IMPROVEMENTS IN SUPPLYING STEAM BOILERS
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Vincent Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughts-
man, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN SUPPLYING STEAM BOILERS
"
Sealed the 27th February 1857, and dated the 4th October 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Vincent Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
4th October 1856.
I, ALFRED VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN SUPPLYING STEAM BOILERS
WITH WATER," to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is to maintain the water of steam boilers at
an exact and unvarying level, and it applies to any boiler which may be filled
by an auxiliary engine. To this end the steam by which such auxiliary engine
is driven is taken from the steam boiler at the exact level at which the water
is required to stand in the boiler. By this arrangement the steam which enters
the pipe is so throttled on its way to the auxiliary or pumping engine by the
water which passes off with it as to clog its operation to the extent necessary
to preserve the water in the boiler at the exact level required:

page_text: Under certain circumstances the steam and water are permitted to pass
directly to the engine and be worked off together, and returned to the water
tank, but at other times the water is separated from the steam before the
latter reaches the engine, the water being carried directly to the pumps and
returned to the boiler, and the steam alone employed to drive the engine. To
effect this separation the steam and water are passed into a spherical chamber,
which is made of a strength sufficient to resist the pressure of steam in the
boiler, and is fitted with a hollow ball float, into which dips a pipe carried by
the spherical chamber. This pipe forms a guide for the float, which is pro-
vided at its lower end with a plug, forming a valve for closing an exit pipe
leading from the bottom of the chamber. The steam and water from the
steam boiler enter together this chamber above a convex plate, which guides
down the water to the bottom of the vessel, while the steam passes under the
cover and enters openings made in the upper part of the ball valve; the
steam passes thence up the fixed guide pipe, and so to the auxiliary engine.
When the water deposited in the chamber accumulates to such an extent as
to float the ball, the plug is withdrawn from its seat in the exit pipe, and the
water passes out of the spherical chamber."
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 2nd April 1857.
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 4th day of October, in the year of our Lord 1856,
in the twentieth 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 thereafter during the term therein ex-
pressed, 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 SUPPLYING STEAM BOILERS
WITH WATER," being? a communication' from abroad, upon the condition

page_text: (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 calender 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 Drawings hereunto annexed, and to
the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a pumping engine, with the improvements
attached; Fig 2, a plan of the heater or water tank; Fig. 3, an elevation of
the same; Fig. 4, a section through the separator; Fig. 5, a view of the
pumping engine with the separator attached.
:
This Invention has for its object the preservation of the water of steain
boilers at an exact and unvarying level, and is applicable to any boiler which
may be filled by an auxiliary engine. It consists in taking the steam which
such auxiliary engine is driven from the steam boiler at the exact level at
which the water is required to stand in the boiler, by which means the steam
which enters the pipe is so throttled on its way to the auxiliary or feed engine
by the water which passes along with it, as to clog its operation to the extent
necessary to preserve the, water in the boiler at the exact level required.
Under certain circumstances the steam and water are permitted to pass
directly to the feed engine, and be worked off together and returned, to.the
water tank. At other times, the water is separated from the steam before
the latter reaches the engine, the water being carried directly to the pumps,
and returned to the boiler, and the steam alone employed to drive the
engine.
In the accompanying Drawings, A is the boiler; B, the feed pump; C, the
heater or water tank;. D and E, the pipes, leading the one from the heater
to the force pump; and the other from the pump to the boiler. F is the pipe
which carries the steam to the feed engine, which in the case represented in
the Drawings consists of two oscillating cylinders I, K, the piston rods of
which are set quartering upon the shaft G, which actuates the pump.. The
details of this engine need not be here described, as they form no part of my
present Invention. The exhaust steam from the engine passes by the pipe
II.into the heater C; by which means the feed water is heated.. M is a cock
upon the steam pipe, by means of which the flow of steam to the feed engine

page_text: may be regulated or stopped. The pipe F enters the boiler at the exact level
at which the water is required to stand, the end of this pipe terminating in a
short piece of pipe N placed vertically, and open at both ends, by which
means the scum which floats upon the surface of the water is prevented from
entering the steam pipe and stopping the operation of the engine. With an
auxiliary engine thus arranged it is not possible that the water in the boiler
should vary, either above or below the required level. Were there the slightest
tendency in the water to rise above this level, the additional quantity of water
thrown into the pipe F would so obstruct the passage of the steam through
the cock M as instantly to reduce the speed of the pumping engine, by which
means the quantity of water thrown into the boiler would be at once reduced,
and the equilibrium would be restored. In like manner, should the level of
the water within the boiler fall below the end of the pipe F, steam alone
would pass through the cock M, which would so accelerate the motion of the
feed engine as instantly to restore the level of the water; such variation of
level does not, however, take place to any appreciable degree, exactly that
mixture of steam and water passing constantly to the feed engine as shall be
necessary to keep the water at the desired level within the boiler. At night,
or whenever the operation of the principal engine is suspended, and the con-
sumption of steam ceases, the feed engine is left untouched, to work or not,
as may be indicated by the level of the water in the boiler; in the morning the
water is found at the exact level required. On firing up, the water is swelled
by the formation of bubbles of steam, and is thereby raised slightly above the
required level, water alone is then worked through the feed engine, and as the
capacity of the cylinders is much greater than that of the force pump, the
excess of water is drawn off through the feed engine and returned to, the heater,
and the water is immediately restored to its proper level. This is the only
occasion on which the water can rise above the end of the pipe F, and as it is
trifling in amount, and is instantly corrected by the pumping engine itself, it is-
practically unworthy of note. The water thus continues unvaryingly at the level
required, the working of the feeding engine being constantly obstructed by the
passage of sufficient water through the cock M to enable it to throw the
requisite quantity of water into the boiler, and no more. Any stoppage or
leakage in the pipes leading to or from the feed engine or pump will be in-
stantly brought to the notice of the engineer by the variation in the velocity
of the feed engine. Should. the steam pipe F become clogged between the
boiler and feed engine the latter would instantly stop. The same would take
place were the stoppage in the pipe D, between the boiler and the pump; and
were the valves in either of the pipes D or E prevented by a chip or any

page_text: other obstruction from closing, the rapid action of the. feed engine would
instantly give notice to the engineer that something was wrong. That the
water in the heater or tank may not be cooled by. the excess of water thrown
into it, this water is caused to enter by the pipe O into a vertical pipe P, which
communicates at the bottom with the heater. The excess of water flows off
cold from the top of the pipe P through the pipe Q, and thus the heat of the
water within the tank C is not carried off by the overflow water. In lieu of
allowing both steam and water to pass off through the feed engine together
they may be separated before reaching it, the steam only being allowed to pass
into the engine, the water being returned by the pumps to the boiler. This is
effected by the contrivance represented at p in Fig. 5, and enlarged in section
in Fig. 4. p is a hollow ball or chamber, of a strength capable of resisting
the pressure of steam within the boiler; F is the pipe by which the steam and
water are admitted from the boiler to the interior of the ball; L is a float
within the ball' p, which is allowed to slide freely up and down upon the piper;
to the bottom of this float is secured the plug S, which, when the float is down
rests upon a seat, and closes an opening in the pipe t; when the float is raised
this valve is open, and any water which may be within the chamber p passes
off; m is an inverted saucer or convex plate, which covers the float L, and
deflects the water and steam, causing them to pass down around the plate at n.
The water descends beneath and around the float, and when it has sufficiently
accumulated here to raise the float it passes out through the pipe t; the descent
of the float again closes this pipe and stops the passage of the water. The
steam which is thus separated from the water enters the float at the openings c,
and passes up through the pipe r to the engine. It will be observed that, while
the steam is thus thoroughly separated from the water before it reaches the
engine, it is still throttled by it on its passage through the cock M to the
extent required. In Fig. 5, the separator is seen at p as applied to a feed
engine. The steam and water pass from the boilers by the pipes a to the
separator, whence the steam passes by the pipes b and d to the cylinders q, the
water passing by the pipef, g, to the pumps B, and from them is forced through
the pipes h, i, k, back into the boilers, together with that taken from the tank C
by the pipe o.
Having now set forth the nature of this Invention, and explained the
manner of carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that under
the above recited Letters Patent I claim,-
1st, causing the pipe which conveys the steam to the feed engine to enter
the boiler at the exact level at which the water is required to stand, for the
purpose specified.

page_text: ..2nd, I claim the within-described "separator," consisting essentially of the
float L and convex plate m, with their immediate connections, operating in the
manner substantially as herein set forth, for the purpose described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, have hereunto set
hand and seal, the First day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
my
Witness,.
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
A. V. NEWTON. (L.S.)