AN IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR CLEARING STEAM PIPES OF AIR AND WATER OF CONDENSATION, AND FOR REGULATING THE TEMPERATURE OF LIQUIDS HEATED BY STEAM
Year: 1873

page_text: . LETTERS PATENT to John Imray, of No. 20, Southampton Buildings,
Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of
"AN IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR CLEARING STEAM PIPES OF AIR AND WATER
OF CONDENSATION, AND FOR REGULATING THE TEMPERATURE OF LIQUIDS
HEATED BY STEAM."-A communication from abroad by Alfred Peyer,
of Guebwiller, Alsace, Engineer.
Sealed the 6th March 1874, and dated the 16th October 1873:
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Imray at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
16th October 1873.
I, JOHN IMRAY, of No. 20, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "AN IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR CLEARING STEAM PIPES OF AIR
AND WATER OF CONDENSATION, AND FOR REGULATING THE TEMPERATURE OF LIQUIDS
HEATED BY STEAM," to be as follows:-
1 • T
:—
nnnnntun whomh+ the onaning and closing of

page_text: the temperature varies, such apparatus being applicable for the removal
of air and water of condensation from steam pipes, and also for regulating
the temperature of liquids, as in baths for dyeing, bleaching, or other
purposes, when such liquids are heated by steam.
In applying the apparatus for removing the air or water of condensa-
tion from a steam pipe it is constructed and arranged as follows:-Upon
a branch at the lower side of the steam pipe is fixed a discharge box
with an outlet for air and water. Within this box is fixed a closed pipe
bent in the form of a volute or ring not closed like the pipe employed
in certain pressure gauges; this pipe is charged with liquid, preferably
such as undergoes considerable alterations of volume under the influence
of changes of temperature, like pretroleum; one end of the pipe is
fixed, and the other end is connected to a stop-cock or valve on the
branch pipe. The charged pipe is so adjusted in position that while it
remains at a low temperature the cock or valve is open; the air or
water can then issue from the steam pipe. When however steam issues
by the cock or valve into the discharge box the bent pipe becoming
heated undergoes an alteration of its curvature owing to the dilatation of
the liquid which it contains, and moves a stop-cock or valve so as to
close the outlet.
In a similar manner a bent charged pipe, such as is above described,
being connected to the cock or valve by which steam is admitted for the
heating of a liquid, as in a bath, is adjusted in the liquid so that the
cock or valve remains open until the liquid attains a certain desired
temperature. When the temperature of the bath rises above the desired
degree the flexure of the pipe resulting from the elevation of the tem-
perature causes the cock or valve to be wholly or partially closed so as
to cut off or impede the supply of steam. In such cases the branch
pipe supplying the steam should be provided with a wire gauze or
perforated metal grating to sift the steam of such suspended impurities
as might damage the liquid which it serves to heat.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Imray in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 28th March 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
IMRAY, of No. 20, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Sixteenth day of October, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in the thirty-
seventh year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said John Imray, Her special license that I,
the said John Imray, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said John Imray, 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 Invention for "AN IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR CLEARING
STEAM PIPES OF AIR AND WATER OF CONDENSATION, AND FOR REGULATING THE
TEMPERATURE OF LIQUIDS HEATED BY STEAM," a communication to me from
abroad by Alfred Peyer, of Guebwiller, Alsace, Engineer, upon the con-
dition (amongst others) that I, the said John Imray, my executors or
administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one
of their hands and seals, 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 John Imray, 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 thereof, reference being had to the accompanying
Sheet of Drawings and to the figures and letters marked thereon, that is
to say :-
This Invention relates to apparatus whereby the opening and closing of
a cock or valve upon a steam pipe is effected automatically according as

page_text: the temperature varies, such apparatus being applicable for the removal
of air and water of co nensation from steam pipes, and also for regulating
the temperature of liquids, as in baths for dyeing, bleaching, or other
purposes when such liquids are heated by steam.
In applying the apparatus for removing the air or water of condensa-
tion from a steam pipe it is constructed and arranged as follows:-Upon
a branch at the lower side of the steam pipe is fixed a discharge box
with an outlet for air and water. Within this box is fixed a closed pipe
bent in the form of a volute or ring not closed, like the pipe employed.
in certain pressure gauges; this pipe is charged with liquid, preferably
such as undergoes considerable alterations of volume under the influence
of changes of temperature, like petroleum; on end of the pipe is fixed
and the other end is connected to a stop-cock or valve on the branch
pipe. The charged pipe is so adjusted in position that while it remains
at a low temperature the cock or valve is open; the air or water can
then issue from the steam pipe. When however steam issues by the
cock or valve into the discharge box the bent pipe becoming heated
undergoes an alteration of its curvature owing to the dilatation of the
`liquid which it contains, and moves the stop-cock or valve so as to close
the outlet.
In a similar manner a bent charged pipe, such as is above described,
being connected to the cock or valve by which steam is admitted for the
heating of a liquid, as in a bath, is adjusted in the liquid so that the
cock or valve remains open until the liquid attains a certain desired
temperature. When the temperature of the bath rises above the desired
degree the flexure of the pipe resulting from the elevation of the tem-
"perature causes the cock or valve to be wholly or partially closed so as
to cut off or impede the supply of steam. In such cases the branch
pipe supplying the steam should be provided with a wire gauze or
perforated metal grating to sift the steam of such suspended impurities
as might damage the liquid which it serves to heat.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Fig. 1 represents a side view partly in section, and Fig. 2 a plan, with

page_text: applied; E is the bent spring tube, which may be of thin sheet steel;
charged preferably with purified petroleum; the one end of the tube
is held in a clip M secured by a bolt m to the. cover C; the clip M is
slotted for the reception of the tube which can be adjusted in the slot;
and is secured therein by.a set screw n; the other end of the tube
terminates in an arm / provided with a pin which engages in a slot p in
the lever P of the stop-cock F, a longitudinal section and an end view
of which are shewn in Figs. 3 and 4. The passage g to the stop-cock
from the branch D is formed in the stem which is screwed into the
cover C, and this passage becomes narrowed in the one direction and
widened in the other towards the plug h, one side of which is cut away
at fso as to open a communication from the branch D to a slotted hole i
formed in the casing of the stop-cock; the position of the tube E being
properly adjusted in relation to the lever P of the stop-cock air and
water will escape from the steam pipe by the stop-cock into the casing A
and issue therefrom by the branch B; but when steam enters the
casing A the tube E becoming heated tends to unbend to a curvature of
greater radius and thereby closes the passage of the stop-cock so as to
prevent the farther escape of steam.
Fig. 5 represents a section, and Fig. 6 a plan of the apparatus in its
modified form, applicable to the regulation of the temperature of a bath
or vat of liquid heated by steam. In this case the spring tube E is
exposed to the liquid in which the apparatus is immersed, the upper
casing C being supplied with steam. As long as the cock Fremains
open steam will flow through it into the liquid, but when the temperature
of the liquid is thus raised to such a point that the expansion of the
tube E causes the stop-cock to be closed the supply of steam will be cut
off and the temperature of the liquid will be raised no farther. X is a
sieve of wire gauze or finely perforated metal to prevent the passage into
the liquid of solid matters suspended in the steam.
In some cases where the steam or the water produced by its con-
densation contains calcareous or other impurities the stop-cock is liable
to stick or to become sluggish in its action. In such cases the apparatus
may be made in the modified form shewn in section at Fig. 7, and in
5 plan at Fig. 8. The steam pipe is connected to a chamber B in which
is fixed a sieve or filter f of wire gauze or finely perforated metal, and
instead of a stop-cock a double winged valve is applied to a face plate x
so as to open or close radiating slits in the plate as it is turned by the

page_text: action of the spring tube E upon a vertical axis b. The valve is kept up
to the face x against which it works by a screw pivot p which passes
through a bracket m and bears against the lower end of the axis of the
valve.
Having thus described the nature of this Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, as communicated to me by my
foreign correspondent, I claim,-
First. The use for clearing steam pipes of air and water and for
regulating the temperature of liquids heated by steam of apparatus in
which an outlet stop-cock or valve is governed by the changes of form
due to variations of temperature of a curved tube charged with liquid,
substantially as herein described.
Second. The combination with apparatus, such as is referred to above,
of a sieve or filter for keeping back impurities suspended in the steam,
substantially as herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Imray, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-fifth day of March, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four.
JOHN IMRAY. (L.S.)
JOHN IMRAY, (L.S.)