IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR FEEDING STEAM BOILERS WITH WATER, WHICH
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Graham William Wagstaff, of Radnor
Terrace, in the County of Middlesex, Tallow Melter, for the Invention of
"IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR FEEDING STEAM BOILERS WITH WATER, WHICH
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Graham William
Wagstaff at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 13th June 1863.
I, HENRY GRAHAM WILLIAM WAGSTAFF, of Radnor Terrace, in the
County of Middlesex, Tallow Melter, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR FEEDING STEAM BOILERS WITH
WATER, WHICH APPARATUS IS ALSO APPLICABLE FOR RAISING WATER," to be as
follows:-
My Invention of "improved apparatus for feeding steam boilers with water"
relates to a novel arrangement of apparatus whereby a supplementary cistern
in connection with the steam is supplied with water from time to time as
evaporation of the water in the boiler proceeds.
In carrying out my Invention, a close vessel of suitable capacity is placed
on or near the boiler, with which it communicates at its upper part by a steam
pipe provided with a suitable valve that opens inwards. The close vessel bas
also a water communication with the boiler by means of a syphon or swan's-
neck pipe provided with a valve that opens inwards. Water is supplied to the
close vessel from any suitable reservoir through a pipe provided at its exit
with a valve, and also, if required, with a cock, which may be acted on by a
float in the boiler, so that as the level of the water therein sinks, the float, by
descending with it, will open the cock, or, by rising with the water, will close

page_text: the cock. A vertical rod, provided with two stops, is mounted in suitable bear-
ings in the close vessel, and acts as the spindle of a float, which rises and falls
thereon as the level of the water in the vessel varies. A hollow rod or trough
arm or lever is mounted on a centre pin, and carries a ball or weight which is
free to move from end to end of the hollow rod or trough arm, according as
one or other of the ends is brought uppermost. The object of this ball or
weight is to cause the rod or lever to trip suddenly when the horizontal position
is passed. This hollow rod, which may be called a trip lever, is made to act
on a vertical bar which carries an arm or finger, whereby the valve at the end
of the steam pipe will be opened when the arm comes into contact therewith.
Steam will then be admitted into the close vessel, and by pressing on the
surface of the water therein will force it up the syphon and into the boiler
below. In order to keep the valve of the steam pipe open, the vertical bar is
held up by a 'catch, which takes into a notch in the bar. As the water runs
out of the close vessel and down the syphon, the float in the vessel will descend
and cause the trip lever to descend also, by one of the stops on the vertical rod
bearing on and depressing one end of the lever until the weight or ball runs
back and suddenly trips it. In so doing the catch which has held up the
vertical bar will be forced out of the notch, and the bar will fall down and
allow the valve of the steam pipe to close.
A somewhat similar arrangement to that above described may be used for
raising water by allowing the steam from a boiler to press upon the surface of
the water in the vessel and force it up a pipe, which, instead of being made
as a syphon to supply a boiler below may be made to convey up to any
required height above the vessel.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Henry Graham William Wagstaff in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 12th December 1863.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
GRAHAM WILLIAM WAGSTAFF, of Radnor Terrace, in the County of Middlesex,
Tallow Melter, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the. Thirteenth day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-sixth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Henry Graham William Wagstaff, Her special license; that. I,
the said Henry Graham William Wagstaff, my executors, administrators, and

page_text: "
assigns, or such others as I, the said Henry Graham William Wagstaff, 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 "IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR FEEDING STEAM
BOILERS WITH WATER, WHICH APPARATUS IS ALSO APPLICABLE FOR RAISING
WATER," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Henry Graham
William Wagstaff, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal,
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 Henry Graham William Wagstaff, 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, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say) :-
My Invention of "improved apparatus for feeding steam boilers with water
relates to a novel arrangement of apparatus, whereby a supplementary cistern
in connection with the steam boiler is supplied with water from time to time,
as evaporation of the water in the boiler proceeds.
The mode in which I propose to carry out my Invention is shewn in
the accompanying Drawing, in which Fig. 1 is a longitudinal vertical section
of the apparatus complete.
The apparatus consists of a close vessel A of suitable capacity, and placed
on or near the boiler B, with which it communicates at its upper part by a
steam pipe a, provided with a suitable valve a¹ that opens inwards. The
steam pipe a is shewn broken off in the Drawing, but it may communicate
with any part of the boiler. The close vessel A has also a water communica-
tion with the boiler B by means of a syphon or swan's-neck pipe b, provided
with a valve b' that opens inwards, as indicated by the arrow in the Drawing.
Water is supplied to the close vessel A from any suitable reservoir through a
pipe c, provided at its inner end with a valve c', and also, if required, with a
cock c, which may, if desired, be acted on by a float d in the boiler, so that
as the level of the water in the boiler sinks, the float by descending with
it will open the cock c³ on the pipe c, or by rising with the water will close
the cock. A vertical rod e provided with two stops e, e³, is mounted in
suitable bearings in the close vessel A, and acts as the spindle of a float f,

page_text: which rises and falls thereon, as the level of the water in the vessel varies. A
hollow rod, trough arm, or lever g. 9', is mounted on a centre pin g³,
and carries a ball or weight, which is free to move from end to end of
the hollow or trough part g' of the rod or arm, according as one or other
of the ends of the lever is brought uppermost. The object of this ball or
weight is to cause the rod or lever g to trip suddenly, when the horizontal®
position is passed. This hollow rod, which may be called a trip lever, is
made to act on a vertical bar h, which carries an arm or finger h', whereby
the valve at the end of the steam pipe a will be opened, when the arm or lever.g
comes into contact therewith. Steam will then be admitted through the pipe a
into the close vessel A, and by pressing on the surface of the water therein,
will force it up the syphon b, and into the boiler B below. In order to keep
the valve a' of the steam pipe open, the vertical bar h is held up by a catch i,
which takes into a notch made in the side of the bar. As the water runs out
of the close vessel A, and down the syphon b, the float f in the vessel A will
descend, and cause the trip lever g, g', to descend also, as one of the stops e¹
on the vertical rod e will bear on and depress the end g of the lever until
the weight or ball in the trough or hollow part g' runs back, and suddenly
trips the lever. In so doing the catch i, which has held up the vertical bar h,
will be forced out of the notch, and the bar h will fall down, and allow the
valve a' of the steam pipe a to close, and cut off the supply of steam to the
vessel A.
A somewhat similar arrangement to that above described may be used for
raising water, by allowing the steam from a boiler to press upon the surface
of the water in the vessel and force it up a pipe, which, instead of being made
as a syphon to supply a boiler below, may be made to force the water up to
any required height above the vessel A.
This mode of raising and forcing water will also be understood by referring
to Fig. 1. For this purpose the syphon pipe 6 will be dispensed with, and
instead thereof another pipe j, shewn by red lines, will be adapted to any con-
venient part of the vessel A. This pipe j will be provided with a valve j'
opening outwards. The pipe c will communicate with the tank or body of
water to be pumped, and which may be raised from any depth from which
water will rise by simple suction into the vessel A, in which a vacuum will be
produced by the condensation of the steam admitted by the pipe a.
The action of the apparatus for forcing water up the pipe ; will be precisely
the same as for supplying the boiler B through the syphon b, and it will be
evident that the power of the apparatus to lift water will only be limited by
the strength of the apparatus and the elastic force of the steam in the boiler.

page_text: In order to set the apparatus to work, it will be necessary at first to fill the
vessel A with steam from the pipe a. This is effected by opening the cock k¹
on the branch steam pipe k, and allowing steam to enter and fill the vessel A,
until it has expelled all the air therefrom through the blow-off pipe l. The
condensation of the steam in the vessel will then cause a partial vacuum to
take place, and water will immediately rush in and fill the vessel A, and in so
doing will cause the float f to rise on its stem, and lift up the end g of the trip
lever. This will open the valve a¹ of the steam pipe a, and admit a fresh
supply of steam, which, by pressing on the surface of the water, will force it
up the pipe j, or down the syphon b, as the case may be.
then descend again, and by dropping on to the lower stop
pull down the latter, and cause the upper stop e¹ to act on
trip lever, and bring it into the position shewn by dots in Fig. 1, when on the
condensation of the second volume of steam, another supply of water will rush
up from below into the vessel A. The lower end of the syphon pipe b in the
boiler is provided with a valve m and float n, which is so placed as to close
the end of the pipe b when the boiler has an adequate supply of water. The
float n rests on a shoulder or flange on the pipe b, and the valve m is suspended
therefrom by chains or rods m', m'.
The float f will
of the rod e, will
the end g of the
In Fig. 2 I have shewn another method of releasing the vertical bar h from
the catch i which holds it up. In this instance the catch is adapted to a bent
arm , which is pivotted at one end to any convenient part of the internal part
of the casing, and the other end is prolonged in a horizontal direction, until it
comes in the way of the rising and falling float f. It will be seen that as the
float descends, it will come against the end of the bent arm, and by forcing it
back will push out the catch a from the notch in the vertical rod h, and will
thereby release the latter, and allow it to fall and close the valve a of the
steam pipe a above.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Grabam William Wagstaff, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Twelfth day of December, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three.
Witness,
HENRY GRAHAM WILLIAM WAGSTAFF. (L.S.)
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.