IMPROVEMENTS IN BOLLERS OR STEAM GENERATORS
Year: 1849

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain and Ireland,
bearing date at Westminster, the Seventeenth day of April, in the twelfth year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said William Edward Newton, Her especial license, full power, sole
privilege and authority, that I, the said William Edward Newton, my exors,
adiñors, and assigns, and such others as I, the said William Edward Newton,
my exors, adiiors, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others,
from time to time and at all times during the term of years therein mentioned,
should and lawfully might nake, use, exercise, and vend, within England,
Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and in all Her Majesty's
Colonies and Plantations abroad, and in the Islands of Jersey, Guernsey,
Alderney, Sark, and Man, an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN BOLLERS OR STEAM
GENERATORS," being a communication from abroad; in which said Letters
Patent is contained a proviso, obliging me, the said William Edward Newton,
by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, particularly to describe
and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, and to cause the same to be enrolled in Her Majesty's
High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately

page_text: after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same,
reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
William Edward Newton, do hereby declare that the nature of the said Inven-
tion, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, is particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following description thereof, reference
being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures
marked thereon (that is to say):-
These improvements in boilers or steam generators, for which I have
obtained Letters Patent, as aforesaid, relate to that class of boilers or genera-
tors in which water tubes are used instead of flue tubes, the water passing
through the tubes and the heat circulating outside of them.
In the accompanying Drawings, Fig. 1 is a longitudinal vertical section of
what is generally known as a "locomotive boiler," with the improvements
adapted thereto; Fig. 2, a transverse vertical section of the same, taken in a
line drawn through the centre of the fire box; Fig. 3 is another transverse sec-
tion, taken in the line 1. . . 2, of Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is a longitudinal vertical
section of a modification of the improvements; and Fig. 5 is a longitudinal
vertical section of another modification of the Invention as applied to a
stationary boiler; Fig. 6 is a cross section of a boiler, with the tubes placed
transversely instead of longitudinally. The same letters indicate like parts in
all the Figures.
The principle of the first part of the Invention, and that which distinguishes
it from all other tubular boilers, consists in making the tubes or pipes through
which the water circulates, and which open at both ends to the body of water
in the boiler, with a curve or bend upwards at one end, by means of which
ample allowance is made for the unequal expansion of the tubes and the parts
to which they are attached, and by means of which also I obtain a more rapid
and perfect circulation of water over the heated surface of the metal, thereby
taking up the heat and evolving steam more rapidly, and at the same time
preventing the water from being driven out of the tubes, and the consequent
danger of burning the metal.
The second part of the Invention consists in arranging the tubes with the
curved or bent-up ends towards the most intense heat, that is, towards the
furnace, so that the water may circulate in the reverse direction of the current
or currents of the heated products of combustion, by means of which the circu-
lation of water through the tubes or pipes is increased, whilst at the same time
the heat is applied more effectively and economically.

page_text: And the last part of the Invention consists in extending the upper ends of
the tubes above the upper surface of the roof, crown, or other plate to which
they are attached, so that the ebullition and evolution of steam may be carried
nearer to the surface of the water.
In the several Figures of the Drawing, a represents the external shell of the
boiler, which may be of any desired form; and b, the fire chamber. Within
the shell is arranged a series of water tubes or pipes c, which are secured at
the back end to a vertical plate d, which plate d is at such distance from the
end plate or head e of the boiler as to leave a space f for the free admission of
water to this end of the tubes or pipes. The other ends of the said tubes or
pipes are curved, or bent upwards, and attached to the roof or crown plate g,
which runs back to and is connected at the back end with the plate d before
described. It is connected at the front end with a vertical plate h or lining of
the furnace, and at the sides with the upper edges of a plate i within the
boiler, and at such distance from it as to leave a water space j all around, and
communicating with the space f at the back end, and with the water spaces k
surrounding the furnace, as seen in the transverse section. This plate i, toge-
ther with the roof or crown plate, constitutes the fire flue which leads from the
furnace to the chimney 7, so that the flame and other products of combustion
in passing from the furnace to the chimney act first on the curved or bent part
of the tubes or pipes, and then, in passing towards the chimney, act on and
impart heat to the external surface of all the water tubes or pipes, the most
intense heat being applied to the curved or bent ends of the tubes, which first
receive the action of the heat. The products of the combustion also heat the
plates g, h, i, which constitute the inner shell of the water space surrounding
the flue. The tubes are curved, or bent upwards, as shewn, and the water in
them being heated and rarified, it will tend to rise in the curved ends, and thus
establish a rapid circulation through their entire length; and as their outer end
is connected with the body of water at the back at d, and where the water is
not heated to so intense a degree, the circulation in the tubes or pipes will be
fully supplied, thus establishing and keeping up a constant and rapid circu-
lation of water through the boiler, which will have the effect to take up and
absorb the heat from the surface of the metal with great rapidity; and as the
curved and bent ends of the tubes are either directly over or nearest to the fire
chamber, they will be more highly heated than the rear ends, so that the water
by its circulation through the tubes or pipes will move in a direction the
reverse of the current of heat as it passes from the fire chamber to the
chimney, thus increasing the absorption of heat by the water.

page_text: For the purpose of delivering the steam nearer to the surface of the water,
the curved ends of the tubes or pipes are extended above the roof or crown
plate g, as at m (Figs. 1 and 2), so that a greater depth of water can be
maintained above the roof or crown plate, thus lessening the liability of
explosions, to which it would otherwise be exposed, by reason of the action
of the heat on the roof without the presence of water, for the water may sink
below the upper ends of the tubes without impeding the circulation, as the
water is not received but only delivered at this end of the tubes or pipes.
The shell of the boiler at the horizontal end of the tubes or pipes may be
perforated, as at n, with a series of holes, corresponding with the bore of the
tubes (or with one large hole for the whole series), covered with a plate o, in
the manner of a man-hole, for giving access to the tubes or pipes for cleansing
or repairing them when required.
Instead of making the tubes or pipes in one single series from end to end,
they may be made in two or more series, as represented in Fig. 4 of the
accompanying Drawing, the curved or bent-up ends of each series being
towards the furnace, the first series extending over the fire chamber. Or they
may be arranged as represented in Fig. 5, where they are employed to connect
different portions of the length of a cylindrical or other formed boiler, the
curved or bent-up ends of the tubes or pipes being made to pass up through
the bottom of the boiler, and the horizontal ends being connected with a water
well or leg, as at p, of any form desired, so that the water may enter this end
of the tubes or pipes to supply the circulation. Or the rear end of the tubes
or pipes may also be curved or bent up, and pass through the bottom of the
boiler, as at q, in the same Figure, the forward ends, however, being extended
up to a higher level, as at », to insure the circulation towards the highest end,
and that which first receives the action of the heat. Or they may be arranged
transversely, as represented in Figure 6.
The first part of the Invention, that is, the simple employment of tubes
with curved or bent-up ends, may be employed with some advantage without
the second and third parts, as, for instance, the tubes may be arranged trans-
versely, as represented in Fig. 6, with the curved or bent-up ends passing
through the roof or crown plate, and the horizontal ends through the inner
plate of the side water space. And the third part of the Invention may be
employed without the first and second parts, as the extension of the upper
ends of the tubes above the surface of the plates to which they are attached
is irrespective of their form and location, but when all the parts of the Inven-
tion are employed in connection the best results will be obtained.

page_text: Having now described the various improvements in steam generators, which
have been communicated to me by my foreign correspondent, and the best
means with which I am acquainted for carrying the same into effect, I would
observe, in conclusion, that I do not intend to limit myself to the modes above
specified for carrying out the principles of the Invention, as they may doubtless
be varied still more without departing from the nature and object of the
present Invention, and it would be impossible to describe every modification of
the principle, so as to render it applicable to all the various purposes for which
it may be employed; but that which I consider to be new, and therefore wish
to claim as the Invention secured to me by the herein-before in part recited
Letters Patent, is, making the water tubes or pipes of a steam boiler or
generator with one of the ends curved or bent up, both ends of the said tubes
or pipes being made to communicate with the body of water in the boiler.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and scal, this Seventeenth day of October, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-nine.
W. E. (L.S.) NEWTON.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Seventeenth day of October,
in the year of our Lord 1849, the aforesaid William Edward Newton came
before our said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the
Specification aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified,
in form above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped
according to the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Enrolled the Seventeenth day of October, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and forty-nine.