IMPROVEMENTS IN BRUSHES FOR CLEANING THE TUBES OF STEAM BOILERS
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the "International
Patent Office," No. 8, Southampton Buildings, London, Consulting
Engincer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN BRUSHES FOR CLEANING
THE TUBES OF STEAM BOILERS." -A communication from abroad by
Patrick Henry Coyle and Edwin Augustus Perry, both of Newark,
New Jersey, United States of America.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Robert Lake
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 28th May 1869.
I, WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the "International Patent Office,"
No. 8, Southampton Buildings, London, Consulting Engineer, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
BRUSHES FOR CLEANING THE TUBES OF STEAM BOILERS," a communication, to
be as follows:-
The primary object of my Invention is the construction of a brush

page_text: designed to be used for cleaning the tubes of boilers, and formed of such
material and in such manner that it is not liable to be damaged by the
heat of the boiler.
Heretofore brushes used for this purpose have been made of bristles,
or kindred materials, which not only rapidly wear away but receive still
greater lamage from the excessive heat to which they are exposed,
which burns away the bristles as well as the wooden hub to which the
bristles are fastened, and as these brushes are expensive and not durablo
there is a great need of a brush not liable to the above objections. A tube,
which may be made of wood, is drilled radially with rows of small holes
of uniform size for the reception of strips or pieces of steel wire, which I
employ to form the brush instead of bristles. The kind of wire I have
found to serve the purpose well is flat, similar to that employed in the
manufacture of hoop skirts, but not made too brittle in the process of
hardening, being capable of considerable bending without breaking, and
so that it may also be first passed through one of the holes, and then
turned back and passed in the reverse direction through the next
adjacent hole in the same line, thus leaving the bight or bend of each
piece within the tube or hub of the brush, and its two free ends outside
the same. All the rows of holes are thus supplied with wires or metallic
strips, but prior to thus introducing these strips into the holes the hub
should be lined on its exterior with sheet iron or other metal, this metal
being drilled as above stated with holes for the metal strips. The
holes being all supplied with the wires the inner or tubular portion
of the bed or hub is now lined with sheet iron or other suitable metal,
and the rims or edges of both the outer and inner linings may project
sufficiently beyond the wood to admit of their being swaged down to
cover the end of the wooden hub so as not to expose any of the wood to
the direct action of the heat. End pieces or caps are made to fit snugly
in and upon the ends of the tubular hub, and each of these has a
central opening, and has its outer side faced with metal. Through these
central openings I pass a metallic rod having screw throads at both ends
to receive thumb nuts which I employ to firmly clamp the heads to the
hubs and to hold the whole apparatus together. Washers are preferably
placed between the heads and the thumb nuts.
In order to extend the handle to any length required so as to adapt
L

page_text: employ sleeves screw threaded within, and other sections of rods, screw
threaded at the end, similarly to the centre rod above described, the
sleeve being applied to two ends of two sections and turned around
until both are held firmly together by it. That end of the central rod
to which the long handle is not attached is also allowed to project
beyond the brush for a sufficient distance to allow its extreme end to
come in contact with the end wall of the boiler and arrest the further
advance of the brush before the said brush shall have been pushed entirely
out of the tube which is being cleansed, thus avoiding the annoyance and
delay as well as the strain upon the handle and liability of damage to
the brush which would be incident to the dropping down of the brush
part if permitted to pass entirely out of that end of the flue or tubo. I
prefer to make the central rod or handle tubular, though this is not
absolutely necessary. To adapt the brush to flues of different sizes
I have but to make the hub of a different size, employing the
same size of wire to ensure a proper degree of stiffness, or I can
use the same sized hub and use wire of a different size and thickness.
In order that the brush may be readily drawn or guided back into
the flue after having been pushed through the same in cleaning I
employ four curved braces as a guard, the same being attached to the
brush and to the handle.
By my mode of construction it is evident that if the brush should
wear irregularly it can readily be reversed upon its handle to correct
such wear and insure its continued efficiency, and also that if by
carelessness or rough usage any of the wires should be broken or
otherwise damaged they may be readily replaced by new ones by simply
taking out for that purpose the inner lining and replacing it, this
lining serving as a supporting base or bed to hold all the wires in
placc.
It is also evident that I may omit the outer lining of metal upon the
periphery and end pieces of the hub, but I prefer to use them as a
protection to the wood.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters l'atent,
filed by the said William Robert Lake in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 2nd October 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
ROBERT LAKE, of the "International Patent Office," No. S, Southampton
Buildings, London, Consulting Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-eighth day of May, 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 suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said William Robert Lake, Her
special licence that I, the said William Robert Lake, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William
Robert Lake, 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 Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN BRUSHES FOR CLEANING THE TUBES OF STEAM BOILERS,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Robert
Lake, 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 William Robert Lake, 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, reference being had to the accompanying
Drawing forming a part of this Specification:-
The primary object of my Invention is the construction of a brush
designed to be used for cleaning the tubes of boilers and formed of such
material and in such manner that it is not liable to be damaged by the
heat of the boiler.

page_text: Heretofore brushes used for this purpose have been made of bristles
or kindred materials, but these materials not only rapidly wear away but
receive still greater damage from the excessive heat to which they are
exposed, such heat burning away the bristles as well as the wooden hub to
which the bristles are fastened, and as these brushes are expensive and not
durable there is a great need of a brush not liable to the above
objections.
In the accompanying Drawing, Figure 1 is a longitudinal section of a
brush made in accordance with my Invention; Figure 2 is an end view
of the same, with the handle and end pieces removed; Figure 3,
represents a portion of the handle and the means for lengthening the
same; and Figure 4 is an end view of one of the caps of the tubular
hub.
. A is a tube, which may be made of wood. This tube is drilled radially
with rows of small holes B of uniform size for the reception of the strips
or pieces of steel wire C, which I employ to form the brush instead
of bristles. The kind of wire I have found to serve the purpose well is
flat, similar to that employed in the manufacture of hoop skirts, but
not made too brittle in the process of hardening, being capable of
considerable bending without breaking, and so that it may also be first
passed through one of the holes B and then turned back and passed in
the reverse direction through the next adjacent hole in the same line,
as shown, thus leaving the bight or bend of cach piece within the tube
or hub of the brush and its two free ends outside the same. All the
rows of holes are thus supplied with wires or metallic strips, but prior
to thus introducing these strips into the holes the hub should be lined
on its exterior, as shown, with shect iron or other metal D, this metal
being drilled as above stated with holes for the metal strips. The holes
being all supplied with the wires, the inner or tubular portion of the bed or
hub is now lined with sheet iron or other suitable metal E, and the rims
or edges of both the outer and inner linings may project sufficiently (if
desired) beyond the wood to admit of their being swayed down to cover
the end of the wooden hub, so as not to expose any of the wood to the
direct action of the heat. End pieces or caps F are made, as shown, to
fit snugly in and upon the ends of the tubular hub, and each of these
has a central opening and has its outer side faced with metal. Through
these central openings I pass a metallic rod G having screw threads at
both ends, as shown at H, to receive thumb nuts I, which I employ to

page_text: firmly clamp the heads to the hubs, and to hold the whole apparatus
together. Washers K are preferably placed between the heads and the
thunb nuts. In order to extend the handle to any length required, so
as to adapt it for use with different boilers whose tubes may vary in
length, I employ sleeves L screw threaded within, and other sections of
rods screw threaded at the end similarly to the centre rod above described,
the sleeve being applied to two ends of two sections, and turned around
until both are held firmly together by it. That end of the central rod
to which the long handle is not attached is also allowed to project
beyond the brush for a sufficient distance to allow its extreme end to
come in contact with the end wall of the boiler and arrest the further
advance of the brush before the brush shall have been pushed entirely
out of the tube which is being cleansed, thus avoiding the annoyance and
delay as well as the strain upon the handle and liability of damage
to the brush which would be incident to the dropping down of the
brush part if permitted to pass entirely out of that end of the flue or
tube. I have shown the central rod or handle tubular and prefer to
make it so, though this is not absolutely necessary. To adapt the brush
to flues of different sizes I have but to make the hub of a different size,
employing the same size of wire to ensure a proper degree of stiffness;
or I can use the same sized hub, and use wire of a different size and
thickness. In order that the brush may be readily drawn or guided back
into the fluo after having been pushed through the same in cleaning
I employ four curved braces M., M, as a guard, the same being
attached to the brush at R, R, and to the handle of the brush
at P, P.
By this mode of construction it is evident that if the brush should
wear irregularly it can readily be reversed upon its handle to correct
such wear and insure its continued efficiency; and also that if by
carelessness or rough usuage any of the wires should be broken or
otherwise damaged, they may be readily replaced by new ones by
simply taking out for that purpose the inner lining E and replacing it
again, this lining serving as a supporting base or bed to hold all the
wires in place. It is also evident that I may omit the outer lining
of metal upon the periphery and end pieces of the hub, but I prefer to
use them as a protection to the wood, which would otherwise be liable to

page_text: a brush formed of bristles could not be used at all without the certainty
of destruction from the high temperature.
Having thus fully described the said Invention as communicated to
me by my foreign correspondents, I claim,-
First. A boiler flue brush, the flexible or brush portion of which is
composed of strips or pieces of steel or other metal inserted in the hub,
substantially as set forth.
Second. The combination of a metallic lined tubular hub or base with
a steel or metallic brush, substantially as set forth.
Third. The combination with a boiler flue brush of removable end
picces or heads and a removable centre rod or handle, substantially as
set forth.
Fourth. The application to boiler flue brushes of a guard to guide the
brush back into the fluc after having been pushed through, substantially
as explained.
Fifth. The boiler fluc brush and the guard M constructed and combined
to operate together, substantially in the manner and for the purpose
specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Robert Lake, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Second day of October,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-
ninc.