IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR CLEANSING STEAM BOILERS
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Shepherd, of the City of Manchester, in the
County of Lancaster, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN APPARATUS FOR CLEANSING STEAM BOILERS."
Sealed the 20th June 1862, and dated the 26th December 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Shepherd at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
26th December 1861..
I, JAMES SHEPHERD, of the City of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN APPARATUS FOR CLEANSING STEAM BOILERS," to be as follows:-
In order to collect, carry off, and discharge the sludge, sediment, and scum
contained in and formed upon the surface of the water in steam boilers
(particularly during ebullition), I employ one or more floating receivers made
buoyant by air-tight chambers, balance weights, or other suitable means to
render them moveable. The said floating receivers are adjusted to any given
distance below the surface of the water as may be found desirable, and are
connected to the waste pipe or pipes by tubes within each other, similar to a
telescope, or by jointing one tube so that it can work in or upon another tube
in order that the receivers may rise or fall with the surface of the water as it
varies in height or depth, the collected refuse being discharged from the
receivers and waste pipes by taps, valves, or other suitable means.

page_text: In order to expel from the boiler such sludge, sediment, or other matter
that may fall to the bottom part of the shell or framework of the boiler,
I employ one or more vertical or other shaped pipe or pipes, fitted with a rose
or perforated disc; these pipes or under sludge extractors are connected to
the waste pipe or pipes, the whole area of the openings into the main or chief
waste pipe to equal, but not exceed, the area of the said chief or main
waste pipe.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said James Shepherd in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
26th June 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
SHEPHERD, of the City 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-sixth day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fifth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said James Shepherd, Her special licence that I, the said James Shepherd,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said James
Shepherd, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR
CLEANSING STEAM BOILERS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said James Shepherd, 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 James Shepherd, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement (that is to say):-
In order to collect, carry off, and discharge the sludge, sediment, and scum

page_text: contained in and formed upon the surface of the water in steam boilers,.
particularly during ebullition, I employ one or more floating receivers, made
buoyant by air-tight chambers, balance weights, or other suitable means to
render them moveable. The said floating receivers are adjusted to any given
distance below the surface of the water, as may be found desirable, and are
connected to the waste pipe or pipes by tubes within each other, similar to a
telescope, or by jointing one tube so that it can work in or over another tube,
in order that the receivers may rise or fall with the surface of the water, as it
varies in height or depth, the collected refuse being discharged from the
receivers and waste pipe or pipes by taps, valves, or other suitable means.
In order to expel from the boiler such sludge, sediment, or other matter that
may fall to the bottom part of the shell or framework of the boiler, I employ
one or more vertical or other shaped pipe or pipes fitted with a rose, perforated
disc, or conical mouthpiece; these pipes or under sludge extractors are
connected to the main waste pipe, the whole area of the openings into the said
main or chief waste pipe to equal but not exceed the area of the said main or
chief waste pipe.
These improvements will be clearly understood by referring to the figures
and letters on the accompanying Sheet of Drawings, in which Figs. 1 and 2
are transverse and longitudinal sections of an ordinary steam boiler, having
one arrangement of my improvements attached; Figs. 3 and 4 transverse and
longitudinal sections of another arrangement of the said improvements; and
Fig: 5 one of the under sludge extractors, drawn about half size.
In Figs. 1 and 2, a represents the receivers, of which any number may be
employed, according to the length or construction of boiler; a copper sphere
or ball, which is secured to the top part of the receiver, and is adjusted to its
position according to the distance required for working the receivers under the
surface of the water; c, a taper spout with a communication through it for
admitting the pressure internally to the ball, cylinder, or float, in order to
prevent collapse; d the waste or main receiving pipe, running longitudinally
with the boiler, and terminating as required at the front, back, or sides of the
boiler, such termination being fitted with a tap, valve, or other suitable
contrivance; e, f, g, are vertical pipes, connected to the longitudinal waste or
main pipe d, in or over which the receivers a work.
One of the bottom or under sludge extractors is shewn at h, Figs. 1 and 3,
and at about half-size in Fig. 5, and a series of them at h in the longitudinal
sections Figs. 2 and 4; they consist of vertical or other shaped pipes, having
at the bottom end a perforated disc or a conical mouthpiece i. And here
I would particularly remark that the conical or bell-mouthed extractors are

page_text: novel and valuable, as they are made separate, and may be applied to any
description of pipes that are used for the purpose of cleansing boilers either
from the bottom or the surface of the water. In consequence of their enlarged
cavity at the bottom, they command a large effective surface, and give an
increased supply to the receiving pipe or pipes whilst blowing off, and therefore
the danger and annoyance of perforated pipes becoming clogged or filled up is
by this means prevented, and the cavity or hole in the receiver is protected
and kept clean by the additional impetus surrounding it from below.
In Figs. 3 and 4 the receiver is shewn at j; it is an extended trough or
spout, placed longitudinally in the interior of the boiler within a few feet of
each end, and is made buoyant by two or more cylinders placed parallel with
each of its sides, which cylinders are provided with spouts communicating
with the interior, in order to prevent collapse. These cylinders are shewn
at ; each is connected to the receiver by elongated slides 1, Fig. 3, so that
by raising or lowering the cylinders in the slides the receiver is adjusted to any
given distance under the surface of the water. In order to prevent any
tendency of the receiver to buckle or bag when in the water, its sides and
connections with the bottom are made at right angles to each other, and there
is a fall of about three-quarters of an inch to every six inches from back, to
front end in the bottom or breastwork of the receiver, as shewn at m, Fig. 4.
The discharge pipe n at the front end works in or over a vertical pipe o,
connected to the waste pipe p, having, when desired, under sludge extractors h
similar to those before described. Attached to the back end or middle of the
receiver are two or more small chains g; they are secured to the gusset or
other stays to prevent the receiver moving laterally from its position or line of
direction, whilst at the same time they permit the receiver to rise or fall as the
water varies.
In Fig. 5, representing a section drawn about half-size of the bell-mouthed
or conical extractor, the area or bore of the hole indicated by the dotted lines
may be increased or diminished according to the number employed, or may be
regulated to the size of the tap or valve upon the waste or discharge pipe.
It is immaterial whether the neck of the receiver be made conical, as shewn
atr in the Figure, or made parallel and screwed as a means of securing them
to the pipes.
Having now described the nature and particulars of my said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, I desire it to be under-
stood that I claim for the purpose of carrying off and discharging the sludge,
sediment, and scum contained in and formed upon the surface of the water in
steam boilers,

page_text: First, the construction and application of floating receivers adjusted to any
required distance below the surface of the water, in order that the receivers
may rise and fall as the surface of the water varies in height.
And, secondly, the employment of bell-mouth or conical extractors, com-
municating at the top with the waste or discharge pipe, and resting on the
bottom of the interior of the boiler, as all such improvements are herein
described and illustrated in the accompanying Sheet of Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Shepherd, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-fourth day of June, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.
Signed, sealed, and delivered by the
within-named James Shepherd, in
the presence of
E. J. HUGHES,
Patent Agent,
Manchester.
JAMES SHEPHERD. (L.S.)