IMPROVEMENTS IN BOILERS TO BE USED IN TREATING OR BLEACHING
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Whyte, junior, of Glasgow, in the
County of Lanark, North Britain, Paper Maker, for the Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN BOILERS TO BE USED IN TREATING OR BLEACHING
Sealed the 12th July 1872, and dated the 20th March 1872.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Whyte at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
20th March 1872.
I, WILLIAM WHYTE, junior, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark,
5 North Britain, Paper Maker, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN BOILERS TO BE USED IN TREATING OR BLEACHING
PAPER-MAKING MATERIALS AND TEXTILE MATERIALS AND FABRICS," to be as
follows, that is to say :-
This Invention has for its object to render more efficient boilers of a
kind used by paper makers and bleachers, and to thereby economise
chemical agents and time.

page_text: As hitherto commonly made a boiler of the kind referred to is of a
vertical cylindrical form with, curved or dome-shaped top and bottom
ends. A steam pipe enters vertically down through the centre of the
top and extends to within a few inches of the bottom, where it opens
beneath a perforated diaphragm or false bottom. The steam pipe is
encircled by a larger pipe, and when the space round these pipes is filled
with the materials (for example, esparto and caustic lye) the liquid
drains down through the perforated diaphragm, and the steam carries it
up the space between the steam pipe and its encircling pipe, causing it to
be vomited from the open top of the latter over the top of the materials. 1
The improvement consists in fitting a perforated diaphragm near the top
of the boiler, with the top of the vomiting pipe opening above the
diaphragm, so that the liquid and steam issuing from the pipe is spread
or distributed over the entire surface of the materials. With this im-
provement the circulating action is rendered more efficient and uniform
and all parts of the materials are at once equally acted upon.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Whyte in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 19th September 1872.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM 2
WHYTE, junior, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North Britain,
Paper Maker, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of March, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the thirty- 2
fifth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said William Whyte, junior, Her special licence
that I, the said William Whyte, junior, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Whyte, junior, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, a
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 BOILERS TO BE USED IN TREATING OR BLEACHING PAPER-MAKING MATERIALS AND

page_text: Gleverly taper-making materials.
TEXTILE MATERIALS AND FABRICS," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said William Whyte, junior, 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
5 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 William Whyte, junior, 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
accompanying Drawings, that is to say :-
My said Invention has for its object to render more efficient boilers
of a kind used by paper-makers and bleachers, and to thereby economise
chemical agents and time.
And in order that my said Invention, and the manner of performing
the same, may be properly understood, I hereunto append a Sheet of
explanatory Drawings, to be herein-after referred to, and representing
a boiler of the kind used by paper makers as fitted with my improve-
ments. In these Drawings the same reference numerals are used to
mark the same or like parts wherever they are repeated.
As hitherto commonly made a boiler of the kind referred to is of a
vertical cylindrical form with curved or dome-shaped top and bottom ends
1, 2, as shown in vertical section in Figure 1 of the Drawings. A steami
inlet pipe 3 enters vertically down through the centre of the top 1, and
extends to within a few inches of the bottom 2, having fixed at its lower
end a perforated head 4 allowing the steam to issue beneath a perforated
diaphragms or false bottom 5.. The steam pipe 3 is encircled by a larger
pipe 6 fixed upon the diaphragm 5, and when the space above the
diaphragm 5 and surrounding the pipe 6 is filled with the materials
(for example, esparto and caustic lye) the liquid drains down through
the diaphragm 5, and the steam carries it up the space 7 between the
steam pipe 3 and its encircling pipe 6, causing it to be vomited from
the open top 8 of the latter over the top of the materials. In most
cases a cap has been placed above the open top 8 of the vomiting pipe 6
to deflect the issuing streams, and so cause them to be projected down-
wards upon the materials with some force. With or without this cap,
L

page_text: however, the main bulk of the liquid falls quite near to the pipe 6, so
that it is only by degrees and very slowly that the materials near the
sides of the boiler have been acted upon.
My improvement consists in fitting or placing a perforated diaphragm 9
in the boiler so as to be above the esparto, straw, or other materials that
are to be operated upon, and with the top 8 of the vomiting pipe 6
opening above such diaphragm, so that the liquid and steam issuing
from the pipe is spread or distributed over the entire surface of the
materials. With this improvement the circulating action is rendered.
more efficient and uniform and all parts of the materials are at once
equally acted upon.
A sector of this distributing diaphragm is shown separately in plan
in Figure 2. The perforations are graduated in size, as shown, so that
those further from the centre are larger, such graduation contributing
towards the uniformity of the distribution, since the liquid being in
greater quantity near the centre passes more easily through apertures of
a given size, but becoming less and less as it approaches the outside,
requires larger holes (or it might be a greater number in a given area)
for an equal quantity to pass through.
Where the boiler is in constant use, as in paper making, and is filled
to a certain maximum extent at every operation, it is obviously the
most convenient to have the diaphragm 9 permanently fixed no further
below the top 1 of the boiler than will allow sufficient room above it
for the vomiting and spreading of the liquid, and in the Drawing it is
shown as thus fixed by means of angle iron 10 round the top of the
vomiting pipe 6 and by angle iron 11 round its outer edge. It is,
however, obvious that this diaphragm 9 may be fixed in a lower position
than that in which it is shown, either permanently or temporarily, and
yet have the same distributing and equalising action on the vomited
liquid.
For convenience in filling the materials into the boiler a part of the
diaphragm 9 is made detachable from the rest and is fixed to the filling
door 12 so as to be lifted therewith, as indicated by the dotted lines,
when the door is opened. The materials are removed from the boiler
by the usual side door 13, and the liquid is run off by the bottom
pipe 14.
I am aware that prior to the date of the herein-before in part recited
Letters Patent a species of diaphragm or open grating has been used

page_text: in boilers for bleaching textile materials, to press by its weight on such
materials and hold them down, but such diaphragms or gratings have
been constructed with comparatively large openings and not so as to
obtain a uniform distribution of the vomited liquid, and have therefore
not answered the essential and important purpose and object of my
Invention.
Having thus particularly described my said Invention, and the manner
of performing the same, I have to state that I do not restrict myself
to the precise form of boiler, nor to the other precise details berein
described or delineated; but that what I believe to be novel and original,
and claim as the Invention secured to me by the herein-before in part
recited Letters Patent is, the placing in paper makers' and bleachers'
boilers of a perforated diaphragm, so as to be above the materials
operated on, so as to receive above it the liquid vomited up a central
or other pipe, and so as to distribute such liquid over the entire surface
of the materials, all substantially as and for the purposes herein-before
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Whyte, junior, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Eighteenth day of September,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
two.
Witness,
EDMUND HUNT,
Patent Agent,
Glasgow.
W. WHYTE, JUN³. (L.S.)