IMPROVEMENTS FOR SUP- PLYING STEAM BOILERS WITH WATER
Year: 1845

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
LORD, of Friday Bridge, Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Merchant,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Fifteenth day of April, in the eighth year of Her reign, did,
for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said John
Lord, Her, especial license, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I,
the said John Lord, my executors, administrators, and assigns, and such others
as I, the said John Lord, my executors, administrators, 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 mentioned, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise,
and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and in
all Her Majesty's Colonies and Plantations abroad, and in the Islands of Jersey,
Guernsey, Alderney, Sark, and Man, an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS FOR SUP-
PLYING STEAM BOILERS WITH WATER," being a communication from a Foreigner
residing abroad; in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso obliging me,
the said John Lord, by an instrument in writing, under my hand and seal, par-
ticularly to describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, and to cause the same to be enrolled in Her
Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and imme-
diately 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, I, the said
John Lord, do hereby declare that the nature of the said Invention, and the
manner in which the same is to be performed, is particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following description thereof, reference being had to
the Drawing hereunto annexed and to the letters and figures marked thereon
(that is to say):
This Invention, which has been communicated.to. me by a Foreigner residing
abroad, consists in a peculiar construction of self-feeding apparatus to be
attached to or brought into connection with a steam boiler for supplying it
with water immediately upon the depression of the water line. In the ac-
companying Drawing Fig. 1 represents the improved feeding apparatus in
side elevation; and Fig. 2 is an end view of the same. Fig. 3 is a section
taken in the line 1, 2, of Fig. 2; and Fig. 4 is a section taken in the line 3, 4,
of Fig. 1. To the side or end of the boiler a core or plug A, furnished with
a flange q, is bolted, and at such a height that the water line of the boiler
shall be about the height of the line 5, 6, Fig. 4. In this core are two hori-
zontal passages B, C, which have respectively a lateral opening b and c,
and a communication is made with the interior of the boiler and these passages.
The smaller end of the core is closed and fits into a conical seat D, similar
to the plug of an ordinary tap. This conical seat D is cast in one piece
with a pipe E (see the detached view Fig. 5), and in the casting are made
two passages d, e, which are intended to connect the lateral openings b, c,
of the plug or core with a light hollow ball, or other shaped chamber F, by
means of the channels G and H. At the lower end of this pipe E, a hinge
joint is to be provided to connect it with the suction pipe leading from the
cistern or well, whence the water for supplying the boiler is obtained, which
joint is to allow of the oscillation of the pipe and the chamber F attached thereto,
as will be presently explained. f, is a small cock to let out the atmospheric air
from the chamber F, immediately before operating with the apparatus; and
is a valve for preventing the return of the water down the pipe E. To the
upper part of the chamber F a cord is attached, which passes over pullies
and has a weight pendant from its end. This weight is intended to counter-
balance the weight of the chamber, and the water which will be contained
therein at certain periods of the operation of the apparatus, and to draw it into
the elevated position shewn at Fig. 6.
Having now described the various parts of the improved self-feeding appa-
ratus, I will proceed to explain the mode of working the same. Upon the fall
of the water line in the boiler below the passage B, at which time the chamber
F is supposed to be in the position shewn at Fig. 3 (that is in its lowest

page_text: position) steam will pass from the boiler along the passage B, through the
opening b, up the passage d, and along the channel G into the chamber F, and
drive the water that may be presumed to have been therein along the channel
H, and the passage through the opening c, along the passage c, and thence
into the boiler. The chamber F being thus lightened of the water it contained
will be drawn upwards, together with the conical seat D and pipe E, by the
counterbalance weight, into the position shewn at Fig. 6, when the communi-
cation with the fixed core A will be cut off. As the steam thus admitted
to the chamber F-condenses a partial vacuum will be formed and -water
will rise to fill up the vacuum from the cistern or well up the supply
pipe E, lift the valve f, and, passing along the channel H, will flow
into the chamber F. By this addition of the water to the weight of the
chamber it will be brought to its original position, when the passages B
and d coming again in connection, the steam will in like manner flow
from the boiler to the chamber F, and a precisely similar effect will be
produced to that just described. This operation will be repeated until the
increased volume of water in the boiler shuts off the steam communication to
the chamber F. It will thus be evident that, according to the size of the appa-
ratus, a greater or less supply of water will be furnished to the boiler, as it is
required, without the aid of a steam engine and pump. The apparatus may,
if thought advisable, be placed in any convenient position away from the boiler,
and the connection therewith may be maintained by two intermediate pipes,
the ends of which shall enter the boiler at the height of the water line.
In conclusion, I would remark that I do not confine myself to the precise
construction of apparatus shewn and described, as several modifications might
be suggested without departing from the nature of the Invention. For instance,
instead of the form of core shewn in the Drawing, I may find it advisable to
turn the passages B and C at right angles in opposite directions, and in
this case use two conical seats D, which will be cast in one piece with the
pipe E, as before explained. I likewise propose, in some cases, to use a strong
spring to force up the chamber to its highest position, instead of the counter
weight above mentioned. But that which I claim under the above in part
recited Letters Patent is, the application to steam boilers of an oscillating ball
or chamber, by which water is supplied to such boilers upon the depression of
the water line, as above explained.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Lord, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Fifteenth day of October, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and forty-five.
JOHN (L.S.) LORD.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the same Fifteenth day of October,
in the year above mentioned, the aforesaid John Lord came before our Lady
the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification aforesaid,
and all and everything therein contained in form above written. And also the
Specification aforesaid was stamped, according the tenor of the Statute in that'
case made and provided.
Inrolled the same Fifteenth day of October, in the year above written.