IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM BOILERS, FLUES, WATER HEATERS, AND APPARATUS CONNECTED. THEREWITH.
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joseph Twibill, of Manchester, in the County
of Lancaster, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
STEAM BOILERS, FLUES, WATER HEATERS, AND APPARATUS CONNECTED.
THEREWITH.
"
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joseph Twibill at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
21st November 1873.
I, JOSEPH TWIBILL, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM BOILERS, FLUES, WATER HEATERS, AND APPARATUS
CONNECTED THEREWITH," to be as follows:-
:-
This Invention relates to new or improved constructions and arrange-
ments of steam boilers and water heaters or fuel economisers formed of
tubes or pipes containing the water and steam, and of their heating
chambers or flue channels leading to the chimney, and scraping
apparatus connected therewith, all for the saving of fuel in such steam

page_text: generators or water heaters, parts of which are also improvements upon
the Invention for which Royal Letters Patent were granted to me,
Numbered 2378, and dated 15 September 1866.
The first improvement or arrangement consists of a large central
vertical cylinder with radial rings of parallel or conical tubes attached,
and branching outwards and upwards over each other all round to the
right and left of the central cylinder, and enclosing flue or heating
chamber in profile or section analogous to the trunk and branches of a
tree; these branch tubes are connected vertically at their outer and
preferably wider extremities by branches in a line connected above to
the top of the large central cylinders to contain and conduct the cir-
culating water and steam being heated in them, and the large central
cylinders serve to contain a body of water, and both vertical pipes
conduct the steam to the top of the central cylinder which may be sur-
mounted by a steam dome or chamber; the whole forming a boiler or
steam genenerator whilst the sediment freely settles down from the
whole through the bottom of the central trunk cylinders into the blow-off
pipe below it. The larger outer ends of the branch tubes are made with
flanges on their upper or lower sides, and have plugs or covers fitted at
their outer ends: This arrangement formed of a central trunk and
branches, whether round or in section transversely, may be used either
singly or in two or more as a set for steam boilers or water heaters, con-
nected at the side or below for inlet of water, and at the centre for the
blowing off of the filtered and precipitated sediment; each or the whole
being enclosed in a suitable close heating flue furnace or chamber so
that the fire or heated gases can freely act on the whole outer surface of
the pipes which give great heating surface for the size of boiler and
quantity of water in circulation.
A second part of this Invention consists in new or improved modes of
forming the heating chambers or flues for, and the steam boilers or
heaters made of lower ring pipes and cylindrical sets of tubes or pipes,
preferably placed vertically and annularly around the large central pipe
or cylinder and cylindrical enclosing heating chamber, through and
within which the fire and heated gases pass to the flue or funnel, or
direct to the atmosphere, by which means the water may be heated or
the steam can be superheated; or the same can be used for generating
steam and filtering the water.

page_text: 66
A third part of this Invention consists in new or improved arrange-
ments of scrapers and their carrying bars, or holding and actuating
frames and gearing, all for cleansing the surfaces of the pipes or
cylinders by removing the non-conducting soot and oxide of iron or
sediment therefrom, being improvements upon those described in the
final Specification of the said Patented Invention, Numbered 2378, and
dated 15th September 1866, and specially applicable when necessary to
the new or improved construction of steam boilers and water heaters or
'fuel economisers" herein-before described; and consists in erecting
over the centre circular set of pipes a spindle and chain pulleys turned
slowly by worms and worm wheels, and chains on opposite sides carrying
an improved arrangement of annular frames and radial bars with inclined
surfaces which support and actuate the whole set of semicircular scrapers
to suit the set of pipes and scrape them; and the cylinder in both the
up-and-down motion of the scrapers by the action of their wedge shaped
heels acting on the inclined surface for them in their carrying bars or
frames, all otherwise substantially as described in the said Specification.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Joseph Twibill in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 20th May 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSEPH
TWIBILL, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria by Her
Letters Patent bearing date the Twenty-first day of November, 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 me, the said Joseph Twibill, Her
special licence that I, the said Joseph Twibill, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the, said Joseph
Twibill, 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. Invention for
.

page_text: * 13.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM BOILERS, FLUES, WATER HEATERS, AND Apparatus
.CONNECTED THEREWITH," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
.said Joseph Twibill, 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 Joseph Twibill, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement in writing, reference being had to the several
Figures on the Sheet of Drawings, and to the reference letters and
numerals marked thereon, which I have hereunto appended for the
purpose of showing the best modes and means I am at present aware of
for putting my said Invention into effect or practice, the same reference
letters and numerals indicating the same or like parts in all the Figures
where shown:-
"
My said Invention relates to new or improved constructions and
arrangements of steam boilers and water heaters or "fuel economisers'
formed of tubes or pipes containing the water and steam, and of their
heating chambers or flue channels leading to the chimney, and scraping
apparatus connected therewith, all for the saving of fuel in such steam
generators or water heaters, parts of which are also improvements upon
the Invention for which Royal Letters Patent were granted to me,
Numbered 2378, and dated 15th September 1866.
Figures 1 and 2 are a sectional elevation and half plan respectively of
one modification of my said Invention as a steam boiler or generator,
also suitable as a water heater or "fuel economiser," constructed and
arranged in accordance with the first part or improvement thereof.
Referring to Figures 1 and 2 the nature, novelty, and mode of
performing this first part or improvement or construction and arrange-
ment of steam generator or water heater consist of a large main central,
vertical, cylinder A with radial rings or sets of conical, or it might be
parallel, tubes B attached or jointed by the inner ends B₁ to the
cylinder A, so as to branch outwards and upwards in sets or planes over

page_text: each other at 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7, to the right and left of and round
the central cylinder A in profile or section, analogous to the trunk and
branches of a tree, within the enclosing heating flue or chamber G, with
a special ordinary fire-grate and furnace of its own when used as a steam
boiler or generator, and preferably formed of brickwork G¹; and when
used as a water heater for boilers it is built in behind the steam boiler
or set of boilers having their flues and hot gases at H leading into it,
and after heating it passing out by the flue H¹ to the chimney, each
flue being fitted with and controlled by dampers H" and H². Those radial
branch tubes B over each other are jointed or connected at their outer
ends B (and preferably wider extremities when made tapered or conical)
by the short vertical branch pipes. B³ in a line; having cross pipes B³
jointed above leading to the top of the large central cylinder A, so as to
contain and conduct the circulating water and steam up through them,
while being heated in the respective vertical sets of radial pipes B over
cach other. The large central cylinder A serves to contain a body of
water, and assisted by a small central pipe a in it also serves to
conduct the return current down to the central entering ends B' of the
branch pipes B; and the vertical pipes B* and close pipes C shown in
red lines conduct the steam with the upward current of water, all as
indicated by the blue arrows, to the top of the central cylinder A, which
may be surmounted by a steam dome or chamber C¹, the whole forming
a boiler or steam generator, and when preferred as shown the outer ends
of the pipes B and their connecting vertical pipes B² may be connected
and carried by the lower and upper branch pipes B² to the ring segmental
pipe D below, and all jointed to a similar connecting segmental pipe D¹
above, from which the water and steam pipes B and C lead to the top.
The water is filtered in the central circulating cylinder A by the
sediment freely settling down from the whole into the lower part or
bottom A", and discharged through the blow-off pipe I'. The larger
outer ends B of the branch tubes B are made with flanges on their
upper and lower sides to joint the vertical branch pipes B³ to, and they
have plugs or covers B fitted at their outer ends for inserting the joint
bolt and cleaning the pipes B when required.
This improved arrangement formed of a central trunk A, a,, and.
branches B, whether set radially round the centre vessel A, as shown in
plan, Figure 2, or as seen in transverse section, Figure 1, branching out-
only to the right and left, may be used singly or in two or more rows as

page_text: a set for a steam boiler or for a water heater connected at the side or
below, as at F, for the inlet of the feed water, at the lower side and
centre I, A", by the pipe I' for blowing off any sediment filtered or
precipitated, and when used as a water heater the hot water could be
led off from the top A" by the pipe F¹ to the feed pump or boiler. Each
whole set of pipes so connected as stated to form a steam generator or a
water heater would be enclosed in a close heating flue, furnace, or
chamber G, so that the fire or heated gases from its furnace or from the
boilers can freely act on the whole outer surface of the pipes before
passing off to the chimney, all as indicated by the red arrows in the
Figures; and thus give great heating surface for the size of the whole as
a steam boiler or as a water heater compared with the quantity of water
it contains in circulation.
.
Figures 3, 4, and 5, are respectively a vertical section, an elevation,
and a plan of one modification of my said Invention, applied and fitted
to the back end of an ordinary horizontal double flue boiler Z as a water
heater, but also suitable for a steam boiler, of the annular ring class of
vertical pipes constructed and arranged in accordance with the second
part or improvement of this Invention; and Figure 6 is a horizontal
section of a slightly different arrangement of the improved water heater
shown in Figures 3 to 5, with two annular rings or sets of heating pipes,
as suitable for fitting to larger steam boilers or two or more boilers;
while Figures 3 A, 5 A, 3B, and 5 B, are enlarged details of Figures 3
and 5.
Referring to Figures 3, 4, and 5, the nature and mode of carrying out
the second part or improvement of this my said Invention consist in
new or improved modes of forming the heating flues or chambers for
these said steam boilers or heaters, whether of the improved con-
struction shown in Figures 1 and 2, or of those shown in Figures 3 to 6,
when used as water heaters for and connected to steam boilers, as shown
in Figures 3, 5, and 6. Each heater is made of a lower or basement
ring pipe D and similar one D' at the top, both either cast in one piece.
or in jointed or detached segments, with faucets or flanges to receive a
ring or cylindrical set of parallel pipes B, preferably secured between them
vertically and concentrically around the large central pipe or cylinder A
with its small downward return current tube a inside, and lower
sediment collecting and blowing-off receiver at A", like that described.
in reference to Figures 1 and 2, the whole being set and enclosed within:

page_text: the cylindrical heating chamber G, preferably formed in the brick-
work Gat the back end of the steam boiler Z (or it might be set of
boilers) to which the water heater is to be applied, and having the exit
flues H, H, of the ordinary boiler Z led into this new circular
chamber G, through and into which the flames and heated gases pass off
on their way to the flue H¹ controlled by dampers H", H³, and leading
off to the funnel or chimney to escape to the atmosphere. The water
heater is fitted with the inlet feed pipe at F and outlet hot water
pipe F¹, and blow-off pipe I', all as described in the first arrangement,
Figures 1 and 2, so as to form a very compact water heater with great
heating surface and circulating and filtering power; or it might be
a steam boiler or generator, or a steam superheater for these, either for
use on land or in steam ships or vessels. The water circulates up
through the pipes B and back through the pipes B³, down again through
the pipe a, and when passing out to the outlet pipe F¹ it passes up the
spaces a¹ between the branches B³ joining the top of the pipe a, all as
indicated by the arrows in these and the other pipes and parts; and the
whole may either be supported on three or more low brick or iron
pillars G, G, at the bottom of the heating chamber G, as shown in
Figures 1 and 3 respectively, below the basement ring or segmental
pipes D, B³, and D, B, and be closely covered in by brickwork G³ arched
or supported on iron beams or plates.
The improved arrangement of steam boiler or water heater shown in
Figures 3, 4, and b, is fitted with a modification of the new or improved
arrangement of scrapers and their carrying bars or holding and actuating.
frames and gearing, all for cleansing the outer surface of the ring or set
of pipes B and the central cylinder A by removing the non-conducting
soot and oxide of iron or other dirt therefrom in accordance with the
third part of my said Invention, and are improvements upon the
scraping mechanism described in the final Specification of the before-
mentioned Patented Invention, No. 2378, dated 15th September 1866,
and specially applicable to these new or improved constructions of steam
boilers and water heaters or "fuel economisers" described in reference to
Figures 3 to 5, and also that shown in Figure 6. And these improve-
ments consist in erecting over the centre of the circular set of pipes Ba
pitch chain pulley b, having its spindle 6' carried in a bracket 6", pre-.
ferably bolted on the top A³ of the centre pipe A, and both turned
slowly by a worm or screw wheel c on the same spindle gearing into the

page_text: screw c¹ keyed on the light shaft c", also carried in bearings in the
bracket 6", and actuated by ordinary reversing belt or clutch motion
taken from any adjacent motive-power shaft. The chain be is passed
over the pitch or recessed pulley and carried down on each side, so
that a rod b³ on the lower ends are each attached to near the balancing
centre of an open semicircular plate d, the two halves, one on each side,
forming an arrangement of annular frames, nearly filling but working
freely past each other within the space between the centro pipe A and
outer set or ring of pipes B, so as by the radial and low arms or
bars d, d, with the bevelled or inclined bearing surfaces e, sec
Figures 3A and 5 A, which carry or support and actuate the whole
set of segmental and semicircular scrapers fland f¹ respectively, filling.
the outer surface of the centre cylinder or pipe A and each of the set of
pipes B to scrape them in both the up-and-down motion of the
scrapers ff, by the sharp upper and lower angled scraping edges f",
pressed to the surface to be scraped by the action of the wedge-shaped
heels acting or bearing on the corresponding inclined carrying
surface e formed for them in their carrying bars or frames d', d", all as
shown more particularly in Figures 3 B and 5 B, and in a back view of
each of the scrapers fand f¹ detached on a portion of their cylinder A
and pipe B respectively, and constructed and actuated otherwise sub-
stantially as described in the Specification of my said former Patent.
Referring to Figure 6 this shows two sets or annular rings of the
vertical pipes B. each with their lower and upper connecting ring or
segmental pipe D; D', concentric to each other, but in this case without
the central cylinder A, so that the upper and lower pipes D, D', of the
smallest or inner set might be cast in one ring piece, while those of the
other might be cast in segments, and either bolted together or left
separate, and shown in the upper and lower segmental pipes D and D
in Figures 3, 4, and 5; and the semicircular frames d, d, could carry
and actuate the scrapers of both sets of pipes by having an extra set of
the bow arms a projecting radially inwards between the inner ring of
pipes to carry the scrapers of these also. And when desired for larger
water heaters or steam generators of this construction two or more larger
sets of these pipes B, D, D', could be fitted and erected in like manner
concentrically either with or without the central cylinder A and have
the scrapers actuated, all substantially as described in reference to
Figures 3.to 6:

page_text: Another simple modification of these annular or ring water heaters
(under the second part of my said Invention so far:described and shown
in Figures 3 to 6) is shown in vertical and horizontal section in Figures
7 and 8 respectively, especially adapted for the smoke boxes or "take-up "
flues of steam vessels, locomotives, and other like situations leading to
or within the throat of the funnel; and this arrangement consists of
a plain annular cylinder or vessel A, formed by an inner and outer
shell B, B', with close ring ends B", having the internal cylindrical
flue B³ within, or so large, as to come under the funnel, and allow the
waste gaseous products of combustion to pass up the chimney z without
throttling or impairing the draught; and when applied to a locomotiveė
boiler, the blast pipe and exhaust steam could be carried up the centre
of the inside heating space B². The cold water would be led in by the
pipe Fat the bottom, and the boiling or hot water led off by the pipe
F' at the top, and having a blow-off pipe I also at the bottom to draw
off the sulphates and salts of lime or other matters when these are con-
tained in the water, which are filtered, separated, or deposited in the
bottom of these improved heaters by always heating the water to a high
temperature, or above 160°, before leaving this heater A to enter the
steam boiler or generator to which it is fitted; and when fitted round the
lower part of the chimney, it might have the flue-heating space C
formed annularly round it, so as to make a compact arrangement.
Having thus particularly described and ascertained the nature of my
said Invention, and the manner of performing it, I would observe that
I do not restrict myself to the precise details or arrangements herein
described and shown, as many variations may be made therefrom without
departing from the main or essential features of my said Invention, but
what I consider novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention
secured to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,―
First. The construction and arrangement of the parts of steam gene-
rators and water heaters, and their scraping or cleaning mechanism, and
their close heating chambers and flues, substantially in the manner and
acting as described and distinguished in reference to and shown in
Figures 1, 2, and 3 to 6, and 7 and 8, respectively of the accompanying
Drawings, under the first, second, and third parts of my said Invention
or improvements.
Second. The construction and arrangement of the parts of a circular

page_text: with radial pipes branching out from it in tiers over each other, and
their close heating chambers and flues, substantially in the manner and
acting as described in reference to Figures 1 and 2 of the accompanying
Drawings.
Third. The construction and arrangement of the parts of water
heaters or steam generators, with one or more rings or sets of annular
vertical pipes fixed in ring or segmental boxes at top and bottom, either
with or without a central trunk and sediment separating or filtering
chamber below, and their close heating chambers or flues, all sub-
stantially in the manner and acting as described and distinguished in
reference to and shown in Figures 3 to 6 of the accompanying
Drawings.
Fourth. The construction and arrangement of the parts of scrapers
and their carrying and actuating mechanism for annular water heaters
and steam generators, without vertical sets of steam pipes, all sub-
stantially as described in reference to Figures 3 to 6, and their enlarged
details, of the accompanying Drawings.
Fifth. The construction and arrangement of annular water heaters for
marine and locomotive steam boilers within their smoke boxes or close
hot flues, substantially as and for the purposes herein described and
shown in Figures 7 and 8 of the accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Twibill, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Eighteenth day of May, in the
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four.
year of
JOSEPH TWIBILL. (L.S.)