IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Samuel Mellor, of Salford, in the County of Lan-
caster, Mechanic, and Thomas Young, of the City of Manchester,
Tobacco Manufacturer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY
Scaled the 1st February 1856, and dated the 1st August 1855.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Samuel Mellor and Thomas
Young at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their Petition,
on the 1st August 1855.
We, SAMUEL MELLOR, of Salford, in the County of Lancaster, Mechanic,
and THOMAS YOUNG, of the City of Manchester, Tobacco Manufacturer, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY FOR SUPPLYING WATER TO STEAM BOILERS" to be as follows:--
Our Invention consists in supplying boilers with water by means of a piston
working in a cylinder in connexion with the boiler to be supplied. The lower
end of the cylinder is in communication with a pipe opening into the boiler,
and furnished with a valve attached to a floater. When the level of the
water is too low, the floater in descending admits steam into the pipe, thereby
raising the piston in the cylinder and drawing a supply of water from the feed
pipe. As soon as the piston is at the top of the cylinder, the steam is admitted
from the boiler to the upper side of the piston and forces it down, thereby

page_text: forcing into the boiler the water that had been drawn from the feed pipe.
These operations continue until the level of the water rises the float and closes
the valve at the bottom of the pipe connected to the cylinder.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Samuel Mellor and Thomas Young in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 1st February 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, SAMUEL
MELLOR, of Salford, in the County of Lancaster, Mechanic, and THOMAS
YOUNG, of the City of Manchester, Tobacco Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the First day of August, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the nineteenth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the said
Samuel Mellor and Thomas Young, Her special license that we, the said Samuel
Mellor and Thomas Young, our executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as we, the said Samuel Mellor and Thomas Young, our 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR SUPPLYING WATER TO STEAM
BOILERS," upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said Samuel Mellor
and Thomas Young, our executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under our, or their, or one of our or 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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said Samuel Mellor and Thomas Young,
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 Specification thereof, reference being had to the accompanying
Drawing (that is to say):-
The nature of our Invention consists in an improved arrangement of
machinery, put in motion by the direct application of steam from a steam boiler,
by which the requisite supply of water is obtained from the supply pipe and

page_text: forced into the said boiler.
We have in the said Drawing shewn how our
improvements may be constructed, similar parts in both views being marked
with similar letters of reference.
Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of our improved machinery for supplying
water to steam boilers; and Figure 2, a front elevation of the same. a is part
of the boiler to which our improved machinery is attached; b is the lower
cylinder, which is made with two flanges; the lower one is rivetted to the boiler,
and in the upper one are secured the four pillars c, for supporting the lower
lid d of the upper cylinder e, which is closed by the top lid f. Within the
cylinder e is the piston g, which is attached to the plunger h, working in a
stuffing box formed in the lower lid d. The plunger h is made of one piece
with the plunger i, which works in a stuffing box in the cylinder b. Between
the plungers h and i is the three-way valve j, which can be turned so as to
allow the steam to pass from the boiler to the upper side of the piston 9, or
to allow the steam from the cylinder e to enter into the exhaust pipe k. The
pipe 1, screwed into the lid d, is in communication with the feed pipes, and
the pipe m, also screwed into the lid d, is in communication with the boiler;
n is a ball clack valve in the pipe m, the object of which will be explained
hereafter. There is a similar ball valve in
three-way valve j is jointed the socket o of the hollow rod p, which is partly
filled with mercury, or other heavy substance that will run from one end of the
rod to the other, for the purpose of making each end preponderate alternately.
The socket o is loose on the spindle of the valve j, but connected to it by
recesses acting on notches projecting from the collar q, see Figure 1. The
object of this arrangement is to allow the rod p, which in rising and descending
comes in contact with the studs s, s¹, to pass the centre sufficiently to make the
mercury or other substance in the rod p to run towards the end thereof, and
thereby acquire sufficient momentum before the valve j is acted upon. In
Figure 1, t is the floater, the shank of which fits in a tube attached to the
lower cylinder b.
the pipe 1. To the spindle of the
The mode of operation is as follows:-The Drawings are shewn in the
positions the various parts occupy when the water in the boiler is at its proper
level, and consequently when no water is required to be pumped in.
As soon
as the level of the water descends sufficiently, the shank of the floater uncovers
the passage u, thereby admitting steam to the under side of the plunger i.
This steam causes the piston g and the plungers h and i to rise in the cylinders
b and e.
When the plungers ascend, the water from the supply pipe 7 fills
the
space between the plunger h and the inside of the cylinder e. When the
plungers are rising, the rod p remains in the diagonal position shewn in

page_text: Figure 2 until the right-hand end comes against the stud s'. The rod p then
gradually assumes a horizontal position, and when the pistons are at the top of
the lift a slightly diagonal position in the contrary direction, thereby causing
the quicksilver or other substance to run to the other end of the rod, and cause
it to assume the position shewn by a dotted line in Figure 2. The valve j,
which during the up stroke of the plungers is in the position to allow. the
steam in the cylinder e to pass down the pipe v into the exhaust pipe k, is then
brought into the position for allowing the steam to pass through the plungers,
and thence to the upper side of the piston g. The steam acting on the piston g
then forces it down again, and the water that was in the cylinder e is forced
through the pipe m, and thence into the boiler. The ball valve n is opened
by the water passing to the boiler, and when the water has passed the pressure
of steam closes the ball valve again. The ball valve in the pipe l is opened
when the water is drawn into the cylinder e, and closed when the piston g
descends. As soon as the piston g is at the bottom of its stroke the position
of the valve j is again changed, by the rod p coming in contact with the stud s,
and the up stroke is repeated as before. When the level of the water in the
boiler rises sufficiently to make the shank of the floater close the orifice
steam is shut off from the boiler to the plunger i, and the pumping ceases.
the
Having thus stated the nature of our Invention, and described the manner
of performing the same, we wish it to be understood that we do not limit
ourselves to the details herein set forth, as they may be varied without depart-
ing from the peculiar character of our Invention, and that what we claim is,
the improved arrangement of machinery put in motion by the direct applica-
tion of steam for supplying water to steam boilers, as shewn and described.
In witness whereof, we, the said Samuel Mellor and Thomas Young,
have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Thirtieth day of January,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
Witness,
H. B. BARLOW,
Manchester.
SAMUEL MELLOR. (L.S.)
THOMAS YOUNG. (L.S.)