IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR BLOWING OPP WATER FROM STEAM BOILERS
Year: 1859

page_text: TERS PATENT to Alfred Vincent Newton, of the ice for ratents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughts-,
man, for the Invention of "IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR BLOWING OPP WATER
FROM STEAM BOILERS."-A communication from abroad by James Havey.
Washington, of Baltimore, in the United States of America.
Sealed the 15th November 1859, and dated the 20th June 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Vincent Newton at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
20th June 1859.
I, ALFRED VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane,
in the Connty of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVED APPARATUS FOP BLOWING OFF
WATER FROM STEAM BOILERS," to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is to provide a reliable means of "blowing off
steam boilers at the surface of the water, it being well known to engineers that
in marine boilers the crystals of salt which form the scale on their interiors are
first formed at or near the surface of the water and rise to the said surface
before subsiding, and so in like manner with the other natural impurities held,
in solution in the water. To effect this object it is now proposed to form the
blow-off pipe with a hinge joint, and to apply a float thereto, so as to keep the
blow-off opening or openings always in the same relative position (or very
nearly so) with regard to the surface of the water in the boiler, however that
surface may vary. To the mouth of this hinged pipe a hollow metal ball, pierced
with numerous holes on its upper side, is applied, or an inverted funnel may

page_text: be used when the Invention is applied to stationary boilers. Guides attached
to the boiler are used for steadying the movement of the float and for acting as
a stop when the water has descended to a given level.
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 20th December 1859.
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 Twentieth day of June, in the year of our Lord One-
thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-third year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said Alfred
Vincent Newton, Her special license that I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, 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 there-
after 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 BLOWING OFF WATER PROM STEAM BOILERS," being a communication
from abroad, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Alfred
Vincent Newton, 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 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 had to the Drawing hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
-
The object of this Invention, as communicated to me by my foreign corres-
pondent, is to provide a reliable means of blowing-off steam boilers at the
surface of the water under all conditions of such boilers. It is well known to
engineers that in marine boilers the crystals of salt which form the scale on
their interior are first formed at or near the surface of the water or rise to the

page_text: surface before subsiding, and the same is generally true of other mineral
matters which have been held in solution in the water, and of its other natural
impurities; and in consequence attempts have from time to time been made to.
provide suitable means of blowing-off at the surface, but these have been
unsuccessful owing to the blow-off pipe not accommodating itself to the
varying level of the water, or to the movements of the vessel in the case of a
marine boiler, so that sometimes it would blow-off below the surface, and
sometimes blow off steam.
The present Invention consists in making a hinge-like joint in the blow-off
pipe, and so applying a float in combination with it as to keep the blow-off
opening or openings always in the same relative position (or very nearly so):
with regard to the surface of the water in the boiler, however that surface.
may vary.
In the accompanying Drawing, Fig. 1 exhibits in vertical section a portion:
of a steam boiler and a side view of a blow-off apparatus constructed
according to the Invention; Fig. 2 exhibits a longitudinal section of the
blow-off apparatus; Fig. 3 exhibits a central section of the joint of the blow-off-
pipe; and Fig. 4 represents a vertical sectional view of a modification of part
of the apparatus.
Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in.
the several Figures.
A represents the shell of the boiler; B and C are the two portions of the:
blow-off pipe, the first B being rigidly secured to the boiler and passing
from the inside to the outside thereof, and the other portion C being attached
to the inner extremity of B, by a steam-tight hinge-like joint a of any well-
known or suitable construction. The portion C carries at its extremity the
float D, and near the said float it is provided with a branch pipe b, having a
downward direction and open at bottom. To this branch pipe a hollow metal
ball E, having numerous perforations e, e, in its upper half, is fitted in such a
manner as to be capable of being moved up and down thereon for the purpose
of so, adjusting it relatively to the float D, that it (the ball E) may be sub-
merged to about one-half its depth or sufficiently to keep the lower perforations
under water. F is a stirrup guide secured to the interior of the boiler, and
intended for the float Deto work in, the part below the float constituting: a
stop to the float when the water gets below a certain level. G.is a. screw
clamp for securing the joint a.
The apparatus operates in the following manner--The float D always keeps
the ball E at the surface of the water in the boiler, and the ball is filled with
water even with the level of the water outside of it. When the pipe B is
opened by a cock or valve provided for the purpose the pressure of the steam

page_text: on the surface of the water in the ball E will blow the water therefrom up
through the pipes b, C, and B, and there will be a constant flow from the
surface outside through the perforations e, e, to take the place of what is blown
out, and this will continue so long as the pipe B is open, and the level in the
boiler is sufficient to keep the float supported by the water; but in case of the
float descending to the bottom of the stirrup guide F, and the level sinking
below the perforations e, e, steam will escape by the blow-off pipe, which
may be furnished at its outer extremity with a whistle, and thus be made to
sound an alarm when the water is dangerously low. In case of the lowest
perforations of the ball being exposed to the steam in a marine boiler owing to
a lurch or other movement of the vessel, the water contained in the ball must
all be blown out before any steam can escape by the blow-off pipe, but before
that occurs the vessel will generally have "righted itself" again, and the water
will be rushing in again through the perforations to refill the ball. Instead of
the ball an inverted funnel E' (shown in Fig. 4) may be employed, the funnel
being so adjusted on the branch pipe b relatively to the float D, as to have its
mouth kept at or a little below the surface of the water in the boiler, and the
pressure on the water surrounding the funnel will force the water from under
the funnel into and through the blow-off pipe. The funnel, though serving
very well for stationary boilers, is, for obvious reasons, not so well adapted for
marine boilers as the perforated ball.
.
Having now set forth the nature of the Invention of improved apparatus for
blowing off water from steam boilers as communicated to me from abroad, and
explained the manner of carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be under-
stood that under the above in part recited Letters Patent I claim the means
herein described for keeping the inlet from the boiler to the blow-off pipe at
or a little below the surface of the water in the boiler, substantially as and for
the purpose herein set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, the Nineteenth day of December, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
A. V. NEWTON. (L.S.)