IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF APPARATUS FOR AUTOMATICALLY REGULATING THE FEED OR SUPPLY OF WATER INTO STEAM BOILERS AND FOR WORKING BOILER WHISTLES
Year: 1884

page_text: We, WILLIAM RYRIE ALEXANDER, of Ifield, Crawley, in the county of Sussex,
Major General Retired, and WILLIAM HENRY TOOTH, of 126, Brook Street, in the
county of Surrey, Engineer do hereby declare the nature of the said invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF APPARATUS FOR AUTOMATICALLY
REGULATING THE FEED OR SUPPLY OF WATER INTO STEAM BOILERS AND FOR
WORKING BOILER WHISTLES "to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to further improvements on the invention for which
Letters Patent were granted to William White N° 2307, dated the seventh day of
May, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and eighty three the
present improvements having for object to simplify the construction of the
apparatus so as to admit air into the pump in such a manner that both the valve
and whistle can be actuated by a single lever to be worked by the float, such
float being placed either in a separate chamber attached to the boiler or in the
boiler by which arrangement all the working parts except the float are outside the
chamber or boiler and are therefore easily accessible for cleaning or repairs without
having to disturb the cover of the chamber or the manhole of the boiler.
In carrying out the present improvements I employ a float as described in the.
specification of the said former Letters Patent; the rod of the float passes through
a stuffing box on the cover of the chamber or on the boiler; the upper end of the
said rod is connected by a pin and slot arrangement to a lever bar jointed to the
air valve, the said lever bar has a second slot through which passes a stud on the
handle of the whistle.
By this arrangement as the float rises or falls with the varying level of the water
in the boiler the air valve is closed and opened; but if the water level, and therefore
the float, falls below a certain distance the whistle will be opened and the escaping
steam will blow the same and give an alarm.

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
We WILLIAM RYRIE ALEXANDER of Ifield, Crawley, in the county of Sussex,
Major General Retired and WILLIAM HENRY TOOTH, of 120, Brook Street, in the
county of Surrey, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF APPARATUS FOR AUTOMATICALLY
REGULATING THE FEED ON SUPPLY OF WATER INTO STEAM BOILERS, AND FOR
WORKING BOILER WHISTLES." and in what manner the same is to be perforined
to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement :—
This invention relates to further improvements on the invention for which
Letters Patent were granted to William White No 2,307 dated the seventh day of
May, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and eighty three, the
present improvements having for object to simplify the construction of the
apparatus, so as to admit air into the pump in such a manner that both the valve
and whistle can be actuated by a single lever to bo worked by the float, such
float being placed either in a separate chamber attached to the boiler, or in the
boiler, by which arrangement all the working parts except the float are outside the
chamber or boiler and are therefore easily accessible for cleaning or repairs without
having to disturb the cover of the chamber or the manhole of the boiler.
•
In carrying out the present improvements I employ a float as described in the
specification of tho said former Letters Patent; the rod of the flont passes through
a stufling box on the cover of the chamber or on the boiler; the upper end of the
said rod, is connected by a pin and slot arrangement to a lever bar fixed to the.air
valve spindle; the said lever har has a second slot through which passes a stud on
the handle of the whistle; or the second slot can be formed on the handle of the
whistle the stud on the rod passing through the same as well as through the slot
in the air valve lever.
In order to enable our invention to be fully understood we will proceed to
describe the same by reference to the accompanying drawing in which figure 1,
represents an elevation partly in section of an apparatus for automatically
regulating tho-feed or supply of water into a steam boiler, and for working tho
boiler whistle, constructed according to our present improvements, the float being
contained in a chamber separate from the boiler and the two slots being formed.in
the valve lever; figure 2 is a plan of the same; figures 3 and 4 are similar views
to figures 1 and 2 but showing the apparatus with the slots in the lever of the air
valve and in the handle of the whistle respectively; figure 5 is a front elevation
of a boiler showing the apparatus illustrated in figures 3 and 4 adapted for use.

page_text: when the float is contained within the boiler; figure 6 is a part side elevation of
figure 5; figures 1, to 4, are drawn to a scale of about one quarter full size, and
figures 5, and 6, about one inch to a foot.
Similar letters in all the figures represent similar parts.
Referring to figures 1 and 2, a, represents the chamber containing the float b;
and cand c are the pipes for connecting the chamber a, respectively with the
steam and water spaces in the boiler (not shown in drawing) all as described in the
specification of the said former Letters Patent; d, is the rod of the float and e, is
the stuffing box on the cover f, of the chamber a, through which stuffing box the
float rod d, passes; the upper end of the rod which is square in section works in a
bearing g, on a standard h, fixed to the cover f, of the chamber a; i, is the pin
near the upper end of the rod d, which pin i, passes into and works in the slot j,
in the lever bar k, which is keyed on the spindle 1, of the valve which is of any
suitable construction; m, represents the valve box mounted on a bracket n, fixed
to the cover f, of the chamber a; o, is the second slot in the lever bar k, and p, is
the stud on the handle q, of the whistler, the said stud passing through the slot o,
which is formed (as shewn) so as to allow the lever bar to descend to a certain
extent before commencing to lower the handle of the whistle; s, is the pipe leading
into the steam valve box t, of the whistle r; u is the pipe for conveying air from
the air valve to the pump.
The operation of the apparatus is as follows:-The parts being in the position
shewn in the drawing, the water will be at its mean level in the boiler and in the
chamber a, the air valve will be closed and the pump will be forcing water into the
boiler; as soon as the water has reached a given height (say about half an inch
above the mean level) the float will rise and, by means of the pin i, thereon
working in the slot j, in the lever bar k, the air valve will be opened, and air will
he admitted to the pump chamber, and the pump will thereby be prevented from
throwing any more water into the boiler; as the height of the water in the boiler
decreases through evaporation, the flont will descend, and when it is at a height in
the boiler of about half an inch below the mean level the float will draw down the
lever bar k, and close the valve and the pump will again begin to throw water into
the boiler and so on; the slot o, will allow the lever bar the herein before described
extent of motion without operating the handle g, of the whistle; should the pump
from any cause be prevented, when required, from throwing water into the boiler,
the water in the boiler in continuing to evaporate will cause the float to descend
until the lever is thereby brought into the position shewn in dotted lines, when it
will have depressed the handle q, of the whistle r, (as shewn) and will give an
alarm.
The apparatus shewn in figures 3 and 4 is substantially the same as that
herein before described with reference to figures 1 and 2, with the exception that,
instead of forming the lever bark, of the air valve with the slot o, we provide a
slot o', in the handle q, for operating the whistle, which handle in this case will not
require the stud p; the pin i, is extended backwards as well as forwards so as to
work in the slots j, and o¹, in such a manner as to give an equal extent of movement
to both the lever bar k, and the whistle handle q.
Figures 5 and 6 illustrate a similar apparatus to that shewn in figures 3 and 4,
applied to the outside of a builer instead of to a chamber separate therefrom, and
its operation is similar to that hereinbefore described.
By our improvements the objections are obviated which have been found to exist
when using apparatus in which the valves were situated within the chamber or
boiler as described in the specification of the said former Letters Patent, and
whereby they were liable to become corroded and coated with lime, iron and other
impurities.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what
we claim is
The herein described apparatus for. automatically regulating the feed or supply
of water from force pumps into steam boilers and for working boiler whistles
operating substantially as and for the purposes hereinbefore described and
represented in the accompanying drawing.