IMPROVE- MENTS IN STEAM BOILERS
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Asbury, of Balsall Heath, in the County
of Worcester, Mechanical Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN STEAM BOILERS."
Sealed the 19th April 1870, and dated the 16th November 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Asbury at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
16th November 1869.
I, CHARLES ASBURY, of Balsall Heath, in the County of Worcester,
Mechanical Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM BOILERS," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists, firstly, of the following improvements in
connecting the ends of the tubes in tubular boilers, whether the tubes
be inclined or fixed in any other position.
According to one of these improvements I close the ends of the tubes
by welding or brazing or screwing a cap or plug therein, and connect the
closed ends by means of pipes bent into a semicircular figure and pro-

page_text: vided with flanges at their ends. By means of stud bolts passed through
the said flanges they are fixed to the ends of the tubes over holes made
in the said ends, and the said tubes are thus connected together.
According to another improvement the open ends of the boiler tubes
are screwed into junction pieces consisting of tubes, square or rectangular
in cross section, and of somewhat larger diameter than the boiler tubes.
In some cases I make the said junction pieces open at the side opposite
to that in which the tubes are screwed, and close the said open side by a
plate attached by screws. The said junction pieces may either connect
the boiler tubes horizontally, vertically, or diagonally. When I make
the junction pieces open at the side and vertical I prefer to make on the
plate which closes the said open side a series of deflectors consisting of
small plates at right angles to the closing plate. These deflectors are so
situated that when the closing plate is fixed in its place one of the said
deflectors is opposite to and just enters each of the tubes. The mixture
of steam and water having to pass these deflectors in a zig-zag path the
greater part of the water is arrested and priming wholly or in part pre-
vented. I form on the ends of the boiler tubes projections, which when
the said tubes are arranged in their places engage with one another and
support the tubes in their proper relative positions; or I employ loose
filling-up pieces built up between the tubes and dovetailed or otherwise
fitted to each other.
My Invention consists, secondly, in arranging deflectors in the vertical
or other tubes of steam boilers for the purpose of arresting the passage
of particles of water, and thereby preventing or diminishing priming.
These deflectors consist of a series of discs or plates secured at a short
distance apart upon a rod or bar which is fixed in the axis of the boiler
tube, and by deflecting the ascending current cause the deposition of the
particles of water.
My Invention consists, thirdly, of a horizontal steam and water
reservoir connected with the boiler and fixed at midwater level. The
feed water is passed into this reservoir before being supplied to the boiler,
and by being heated to a temperature at which lime salts are precipitated
the said lime salts are thrown down before the water enters the boiler,
and incrustation is thereby wholly or in part prevented. I prefer to
introduce the water into the reservoir by a pipe passing horizontally at
the upper part from end to end of the reservoir, and to supply the boiler
from the end at which the water is introduced. The water thus gets

page_text: thoroughly heated. The precipitated saline matter is collected on coarse
filters or fabric suspended in the reservoir.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Charles Asbury in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 14th May 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
ASBURY, of Balsall Heath, in the County of Worcester, Mechanical
Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Sixteenth day of November, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the thirty-
third year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Charles Asbury, Her special licence
that I, the said Charles Asbury, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Charles Asbury, 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
STEAM BOILERS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Charles Asbury, 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 Asbury, 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 :-
My Invention consists, firstly, of the following improvements in
connecting the ends of the tubes in tubular boilers, whether the tubes
be inclined or fixed in any other position.

page_text: According to one of these improvements I close the ends of the tubes
by welding or brazing or screwing a cap or plug therein, and connect the
closed ends by means of pipes bent into a semicircular figure and pro-
vided with flanges at their ends. By means of stud bolts passed through
the said flanges they are fixed to the ends of the tubes over holes made
in the said ends, and the said tubes are thus connected together. I
employ loose filling-up pieces for supporting the tubes, the said filling-up
pieces being built up between the tubes and dovetailed or otherwise
fitted to each other.
According to another improvement the open ends of the tubes are
screwed or otherwise connected to junction picces consisting of tubes,
square or rectangular in cross section, and of somewhat larger diameter
than the boiler tubes. In some cases I make the said junction pieces
open at the side opposite to that in which the tubes are screwed, and
close the said open side by a plate attached by screws. The said junction.
pieces may either connect the boiler tubes horizontally, vertically, or
diagonally. When I make the junction pieces open at the side and
vertical. I prefer to make on the plate which closes the said open side a
series of deflectors consisting of small plates at right angles to the closing.
plate. The said deflectors may however be unconnected with the said
closing plate. Theso deflectors are so situated that when the closing
plate is fixed in its place one of the said deflectors is opposite to, and just
enters cach of the tubes at the upper part of the boiler. The mixture of
steam and water having to pass these deflectors in a zig-zag path the
greater part of the water is arrested and priming wholly or in part
prevented.
My Invention consists, secondly, in arranging deflectors in the vertical
or other tubes of steam boilers for the purpose of arresting the passage
of particles of water, and thereby preventing or diminishing priming.
These deflectors consist of a series of disks or plates secured at a short
distance apart upon a rod or bar, which is fixed in the axis of the boiler
tube and by deflecting the ascending current cause the deposition of the
particles of water.
My Invention consists, thirdly, of a horizontal steam and water reser-
voir, connected with the boiler and fixed at mid-water level. The feed
water is passed into this reservoir before being supplied to the boiler,
and by being heated to a temperature at which lime salts are precipitated
the said lime salts are thrown down before the water enters the boiler,

page_text: and incrustation is thereby wholly or in part prevented. I prefer to
introduce the water into the reservoir by a pipe passing horizontally at
the upper part from end to end of the reservoir, and to supply the boiler
from the end at which the water is introduced. The water thus gets
thoroughly heated. The precipitated saline matter is collected on coarse
filters or fabric suspended in the reservoir.
Having explained the nature of my Invention I will proceed to
describe with reference to the accompanying Drawings the manner in
which the same is to be performed.
Figure 1 represents in front elevation, Figure 2 in back elevation,
and Figure 3 in longitudinal vertical section a steam boiler containing
some of the improvements described under the first head of my Invention;
Figures 4 and 5 represent details of the same on a larger scale. The
same letters of reference indicate the same parts in Figures 1, 2, 3, 4,
and 5.
a, a, are the inclined tubes of the boiler, the ends of which are closed
by plugs or caps b, which may either be welded, brazed, or otherwise
secured therein. The several boiler tubes a, a, are connected together
by means of the semicircular connecting pipes c, c, provided with
flanges d at their ends (see Figure 5); e, e, are stud bolts by which
the said flanges are connected to the closed ends 6 of the boiler tubes
a, a, holes * being made in the caps or plugs opposite the ends of the
connecting pipes c, c. Washers or rings of india-rubber or other
clastic material fare placed between the flanges d and the caps b.
Instead of the flanges f, as represented in Figure 5, snugs g, represented
in Figure 1, may be made on the connecting pipes c, c, and by means
of stud bolts the said connecting pipes may be secured to the caps 6
of the boiler tubes a, a. This method of connecting the pipes c to the
Loose filling up
tubes a is adopted in the boiler, Figures 1, 2, and 3.
picces i, i, are built up between the ends of the tubes a, a, for the
purpose of supporting the same. These filling up pieces i, i, may be
dovetailed together, as indicated in Figures 4 and 5, and in the front
elevation, Figure 1, or otherwise connected together. The said filling.
up pieces i, i, are bound laterally by the panels at front and back
of the boiler. The way in which the ends of the tubes a, a, engage
are cap³,
in the filling-up pieces i, i, is shown in Figures 4 and 5.
is the
by removing which the soot may be cleaned out of the boiler;
steam collecting pipe; and m, m, are fire-brick slabs supported by the T

page_text: girders n, n, over the top of the boiler to prevent radiation of heat. In
connection with the bottom rows of tubes and at the back of the boiler
is a series of mud collectors or troughs o, o. These troughs consist of
flat tubes, best seen in Figure 2, connected together. Two of these
troughs are connected together by the connecting cap p, and the other
three troughs are connected together by the connecting cap q. The
two caps p, q, are connected together by the cap into which the feed
pipes enters. By filling the boiler through the connecting cap r the
same water level is maintained in the several series of tubes. The
mud is blown out of the troughs o, o, by means of the stop-cocks at
their lower ends. The flue by which the smoke and products of com-
bustion after circulating about the boiler tubes are conducted from the
boiler is indicated in dotted lines at t, Figure 3.
Figures 6, 7, and 8 illustrate another of the arrangements of my
Invention described under the first head, Figure 6 being a front eleva-
tion of the boiler (partly in section); Figure 7; a longitudinal vertical
section; and Figure 8, a back elevation (partly in section) of the same.
The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in Figures 6, 7,
and 8.
According to this part of iny Invention the open ends of the inclined
boiler tubes a are fixed in junction pieces b, which said junction pieces b
consist of tubes, square or rectangular in cross section, and of somewhat
larger diameter than the boiler tubes a, a. The ends of the tubes à
engage in holes in the inner faces of the connecting pieces b; as will be
understood by an examination of Figure 7. I prefer to make openings on
the outer sides of the junction pieces b opposite the openings in their inner
sides, which outer openings I close by plates c attached to the junction
pieces b by screws, as seen in Figures 6 and 8. The said junction pieces b
may either connect the boiler tubes a horizontally or vertically or dia-
gonally. In Figures 6, 7, and 8 the outer tubes a are represented con-
'nected vertically by the connecting pieces b, and the inner tubes are
represented connected horizontally by the junction pieces b. The ends of
the tubes a are fixed in the junction pieces 6 either by being screwed
therein or fixed by means of ferrules, as represented in Figure 12. The
way in which the several series of tubes of the boiler are connected with
one another and with the steam collecting pipe d will he understood
by an examination of the boiler, that is to say, the end vertical junction
piéces b on the left-hand side of the boiler are connected together by a

page_text: semicircular pipe e, and with the steam collecting pipe d by a similar pipe f
The end vertical junction pieces 6 on the right-hand side of the boiler
are connected by similar pipes, while the middle horizontal junction
pieces are connected together and to the steam collecting pipe d by
diagonal semicircular connecting pipes 9, one half of which are only
represented in the Drawing. A similar arrangement of junction pieces
and connecting pipes is adopted at the back of the boiler, as will be seen
by referring to Figure 8. h, h, are the fire-brick slabs for preventing
the radiation of heat, and i, i, are the T girders for supporting the same;
k is the flue passing from the boiler. The mud collectors in this arrange-
ment are constructed in the manner last described, and are marked
with the same letters of reference. Instead of making each series of
the boiler tubes open into a junction piece of the kind last described
the said series of pipes may be made to open into one broad flat junction
picce, channel, or steam and water space.
This modification of my Invention is represented in Figures 9, 10,
and 11; Figure 9 representing a front elevation of a boiler (partly in
section); Figure 10, a longitudinal section; and Figure 11, a back
clevation (partly in section), of the same.
i
a, a, are the boiler tubes, and 6 the junction pieces. These junction
pieces are open at the sides opposite those into which the ends of the
boiler tubes a are fixed, the said open sides being closed by plates c, c,
fixed as represented by screws d. At the front of the boiler two vertical
series of tubes open into each of the junction pieces b, while at the
back of the boiler three vertical series of tubes open into the outer
junction pieces b, and two vertical series of tubes open into the middle
junction pieces b. The several junction pieces open into the steam
collecting pipe e, as will be understood by an examination of Figure 9.
Figure 12 shows the way in which the boiler tubes a are fixed in the
junction pieces 6 by means of the ferrules f. The lower part of each
of the back junction pieces 6 constitutes a mud collector, from which
the mud may be blown out by the stop-cocks represented..
Figure 13 represents in front elevation (partly in section) another
modification of this part of my Invention, and Figure 14 is a longitudinal
section of the same.
In this modification the front junction pieces b
into which the boiler tubes a open are closed, that is, are without open
ings or the open front of the arrangements herein-before described. The
tubes a are fixed in the front junction picces 6 by being screwed therein;

page_text: while the said tubes are fixed in the back junction pieces by
ferrules, the said back junction pieces being open and having a covering
plate or plates b³. The tubes a, a, arc inserted and fixed from the
back of the boiler. In order to afford an additional steam collecting
space or reservoir I employ a series of transverse steam collecting tubes a²
at the top of the boiler. These tubes are connected together and to the
steam collecting pipe e in the manner illustrated on a larger scale in
Figure 15, and also to the back junction piece by the connecting pipe a².
The transverse tubes a³ are embedded in the fire-clay bricks or slabs a*
to prevent radiation of heat, in the manner illustrated in Figure 14.
The arrangement of additional steam collecting space is also represented
in the boiler Figure 10.
The second part of my Invention is illustrated in Figures 9, 9, 10,
13, 14, 16, and 17 of the accompanying Drawings. This part of my
Invention consists in arranging deflectors in the vertical and other tubes
of steam boilers for the purpose of arresting the passage of particles of
water, and thereby diminishing or preventing priming. These deflectors
may either consist of plates inserted in the ends of the tubes or supported
upon rods. In the former method of carrying my Invention into effect
I employ a series of plates 2, 2, of the shape represented separately in
Figure 9. The parts 3 of each plate 2 are inserted in the front or upper
ends of two of the tubes a (see Figures 9 and.10), the other part of the
plate 2 occupying the vertical junction piece b. The ascending steam
from the lower tubes is arrested by the part 2 of the plate, and is made
to pass round the end 3 in the manner indicated by the arrows in
Figure 10. During this tortuous course a large part of the suspended
particles of water separates from the steam before it enters the steam
collecting pipe e. When the junction pieces are open at the side and
vertical the deflectors 2, 2, may be attached to the closing plate of the
said open side.
When I connect the deflectors to rods I adopt the arrangement
represented in Figures 13, 14, 16, and 17 of the Drawings. In this
arrangement the deflecting plates 4 are supported upon rods 5 fixed to
When the
the steam collecting pipe e, as represented in Figure 13.
plate 4 is situated opposite the middle of one of the tubes a the said
plate is single and projects into the said tube. When the said plate is
opposite one of the tubes a and also opposite the end
junction pieces 6 at right angles to the tube a, as at
of one of the
in Figure 13,

page_text: then the plate 4 is double one of the plates projecting into the tube a
and the other plate projecting into the opening in the junction piece b'.
Thus the ascending current of steam is deflected, whether it pass round
the end of the plate which projects into the junction piece 6 or round
the end of the plate which projects into the tube a. Figures 16 and 17
show the two different arrangements of these deflectors which I employ.
In Figure 16 the upper plate is single, being situated when in use
opposite the end only of one of the tubes a, and the lower plate is
double, being situated when in use opposite one of the tubes a and also
opposite one of the junction pieces . In Figure 17 the position of the
plates is reversed. The arrangement Figure 16 is adapted for the left-
hand side of the boiler, Figure 13, and the arrangement Figure 17 is
adapted for the right-hand side of the said boiler.
The third part of my Invention is illustrated in Figures 18 and 19 of
the Drawings, Figure 18 representing a front elevation of a portion of a
boiler containing this part of my Invention, and Figure 19 representing
the same in side elevation. 6 is the steam and water reservoir connected
to the steam collecting pipe 7 and the bottom of the boiler by the pipe 8.
The feed water is pumped into the reservoir 6 through the pipe 10, the
said pipe extending to nearly the front end 11 of the reservoir, and the
water therein is raised to the boiling point and its temperature main-
tained by the furnace and steam pipo 13 of the boiler. After tho
reservoir 6 has been in uso a short time the cold water introduced by
the pipe 10 is raised to nearly the boiling point before it is delivered at
the end 11 of the reservoir; the said water passing from the end 11 to
the part 12 of the reservoir is made to pass through coarse filtering
material contained between the perforated partition 15 and the back end
of the reservoir. The filtering material may consist of sponge, coarse
fabric, or hay. By this filtering material the precipitated lime salts are
retained. The water passes from the reservoir by the upper end 14 of
the pipe 8, which upper end is protected by a small cage 16.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner
in which the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that
I do not limit myself to the precise details herein described and illus-
trated, as the same may be varied without departing from the nature of
my Invention; but I claim as my Invention of improvements in steam
boilers,―

page_text: trated in Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 of the accompanying Drawings for
connecting together the ends of the tubes of tubular boilers, whether the
said tubes be inclined or fixed in any other position, that is to say,
closing the ends of the tubes by a cap or plug, and connecting the said
tubes together by semicircular or other shaped connecting pipes fixed
over holes in the said closed ends, substantially as described and illus-
trated. Also filling up the spaces between the tubes at their ends, and
supporting them by means of loose filling-up pieces or plates dovetailed
or otherwise fitted together, substantially as described and illustrated.
Secondly. The arrangements of parts herein-before described and illus-
trated in Figures 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, and 14 of the accompanying
Drawings, for connecting together the ends of the tubes of tubular
boilers, whether the said tubes be inclined or fixed in any other position,
that is to say, fixing the ends of the tubes in junction pieces constructed
and arranged at the front and back of the boiler, substantially as described
and illustrated, whether the said junction pieces into which the tubes
open be connected together by connecting pipes or form a continuous
water and steam space into which the ends of tho tubes open.
Thirdly. The construction and arrangement in the tubes of tubular
boilers of deflecting plates for preventing or diminishing priming, as
herein-before described and illustrated in Figures 9, 9, 10, 13, 14, 16,
and 17 of the accompanying Drawings.
Fourthly. The combination with tubular and other boilers of a hori-
zontal steam and water reservoir into which the feed water is supplied,
substantially as herein-before described and illustrated in Figures 18
and 19 of the accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Asbury, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Tenth day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and seventy.
Witness,
GEORGE SHAW.
CHARLES ASBURY. (L.s.)