IMPROVEMENTS IN WORKING FURNACES AND STEAM BOILERS, AND IN APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to David Auld and David Auld, junior, both of Glasgow,
in the County of Lanark, North Britain, Engineers, for the Invention
of " IMPROVEMENTS IN WORKING FURNACES AND STEAM BOILERS, AND IN
APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH."
Sealed the 22nd May 1863, and dated the 27th November 1862.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said David Auld and David
Auld, junior, at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their
Pétition, on the 27th November 1862.
We, DAVID AULD and DAVID AULD, junior, both of Glasgow, in the County.
of Lanark, North Britain, Engineers, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN WORKING FURNACES AND STEAM BOILERS, AND IN
APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH," to be as follows, that is to say:
This Invention relates to the arrangement and construction of apparatus for
regulating the supply of air to the furnaces of steam boilers, also to self-acting
apparatus for supplying water to the boiler, and to an apparatus to be attached
to the float for giving an audible signal when the water falls, below & given
point in the boiler..
The self-acting apparatus for supplying air to the furnace consists, under
one modification, of a sliding panel arranged at the front of the furnace door,
the back part of which is formed with openings similar, to the arrangement of

page_text: a venetian blind. The sliding panel is connected by a chain which is carried
up over a pulley arranged in the upper part of the boiler, and is attached to a
bell crank or other lever, by which it is connected to Mr. Auld's self-acting
damper, Patent of 9th November 1844, No. 10,386, or other similar appa-
ratus. When the damper is raised by a decrease in the pressure of the steam
the damper apparatus at the same time raises the sliding panel so as to admit
a larger supply of air to the fuel, and thus increase the rate of combustion.
If the steam is generated too rapidly the damper and sliding panel are lowered
and the combustion of the fuel is checked. The air-regulating apparatus may
be adapted to any self-acting damper or apparatus, the connection being made
to suit the particular kind of apparatus employed. The same apparatus or a
modification thereof is also capable of judicious application for the regulation
of the air draught in the furnace and flues of the boiler. For this purpose the
operating apparatus herein-before described is connected in any convenient
manner with a gridiron or other valve situated in the ash-pit of the boiler or
other conveniently available position, so that the amount of air admitted will
always be in exact accordance with the requirements of the boiler.
The self-acting feed apparatus for supplying boilers with water is based to
a certain extent upon former Inventions of Mr. Auld's, for which he obtained
Letters Patent, dated respectively the 10th day of February 1860, No. 359,
and the 22nd day of November 1860, No. 2865. Under one form of arrange-
ment the improved apparatus consists of an iron cylinder or water chamber,
into which a pipe leading from the source of supply opens; this pipe is fitted
with a valve chamber and valve just outside the water chamber. A bent pipe
for supplying the water to the boiler is carried down to the lower part of the
water chamber, the bend passing through the upper part of the water chamber
and descending below it, the lower part of the pipe being bent at right angles
and then turned upwards. In this upwardly turned part a chamber is formed,
in which is arranged an elastic diaphragm which has a valve spindle connected
to it. This spindle passes up through a small pipe into which the steam pipe
from the boiler opens, and at the upper end of the spindle is a valve which
works in a chamber that is connected to a pipe opening into the upper part of
the water chamber. The pipe which conveys the water from the chamber
above into the boiler branches off from the bent pipe and is then carried
downwards into the boiler, a valve chamber and valve being fitted in the
laterally branching part. With this arrangement the water flows from the
tank into the chamber and down the bent pipe, and acts upon the diaphragm
so as to lift the valve and allow the steam to pass into the water chamber.

page_text: The pressure of the steam causes the water to descend and flow through the
bent pipe into the boiler. When the supply of water in the chamber has been
passed into the boiler, the steam valve shuts, and the water chamber is again
filled from the tank, a pendent valve fitted above the steam valve being
provided to allow of the escape of any air that may get into the water
chamber. The valve in the supply pipe may be connected to a regulating
float in the boiler, if required, to regulate the water level when the steam is
down in the boiler.
The apparatus for giving an audible signal in case the water in a boiler
should get too low consists in attaching to the ordinary float a tubular stem
which passes up through a stuffing box on the top of the boiler. The upper
end of this stem is provided with a whistle, and a lateral hole is made lower
down corresponding to the point where the alarum is wished to be given. The
tubular stem is connected by a swivel to a chain and weight to counterpoise
the float. When the water in the boiler sinks below the predetermined height
the side aperture in the tubular stem passes inside the boiler, and the steam
passing through it, a shrill signal is given, which warns the attendant that the
boiler is becoming short of water.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said David Auld and David Auld, junior, in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 27th May 1863.
° TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, DAVID
AULD and DAVID AULD, junior, both of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark,
North Britain, Engineers, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of November, in the year of our
Lord.One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-sixth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
us, the said David Auld and David Auld, junior, Her special license that we,
the said David Auld and David Auld, junior, our executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as we, the said David Auld and David Auld, junior,
our executors, administrators, or 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

page_text: the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and
Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN WORKING FURNACES AND STEAM
BOILERS, AND IN APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH," upon the condition (amongst
others), that we, the said David Auld and David Auld, junior, our executors
or administrators, by an instrument in writing under our hands and seals, or
under the hand and seal of one of them, 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 we, the said David Auld and David Auld, junior,
do hereby declare the nature of our 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 accompanying Drawings,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say :-
Our said Invention relates to the arrangement and construction of apparatus
for regulating the supply of air to the furnaces of steam boilers, also to
self-acting apparatus for supplying water to the boiler.
The self-acting apparatus for supplying air to the furnace consists, under
one modification, of a sliding panel arranged at the front of the furnace door,
the back part of which is formed with openings similar to the arrangement of
a venetian blind. The sliding panel is connected by a chain which is carried
up over a pulley arranged on the upper part of the boiler, and is attached to
a bell crank or other suitable lever by which it is connected to one of Auld's
self-acting dampers or other similar and suitable apparatus. In lieu of the
arrangement of a sliding panel, a throttle or other suitable valve may be used
instead, where such modification is found more convenient. When the
pressure of the steam falls, the damper apparatus is brought into operation,
and this being in connection with the sliding panel or other valve, it is thereby
raised so as to allow a larger supply of air to pass through the fuel, and thus
increase the rate of combustion as well as the generation of the steam.
the other hand, if the steam is generated too rapidly, the self-acting apparatus
causes the damper and sliding panel, or its equivalent arrangement, to be
lowered, and so check the combustion of the fuel. This air-regulating appa-
ratus may be readily adapted to and connected with any suitable self-acting
damper apparatus, the connection being so arranged as to suit the particular
kind of apparatus employed; or, in lieu of this combination, the sliding panel
may be arranged so as to operate in conjunction with a loaded disc, or piston,
On

page_text: or a "reducing valve," or other self-acting valvular apparatus, by means of
which the steam is kept at a uniform or nearly uniform pressure. This
apparatus, or a modification of the same, is also applicable for the regulation
of the air draught in the furnace and flues of the boiler. For this purpose,
the apparatus, herein-before described, is connected in any suitable manner
with a "gridiron" or other valve situated in the ash-pit of the furnace or other
conveniently available position, so that the amount of draft admitted will
always be in exact accordance with the requirements of the boiler.
The improved apparatus for supplying boilers with water by self-acting
means is delineated under one modification on the accompanying Sheet of
Drawings; the Figure represents an elevation of the apparatus partly in
section: A pipe A leads from the water tank or other source of supply from
which the water is obtained. This pipe is fitted with a valve chamber B,
containing a valve, which when open, admits the water to the cylinder or
water chamber C. The cylinder is fitted with a close cover, in which is a
small valve D, opening inwards, and is so arranged to allow of the escape of
air from the cylinder C. In the cylinder cover is fitted the bent steam pipe E;
which branches off laterally, and enters the chamber F; this chamber is
provided with a close cover, and in the lower part is a vertical branch in
which is a valve seating to receive the valve G. This valve is connected to
the lever and counterweight H, by which the valve and its connected parts
are properly balanced. The vertical branch of the chamber F opens into
the pipe I, down which is carried the spindle J, that serves to connect the
valve G with an elastic diaphragm K, arranged within the chamber L. This
chamber is in communication with the pipe M, which extends upwards, and
is carried by a lateral branch into the cylinder C, where it terminates near
the bottom, as shown by the dotted lines. At the lower part of the stand
pipe M is a lateral branch which opens into the valve chamber N, and
branching off from this chamber is the pipe O, which extends downwards into
the boiler P. A smaller pipe Q is arranged so that its open end terminates
at the proper level of the water within the boiler; outside the boiler this
pipe extends upwards, and enters the chamber F.
When the apparatus is in operation, the whole is filled with water which
flows from the tank or other source of supply into the cylinder C and pipe M;
water is also forced up the pipe Q from the boiler, and fills the chamber F,
and the pipes E and I, the valve G being kept open by the pressure of the
column of water in the pipe M acting on the under side of the diaphragm K;
and as long as the lower end of the pipe Q is below the surface of the water

page_text: in the boiler, the apparatus will remain in this state of equilibrium; but
when the water in the boiler sinks below the mouth of the pipe Q, which is
the predetermined level, the steam rushes up the pipe, passes into the valve
chamber F, and by the pipe E into the cylinder C, where its pressure forces
the water contained therein down the pipe M, and by the branch pipe O into
the boiler P. During this action the valve in the box B, as well as the air
valves D and R are closed by the pressure of the steam acting upon their
surfaces; the pressure on the water also serves to open the valve in the
chamber N, and thus admit of the water passing into the boiler by the
pipe O. The self-acting valve R is fitted to the upper part of the pipe M to
allow of the escape of any air that may collect therein.
Another mode of arranging this apparatus, where the position of the boiler
does not admit of having the pipe M, extending up so high, consists in
arranging at a convenient part of the pipe M a cylinder connected with the
water supply. In this cylinder is fitted a float which is connected by means
of a rod passing down the pipe to a lever which is centred to one side of the
box or chamber in which the elastic diaphragm K is arranged, the lever
being connected by a link to the diaphragm, or its equivalent arrangement.
The arrangement for the admission of the steam to the upper valve chamber
and the cylinder is similar to that herein-before described and shown in the
accompanying Drawing. As the cylinder is filler with water the float
gradually raises the lever connected to the diaphragm or other arrangement,
which being lifted also raises the upper valve, so that when the steam passes
through the pipe Q, and acts on the surface of the water in the cylinder, it is
immediately forced into the boiler through the feed pipe O. The descent of
the float causes the upper valve to close and shut off the egress of the steam
into the cylinder, which is again filled by the water passing into it from the
tank or other reservoir in readiness to afford another supply to the boiler
when required. In this way a constant and regular supply of water to the
boiler is maintained without requiring any personal attention on the part of
those in charge.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of our said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried
into effect, we would observe, in conclusion, that what we consider novel and
original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to us by the herein-
before in part recited Letters Patent, is,―
First, the arrangement, construction, and combination of parts forming the
self-acting apparatus for regulating the supply of air to the furnaces and flues

page_text: of steam boilers, as herein-before described, or any mere modification of the
said arrangements.
Second, the arrangement, construction, and combination of parts forming
the self-acting apparatus for affording a regular supply of water to boilers, as
herein-before described and shown in the accompanying Drawing, or any mere
modification of the said arrangements.
In witness whereof, we, the said David Auld and David Auld, junior,
have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Twenty-fifth day of May,
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three.
DAVID AULD.
(L.S.)
DAVID AULD, JUNIOR. (L.S.)