CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN BOILERS, FURNACES, AND STEAM ENGINES
Year: 1842

page_text: NEWTON'S SPECIFICATION.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, 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 Tenth day of March, in the fifth year of Her reign, did, for
Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said William
Edward Newton, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority,
that I, the said William Edward Newton, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, and such others as 1, the said William Edward 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, exercise, and vend, within England,
Wales, the Town of Berwick upon Tweed, and in all Her Majesty's Colo-
nies and Plantations abroad, and in the Islands of Jersey, Guernsey, Alder-
ney, Sark, and Man, an Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN BOILERS,
FURNACES, AND STEAM ENGINES," being a communication from a foreigner
residing abroad; in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso obliging
me, the said William Edward Newton, by an instrument in writing under
my hand and seal, particularly 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 and immediately after the date of the said

page_text: in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the saine, reference being there-
unto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
William Edward Newton, do hereby declare that the nature of the said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are particu-
larly 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, which has been communicated to me from abroad, consists
in a peculiar construction and arrangement of the parts of a boiler or
generator of steam, whereby the greatest portion of the heat given out by the
fuel is made available and applied in a more efficacious manner than is donc
in any of thuse boilers and furnaces at present in use, and also a perfect circu-
lation of the liquid to be evaporated is kept up continually. These two effects
are combined in this novel construction of boiler or steam generator and
furnace.
The improved boilers are formed by connecting one, two, or more long ver-
tical tubes (according to the power required) to a spherical or cylindrical
reservoir, to which the vertical tubes should be firmly fixed by rivets, or in any
other suitable manner. The boilers, when employed for stationary purposes,
are surrounded with a furnace fixed in stone or brickwork; but when used for
locomotive or boat engines they are enclosed by a double metallic or other
casing, occupied with water between them. In order to illustrate the Inven-
tion more perfectly I have shown, in Sheet I. of the accompanying Drawings,
an apparatus having two vertical tubes or boilers attached, and mounted with
the furnace in brickwork or masoury. One of these boilers is shewn in external
elevation, the other in vertical section. The description of this arrangement
of parts will apply equally well to any other application of the Invention, as
the improvements refer rather to the principle than to the details.
Fig. 1 is a partial vertical section taken longitudinally; Fig. 2, a transverse
vertical section of the same. Both sections are taken through the middle of
one of the vertical boilers. The apparatus consists of a large vessel containing
the steam and water, made of copper or plate iron, and for distinction I shall
call this the reservoir. To the under part of this reservoir are rivetted or
otherwise affixed two conical tubes of iron, but any other number of similar
tubes may be used. An elongation at the lower part of each of these tubes is
made of copper and may be removed, but which is firmly held against the
fixed part of the tube. In order to get at the interior of this portion of the
apparatus two holes are made at the top of the reservoir immediately above

page_text: the tubes, but these holes are not required when the dimensions of the reser-
voir are such as will allow of a man-hole being made at one of its ends.
This man-hole may be opened when cleaning the boilers, and the plate which
closes the same will also serve to carry the cocks which indicate the height of
the water in the reservoir. a, a, is a cylindrical chamber or reservoir for con-
taining the water and steam, as above mentioned; b, b, are the conical tubes
or boilers, and are rivetted to the lower part of the reservoir. The bottom
parts c, c, of the boilers b, b, made of copper, as said, are removeable, and
their lower ends are terminated by a copper cup or hemisphere d, which is
brased on to the part c, c, as seen in the Drawing. The bottom c, c, of copper,
is held against the other part of the tube by the circular cross piece e, which is
attached to the lower end of a vertical screw bolt f by means of a pin g. The
upper end of the bolt f is screwed into the lower end of a rod h, which abuts
against the upper end of the forked piece i, i; the lower end of this forked
piece is made in the form of a ring, and is rivetted to the tube b, near the
junction of the parts b and c.
From this it will be perceived that upon turning the rod h the screw bolt f
and circular cross piece e will be raised, and will thereby draw the flange of
the
copper part c of the tube tightly up against the circular end of the forked
piece i, i, and thereby produce a water-tight joint, which, however, may be
made more secure by applying a small quantity of white lead to the joint
previous to screwing it up. Water is supplied to the vertical tubes or boilers
from the reservoir a, a, by means of the pipes j.j. The furnace fire door and ash
pit are seen at k, l, m. The arrangement and construction of these parts will
be varied according to the nature of the fuel to be employed. Air holes are
made in the door of the ash pit, by means of which the draft may bc regu-
lated, and if a very bulky fuel is used, then it will be necessary to place the
fire doors higher up, as at 1, 1, in Fig. 2. It will now be understood that
(the tubes being charged with water) their copper ends will be exposed to the
full heat of the fire in the furnace, and therefore that steam will be generated
very quickly and rise up through the water in the tubes or boilers b, b, and
occupy their upper parts, from whence it will pass through the contracted
pipe w into the reservoir a, a, above. The steam, in issuing into the reservoir,
will by means of the cap o be directed downward on to the surface of the water
in the reservoir, and by exerting its clastic force thercon will cause the water
to descend through the pipes j, j, and supply the place of that portion which
has just been vaporized by the fire. By this means a continual circulation of
water is kept up, and the bottom of the boiler is prevented from burning; but
if by any accident the. engine man should neglect to keep the reservoir a, a,

page_text: sufficiently supplied with water, then the heat of the fire will melt the solder
by which the cup d is fastened to the copper tube c, and this cup d will be
blown out into the fire, which will be instantly extinguished by the water
escaping from the boiler. When such an accident has occurred, it may be
easily rectified by opening one of the holes at the top of the reservoir and
unscrewing the rod h and screw bolt f, removing the part c. c, of the boiler, and
then soldering on the old or a fresh cup d, after which the part c, c, can be
replaced in its original situation by the screw bolt f. as above mentioned. Tu
order to prevent an unnecessary waste of heat by radiation from the reservoir,
its upper part is coated with clay, brick, or other bad conductor of heat. The
internal sides of the furnace, whether constructed of brickwork or metal, are
perpendicular, and as the vertical tubes are of the forms of frustrunis of a cone:
inverted, the result would be that the products of combustion are more and
more confined as they approach the exit, and therefore all or the greatest por-
tion of the heat generated is absorbed either by the vertical tubes or boilers, or
by the reservoir above. The products of combustion, after having passed.
Found the boilers b, b, and reservoir a, a, above, enter the conical throat of the
chimney p, p, made of plate iron, and finally pass off through the flue at g. It
may be here observed, that one important advantage of this improved boiler is,
that it does not require a chimney of so great an altitude as boilers of other
constructions, owing to the length of flue from the fire-place to the reservoir
a, a, which is found to create quite sufficient draft. A second advantage is, a
much greater and quicker generation or production of steam, and a consider-
able economy of fuel, from the extended surface of boiler against which the
fire and heated vapour acts, and also the practicability of burning any sort
of fuel, even anthracite, without employing any artificial blast. Thirdly, the
absence of all risk of explosion, in consequence of the great division of the
liquid and the lower part d of the boilers being simply brased or soldered on,
which would become unsoldered if the reservoir should not be supplied with a
sufficient quantity of water, which result would happen without deranging any
other part of the apparatus. In Sheet 1. I have shown a modification of the
above, which might be applied to locomotive or marine engines. Although in
this construction the arrangements of parts are somewhat altered, still the
1 have.
principle upon which the boiler is constructed is essentially the same.
therefore marked corresponding parts in both Sheets with similar letters of
reference. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal, and Fig. 4 a transverse vertical, section of
the reservoir a, a, and vertical tube or boiler b. Instead of making the vertical
tube b principally of plate iron, as in the stationary boiler, it is in this instance
formed principally of copper, thereby causing the part c, c, to form the principal

page_text: portion of the boiler. The reservoir of steam and water is shown at a, a;
the iron part or descending tube b, b, is rivetted to the bottom of the reservoir,
as seen. c, c, is the removeable copper part, and d the copper cup soldered to
the lower end of c, c, as before. The part c, c, is held against b, b, in a similar
manner as in the former instance. e, e, is the circular cross piece carrying the
part c, c, by its flange; this cross piece is raised by means of the screw bolt f,
the upper end whereof passes through the circular collar i, i, and brass r, and
is screwed into the square head h. The circular collar i, i, supplies the place
of the forked piece in Figures 1 and 2, and is rivetted to the part b, b, at the
junction of b, c, in the same manner.
From this it will be seen that upon turning the square head h, the screw
bolt will raise the circular cross piece e, and press the flange of the copper
part c, c, against the under side of the circular collar i, i, and thereby make a
water-tight joint. Upon heat being applied to the lower part of the boiler
steam will be generated, and ascend through the water and up the pipe w into
the reservoir above; then an equal quantity of water will pass down the pipe
or tubej into the lower part of the boiler.
The pipes and ; are screwed or otherwise fastened into the brass r; and
although in Figures 3 and 4 I have not shown more than one pipe or tube j,
yet two or more may be employed if required. The man-hole in this boiler is
made at one end, and the guage cocks are to be inserted in the door or plate
which closes the same.
Having now described the Invention, which has been communicated to me
as above stated, I wish it to be understood that I do not intend to confine
myself to the precise forms and arrangement of the parts of the boiler as
herein shewn, nor to the materials of which it is to be composed; but 1 claim
as the Invention, secured to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters
Patent, the peculiar construction of boiler or apparatus for producing or
generating steam, combining a reservoir for containing steam and water with
one, two, or more vertical tubes, arranged in any convenient manner so as to
expose an extensive surface to be acted upon by the fire, such vertical tubes
being supplied internally with a pipe or pipes for the purpose of injecting
the water from the reservoir on to the bottom of the said vertical tubes, thereby
keeping up a continuous flow of water through the boiler and preventing it
from becoming injured by an excess of heat.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Tenth day of September, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-two.
W. E. (L.B.) NEWTON.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the same Tenth day of September,
in the year above mentioned, the aforesaid William Edward Newton came
before our Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specifi-
cation aforesaid, and all and everything therein contained, in form above
written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the
tenor of the Statute in that case made and provided.
Inrolled the same Tenth day of September, in the year above written.