IMPROVED MEANS OF AND APPARATUS FOR REMOVING DEPOSIT FROM TUBES, FLUES, AND PASSAGES
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Lungley, of Greenwich, in the County
of Kent, for the Invention of "IMPROVED MEANS OF AND APPARATUS
FOR REMOVING DEPOSIT FROM TUBES, FLUES, AND PASSAGES."
Sealed the 2nd October 1869, and dated the 9th April 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Lungley
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 9th April 1869.
I, CHARLES LUNGLEY, of Greenwich, in the County of Kent, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVED MEANS
OF AND APPARATUS FOR REMOVING DEPOSIT FROM TUBES, FLUES, AND PASSAGES,"
to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to the employment of vapour, air, or com-
bustible liquid for removing soot and other deposit from the interior
of tubes, flues, or passages, and in the apparatus to be used therewith.
The apparatus consists of a pipe to be worked to and fro in the tubes
or flues of a boiler by hand or by mechanical means, the pipe being
supplied with steam, air, or liquid under pressure from a generator or
reservoir. The action of the steam, air, or liquid against the soot or

page_text: deposit causes it to fall away from the sides, and the force of the
current drives it out of the tubes or flues.
Sometimes I fit a cap over the end of the pipe. In this case I
perforate the pipe with holes either straight or diagonally in any
direction, or I perforate the cap, through which holes or perforations
the steam, air, or liquid is caused to pass and impinge against the soot
or deposit for the same purpose. The pipe or cap may have nipples or
jets fitted on it, or them, for the steam, air, or liquid to pass through, or
they may be widened out or bell-mouthed and perforated.
In some cases I fit a rotating creeper or screw blade on the body
or end of the pipe or cap to remove the soot or deposit from the tubes
after it has been dislodged from them. The soot or deposit may be
ejected from the front or back end of the tube or flue into a chamber
or receiver. The pressure or heat of the steam, air, or liquid may be so
great as to consume the soot or deposit as soon as it is dislodged, in
which case the refuse only would have to be removed. The outer end
of the pipe is attached by flexible tubing or jointed pipes to the
generator or reservoir. In places where the heat is too great for
the operator to bear I employ a mantlet or screen in order to protect
him from injury. In order to remove the soot and other deposit from
the chamber in which it is deposited, as before explained, I employ a
creeper or screw blade, the end of which may pass out at the side of
a ship or vessel by means of which the deposit is drawn away from the
chamber.
In some cases I fit a hinged or jointed valve or flap to a rod or bar,
the valve or flap as it is passed into the chamber or receiver passes over
the deposit, and on being drawn back the valve drops and brings itself
into action and draws the deposit before it. The valve or flap may be
made to act in the reverse direction.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Ninth day of April, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the thirty-
second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Charles Lungley, Hor special licence
that I, the said Charles Lungley, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Charles Lungley, 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 "IMPROVED MEANS OF AND
APPARATUS FOR REMOVING DEPOSIT FROM TUBES, FLUES, AND PASSAGES," upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Charles Lungley, 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 Charles Lungley, do hereby declare
the nature of my 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, reference being had to the Drawings
hereunto annexed, that is to say :-
This Invention relates to the employment of vapour, air, or com-
bustible liquid for removing soot and other deposit from the interior
of tubes, flues, or passages, and in the apparatus to be used therewith.
The apparatus consists of a pipe to be worked to and fro in the tubes,
flues, or passages by hand or by mechanical means. The pipe being
supplied with steam, air, or liquid under pressure from a generator or
reservoir. The action of the steam, air, or liquid against the soot or
deposit causes it to fall away from the sides, and the force of the current
drives it out of the tubes or flues.
Sometimes I fit a cap over the end of the pipe, in this case I perforate
the pipe with holes, either straight or diagonally in any direction; or I
perforate the cap, through which holes or perforations the steam, air, or

page_text: liquid is caused to pass and impinge against the soot or deposit for the
same purpose. The pipe or cap may have nipples or jets fitted on it or
them for the steam, air, or liquid to pass through; or they may be
widened out or bell-mouthed and perforated.
In some cases I fit a rotating creeper or screw blade on the body or
end of the pipe or cap to remove the soot or deposit from the tubes after
it has been dislodged from them. The soot or deposit may be ejected
from the front or back end of the tube or flue into a chamber or receiver.
The pressure or heat of the steam, air, or liquid may be so great as to
consume the soot or deposit as soon as it is dislodged, in which case the
refuse only would have to be removed. The outer end of the pipe is
attached by flexible tubing or jointed pipes to the generator or reservoir.
In places where the heat is too great for the operator to bear, I employ
a mantlet or screen in order to protect him from injury. In order to
remove the soot and other deposit from the chamber in which it is
deposited, as before explained, I employ a screw blade, the end of which
may pass out at the side of a ship or vessel, by means of which the
deposit is drawn away from the chamber.
In some cases I fit a hinged or jointed valve or flap to a rod or bar,
the valve or flap as it is passed into the chamber or receiver passes over
the deposit, and on being drawn back the valve drops and brings itself
into action and draws the deposit before it. The valve or flap may be
made to act in the reverse direction.
One way of carrying my Invention into effect is represented at
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawings, which is a section of a
tube A such as is usually employed in marine and tubular boilers; into
the tube I insert a pipe or tube B of smaller diameter, through which
steam, air, or fluid, or a combination of them may be passed under
pressure. The pipe B may be open ended to its full diameter or con-
tracted in any suitable manner; or it may be fitted with an end piece C,
as shown. The end piece has a hole in its middle, the outer face of
which is cone shaped for spreading the vapour, air, or fluid against the
interior surface of the tube as it is drawn to and fro therein. The flange
of the end piece C overlapping the end of the pipe serves to force the
deposit along the tube in either direction as it becomes dislodged by the
action of the fluid.

page_text: Figure 2 shows another example for removing the soot or other deposit
from the tubes. In this case the pipe B is entirely stopped up at the
end by the screw plug D, and in order to prevent the vapour pipe from
resting upon the bottom of the tube A, by which the holes would become
clogged, I fit a ring or a similar contrivance close to the end; this ring
is provided with spikes or angular projections so that it can pass easily
over or through the deposit without fixing itself in the tube. In this
Figure I have shown the holes by which the vapour or fluid escapes
formed at an angle so that the issue of the vapour forces the loose
soot, &c. before it, as well as dislodging it as the pipe B is being drawn
to and fro. Figure 3 shows the end of a pipe B formed with a flange or
ring E, which is embraced loosely by a cap or ferrule so that it may be
free to turn thereon. This cap or ferrule is furnished with nipples
which are bent or curved to ensure the cap turning by the action of the
vapour in its passage along the tube. There are holes F and G formed
at an angle so that the loose deposit is blown out of the tube.
Figure 4 is a similar view of a pipe B fitted with a rotating nozzle or
cap; the jets or nipples in this case are bent or curved in a forward
direction so that the fluid acts upon the loose deposit as well as upon
the fixed deposit. Figure 5 is a view shewing the cap fitted with screw
blades or vanes so that as the cap revolves the vanes draw or push the
loose deposit before them.
Figure 6 shows another form of cap or end piece; in this case the end
piece is cone shaped and perforated so that the vapour is spread to
impinge against the tube to remove the deposit, and at the same time
blow the loose deposit out at the back end of the tube A. I fit or form
shoulders or ribs on the cap so that the holes H are kept clear of the
bottom of the tube. This Figure also shows a method of supplying oil
or other inflamable material into the interior of the pipe, so that the
oil or other material as it flows down the pipe I and out of the nozzle J
is brought into contact with the other material, so that the soot or other
deposit is removed from the interior of the tube A by the action of an
inflamable gas. Oil or other inflamable material may be supplied
to any of the pipes shown in the previous Figures in a similar manner.
The pipe B by which the vapour is furnished to the tube A. is connected
by a flexible tube K leading from a tap L, Figure 7, so that steam from
the upper part of the boiler M may be passed into it when the cone of
the plug N is removed from its seat by turning the handle O.

page_text: In some cases I only propose to remove the soot or deposit from the
sides of the tubes by the action of the vapour, air, or fluid. In this case
I afterwards remove the loose stuff by means of a creeper or threaded
rod, as shown in Figure 8, which is passed into the tube A, and then
rotated so as to draw or push the loose deposit out of the tube into a
receiver or chamber to be removed at will.
When my apparatus is employed for cleaning the tubes of marine
boilers I cause the soot or deposit to fall from the tubes into a
chamber P, Figure 9, in which a creeper or threaded rod Q is made to
revolve, and as it accumulates in the chamber the creeper is set revolving
by a strap or band turning the wheel R, or in some other convenient
manner, so that the creeper lifts the stuff up the tube or channel S to
the upper part, whence it falls into the outlet tube T and into the sea or
river. I fit the lower end of this tube with a valve U which shuts
inwards so that water is prevented washing up beyond it.
In some cases I fit a creeper in the tube T so that as the stuff is lifted
by the creeper R it is forced out into the water by the creeper in the
tube T. In lieu of employing a creeper in the tube T, I sometimes fit
a flap valve on the end of a rod V, which is drawn to and fro by an
eccentric W, as shown in Figure 10. The flap valve is jointed on a pin,
which is free to ride in a slot; the upper end of the valve is connected
by a link to a fixed point on the stem of the rod, so that when the rod is
drawn up the valve lies almost horizontally, and passes through the
stuff that has been lifted by the creeper in the channel S, but on the
down stroke or travel the valve pin rides up the slot and causes the
valve to present a flat surface to the stuff, whereby it is pushed down
the outlet pipe or channel T into the water.
I do not wish to confine myself to the employment of a creeper in the
tube or passage leading from the chamber as other apparatus may be
employed, such as buckets or plates on a chain in a similar manner to a
chain pump.
To facilitate the working of the pipe B in any of the arrangements
described above I attach the flexible tube to a connection on the end of
a rod X, Figure 11. This rod passes up into a tube, which is jointed
and hung to a beam overhead, so that it can be turned about in any
direction. The lower rod X has a lug or projection on it so that it can
be pushed up and retained in position when not required for use by the

page_text: lug being passed into one of the recesses provided for it in the
suspension tube.
When it is necessary to shield the workman from the effects of the
heat when the smoke door is open for cleaning the tubes, I fit a mantlet
or shield, Figure 12, formed with sight holes through which the work-
man can look, and other holes for the insertion of the pipe B. These
pipe holes are furnished with flaps or shutters, so that the holes not
required may be shut up. This mantlet may be composed of wings or
sliding pieces, so that one or more portions may be slid into the fixed
portion or portions to economize space and offer facilities for getting at
the tubes.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim,—
Firstly. The means herein-before described for removing the soot or
deposit from the interior of tubes, flues, and passages.
Secondly. The several apparatus employed in the manner and for the
purpose herein-before described and represented in the accompanying
Drawings.
Thirdly. The mode of and apparatus for removing the soot or other
deposit from the chamber after its removal from the tubes, substantially
in the manner and for the purpose herein-before described and repre-
sented in the Drawings hereunto annexed.
And, fourthly. The apparatus for protecting the workmen from the
effects of the heat while cleaning the tubes, as described and represented
in the accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Lungley, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Eighth day of October, One thousand
eight hundred and sixty-nine.
CHARLES LUNGLEY. (L.S.)