IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR CLEANING THE PLATES AND FLUES OF STEAM BOILERS
Year: 1877

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Baxter, Leigh Baxter, and George Baxter, Cotton
Spinners, and Luke Rushworth, Mechanic, all of Hollinwood, in the County of
Lancaster, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR CLEANING
THE PLATES AND FLUES OF STEAM BOILERS."
Scaled the 31st May 1878, and dated the 3rd December 1877.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Baxter, Leigh
Baxter, George Baxter, and Luke Rushworth at the Office of the Com-
missioners of Patents on the 3rd December 1877.
HENRY BAXTER, LEIGH BAXTER, and GEORGE BAXTER, Cotton Spinners, and
LUKE RUSHWORTH, Mechanic, all of Hollinwood, in the County of Lancaster.
** IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR CLEANING THE PLATES AND FLUES OF
STEAM BOILERS."
Our Invention consists in certain novel combinations of scrapers for detaching
the soot from the plates of steam boilers, and of swivel arms or levers supported on
moveable carriages or frames, whereby the said scrapers are caused to bear or rub
against the plates with any desired amount of pressure, but are at the same time at
liberty to yield to the irregularities in the surface of the plates, and to pass freely
over lines of rivets, lap plates, or seams, while moving in the direction of the axis
or length of the boiler.
We propose to form the scrapers with back and front faces inclined to each other
at an obtuse angle, to enable them to mount over obstructions as mentioned above,
or we may use inclined or curved ribs in the middle or at the ends of scrapers with
square or acute angled faces.
Furthermore, our Invention consists in agitators, scrapers, or dredger buckets
attached to the same carriages as the above-mentioned levers and scrapers or to the

page_text: peripheries of the wheels of the said carriages, whereby the flue dust and soot which
would otherwise accumulate in the flues and impede the draught and the action
of the carriages is stirred up and mingled with the gaseous products of combustion,
or forcibly pushed or carried to one end of the flue, so as to be easily removed by
the stoker. We propose to actuate or propel the carriages by manual or steam
power through the medium of rods, chains, or racks, and spur worm or bevil gear,
as may be most convenient. We propose to place two or more carriages, each
carrying scrapers, as described above, at intervals, in oach flue, so as to give greater
stability and to diminish the amount of traverso of the said carriages.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Henry Baxter, Leigh Baxter, George Baxter, and Luke Kushworth
in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 3rd June 1878.
HENRY BAXTER, LEIGH BAXTER, and GEORGE BAXTER, Cotton Spinners, and
LUKE RUSHWORTH, Mechanic, all of Hollinwood, in the County of Lancaster.
" IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR CLEANING THE PLATES AND FLUES OF
STEAM BOILERS."
# econo-
The object of our Invention is to remove from the external heating surface
of steam boilers the coating of soot which usually adheres thereto, and which
being a bad conductor of heat, greatly impedes the production of steam, and by
allowing the heated gases from the furnace to pass into the chimney at a high
temperature, wastes fuol, and renders necessary, whenever economy is desired, various
complicated and expensive appliances known under the general name of
misers." Our Invention renders all such contrivances unnecessary, and indeed,
useless, for the stoker can at short intervals of time so cleanse the plates of the
boiler by simply turning a handle, that the whole heating surface of the boiler is
presented to the products of combustion in the highest state of conductive efficiency,
and tho gases escape to the chimney as cool as if they had passed through an
"economiser."
Our Invention consists in certain novel combinations of scrapers and swivel arms
or levers supported on moveable carriages or frames which run upon wheels on rails
fixed parallel to the axis of the boiler. The said scrapers are caused to press against
the plates of the boiler with any desired amount of pressure by counterweights on
the swivel arms or levers, but are free to yield to irregularities in the surface of the
plates, and to pass easily over lines of rivets, lap plates, or seams while moving in
the direction of the axis or length of the boiler.
We form the scrapers with faces inclined to each other at an angle, by preference

page_text: obtuse, to enable them to mount over obstruction as mentioned above; or we may
use inclined or curvilinear ribs at the middle or ends of scrapers with square or
acute angled faces.
We form the edge of each scraper in a curve of the same radius as the outside of
the shell of the boiler, and we prefer to make each scraper to include only a small
are of the circumference, so that about five of such arcs are included in each fluo,
and as the scrapers pass over plates differing slightly in the radii of their curves,
each scraper beds itself independently of the others, and effectually removes the soot
which lies on the arc which it traverses.
We use two sets of scrapers and lovers in each flue, joined together by an iron
rod or tube, so that they form one carriage, about half the length of the boiler.
We propel the carriages by chains working over pitch pulleys, actuated by manual
or steam power through the medium of spur, bevel, or worm gear, but we do not
bind ourselves to this arrangement, as the same result may be attained by the use
of racks or long rods with handles at one end, which latter method we have already
used with success.
We are aware that various contrivances for cleaning the outside of boilers have
been tried prior to this our Invention, but they have laboured under disabilities
which greatly detracted from their usefulness.
Letters Patent were granted to Edward Day, on the Thirty-first day of
December One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in whose Specification
(No. 3961) are described a scraper and lover very similar to those we employ in
carrying out our Invention, but the method of supporting and actuating them is
different from and much more complicated than ours.
Letters Patent were also granted to Samuel Horrocks Mather, James Orinesher,
William Ormesher, and Samuel Brown, on the Twenty-eighth day of September
One thousand oight hundred and seventy-six, in whose Specification (No. 3787)
scrapers and levers are described resembling Day's, but differing from Day's in their
incapacity to pass freely over rivets and joints, consequently a separate scraper
is required for each plate, which increases the weight, complexity, and cost of the
apparatus to an extent which is practically prohibitive.
Our Invention, while providing for a more efficient cleansing of the surface of the
boiler, can be carried into effect with fewer parts, less weight of metal, and at a
much smaller cost than any of the previous Inventions.
For removing the flue dust we apply dredger buckets to the wheels of the
carriages which carry the scrapers, which buckets deliver the dust to one end of the
flue nearest the man-hole, ready for removal by the stoker.
In the accompanying Drawings,
Figure 1, Sheet 1, is a cross section through a boiler and flues, showing carriages
and scrapers in position.
Figure 2 is a side view of a short length of the boiler, with part of the apparatus
for scraping.
a and bare the two side flues; c, the bottom flue; the scrapers are marked d³, the
levers d'
One arrangement for carrying the levers is shewn in flue a, and an alternative
arrangement in flue b; in flue a the levers are carried on cast-iron studs e, deeply
Banged on each side, and bolted, rivetted, or cast on a bar f¹, which is carried by
the wheel f, and swivel fixings,f4, which are arranged so that a workman when
applying this apparatus to a boiler may adjust the carriage to any required position.
is a rail upon which the wheel f' runs when the carriage is being moved.
The top part of the bar f¹ carries a wheel or pulley f, which runs against the
shell of the boiler, and maintains the carriage in an upright position. The side
view of this arrangement is shown in dotted lines in Figure 2, and is marked a',
the alternative plan being marked b', the two being placed side by side with the con-
necting tube g shewn in position, though broken off short, as the actual distanco
between the two sets of scrapers is usually from ten to fourteen feet.

page_text: The arrangement marked b' differs from that already described in having two
bars in place of the single bar f¹, and the levers have arbors cast on them
which are carried in bearings d'; loose weights are hung on the levers d³ for the
purpose of increasing the pressure of the scrapers & against the boiler. The weights
lock the levers d³ in position and prevent them from being thrown out of thoir
bearings when the scrapers strike against a row of rivets.
The
In the bottom flue c two rails h, h, are carried in chairs h¹; the wheels ha support
the cross bars h³, which are formed in three pieces, and put together with bolts and
sliding faces, so that the apparatus can be adjusted to the width of the flue. The
levers he carry the scrapers and press them to the surface of the boiler.
tube ³ connects the two sets of cross bars and levers together, so that the whole
forms ono carriage of long base and great stability. In both side flues and bottom
flue the scrapers are seated on the lovers with a moveable joint, which allows them
to find their own position against the boiler.
Figuro 3, Sheet 2, is a longitudinal section; aud Figure 4 a plan shewing the full
length of boiler and flues with the chains and pulleys necessary for moving the
carriages.
The two sets of scrapers in the bottom flue are shown at k¹ and k², joined together
by the tube h³. A pitch pulley driven by a pair of level wheels is shewn at ³
under the ash plate, and another pulley is fixed in the flue at k³. The chain
passes round these two pulleys and takes hold of the carriage by the lug or car k³,
more distinctly shown in Figure 1.
In order to move the carriage and scrapers in the bottom flue the stoker has to
fix a handle on the square of the arbor of one of the bevel wheels shewn at ³, a
few turns of which suffice to move the carriage the full length of its traverse.
The arrangement for the side flues is almost identical with that described above
for the bottom fluc, but no bevel wheels are required, the hand wheel m¹ being
keyed on the arbor of the pitch pulley, which is encased in the bonnet m³, which
prevents the external air from getting into the flue.
Whenever it may be desired to apply steam power to move the carriages we 3
either apply it directly to the hand gear described above, or we place the axes of
the pitch pulleys and vertical instead of horizontal, and continue them upwards
to the top of the brickwork as shown in plan at o¹, os, o³, Figure 4, and we impart
motion to them from a horizontal shaft of. If the shaft o be placed where shown,
the arbor o must be taken through the boiler in a sleeve or tube, but it may be g
placed at either end of the boiler where the disposition of pipes and fittings is such
as will allow that arrangement.
Figures 5, 6, and 7 are three views of a scraper with sharp or acute angled faces
and with inclined ribs for leading it over the rivets.
Figures 8 and 9 are two views of the dredger, buckets, or scoops for removing the 4
glue dust; the buckets are marked p¹, and are cast or fixed in the sides of the
wheels f³.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said
Invention. and the means whereby the same is to be carried into effect, we wish it
to be understood that we claim as novel, and our Invention,―
First. The combination of scrapers, levers, carriages and gear, substantially as
and for the purpose herein-before described, and as shown in Figures 1, 2, 3, 4,
Sheets 1 and 2.
Second. The method of suspending the levers marked d³ on double-flanged studs
c, as shewn in Figures 1 and 2.
Third. The method of supporting and locking the levers and the weights d³, as
shewn in Figures 1 and 2.
Fourth. The method of connecting two sets of scrapers and levers by a tube or
rod, so as to form one carriage of great stability, as herein-before described.
Fifth. The use of the bonnet marked m³, Figures 3 and 4, with all simple modi- 5
fications thereof, for the purpose of protecting the flues from a rush of cold air.

page_text: Sixth The use of dredger buckets or scoops attached to the wheels of the
carriages for removing the glue dust, as shown in Figures 8 and 9, Sheet 2.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Baxter, for myself and on behalf of
the said Leigh Baxter, George Baxter, and Luke Rushworth, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Thirty-first day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and seventy-eight.