CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM BOILERS
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Bernard Massey and John Hill, trading under
the Firm of Massey and Hill, at Stafford, in the County of
Stafford, Engineers, for the Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN
STEAM BOILERS."
Sealed the 9th April 1874, and dated the 13th October 1873.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Bernard Massey and
John Hill at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their
Petition, on the 13th October 1873.
We, BERNARD MASSEY and JOHN HILL, trading under the Firm of
"Massey and Hill," at Stafford, in the County of Stafford, Engineers, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for " CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS
IN STEAM BOILERS," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to certain improvements in steam boilers, and
consists substantially, firstly, in connecting together two, three, or more
water tubes, or tubes which contain water, or water and steam, and in
fixing the same inside steam boilers, so that a greater number of tubes
can be used than is now possible, Fuel may be by this means economised,

page_text: thorough circulation of the water obtained, incrustation and priming
reduced to a minimum, and specially, each set of tubes can be taken
out, replaced, or renewed in a few minutes, without the necessity which
now exists of taking the boiler to picces or otherwise disturbing it.
Instead of, as is now customary, six or eight holes being required in
which to fix three or four tubes, as the case may be, thus weakening the
boiler if many are used, only two holes are required by our Invention,
one for each junction, and as the bolt which secures the junction also
serves as a stay bolt, the boiler is thus materially strengthened.
This Invention is applicable to locomotive, portable, vertical water
tube boilers, and every description of stationary or marine boilers.
Our Invention is carried into effect in the following manner:-Two,
three, or more tubes, which form a set, are fixed in suitable junctions,
onc junction being at each end of a set of tubes, the said junctions being
made of any required form to suit the different classes of boilers to:
which they are to be fixed, and are secured in that class of boilers
known as locomotive, portable, and vertical, and also all other boilers
having internal fire-boxes by means of a bolt passing from the outside of
the boiler, through the shell, water space, and fire-box plate to each of
the junctions, and by simply unscrewing the said bolt each set of tubes a
can be at once taken away, to be replaced or renewed at pleasure.
In water tube boilers, the bolts which secure the junctions are passed
through the tube to which junctions are fixed, and in both these classes
of boilers the bolts also serve as stay bolts. By unscrewing the said
bolts, the different sets of tubes as before described can be taken away or
renewed.
In Cornish, Lancashire, plain cylindrical, or other boilers, when the
tubes are required to be fixed in the flues, the junctions are secured by
passing a bolt from the inside of the boiler through an ordinary bridgo
bar to each junction, or in each case two or more bolts may be used to
secure the junctions, and the junctions may have flanges or snugs to
which the bolts may be fastened; or when applicable the ends of the
junction may be screwed and secured with a nut, but by preference we
turn the ends taper, and bore the holes to suit.
Our Invention consists, secondly, in surrounding the upper portion of a
vertical boilers, whether fitted with water tubes or not, with an outer

page_text: casing forming a smoke box, and in connecting the said smoke box with
the fire-box by means of short tubes passing through the water space
from the inside of the fire-box to the outside of the boiler within the
said smoke box. These tubes being placed at different heights causes the
heated gases to thoroughly mix and impinge upon the plates of the fire-
box and the water tubes also when used, and also to act upon the outside
of the boiler within the said smoke box, thus adding considerably to the
effective heating surface of the boiler, and preventing damp steam, whilst
at the same time fuel is much economized.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Bernard Massey and John Hill in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 11th April 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, BERNARD
MASSEY and JOHN HILL, trading under the Firm of "Massey and Hill,"
at Stafford, in the County of Stafford, Engineers, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of October, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in the thirty-
seventh year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto us, the said Bernard Massey and John Hill,
Her special licence that we, the said Bernard Massey and John Hill,
our executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as we, the
said Bernard Massey and John Hill, 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
Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for " CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM
BOILERS," upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said Bernard
Massey and John Hill, our executors or administrators, by an instru-
ment in writing under our, or their, or one of their hands and seals,
should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Inven-
tion, 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said Bernard Massey and John Hill,
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, that is to say :—
This Invention relates to certain improvements in steam boilers, and
consists substantially, firstly, in connecting together two, three, or more
water tubes, or tubes which contain water or water and steam, and in
fixing the same to steam boilers, so that a greater number of tubes can
be used than is now possible. Fuel may be by this means economised,
thorough circulation of the water obtained, incrustation and priming
reduced to a minimum, and specially cach set of tubes can be taken out,
replaced, or removed in a few minutes, without the necessity which now
exists of taking the boiler to pieces or otherwise disturbing it.
Instead of, as is now customary, six or eight holes being required in
which to fix three or four tubes, as the case may be, thus weakening the
boiler if many are used, only two holes are required by our Invention,
one for each junction, and as the bolt which secures the junction also
serves as a stay bolt the boiler is thus materially strengthened.
This Invention is applicable to locomotive, portable, vertical water
tube boilers, and every description of stationary or marine boilers.
Our Invention is carried into effect in the following manner :-Two,
three, or more tubes, which form a set, are fixed in suitable junctions,
one junction being at each end of a set of tubes, the said junctions being
made of any required form, to suit the different classes of boilers to
which they are to be fixed, and are secured in that class of boilers
known as locomotive, portable, and vertical, and also all other boilers
having internal fire-boxes by means of a bolt passing from the outside of
the boiler through the shell, water space, and fire-box plate to each of
the junctions, and by simply unscewing the said bolt each set of tubes
can be at once taken away, to be replaced or renewed at pleasure.
In water tube boilers, the bolts which secure the junctions are passed
through the tube, to which junctions are fixed, and in both these classes
of boilers the bolts also serve as stay bolts. By unscrewing the said
bolts the different sets of tubes as before described can be taken away or
renewed.
In Cornish, Lancashire, plain cylindrical, or other boilers, when the
tubes are required to be fixed in the flues, the junctions are secured by

page_text: passing a bolt from the inside of the boiler through an ordinary bridge
bar to each junction, or in each case two or more bolts may be used to
secure the junctions, either by passing through the water space as before
described, or only through the fire-box or flue plates, and the junctions
may have flanges or snugs to which the bolts may be fastened, or when
applicable the ends of the junctions may be screwed and secured with a
nut, but by preference we turn the ends taper, and bore the holes to
suit.
Our Invention consists, secondly, in surrounding the upper portion of
vertical boilers, whether fitted with water tubes or not, with an outer
casing forming a smoke box, and in connecting the said smoke box with
the fire-box by means of short tubes passing through the water space
from the inside of the fire-box to the outside of the boiler within the
said smoke box. The tubes being placed at different heights cause the
heated gases to thoroughly mix and impinge upon the plates of the fire-
box, and the water tubes also when used, and also to act upon the outside
of the boiler within the said smoke box, thus adding considerably to the
effective heating surface of the boiler, and preventing damp steam, whilst
at the same time fuel is much economised.
That our Invention may be better understood, we have annexed
Drawings thereof, which we now proceed to describe.
Fig. 1 is a vertical section on the line A, B, in Fig. 2, and Fig. 2 is a
horizontal section on the line C, D, in Fig. 1, of a vertical steam boiler
constructed according to our Invention. a is the shell of the boiler;
b, the fire-box; c, the grate bars; and d, the chimney, shewn in dotted
lines, all of which parts are old and well known. The parts to which
our Invention relates are the tubes marked e, which are shown secured
in groups of three to upper and lower junction pieces ƒ and g. Each
junction piece has a tapered nozzle h, which fits into a corresponding
hole made in the side of the fire-box 6. A screw bolt i passes through
the outer shell a of the boiler, and is screwed into the back of the
junction piece which it is intended to secure. Each junction piece is
thus drawn tightly into its place in the fire-box, and at the same time
each bolt acts as a stay bolt, uniting the fire-box to the shell, and
resisting the pressure of the steam, which tends to force the shell away
from the fire-box. By simply removing the two bolts i, i, the complete
set of three tubes e, e, e, together with their upper and lower junction

page_text: pieces and g may be removed bodily, and another set may be quickly
substituted.
It will be readily understood that as each set of three tubes only
requires two holes to be made in the fire-box, instead of the six holes
which would usually be necessary, the strength of the fire-box will
remain much less impaired than under the old system of making a hole
for each end of each tube.
It will also be seen that the rapid circulation of the water, which
takes place in the direction of the arrows, has much less tendency to
produce priming than if the tubes passed upwards through the crown of
the fire-box, as is usually the case, inasmuch as the ascending current
of water, or of water and steam, is in our Invention directed against
the shell of the boiler, instead of being propelled upwards towards the
steam space, and requiring special deflectors to destroy its upward
velocity.
Fig. 3 is a horizontal, and Fig. 4, a vertical section of a boiler of the
locomotive or agricultural type, having tubes applied according to our
Invention. The boiler here shewn differs only from that shewn in
Figs. 1 and 2 in the shape of the boiler and of the fire-box, and in the
direction of the flue tubes d.
With respect to the method of applying our Invention, the description
of Figs. 1 and 2 will apply equally well to Figs. 3 and 4.
Figs. 5 and 6 illustrate a method of applying our Invention to the
internal flue tube of a Cornish boiler. a is the shell of the boiler, and b
is the flue tube; c, c, c, are the water tubes, secured to upper and lower
junction pieces d and e. The tapered nozzles f,f, are formed upon the
junction pieces d and e at such an angle that the tubes c assume an
inclined position, as shewn, the insertion of the tapered nozzles f₁f, into
their respective holes being thereby facilitated. The junction pieces d
and e are here shewn to be held in position by means of short bolts g
passing through bent cross bars h, which cross bars span the openings in
the nozzles f without obstructing the waterway thereof. In the transverse
section, Fig. 5, the water tubes c may either assume the vertical position
in which they are shewn, or some or all of them may take the positions
shewn by the dotted lines i, i.
Figs. 7 and 8 illustrate the application of our Invention to boilers
consisting entirely of water tubes 22 h aro the unner and lower

page_text: fire-box is dispensed with, a chimney being now attached to the upper
part of the external smoke box k, as at m.
But although we have thus described the said outer casing or smoke
box, and although it is a useful addition to a boiler, especially when our
water tubes are employed therein, yet we wish it to be understood that
the said outer casing or smoke box does not form an essential part of our
Invention, and that we make no distinct claim to the said outer casing
or smoke box.
Having now described and illustrated the best methods with which
we are acquainted of carrying out our Invention, we wish it to be under-
stood that we do not limit ourselves to the precise details herein-before
described and shewn, as the same may be varied without departing from
the nature of our Invention, but what we claim is, connecting together
two, three, or more water tubes by means of junction pieces, and fixing
the same to steam boilers or other heating apparatus, and to surface
condensers, substantially in the manner and for the purpose herein-
before described.
In witness whereof, we, the said Bernard Massey and John Hill,
have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Tenth day of April, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
four.
Witness,
G. R. HOLLAND,
Birmingham.
BERNARD MASSEY. -(L.s.)
JOHN HILL.
(L.B.)