IMPROVEMENTS IN APPA-) RATUS FOR SUPPLYING WATER TO, AND FOR PREVENTING EXPLOSIONS OF STEAM. BOILERS
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Parsons, of Pratt Street, Old-Lambeth,"
Manufacturing Engineer, for the Iuvention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPA-)
RATUS FOR SUPPLYING WATER TO, AND FOR PREVENTING EXPLOSIONS OF STEAM.
BOILERS,"
Sealed the 9th July 1858, and dated the 13th January 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said 'William Parsons at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
the 13th January 1858.
I, WILLIAM PARSONS, of Pratt Street, Old Lambeth, Manufacturing
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the nature of the Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR SUPPLYING WATER TO, AND FOR PREVENT-
ING EXPLOSIONS OF STEAM BOLLERS," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in apparatus for supplying
water to, and for preventing explosions of steam boilers. For these purposes
the water is pumped by the feed pump into a cylinder or vessel having within
it a piston, weighted below that of the pressure in the steam boiler; this
cylinder or vessel is open at top, and has a small cock or valve below, which
is opened by the descent of the piston. On one side of the cylinder or vessel.
is a valve box having within it two valves, between which there is an opening
out of such box into a second cylinder or vessel, having a double piston within
it. To the upper part of the valve box is an overflow or waste pipe, by which
[Price 8d1

page_text: any water passing beyond the second valve flows away. To the double
piston is affixed a hollow piston rod; so that the steam therein may pass above
the double piston; the piston rod is attached to a lever which has a float
attached thereto, which rises and falls with the water in the boiler. The
lower end of the cylinder or vessel, in which the double piston works, is fixed
to the boiler in such manner that the steam therein passes freely to the
underside of the double piston. When the space between the double pistons
is opposite the opening into the valve box, and to the opposite opening from
whence a pipe descends into the boiler, water will pass freely from the valve
box into the boiler; but when, by the rising of the float, the lower piston
comes opposite the two openings or passages, they will be closed, and the
water pumped into the valve box through the first-mentioned cylinder will
flow above the upper valve and pass away. To the valve box of the engine
there is a steam pipe applied, having a whistle thereon; the cock or valve of
which is acted on by the rising and falling of the piston in the first-mentioned
cylinder, so that should the feed pump not force water into the first
cylinder so as to keep up the piston therein, the whistle will sound. And in
order to prevent explosion of the steam boiler, should the water under any
circumstance fall below the proper level, and expose the boiler plates to the
fire, a small cylinder is fixed to the upper part of the boiler, in which there
is a piston connected to one end of a lever, and the other end of the lever has a
rod applied to it, the lower end of which descends through the heated plate
of the boiler. On the lower end of this rod is a flanch or disc, having below
it one or more rings of vulcanized india-rubber, which prevents the piston
being forced out of its cylinder, till, by reason of the water no longer.covering
the heated plate, the india-rubber is so highly heated as no longer to resist the
pressure of the steam on the piston, when the steam will freely escape through
the cylinder.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Parsons in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
13th July 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
PARSONS, of Pratt Street, Old Lambeth, Manufacturing Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of January, in the year of our

page_text: Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-first year
of Her reign, did, for, Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said William Parsons, Her special licence that I, the said
William Parsons, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said William Parsons, my 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 APPARATUS FOR SUPPLYING WATER TO, AND FOR PRE-
VENTING EXPLOSIONS OF STEAM BOILERS," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said William Parsons, my executors or administrators, by an
instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of 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 immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Parsons, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say :-
This Invention has for its object improvements.in apparatus for supplying
water to, and for preventing explosions of steam boilers. For these purposes
the water is pumped by the feed pump into a cylinder or vessel, having within
it a piston, weighted below that of the pressure in the steam boiler; this
cylinder or vessel is open at top, and has a small cock or valve below, which
is opened by the descent of the piston. On one side of the cylinder or vessel
is a valve box, having within it two valves, between which there is an opening
out of such box into a second cylinder or vessel, having a double piston within
it. To the upper part of the valve box is an overflow or waste pipe, by which
any water passing beyond the second valve flows away. To the double piston
s affixed a hollow piston rod, so that the steam therein may pass above the
double piston. The pistou rod is attached to a lever which has a float attached
thereto, which rises and falls with the water in the boiler. The lower end of
the cylinder or vessel in which the double piston works is fixed to the
boiler in such manner that the steam therein passes freely to the underside of
the double piston. When the space between the double pistons is opposite
the opening into the valve box, and to the opposite opening from whence a
pipe descends into the boiler, water will pass freely from the valve box into

page_text: the boiler; but when, by the rising of the float, the lower piston comes oppo-
site the two openings or passages, they will be closed, and the water pumped
into the valve box through the first-mentioned cylinder, will flow above the
upper valve and pass away. To the valve box of the engine there is a steam
pipe applied, having a whistle thereon, the cock or valve of which is acted
on by the rising and falling of the piston in the first-mentioned cylinder; so
that should the feed pump not force water into the first cylinder so as to keep
up the piston therein, the whistle will sound. And in order to prevent ex-
plosion of the steam boiler, should the water, under any circumstances, fall
below the proper level and expose the boiler plates to the fire, a small cylinder
is fixed to the upper part of the boiler in which there is a piston connected to
one end of a lever, and the other end of the lever has a rod applied to it, the
lower end of which descends through the heated plate of the boiler. On the
lower end of this rod is a flanch or disc, having below it one or more rings of
vulcanized india-rubber, which prevents the piston being forced out of its
cylinder, till, by reason of the water no longer covering the heated plate, the
india-rubber is so highly. heated as no longer to resist the pressure of the
steam on the piston, when the steam will freely escape through the cylinder.
Having thus stated the nature of my said Invention, I will preceed more
fully to describe the manner of performing the same.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Figure 1 shows a longitudinal section of a part of a steam engine boiler
having apparatus applied thereto, arranged or combined according to my
Invention, and Figure 2 is a transverse section of the same, taken at the
line 1,1, Figure 1. a is the pipe by which the water from the feed pump'enters
the apparatus; it communicates with the cylinder b, into which the piston cis
fitted; d is a rod passing upwards from this piston through the cover of the
cylinder, the hole by which the rod d passes through the cover fits the rod so
loosely as to allow air freely to the upper surface of the piston; e is a weight
mounted on the upper end of the rod d, and this weight is arranged to be a
somewhat less per square inch of the piston c than the pressure of the steam
per square inch on the interior of the boiler; fis a valve by which the water
supplied by the pump can pass into the valve box g. From this valve box
there is an opening into the second cylinder or vessel h containing the double
piston i, which is carried by the hollow rod 1, so formed in order that the a
steam may pass freely to the upper surface of the piston. The lower end of
the rod j is jointed to the forked lever k, which turns at one end on an axis
carried by the standard l, and at its two other ends it has floats m, m, attached
1

page_text: to it, which rest on the surface of the water in the boiler. When the level
of the water in the boiler falls, the double piston i is drawn down so as to
uncover the opening from the valve box g to the cylinder or vessel h, and the
water supplied by the pump passes through this vessel and through thepipe n
into the boiler; but when the double piston is raised by the floats so as to
close the passage from the valve box, the water supplied by the pump has to
escape in some other direction. In order to allow it to get away I sometimes
arrange a second valve at the upper part of the valve box g, and this valve is
weighted to a pressure per square inch greater than the pressure of the steam
per square inch on the interior of the boiler, so that the water supplied by
the pump only escapes in this direction when it can find no other vent; it is
then conducted away by a suitable waste pipe. In place of this arrangement
I however prefer to place a spiral spring in the cylinder over the piston,
and the pressure of which on the piston, together with the pressure of the
weight e thereon, exceeds the pressure of the steam in the boiler before the
opening into the waste pipe o is uncovered. When the force pump of
the engine ceases to act from any accidental cause the water within the
cylinder b escapes from it through the cock p, which is arranged so as at all
times to allow of a small escape through it. This small escape soon causes
the piston c to commence to fall, and in so doing it opens further the cock p,
by means of the lever » and connecting rods, and allows the water to escape
more rapidly, thus accelerating its own descent. The motion of the lever r
admits steam from the boiler to the whistle t, which immediately sounds and
announces that the force pump has ceased to work efficiently. The form and
arrangement of the parts above described may be varied without departing
from my Invention, so long as the peculiar action above described be
retained.
In order to prevent explosion of steam boilers in the event of the water
falling below the working level, so as to expose the metal to the action of the
fire, vulcanized india-rubber is used in the following manner:-
Figure 3 shows a section of a steam boiler having this part of my Invention
applied thereto. a is the cylinder, in which there is a piston b, the lower end
of the piston rod of which has fixed to it a disc c, above which is a series of
rings or a cylinder of vulcanized india-rubber d, contained in a metal case e,
and in the event of the water leaving the metal bare so as to become heated
by the fire sufficiently to soften the india-rubber, the pressure of the steam
acting on the piston will force it through the cylinder and escape from the
boiler, and thus relieve the pressure.
The form of apparatus used with the india-rubber may be greatly varied.

page_text: Thus, in Figure 4 the piston is pressed inwards by a weight exceeding the
pressure of the steam on the piston, but by reason of the india-rubber being
below the weight and piston they cannot descend, but in the event of the
india-rubber becoming highly heated the weight will then crush the india-
rubber, and allow the piston to descend into the boiler.
Figure 5 shows part of an external view of a steam boiler, Figure 6 a
longitudinal section, and Figure 7 a transverse section. ff, are two pistons
working in two cylinders in such manner as to be pressed on by the steam;
but they are prevented from descending by discs orrings of vulcanized india g,
arranged as already described.
Figure 8 shows another arrangement, where a lever is interposed between
the piston and the india-rubber; but in all cases the essential feature is the
crushing of the india-rubber when it becomes highly heated."
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of
performing the saine, I would have it understood that what I claim is,
First, the combining apparatus for supplying steam boiler's with water so
as to give intimation when the force pump'ceases to act efficiently, as herein
described.
And, secondly, the application of india-rubber, and apparatus to prevent
explosion of boilers, as herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Parsons, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Thirteenth day of July, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.
DANSONS
Witness,
S. CARPMAEL.
W. PARSONS. (L.S.)