IMPROVED APPARATUS TO BE APPLIED TO STEAM BOILERS
Year: 1847

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALFRED
VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Fifteenth day of April, in the tenth year of Her reign, did,
for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said Alfred
Vincent Newton, her especial license, full power, sole privilege and authority,
that I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, and such others as I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, 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, and vend within England, Wales,
the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and in all Majesty's Colonies and Plan-
tations abroad, and in the Islands of Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Sark,
and Man, an Invention of "IMPROVED APPARATUS TO BE APPLIED TO STEAM
BOILERS," being a communication from a foreigner residing abroad; in which
said Letters Patent is contained a proviso obliging me, the said Alfred
Vincent Newton, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, par-
ticularly to describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed; and to cause the same to be inrolled
in Her Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next

page_text: and immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in
and 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
Alfred Vincent Newton, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, is particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following description thereof, reference being
had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked
thereon (that is to say):
This Invention of improved apparatus to be applied to steam boilers, and
which has been communicated to me by my foreign correspondent as aforesaid,
relates to a novel and useful mode of constructing an apparatus for ascertaining
and indicating the height of water in a steam boiler. The principal upon
which the instrument or apparatus is constructed is that of a percussive action
of a flat surface acting horizontally upon a portion of the water, the height of
which is to be gauged. One form of apparatus constructed on this principle,
and which has been found fully to answer the intended purpose, is shewn in the
accompanying Drawing, in which Figure 1 represents a side or external elevation
of the apparatus attached to a steam boiler; and Figure 2 is a longitudinal
vertical section taken through the same, for the purpose of shewing the internal
construction; and Figure 3 is an end elevation. a, a, a, represents a portion
of an ordinary steam boiler, and b, b, is a small cylinder bolted thereto, and
communicating therewith by means of two short tubes or passages c and d, the
upper one of which communicates with the steam space of the boiler and the
lower with that part which contains the water; e is a small metallic or other
piston, which moves freely in the cylinder b, b, and is connected by a rod f to
a vibrating arm or lever g, above which is enclosed in a quadrant-shaped
chamber that forms or is fixed on the top part of the small cylinder b, b, the
pivot or axle of the arm or lever g, passes through a stuffing box j, made at the
'small end of the quadrant, and carries externally, as seen in the side elevation,
Figure 1, another arm or lever h, which is furnished with an index or pointer
which indicates, on a graduated sector, the height of the water in the cylinder,
and consequently in the boiler. A rod or handle i is also suspended from the
arm or lever h, for the purpose of enabling the attendant to raise the piston or
plungere in the cylinder, and bring it down with percussive force on to the
surface of the water, in order to ascertain its exact height. It will be at once
understood that the same pressure of steam and water must exist in the cylinder
and its quadrant case as in the boiler, and that the working of the apparatus
cannot be affected thereby. And I would here observe that it is found-advisable

page_text: to make one or two small apertures in the plunger, in order to allow the water
and steam to pass through when it is raised.
The plan above described is one form of the improved instrument or apparatus
that has been found to answer in practice. I would, however, observe that I
do not by any means intend to confine myself thereto, as it may be considerably
varied without departing from the nature and object of the Invention; for
instance, instead of connecting the piston or plunger to a vibrating arm g, it
may be attached to a vertical arm, which, by being furnished with an index or
pointer, may be made to indicate the height of the water in the cylinder.
The means of carrying out the principle upon which the apparatus above
shewn is constructed will, however, be so obvious to any intelligent mechanic
that I do not consider it necessary to enter into a more detailed description of
the various modifications or differences in construction that may be made
therein, but I claim as the Invention secured to me under the herein-before in
part recited Letters Patent, the construction of a gauge or indicator for ascertain-
ing the height of water in steam or other boilers by means of a plunger or
piston connected to a rod or arm in such a manner that, when brought down
suddenly on to the surface of the water to be gauged, the percussive force of
the plunger or piston striking the water horizontally may be sufficient to
indicate the level thereof.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Fifteenth day of October, in the year of