CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM BOILERS
Year: 1832

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, Sir
CHARLES WEBB DANCE, of Hertsbourn Manor Place, in the Parish of Bushey,
in the County of Hertford, Knight, Lieutenant Colonel, send greeting,
WHEREAS His present most Excellent Majesty King William the Fourth,
by His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Twenty-eight day of April, in the second year of His reign,
did, for Himself, His heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Sir Charles Webb Dance, His especial licence, sole privilege and authority,
that I, the said Sir Charles Webb Dance, my exors, adññors, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said Sir Charles Webb Dance, 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, my Invention
of CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM BOILERS;" in which said Letters Patent is
contained a proviso that I, the said Sir Charles Webb Dance, shall cause a
particular description of the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, and to cause the same to be inrolled in His
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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Sir Charles Webb Dance, do hereby declare the nature of my said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described and
ascertained in and by the following description thereof, reference being had to
the Drawing annexed, and to the figures and letters marked thereon (that is
to say):
My Invention consists of a certain arrangement of tubes, and other parts
of a steam boiler, whereby the water will be more advantageously submitted to
the action of the heat, and at the same time considerable strength and com-
pactness will be obtained, and thus render such boiler particularly adapted to
locomotive purposes as well as for other engines.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Fig. 1 shows a boiler constructed according to my improvements; and
Fig. 2 is a section whereby the internal construction of the boiler will be more
readily understood. This boiler consists of the outer vessel A, and the
arrangement of tubes B, which consists of a combined series of flat coils of
drawn iron gas tubing, leaving sufficient space for the passage of the hot
air, &c. passing through to the flue or chimney C. These flat coils of tubing
are joined together by screws in a similar manner to that usually employed in
gas fitting. D is an ordinary safe valve; and E is the steam pipe leading to
the engine. And it will be seen that the steam enters from the upper part of
the steam vessel A, and descends through the not water in that vessel, and
thence to the engine. F is the water supply pipe to the boiler, which it will
be seen is connected to the upper coil of tubing; the object of which is that
the water is caused to enter at the part most distant from the fire, and where
the tubing is least acted on. The water will descend in a serpentine course
through the series of the coils of tubing B, till it comes to the lowest coil,
which constitutes the fire bars, through which the water has to pass, and will
take up heat therefrom. By this means that coil will be greatly preserved
from the destructive action of the fire; and the last or lowest coil B being
connected to the outer vessel A by the tube G, the water in a highly heated
state will pass from the series of tubing into the outer vessel A, and give off
so much as is converted into steam to the upper part of that vessel, which it
will be seen is left as a steam chamber.
It will be evident, by this arrangement, that by having the fireplace or
furnace of the boiler surrounded by water by means of the outer vessel A,
that all lateral heat will be taken up by the water contained in the vessel,
which will thereby be converted into steam, whilst the water as it enters by

page_text: the tubing being exposed to a large extent of heating surface, and in consc-
quence of entering from above at the coolest, and descending to the lowest, or
most heated part, the water will take up the largest part of the heat as it
ascends, and thus is obtained an advantageous use of the heat from the fuel in
the fireplace or furnace. The outer vessel A is composed of a cylindrical boiler,
having a tube passing through, similar to many boilers now in use; and the
series of coils of tubing B are placed within this vessel. The water in the
outer vessel A may be kept to its proper level by means of guage cocks or
floats, as is well understood. In some instances, in place of making the
lower coil, which constitutes the fire bars, fixed as above described, particularly
when the boiler is intended for locomotive engines, I construct the lower coil
in such manner as to turn on the pipes leading from the upper coil, and on
the pipe leading into the boiler, such pipes forming axes having water-tight
joints. By this means, in case of requiring the fire to put out at any instant,
the lower coil forming the fire bars may be turned on its axes, and thus will
the fuel be removed from under the boiler, and thus may the generation of
steam be stopped in case of any accident to the pumps, or otherwise, which
might produce an accident to the boiler.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of con-
structing the same, I would observe that, although I have described the boiler
and tubes as being made of iron, I do not confine myself to the use of that
metal; and it is evident, that although I have shown and described the
boiler A as being cylindrical, having one end hemispherical, I do not confine
myself to that form, neither do I claim the use of the parts. But what I
claim as my Invention is, the combining of the series of tubes B within a
vessel A, in such manner that the water is caused to pass in at the upper part,
where the heat of the fire is less effective, and descends to the lower part of
the tubes, and is more strongly acted on by the fire, whereby the water will
become highly heated, and pass into the outer vessel A, and give off so much
as is converted into steam, as above described.
And, secondly, I claim the constructing the lower coil of tubing, when
applied as fire bars, to revolve for the purpose of removing the fuel at any
moment from acting on the boiler, to prevent accident, in case of derangement
of pumps, or otherwise, whereby the boiler might be liable to injury.
In witness whereof, I, the said Sir Charles Webb Dance, have hereunto.
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-fifth day of October, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and thirty-two.
C. W. DANCE. (L.S.)

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Twenty-fifth day of October, in
the year of our Lord 1832, the aforesaid Sir Charles Webb Dance came
before our said Lord the King in His Chancery, and acknowledged the Speci-
fication 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.
Inrolled the Twenty-seventh day of October, in the year of our Lord One