CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM ENGINES AND STEAM BOILERS, AND IN CERTAIN APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH
Year: 1848

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, ANDREW
LAMB, of Southampton, in the County of Hants, Engineer, and WILLIAM
ALLTOFT SUMMERS, of Millbrook, in the same County, Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Ninth day of December,
One thousand eight hundred and forty-eight, in the twelfth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the said
Andrew Lamb and William Alltoft Summers, our exors, adññiors, and assigns,
Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that we, the said
Andrew Lamb and William Alltoft Summers, our exors, adññiors, and assigns,
and such others as we, the said Andrew Lamb and William Alltoft Summers,
our exors, adñiors, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others,
from time to time and at all times during the term of years therein
expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within
England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, our Invention
of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM ENGINES AND STEAM BOILERS, AND IN
CERTAIN APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH;" in which said Letters Patent is
contained a proviso that we, the said Andrew Lamb and William Alltoft

page_text: Summers, or one of us, should cause a particular description of the nature or
our said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, by an
instrument in writing under our hands and seals, or under the hand and seal
of one of us, to be inrolled in Her said Majesty's High Court of Chancery
within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said in
part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto
had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, are fully described and ascertained in
and by the present Specification thereof, reference being had to the Drawings
hereunto annexed, that is to say:-
Firstly, our Invention, in so far as it relates to steam engines, consists of
certain improved arrangements for working the air pump or air pumps of such
engines.
Figure 1 is an end elevation; Figure 2, a side elevation; and Figure 3, a
plan of a pair of engines of the class commonly called "double side rod
engines," in which two air pumps are worked by means of an excentric fixed
on the intermediate shaft. A, A, are the air pumps; a, the excentric which
communicates motion by the rod 6 to the beam or lever c, which last is
connected by the links d, d, to the cross head e of the pumps.
Another mode of working two air pumps by means of excentrics is shewn
in Figure 4. The air pumps are here placed at an angle to each other, and
two excentrics a, a, are connected directly by means of the rods b, b, to the
air pump rods c, c. The same Figure (4) also shews that one excentric may
be used to work two air pumps directly by attaching two rods to an excentric
joint at e, where it is
strap, as shewn in dotted lines at d, the rod having
connected to the excentric strap.
may
Figure 5 is a plan of Figure 4, shewing the position of the air pumps
in each of the preceding cases more clearly than is done in the other Figures.
Air pumps may also be worked by excentrics in other positions than those
represented in Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, as, for example, they may be placed
immediately under the shaft, and worked either by one or by two excentrics, as
be considered most convenient. The novelty of this part of our Inven-
tion consists in the employment of excentrics in whatever position they may
be placed, or however connected to the main shaft. And although we have
only shewn the excentric or excentrics as applied to double side rod engines,
we do not limit our application of them to that particular class of engines,
because an excentric or excentrics may be used for working the air pump or
air pumps. of oscillating engines as well as other engines of the direct acting

page_text: description. In double side rod engines we prefer working the air pump or
air pumps of each engine by attaching their rods directly to the cylinder cross
head. An end elevation of a pair of engines on this plan is given in Figure 6,
a side elevation of them in Figure 7, and a plan in Figure 8; a is the cylinder
cross head, to which the air pump rods b, b, are attached, the air pump
buckets moving through the same space as the piston of the steam cylinder;
c, c, are guides for steadying the cross head, and assisting to keep the piston
rod and air pump rods parallel.
Figure 9 is an end elevation; Figure 10, a side elevation; and Figure 11
is a plan of a pair of engines of the kind called short connecting rod engines,
or Gorgon engines, shewing how the same mode of working two air pumps
as that last described may be applied to such engines. A, A, are the air
pumps; a is the cylinder cross bead, to which the pumps are directly attached
by the rods b, b; and c, c, guides for assisting to steady the cross head and to
keep the piston rod and air pump rods parallel. In double side rod engines of
that description in which the side rods are guided by slides affixed to the sides
of the cylinders, the requisite motion for working an air pump may be
obtained from studs or pins attached to the lower ends of the side rods as
represented in Figure 12 (end elevation), Figure 13 (side elevation), and
Figure 14 (plan). a is the cylinder cross head, which is connected to the air
pump cross head b; c, c, are braces leading from the ends of the air pump
cross head 6 to studs or pins & attached to the cylinder side rods e, c, which
last work in guides fixed to the sides of the cylinder, care being taken to give
sufficient quantity of bearing surface in the sliding parts to prevent abrasion.
Or, instead of the studs or pins being attached to the side rods, they may be con-
nected to the cross tail side rods in the manner represented in Figure 15 (end
elevation), Figure 16 (side elevation), and Figure 17 (plan). a, a, are studs
or pins attached to the lower ends of the cylinder side rods; b, b, are rods
leading from the studs or pins before named to the levers c, c, which are fixed
upon the shaft d; e, e, are levers fixed on the last-named shaft, connected by
the links f, f, to the air pump cross head g; h, h, are studs attached to the
lower ends of the cross tail side rods, to which the rods b, b, before named
may be connected instead of to the studs or pins a, a, according as either plan
may be considered the more convenient.
Secondly, our Invention, in so far as it relates to steam boilers, has relation
to the class of boilers usually called tubular boilers, and consists in employing
tubes or flues of such form or forms, and so constructed, placed, and arranged,
that a larger amount of permanently efficient heating surface can be put into
a given space than is practicable with tubes of the ordinary circular form,

page_text: and readier access can be obtained to all those parts of the boiler which are
liable to become choked up with soot, scale, or deposit, in order to the cleansing
thereof, as also to the fastenings of the tubes or flues when those are required
to be repaired or replaced. We make the tubes or flues flat-sided (instead of
circular as usual), and construct them in one or other of the modes represented
in the sectional views Figure 12, Figure 2ª, and Figure 3. In Figure 1°
the flues are constructed of two sheets of iron, having each a straight and a
curved side, and connected by the curved side of one sheet overlapping the
straight side of the other (or vice versa), and being there firmly rivetted
together. In Figure 2ª the two sheets are each curved on both sides, and
overlap and are rivetted together. In Figure 3 two sheets are used of the
same form as those employed in Figure 1ª, but instead of being lap-rivetted
together, they are joined by welding or brazing. The flues may be stayed in
the inside in any of the modes represented in Figure 2ª, and indicated by the
letters k, l, m. In the mode k, holes are drilled through both sides of each
flue, and a thimble or ferrule inserted, and a rivet passed through the thimble
and through the sides of the flue. In the flues are stayed by passing a
screwed stay through both sides of the fluc, the ends being afterwards burred
up against the sides of the flue. In m the flues are rivetted by a stud or pin
to one side of the flue, only the other or outer end of the stud or pin resting
against the opposite side of the fluc. The flues are placed horizontally in the
space between the back uptake or chamber at the end of the furnace and the
smoke box which leads into the chimney, spaces of sufficient width (say, from
two to three inches,) being left between them to allow of an ascending as well
as descending current in each water space, and they are secured at both ends
to plates common to the whole series of flues by means of angle irons, in the
manner shewn in Figure 4, in which j represents one of the plates, and i, i,
the angle irons, or by any other suitable means.
Figure 5 is partly an end elevation and partly a section of a boiler con-
structed according to these improvements. The flues c, c, are placed above or
over the furnaces a, a, a, a; b is one of the smoke box doors, the adjoining one
being removed to shew the flues c,c; d, d, are sections of the flues
e is part
of the chimney uptake.
;
Figure 6 is a longitudinal section of a boiler through one of the fur-
naces, shewing more clearly the back uptake or chamber f, one of the
flues d, the smoke box g, and the chimney uptake e.
Figure 7 is a plan of a boiler with the top and part of the flues re-
moved, in order to shew the tops of the flues, the water spaces, the top
of one of the furnaces and the furnace bars h.

page_text: Figure 8 is partly a section, and partly an end elevation of a boiler, also
constructed according to our improvements, but in which the parts are
arranged somewhat differently from the preceding. The flues in this boiler
are placed between the furnaces a, a. One of the smoke box doors in the
end elevation is removed, in order to shew the flues c, c, leading to the smoke
box; d, d, are sections of the flues; e is part of the chimney uptake.
Figure 9 is a longitudinal section of the preceding boiler, through one of
the flues, exhibiting the back uptake or chamber f, one of the flues d, the
smoke box 9, and the chimney uptake e.
Figure 10 is a plan of a boiler with top removed. a, a, are the furnaces;
f, the back uptake or chamber; d, d, the flues; h, h, the furnace bars; and
9, the smoke box.
Figure 11 is a longitudinal section of a boiler, through one of the furnaces,
shewing the furnace a, and furnace bars h, the back uptake or chamber f, and
the chimney uptake e.
And, thirdly, our Invention, in so far as it respects other apparatus connected
with steam engines and boilers, consists, first of all, of a mode of preventing
the great radiation of heat which takes place from the smoke box doors of
steam boilers, whether the boilers be of the flat-sided kind before referred to in
this Specification, or of any other description, and is more particularly applicable
to the boilers of steam vessels in which the engine rooms are necessarily much
confined, an evil which in hot climates is most prejudicial to human life.
Figure 12 is an end view of a boiler shewing the arrangements which we
adopt for this purpose. a, a, are the furnaces; b, b, the smoke box doors,
which are formed of two plates of iron rivetted together with a strip or bar of
iron between them, so as to leave a free water space; c, c, are pipes which
lead from a trough or spout placed inside the paddle boxes, and which pipes
receive a supply of water from the spray thrown up by the paddle wheels when
in motion; d, d, cocks to shut off the supply of water; e, e, cocks to regulate
the admission of water into the water spaces of the smoke box doors;
ff, couplings or union joints to disconnect the pipes when the doors are
required to be opened; 9, 9, pipes leading to the upper part of the water
spaces, for conveying the heated water away from the smoke box doors to the
pipes h, h, which may communicate with the bilge of the ship or into a vessel
suitably placed, receiving the heated water, which may be pumped from
thence into the sea by a small pump attached to the engines; i, i, are cleaning
doors, to be removed when necessary for the purpose of clearing out mud or
any other deposit that may accumulate in the water spaces.

page_text: in Figure 12.
Figure 14 is a vertical section of one of the smoke box doors.
Figure 15 is a front view of one of the smoke box doors drawn on a
larger scale.
Figure 16 is a horizontal section of the door on the line M, M,. in
Figure 15.
Figure 17 is a vertical section of the door on the line N, N.
Our Invention, in so far as it relates to apparatus connected with steam
engines and boilers, has farther relation to the auxiliary pump or pumps
ordinarily used on board of steam vessels for filling or feeding the boilers, and
occasionally for washing the decks and pumping out bilge water, and consists
in an improved arrangement and disposition of these pumps, or of certain
of the parts thercof, and also an improved mode of giving motion to the same
whether they are worked by steam or manual power. The pump or pumps
are worked by an excentric or excentrics, or a crank or cranks, and both the
pump or pumps, and the excentric or excentrics, or crank or cranks, as well as
part of the excentric or crank shaft, are enclosed in a box or casing, which
serves at the same time as an air vessel for the pumps. Figure 1b is a vertical
section of a pump constructed on this plan, on a line with the excentric shaft.
Figure 2 is a section transverse to the shaft. Figure 3 is a plan, with the
top of the casing or box removed; and Figure 4b, a section on the line A, B,
in Figure 2b. a is the excentric shaft; b, b, are the excentrics; c, c, are rods
to connect the excentrics to the pump buckets d; e, e, are the bottom clacks or
valves; is a chamber, with an opening g, to which the suction pipe is to be
connected; h is the aperture of discharge, to which the discharge pipe is to
be connected; i is a door, which may be taken off at any time to get at the
bottom clacks or valves; j, j, are stuffing boxes, with glands to keep air tight
the aperture in the casing or box through which the excentric shaft passes.
Figures 5, 6, 7, 8, exhibit another mode of arranging the excentrics or cranks
and pump, so as to get them into a smaller compass, in cases where it is of
importance to get pumps of this description into the least possible space.
Figure 5, vertical section of a pump, on a line with the excentric shaft.
Figure 6 is a section transverse to the shaft. Figure 7 is a plan, with the
top of the casing or box removed; and Figure 8b is a section on the line C, D,
in Figure 6. We prefer enclosing three pumps in one box or casing (all the
pumps being placed in a line under the shaft), but we do not limit ourselves
to the placing of any particular number thereon.

page_text: And having now described the nature of our said Invention in the several
parts thereof, and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare
that the improvements which we claim as constituting our said Invention are
as follows:-
First, we claim the employment of excentrics affixed to or connected with
the shafts of steam engines for working the air pump or pumps, as before
exemplified and described.
Second, we claim the employment in all such steam engines as have
but one piston rod to each cylinder and the crank connecting rod placed
below the crank shaft, of the mode of working the air pumps, by attaching
their rods directly to the cylinder cross head, before exemplified and
described.
Third, we claim the employment in double side rod engines of the description
in which the side rods are guided by slides affixed to the sides of the cylinders,
of the mode of working the air pumps by means of motion derived from studs
or pins attached to the lower ends of the side rods, or to the cross-tail side rods,
as before exemplified and described.
Fourth, we claim the combined employment in steam boilers of flues having
flat sides with internal stays, water spaces between them of sufficient width to
allow of a descending as well as ascending current in each water space, and
smoke box doors admitting of direct access to the flues, all as before exem-
plified and described.
Fifth, we claim the construction of the smoke box doors of steam boilers,
with water spaces therein for lowering the temperature of the adjoining engine
5 room, however these spaces may be supplied with water, or however the water
as it becomes heated may be discharged therefrom.
And, sixth, we claim the working of the auxiliary pumps used in steam
vessels for filling and feeding the boilers, and other purposes, by means of
excentrics or cranks, and the placing of the pumps and excentrics and part of
the excentric or crank shaft within a box or casing, which serves at the same
time as the air vessel for the pumps, as before described.
In witness whereof, we, the said Andrew Lamb and William Alltoft
Summers, have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Sixth day of
June. One thousand eight hundred and forty-nine.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Sixth day of June, in the year of
our Lord 1849, the aforesaid Andrew Lamb and William Alltoft Summers
came before our, said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged
the Specification aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and
specified, in form above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was
stamped according to the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.