IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR DISCHARGING CONDENSED WATER, AIR, OR OTHER FLUIDS FROM STEAM PIPES, DRYING CYLINDERS, AND OTHER APPARATUS WHERE STEAM IS USED
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Thompson and James Thompson, of Green
Bridge Foundry, Padiham, in the County of Lancaster, Engineers, for
the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR DISCHARGING CONDENSED
WATER, AIR, OR OTHER FLUIDS FROM STEAM PIPES, DRYING CYLINDERS, AND
OTHER APPARATUS WHERE STEAM IS USED."
Sealed the 23rd February 1858, and dated the 27th August 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Thompson and
James Thompson at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
their Petition, on the 27th August 1857.
We, CHARLES THOMPSON and JAMES THOMPSON, of Green Bridge Foundry,
Padiham, in the County of Lancaster, Engineers, do hereby declare the nature
of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR DISCHARGING
CONDENSED WATER, AIR, OR OTHER FLUIDS FROM STEAM PIPES, DRYING CYLINDERS,
AND OTHER APPARATUS WHERE STEAM IS USED," to be as follows:-
We place at any part of the steam pipe near its outlet, or between the ends
of the steam and outlet pipes a tap or cock, to the plug of which is attached
a toothed pinion or wheel. The pipe or pipes work within guides, so that with
the tap they can move to and fro, according to their expansion and contraction
as they increase or decrease in temperature. The pinion on the plug of the

page_text: tap gears into a stationary rack, thereby giving a turning motion to the pinion
and plug as the pipe or pipes move to and fro, which turning motion opens or
closes, either partially or entirely, the apertures of the said plug, either dis-
charging the condensed water or closing the pipes as may be required; the
length of the expansion and contraction of the pipés depending upon their
length, and consequently giving a corresponding effect to the plug of the tap.
Instead of the tap a valve may be employed, acted upon either by a lever
or inclined plane as a substitute for the rack, the expansion and contraction
of the pipes being the moving power, as before described.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Charles Thompson and James Thompson in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 27th February 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, CHARLES
THOMPSON and JAMES THOMPSON, of Green Bridge Foundry, Padiham, in the
County of Lancaster, Engineers, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of August, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twenty-first year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the
said Charles Thompson and James Thompson, Her special licence that we, the
said Charles Thompson and James Thompson, our executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as we, the said Charles Thompson and James
Thompson, our 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN
APPARATUS FOR DISCHARGING CONDENSED WATER, AIR, OR OTHER FLUIDS FROM STEAM
PIPES, DRYING CYLINDERS, AND OTHER APPARATUS WHERE STEAM IS USED," upon the
condition (amongst others) that we, the said Charles Thompson and James
Thompson, by an instrument in writing under our hands and seals, or under
the hand and seal of one of us, 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Charles Thompson, for and on behalf
of myself and the said James Thompson, do hereby declare the nature of our
said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be par-
ticularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement (that
is to say):-
Our improvements consist in simple and economical arrangements of
apparatus for the purpose of carrying off the air and condensed steam or
water and other fluids from any description of steam pipes or vessels without
the usual loss attendant upon their escape. We place at any part of the
steam pipe, near its outlet, or between the ends of the steam and outlet pipes,
a tap or cock, to the plug of which is attached a toothed pinion or wheel, the
pipe or pipes working within guides, so that with the tap they can move
to and fro, according to their expansion and contraction as they increase or
decrease in temperature. The pinion on the plug of the tap gears into a
stationary rack, thereby giving a rotary or turning motion to the pinion and
plug as the pipe or pipes move to and fro by means of expansion and
contraction, which rotary or turning motion opens or closes, either partially or
entirely, the apertures of the said plug, either discharging the condensed
water or closing the aperture against the escape of steam as may be required;
the length of expansion and contraction of the pipes depending upon their
length, and consequently giving a corresponding effect to the plug of the tap;
if it be more than sufficient to close and open the aperture, the pinion will
disengage itself from the rack and allow the contraction to go on without
closing the aperture. Instead of a tap we can use either a slide, surface,
or mushroom valve, acted upon either by a lever or inclined plane, as a
substitute for the rack, or one cylinder sliding into the inside of another, the
outer cylinder having an aperture at right angles with the axes of the
apparatus, and the inner cylinder sliding to and fro over the aperture.
The manner in which our said improvements is to be performed will be
clearly understood by reference to the accompanying Sheet of Drawings, with
the figures and letters of reference thereon, similar letters referring to similar
parts in all the Figures.
Fig. 1 is an end elevation; Fig. 2 a sectional elevation; and Fig. 3, a plan
of our improved apparatus adapted for fixing to a wall or other upright
bearing. Fig. 4 is a front elevation; Fig. 5, an end elevation; and Fig. 6, a
plan, of an arrangement for fixing to the floor, ceiling, or other horizontal
bearing. Fig. 7 is a modification of apparatus for regulating the flow of the
lubricating agent to steam engine cylinders, and also for regulating the flow
or pressure of liquids and fluids.

page_text: In Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6, a is the steam pipe; b, the outlet pipe, both
guided in the sides or brackets c; between and attached to the two pipes we
place the tap d, having at the top or end of the plug e a pinion f, gearing into
the stationary rack g, so that when the pipes are heated to the required
temperature they expand, and move the pinion on the rack to close the
aperture, when any accumulation of condensed water and air in the pipes will
lower the temperature and cause the pipe to contract, the rack at the same
time causing the plug to turn and regulate or send off the condensed water
and air.
In Fig. 7 the tap is stationary, and a reciprocating motion given to the rack,
either by expansion and contraction by the expansive force of steam or other
forces acting alternately on the upper or lower valves, which will open the one
and close the other, allowing at one operation so much of the lubricating agent
to fall into the cylinder or vessel as is contained between the valve, the supply
being regulated by the tap. Whether the apparatus for discharging water be
fixed vertically or horizontally, the expansion and contraction of the pipe or pipes
form the moving power. In this Fig. 7 h is the receptacle for the oil, liquid,
or fluid which can pass by the aperture i to the top cavity of k, furnished with a
pinion fitting the rack m, which, as it moves up and down by the increase or
decrease of expansive force, turns the plug of the tap; thereby allowing the
fluids to pass or be closed, as required; the liquid having passed into the cavity
of the plug falls out at the ends into the chamber n to the valve o, passing
between the webs, when the valve is raised to the part to be lubricated or
otherwise.
It is evident that our improved apparatus can be applied with facility and
advantage to drying cylinders, steam chests, printing machines, drying stoves,
tape legs, or dressing frames, finishing machines, steam pipes for mills, print
works, dye works, bleach works, or other similar purposes.
Having thus fully described the nature of our said Invention and in what
manner the same is to be performed, we desire it to be distinctly understood
that we do not confine ourselves to the precise details herein set forth, as such
may be varied or modified without departing from the principle thereof; but
we claim as our Invention, and which to the best of our knowledge and
belief has not been hitherto used within the realm,--
First, the peculiar arrangement and construction of apparatus with sliding
tap, rack, and pinion, for carrying off the air and condensed water from steam
pipes and other vessels, and likewise the application of the same for conveying
such condensed water back again to the boiler.
Secondly, the construction of tap with rack, and pinion, for regulating the

page_text: flow and pressure of liquids and fluids, whereby any reciprocating rectilinear
motion is converted into a circular motion, for opening and closing the aperture
for or against the exit of liquids and fluids.
And, thirdly, the use and application of double conical or other valves, the
one closing up and the other down, and actuated by any convenient force with
regulating tap, which may be modified for regulating the flow of the lubricating
agent to the cylinders of steam engines and other purposes, as herein described,
and illustrated in the accompanying Sheet of Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Thompson, for and on behalf
of myself and the said James Thompson, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-fifth day of February, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.
Signed, sealed, and delivered by the
within-named Charles Thompson, in
the presence of
CHARLES THOMPSON. (L.s.)
E. J. HUGHES, Patent Agent,
Manchester.