IMPROVE- MENTS IN STEAM BOILERS, AND IN TOOLS TO BE USED IN CLEANING AND REPAIRING THE SAME.
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Stephen Alley, of Glasgow, in the County of
Lanark, North Britain, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN STEAM BOILERS, AND IN TOOLS TO BE USED IN CLEANING AND
REPAIRING THE SAME.
"
Sealed the 16th March 1875, and dated the 21st September 1874.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Stephen Alley at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
21st September 1874.
I, STEPHEN ALLEY, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North
Britain, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM BOILERS, AND IN TOOLS TO BE USED IN CLEANING
AND REPAIRING THE SAME," to be as follows, that is to say :-
This Invention comprises improvements in steam of boilers of a kind
described in the Specification of Letters Patent granted to the present
applicant, and dated 5th July 1872 (No. 2032), and also improvements
in tools to be used in cleaning and repairing such boilers.

page_text: A vertical boiler of the kind referred to is made with an annular
cylindrical furnace or flame space surrounded by an annular water space,
and having a central cylindrical or tapered water space or large tube,
and the annular flame space is crossed by radially disposed water tubes
of a conical form with their larger ends outwards. By the present In-
vention a tubular shell or a combination of two or more tubular shells is
placed within the central water space so as to insure that the circulation
of the water shall take place through the radial tubes in an outward
direction. This shell or combination of shells is made easily movable to
give access to the inner ends of the radial tubes.
In a modification embodying some of the present improvements the
radial tubes are not extended through to the outermost shell, as described
in the earlier Specification herein-before referred to, but comparatively
small holes are made in the outermost shell, one opposite to each radial
tube, to admit of the interiors of the tubes being inspected, and for the
introduction of cleaning or other tools, these holes being closed by screw
plugs when the boiler is in action.
When a radial tube requires tightening an expander is let down in the
outer water space and a spindle is entered through the corresponding
sight hole, and being connected to the expander is used as the means of
entering and working the latter. In a similar way scrapers for cleaning
the radial tubes may be let down in the outer water space, and be worked
by spindles entered through the sight holes.
The kind of scraper proposed to be used consists of two or more
blades hinged so as to be expanded by a screw entered through a tubular
spindle or by simply thrusting the spindle inwards.
When a radial tube requires renewal it is cut out by a tool worked by
a spindle entered through a sight hole, the tool head being fitted with
two or more cutters, which can be forced outwards against the inside of
the tube by a wedge or cone moved by a screw passing through the
spindle. When the radial tube is removed the holes for it may be closed
by plugs or plates, or a longer tube extending to the outermost shell may
be inserted in its place. To admit of such longer tube being fixed a tool
is provided for enlarging the sight hole by cutting out a ring of metal,
such tool consisting of a head or boss with cutters mounted in a bearing
and having a ratchet lever or worm and wheel for turning it and a screw

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Stephen Alley in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 19th March 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, STEPHEN
ALLEY, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North Britain, Engineer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of September, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in the thirty-
eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Stephen Alley, Her special licence,
that I, the said Stephen Alley, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Stephen Alley, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no
others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during the term
therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and
vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the
Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
STEAM BOILERS, AND IN TOOLS TO BE USED IN CLEANING AND REPAIRING THE SAME,'
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Stephen Alley,
my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my,
or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe
and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in
the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
"
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Stephen Alley, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement in writing, reference being had to the accompanying
Drawings, that is to say :—
My said Invention comprises improvements in steam boilers of a kind

page_text: described in the Specification of Letters Patent granted to me, and
dated 5th July 1872 (No. 2032), and also improvements in tools to be
used in cleaning and repairing such boilers.
And in order that my said Invention and the manner of performing
the same may be properly understood I hereunto append two Sheets of
explanatory Drawings to be herein-after referred to, and representing a
boiler as made with my present improvements. In these Drawings the
same reference numerals are used to mark the same or like parts wherever
they are repeated.
Figure 1, on Sheet 1 of the Drawings, is a vertical section, and Figure
is a partially sectioned elevation of the improved boiler, and Figures 3
and 4 on Sheet 2 are horizontal sections.
The boiler, which is of the vertical cylindrical class, is made with an
annular cylindrical furnace or flame space 1 over a circular grating 2
and surrounded by an annular water space 3, whilst there is a central
cylindrical water space formed by a large tube 4, which is jointed at its
top to the annular roof 5 of the flame space 1. The fire, gases, or pro-
ducts of combustion pass from the flame space 1 up through a few
comparatively large tubes 6 extending from the roof 5 of the flame
space to a conical smoke box 7 forming the base of a vertical chimney 8.
The flue tubes 6 are at their upper ends fixed in an annular plate 9,
which with a central dome or steam space 10 forms the top of the boiler,
and the connection of which with the lower part of the boiler is
strengthened by stays 11 in addition to the tubes 6.
An important feature of the present arrangement, as well as of that
described in my earlier Specifications, herein-before referred to, and onc
securing an extended and very efficient heating surface, consists in the
annular flame space 1 being crossed by a number of radially disposed
water tubes 12 of a conical or tapered form with their larger ends out-
wards. The smaller ends of these radial tubes 12 are fixed by screwing
into the central tube 4, and their larger ends are fixed by expanding
them in the inner shell of the outer water space 3. The outermost
shell 13 is attached after the radial tubes 12 arc fixed, and comparatively
small holes are made in this outermost shell 13, one opposite each radial
tube 12, to admit of the interiors of the radial tubes being inspected,.
and for the introduction of cleaning or other tools, these holes being
closed by screw plugs 14 when the boiler is in action. In order to

page_text: insure that the circulation of water shall take place in the intended
direction, namely, down the centre tube or space 4, then outwards
through the radial tubes 12, and upwards in the outer water space 3,
there is fitted inside the central space or tube 4 an inverted conical tube
or shell 15 fitting close to the sides of the tube 4 at its upper end so that
the current of water must descend to the lower end before gaining access
to the radial tubes 12; then as the steam and heated water can ascend
quite freely from the outer ends of the radial tubes, but are prevented
doing so from their inner ends by the tube 15 the circulation becomes
immediately established in the desired direction. The central tube 15
also tends to equalise the distribution of the circulating currents through
the radial tubes at different heights, as whilst the water has more direct
access to the lower tubes at their inner ends there is on the other hand
freer egress from the upper tubes at their outer ends.
Instead of there being a single tube or shell 15 a combination of two
or more may be used, the shell or combination of shells being in all
cases made easily movable to give easy access to the inner ends of the
radial tubes 12. If found desirable the direct passage upwards of the
fire gases between the radial tubes may be prevented by placing deflector
plates 16, as shown in Figure 3, over some of the tubes at some parts,
and tubes may be omitted at other parts so as to lead the fire gases in
serpentine directions on their way to the vertical flue tubes 6 above.
The spaces where tubes are omitted also give access for cleaning.
When a radial tube 12 requires tightening, an expander of any suitable
kind is let down in the outer water space 3, and the plug 14 opposite the
tube being removed a spindle is entered from the outside through the
corresponding sight hole, and being connected to the expander is used as
the means of entering and working the latter in the tube. In a similar
way scrapers for cleaning the radial tubes 12 may be let down in the
outer water space 3 and be worked by spindles entered through the
sight holes. The kind of scraper proposed to be used consists of two
or more blades hinged so as to be expanded by a screw or mandril
entered through a tubular spindle or by simply thrusting the spindle
inwards.
When a radial tube 12 requires removal it is cut out by a tool worked
by a spindle entered through a sight hole, the tool being of a kind in
use, with a head fitted with two or more cutters, which can be forced

page_text: outwards against the inside of the tube by a wedge or cone moved by a
screw passing through the spindle. When the radial tube is removed
the holes for it may be closed by plugs or plates, or a longer tube
extending to the outermost shell 13 may be inserted in its place, such
tube being closed at its extreme outer end, and having apertures in its
upper side to communicate with the water space 3. To admit of such
longer tube being fixed a tool is provided for enlarging the sight hole by
cutting out a ring of metal, such tool being shown in plan in Figure 5
and in edge view in Figure 6 on Sheet 2 of the Drawings, and consisting
of a head or boss 17, having a projecting stud 18 to enter the sight hole,
and fitted with cutters 19. This boss 17 is mounted in a bearing in a
curved bar 20, which is fixed on studs 21 screwed into adjacent sight
holes on each side, and the boss 17 is made with a squared outer end 22
to receive a ratchet lever or worm wheel and worm for turning it, whilst
a screw nut 23 on the boss at the inner side of the bar 20 serves for
feeding forward the cutters.
Figures 7 and 8 are an external view and a section of the appliance
for closing a tube hole when a tube is removed and not replaced. A
disc 24 formed with a central stud is applied to the inside of the hole, a
ring of lead or other suitable packing being inserted to make a tight
joint. A second disc 25 is applied externally, having a hole through
which the stud of the other disc projects, and the whole being clamped
together by means of a nut 26 screwed on the projecting end of the
stud.
Having thus particularly described my said Invention and the
manner of performing the same, I have to state that I do not restrict
myself to the precise details herein described or delineated, but that what
I believe to be novel and original, and claim as the Invention secured
to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,-
1. The constructing of a vertical cylindrical boiler with an annular
fire
or flame space
crossed by radial water tubes of a conical or tapered
form, with their smaller ends fixed in the cylindrical shell of the central
water space, and with their outer ends fixed in the inner shell of the
outer water space, as herein-before described.
2. The placing of a tubular shell, or a combination of two or more
tubular shells, within the central water space to direct the circulating
currents, as herein-before described.

page_text: 3. The modifying and adapting of tools for cleaning and repairing
boilers of the kind herein-before described and the modes of repairing
such boilers, all as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Stephen Alley, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Eighteenth day of March, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five.