AN IMPROVED ARRANGEMENT OF APPARATUS FOR REGULATING THE SUPPLY OF WATER TO STEAM BOILERS
Year: 1840

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
KNOWLES, of Little Bolton, in the County of Lancaster, Coal Merchant,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the Tenth day of March, in the third year of Her reign, did, for
Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said James
Knowles, Her especial licence, that I, the said James Knowles, my exors,
adñiors, and assigns, or such others as I, the said James Knowles, my exors,
admors, 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 expressed, should and
lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the
Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "AN IMPROVED ARRANGEMENT
OF APPARATUS FOR REGULATING THE SUPPLY OF WATER TO STEAM BOILERS;" in
which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso obliging me, the said James
Knowles, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, particularly
to describe and ascertain the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, and to cause the same to be enrolled in Her said
Majesty's High Court of Chancery within four calendar months next and imme-
diately after the date of the said recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same
reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
James Knowles, do hereby declare the nature of my said Invention to consist
in an apparatus for feeding steam boilers with water, the working parts of
which are inside the boiler, and communicate with the feeding or supply valve
from the inside. And in further compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
James Knowles, do hereby describe the manner in which my said Invention is
to be performed by the following statement thereof, reference being had to the
Drawing annexed, and to the figures and letters marked thereon, that is to
say:
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Figure 1 is a longitudinal section of a steam boiler, with one of my improved
apparatuses fitted thereto. A is the end of the feed pipe leading from the boiler,
pump, or tank, or any other suitable source, yielding a supply of water to the
boiler. B is the valve chamber, C.the_valve, and D a rod attached to the
valve C at one end, and to the lever F by a bolt joint at the other end; E is
an opening to enable the workman to attach the rod to the valve. J, J, is a
pipe or tube through which the rod D works, and G is an arm projecting from
the bottom of the tube to support the lever F, and through which the fulcrum
of that lever passes. H is a float with a small tell-tale rod I passing from it
to the outside of the boiler, as at K, with a handle as there shewn. L is the
water line. From this arrangement of apparatus it results that so long as
there is as much water as is here shewn, or more in the boiler, the float acting
upwards lifts up the long arm of the lever F, and thus draws down the rod D,
which is attached to the short arm of the same lever, and thus closes the valve
C; but if the water should by evaporation or otherwise at any time sink below
the level shown at L, the weight of the float H, rod I, and long arm of the lever
F, will draw down the rod I as far as the handle at K will allow it to sink,
and thus push up the rod D, which will open the valve C, and thus let in a
fresh supply of water whenever needed, while as soon as the water reaches
the level shown at L, the float will be buoyed up and close the valve again.
Figure 2 represents two boilers side by side fitted with my said improved ap-
paratus, showing how, by the communication pipe M, two boilers may be fed
from the same source. Figure 3 are plans of the boilers shown in section at
Figure 2, shewing the upper side of the float, and a plan of the lever F, with
its balance weight N; and as similar letters are used to denote similar parts in
all the Figures, no further description will be necessary.
And whereas I claim as my Invention the improved self-acting apparatus
aforesaid for regulating the supply of water to steam boilers, the working parts
of which apparatus are within the boiler, and communicate to the supply

page_text: valve from within, the rod I being only a tell-tale rod to give warning when
the feed or supply falls short, and furnished with a handle merely to enable the
boiler man to close the supply valve at pleasure, in case of requiring the boiler
to be emptied, by drawing the rod up, or to increase the supply when required
by pressing upon it and thus keeping the float down. And such my Invention
being to the best of my knowledge and belief entirely new and never before
used within that part of Her said Majesty's United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland called England, Her said Dominion of Wales, or Town of Berwick-
upon-Tweed, I do hereby declare this to be my Specification of the same, and
that I do verily believe this my said Specification doth comply in all respects
with the proviso in the said herein-before in part recited Letters Patent con-.
tained. Wherefore I hereby claim to maintain exclusive right and privilege
to my said Invention.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Knowles, have hereunto set my
hand and cool this Coventh dan of Tulu in the work of own Land One
Inrolled the Eighth day of July, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and forty.