Improvements in Appliances for Regulating the Feed Water Supply to Boilers.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 28th July, 1894
Complete Specification Left. 3rd Apr., 1895-Accepted, 4th May, 1895
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Appliances for Regulating the Feed Water Supply
to Boilers.
We, JOHN EDWARD LEWIS OGDEN, of Marine Cottage, Goole, in the County
of York, Engineer, HENRY BURNETT WATSON, and JOHN STANLEY WATSON,
of High Bridge Works, Newcastle-on-Tyne, in the County of Northumberland,
Engineers, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention has reference to the manner in which we construct and arrange
regulators for automatically controlling the feed water supply for steain boilers, the
object of the invention being to construct a regulator which shall be positive in its
action and which shall work absolutely by direct communication with the water in
the boiler so that as the water level falls below its normal level the feed water shall
be supplied to make up the deficiency.
In carrying our invention into effect in one convenient manner we make a vessel
of any suitable form to act as a reservoir and we make a connection to this
reservoir directly to the boiler so that the water level in the boiler will cause a
corresponding level of the water in the reservoir. We make also a steam
connection to our reservoir so that we have as it were a flow and return arrangement
of pipes with steam passing directly from the boiler to the reservoir, and by the
condensation thus arising the water which accumulates in the reservoir finds its way
through the pipe connection to the water in the boiler. Within our reservoir we
mount a float constructed of earthenware or any other suitable material so that the
float shall rise and fall with the movement of the water -and by its falling shall
permit a valve to open so as to cause the feed water to flow along an independent
passage and connection to the boiler. We place between our regulator vessel or
reservoir and the boiler shell front an ordinary stop or other valve when so desired,
to prevent any escape of the water from the boiler to the feed pump or the delivery pipe
when it is required to place the apparatus under examination. To the float in our
reservoir we attach a spindle which we carry beneath it through the bottom casing
of the reservoir into a branch chamber in which we mount a piston valve and a
pilot valve, the pilot valve being formed upon or attached to the spindle passing
from the float. The shut off valve or main valve for preventing the feed water
passing along the supply passage formed within our apparatus we make preferable as
a piston valve which is kept upon its seat by the pressure of the water from the feed
pump acting upon its under surface while the pressure of the boiler water is acting
upon the upper surface. We cause this piston valve to work freely in a chamber
and we place preferably a loose sliding cap upon the end of the pilot valve spindle
so as to make the pilot valve an absolute equilibrium valve at all boiler pressures
and totally independent of the fluctuating pump pressure; accomplishing this in
the simplest manner by forming a hole through the entire length of the spindle.
When the float within the water chamber falls, it carries with it the pilot valve
and thus takes it from its seat upon the piston valve thereby allowing the feed
supply pressure upon the outer surface of the piston valve to force this valve
down from its seat to an extent proportional to the fall of the float and so
causing a through connection to be made from the main feed pump supply to
the delivery passage upon our apparatus which leads direct to the boiler.
In order to vary the extent of the rise and fall of the Heat within our reservoir
we partially carry the dead weight of the flout by means of a spring held in

page_text: tension from an adjustable attachment in the cover of the reservoir; by this
arrangement we are enabled to adjust the movement of the float to maintain any
degree of variation of the water level required in the boiler.
We sometimes make our apparatus with our float in the form of a hollow vessel
into which the water can pass directly from the boiler supply, the water level
within the float being at the same level as that within the boiler and varying with
it, while the float itself is immersed within the water carried by the reservoir which is
maintained at a practically constant level, the float itself rising and falling by the
variation of the weight within it due to the variation of the water level within the
boiler; thus we make a float with an automatically varying weight within it,
the varying weight being produced by the varying level of the water within the
interior of it, corresponding to the varying level of the water within the boiler.
To effect this object we construct our float of any suitable metal or material of a
hollow form, and we place a tube through it which tube forms the spindle making
the valve connection at its lower extremity, the valve surface being produced by
the end of the projecting tube being suitably shaped to make metallic contact with
a piston form of valve which we mount beneath it within our feed and delivery
chamber formed upon or connected to the same reservoir body. We make the
connection from the tube passing through the hollow float into the interior of the
float by means of holes or ports at its upper and lower ends, the lower permitting
the water to enter within the float and the upper permitting the steam to enter and
press upon the surface of the water contained therein. We make the tubular
spindle carrying the float with flanges of any suitable shape for attaching to it in
a manner to make a water-tight joint, and we form projecting guides or ribs upon the
upper surface of the top flange for entering into the boss opening of the cap of
the reservoir to permit of a steady floating movement. The steam from the boiler
we take to the cap or cover of the reservoir by means of any ordinary pipe
connection and we allow a constant passage to be maintained. Thus the steam
condenses when coming in contact with the surface of the reservoir water and when
coming in contact with the water within the tubular spindle of the float, and the
condensed water passes through the projecting tail end of the spindle into the
boiler again by the means of an independent supply connection provided at the lower
end of our apparatus.
We form a pilot valve which we balance by constructing it as a tube and we
cause this valve to act upon a piston valve. We construct our piston valve in a
peculiar manner with its pilot valve seat provided within the hollow central portion
of the valve.
The piston valve we form with its hollow piston working within the piston
chamber provided upon the base or end surface of the reservoir, and we make the
mitre portion of this piston valve to shut off the pressure from the feed pump to the
boiler by causing the pressure from the feed pump to pass up the piston chamber
and to get within the hollow piston, and thus press the valve on to its seat; when,
however, the float within the reservoir rises, due to an alteration of the water level
within it and its consequent reduction in weight, the pressure upon the mitre is
reduced seeing that the pilot valve is lifted from its seat and the water from the
feed pump then acts directly upon the under surface of the piston valve and then
by raising the mitre from its seat permits the feed water to pass directly into the
boiler; the extent of the rise of the mitre valve being proportional to the extent
of the rise of the float.
:
We alter the buoyancy of the float by means of a spring with an adjustable
screw, the screw being fixed in the cap or boss cover of the water chamber, one end
of the spring being attached to the float spindle and the other to the adjustable
screw similarly to the manner herein before described when employing a solid float.
We do not limit the application of our invention to any particular type of boiler
although we find it particularly useful for attachment to boilers of high pressure
when a rapid and sudden rise and fall of the water level occurs.
We modify the shape and configuration of our water vessel and the form of the

page_text: float and valves employed, to suit any particular requirement maintaining the same
essential features of a rising and falling float controlled by the variation of the
water level in the boiler with a pilot or introductory valve serving as a relief valve
to permit of another main shut off valve being automatically opened by the
difference in the water pressure of the boiler and that of the feed pump supply.
Dated this 25th day of July 1894.
MARKS & CLERK,
18, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents.
Improvements in Appliances for Regulating the Feed Water Supply
to Boilers.
We, JOHN EDWARD LEWIS OGDEN, of Marine Cottage, Goole, in the County
of York, Engineer, and HENRY BURNETT WATSON, and JOHN STANLEY
WATSON, both of High Bridge Works, Newcastle-on-Tyne, in the County of
Northumberland, Engineers, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in
what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement :-
This invention has reference to the manner in which we construct and arrange
regulators for automatically controlling the feed water supply for steam boilers,
the object of the invention being to construct a regulator which shall be positive
in its action and which shall work absolutely by direct communication with the
water in the boiler so that as the water level falls below its normal level the feed
water shall be supplied to make up the deficiency.
In the accompanying sheet of explanatory drawing-
Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of one form of our improved feed regulator, and
Figure 2 is a sectional elevation of another form which we employ, showing a
hand trip lever attached for operating the valve.
In carrying our invention into effect in one convenient manner as shown in
Figure 1, we make a vessel of any suitable form to act as a reservoir A, and we
make a connection a to this reservoir directly to the boiler so that the water level in
the boiler will cause a corresponding level w of water in the reservoir.
We make
also a steam connection a to our reservoir so that we have as it were a flow and
return arrangement of pipes with steam passing directly from the boiler to the
reservoir, and by the condensation thus arising the water which accumulates in the
reservoir finds its way through the pipe connection to the water in the boiler.
Within our reservoir A we mount a hollow or solid float B constructed of
earthenware or any other suitable material so that the float shall rise and fall
with the movement of the water and by its falling shall permit a valve C to open.
Bo as to cause the feed water to flow along an independent passage D and
connection to the boiler. We place between our regulator vessel or reservoir and
the boiler shell front an ordinary stop or other valve when so desired, to prevent
any escape of the water from the boiler to the feed pump or the delivery pipe E
when it is required to place the apparatus under examination. To the float of our
reservoir we attach a spindle F which we carry beneath it through the bottom
casing A of the reservoir into a branch chamber A³, in which we mount a piston
valve G. and a pilot valve C, the pilot valve C being formed upon or attached to a
spindle F passing from the float. The shut off valve Gor main valve for preventing the
feed water passing along the supply passage D formed within our apparatus we make
preferably as a piston valve which is kept upon its seat by the pressure of the
water from the feed pump through the passage E acting upon its under surface while
the pressure of the boiler water is acting upon the upper surface. We cause the
piston valve to work freely in a chamber H and we place preferably a loose

page_text: sliding cap J upon the end of the pilot valve spindle F so as to make the pilot
valve an absolute equilibrium valve at all boiler pressures; and totally independent of
the fluctuating pump pressure; accomplishing this in the simplest manner by
forming a hole through the entire length of the spindle F.
When the float B within the water chamber A falls, it carries with it the pilot
valve C and thus takes it from its seat upon the piston valve G thereby allowing
the feed supply pressure upon the outer surface of the piston valve to force this
valve down from its seat to an extent proportional to the fall of the float, and
so causing a through connection to be made from the main feed pump supply E to
the delivery passage D upon our apparatus which leads direct to the boiler.
In order to vary the extent of the rise and fall of the float within our reservoir
we partially carry the dead weight of the float by means of a spring K held in
tension from an adjustable attachment L M in the cover of the reservoir; by this
arrangement we are enabled to adjust the movement of the float to maintain any
degree of variation of the water level w required in the boiler.
We sometimes make our float as a hollow vessel shown in Figures 1 & 2 allowing
the water from the boiler or reservoir to enter into it to give the necessary
weight.
We form a pilot valve C which we balance by constructing it as a tube and we
cause this valve to act upon a piston valve G. We construct our piston valve G
in a peculiar manner with its pilot valve seat provided within the hollow central
portion of the valve.
The piston valve G we form with its hollow piston working within the piston
chamber provided upon the base or end surface of the reservoir, or formed as a
separate box chamber as shown in Figure 2, and we make the mitre portion of
the piston valve to shut off the pressure from the feed pump to the boiler by
causing the pressure from the feed pump to pass up the piston chamber and to get
within the hollow piston, and thus to press the valve on to its seat; when however
the float B within the boiler falls the pressure upon the mitre is reduced seeing that
the pilot valve is lifted from its seat and the water then acts directly upon the
under surface of the piston valve and then by raising the mitre from its seat permits.
the feed water to pass directly into the boiler. The extent of the rise of the
mitre valve being proportional to the extent of the fall of the float.
In Figure 2 we show our regulator arranged with the float and reservoir placed
within the boiler and having a lever N connecting the float spindle with the end of
the pilot valve spindle F. We also provide a trip or test hand lever with a
lifting rod Q for raising the pilot valve by hand when so desired.
We do not limit the application of our invention to any particular type of
boiler, although we find it particularly useful for attachment to boilers of high
pressure when a rapid and sudden rise and fall of the water level occurs. We modify
the shape and configuration of our water vessel and the form of the float and valves
employed to suit any particular requirement maintaining the same essential features
of a rising and falling float controlled by the variation of the water level in the
boiler with a pilot or introductory valve serving as a relief valve to permit of
another main shut off valve being automatically opened by the difference in the
water pressure of the boiler and that of the feed pump supply.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is :-
1. The construction and arrangement of a feed water regulator having a
pilot valve and a main supply valve controlled by means of a float substantially
as and for the purposes hereinbefore described and as illustrated in the accompanying
drawings.
2. The improvements in feed water regulators acting substantially as and for
the purposes hereinbefore described and as illustrated in the accompanying
drawings.

page_text: 3. In a feed water regulator the arrangement of an automatically operated pilot
valve to open and relieve the main valve substantially as hereinbefore described
and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
Dated this 28th day of March 1895.
MARKS & CLERK,
18, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., and
13, Temple Street, Birmingham, Agents for Applicants.