Ar IMPROVED BOILER OR APPARATUS FOR GENERATING STEAM;
Year: 1837

page_text: ATION.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
JOSEPH CURTIS, late of Deptford, in the County of Kent, but now of No. 1,
Stafford Street, Bond Street, in the County of Middlesex, Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Gracions Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at Westminster
the Twenty-first day of September now last, did for Herself, Her heirs, and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said William Joseph Curtis, my exe-
cutors, administrators, and assigns, Her especial licence that I, and they, by
myself and themselves, or by my and their deputy and deputies, servants and
agents, or such others as I or they should at any time agree with, and no others,
from time to time, and at all times thereafter, during the term of years therein
expressed, should and fully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within
England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick upon Tweed, and also in all
Her Majesty's Colonies and Plantations abroad, my Invention of "Ar
IMPROVED BOILER OR APPARATUS FOR GENERATING STEAM;" in such manner as to
me, my executors, administrators, and assigns should seem meet, and that I,
the said William Joseph Curtis, my executors, administrators, and assigns
should, and lawfully might have and enjoy the whole profit, benefit, commo-
dity, and advantage from time to time coming, growing, accruing, and arising
by reason of my said Invention, for and during the term of years therein-after
mentioned, to hold, exercise, and enjoy, the said licence, powers, privileges

page_text: and advantages therein-before granted unto me the said William Joseph Curtis,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, for the term of fourteen years from
the date of the said Letters Patent immediately ensuing, and in which
Letters Patent is contained a proviso obliging me, the said William Joseph
Curtis, particularly to describe and ascertain the nature of my said Invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed, by an instrument in
writing under my hand and seal, to be enrolled in Her Majesty's High Court
of Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately after the date
of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said last-mentioned pro-
viso, I, the said William Joseph Curtis, do hereby declare that the nature
of my said Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed,
is particularly described and ascertained as follows, (that is to say) :-
The first part of my Invention consists in an apparatus (afterwards described)
for causing water in the state of dew, or divided into very minute drops or par-
ticles, to descend slowly through the interior of the boiler or generator, upon
the heated surface of which so much of it as is not converted into steam during
its descent, ultimately falls, by which means a less quantity of heat is abstracted
during any given time from the heated surface than if such surface were
covered with a continuous sheet or film of water, or with a body of water, as in
the common boiler. And by the means I adopt I do not merely raise steam
by wetting the heated surface, but the boiler or generator when at work is filled
with dew or water in a state of minute division, which in its descent becomes
partially converted into steam by the heat of the atmosphere or vapour within
the boiler itself. I find that a temperature of 500° or thereabouts of Fah-
renheit, in the body or substance of the boiler or generator, is that bost adapted
to the purpose of raising steam. Another part of my Invention consists of a
self-acting apparatus (afterwards described) for regulating the supply of water
to the generator or boiler, according to the condition of the heated surfaces and
the consequent force of the steam within the boiler, that is to say, that if the
boiler contains a greater body of steam or of greater clastic force than is
necessary for the wants of the engine or other purpose to which it may be
applied, then by the self-acting apparatus above referred to, the stroke of the
force or supply pump is shortened, so that when the steam is high in the boiler,
the quantity of water injected becomes proportionably less. By this means, if
by any chance, in consequence of the boiler becoming heated to redness or to
any other degree which would be highly dangerous in other boilers, or from
any other cause, steam of a violently elastic force be produced, its effect is
through the medium of the above regulating apparatus, to shorten or totally

page_text: shut off the supply of water, until the surface becoming cooler or producing
steam of less elastic force, the pump is again allowed to act. Such a case,
however, can never happen, excepting after the engine has been standing still
for some time, and when by neglect or design, the usual precautions and
attention bestowed upon other boilers have not been observed, as the damper
regulator, which is somewhat similar in effect to those in present use, will
always prevent the fire being in advance of, or more powerful to heat the
surfaces than the water to cool them. In applying this Invention it will be
generally found desirable to keep that part of the surface of the boiler exposed
to the immediate and corrosive action of the fire, covered with water, by which
means it will be prevented from burning. And another part of my Invention
consists in a self-acting apparatus adapted to attain this object. By this appa-
ratus (which is herein-after described) the water is prevented from accumulating
in the boiler beyond the quantity found best in practice, and which in the boiler
I generally use, is from three to six inches in depth over the fire. This
apparatus, at the same time that it prevents the water rising in the boiler
beyond a certain limit, acts upon the force pump in a way which will be
presently described, so as to reduce the quantity of water injected if necessary.
In applying my Invention I employ metal flues, by which means the fire is not
only kept longer upon the surface, but the flues become carriers or depositories
of heat, and by radiation, impart a certain portion of the effect of the fire upon
them to the boiler, and thus economize fuel, besides adding to the strength of
the boiler itself. Another part of my Invention consists in forming ridges in
the interior of the boiler, by which the descent of the water over the surfaces
is retarded, but which, although a great improvement to the action of the boiler,
is not absolutely essential to it. The external figure or shape which I have
generally adopted as the best in practice will be seen by the accompany
Figures, but any convenient form may be employed, and the fire may be either
external, as shown in Figure 1, or internal, as shewn in Figure 4. I now
proceed to describe more particularly the above Invention and apparatus by
reference to the Drawings annexed. Figure 1 exhibits a cross section of the
boiler, pump, and water valve, with a representation of the water regulating
apparatus; Figure 2, a front view of the same; and Figure 8, a plan of the
upper part of the boiler and water regulating apparatus. The same letters
and figures refer to the corresponding parts of the entire apparatus in each of
the Figures 1, 2, and 3, and the following description applies equally to all the
three, so far as the parts described are exhibited in each. A, is a boiler, made
of cast iron, or other metal, around which is cast the spiral flue 18, and having
its interior formed into ridges, or corrugated, which ridges increase in width us

page_text: l
they approach the bottom of the boiler; B, is the fire-place; C, the brickwork in
which the boiler is set; D, the water pipe, by which the water in the boiler
boiler flows off so soon as it has risen to a level with the mouth of the pipe;
the water then descends through the pipe e', e, to the water valve box f, and
would pass out into the cistern F if not kept back by the valve g; the valve g
is loaded with the weight i, and lever h, so that it resists the pressure of the steam
in the same way as the safety valve 10; but when the water accumulates in the
descending pipe e, so that there shall be an altitude of water above the surface of
the valve of from four feet to six feet, the valve will be unable to sustain this addi-
tional pressure of from two to three pounds per square inch upon its area, and it
will lift and let out the water until the descending column balances the weight upon
the valve; the cock f' is for the purpose of blowing out any sediment which may
have accumulated in the valve box; this is done by depressing the rod 9, 9,
attached to the level g', which is fixed on the plug of the cock. Another mode
of self-regulation is explained in reference to marine or other engines in Figure
4, when there would be an objection to the length of the pipe e. A glass tube
is employed at e', by which the state of the water may always be observed, and
the usual brass mounting is attached for the purpose of cleaning either the
lying or vertical pipes; is the force or supply pump; the suction pipe k,
draws its supply from the cistern F, so that the hot water escaping from the
boiler is used over again and no heat lost. is the injection pipe of the
pump connected with the nozzle m, at about its length from the bottom; the
nozzle is perforated with a circle of small holes, drilled so as to discharge the
water in a direction slanting upwards or in such a direction that it may be
reflected upwards from the sides of the boiler or generator, (any number of holes
in any figuro which experience may suggest may be adopted); the best plan I
find is to make them about of an inch apart, and about the hundredth
part of an inch in diameter, and drilled in such way that they may be largest
outside; by this means they will be less likely to be clogged up; the ends of the
nozzle are loose, the upper end screws into its place, and the lower end is made
a good joint, and ground in, so that when the bolt which passes through it and
the upper end is screwed with a nut and spanner from the top, the nozzle
becomes perfectly closed, and no water cau escape excepting through the small
perforations in the sides; it is necessary to form the ends loose, or to provide
somo other adequate means to di-charge the sediment which may from time to
time collect in the nozzle; this adjustment is easily made by merely taking out
the plungers and the perforated plate s', when a spanner can be introduced into
the boiler, and the nut or upper end unscrewed as may be required. Some-
times the nozzle is formed in a circle, with jets, like a gas burner, but the above

page_text: described method I have found to be the best. The action of the injected water
is clearly seen by the dotted and prolonged descending lines; the water impinges
violently against the sides of the vessel, and is then thrown off at an equal
angle in an opposite direction, after which it descends in a vertical shower, as
shown. It is not necessary that this mode should be always observed, any
mode is good which minutely divides the water and then allows it to descend
slowly upon the heated surfaces, but it is essential to my Invention that tho
water should be first discharged upwards, either in an inclined direction or per-
pendicularly, or that it should be discharged in such a direction that it may be
reflected upwards or slanting upwards from the sides of the boiler. The
plunger of the pipe is connected by the link with the lever o, this lever is
worked by the camp fixed on the shaft r, which shaft is driven by any of the
usual and suitable modes from the engine; or any other equivalent modo of
lifting the lever may be adopted; to the end opposite to that on which the cam
acts, is suspended the weight q, so that the cam lifts the plunger and the weight
gives the stroke, producing a sudden and violent rush of the water through the
holes of the nozzle m, which very materially affects that minute division of the
water which is necessary to the perfect action of the boiler; s is a plunger or piston,
working through a stuffing box upon the top of the boiler connected by the
link t, with the lever u; this lever works upon the center v. To the end next
the chimney is attached the rod of the damper d, d, and to the other end the
weight v and the rod w; thus when the steam rises, it acts upon the plunger or
piston s, this raises the end of the lever n, upon which the weight vis suspended
and the rod w attached, and depresses the other end to which the damper is
attached, thus damping the fire as in the usual way; the lever u in the
act of rising by the increasing elasticity or volume of the steam, lifts the rod w,
and likewise the end of the crank or lever a, to which the other end of the rod
w is attached; this crank or lever is fixed upon one end of the cross shaft y,
and to the other end of the shaft, and at right angles with the crank a, is fixed
another and shorter crank z; thus when the crank a is raised vertically by
the action of the steam plunger 8, it causes the shorter crank z to move
horizontally forwards; this horizontal movement is continued through the
medium of the rod or bar z', connected with the short crank s at one end,
and the other end with the wedge 2, thus pushing the wider part of the wedge
under the pump lever, and by this means shortening the stroke or descent of
the pump plunger; this movement may be also effected by a rack and pinion,
or by a screw and pinion, or by other means. I do not claim the plunger or
piston as new to regulate the damper, an analagous contrivance having already
That of my Invention which have before referred to as a

page_text: self-acting apparatus for preventing an undue accumulation of water in the
bottom of the boiler, is as follows:-To the extreme end of the lever h of tho
water valve is fixed a slight bar, wire, or chain 8, the other end of the wire or
chain is connected to the short horizontal crank 7, fixed upon the short cross
shaft 3; to the longer arm 5 of the horizontal crank, is suspended the weight 6,
which weight, when the wire or chain is slackened, descends, and descending
produces motion in the shaft 3 to which the crank is fixed, and also in the
short crank 4, fixed upon the other end of the cross shaft 3; thus as the weight
descends, the crank 4, by means of the rod 4' connected with it and the wedge
1, draws the wedge | forwards, & by the wider part being thus drawn or
introduced under the lever o of the pump, the stroke of the pump is shortened
and the supply of water consequently diminished. I do not confine myself to
the particular modification of machinery here described for effecting this object,
but any other adapted to the purpose may be used. Thus, for instance, another
mode of regulating the action of the pump is by forming the descending tube e
about 8 or 10 inches internal diameter and placing therein a float, which shall
rise and fall with the water in the tube, in the same way as the float in the
feed head of a common boiler regulates the damper. Then a wire passing
through a stuffing box in the upper part of the pipe e, and communicating with
the crank 7 in the same way as the wire 8, the same movement will take place in
the wedge 1, as has been before described. In the case of a locomotive, where
the pump plunger is connected with the cross head of the piston rod and works
very fast, the method to be adopted to reduce the stroke of the pump will be
to make the barrel of the pump moveable, then by means of a screw fixed to
the end, and causing the nut in which the screw works to be acted upon by
either the steam plunger or the lever of the water valve, and thus making the
barrel of the pump advance towards or recede from the plunger, the same
regulating process will be easily applicable; it will be merely necessary
that the suction and injection pipes should work in stuffing boxes, or by
making them elastic, to allow for the variation. A Drawing, shewing a
mode of applying the principle to locomotive engines, is shewn in Figures 9 and
10, and will be afterwards described; 9 is the pipe and cock supplying the
water cistern with water; 9' is the ball cock which keeps the water to its level;
10 is the safety valve; 11 is the steam pipe; 12 the caseing in which the
steam plunger works, the lower part is covered with a plate perforated with
holes, so that the steam plunger may work more steadily, and not be
acted upon so suddenly by the steam, as the steam before acting upon the
plunger will pass through the holes of the plate, and thus a certain regularity of
action will be preserved which could not be insured without it. Figure 4 is a

page_text: vertical section of a boiler adapted for marine purposes, in which A is the boiler, B
the fire-place surrounded with water, the level of which is regulated by the mouth
of the pipe E; this pipe descends and is connected with the suction pipe of the
pump f; this pump is the same as a common pump, and may be either a
bucket pump or force pump, as shewn; the exit valve or clack g is loaded by
the weight i and lever h, like a safety valve, with the same object as the water
valve described in Figure 1, videlicet, that it may counteract the pressure of
the steam in the boiler; but when the pump is full of water, the action of the
plunger will force out of the pump as much water as it displaces in its descent,
and draw into the pump from the pipe e a corresponding quantity of water,
thus emptying the pipe and preventing the water rising above its proper level
in the boiler. In some cases the feed may be diminished in such manner that
the column of water in the pipe and that in the pump may be forced past
the valve g, and the pump filled with steam; in such case, not to lose steam,
the engineer may throw the pump out of gear with the engine by any of the
usual methods ordinarily employed for that purpose, until he perceives by the
inspection tube, placed in any convenient part of the pipe e, that the water has
risen and requires to be reduced; he then throws the pump into gear, and the
operation is renewed. The small guage cock c is placed in the highest part of
the working barrel of the pump, to blow off the air which may accumulate in
the barrel, and also as a test to the engineer besides the inspection tube, that
the
pump is not working steam; is the feed pipe connected with the force
or feed pump; k is the injection pipe connected with the nozzles m, m, which
are in this instance represented as tubes perforated in their upper surface and
shooting the water upwards, which descends upon the inclined heated surfaces
of the boiler, as explained in Figure 1; the surfaces are here represented plain,
but they may have corrugated or projecting ridges cast upon them, if made of
cast metal, and suitably fixed upon them if of wrought iron or other metal.
18 is the spiral or metal flue placed in the chimney, so as to keep the fire as
long as possible upon the heated surfaces; is the plunger; and y the con-
necting link by which it is worked, which may be connected in any suitable
and usual way with the engine. Figure 5 a front view of Figure 4, shewing
another arrangement by which the boiler or generator may be shortened, as
represented in the Figure, the bottom coinciding with the letter 1, resting upon
another boiler or water case W, filled with sea water, distinguished by the green
tint. The object of this arrangement is to supply a quantity of distilled water, as
the original quantity in the generator may be, from leakage and other losses,
diminished; thus the salt water will be distilled in the lower vessel, and the

page_text: steam as it arises may be either conducted to the steain chest or condensor.
I avail myself of the condensing apparatus at present in use, whether by licence
of the Patentees of such apparatus or as being the property of the public.
The level of the water in the salt water vessel W must be always kept at least
as high as shown by the green tint, or the iron may burn, and this supply may
be kept up by any of the usual means, and the state of the water ascertained
by inspection tubes and guage cocks, as in common boilers; the level of the
water in the generator is maintained by the pipe e, as explained in Figure 4.
Figure 6 is a modification by which water in the state of dew or of minute
division only, can possibly come in contact with the heated surfaces; at the
upper part of the boiler an enlargement takes place, which forms a recess, and
the lower part of the recess n sloping towards the upper waste pipe D', any
water which may be injected, that is, not thrown off from the sides in the shape
of spray or dew, passes down the pipe e to the water valve; the water in the
bottom is kept to its level by the pipe D, as before explained. In some cases
the boiler may be prolonged until the sides come to a point, as shewn by the
dotted lines, in which case the lower waste pipe D may be dispensed with;
but in that case it will be prudent to place lead or other casily fusible metal
in the bottom, to the depth of perhaps two inches, so that that part being
hottest, in the event of the boiler being neglected, it may prevent the boiler, if
made of cast iron, from cracking, by the lead melting and first receiving the
impact of the water; the nozzle m is represented as passing through the centre
of the dome, so that the screw, &c. for cleansing it are outside; this is an arrange-
ment which will generally be found very useful; k is the injection pipe; the
direction of the shower is shewn by the prolonged lines, as in the former
explained figures. Figure 7, a modification in which tubes are employed;
these tubes are vertical and largest at the bottom; at about six inches from
the bottom, a plate is fixed, and a good joint made all round, and also
around the tubes; this is done, as shewn in Figure 8, by casting or forming
recesses in the plate a little larger than the tubes; these recesses are then run
with lead and chimed, so that a perfect joint is made; it may be also made
with iron cement in the usual way; the injection pipe & enters below, so that
the plate forms the nozzle, and water always covers the bottom as in the former
figures, and protects the tubes from the injurious action of the fire; the waste
pipe D is placed above the plate, and the water which is not evaporated passes
through grooves or channels in the plate and boiler, and then through the pipe
to the water valve, as in the former instances. In every case the boiler is
supplied with a hand pump, which is joined to the injection pipe at any cou-
venient part; the connecting pipe is furnished with a stop-cock, so that the

page_text: communication may be shut off when required. Thus, to start the boiler or
engine, the engineer gives a stroke or two with the hand pump or the engine
pump; steam is thus generated, and the engine is thus started in the usual way,
when the operation is continued, as has been described; in some cases where
extreme caution against accidents may be required, a valve or slide may be
connected with the lever of the steam plungers, Figures 1, 2, and 3, which,
as the steam rises, may be shut off or close the orifice of the hand pump or
cause it to draw air; but this is a case so very remote, that I only adopt it in
cases where mischief may be apprehended more from wilfulness than ignorance.
Figures 9 and 10: -In the case of a locomotive where the plunger of the
pump is fixed to the cross-head and works with great velocity, the regulation
of the pump is effected by the following or other like means; the pump barrel a
is not fixed, but made to work between the guides b, b, b, b, so that when the
wedges h, i, are withdrawn, the barrel is drawn back by the action of the
spring s, and when the wedges are pushed further in, the spring is compressed
and the barrel pushed further along the plunger; thus the two wedges act the
same part as has been described in Figures 1, 2, and 3; the suction pipe g
and injection pipe ƒ are made to work in stuffing boxes, and the valves placed
in the pipes beyond them, thus allowing for the variation caused by the action
of the regulating apparatus. The same object may be accomplished by a lever
or a screw and rack, as has been before observed, or each pump may be acted
upon separately, one by the water regulator and the other by the steam regu-
lator, and the injection pipes united so that they may each communicate with
the same nozzle. D is the piston rod; e is the cross-head of the plunger;
c the plunger; ki, k, the wires communicating with the cranks, as described in
Figures 1, 2, and 3.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Joseph Curtis, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twentieth day of March, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and thirty-eight.
WILLIAM JOSEPH (L.s.) CURTIS.
Signed, sealed and delivered (being first
duly stamped) in the presence of
THO W HECTOR,

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Twentieth day of March, in
the first year of the reign of Her Majesty Queen Victoria, the said William
Joseph Curtis came before our said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and
acknowledged the instrument aforesaid, and all and everything therein con-
tained and specified, in form above written. And also the instrument afore-
said was stamped according to the tenor of the Statute made in the fifty-fifth
year of the reign of His late Majesty King George the Third.
Inrolled the Twentieth day of March, One thousand eight hundred and
thirty-eight