Improvements in Water Tube Steam Boilers.
Year: 1897

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Water Tube Steam Boilers.
We, JOHN SAMUEL WIIITE and JOHN LEE WHITE, both of East Cowes, Isle of
Wight, Shipbuilders and Engineers, and ANDREW FORSTER, of the same place,
Draughtsman, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention relates to water tube steam boilers in which a water chamber or
water chambers at the lower part of the boiler and a steam chamber at the upper
part of the boiler are connected by means of rows of tubes.
For convenience in repairing such boilers it is desirable that the connecting
tubes or any one or more of them may be withdrawn from the boiler through
the steam chamber when removal of the said tubes is necessary. This has hereto-
fore been admitted of in some cases by making the steam chamber of a diameter
equal to or greater than the length of the connecting tubes and in others by
providing capped or plugged holes in the shell of the steam chamber for the con-
necting tubes to be passed into or through in a transverse direction relatively to
the steam chamber and in others by making the ends of the steam chamber
removable and curving the connecting tubes so as to admit of their withdrawal
through the open ends of the said chamber. All these provisions for withdrawal
of the said tubes are however attended by practical objections which the present
invention is designed to obviate the object of this invention being to provide for
removal of any one or all of the connecting tubes from a boiler having a steam
chamber of less diameter than the length or shortest distance between the ends
of the said tubes by passing them endwise into the steam chamber in the direc-
tion of its length and withdrawing them through a manhole or manholes in one
or both of its ends.
According to the said invention all the said connecting tubes are so bent or
curved that when removal of any of them from the boiler is required they may
be disengaged from the water chamber by being forced endwise in an upward
direction and may then be passed entirely into the steam chamber and be after-
wards withdrawn therefrom through the ordinary manhole in one end of the
steam chamber or through another manhole or other manholes formed in one or
other or both of its ends. Or some of the said tubes are so bent or curved that
after being disengaged from the water chambers they may be passed through the
steam chamber in such a direction or such directions relatively to the man hole
or man holes that the upper ends of the said tubes may pass directly therethrough
and out of the steam chamber while other portions of the said tubes are engaged
in or being passed through the tube holes.
The degree and direction of curvature or bending of the said tubes and the
arrangement of the several rows of tubes and of the tubes in the several rows or
at different parts thereof relatively to each other and to the water and steam
chambers are governed by various circumstances or conditions such as the
diameter of the steam chamber relatively to the length of the tubes and the

page_text: position of the tubes relatively to different parts of the steam and water chambers
and the position of the manhole or manholes in the end or ends of the steam
chamber.
In some cases or for some positions in the boiler the connecting tubes are so
bent or curved or the bent or curved tubes are so arranged or are secured in such
positions relatively to each other and to the water and steam chambers that the
disengagement of the said tubes from the boiler may be effected solely by direct
endway motion of the said tubes through the tube holes in the steam chamber
and in other cases the said tubes are so bent or curved and arranged that in order
to effect their withdrawal as required a turning motion of the tubes in the said
holes is necessary in addition to endway motion through the said holes.
W. T. WHITEMAN,
Agent for the Applicants
We, JOHN SAMUEL WHITE and JOHN LEE WHITE, both of East Cowes, Isle of
Wight, Shipbuilders and Engineers, and ANDREW FORSTER, of the same place,
Draughtsman, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement:-
This invention relates to water tube steam boilers in which a water chamber or
water chambers at the lower part of the boiler and a steam chamber at the upper
part of the boiler are connected by means of rows of tubes.
For convenience in repairing such boilers it is desirable that the connecting
tubes or any one or more of them may be withdrawn from the boiler through
the steam chamber when removal of the said tubes is necessary. This has hereto-
fore been admitted of in some cases by making the steam. chamber of a diameter
equal to or greater than the length of the connecting tubes and in others by
providing capped or plugged holes in the cylindrical shell of the steam chamber
for the connecting tubes to be passed into or through in a transverse direction
relatively to the steam chamber and in others by making the ends of the steam
chamber removable and curving the connecting tubes so as to admit of their
withdrawal through the open end of the said chamber after removal of the end
cover thereof.
All these provisions for withdrawal of the said tubes are however
attended by practical objections which the present invention is designed to obviate
the object of this invention being to provide for removal of any one or all of
the connecting tubes from a boiler having a steam chamber of less diameter than
the length or shortest distance between the ends of the said tubes by passing them
endwise into the steam chamber in the direction of its length and withdrawing
them through a manhole or manholes in one or both of its ends.
Water tube boilers of the type to which this invention relates and in which
provision is made for removal of the connecting tubes through a manhole or man-
holes in one of the ends of the steam chamber are illustrated in the accompanying
drawings in all of which drawings the steam chamber is marked a the water
chambers 6 the connecting tubes c the manholes & and the furnace e.
Figure 1 of the said drawings is a transverse section and Figure 2 is a partial
side view looking in the direction of the arrow Figure 1 illustrating a boiler pro-
vided with curved connecting tubes of greater length than the diameter of the
steam chamber and all similarly curved which connecting tubes are arranged in

page_text: rows forming two walls one at each side of the furnace and are of such curvature
and arranged in such positions relatively to the water and steam chambers and to
each other as to admit of withdrawal of any of the said tubes through a manhole
in one end of the steam chamber by disengaging them from the
water chambers and forcing them endwise through the holes in the
tube plate of the steam chamber with which they are engaged. The positions
of some of the tubes while being thus withdrawn are indicated in both the said
figures by means of broken lines. Figure 3 is a section taken on the line A
Figure 1 and Figure 4 is a view corresponding to Figure 2 but showing only a
few of the connecting tubes in some of the several rows the rows in which the
tubes illustrated in Figure 4 are set being identified in the said figure and in
Figures 1 and 3 by the numerals thereon. The object of showing only a few
of the tubes in Figure 4 is to render more clearly comprehensible the relative
positions of the tubes in all the rows which positions are best shown by Figure 3
and are explained in the following description with special reference to that
figure. It may however be observed that ready comprehension of the disposition
of the said tubes will be facilitated by examination of all the aforesaid figures
conjointly during perusal of the said description. Further in order to guard
against misapprehension it may be advantageous hero to repeat that in the
arrangement illustrated in the said four figures all the tubes are similarly curved
that is the curves of all the tubes are of the same radius the impression of differ-
ence of curvature of the tubes in the several rows which inspection of only one
of the said figures may produce being due to the difference of position of the
tubes of the several rows relatively to each other. Thus the tubes of the rows
marked 1, 2, 3, 4 in Figure 1 which appear straight in that figure are shown by
Figure 2 to be curved the curve of the tubes shown in which Figure 2 is the
exact curve of each one of the connecting tubes in the boiler illustrated.
The relative positions of the tubes (which admit of withdrawal thereof as herein-
before stated) are as follows;--The tubes in the rows marked 1, 2, 3, 4 in
Figure 1 are so placed that the curves of all the tubes in each row are in the
plane of the same row the several planes of those rows being parallel as indicated
by the broken lines fghi, Figure 3. The curves of the several tubes in the row
marked 5 are all in different planes all of which planes are parallel to each other
and at a slight angle to the planes of the rows 1, 2, 3, 4. The curve of each of
the several tubes of each one of the other rows of tubes is in like manner in a
separate plane the planes of the curves of all the tubes in each one of those rows
being parallel to each other and the planes of each row being progressively at a
greater angle to the planes of the rows 1, 2, 3, 4. The progressive angularity
of the planes of the curves of the several rows of tubes and the parallel positions
of the planes of the several tubes in each row are indicated by the broken
lines jklm, the lines jk showing the angle and parallelism of the planes of two
tubes in the row marked 9 and the lines lm, showing the angle and parallelism of
the planes of two tubes in the row marked 13. The positions thus described of
the connecting tubes whereby withdrawal thereof as hereinbefore stated is per-
mitted are determined by the directions in which the tube holes in the plates of
the water and steam chambers are formed.
Figure 5 is a transverse section of a boiler of the general construction illus-
trated in Figures 1 and 2 showing the connecting tubes arranged so as to permit
of withdrawal of any one of them through one or other of two manholes in the
end of the steam chamber and Figure 6 is a section taken on the line B Figure
showing the planes of the curves of the connecting tubes the several rows of tubes
being identified in the said Figures 5 and 6 by the numerals marked thereon.
Figure 7 is a transverse section of a boiler differing from that illustrated in
Figure 5 only in the respect that it is provided with a third water chamber
arranged midway between the water chambers of the side walls of tubes and con-
nected to the steam chamber by means of an additional wall of tubes. The
positions of the planes of the curves of the tubes of the middle wall of tubes will

page_text: be readily understood having regard to the foregoing description of the boiler
illustrated in Figures 1 and 2 and to the fact that all the tubes of the said middle
wall are similarly curved and are capable of withdrawal entirely into the steam
chamber except those near the manhole end the upper ends of which tubes when
being withdrawn project through the manholes before their lower ends are dis-
engaged from the tube holes in the steam chamber as in the case of the tubes of
the side walls.
It is not essential to our invention that the curves of the several connecting
tubes in each group or wall be all of precisely the same radius and some difference
in the curve of the said tubes may be desirable or necessary in some cases as for
instance in the construction of large boilers.
The ends of all the tubes which are connected to the steam chamber are as
usual slightly larger in external diameter than the other parts of the said tubes
and the ends which are connected to the water chambers may be as usual slightly
smaller.
We are aware that in some boilers of the type to which this invention relates
the connecting tubes have been curved and connected to the water and steam
chambers in such positions that the curve of each tube is entirely in a plane at
right angles to the axis of the steam chamber and we are also aware that in other
boilers of the said type it has been proposed to curve the said tubes and connect
them to the water and steam chambers in such positions that the curves are all
in the planes of the several longitudinal rows of tubes and we would observe that
we make no claim to the mere curving of the connecting tubes or to the mere
arrangement of the said tubes in either of these ways and that neither the curving
nor either of the said arrangements of the tubes is alone accompanied by the
advantage which it is the special object of this invention to attain namely the
possibility of withdrawal of any of the tubes through a manhole or through one
or other of two manholes in the end cover of the steam chamber and which object
is attained according to this invention by the disposition of the curved tubes
substantially as herein before described with reference to the accompanying
drawings.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what
we claim is;
―
In water tube steam boilers consisting essentially of longitudinal water and
steam chambers connected by means of tubes of greater length than the diameter
of the steam chamber arranged in groups or walls the improvements herein before
described whereby withdrawal of any of the connecting tubes through the steam
chamber and through a manhole or manholes in the end or ends thereof is per-
mitted that is to say the disposition or arrangement of curved connecting tubes
in the positions relatively to each other and to the water and steam chambers
herein before described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
Dated this Twenty-eighth day of June 1898
W. T. WHITEMAN,
Agent for the Applicants.