IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR SUPPLYING FEED WATER TO STEAM BOILERS
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Whitmore Davis and Francis Davis, both of
Hull, in the County of York, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
APPARATUS FOR SUPPLYING FEED WATER TO STEAM BOILERS."
Scaled the 29th August 1862, and dated the 1st March 1862.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Whitmore Davis
and Francis Davis at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
their Petition, on the 1st March 1862.
We, JouN WHITMORE DAVIS and FRANCIS DAVIS, both of Hull, in the
County of York, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR SUPPLYING FEED WATER TO STEAM BOILERS,"
to be as follows:-
This Invention consists of an apparatus for the purpose of supplying steam.
boilers with feed water, and is intended to dispense with the use of the donkey
or force pumps. From the upper part of the boiler a pipe is connected with
a water tank, cistern, or reservoir, and close to the boiler this pipe is furnished.
with a three-way cock, or self-acting valve or valves, above which ascends an
arched pipe, which enters the upper part of a water supply or air-tight
reservoir, from the lower part of which another pipe descends and enters, the
lower part of the boiler through a non-return valve.
The action of the apparatus is as follows:-The three-way cock is so turned.

page_text: as to admit the passage of steam from the boiler to the water supply reservoir,
whereby the air is expelled or driven out of it and a vacuum formed therein,
and the cock being again turned in such a manner as to shut off the steam,
and allow of the passage of the water from the cistern through the cock or
valve into the arched or upper pipe and into the water supply reservoir, which
thereby becomes filled with water, the cock is then turned, so that the water
from the cistern is shut off, and that the steam may again enter the upper.
pipe, and by its pressure force the water from the reservoir down the lower
pipe into the boiler. The reservoir is furnished at its lower part with a tap
for the purpose of assisting the working of the apparatus, or for information
as to the state of the same. And the non-return valve may be furnished with
a tap for the purpose of inspecting the valve when necessary.
The Invention is alike applicable to locomotive boilers by so arranging or
dividing the tank of the tender as to constitute the lower part the water
cistern, and the upper part the water supply reservoir. The three-way cock
or self-acting valve is placed on the upper part of the tender near the engine,
and a pipe communicates from the interior of the tank to the cock through
which the water passes into the upper water supply reservoir, and thence to
the lower part of the boiler, as before stated.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Whitmore Davis and Francis Davis in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 1st September 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, JOHN
WHITMORE DAVIS and FRANCIS DAVIS, both of Hull, in the County of. York,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the First day of March, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-fifth year of. Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the said
John Whitmore Davis and Francis Davis, Her special licence that we, the said
John Whitmore Davis and Francis Davis, our executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as we, the said John Whitmore Davis and Francis Davis,
our 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

page_text: Islands,. and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS
FOR SUPPLYING FEED WATER TO STEAM BOILERS," upon the condition (amongst
others) that we, the said John Whitmore Davis and Francis Davis, our
executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under our,.or-their,
or one of their hands and scals, should particularly describo 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 Offico
within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
Letters Patent..
. NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said John Whitmore Davis and Francis
Davis, do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in
and by the following statement :-
This Invention consists of improvements in apparatus for the purpose of
supplying steam boilers with feed water, and is intended to dispense with
the use of the donkey or force pumps..
In order to explain our said Invention as completely as possible; we now
proceed to describe the best means we are acquainted with for carrying our In-
vention into practical effect, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings,
and to the figures and letters of reference marked thereon, as follows:-
From the upper part of the boiler a pipe is connected with a water tank,
cistern, or reservoir, and close to the boiler; this pipe is furnished with a self-
acting valve, above which ascends an arched or horizontal pipe, which enters
the upper part of a water supply or air-tight reservoir, from the lower part of
which another pipe, called the feed pipe, enters the boiler, and is continued
downwards inside or outside the same nearly to or at the bottom. This pipe
is furnished with a non-return valve situated just below the water supply
reservoir, or in any other convenient part of the pipe. The water tank or
cistern communicates with the bottom of the water supply by a pipe, and the
entrance of this pipe to the supply is furnished with a non-return valve. The
self-acting steam valve is placed on the top of the boiler, and is actuated by
means of a float supported on the surface of the water therein, as hereafter
explained. By these arrangements, as the level of the water in the boiler
descends by reason of its evaporation into steam, the float actuates a lever in-
connection with the valve and raises the same, whereby steam is admitted into
the arched or horizontal pipe, and thence into the water supply reservoir,
whereby the water therein is expelled into the boiler by means of the feed
pipe, and a vacuum being gradually created by the condensation of the steam,
the water from the tank commences to enter the supply reservoir through the

page_text: non-return valve, and suddenly condensing the entire steam contained in the
water supply, rushes rapidly therein and fills the same.
The float being
clevated by the additional supply of water in the boiler, which supply can be
regulated, as desired, by the arrangement of the lever, will have brought
down the self-acting valve with which it is connected, and will thus shut off
the steam from the water supply, and allow of its condensation and of another
flow of water therein from the tank.
In the Drawings, Fig. 1 represents a longitudinal section of a boiler, and
Fig. 2 is a front sectional elevation thereof, similar letters denoting corre-
ponding parts in each Figure.
A is a hollow metal float in connection with the lever D, which actuates the
valve F enclosed in the chamber or casing E; B shews the high-water level,
and C the low-water level. The pipe H establishes communication between
the valve F and the water supply reservoir I; K is the feed pipe leading from
the water supply to the interior of the boiler; L is the vacuum valve.
It now remains to explain the arrangement of the valve F. It will be seen
by the Drawing, Fig, 1, that the valve consists of a hollow metal cylinder, the
outline of which presents somewhat the appearance of an inverted wine bottle;
the cylinder is placed vertically in the casing or chamber E, and its conical edge
is seated in a corresponding surface of the bottom of the chamber. This
chamber is divided into two parts by means of a flange in the interior, which
forms a bearing for the cylinder; above this flange packing is provided, so as
to complete the separation of the upper part of the casing from the lower.
The object of this arrangement is that the pressuro of steam shall not force
up the valve from its seat, the area of the top of the cylinder being greater
than that of the lower when set in the valve, and the steam pressing con-
stantly upon both surfaces. This contrivance is rendered necessary to the
Invention, because it is requisite that the cylinder should rest and be inde-
pendent of the lever and float for a short space of time, nothwithstanding the
decreasing level of the water in the boiler after it has been newly supplied,
in order that the steam may be shut off from the water supply, and permit
the condensation of the steam which has just previously expelled the water
into the boiler. The lever D is therefore not attached to the connecting
rod L of the cylinder, but the short arm of the lever rises a short distance
without producing any effect, until it reaches a nut or projection upon the
connecting rod when it immediately commences to elevate the valve, and tho
steam passes accordingly into the water supply reservoir through the pipe H,
which penetrates some distance therein, and only communicates steam through
a rose or perforated head, so as to spread the steam, and enable it to act

page_text: more effectually on the surface of the water. Another nut or projection at
the lower part of the connecting rod brings down the valve to its seat, when
the float of the lever is raised by the supply of water from the reservoir.
The non-return valves L and J may each be governed by a vulcanised india-
rubber ball, or they may be made on the principle of the ordinary clack
valve, but having a seating of india-rubber in order to ensure a water and
steam-tight valve, or the valve L may consist of a float valve, as hereafter
described.
Fig. 3 shews tho application of the Invention to locomotives. B is tho
water supply reservoir on the top of the tank of the tender, and E the feed.
pipe to the engine; G is the non-return valve; F, the steam pipe to the water
supply; H is a screw valve to regulate the supply of steam from the boiler;
and D is a guage to indicate the level of water in the reservoir.
At the top
of the reservoir we form a valve and pipe for the purpose of enabling the
steam to escape after it has expelled the water from the same; A is an
arched pipe, which descends to the lower part of the interior of the tank of
the tender; C is a metal globe or vessel supporting a valvo I, which closes
the orifice of the pipe. The action is as follows:-The reservoir being filled
with water the globe or ball rises and forces the valve into its seat in the pipe.
When the steam rushes into the reservoir to expel the water, the steam by
its pressure sustains the valve, notwithstanding the descent of the water, and
the empty state of the reservoir; but the weights of the valve and globe are
so regulated that when the pressure of the steam is reduced to about twenty-
five pounds to the square inch the valve and ball shall drop a short distance
from its seat to a stop in the pipe, and allow the steam to rush out of the
reservoir through the pipe and into the tank, and so establish a rapid con-
densation, when the water from the tank will at once flow up the pipe and
fill the vacuum in the reservoir. Although we have indicated a pressure of
twenty-five pounds to the inch, it is obvious that the weight of the ball and
valve may be regulated so as to drop when the pressure of the steam should
be only equal to five pounds per square inch, or to any desired pressure,
according to circumstances.
Having now described the nature of our said Invention, and the manner
in which the same is to be performed, we would remark in conclusion that
we do not restrict ourselves to the precise details and configuration of parts
herein explained, as the same may obviously be varied or modified without in
any degree departing from the principles upon which the Invention is based;
but what we claim and desire to be secured to us by the herein in part recited
Letters Patent, are the "Improvements in Apparatus for Supplying Feed

page_text: Water to Steam Boilers," substantially in the manner herein specified and
illustrated by the Drawings hereunto annexed.
In witness whereof, we, the said John Whitmore Davis and Francis Davis,
have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Thirtieth day of August,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.
Witness,
ALEX. PRINCE,
Office for Patents,
4, Trafalgar Square,
Charing Cross.
DAY
F. DAVIS.
(L.B.)
(L.S.)