Improvements in Safety Apparatus for Steam Generators.
Year: 1891

page_text: Date of Application, 11th Dec., 1891
Complete Specification Left, 10th Sept., 1892-Accepted, 15th Oct., 1892
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Safety Apparatus for Steam Generators.
I JAMES JORDAN of 65 Bayley Street, Staleybridge, in the County of
Lancaster, Pattern Maker, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be
as follows:
My invention relates to the safety valves and connected parts which are applied
In certain forms of
to steam generators to aid in the prevention of accidents.
such apparatus a valve is opened in the event of the water level falling to a
dangerous extent and steam is permitted to escape so as to relieve the pressure within
the boiler. The said valve is in addition to the valve which opens on the steam
pressure rising too high. Apparatus so constructed has become well known under the
designation of the "Hopkinson Safety Valve" and the object of my invention is
to improve this class of valve. I provide the apparatus with a steam whistle or
sounding alarm which gives early warning in the case of excessive lowering of the
water level and thereby gives time for the attendant to admit water so as to
prevent the loss of steam which would be caused by the relief valve opening.
In place of the solid spindle through which the lifting lever acts upon the low-
water relief valve I use a hollow spindle through which passes a rod which is used
to open the additional valve to admit steam to the whistle. The last named valve
is kept closed by a spring or load of a power sufficient to resist the working pressure
of steam. The lower end of the said rod is acted upon by the float lever in
advance of the action of the lever upon the escape valve spindle. In one arrange-
ment which I consider to be suitable for the purpose the said lever acts upon a key
which passes through a slot in the rod. In case the lowering of the water level
should continue after the whistle has commenced to sound the lever would continue
to lift the rod until the said key would come into contact with a collar upon the
hollow spindle or would otherwise bear upward upon the spindle and the relief would
thereby be opened. The steam whistle valve and the low water relief valve would
be seated within a hollow shell formed on or attached to the high pressure relief
valve. I may make both of the main valves or all of the valves of globular
seated formation.
Dated this 8th day of December 1891
D
LTON,
ON
1, St. James' Square, Manchester, Agents.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Safety Apparatus for Steam Generators.
I JAMES JORDAN of 65 Bayley Street, Staley bridge, in the County of
Lancaster, Pattern Maker, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in
what manner the same is to be performed to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement and accompanying drawings :-
My invention relates to the safety valves and connected parts which are applied
In certain forms of such
to steam generators to aid in the prevention of accidents.
apparatus a valve is opened in the event of the water level falling to a dangerous
extent and steam is permitted to escape so as to relieve the pressure within the
boiler. The said valve is in addition to the valve which opens on the steam
pressure rising too high. Apparatus so constructed has become well known under
the designation of the "Hopkinson Safety Valve" and the object of my invention
is to improve this class of valve. I provide the apparatus with a steam whistle or

page_text: sounding alarm which gives early warning in the case of excessive lowering of the
water level and thereby gives time for the attendant to admit water so as to
prevent the loss of steam which would be caused by the relief valve opening.
In order that the nature and object of my invention may be clearly understood I
will describe the same with reference to the accompanying drawings
--
In the said drawings Fig. 1 partly in section represents the complete apparatus.
Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the valves and connected parts drawn to a larger
scale than Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 also drawn to a larger scale is a sectional view of part
of the apparatus which is within the steam generator.
In Figs. 1 and 2, a is the low-water alarm whistle which I have applied to the
ordinary safety valve apparatus and 6 in Fig. 2 is the valve which when opened
gives the steam access to such whistle.
r
The main safety valve is of an ordinary or suitable construction. The low-
water relief valve is seen at d in Fig. 2. Previously to my invention this valve d
has been adapted to be connected by a solid rod with the float lever inside the
boiler. I make this valve hollow and I connect it with the float lever e by means
of a tube and I adapt the valve to carry the whistle a. The tube extends
downward through the stand g into the steam space of the boiler the shell of the
boiler being represented in section by h. The lower end of the tube is screwed to
receive a collar f¹ which also appears in Fig. 3. The float lever e is formed with
a slot through which the lower end of the tube fpasses and on each side of this
slot is a projection e' these projections being intended to press upward upon the
collar fat the times when the low-water float i would have fallen to a dangerous
extent.
The whistle valve 6 is attached to the upper end of a rod k which extends down-
ward through the tube f and carries by its lower end a weight which with the
assistance of a spring m within the hollow stem of the valve d keeps the valve b
closed and thereby prevents the whistle from sounding during the proper working
of the boiler. To the lower end of the tube is attached a heavier load n which
keeps the valve d closed until the low-water apparatus comes into action. A cross
head o is fixed upon the rod k and for convenience of fixing this cross head, and
adjusting its position, the lower part of the rod is screwed to a point above the
cross head as seen in Fig. 3. The two ends of the cross head pass through slots
in the tube and enter recesses formed in the projections e¹. In place of this
.construction the cross head or a collar or part of any suitable form may extend
over the sides of the slot in the lever so that when the lever is turned upon its
fulcrum by the excessive falling of the float the lever will press upward against the
cross head or the part used in its place. The collar f¹ is secured upon a screwed
part of the tube and can be adjusted in position and locked by means of a nut f.
The cross head when adjusted may be drilled to receive a pin to keep it in place
or it may be otherwise locked or secured. The parts are so adjusted as that the
lever e will first lift the rod k without affecting the tube f and on the float falling a
little lower will lift the said tube by acting upon the collar fl. The manner in
which the whistle is applied to the valve d is clearly shown in Fig. 2 but the
formation may be varied so long as the desired action of the parts is obtained.
The action of the parts may be described as follows:-During the proper
working of the boiler the water level being maintained within the limits of safety
the lever e has no action upon the tube and rods fand k but on the water falling
too low the lever e would lift the rod k whereby the valve b would be raised and
steam would have access to the whistle and an alarm would be sounded. If this
warning were disregarded or if the water level were allowed to fall still lower the
lever e would push up the tube f whereby the valve d would be raised and steam
would be permitted to escape. It will thus be seen that by the proper adjustment
of the parts the whistle may be caused to give early warning of the water level
falling to an extent which should be avoided so that the attendant is warned
without the excessive waste of steam which would occur when the valve d would
be raised.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. The combination of parts constituting the complete apparatus as and for the
purpose set forth and indicated.
2. The combination of the steam boiler safety valve c and the low-water steam
escape valve d with the steam whistle a and valve 6 and with parts for connecting
the last named valve with the float lever inside the boiler so that such lever shall
cause the valve to open in advance of the valve d substantially as and for the
purpose set forth and indicated.
3. In steam boiler safety apparatus having a high pressure escape valve and a
low water steam escape valve the addition of a third valve lifted by the low water
float lever in advance of the low water steam escape valve and when to lifted
passing steam to a sound alarm substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
4. In combination with a low water steam escape valve such as d a tube f
attached to such valve and provided with a collar for adapted to be acted upon
by the low water float lever the valve 6 with its rod k and cross head o or part
adapted to be operated by the said lever and the steam whistle a the whole
arranged and designed to act substantially as and for the purpose set forth and
indicated.
Dated this 9th day of September 1892.
E. K. DUTTON & Co.,
5, John Dalton Street, Manchester, Agents.