IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM BOILERS and CONDENSERS.
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Newton, of the Office for
Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil
Engineer, for the Invention of*" IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM BOILERS and
CONDENSERS.". -A communication from abroad by Benjamin Talbot
Babbitt, of the City and State of New York, United States of
America.
Sealed the 18th November 1873, and dated the 9th September 1873.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward
Newton at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 9th September 1873.
I, WILLIAM EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery
Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM BOILERS
AND CONDENSERS," to be as follows:—

page_text: ments), with hollow, tapering, radial, or horizontal arms, which are closed
at their outer and smaller ends, but are in free communication at their
inner and larger ends with the one or more hollow upright vessels.
These hollow, tapering, radial, or horizontal arms are preferably and
purposely in certain cases set in staggering relation one with the other
(more especially where the Invention is applied to a condenser), and are
screwed into sockets tapped in the vertical vessels, the whole being
enclosed by an outside chamber or case. The hollow uprights to which
the radial or horizontal arms are connected may communicate at their
lower ends with a mud space or vessel, and by their upper ends with
another vessel, which will constitute a steam dome.
A boiler or condenser constructed in accordance with the general
principle of the Invention possesses all the leading features necessary to
a perfect working of the same, apart from special advantages relating to
independent expansion and contraction of the parts, the ready clearance
of their contents, and the facility with which the parts may be renewed
or put together and taken apart, together with other features bearing on
economy and general efficiency.
The Invention also consists in an arrangement of the parts above
mentioned or certain of them, including the hollow, tapering, radial
arms in connection with a revolving tubular body, whereby a revolving
boiler of great efficiency is obtained, capable of producing steam in
flashes or from small supplies of water with perfect safety and with
every convenience as regards construction and repairs of the boiler when
necessary.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Edward Newton in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 9th March 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Ninth day of September, in the year

page_text: principle of the Invention possesses all the leading features necessary to
a perfect working of the same, apart from special advantages relating to
independent expansion and contraction of the parts, the ready clearance
of their contents, and the facility with which the parts may be renewed
or put together and taken apart, together with other features bearing on
economy and general efficiency.
The Invention also consists in an arrangement of the parts above
mentioned, or certain of them, including the hollow, tapering, radial
arms, in connection with a revolving tubular body, whereby a revolving
boiler of great efficiency is obtained, capable of producing steam in
flashes or from small supplies of water with perfect safety and with every
convenience as regards construction and repairs of the boiler when
necessary.
In the accompanying Drawings Fig. 1 represents a plan of a steam
boiler constructed in accordance with one modification of the Invention ;
Fig. 2, a side elevation of the same; Fig. 3, an end view thereof; and
Fig. 3*, a vertical section of the same taken in the line 1, 2, of Fig. 3,
such structures, by being enclosed within a chamber or case, and
provided with a suitable arrangement of inlets and outlets or passages, is
also applicable to be used as a condenser.
Fig. 4 represents an outside view of another form of boiler constructed
in accordance with the Invention; Fig. 5 is a vertical section of the
same in a plane at right angles to Fig. 4; Fig. 6 is a plan view
thereof; and Fig. 7, a horizontal section through the upper portion of
the boiler.
Fig. 8 represents a vertical, and Fig. 9 a horizontal section of another
modification of the Invention as applied to a steam boiler.
Fig. 10 is a view shewing how the radial arms or tubes and their
central portions or bosses may be constructed.
Figures 11 and 12 represent sectional elevations in planes at right
angles to each other of a revolving steam boiler constructed in accord-
ance with the Invention.
Referring in the first instance to Figures 1, 2, 3, and 3* of the
Drawings, A is a lower water or combined water and mud drum, on

page_text: which is mounted any desired number of serpentine or corrugated hollow
uprights B, B, in communication below with the drum A, and connected
above by bent steam pipes s with a steam drum D, which latter may be
connected with the lower drum A by a pipe 6 fitted with a- check valve
for returning the water of condensation to the lower drum. Projecting
radially from either or both sides of the corrugated uprights B, B, are
hollow radial arms C, C, arranged irregularly or staggeringly, one above
the other in each upright, and of tapering construction, in direction of
their length; diminishing towards their outer and closed ends. These
arms are cast separate from the uprights, and are screwed into them, as
represented in Fig. 1, so that the boiler is made up of a number of
independent sections or picces, which, in case of any fault in one, may
be readily made perfect by substitution without involving the loss of any
very heavy or expensive casting, and also facilitating transportation and
the crection of the boiler.
.
The corrugated uprights B, and radial arms or tubes C being each
free at their one end every desired provision is made for independent
expansion or contraction, while by the staggering arrangement of the
arms C (by each successive one on the same upright being out of line
with the next) the fire and gaseous products of combustion are restricted
from passing off in a direct manner, but are made to take a zig-zag or
serpentine course up between the uprights B and around the arms C,
thereby most effectually heating the whole surfaces of the parts so
exposed, and producing a rapid and economical generation of the steam,
while the longitudinally tapering construction of the radial arms C
favors a good circulation and ready escape of the steam generated within
such arms, and also perfect clearance of sediment, which will be pre-
vented from collecting therein by natural descent along the lower sides
of the arms.
Referring in the next instance to Figures 4, 5, 6, and 7 of the Drawings,
A' represents an upright cylinder or case, which when the boiler is
designed for domestic purposes, or is of a portable description, may be
made of sheet iron, and is surmounted by a cap B', provided with a draft
outlet 6' for the gaseous products of combustion. C₁ is the grate of the
fire-place, and D' the ash-pit. E' is the tubular body of the generating
portion of the boiler arranged centrally within the case A', and composed

page_text: for the most part of a number of rings d³, mounted and fitted by annular
tongue and groove one upon the other, and closed by end caps e¹, e¹, the
whole being secured together by a bolt f¹. Each of these rings d¹ is
provided with a number of hollow radial arms F¹ of tapering construc-
tion in their longitudinal section diminishing outwards at or from points
all around the rings, and arranged in staggering relation or so that the
radial arms of either one ring occupy an intermediate position with the
radial arms immediately above or below them. These radial arms F¹,
which are closed at their outer ends and in communication at their
inner ends with the tubular body E', constitute the steam generating
portion of the boiler, the water being introduced at any suitable point
into the tubular body E', and the steam escaping by one or more
outlets g¹ attached to the cap B¹.
To increase the capacity and generating surface of the boiler the
hollow tapering radial arms F¹ may be made bifurcated or with side
branches, which by their angular arrangement in relation to the main
arms will materially assist (in connection with the herein-before specified
staggering arrangement of the main arms) to intercept or spread the
heated gases as they escape towards the outlet 61, thereby obtaining a very
efficient heating surface. In a boiler constructed as described a ready
escape is also provided for the steam and for sediment, together with a
perfect circulation, and the whole is readily put together or taken apart.
It is likewise safe, and in case of damage to one section or part the same
is easily replaced by a duplicate thereof.
In the boiler shown in Figures 8 and 9 of the Drawing A2 is a chamber
or case, the upper part of which may constitute the combustion chamber,
having an outlet 6ª and the lower part of it, the ash-pit of the boiler c²
being the grate. B² is a cross drum or passage (preferably arranged
below the grate), and which may form the mud drum of the boiler.
Through this drum B² the water may be fed into the boiler. Mounted
on this drum are a number of stand pipes C³, arranged side by side, and
serving to carry or form part of a number of straight tubes or vertical
passages C³, each of which is composed of a number of hollow eyes or
bosses d², d², fitted and arranged to turn one upon or within the other,
and having attached to them or carrying oppositely disposed hollow
tapering radial arms or tubes D², D³, the whole, that is, each upright
row of bosses d², with attached opposite radial tubes or arms being held

page_text: in position and secured together by bolts e². The hollow tapering radial
arms or tubes D2 in the several series (which combined form a cluster)
are so set or arranged by turning or adjusting the bosses d³, that each
alternate horizontal row of radial arms or tubes D³ in the cluster occupy
an intermediate position with those immediately above or below them,
as represented in Fig. 9, and which by causing the fire and heated gases
to take a serpentine or zig-zag course between the radial arms or tubes
prolongs or more thoroughly. utilizes the action of the heated gases on
the hollow arms. E2 is a steam drum with which the hollow straight
uprights C³ are connected by bent branch pipes f.
A boiler thus constructed is not only economical and efficient, and has
many other general or special advantages, including independent expan-
sion of the parts, but by the facility which is afforded for varying the
angular relation of any one horizontal row of radial hollow arms with
the arms. immediately above or below it, the indirect circulation or
passage of the heated gases between the arms is regulated as desired.
When it is objectionable to construct the radial arms D2 and their
bosses d² of ordinary cast iron of suitable quality, then the bosses d³ may
be made of malleabilized cast iron, and the arms D2 of wrought iron, and
they may be screwed into the bosses, as shewn in Fig. 10.
Advantages of like importance in part or in whole are obtained for the
application of the Invention (under each or all of the several herein-
before described modifications) to a condenser, and the construction as a
general thing is the same, at least so far as the hollow uprights and
tapering radial arms or tubes are concerned, suitable connections being
made with the hollow uprights at their top and bottom, and with the
outer shell or case above and below, in order to provide for the circula-
tion of the steam or vapor to be condensed and for the water or fluid by
which condensation is effected.
Referring in the next instance to Figures 11 and 12 of the Drawing,
which illustrate a revolving boiler constructed in accordance with the
Invention, A³ is a horizontally arranged tubular body or cylinder provided
with hollow trunnions 6³, 64, which are supported and turn in bear-
ings c³, c³, of a chamber or case B³, and pass through stuffing boxes d³.
One of the trunnions carries a toothed wheel or pulley e³ for rotating
the boiler by means of suitable gear. The case or chamber B³ contains

page_text: Fifth. The construction and arrangement of parts shewn in Figures 8,
9, and 10 of the Drawing, and herein described.
Sixth. The revolying steam boiler constructed substantially as shewn
in Figures 11 and 12 of the Drawing, and herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William. Edward Newton, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, the Ninth day of March,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
four.