AN IMPROVED WATER METER AND FEEDER APPARATUS FOR BOILERS
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Vordier, of the Firm "Société Anonyme
de l'Alimentateur à Niveau Constant Macabies," of Rue Lafayette,
No. 88, at Paris, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED WATER METER
AND FEEDER APPARATUS FOR BOILERS."-A communication from abroad
by Paul Narcisse Joseph Macabies, of Rue de la Chapelle, 20, at
Paris.
Sealed the 1st June 1875, and dated the 12th December 1874.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Verdier at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 12th December 1874.
I, CHARLES VERDIER, of the Firm "Société Anonyme de l'Alimen-
3 tateur à Niveau Constant Macabies," of Rue Lafayette, No. 88, at Paris,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED
WATER METER AND FEEDER APPARATUS FOR BOILERS," (a communication to
me by Paul Narcisse Joseph Macabies, of Rue de la Chapelle, 20, at
Paris), to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is the automatic feeding at a constant
level of steam boilers by means of an apparatus measuring exactly the

page_text: volume of water supplied; and this apparatus is essentially distinguished
from others for the same purpose by the employment of a motive piston,
which enables a force to be exerted far in excess of that necessary to
open and close the distributing mechanism. The effort for effecting the
movement of this mechanism instead of being constant and limited as in 5
all feeders which obtain it from a float can greatly surpass that which is
absolutely necessary, for it is sufficient to add some centimetres to the
area of the motive piston to have at disposal a force far greater than can
be required in any ordinary circumstances.
The float in the present apparatus is no longer the motive agent; it 10
fulfils now a secondary part, which consists in effecting the release of
the slide whenever the apparatus is completely full or completely empty.
This faculty of enabling the apparatus to work always at the same point
constitutes a water meter or measurer of exceeding accuracy.
In addition to the power which one possesses of exerting a great force 1
in order to effect the distribution cocks may be employed and perfect
stanchness obtained if care be taken to occasionally clean them.
This apparatus is composed of a receiver in two parts, within which a
float pierced with a central hole closed by a pipe moves.
The opening
permits the float to move up and down a vertical rod, jointed at one end 2
to a lever which actuates a little cylindrical slide. This slide distributes
the steam in a cylinder, within which a piston moves which commands
the distribution cocks by the intermediation of two levers. The steam
enters the cylindrical box of this slide through a pipe which branches
from the steam pipe of the apparatus; it escapes from the cylinder 2
through an orifice and a pipe fixed upon the escape pipe of the
apparatus. When the float is at the top of its course it strikes against
a little tappet and lifts the lever which actuates the slide; the steam
which had previously served to actuate the piston finds a free escape at
the same time that the introduction orifice communicates with the other 3
side of the piston; the piston therefore descends to the bottom of its
course drawing with it the two levers of the two cocks. The key of
these cocks changes the position of the orifices, and one pair of orifices
of the two cocks will close at the same time as the other pair will open.
The apparatus is thus cut off from the boiler, and in communication with 3
the reservoir through two pipes, it will fill with water until the c
moment when the float becoming immerged at the top of its course will,

page_text: as has been already described, actuate the slide and return the mechanism
into the first position.
In order that the movement of the cocks may not take place too
suddenly a cock is placed upon the escape pipe of the motive cylinder;
by regulating the opening of this cock the apparatus can be made to act
with all desirable smoothness.
In order to dispense with placing cocks at the origins of the steam
pipe, water pipe, and escape pipe, two levers are mounted upon two
discs, upon which they turn, but to which they are attached. They are
rendered solid with these discs by means of a pin when the apparatus is
in action, but it is sufficient to withdraw this pin in order to be able to
actuate the two cocks with an ordinary key so as to place the orifices of
the key upon the full parts of the cock seat.
In order to limit the course of the motive piston, two stops, each
provided with a piece of caoutchouc, can be placed upon the rod which
strikes against the support guide.
The invariability of the level of the water in the boiler is established
in the same manner as in other supplies of the same kind by means of
the steam pipe, which penetrates into the boiler up to the normal
level.
When it is desired to draw cold or hot water from a lower level it is
not necessary to aspire it by causing a vacuum in the apparatus, an
operation always lengthy and often difficult, especially when the water
is not very cold, but it is forced by means of a supplementary receiver
which is placed beneath the feeder basin, with which it is put into com-
munication by means of a cock. The cock which distributes the steam
has in this case four orifices instead of three; one orifice communicates
with the upper part of this elevator receiver, which acts exactly as the
juice lifter in sugar manufactories; one orifice of the cock communicates
with the lower part of the elevator.
In order to permit the apparatus to measure the volume of water
introduced into the boiler it is sufficient to arrange above the cock a
meter actuated by the lever commanding the said cock.
The lower cock can be replaced if thought convenient by two ordinary
valves closing in opposite directions to one another.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Charles Verdier in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 12th June 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
VERDIER, of the Firm Société Anonyme de l'Alimentateur à Niveau
Constant Macabies," of Rue Lafayette, No. 88, at Paris, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twelfth day of December, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in the thirty-
eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Charles Verdier, Her special licence,
that I, the said Charles Verdier, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Charles Verdier, 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 "AN IMPROVED
WATER METER AND FEEDER APPARATUS FOR BOILERS," communicated to me
from abroad by Paul Narcisse Joseph Macabies, of Rue de la Chapelle,
20, at Paris, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Charles
Verdier, 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 Charles Verdier, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement thereof, that is to say :-
-
The object of this Invention is the automatic feeding at a constant
level of steam boilers by means of an apparatus measuring exactly the
volume of water supplied; and this apparatus is essentially distinguished
from others for the same purpose by the employment of a motive piston,
which enables a force to be exerted far in excess of that necessary to
open and close the distributive mechanism. The effort for effecting the

page_text: movement of this mechanism instead of being constant and limited, as in
all feeders which obtain it from a float, can greatly surpass that which is
absolutely necessary, for it is sufficient to add some centimetres to the
area of the motive piston to have at disposal a force far greater than can
be required under any ordinary circumstances.
The float in the present apparatus is no longer the motive agent; it
fulfils now a secondary part, which consists in effecting the release of
the slide whenever the apparatus is completely full or completely empty.
This faculty of enabling the apparatus to work always at the same point
constitutes a water meter or measurer of exceeding accuracy.
The following description with reference to the accompanying
Drawings will enable the construction and action of this new feeder
apparatus to be well understood.
Figure 1 shows the installation of the apparatus, and is a longitudinal
section made through a broken line passing through the axes of the
feeder and the generator; Figure 2 is a vertical section of the distributing
cylinder on a plane perpendicular to that in Figure 1.
Figures 3 and 4 are vertical sections showing the arrangements of the
distributing cylinder when water has to be raised from a lower level by
using an elevator apparatus similar to the juice lifter used in sugar
manufactories.
The apparatus is composed of a receiver R in two parts, within which
a float F pierced with a central hole closed by a pipe moves. The
opening permits the float to move up and down a vertical rod t jointed
at one end to a lever L which actuates a little cylindrical slide G. This
slide moves in the interior of a little cylinder and sends the steam into
a cylinder T of greater diameter, in which there moves under the action
of a double piston m and m' another slide D intended to distribute the
steam from the boiler into the apparatus.
The orifice a, seen at Figure 2, receives the steam from the boiler;
the orifice 6 leads it to the feeder; and the orifice c serves for the outlet.
The two valves I' and V placed at the lower part of the apparatus serve,
the first to introduce the water coming from a reservoir placed above,
and the second to conduct into the generator the water which flows
from the feeder. When the feed water proceeds from an upper reservoir
the cylinder T only comprises two distributing orifices, the one b,
Figure 2, communicating with the interior of the receiver R, and the

page_text: .
other c leading into the upper reservoir X, and forming the escape for
the steam. When the apparatus is open to the escape the water pro-
ceeding from the upper reservoir X through the tube I, see Figure 1,
lifts the valve I¹. At this moment the water enters the apparatus and
the float rises with the level in the receiver R until the latter touches a
tappet e formed by a washer and the joint of the lever L. The effort
thus exerted upon the lever L by the immersion of this float moves the
slide G, and the steam from the boiler arriving through the little pipe d
into the distributing slide G passes through the orifice i and exerts its
pressure upon the upper face m of the piston. The lower face m¹ of the
piston is in communication with the escape through the orifice j, and
the slido D is thus propelled to the end of its course. The steam which
arrives into the cylinder T through the orifice a (Figure 2) enters the
apparatus through the orifice b, and the water contained in the feeder
subject to two equal and opposing pressures flows into the boiler by its
own weight. The valve V rises under the effort of the column of water
contained in the apparatus, and the float F traversed by the rod t jointed
upon the lever L descends freely in proportion as the level in the
apparatus becomes lowered. When it is at the bottom of its course the
float rests upon a lower tappet f which carries a rod t, and the weight
of the float when not supported by water causes the lever L to fall so as
to raise the slide G. The steam lodged above the upper piston m is then
put into communication with the escape, and the piston m³ which being
open to the escape receives at the same time the steam arriving at full
pressure from the boiler. The slide D is then displaced, and arrived at
the top of its course the orifice of the apparatus is put in communi-
cation by the hollow of the slide G with the orifice c forming the escape.
The steam contained in the apparatus finding its issue by the orifices c
and 6, the valve V, subjected to the pressure of the boiler, closes and the
valve I opens under the action of the charge of water as soon as the
steam has left the apparatus, the feeder then fills again. The feeding
is thus effected with perfect regularity so long as the generator is heated
quite automatically and without any intervention on the part of any
onc.
When the feed water has to be drawn from a lower level the slide has
three orifices, and the central orifice is in this case open to the escape,
as shown in Figures 3 and 4. The apparatus is then constructed as
follows At a lower level than that from whence the water has to be
drawn a closed receiver A is established of a capacity equal to that of
:-

page_text: the feeder R, and arranged like a juice lifter (see Figure 5). This
receiver communicates at the bottom with the feed basin by means of a
pipe provided with a valve which closes from within or without and
arranged exactly like the feeder valvo I'. It communicates on the
other side with this feeder valve 1', which can be in this case fixed
in the receiver itself. The orifice e of the feeder slide communicates
with the upper part of this elevator receiver.
The action of this apparatus is as follows:-When the slide is in the
position shown at Figure 2 the steam enters the feeder and sends water
into the boiler. Whilst the feceder is emptying in this manner the
steam contained in the juice lifter receiver escapes freely through the
orifice c which is in communication with the escape orifice e. When
the steam has escaped from the juice lifter the water from the basin C,
Figure 5, in consequence of the difference of the levels penetrates into
this receiver and fills it entirely. The elevator receiver remains full of
water up to the moment when the feeder being emptied the float F,
Figure 1, displaces the distribution slide. At this moment the steam
contained in the receiver finds an exit through the orifice c, with which
it is in communication. The orifice e on the contrary communicates
with 'the steam of the boiler, which exerting its pressure upon the liquid
contained in the juice lifter receiver sends it into the feeder up to the
moment when the latter being sufficiently full the float again displaces
the slide and returns everything to their first positions. The important
point in the apparatus thus constructed is that the difference in levels
between the take reservoir and the elevator should be sufficiently great
and the section of the communication pipe sufficiently large for the
elevator apparatus to have plenty of time to fill during the time that the
feeder is emptying..
For feeders for steam boats where the water has to be drawn into the
tank from condensers placed at a lower level than that of the boilers,
the height to which it is necessary to raise the water not being very
considerable, I employ the apparatus shown in Figures 6 and 7 con-
structed specially for the purpose. The olevator receiver A forming the
base of the apparatus is fixed at as great a height as possible. It should
in all cases be placed under the feed basin, with which it communicates
through the valve S. The receiver A is surmounted by a cast-iron
column B, the height of which is so regulated as to place the feeder R
above the level of the boilers. The slide cylinder T is in communication.

page_text: with the boiler through the orifice a through which the steam is taken;
the orifice c serves for the escape of the steam; and the orifice e serves
to lead into the feeder the water coming from the elevator. The slido
is actuated by a rod » connecting it with the two pistons of the steam
slide. The cylinder M in which the water slide acts carries at one side
a tube V allowing passage to the water proceeding from the feeder into
the boiler, and at the other side two other tubes u and x separated from
one another by a partition, the tube u with the elevator A, the tube x
with the feeder R. When the two slides are at the bottom of their
course the tube x of the cylinder M communicates by means of a slide
with the tube V, and whilst the tube u remains closed the arrival orifice
of the steam in the feeder is open. The feeder empties of water at the
same time that the steam contained in the feeder finding its exit through
the pipe c escapes freely to give place to the water, which arrives from
the feeding basin through the valve s. The feeder once emptied of water
and the elevator full the two slides effect their movement, and the action
is exactly as in the apparatus last described.
When cold or lukewarm water has to be fed from a lower level it can
be aspired by causing a vacuum in the feeder. For this purpose a little
cast-iron bottle B, Figure 8, is placed in the left of the apparatus, which
holds in store the quantity of water necessary to condense the steam
contained in the feeder A when once the water is emptied into the
boiler. This bottle B fixed upon a claw upon the cover of the feeder A
receives at its upper part the steam which escapes from the orifice of
the slide with which it is in communication by means of a curved pipe D
provided with a little valve E to prevent the air from accumulating in
the interior. The bottle B communicates with the feeder A by a
valve F and a rose perforated with little holes which penetrates the
feeder. Upon its lateral tube is fixed an aspirator pipe C provided with
a hold valve G. When the feeder A should fill with water the escape
steam exerts pressure upon the water contained in the boiler. The
lower valve F of the bottle opens the hold valve G as the bottom of the
aspirator pipe closes, and the water falls in fine rain into the space
occupied by the steam. This steam condenses, the vacuum is effected,
and the water from the lower reservoir forces the hold valve to open and
penetrates into the feeder.
And having now described the nature of the said Invention and
in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim,-

page_text: First. The employment of a float as an organ of release to command
the slide of a motive piston, as herein-before described and shown in the
accompanying Drawings.
Secondly. The general arrangement of the apparatus enabling the two
distributions to be effected almost without transmission organs, as herein-
before described and shown in the accompanying Drawings.
Thirdly. The arrangement of the cylindrical slide, as hérein-before
described and shewn in the accompanying Drawings.
Fourthly. The arrangement of the float, which permits the apparatus
to be opened only at fixed and invariable points, thus enabling the
volume of the water introduced into the boiler to be very exactly
measured, as herein-before described and shown in the accompanying
Drawings.
Fifthly. The arrangement of apparatus as described and shown with
reference to Figures 1 and 2 for feeding water from an upper reservoir.
Sixthly. The arrangement of apparatus as described and shown with
reference to Figures 3, 4, and 5, for feeding water from a lower
reservoir.
Seventhly. The arrangement of apparatus as described and shown with
reference to Figures 6 and 7 for feeding water in steam boats.
And, Eighthly. The arrangement of apparatus as described and shown
at Figure 8 for feeding cold or lukewarm water.
In witness whereof, I, "the said Charles Verdier have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Fifth day of June, One thousand
eight hundred and seventy-five.
Witness,
CH. ARMENGAUD,
Civil Engineer,
23, Boulevard de Strasbourg,
à Paris.
CH. VERDIER. (L.S.)