An Improved Steam Generator which is Especially Adapted for Locomotives.
Year: 1889

page_text: Date of Application, 13th Apr., 1889-Accepted, 15th June, 1889
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
An Improved Steam Generator which is Especially Adapted for
Locomotives.
I, ADOLF SOCHER, of Laibach, Empire of Austria, Engineer, do hereby
eclare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed,
o be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
This invention relates to an improved steam Generator which is especially
dapted for locomotives and the manner in which I prefer to carry it into effect is
shewn by the accompanying drawings which represent the Generator, according
o my invention, adapted for a locomotive.
Fig. 1. is a longitudinal section through the left hand cylinder.
Fig. 2. is a longitudinal section through the upper cylinder and through the tube
connecting it with the lower cylinders in front as well as through the mud trap
(gully).
Fig. 3. is a cross section through the fore parts.
Fig. 4. is a part view and part cross section through the apparatus, the smoke
chamber or flues having been left out.
Fig. 5. is a part view and part cross section through the smoke chamber etc.
Fig. 6. represents sections through the fire chamber one directly in front of and one
directly behind the fire proof grating.
Fig. 7. shows on the left the vertical grating P, & on the right the fire doors H.
Figs. 8 & 9 shew a modification of the general arrangements in cases where
greater compactness is necessary.
According to my invention the Generator consists of three cylinders the two lower
ones of which A & B are provided with longitudinal heating tubes and placed
horizontally or slanting backwards. They support a third cylinder with which they
are connected by means of tubes, the back end tubes conveniently ending and uniting
in a gully or mud trap, in which incrustation forming matter can deposit.
The two lower cylinders are supposed to be filled with water while the upper
cylinder is only partly so filled, otherwise serving as steam space.
The action of the Generator is as follows
When heat is applied at the fire box end of the two lower Generators steam bubbles
commence in due course to form, and on account of the heat the water rises through
the connecting tubes nearest the fire box, upwards into the upper cylinder, a regular
circulation of water being thus set up from the lower cylinder to the upper cylinder
and from that again (through the tube F. Fig. 2 at the back end) returning to the lower
cylinders and so on continuously as long as heat is applied.
Any well known firing system for steam Generators may be used in connection with
the Generator according to my invention, but I prefer to use the special method of
firing shewn in the drawings to consist of the fire box L Fig. 1, the front end of which
is open, the opposite end being the fire proof grating E preferably with the grating
slanting backwards. In front of the said fire proof grating is another vertical iron
grating P and in front of that again comes the fire doors provided with draught
regulators H Fig. 7. The left hand portion of Fig. 7. shows the vertical iron grating
which is placed between the doors and the fire proof grating. The right hand portion
of Fig. 6 is a cross section through the fire box directly in front of the fire proof
grating, the left hand portion being a cross section directly behind the said grating.
The fuel is filled into the space L from above, a sliding door or other convenient
arrangement being made to allow the fuel passing through.

page_text: The bottom of the fire box is hinged and can be lowered by means of a screw
spindle or otherwise for the purpose of removing the ashes etc., for the collection of
which I sometimes provide an ash pan.
Sometimes it is necessary for economy of space to bring the two lower cylinders
so close together that the connection between them cannot be arranged as shewn in
the several drawings for instance in Fig. 4. and in such cases I insert a sheet metal
tube over the fore ends of the inner lower cylinders as shewn in B Fig. 8 and in Fig. 9
so that the circulation passes through the gully D as before. This arrangement necessi
tates the upper cylinder being elevated proportionally higher and as a rule it would
be better not in this case to have the lower cylinder slanting much, if at all.
The upper cylinder is generally made of about the same dimensions as one of the
lower cylinders, except when the Generator must be proportionally short, such as, for
instance, for street locomotives, in which case propose to make the upper cylinder
larger in proportion to the lower cylinders so as to avoid too energetic steam generation.
Instead of making the upper cylinder larger the same effect would be obtained by
using two upper cylinders but I consider it better to have only one upper cylinder in
all cases.
The rapidity with which the water circulates in this Generator may be regulated by
means of valves or other arrangements for controlling the passage of water through
the tube F. The gully D being wider than the tubes causes the water to be less
agitated while there, thus enabling a deposit of incrustation forming matter, which has
been thrown out of solution in the water, to take place, the deposit being blown out
of the gully from time to time. The slower the circulation is the more perfectly will the
water become purified and the more dry will the developed steam he, but if the
circulation is made too slow then the heating surfaces are not utilized so advan-
tageously.
The principal advantages of steam Generators according to my invention I believe to
be, that the heating power of the fuel is used up to the best advantage, that the incrus-
tation forming substances thrown out of solution can be collected and removed, that
the Generator is cheaper to build and cheaper to work and that it can be worked at
higher pressure of steam than those of other known constructions.
Although I have described this Generator as specially adapted for Locomotives I
wish it to be understood that it is also applicable for other purposes.
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. A steam generator more especially adapted for locomotives and consisting
essentially of two horizontal or nearly horizontal cylinders connected by tubes with
one or more upper cylinders, heat being applied to the lower cylinders thereby setting
up circulation of water between the lower and the upper cylinders substantially in the
manner as and for the purposes described.
2. The method of heating such steam generators by means of a fire box arranged
entirely against the ends of the cylinders and consisting essentially of a moveable
bottom, a fixed fire proof grating E, and with provision at the top for the admission.
of fuel, substantially in the manner described and shewn in the drawings.
London, April 13th 1889.
ADOLF SOCHER.
Per C. R. Bonne & Co.,
41, Eastcheap, E.C., his Agents.