IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR PREVENTING THE EXPLOSION OF STEAM BOILERS
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the Firm of Haseltine,
Lake, & Co., Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London,
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR PREVENTING
THE EXPLOSION OF STEAM BOILERS."-A communication from abroad
by Carl Wilhelm Sulzbach, of Virginia, Nevada, United States of
America.
Sealed the 31st August 1875, and dated the 22nd March 1874.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Robert Lake
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 22nd March 1875.
I, WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co.,
3 Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR PRE-
VENTING THE EXPLOSION OF STEAM BOILERS," a communication, to be as
follows:-
:-
The object of this Invention is to somura steam boilaus nainst

page_text: The said apparatus has a cylinder for the purpose of operating the
pump or water supply, and a safety cylinder for the purpose of operating
the safety valve where the water is liable to get too low for safety, and
it also has a float cylinder. A suitable chamber is provided for the
valves, which I term the upper, middle, and lower valves, and there are
upper and lower connecting pipes, through which the connection is
made with the boiler. A float is provided for the purpose of operating
the said valves. I arrange upper and lower adjustable tripping plates
connected with pins upon an exhaust valve rod for the purpose of
operating slotted levers of the exhaust valves. A tilting table is hinged
to a solid stanchion or post so as to allow the tilting of the same, and
the said tilting table has a jointed or tripping leg.
I provide shifting pulleys by which the feed gear or water supply is
operated. A lever connects with the safety valve lever and an alarm
wheel. A connecting rod is provided to operate the exhaust valve rod.
There are upper and lower screw adjusting rods for the purpose of
adjusting the aforesaid tripping plates. A spring is arranged to operate
the middle valve lever for the purpose of closing the valve, and a spring
is arranged to close the lower valve by means of a lever. A projection
is attached to the exhaust valve connecting rod for the purpose of
operating, in connection with other projections, to operate the exhaust.
There are forward and back exhaust valve levers for the forward and
back exhaust valves.
A piston operates in the water supply cylinder. A safety pipe
connects the valve chamber with the safety cylinder to operate the
piston rod, which operates a jointed leg for the purpose of dropping the
table. The belt shifter operates the feed gear or water supply. An
opening is made in the safety pipe to discharge steam upon the alarm
wheel. There is an exhaust valve rod to operate the exhaust from the
first named cylinder. Another exhaust valve rod has a forward pro-
jection to operate in connection with the projection on the exhaust valve
connecting rod.
The water being supplied to the boiler at the proper level, and the
connecting pipes being open, the same level is maintained in the float
cylinder and boiler. The upper connecting pipe communicates with the
steam, and the lower connecting pipe with the water space. The float
for regulating the valves rests on the water, and the aforesaid plates are
adjusted upon the screw rods to allow the necessary variation in the

page_text: water line of the boiler. So long as the pump supplies the necessary
water and the proper level is maintained no action is had, but in case
the pump supplies too much water, the water rising in the boiler and
float cylinder to the upper gauge, one plate touches a valve lever and
opens the upper valve, admitting the steam through the pipe to the
regulating cylinder forward of the piston, withdrawing the piston rod
and exhaust valve connecting rod, thereby operating the belt shifter>
which throws the belt upon the loose pulley, thereby operating the water
supply and stopping the boiler feed, and at the same time the piston
operates the valves of the cylinder by the projection on the exhaust
valve connecting rod coming in contact with the projection of the second
exhaust valve rod, closing one exhaust valve and opening the other
exhaust valve. The water then recedes in the boiler until one of the
said plates touches a lever and opens the middle valve, allowing the
steam to pass to the said cylinder to the back of the piston, and operating
the belt shifter and setting the pump or feed to work, thus again raising

page_text: Secondly. It operates to keep the water in the boiler from getting
too low.
Thirdly. It gives notice or alarm when from any cause the supply
fails, and finally, before any real danger of explosion occurs it throws
the safety valve wide open, thereby entirely freeing the boiler from
pressure.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Robert Lake in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 21st September 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of March, in tho
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the
thirty-eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said William Robert Lake, Her
special licence that I, the said William Robert Lake, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William
Robert Lake, 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 Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR PREVENTING THE EXPLOSION OF
STEAM BOILERS," a communication to me from abroad by Carl Wilhelm
Sulzbach, of Virginia, Nevada, United States of America, upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Robert Lake,
my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under
my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly

page_text: 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 William Robert Lake, 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 had to the accom.
panying Drawing forming a part of this Specification:-
The object of this Invention is to secure steam boilers against
explosion, and thereby prevent the destruction of life and property.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Figure 1 is a front elevation of tho said apparatus partly in section;
Figure 2 is a section of part of Figure 1.
Figure 3 is an elevation, showing the construction and arrangement of
a modification of the said Invention.
A is the cylinder for operating the pump or water supply; B is the
safety cylinder for operating the safety valve when the water is liable to
get too low for safety; C is the float cylinder; D is the chamber con-
taining the valves k, l, and m; E is the upper and F the lower connecting
pipe through which the connection is made with the boiler; G is the
float for operating the valves k, l, and m, by means of the plates I and
I, and levers h, i, and j; H is the upper and I the lower adjustable
tripping plate J and K are pins upon the exhaust valve rod y for
operating the slotted levers W and X, and the exhaust valves Y and Z.
The tilting table c is hinged to the solid stanchion or post L so as to
allow the tilting of the same; N represents the jointed or tripping leg
of the tilting table; M, M', represent the shifting pullies by which the
feed gear or water supply is operated; O is the standard supporting the
safety valve lever; P is the alarm wheel; Q is the connecting rod to
operate exhaust valve rod y; R is the upper and S the lower screw for
adjusting the tripping plates. The spring T is designed to operate the
middle valve lever i for the purpose of closing the valve; U is the
spring, which closes the lower valve by means of the lever j. The
projection V is attached to the connecting rod Q, and acts in connection
with the projections 2, ¹, to operate the exhaust; W is the forward and

page_text: X the back exhaust valve lever; and Z is the forward and Y the back
exhaust valve. a represents the safety valve; b, the safety valve lever;
C, the tilting table; d, the counterweight; c, the chain that connects tho
counterweight d and the lover b.
The piston operates in the cylinder A. In the steam valve chamber
D the upper valve lever operates the upper valve k, and the lever i
operates the middle valve 7, and the lever j operates the lower valve m.
The upper pipe n connects the valve chamber D with the cylinder A in
front of the piston f. The middle pipe o connects the chamber D with the
cylinder A at the back of the piston f. The lower or safety pipe p
connects the chamber D with the cylinder B to operate the piston rod
A which operates the jointed leg N for dropping the table c. The
belt shifter operates the feed gear or water supply; P is the aforesaid
alarm wheel; 8, the opening in the safety pipe designed to discharge
steam upon the alarm wheel; t is the bell wire; u is the bell wire crank;
vis the bell crank; w is the bell; y is the exhaust valve rod to operate
the exhaust from the cylinder A. The exhaust valve rod y has a
forward projection 2¹ to operate with the back projection in connection
with the projection V on the connecting rod Q.
q
The following is the operation of the said Invention:-The water
being supplied to the boiler at the proper level, and the connecting pipes E
and F being open, the same level is maintained in the float cylinder C
and boiler, the upper connecting pipe communicating with the steam
and the lower connecting pipe communicating with the water space.
The float G for regulating the valves rests on the water, the plates H
and I being adjusted upon the screw rods R and S to allow the necessary
variation in the water line of the boiler. So long as the pump supplics
the necessary water and the proper level is maintained no action is had,
but in case the pump supplies too much water the water rising in the
boiler and float cylinder to the upper gauge the plate H touches the
valve lever hand opens the valve k, admitting the steam to pass through
the pipe n to the regulating cylinder A forward of the piston f, with-
drawing the piston rod f and connecting rod Q, thereby operating the
belt shifter q which throws the belt upon the loose pulley M. The latter
operates the water supply, stopping the boiler feed, and at the same time
the piston operates the valves of the cylinder A by the projection V
coming in contact with the projection z and operating the valve rod y,
closing the exhaust valve Z and opening the valve Y. The water then

page_text: may be advantageously adopted, but when used in connection with
rolling stock or shipping the device shown in Figure 3 is preferable. The
counterweight w¹ rests upon the tilting table A¹ upon the friction
rolls B, B, and is held in place upon the same by the iron cage or
frame C¹as the piston D¹ moves out. The conical enlargement C* thereon 5
acting upon the lever E' unhooks it from the jointed leg F¹, and the
piston continuing strikes and drops the same, the catch G¹ being dropped
down with the table allows the cage door to open, and the weight is
discharged, operating the safety valve as above set forth.
Having thus fully described the said Invention, as communicated to ]
me by my foreign correspondent, and the manner of performing the
same, I wish it understood that I claim,―
First. The cylinders A, B, and C, and the valve chamber D, when
combined and operated in connection and by means of the pipes n, o,
and p, as above specified, and for the purposes set forth.
Second. The cylinder B having the piston A' in combination with the
jointed leg N, tilting table c, counterweight d, and connecting chain e,
combined and operated in connection with the safety valve lever b, as
above described, and for the purposes set forth.
Third. The float G, in combination with the levers h, i, and j, and 2
valves k, l, and m, and pipes n, o, and p, when constructed and operated
as above described and for the purposes set forth.
Fourth. The safety pipe having the alarm opening s, and the alarm.
wheel P having the crank u when combined and operated as above
described and for the purposes set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Robert Lake, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twentieth day of September, in
the year of our Lord One thousand cight hundred and seventy-
2
Witness,
JA'. EDWARDS,
8, Southampton Buildings,
London.
WM. ROBT. LAKE. (L.S.)