and other Tubulous Steam Boilers.
Year: 1886

page_text: and other Tubulous Steam Boilers.
We HOWARD LANE of No. 115 Palmerston Buildings Old Broad Street in the
City of London Hardware Merchant and RICHARD HOBBS TAUNTON of Heneage Street
Birmingham in the County of Warwick Tube Manufacturer do hereby declare the
nature of this Invention to be as follows:-
The said invention consists of the improvement or improvements hereinafter
described in connecting the tubes of Root and other tubulous steam boilers whereby
a steam and water tight junction is produced the tightness of which is not affected
by changes of temperature and the expansion and contraction consequent thereon.
We will describe the said invention in connection with a Root steam boiler. The
boiler consists of series of parallel iron tubes set at an angle with the horizon and
connected at their ends the end of one tube being connected to the end of the tube
below or nearly below it as is well understood. This connection is usually effected by
means of caps or hollow bends the ends of which are inserted in recesses in the cast
iron boxes in which the boiler tubes terminate an india rubber or elastic washer being
introduced between the ends of the bends and the recesses in the boxes. The
connection is also sometimes made by means of short tubes with tapering ends fitting
in tapering seats in the ends of the bends and in the boxes respectively.
In this case
no washers are used.
The arrangements described when accurately made form a tight junction so long as
all the parts are of uniform or nearly uniform temperature but when from any cause
a material difference of temperature occurs between the cap or bend and the box in
which the boiler tubes terminate a lateral strain occurs at the junction and its tightness
is impaired. Thus supposing the junctions to be tight when the parts are of the same
temperature the cooling of the exposed caps or bends causes them to contract and by
their contraction they tend to draw the ends of the connecting pieces closer together
and thereby to interfere with the tightness of the joint.
The object of the said invention is to remedy this defect.
Instead of connecting
the boiler tube boxes with the bends by the means described we effect the connection
of the said boxes with the caps or bends in the following manner.

page_text: We make each mouth of the cap or bend into an annular seat the said annular seats
being either conical or portions of spheres and we make similar annular seats at each
of the openings in the boiler tube box. The connecting pieces we employ are short
tubes contracted at each end the said contracted annular portions consisting of portions
of spheres. The said spherical terminations of the connecting pieces although
preferably of the same radius as each other are not portions of the same sphere but
are portions of spheres the centres of which are a short distance apart and in the line
of the axis of the connecting piece. It is by making the spherical terminations of the
connecting pieces portions of spheres having different centres instead of making them
portions of the same sphere that the action of the said connecting pieces in preserving
the tightness of the joint under changes of temperature depends.
In a boiler made according to the said invention the connecting pieces are in their
normal position parallel but if by the cooling of the cap or bend those ends of the
connecting pieces engaging in the cap or bend are drawn closer together and the said
connecting pieces are inclined at a small angle to one another the tightness of the
joint is not impaired for in assuming the inclined position referred to there is no
strain on any part the spherical ends of the connecting pieces move on their spherical
or conical seats the fitting of the two parts in one another being as tight when the
connecting pieces are inclined as when they are parallel. In this way the contraction
or expansion of the caps or bends and boxes is prevented from affecting the tightness
of the connecting surfaces.
The parts described may be clamped or secured together in the ordinary way.

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
An Improvement or Improvements in Connecting the Tubes of Root
and other Tubulous Steam Boilers.
We HOWARD LANE of No. 115 Palmerston Buildings, Old Broad Street in the
City of London, Hardware Merchant and RICHARD HOBBS TAUNTON of Heneage
Street, Birmingham in the County of Warwick Tube Manufacturer do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention and in what manner the same is to be performed
to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement:-
The said invention consists of the improvement or improvements hereinafter
described in connecting the tubes of Root and other tubulous steam boilers, whereby a
steam and water tight junction is produced the tightness of which is not affected by
changes of temperature and the expansion and contraction consequent thereon.
We will describe the said invention in connection with a Root steam boiler. The
boiler consists of series of parallel iron tubes set at an angle with the horizon and
connected at their ends, the end of one tube being connected to the end of the tube
below or nearly below it as is well understood. This connection is usually effected by
means of caps or hollow bends the ends of which are inserted in recesses in the cast
iron boxes in which the boiler tubes terminate, an india rubber or elastic washer being
introduced between the ends of the bends and the recesses in the boxes. The con-
nection is also sometimes made by means of short tubes with tapering ends fitting in
tapering seats in the ends of the bends and in the boxes respectively. In this case no
washers are used. The arrangements described when accurately made form a tight
junction so long as all the parts are of uniform or nearly uniform temperature bui
when from any cause a material difference of temperature occurs between the cap or
bend and the box in which the boiler tubes terminate a lateral strain occurs at the
junction and its tightness is impaired. Thus supposing the junction to be tight when
the parts are of the same temperature the cooling of the exposed caps or bends causes
them to contract and by their contraction they tend to draw the ends of the connecting
pieces closer together and thereby to interfere with the tightness of the joint.
The object of the said invention is to remedy this defect. Instead of connecting the
boiler tube boxes with the bends by the means described we effect the connection of
the said boxes with the caps or bends in the following manner.
We make each mouth of the cap or bend into an annular seat the said annular seats
being either conical or portions of spheres and we make similar annular seats at each
of the openings in the boiler tube box. The connecting pieces we employ are short.

page_text: tubes contracted at each end the said contracted annular portions consisting of
portions of spheres. The said spherical terminations of the connecting pieces although
preferably of the same radius as each other are not portions of the same sphere but
are portions of spheres the centres of which are a short distance apart and in the line
of the axis of the connecting piece. It is by making the spherical terminations of the
connecting pieces portions of spheres having different centres instead of making them
portions of the same sphere that the action of the said connecting pieces in preserving
the tightness of the joint under changes of temperature depends.
In a boiler made according to the said invention the connecting pieces are in their
normal position parallel but if by the cooling of the cap or bend those ends of the
connecting pieces engaging in the cap or bend are drawn closer together and the
said connecting pieces are inclined at a small angle to one another the tightness of
the joint is not impaired for in assuming the inclined position referred to there is no
strain on any part, the spherical ends of the connecting pieces move on their spherical
or conical seats the fitting of the two parts in one another being as tight when the
connecting pieces are inclined as when they are parallel. In this way the contraction or
expansion of the caps or bends and boxes is prevented from affecting the tightness of
the connecting surfaces.
The parts described may be clamped or secured together in the ordinary way.
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawing represents in vertical section and Figure 2
in end elevation a portion of the head and connections of a Root steam boiler the said
connections being constructed according to this invention: Figure 3 represents in
section a modification of the connection as hereinafter explained.
a, a are the boiler tube boxes into which the ends of the boiler tubes b, b open
and c is the cap or hollow bend for effecting a connection between the tube boxes a, a,
the said cap or bend c being bolted at d, d, in the ordinary way to the head of the
boiler. Each mouth c of the cap or bend c is made into an annular seat either conical
as represented in the drawing or forming a portion of a sphere and a similar annular
seat is made at each opening a² in the boiler tube box a; ee are the connecting pieces
between the seats c, e of the cap or bend c and the seats a² a² of the boiler tube box a.
It will be seen by an examination of Figure 1 that the connecting pieces e, e consist
of short tubes contracted at each end, the contracted annular ends consisting of
portions of spheres, the said spherical ends being struck from the centres indicated in
the Drawing. It will also be seen by reference to Figure 1 that the spherical
terminations of the connecting piece e are not portions of the same sphere but portions
of spheres having the same radius as each other the centres of the said spheres being
at a short distance apart and in the line of the axis of the connecting piece.
When the connecting pieces e, e are in their normal position they are parallel, their
spherical ends seating themselves on the conical seats of the cap or bend and boxes as
represented in Figure 1, but should the cap or bend c be twisted or distorted by
changes of temperature or otherwise, those ends of the connecting pieces e engaging in
the cap or bend become inclined to one another at a small angle and are drawn closer
together as indicated in dotted lines in the lower part of Figure. 1 which dotted lines
indicate one connecting piece and a portion of a cap or bend c³ below those
represented in continuous lines. On the cap or bend c³ taking the position indicated
the tubular connecting piece e takes the inclined position indicated and the tightness
of the joint is not impaired as there is no strain on any part of the connection, the
spherical ends of the connecting piece e² moving on their conical (or spherical) seats,
the fitting of the ends of the connecting pieces on their conical seats when the said
connecting pieces are inclined to one another being as tight as when they are parallel.
By this means the contraction or expansion of the caps or bends and tube boxes is
prevented from affecting the tightness of the connecting surfaces.
The spherical terminations of the tubular connecting pieces may be constructed in
the manner represented in the section Figure 3 The spherical ends of the connecting
pieces in this arrangement are portions of spheres the centres of which are so situated
that the radii of the curves struck from them cross one another as indicated by the

page_text: arrows. The action of the parts of this arrangement is the same as that of the
arrangement first described. The inclination which the tubular connection e Figure 3
takes on its seats on the twisting or distortion of the cap or bend c is indicated in
dotted lines.
We are aware of Knap's patent, No. 17,023 year 1884 and we do not claim the
construction and use of a ball like joint consisting essentially of the middle portion of
a sphere with the terminal ends seating themselves within sockets or seats formed
within the ends of the tubes to be joined together as described and claimed in the said
patent.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this invention and
the manner in which the same is to be performed we declare that what we claim is :-
Connecting the tubes of Root and other tubulous steam boilers by means of caps or
bends and boxes and connecting pieces of the kinds herein before described and
illustrated in the accompanying Drawing; that is to say, the combination with caps
or bends and boxes having conical or spherical seats, made in them of tubular
connecting pieces inserted between the said caps or bends, and boxes, the ends of
which tubular connecting pieces are portions of spheres struck from different centres,
the said spherical terminations of the connecting pieces fitting upon the conical
or spherical seats of the caps or bends and boxes and permitting of the inclination of
the said connecting pieces with one another at different angles without disturbing the
tightness of the joint substantially as herein before described and illustrated.
HOWARD LANE.
RICHARD HOBBS TAUNTON.