substantial, but the reversible feature had to be sacrificed.