A METHOD OF INCREASING THE EFFECT OF STEAM ENGINES, AND SAVING FUEL IN THE WORKING THEREOF
Year: 1802

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
SAINT, of the City of Bristol, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS His most Excellent Majesty King George the Third did, by
His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of His United Kingdom, bearing
date at Westminster, the Twenty-first day of December, in the forty-third
year of His reign, give and grant unto me, the said Thomas Saint, His
especial licence that I. the said Thomas Saint, during the term of years
therein mentioned, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend.
within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention
of "A METHOD OF INCREASING THE EFFECT OF STEAM ENGINES, AND SAVING FUEL
IN THE WORKING THEREOF;" in which said Letters Patent there is contained a
proviso obliging me, the said Thomas Saint, by an instrument in writing under
my hand and seal, to cause a particular description of the nature of my said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be inrolled
in His Majesty's High Court of Chancery within onc calendar month after
the date of the said recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, relation
being thereunto had, may more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Thomas Saint, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, are herein-after parti-
cularly described and ascertained, that is to say:-
I make an opening of considerable magnitude in the bottom of the boiler
nearly as large as the flue which would be suitable to the boiler made use of,
in which opening I fix a pipe or tube, through which pipe or tube a communi-
cation takes place between that part of my furnace or fire-place in which the
[Price 8d.]

page_text: flame or heated air rises or circulates and the interior space of my boiler in
which steam is produced or maintained for the supply of the engine, which
pipe or tube may remain open; but I prefer to close the said opening by a
valve or cock or safety tube, so adjusted, counterpoised, or constructed accord-
ing to the well-known methods of engineers, chemists, and other operators, as
that no part of the steam or heated air contained in the said interior space of
the boiler shall be permitted to escape through, the said opening, but that the
flame or heated air from the furnace or fire-place shall or may enter and be
admitted through the said opening whenever and so often as the clastic force
or reaction of the steam shall be less than any determinate or particular degree
at which the adjustment, counterpoise, or construction of the said valve or
cock or safety tube shall open and allow a clear passage for the flame or
heated air. And I do also construct and dispose the parts of my furnace or fire-
place so as may best serve to cause the said flame or heated air to pass in duc
quantity through the said opening when unclosed, instead of being totally or
for the most part driven up the chimnies or in other less usefull directions;
that is to say, I place the lower entrance of the flue of my chimnies at a
moderate distance higher than the grate which supports the fuel, and I fix a
moveable shut or register therein; and I am particularly careful that the
space above the fire into which the flame or heated air do ascend shall be well
closed on all sides, so that the side flame or heated air shall not be allowed to
escape in any manner or direction except through the said opening or through
the flue of the chimney. And I do declare that the power and effect of
engines worked by the steam from boilers having a communication with the
fire according to my said Invention is greatly increased, so that a greater
quantity of work may be performed with the same expense of fuel than
can be performed by a like engine not supplied according to my said In-
vention; or in case the quantity of work required to be done by engines
supplied with steam or heated air according to my said Invention be the
same as is ordinarily done by like engines not supplied according to my
said Invention, then the quantity of fuel necessary to do the work according
to my said Invention would be much less than would otherwise have been
required to produce the same effect.
And in order that the practical process or means of carrying my said In-
vention into full effect may be perfectly known and understood, I proceed to
describe the same as follows:-
First, I do (in preference) make my opening through the bottom of the
boiler immediately over the fire-place, and I fix a tube or pipe round the said
opening, and passing upwards through the body of water, and which water

page_text: need not be deeper on the crown of the boiler than six inches, so as to have
its upper orifice in the clear space above the water at a sufficient height to
prevent any part of the water from entering or passing through the same.
Secondly, I fix a valve opening upwards at the top of the said pipe or tube as
large as the bore will permit. Thirdly, as the weight of the valve would prevent
its rising even when the strength of the steam was such as to suffer the flame
or heated air to enter through the opening into the boiler, I fix a rod to the
said valve, and pass the same through the top of the boiler, where I attach
the same to a lever with a counterpoise, which may be set at different distances
on the lever according to the force of descent which it may be found desirable
to allow the valve to retain. Fourthly, in such cases or constructions in which
there may be any reason to fear that the upper part of the pipe or tube or
circumference of the opening should become so hot as to suffer injury, I con-
duct the feeding water of the boiler directly upon the crown of the valve, or
into a small bordering cavity or trough round the inner edge of the pipe or
tube or opening, by which means the temperature of the heat cannot much
exceed that of boiling water. And in general I declare that the flame or
heated air can and may be introduced into the boiler by various other methods
or modifications. But what I claim as my Invention is, that the furnace or
fire-place in which the flame or heated air rises or circulates shall have an
open or regulated communication with the interior space of the boiler or other
apparatus wherein steam is produced, so that a combination of the steam or
heated air and the steam generated may pass from the boiler to the cylinders
of fire engines.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Saint, have hereunto set my hand
and cool this Eighth day of January One thousand sight hundred and
Inrolled the Eleventh day of January, in the year above written.