Improvements in Supplying or Regulating or Controlling the Supply of Feed Water to Marine or other Boilers, and in Apparatus to be Used in Connection therewith.
Year: 1888

page_text: Date of Application, 18th Apr., 1888
Comp ete Specification Left, 18th Jan., 1889
Complete Specification Accepted, 23rd Feb., 1889
Improvements in Supplying or Regulating or Controlling the Supply
of Feed Water to Marine or other Boilers, and in Apparatus to
be Used in Connection therewith.
I, THOMAS MUDD of Hartlepool, in the County of Durham, Engineer, do hereby
declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
The invention relates to supplying hot feed water to marine and other boilers. In
carrying out the invention, any ordinary re-starting injector is used in combination
with a float placed in a vessel containing water to be fed into the boiler, and made
to rise and fall according as there is much or little water there, and by this
action to turn steam on and off the injector, so that the action of the latter becomes
automatic.
Hitherto injectors have rarely been used on board ship, owing mainly to the fact
that the feed supply is not constantly forthcoming, hence the injector runs dry,
requiring the attention of the engineer to shut it off, and re-start it when there is a
supply of water in the hot well. This constant attention could not be given to the
apparatus, hence its dis-use."
A good injector is one of the best possible feed heaters, and it is certainly one of
the simplest and cheapest.
Hence an arrangement that will render a feed-heating injector automatic, starting
when there is water to be had, and stopping when there is none, will be of great
value, particularly in marine engineering, not only in point of economy, but also in
giving longer life to the boilers, and in augmenting the power and efficiency of the
engines, by making a high vacuum consistent with very hot feed, without-the use of
any complicated feed heating apparatus.
1000
WM. P. THOMPSON & Co.,
Of 6, Lord Street, Liverpool,
Patent Agents for the Applicant.

page_text: Improvements in Supplying or Regulating or Controlling the Supply
of Feed Water to Marine or other Boilers, and in Apparatus to
be Used in Connection therewith.
I, THOMAS MUDD, of Hartlepool, in the County of Durham, Engineer do hereby
declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:
The invention relates to supplying hot feed water to marine and other boilers.
Hitherto injectors have rarely been used on board ship, owing mainly to the fact
that the feed supply is not constantly forthcoming, hence the injector runs dry,
requiring the attention of the engineer to shut it off, and re-start it when there is a
supply of water in the hot well, or other feed water reservoir. This constant attention
could not be given to the apparatus, hence its dis-use.
A good injector is one of the best possible feed heaters, and it is certainly one of
the simplest and cheapest.
Hence an arrangement that will render a feed heating injector automatic, starting
when there is water to be had, and stopping when there is none, will be of great
value, particularly in marine engineering, not only in point of economy, but also in
giving longer life to the boilers, and in augmenting the power and efficiency of the
engines, by making a high vacuum consistent with very hot feed, without the use of
any complicated feed heating apparatus.
In carrying out the invention, any ordinary re-starting injector is used in combi-
nation with a float placed in a vessel containing, or in communication with, water to
be fed into the boiler, and made to rise and fall according as there is much or little
water in the said vessel, and by this action to turn steam on and off the injector, so
that the action of the latter becomes automatic.
Referring to the accompanying drawing, which is an elevation showing one way in
which the apparatus may be arranged according to this invention.
A represents the tank or reservoir which contains the feed water.
B is an ordinary re-starting injector such as Giffard's.
U is a float which is buoyed upon the surface of the feed water in the reservoir A.
The steam valve spindle of the injector B is provided with a chain wheel B₁ over
or around which runs a chain b one end of which is attached to the float C and the
other carries a counterweight c.. The chain b may be provided with suitable guide
pullies 6. Instead of a chain wheel, other suitable connections might be used, such
as lever or rack and pinion. Suitable pipes and connections are provided between
the feed water, the injector, and the boiler, the feed orifice of the injector being
connected to the lower portion of the reservoir A.
The mode of action is as follows: :-
If the water in the reservoir A falls below a certain level, the float falls also,
thereby allowing the chain b to turn the wheel B¹. This stops the supply of steam
to the injector and the latter remains closed, until it is restarted by reason of the
float rising with the rise of feed water in the reservoir.

page_text: The steam used for driving the injector may either be live steam from the boilers,
or receiver steam, or exhaust steam, or may be steam from the drain cocks or valves
of the cylinder jackets, I prefer the latter, as then the apparatus automatically drains
the jackets at the same time that it automatically feeds the boilers.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what 1
claim is :-
1. In combination with a feed water injector, a float located within the feed water
reservoir or in a suitable vessel connected therewith, and connected by a chain and
chain wheel or equivalent mechanism to the steam valve of said injector, in such a
manner that the said valve is closed or opened according as the water in the
reservoir falls below or rises above a certain point, substantially as and for the
purposes described.
2. The automatic apparatus for stopping and re-starting a feed water injector,
substantially as described and shown.