CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE BOILERS OR GENERATORS OF STEAM AND OTHER VAPOUR, AND IN ENGINES TO BE WORKED BY STEAM OR VAPOUR, FOR PROPELLING OR ACTUATING MACHINERY ON LAND, AND BOATS, VESSELS, OR OTHER FLOATING BODIES ON WATER AND ALSO IN THE MODE OF CONDENSING SUCH STEAM OR VAPOUR
Year: 1831

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, MILES
BERRY, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the Parish of Saint
Andrews, Holborn, in the county of Middlesex, Engineer and Mechanical
Draftsman, send greeting.
WHEREAS His present most Excellent Majesty King William the Fourth,
by His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Twenty-eighth day of September, in the second year of His
reign, did, for Himself, His heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Miles Berry, His especial licence, sole privilege and authority, that
I, the said Miles Berry, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Miles Berry, my executors, administrators, or assigns,
should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all
times during the term of years therein mentioned, should and lawfully might
make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of
Berwick-upon-Tweed, the Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE BOILERS
OR GENERATORS OF STEAM AND OTHER VAPOUR, AND IN ENGINES TO BE WORKED BY
STEAM OR VAPOUR, FOR PROPELLING OR ACTUATING MACHINERY ON LAND, AND
BOATS, VESSELS, OR OTHER FLOATING BODIES ON WATER, AND ALSO IN THE MODE
OF CONDENSING SUCH STEAM OR VAPOUR," communicated to me by Monsieur
Jeau Nicholas Senechal, Ingenier des Ponts et Chausses, residing at Ver-
sailles, in the Kingdom of France; in which said Letters Patent is contained
a proviso that I, the said Miles Berry, shall cause a particular description
of the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be inrolled in His said Majesty's High Court of Chan-

page_text: cery within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the
said in part recited Letters Patent, as in said by the same, reference being
thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Miles Berry, do hereby declare that the nature of the said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, is particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following description thereof, reference being had to the
Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked thereon,
that is to say:—---
These improvements in the boilers or generators of steam and other vapours,
and in the engines to be worked by steam or vapour, consist in the following
general features:-
First, in connecting certain parts of a boiler to a bath containing a dense
fluid, by which a portion of heat may be absorbed from the steam, if accidentally
raised above a given pressure, and thereby the possibility of explosion prevented,
and without the necessity of a single valve in connection with the boiler, and
which absorption expands the dense fluid, and by that means causes a
mechanical action to take place, so as to remove the fire grate or furnace, and
hence to suppress the quantity of heat applied to the boiler.
Secondly, in the peculiar arrangement and construction of certain parts of
the engine, videlicet, the crank shafts which are made hollow for the purpose of
carrying away the eduction vapour to the condensers, by which the air pumps may
be partially if not entirely dispensed with, and the adaptation of tubes which
convey the condensed vapour away from the axle into the reservoir below.
Thirdly, in the construction of a moveable condenser in connection with or
forming part of the paddle wheel of a marine or fly wheel of a land engine,
by the rapid motion of which through the water and air the cooling and
condensation of the vapour is effected.
In the accompanying Drawings, Fig. 1 is a longitudinal representation of
the tubes and chambers constituting the boiler or generator, and its flues, in
section; Fig. 2 is a transverse section of the same. A, B, C, are cylindrical
tubes placed longitudinally, and intended to contain water or other fluid from
which steam or elastic vapour is to be generated. These longitudinal tubes are
connected together by vertical tubes in any convenient way, and communicate
through the necks a and b with a large cylindrical tube D placed longitudinally
above. The system of tubes A, B, C, which may be otherwise arranged and
connected, is enclosed within a casing of iron or other fit material, formed as a
box E, E, E. This box is divided into passages for flues by flanges or parti-
tions extending from the sides of the tubes and attached to the case, and

page_text: through those flues the flames or vapour and smoke from the furnace F passess
in the direction shewn by the arrows, and, after heating the tubes, the smoke
or vapour ultimately escapes at the chimney G. The whole of these tubes, with
their furnace and flues, are encompassed by an outer vessel of iron. or other
suitable material, H, H, H, H, open at top, which forms another boiler. intended
to be filled with the dense fluid, or solution of potash in water. The top of
this liquor is to be covered with a layer of tallow or oil, in order to prevent the
liquor evaporating before it becomes heated to the boiling point, which would
not take place until its temperature is raised to 284° of Fahrenheit's thormo-
meter. On the top of this liquid a flat board or cover I, I, floats, and ascends
or descends as the fluid becomes expanded or contracted by variations in its
temperature. The tubes A, B, C, are to be filled with pure water which has
been exhausted of its air, and this water must also rise or flow through the
necks a and b, into the upper tube D, until it has occupied about one sixth of
that tube's capacity. A force or injecting pump may be employed to effect this
object. The atmospheric air to support combustion in the furnace F is
admitted through a door K, by means of which the flame and heated vapours
are made to pass through the flues and round the water tubes, as before
described.
The steam generated by these means rises from the several tubes into the
upper one D, and proceeds from thence through the small tube L to the working
cylinder of an engine placed near it. If it should happen that the temperature
of the steam in the generator at any time arises too high, the solution of potash
in the outer vessel which surrounds the tube D will absorb a portion of the
heat, and it will continue so to do until the solution begins to boil, which will
take place at a temperature of 284° Farenheits. The water in the outer vessel
will then by evaporating carry off the surplus heat, and leave the solution still
at a temperature of 284° Farenheit, the consequence of which is, that if the
boiler D be inade capable of resisting the force of the working steam (say 320°
of Farenheit) the bursting of the boiler will be physically impossible. It is
nevertheless adviseable to prevent the solution (which is termed prescrvative
liquor) from boiling. To this intent the fire grate F is mounted upon small
wheels or pullies, which roll upon a railway frame formed two parallel
rods M, bearing as levers upon a knife-edged fulcrum N behind the furnace,
and at the front supported by a perpendicular chain attached to the end of
a long lever P, placed above the boiler. The fire grate by these means
stands upon an inclined plane, the lowest part of which is in front, as shewn
at Fig. 1. But in the event of the preservative liquor becoming heated beyond
the temperature of 266° Farenheit, (at which point it begins to dilate con-

page_text: siderably,) it will by its expansive force raise the floating board or cover I, I.
This board is connected by a rod or arm Q to the lever P, and consequently in
rising moves the lever P upon its fulcrum joint in the standard R; this move-
ment of the lever lifts the chain O, and raises the front part of the inclined
plane M, so as to cause the fire grate to runk back by its own gravity into the
closed space under the boiler as far as the stop S. The flame of the furnace
will in this situation quickly die away, and the combustion consequently decrease.
As the working steam becomes consumed, the temperature which has been
raised will now diminish, the perservative liquor will contract again, and the
float I and the lever P will descend and lower the rods, so to allow the fire
grate to run back to its former position.
The boiler for a large engine is composed of several sets of tubes arranged
as above, and placed one by side the other; and the small chimneys all lead
into one large chimney. The several sets of boiler tubes communicate with
each other by a lateral tube at T, or in any other convenient situation, and
into this lateral tube the pump forces the water or liquid from which the steam
or vapour is to be generated. The several steam tubes D are likewise con-
nected together, and lead to one common steam chamber at U; and, lastly, a
simular pipe is intended to form a communication between the several vessels
or troughs of preventive liquor, which are at first filled by a pump adapted in
any convenient way, and by the same means they may be replenished
occasionally with water when it is found to have diminished its volumn by
evaporation through the superincumbent layer of tallow or oil. By the above
described arrangement of apparatus it is perfectly practicable and safe to
employ spirits of different kinds, either alone or mixed with water, for the
purpose of generating an elastic vapour capable of working an engine in the
same way that steam would be employed. Ether, for instance, may be used in
lieu of water, by lowering the level of the water in the tube D to about one
tenth of its capacity, and then injecting by means of the pump about another
tenth of ether. The preservative liquid in this case may be pure water, or
water saturated with any kind of salt will do equally as well as potash, but a
superincumbent surface of oil or tallow must in all cases cover the preventive
liquor, to prevent evaporation.
The novel arrangement of the engine is represented at Fig. 3; one of the
working cylinders, with its appendages, being shewn in section, and the other in
its external appearance. These working cylenders A, A, are both fixed upon
a strong metallic chest B, B, which is designed to be a reservoir from whence
the pumps feed. A double beam C, C, mounted upon an axle at D, vibrates one
on each side, the engines being between as shewn in the plan view Fig. 4. The

page_text: two piston rods are connected to the beams near their ends by lateral rods E, E,
and of consequence the piston in one cylinder ascends while that in the other
cylinder descends. At the extremities F, F, of the beams the crank rods G, G,
are attached by swivel joints, and the crank shafts J, J, J, are made hollow for
the
purpose
of effecting a condensation of the eduction steam, in a way that
will be hereafter explained. The crank shafts turn in bearings at H, H, H, or
in any other convenient situation, and their extremities are connected to the
stationary sockets I, I, by union joints at K, K. The piston rods are guided by
pullies L, L, running up and down between the standards M, M, fixed on the
tops of the working cylinders, and to the frames or carriages of these pullies
the upper ends of the lateral rods E, E, are attached. The feeding pumps N,N,
are worked by rods connected to the beams at a, a, and the slide valves are
worked by excentrics O, O, upon the crank shaft J, J. The steam or vapour
generated in the boiler in the way above described, or by any other ordinary
means, being conveyed by a pipe, enters the steam box at P, and, being inducted
through the aperture a into the working cylinder, depresses the piston; at
the same time the eduction steam from the opposite side of the piston passes
from the aperture 6 into the recess of the slide valve Q, and from thence
through a passage c on the side of the cylinder by a pipe to the stationary
sockets of the hollow crank axle I, I, before described, through which the con-
densation is effected. As it may be advantageous to allow the steam or vapour
to work by expansion, the sliding valve in that case must be constructed
accordingly, and may be made upon any of the plans in common use. To
prevent the steam or vapour from becoming chilled while working, the cylin-
der is enclosed within a jacket or case R, R, filled with a dense fluid consisting
of a solution of potash or other salt. This fluid may be heated by means
of a connection with the boiler, supposing a part of one of the sets of tubes
described above (of which several sets constitutes the complete boiler) be dis-
connected from the other sets of tubes, for the purpose of supplying this dense
fluid in a heated state to the jacket of the engine. In this individual boiler,
or rather portion of the general boiler, the communication of the upper tube
D, and the middle tube B, with the other tubes A and C is cut off; these last-
mentioned tubes are then filled with the dense fluid which flows from-thence
into the jacket, filling it also nearly to the top, and surrounding the working
cylinder, on the top of which there must be a coating or layer of oil or
tallow S, S, to prevent the evaporation of the water before the temperature of
the dense fluid is raised to the boiling point. This oil or tallow floating at the
top will at the same time grease the rods of the piston and of the sliding valve.
The rubbing surface of the piston T is formed of tempered steel, bent into the

page_text: forms of hoops, the ends of which are united by pieces of leather which com-
plete or close the circles, thus allowing them to expand or contract. These
metallic hoops or circles are attached at the upper and lower edges to the
circumferences of two leather discs nailed upon a wooden disc of convenient
thickness, which occupies the solid central part of the piston; this disc, thus
surrounded by the metallic hoops, and confined by two metallic discs as usual,
must fill the interior of the cylinders tightly as possible without producing too
great a friction. The piston is formed with a hollow rod V, into which melted
tallow is poured. This tallow is intended to pass by an internal channel d,
and to ooze through between the wooden disc and the metallic circle-sur-
rounding it, for the purpose of greasing the piston in the working cylinder;
and in order to give sufficient force to expand the metallic rings, the tallow
is pressed by a small plug or piston inserted in the top of the hollow piston rod
at e, and adjustable by a screw which forces it down. The tallow, being thus
pressed, expands the metallic hoop tightly against the interior surfaces of the
cylinder. The moving condenser is formed in connection with the paddle
wheel of a marine or the fly-wheel of a land engine. The steam or vapour,
after escaping from the eduction, passes as before said into the hollow crank
shaft of the engine, proceeds from thence through hollow rods or arms X,
extending from the said hollow shaft to boxes at the backs of the several paddles
of the propelling wheel, or into chambers in the circumference of the fly wheel,
which by passing round becomes cooled by successively dipping into the water
in which the vessel floats, or into a pool or reservoir placed conveniently for
the purpose.
One paddle is shewn at Fig. 3, in the situation in which it
would stand when immersed in the water. The parts of the wheel, and the
arms by which the paddles may be fixed, are here omitted, as not necessary to
the illustration.
Figure 5 is a section or edge view of the paddle, the face of which, or the
surface that strikes the water, is flat as usual, but behind there is a box or
hollow space W, formed by the back of the paddle, and a corrugated or fluted
sheet of metal attached thereto. This corrugated sheet of metal is designed to
expose an extended surface to the refrigerating medium both of cold water
and air.
The pipe X from the hollow crank shaft leads down into this box or chamber,
and conveys the eduction steam into the chamber to be condensed. Every
one of the paddles is intended to be so furnished with a condensing box; and
in the fly wheel of a land engine similar chambers may be made in or near its
periphery to which the eduction steam is to lead through the arms. The
liquid produced by this mode of condensing, the eduction vapour will, when the

page_text: arm of the wheel rises, flow into the hollow axle and assist the condensation of
the steam through which it passes. The vapor, when thus liquified, will flow
along the crank axle into the reservoir below by the perpendicular tubes Y,
and from thence the feeding pumps are intended to inject it again into the
boiler.
There are two syphons Z connected to these perpendicular tubes, the bulbs
of which are partly filled with mercury; they are placed there as guages to show
the state of condensation, and as escapes to the air in blowing the engine.
By this arrangement of the parts the engine, if employed for propelling
ships, boats, &c., may be placed transversely in the vessels, which allows of con-
siderable simplicity in its construction; and by the use of the condensing boxes
in the way described the dimensions of the air pumps may be diminished, if
they may not be altogether dispensed with; and in using pure distilled water,
exhausted of air, to feed the boilers in the way above explained, their surfaces
will never become foul or require cleaning.
In witness whereof, I, the said Miles Berry, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-eighth day of March, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and thirty-two