AN IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR SUPPLYING OR FEEDING BOILERS WITH WATER, APPLICABLE TO RAISING AND FORCING LIQUIDS FOR OTHER PURPOSES
Year: 1854

page_text: Sealed the 1st August 1854, and dated the 2nd February 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Frederic Henry Sykes
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
2nd February 1854.
I, FREDERIC HENRY SYKES, of Cork St., Piccadilly, Esquire, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR
SUPPLYING OR FEEDING BOILERS WITH WATER, APPLICABLE TO RAISING AND FORCING
LIQUIDS FOR OTHER PURPOSES," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists of certain mechanical arrangements for the purpose
of feeding or supplying boilers or steam generators or other similar vessels with
water, applicable also to raising and forcing liquids in breweries, distilleries, and
other places, so as to dispense with the pumps usually employed. The appa-
ratus consists of two vessels, which alternately supply the boiler with a certain
quantity of water; these vessels communicate with each other and with the
steam generator or other vessel by means of two slide valves fitted to the top

page_text: and bottom of the supply vessels. A pipe from one of the valves conveys steam
from the boiler to the interior of the supply vessels, and a pipe from the other
conveys water from the vessels to the boiler. From the upper valve a pipe is
carried downward into a tank or reservoir, and terminated in a spiral form in
order to condense the steam which it conveys from the upper part of the supply
vessels. The valves are opened & shut by the action of counterbalance
weights; these are hollow vessels attached by suitable joints to pipes connected
with the top and bottom of the supply vessels, and are alternately filled with
water, the descent of one causing the ascent of the other; they are connected by
rods to the valve slides, and their alternate elevation and depression open and
shut the ports. The steam being admitted from the boiler to one of the supply
vessels, its pressure causes a portion of the water contained in the vessel to be
forced through the supply pipe into the boiler; the counterbalance weights then
reverse the action of the valves, and steam is admitted to the second supply
vessel; the steam contained in the first escapes down the condensing pipe
before named into the tank, where it is condensed; a vacuum being obtained, a
portion of the water in the tank flows through the lower valve into the supply
vessel to replace that supplied to the boiler. In order to prevent the steam as
it comes from the boiler being condensed within the supply vessels, they are
furnished with floats made of some non-conducting material. The arrangement
of the parts of this apparatus may be modified to adapt it to supply all kinds of
engines, or for other similar purposes. In some cases I should use an arrange-
ment consisting of a vessel containing water for supplying the boiler, the valve
of which should be worked by a lever connected to a trough supported at its
centre, and having a certain amount of motion about its axis. The trough is
to be attached to a hollow body floating on the surface of the water within the
boiler, and so arranged that as the water sinks in the boiler, one end of the
trough is elevated, and a ball placed within it rolls to the opposite end; this
action opens the valve, and admits a supply of water to the boiler, the valve
being closed by the rising of the water within the boiler. Reserving the
right to vary the details of the apparatus described herein, the foregoing is
substantially a description of 1 Invention.
my

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Frederic Henry Sykes in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 2nd August 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, FREDERIC
HENRY SYKES, of Cork Street, Piccadilly, Esquire, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Second day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the seventeenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Frederic Henry Sykes, Her special licence that I, the said Frederic
Henry Sykes, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said Frederic Henry Sykes, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all
times thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might
make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "AN IMPROVED
APPARATUS FOR SUPPLYING OR FEEDING BOILERS WITH WATER, APPLICABLE TO
RAISING AND FORCING LIQUIDS FOR OTHER PURPOSES," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Frederic Henry Sykes, by an instrument in writing
under my hand and seal, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature
of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be performed, and
cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar
months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Frederic Henry Sykes, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly, described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:-
This Invention consists of certain mechanical arrangements for the purpose
of supplying steam boilers or generators and other similar vessels with water.
The apparatus for effecting this object consists of a pair of cylindrical vessels
closed at the top and bottom; a pipe leads from each of the vessels, and is con-
nected with valves. There are two of these valves, each having four ports in the
valve seat and two in the valve; they are so arranged that two of the ports are
always open and two closed. To each of the valves are secured two pipes
which communicate with the ports. One pipe from each valve is carried into
the boiler, one entering the lower part of the boiler, and the other the upper;
hence, one conveys steam into the cylindrical vessels, and the other conveys
water from them into the boiler. One of the other two pipes connected with

page_text: the valves conveys the water from the well or reservoir to the cylindrical
vessels before referred to; the other pipe carries away the steam from the
vessels to a condenser. Fig. 1 of the accompanying Drawings represents a
front elevation of the apparatus or machinery; and Fig. 2 is a plan of the
same. A, A', are a pair of cylindrical metallic vessels; these should be made
of copper, and firmly bolted together to withstand the pressure of steam; they
are supported by the pipes B, B', and C, C', which are secured to the valves
D and E. Upon the valve D is fixed the pillar or shaft F, which supports
the valve E, and other parts of the apparatus. G is the service pipe com-
municating with the well or reservoir from which the supply of cold water is
drawn. H is the pipe which conveys the water from the copper vessels into
the boiler. I is a pipe by which steam is carried from the boiler into either
of the supply vessels; and K is a steam pipe terminating in a perforated coil,
which is placed in a tank or reservoir of cold water for the purpose of con-
densing the steam within the supply vessels A, with one of which it is alternately
in communication. L is a bridge cock by which both the vessels A, A', may
be filled with steam prior to starting the apparatus. The water pipes B, B',
and steam pipes C, C', are fitted at the ends which communicate with the
vessels A, A', with ball and socket joints, through each of which an aperture
is bored for the passage of the fluids. Beneath the vessels A, A', and in a line
with the base of the valve D, are placed a pair of buffers M, M, Fig. 1; these
form an elastic support for the vessels A, A', as they alternately descend. The
foregoing apparatus is intended to be supported by brackets affixed to the
boiler or built upon a separate foundation, according to the locality or position
of the boiler; the pipe G is connected with the well or reservoir from which the
cold water is supplied, and the pipes H and I are connected with the boiler;
the former enters the boiler below the water line, the latter above it. When
the water within the boiler is at the boiling temperature the foregoing appa-
ratus for the further supply of water to the boiler may be brought into action;
the bridge cock L is opened, by which the steam is admitted to and fills both
the vessels A, A'; the steam is then to be shut off; the steam pipe K is in com-
munication through the valve E with the upper vessel A'; the service pipe G
is through the valve D likewise in communication with the lower part of the
vessel A'; the steam pipe K terminates in a coil perforated with fine holes;
this is placed in a tank or reservoir of cold water. As the steam from the
boiler passes down the pipe K, it is rapidly condensed; the partial vacuum thus
created within the vessel A¹ causes the service water to rush through the pipe
G, thence through the valve D and pipe B', to the vessel A', which, when
filled or nearly so, will descend and lift the vessel A, and this descent opens

page_text: the passage between the vessel A' and the pipe H, which allows the water to
flow from the vessel A' through the valve D, and thence by the pipe H to
the boiler. In the meantime the steam from the boiler continues to flow
through the pipe I, valve E, and pipe C, to the vessel A, and thence down the
pipe K to the condenser; as the vacuum is made, the water rises by the pipe
G, passes through the open port of the valve D, and into the vessel A. Thus
as the vessel A is filled by the atmospheric pressure forcing the water up the
service pipe G, the contents of the vessel A' are flowing into the boiler, and
when A¹ is emptied or nearly so the vessel A will descend and supply the
boiler, the vessel A' being filled as before described. Two ports of each of
the valves D, E, are always open, those of the valve D allowing the water to
flow from the full vessel into the boiler, and from the service pipe into the empty
vessel; the open ports of the valve E admit the steam from the boiler to the
full vessel, so that the pressure of steam within the boiler acts upon the water
to force it through the pipe H; the other port allows the steam to pass off
(from the vessel which is being filled) by the pipe K to the condenser. The
apparatus is also applicable to raising and forcing liquids for other purposes.
From the foregoing it will be seen that the vessels A, A', are similar to weights
hung upon a scale beam; while the lowest one is supplying water to the boiler,
the upper is being filled by the condensation of the steam forming a partial
vacuum therein, and the atmospheric pressure forcing the water into it. This
particular mode of supplying water to steam generators may be modified in a
great number of ways without departing from the principle of the Invention.
I do not therefore confine myself to any precise arrangement of the different
parts or construction of the details so long as the peculiar character of the
Invention be adhered to. But what I claim, and desire to secure by these
Letters Patent, is,―
The method of supplying water to steam boilers or generators by the appa-
ratus or machinery substantially as herein-before described and shewn, or any
mere modification thereof.
In witness whercof, I, the said Frederic Henry Sykes, have hereunto
hand and seal, this First day of August, in the year of our Lord
set iny
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four.
FREDERIC HENRY SYKES. (L.S.)