IMPROVEMENTS IN BOILERS FOR GENE- RATING STEAM, ECONOMIZING FUEL, PROPELLING VESSELS BY STEAM OR OTHER POWER, AND VENTILATING VESSELS, AND WHICH MAY BE APPLIED TO MINES OR BUILDINGS
Year: 1839

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, JOHN
RUTHVEN and MORRIS WEST RUTHVEN, of Edinburgh, Civil Engineers, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Twentieth day of March, in the second year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the said
John Ruthven and Morris West Ruthven, Her especial licence, full power,
sole privilege, and authority, that we, the said John Ruthven and Morris
West Ruthven, our exors, adññiors, and assigns, or such others as we, the said
John Ruthven and Morris West Ruthven, our exors, adiñors, or assigns,
should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all
times during the term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might
make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of
Berwick upon Tweed, our Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN BOILERS FOR GENE-
RATING STEAM, ECONOMIZING FUEL, PROPELLING VESSELS BY STEAM OR OTHER POWER,
AND VENTILATING VESSELS, AND WHICH MAY BE APPLIED TO MINES OR BUILDINGS;"
in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso that we, the said John
Ruthven and Morris West Ruthven, or one of us, shall cause a particular
description of the nature of our said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be inrolled in Her said Majesty's High Court of
Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of
the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being
thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, we, the said
John Ruthven and Morris West Ruthven, do hereby declare that the nature
of our said Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed,
are fully described and ascertained in and by the following statement thereof,
reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the figures and
letters marked thereon (that is to say.).:
Our improvements in boilers is attained by attaching a tube or pipe of iron,
copper, or other metal, of an inch bore, more or less as may be required, a
sufficient length or lengths-of-which are made into a spiral or continuous form
of any figure to suit the particular situation, and of any desired diameter; these
pipes are joined by screws, cones, or otherwise made steam-tight; one. end of
this spiral pipe is secured to and communicates with the interior of the boiler;
the other end of the spiral is fixed to the pump for supplying the boiler with
water; the spiral is placed in the flue or. flues leading from the fire to the
chimney, so that the heat in passing from the fire of the furnace may pass
through the flues in which is placed the spiral pipe. This will be better
understood by referring to the accompanying Drawing.
Figure 1, a section vertical and longitudinal of a boiler flue and spiral: A,
the end of the pipe for connecting with the pump that supplies the boiler; the
water is thus made to pass through the spiral before being discharged into the
boiler at B. As the spiral tubes exhibit a much larger surface, and contains
a smaller body of water for the heat in the flue to act upon, and as that in its
progress towards the chimney is always coming in contact with a colder body
of water, a greater quantity of caloric is extracted and combined with the water,
while the water being forced in an opposite direction is always imbibing a
greater degree of heat, until it issues from the spiral into the boiler at B, partly
in a state of vapour, and partly water. As the boiler has guage cocks and
steam valves, as usual, it is unnecessary to describe them, there being nothing
new claimed in the boiler but the addition of the spiral pipes, as described.
For steam vessels or locomotive engines the flues containing the spiral is formed
by two metal pipes, one within the other, of any required diameter, but leaving
a space of about one inch more or less between them, and joined by a ring at
each end, and made steam-tight; the spaces between the pipes are thus made
to contain water for the supply of the boiler, being connected with it, and the
spiral being connected with it and with each other by a pipe or pipes, as in the
annexed Drawing, Figure 2. The boiler recommended for these purposes, it
will be observed, is on the construction of the Cornish boiler, which the vertical
section B is intended to represent, and the section C, the flue described with the
spiral inside; D, the pipes forming the flue; and E, E, the pipes connecting the

page_text: pump for, supplying the water; F, projecting rings for fixing the divisions of
the flue by screw bolts or otherwise, G, G, connecting the spiral and flue pipes
with the boiler; H, blow-off' cock or pipe...
For economizing fuel, after the steam is discharged from the engine, it is
received into pipes made of thin copper, or other metal, so placed in a case that
a current of atmospheric air may pass over the pipes while the steam is passing
through them; the steam is thus made to give out the heat, which is then
conveyed to the furnace, or for any other purpose required, while at the same
time the steam is condensed, and the water may be again pumped into the
boiler; to aid or affect this object we use fanners for conveying the cold air
over a pipe in the case, and discharging it heated into the furnace or elsewhere.
Figure 3 will illustrate an arrangement for this purpose. A, the spiral pipe
for attaching to the eduction pipe of the engine, which pipe we prefer to be
made of thin copper; B, the case enclosing it; C, fanners attached to the end
of the case B; and D, a pipe leading from them to the furnace; E, pipe for
taking the condensed steam to F, a tank for receiving the water.
This Figure
is given in section for more distinctly illustrating it. A similar result may
also be effected by Figure 4; the letters of reference apply as in Figure 3;
G, eduction steam pipe.
For propelling vessels by steam or other power we adapt the principle of
hydrostatics, by taking the water in at or near the bows of the vessel, and
discharging it on each side at, near, or about the surface of the water in a
horizontal direction towards the stern, and parallel with a line drawn from stem
to stern of the vessel. This is done by one, two, or more pipes of any required
diameter or dimensions communicating with the water through the bows, or
near them, or a tank may be formed inside the bows and filled with water by
openings through the bows; the pipes or a pipe from the tank is attached to
a water-tight case enclosing a wheel, with floats similar to a water wheel or
wheel for fanners. The arms or floats of the wheel being of any number
required, and joined together by wood or metal, so as to form separate com-
partments or buckets, but each open at the bottom; or near to the axle, so as
to admit the water which enters the case at and around the axle, and also open
at the periphery to allow the water to be discharged by centrifugal motion into
the pipe or conduit, to carry and discharge it at, near, or above the surface of
the water as aforesaid. One wheel, as above described, or two or more, may
be used, placed either vertically er horizontally. We consider the wheel or
wheels placed horizontally as most desirable. From the water-tight case
containing the wheel the water is conveyed by a pipé or, other suitable conduit
through the side of the vessel, and discharged, as, stated,. at, near, or above the

page_text: surface of the water. To back the vessel, a sluice or valve is placed in the pipe
or conduit outside the vessel, so as by turning it to stop the water from being
discharged in the direction of the stern, and discharge it towards the bows, and
thus by turning the valve or sluice in both conduits the vessel may be made to
progress or retrograde at pleasure.
By reversing, one of the sluices or valves the vessel will turn accordingly.
This may be better understood by examining Figure 5, a vertical, and Figure 6,
a horizontal section; the same letters of reference apply to both Figures. The
power for propelling is applied or attached to the axle of the wheel M, M, so
as to make it revolve at the required speed, to discharge the water by centri-
fugal force through the pipes. A, A, A, are openings in the bows of the
vessel, and B, B, a tank formed by a water-tight partition or bulk head, L, L;
the pipe C leading to the centre of the case D, D, containing and communi-
cating with the interior of the wheel E, E, at the centre. F, a pipe or conduit
for conveying the water to be discharged outside, at, near, or above the level
of the water; Figure 6, a horizontal section of Figure 5, with the same letters
of reference; G, a sluice or valve turning on a centre at H, which allows the
water to be discharged at I towards the stern, or by turning it to N the water
is discharged at K towards the bows of the vessel.
The power required for the vessel to be calculated from that produced by a
column of water of a given altitude, as in Barker's Mill. The velocity of the
water discharged not greatly to exceed the velocity the vessel is calculated to
attain, and from this the size of the pipe or pipes may be ascertained.
For ventilating vessels we adapt fanners similar to those described; that is,
having the wheel enclosed in an air-tight case, with a pipe communicating with
the centre of the wheel, and another from the edge of the case; from this latter
pipe any number may be taken and distributed through the vessel, wherever
required, in a similar manner to gas pipes, with or without stop cocks, in each
berth, or where required, or through the apartments of a building, or into
mines.
Having thus described the various improvements, it may be more particularly
stated what is claimed as new is, first, the improvement in boilers of the spiral
pipe and arrangements thereof for placing it in the flue or flues through which
the water is pressed from the pump to the boiler; second, in condensing the
steam by cold air, and passing the heated air to the furnace or where required;
third, the mode of propelling vessels by steam or other power, from conveying
water in, at, or near the bows or otherwise, and discharging it above the surface
of the water, thereby rendering paddle wheels unnecessary, and superseding all
machinery outside the vessel, and enabling the vessel to be navigated with equal

page_text: effect in almost every position; fourth, in ventilating vessels by conveying pipes
through them with or without stop cocks, so as air may be admitted or forced
by fanners or otherwise when and where required, and applying the same in
mines or buildings, the power being applied at the axle of the fanners either
by a crank, handle, pulley, or pinion.
In witness whereof, I, the said Morris West Ruthven, have hereunto set
hand and seal, this 22nd day of August, in the year of our Lord