IMPROVEMENTS IN WATER AND STEAM GUAGES FOR STEAM BOILERS
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Marmaduke Miller and John Kemp, of Mount
Street, Nottingham, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN WATER AND
STEAM GUAGES FOR STEAM BOILERS
Sealed the 8th May 1860, and dated the 13th March 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Marmaduke Miller and
John Kemp at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their
Petition, on the 13th March 1860.
We, MARMADUKE MILLER and JOHN KEMP, of Mount Street,. Nottingham,
do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN WATER
AND STEAM GUAGES FOR STEAM BOILERS," to be as follows:--
This Invention has for its object improvements in water and steam guages
for steam boilers. For these purposes, exterior of a steam boiler is affixed a
small cylinder or vessel, the upper end of which is connected by a suitable
pipe or tube, with the upper part of the steam boiler; the lower part of this
vessel being connected by a suitable tube with the lower part of the boiler
below the water level, so that the water level in the small outer vessel coin-
cides with that in the boiler. At the upper part of this small vessel is fixed a
hollow cylinder, from which descends a series of tubes of different lengths;
within the cylinder is. a plug or cylinder having as many radial passages as
there are tubes, so that as the plug is rotated within its cylinder, the radial

page_text: passages will in succession come opposite the upper ends of the several descend-
ing tubes, when steam or water will be forced through the plug from the
descending tube, which for the time is made to communicate with the outer
atmosphere. The plug is so arranged that the passage through it to the outer
atmosphere shall only be allowed to communicate with one descending tube at
a time, all the others being closed, and an external indicator shews which
descending tube is for the time being open to the outer atmosphere. In order
to indicate the pressure of steam in a steam boiler, a bent pipe is used similar
to those heretofore used for steam guages, one end of which is connected to
the boiler, the other end is formed with flanches, between which there is a
flexible partition or diaphragm, such as has been before used; above this
flexible partition is a plunger with a cylinder, which when pressed on acts on
the end of a bent spring which formis more than half of a complete circle, the
parts thereof between the two ends being free, one end of such spring is fixed
to the top of the plunger, and the other end of the spring is affixed to the
interior of a cylindrical case, which carries a circular dial, such as have before
been used in constructing steam guages. At the upper end of the plunger
there is attached a rod, the other end being attached to a curved toothed rack,
which by its teeth gives motion to a pinion on the axis of a pointer.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Marmaduke Miller and John Kemp in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 13th September 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, MARMADUKE
MILLER and JOHN KEMP, of Mount Street, Nottingham, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of March, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-third year
of Her reign, did for Herself; Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto us, the said Marmaduke Miller and John Kemp, Her special licence
that we; the said Marmaduke Miller and John Kemp, our executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others' as we, the said Marmaduke Miller and
John Kemp, our exccutors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time
agree with, and no others, froin 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

page_text: WATER AND STEAM GUAGES FOR STEAM BOILERS," upon the condition (amongst
others) that we, the said Marmaduke Miller and John Kemp, our executors
or administrators, by an instrument in writing under our or their hands and
seals, or under the hand and seal of one of us or them, 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 we, the said Marmaduke Miller and John Kemp,
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 thereof, that is to say :—
This Invention has for its object improvements in water and steam guages
for steam boilers. For these purposes, exterior of a steam boiler is affixed a
small cylinder or vessel, the upper end of which is connected by a suitable
pipe or tube with the upper part of the steam boiler, the lower part of this
vessel, being connected by a suitable tube with the lower part of the boiler
below the water level, so that the water level in, the small outer vessel coin-
cides with that in the boiler. At the upper part of this small vessel is fixed
a hollow cylinder, from which descends a series of tubes of different lengths,
within the cylinder is a plug or cylinder having as many radial passages as
there are tubes, so that as the plug is rotated within its cylinder the radial
passages will in succession come opposite the upper ends of the several
descending tubes, when steam or water will be forced through the plug from
the descending tube, which, for the time, is made to communicate with the
outer atmosphere. The plug is so arranged that the passage through it to the
outer atmosphere shall only be allowed to communicate with one descending
tube at a time, all the others being closed, and an external indicator shews
which descending tube is for the time being open to the outer atmosphere.
In order to indicate the pressure of steam in a steam boiler, a bent pipe is
used similar to those heretofore used for steam guages, one end of which is
connected to the boiler, the other end is formed with flanches, between which
there is a flexible partition or diaphragm, such as has been before. used.
Above this flexible partition is a plunger within a cylinder, which, when
pressed on, acts on the end of a bent spring which forms, more than half of a
complete circle, the parts thereof between the two ends being free, one end of
such spring is fixed to the top of the plunger, and the other end of the spring
is affixed to the interior of a cylindrical case which carries a circular dial, such
as have before been used in constructing steam guages. At the upper end

page_text: of the plunger there is attached a rod, the other end being attached to a
curved toothed rack, which by its teeth gives motion to a pinion on the axis of
a pointer..
Having thus stated the nature of our Invention we will proceed more fully
to describe the manner of performing the same.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Figure 1 shews a vertical transverse section of apparatus combined and
constructed according to the first part of our Invention, and Figure 2 shews a
front elevation of apparatus constructed and combined according to the second
part of our Invention, the graduated dial or face being removed in order to
the interior construction being shewn.
a, a, is a cylinder with two openings 6 and c; the opening 6 at the upper
end of the vessel a is by a suitable tube made to communicate with the upper
part of a steam boiler above the water level therein. The opening c is by a
proper tube made to communicate with the boiler below the water level in the
boiler, so that the water level in the vessel or cylinder a will at all times
coincide with that in the boiler. At the upper part of the cylinder or vessel
a. a, there is a hollow cylinder d, having in it a plug e. To the cylinder d
there are fixed a series of descending tubes of different lengths, as indicated at
f. g, h, i, and j, their upper ends opening into the interior of the cylinder d.
In the Drawing five descending tubes are shewn, but like apparatus may be
made with more or less descending tubes. The plug e is hollow and near the
front end the tube k is fixed, so that when the plug is made to communicate
with any one of the descending tubes the steam or water in the vessel a will
pass out at k, according as the lower end of the descending tube with which
the interior of the plug e is brought into communication, is above or below the
water level. The plug is made with as many passages into it as there are
descending tubes, and such openings are so arranged as not to allow more
than one of the descending tubes to communicate with the interior of the plug
at the same time. On the upper part of the vessel a is fixed a dial l, and the
tube k serves as a pointer; when its end points to zero there will be no
descending tube communicating with the interior of the plug, but when the
plug is moved round by the handle m, the interior of the plug will in suc-
cession be brought into communication with the upper ends of the descending
tubes; and will indicate which of the tubes dip into the water, and which are
above the water level..
We will now describe the pressure guage, Figure 2. is the bent tube by
which the guage is fixed to a steam boiler; is the flexible diaphragm or

page_text: partition fixed between the flanges, as is usually the case in other steam
guages; p is a plug or piston, the lower end of which rests on the diaphragm
or partition; 9 is a bent spring consisting nearly of a whole circle, but the
length of spring may be varied so long as it is bent into a circular form, and one
end is fixed to the case and the other is connected to a sector rack or instru-
ment for giving motion to the pointing hand r. The free end of the spring 9
is attached by a connecting rod or link, which is pin-jointed to the sector
rack s which turns on an axis at 8. The axis of the pointer hand r has on it
a pinion, into which the teeth of the sector rack take, and by the movement
of such rack the pointing hand r is moved; t is a coiled spring which con-
stantly tends to draw the upper end of the link in that direction.
T
Having thus described the nature of our Invention and the manner of
performing the same, we would have it understood that we do not claim any
of the mechanical parts separately; but what we claim is,―
First, the combination described with reference to Figure 1.
And, secondly, we claim the application of the form of spring 9 in com-
bination with the parts shewn and described with reference to Figure 2.
In witness whereof, we, the said Marmaduke Miller and John Kemp,
have hereunto set our bands and seals, this Tenth day of September,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty.
MARMADUKE MILLER. (L.S.)
JOHN KEMP.
(L.S.)
MARMADUKE MILLER. (L.S.)
JOHN KEMP.
(L.S.)