PROVED APPARATUS FOR CLEANING BOILER AND OTHER TUBES."
Year: 1867

page_text: PROVED APPARATUS FOR CLEANING BOILER AND OTHER TUBES."-A communi-
cation from abroad by John Baptiste Christoffel, Samuel Booth, and
Samuel Booth, junior, all of the City and State of New York, United
States of America.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said William Robert Lake at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition and
Declaration, on the 22nd July 1867, pursuant to the 9th Section of
the Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
ROBERT LAKE, of the "International Patent Office," No. 8, Southampton
Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Consulting Engineer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS I am in possession of an Invention for "AN IMPROVED
APPARATUS FOR CLEANING BOILER AND OTHER TUBES," and have petitioned Her
Majesty to grant unto me, my executors, administrators, and assigns, Her
Royal Letters Patent for the same, and bave made solemn Declaration that
it has been communicated to me from abroad by John Baptiste Christoffel,

page_text: Samuel Booth, and Samuel Booth, junior, all of the City and State of New
York, United States of America.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Robert Lake, do hereby
declare that the following Complete Specification, under my hand and seal,
fully describes and ascertains the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, in and by the following statement,
reference being had to the accompanying Drawing forming a part of this
Specification, and which is a side view of my improved boiler tube cleaner
shewing the same enclosed in a tube :--
This Invention has for its object to furnish an improved instrument for
cleaning and removing the scale from the interior surface of boiler and other
tubes, which shall be simple in construction, easily and conveniently operated
and effectual in its operation, and it consists in the combination of a series of
spiral scrapers, with moveable and stationary heads arranged upon a guide and
draught rod; in the combination of one or more elastic or flexible scrapers
with the said rod; and in the combination of a coiled spring or equivalent, and
adjusting nut with the rod and movable head; the whole being constructed and
arranged as herein-after more fully described.
A is the rod to which the other parts of the apparatus are attached, and
which may be of any desired length. In situations in which it is convenient to
use such a rod it may be made long enough to reach through the tube; or it
may be made shorter and drawn through the tube by a cord or rope attached
to its end; B is a stationary head secured to the rod A, at or near its front
end, and to which the front ends of the spiral scrapers C are secured; D is
a bead moving freely in any direction upon the rod A, and to which the
forward ends of the scrapers C are secured; the scrapers C are set spirally,
and are secured to the heads B and D by screws, or by bolts and nuts, so that
should they, or any of them become worn or broken, they may readily be
removed and replaced with new ones. I prefer to make the scrapers C of
soft or unhardened steel or iron, as wearing the tubes less, or they may be
made of any other suitable metal. By this construction the scrapers are
enabled to adjust themselves to tubes of any size, so as always to press against
their interior surfaces; E is a coiled spring placed around the rod A in rear
of the moveable head D, the front end of which rests against or may be
attached to the said movable head, and its rear end rests against the
nut F which can be moved back and forth upon a screw-thread a cut upon
the rod A so that the pressure of the spring E upon the moveable head D may
be adjusted at pleasure, and through it the pressure of the scrapers C against
the interior surface of the tube being cleaned; G is an elastic or flexible

page_text: scraper made of leather, rubber, or some similar material, and attached to the
front end of the rod A for the purpose of removing from the tube the scale
and dust loosened by the action of the scrapers C. If desired a similar
elastic or flexible scraper H may be attached to the rear part of the rod A to
remove the loose dirt in rear of the scrapers C, so as to leave them free to act
upon the scale and dirt adhering to the tube.
Having thus fully described the said Invention as communicated to me by
my foreign correspondents, and shewn how the same may be conveniently and
advantageously carried into practice, I claim,-
First, an improved tube cleaner formed by the combination of the series of
spiral scrapers C, the stationary head B, and the moveable head D, with each
other and with the rod A, substantially as herein shown and described.
Second, the combination of one or more elastic or flexible scrapers G
with the rod A, substantially as herein shown and described, and for the
purpose set forth.
Third, the combination of the coiled spring E or equivalent and adjusting
nut F with the rod A and moveable head D, substantially as herein shown and
described, and for the purpose set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Robert Lake, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-second day of July, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE. (LS.)