IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR FEEDING STEAM: BOILERS
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Vincent Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughts-
man, for the Invention of "IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR FEEDING STEAM:
BOILERS. A communication from abroad by Joseph Napoleon Bonaparte
Bond and William Ritchie, both of New York City, in the United
States of America.
Sealed the 8th May 1866, and dated the 5th January 1866.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Vincent Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
5th January 1866.
I, ALFRED VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR FEEDING STEAM
BOILERS," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to the employment of a pipe which, through its
expansion under the influence of heat, will open a communication between the
water and steam space of the boiler to be supplied with water and the top and
bottom of a water supply tank situated above the boiler. The expansion pipe

page_text: is placed in guides and set between two rigid bearings on a level with the
mean water line of the boiler, and it is indented, near its ends, to allow of its
buckling or taking a bowed shape when beated. Connected with this pipe at
or near its middle is a rock lever which is linked at one end to the handle of
a cock set in a pipe which leads from the steam space of the boiler to the top
of the supply tank, and its other end is connected with a balance weight.
This rock lever is also connected with the handle of a cock set in a small
blow-off pipe, and which is also fitted with a whistle. The opposite ends of
the expansion pipe are coupled together through its bearings with a pipe
which has a branch leading to the bottom of the boiler, and a steam pipe
leading from the steam space of the boiler connects with one of the fixed
bearings, but it is sealed when a proper supply of water is in the boiler. A
water pipe leads directly from the bottom of the supply tank to the bottom of
the boiler. If now the water line in the boiler is unduly depressed steam will
enter the steam pipe and cause the expansion pipe to buckle, and thereby
rock the lever to which it is connected. The two cocks above mentioned will
then be simultaneously opened, and an alarm will be sounded by the whistle,
and steam will be discharged into the tank, whereby water will be forced
therefrom down the water pipe into the boiler until the steam pipe is again
sealed. The expansion pipe will then cool down and the cocks will be closed
as before.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Alfred Vincent Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 5th July 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALFRED
VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, send greeting..
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date. the Fifth day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the twenty-ninth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors; give and grant unto me,
the said Alfred Vincent Newton, Her special licence that I, the said Alfred
Vincent Newton, my, executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as 1, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, 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
.

page_text: might make; use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an In-
vention for "IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR FEEDING STEAM BOILERS," being a
communication from abroad, upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said Alfred Vincent Newton, 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 Alfred Vincent Newton, 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, reference being bad to the Drawing hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
This Invention relates to the employment of a pipe made of brass or some
other material capable of expanding under the influence of beat, which pipe
will, through its expansion, open a communication between the water and
steam space of the boiler to be supplied with water and the top and bottom of
a water supply tank situated above the boiler, and thus effect the discharge of
water from the tank into the boiler when the water in the boiler has suuk
below the mean water line. The expansible pipe is exposed to the direct
action of the steam, and thereby caused to buckle up or to lengthen, and by
this motion a cock is opened and steam admitted to the upper part of the
tank, causing the water contained therein to sink down into the boiler, and
when the water rises above the mean water line the expansible pipe cools off
and recedes to its original position, and the further supply of water to the
boiler is stopped.
This Invention is represented in the accompanying Drawing, which shows
the apparatus in front elevation.
A represents a steam boiler of any desired construction; this boiler is
provided with try cocks a, b, c, the middle one of which corresponds to the
mean water line of the boiler. On a level with this middle cock and secured
between rigid bearings d is the pipe B, made of brass or other suitable
material, which undergoes some expansion by the influence of heat. This
pipe communicates by a tube e with the water space and by a tube f with the
steam space of the boiler, and if the water in the boiler rises above the second
cock the pipe B is filled with water, but if the water sinks below the second
cock steam passes through the pipe B and beats the same, so that it buckles

page_text: up, auil by this motion of the pipe the supply of water to the boiler is regu-
lated. In order to enable the pipe B to buckle up freely it is provided with
two depressions near its ends, and it is held in position by suitable guide
brackets g*. A sleeve 9 secured to the pipe, B at about the middle of its
length connects by a link h with a lever C which has its fulcrum on a pivot i,
and one end of which connects by a rod j'with a stop-cock k, which opens or
closes the communication between the upper part of the tank E and the steam
space of the boiler. The opposite end of the lever C is exposed to the action
of a weight D (or instead of the weight a spring might be applied), which has
a tendency to hold the lever in the position shewn in the Drawing and to close
the stop-cock k. The lever C is also connected to a stop-cock h* secured in a
pipe, which communicates with the steam space of the boiler and admits
steam to the whistle whenever the stop-cock h* is opened. When the lever
is in the position shewn in the Drawing the stop-cock is closed. The
tank E is made of boiler iron or other suitable material strong enough to
resist the pressure of the steam in the steam boiler, and from its upper part
extends a pipe to the steam space, and from its lower part a pipe m to the
water space of the boiler. The pipe is provided with a stop-cock k as above
stated, and the pipe m is furnished with a check valve n which prevents the
water passing from the boiler back to the tank. The tank is supplied with
water from a suitable reservoir by a pipe o, which is furnished with a check
valve p to prevent steam from the tank rushing out when the cock k is open.
The operation is as follows:-When the water in the boiler sinks below
the mean water line the pipe B buckles up and the cocks 'k and h* open, the
whistle is thereby sounded and the attention of the engineer is called to the
fact that the water is low, at the same time the water contained in the tank E
flows down into the boiler. As soon as the water in the boiler rises above
the mean water line the pipe B recedes to its original position, the cocks k
and close, and the steam in the tank E condenses. A fresh supply of
water rushes into the tank, and the same action is repeated whenever the
level of the water in the boiler sinks below the mean water line while steani
is up. The boiler is therefore rendered self-supplying, and, all danger of an
'explosion from want of water in the boiler is avoided.
It must he remarked that the pipe B might be so arranged in relation to
the stop-cock k as to open it by the lineal expansion of the pipe.
Having now set forth the nature of the Invention of "Improved Apparatus
for Feeding Steam Boilers," and explained the manner of carrying the same
into effect, I wish it to be understood that under the above in part recited
Letters Patent 1 claim the expansible pipe B, arrauged in combination with

page_text: the tank E and boiler A, substantially in the manner and for the purpose
set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Fifth day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
A. V. NEWTON. (L.S.)