IMPROVE- MENTS IN TUBE CLEANING AND STOPPING APPARATUS, APPLICABLE TO MARINE PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Ballantine Knott, of Gateshead-on-Tyne,
in the County of Durham, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN TUBE CLEANING AND STOPPING APPARATUS, APPLICABLE TO MARINE
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Ballantine Knott
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 22nd September 1874.
I, GEORGE BALLANTINE KNOTT, of Gateshead-on-Tyne, in the County
of Durham, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN TUBE CLEANING AND STOPPING APPARATUS, APPLICABLE
TO MARINE AND MULTITUBULAR BOILERS," to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is to provide a set of implements suitable
for scraping and cleaning the tubes of marine or other boilers, and
meeting the varying requirements of the attendant on such boilers. For
clearing tubes obstructed by a hard deposit of salt or other concreting

page_text: substance I use a tool, cruciform in cross section, with four cutting
edges made of steel and radiating from a centre to a circumference
nearly equal to the diameter of the tube to be cleaned. The handle or
stale to which the steel cutters are welded is of malleable iron, and made
of sufficicient length to reach the extremity of the tube and allow the
operator to use it in the manner of a jumper. The dislodged fragments
will pass between the radial cutters of the tool and offer no obstruction
to its backward or forward motion.
For cleaning out the tube when only slight obstacles are likely to be
met with I provide a tool consisting of two or more flat tongues, welded
together at one end and forming a junction piece, to which a suitable
handle is screwed; the other ends are sprung out and turned severally
at right angles outwards; the projecting faces are cut to a segment shape,
and when pressed together they will form a disc somewhat less in
diameter than the tube. A dovetailed slit is cut in each face, in which
is inserted a toothed guard piece, extending some distance beyond both
sides of the disc. These guards are severally rivetted at one end to the
body of the tongues, at their other ends they take the form of a double
incline and project beyond the tongues which constitute scrapers. These
guards on being pressed into the tube close the scrapers to the diameter
of the tube, and should the scrapers be pushed beyond the extremity of
the tube the inner inclines of the guard pieces perform a like duty when
the tool is being withdrawn.
Inclined teeth are set in the guard so as to offer no opposition to the
progress of the tool, their object being for the double purpose, 1st, of
scraping or rasping down any hard projection met with in the tube;
and, 2ndly, to allow the guard to wear down by use at the same rate as
the scrapers.
A modification of this tool is to give the guards like the scrapers a
spring by welding them to the socket that takes the handle. These
guards will work up and down each in a narrow slit cut in the face of
the scraper, and in place of teeth they will have a cutting edge to allow
of their being rotated in the tube when a hard obstruction is met with,
and serving as a kind of borer to remove the concreted substance.
My last improvement relates to a tube brush, among the wires of
which a disc of india-rubber, asbestos, or other suitable material of a
larger diameter than the tube is fitted. This disc may be in front,

page_text: among or behind the wires for
a purpose herein-after mentioned.
Immediately in front of the brush and fixed to the stale or handle that
carries the brush is a guide to keep the axis of the tool near the centre
of the tube. This guide is cruciform, and so shaped as to permit of the
brush on its being pushed into the tube closing partly over it.
In consequence of the presence of the disc or discs above mentioned
this brush can be employed when required as an efficient tube stopper.
For this purpose a washer of metal of nearly the diameter of the tube is
placed behind and close up to the brush and screwed thereto by a nut.
At the other extremity of the stale or handle, which is made of iron and
of sufficient length to suit the tube to be cleaned, a metal cap is fitted
loosely. This metal cap is formed with packing spaces to receive rings
of india-rubber packing.
When the brush is to be used as a tube stopper the brush with the
washer screwed on is forced entirely through the damaged tube, the
washer prevents its being withdrawn, and the disc is brought close up
to the rear face of the tube; the metal cap is then slid over the near
extremity of the stale, and by means of a screw cut in the stale and a
nut working thereon it is screwed tight up to the near face of the tube,
the joints being made steam and water-tight by the packing in the
packing spaces, and the india-rubber washer between the nut and the
cap as well as by the disc at the rear.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said George Ballantine Knott in the Great Seal Patent.
Office on the 22nd March 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
BALLANTINE KNOTT, of Gateshead-on-Tyne, in the County of Durham,
Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of September, 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 suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said George Ballantine Knott, Her
special licence that I, the said George Ballantine Knott, my executors,

page_text: administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said George Ballantine
Knott, 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 Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN TUBE CLEANING AND STOPPING APPARATUS, APPLICABLE
TO MARINE AND MULTITUBULAR BOILERS," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said George Ballantine Knott, 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 George Ballantine Knott, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement, reference being had to the Drawing here-
unto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to
say) :—
The object of this Invention is to provide a set of implements suitable
for scraping and cleaning the tubes of marine or other boilers, and meeting
the varying requirements of the attendant on such boilers. For cleaning
tubes obstructed by a hard deposit of salt or other concreting substance
I use a tool such as that shewn at Figures 1 and 1ª of the accompanying
Drawing, where Fig. 1 is a side view and Fig. 1ª an end view of a tool
cruciform in cross section. In these Figures a, a, are four steel blades
made with square cutting edges and radiating from a centre to a circum-
ference nearly equal to the diameter of the tube to be cleaned; is the
handle or stale of malleable iron to which the steel cutters are welded.
This stale is made of sufficient length to reach the extremity of the tube
and allow the operator to use it in the manner of a jumper. The
fragments dislodged from the tubes will pass between the radial blades
of the tool and offer no obstruction to its backward or forward motion.
For cleaning out tubes where only slight obstacles are likely to be
met with I provide a tool similar to that shown in side and end views at

page_text: Figures 2 and 2ª. This tool consists of two, or it may be more, flat
tongues of steel c, c, welded together at one end and forming a junction
piece to which a suitable handle is to be screwed; the free ends of the
tongues c are sprung out and turned severally at right angles outwards.
The projecting flanges thus formed are cut to a segment shape, as shewn
at c¹, Fig. 2, and when pressed together they will form a divided disc
(with square cutting edges), somewhat less in diameter than the tube to
be cleaned; a dovetailed slit is cut in each segment-shaped flange c¹,
and in these slits are inserted toothed guard pieces d extending some
distance beyond the opposite sides of the flanges; these guards which
are severally rivetted at their inner ends to the body of their respective
tongues take the form of a double incline and project beyond the tongues
which constitute scrapers. The guards on being pressed into the tube
close the scrapers to the diameter of the tube but do not interfere with
their action on the tube. Should the scrapers however in the operation
of the cleaning a tube be pushed beyond the extremity of the tube the
inner inclines of the guard pieces will perform the like duty of closing.
the scrapers as the tool is being drawn back into the tube.
Inclined teeth are cut in the guards so as to offer no opposition to the
progress of the tool, their object being for the double purpose, first, of
scraping or rasping down any hard projection met with in the tube;
and, second, to allow the guards to wear, down by use at the same rate
as the scrapers.
A modification of this tool is shewn in side elevation and end view at
Figures 3 and 3ª. The object of this arrangement is to give the guards d
like the scrapers c a spring by welding them to the socket that takes the
handle. These guards are free to work up and down each in a narrow
slit cut in the face of the scraper, and in place of teeth they have a
chamfered cutting edge to enable the tool when rotated in the tube that
is coated with a hard obstruction to act like a borer and thereby to
remove the concreted substance. The segment-shaped flanges are shewn
in Fig. 3 as strengthened by means of angle pieces.
My last improvement relates to a novel construction of tube brush.
Fig. 4 shews the brush as applied to a tube which is drawn in section.
The wires of the brush are shewn at e, and applied thereto is a disc f of
india-rubber, asbestos, or other suitable material, of a diameter some-
what larger than the tube to which the brush is to be applied. This

page_text: disc, which is shewn behind the wires, is for a purpose herein-after
mentioned. Immediately in rear of the wires e and fixed to the stale or
handle g of the brush is a guide to keep the axis of the tool near the
centre of the tube. This guide is cruciform and so shaped as to permit
of the brush on its being pushed into the tube bending back and closing
partly over it.
In consequence of the presence of the disc f the brush can be employed
when required as an efficient tube stopper. For this purpose a washer
of metal i of nearly the diameter of the tube is placed in front of the
brush and held close up to it by a nut ; at the other extremity of the
stale or handle g, which is made of iron and of sufficient length to suit
the tubes to be cleaned, a metal cap is fitted loosely; this metal cap is
formed with packing spaces to receive rings of india-rubber packing.
When the brush is to be used as a tube stopper (to close a leaky or
damaged boiler tube) the brush with the washer screwed on is forced
entirely through the damaged tube, and the washer will prevent its
being withdrawn; the disc f is now drawn back close up to the face
of the tube, and the metal cap is slidden over the near extremity of
the stale; then by means of a nut m working on a screw thread cut in
the stale the cap is screwed tight up to the near face of the tube.
Tight temporary steam and water joints will thus be made by the
packing in the cap 7 at one end of the tube and the disc fat the other
end thereof.
A modification of this tube brush and stopper is shewn at Figures 5,
6, and 7, the object being to meet more effectually the contingency of a
tube leaking at its junction with the tube plate. Fig. 5 shews a longi-
tudinal section of the stopper closing a tube, it being fixed in position
by a cap and nut at the fore end, as illustrated at Fig. 4. n is a cover
or cap, which is screwed on to the stale in place of the washer i and nut k;
this cover is jointed to the end of the stale, and to enable it to pass
freely through the tube it is divided into three parts 1, 2, 3, as shewn in
the elevation, Fig. 6; the centre part 1 is free to rock on its joint so as
to lie upon the stale or handle when passing through the tube, and to the
opposite sides of this middle piece 1 the segment-shaped pieces 2 and 3
are hinged. When therefore this cap or cover is intended to be passed
through a tube it will be folded into the position shewn in the cross
section, Fig. 7. o is a washer of india-rubber placed in rear of the

page_text: cover n and serving as an elastic packing between the cover and the
tube plate. When the folded cover has been pushed through the tube
the elasticity of the washer o will cause it to open out, and the stopper
being then tightened up the tube will be effectually closed.
Having now set forth the nature of my Invention of " Improvements
in Tube Cleaning and Stopping Apparatus, applicable to Marine and
Multitubular Boilers," and explained the manner of carrying the same
into effect, I wish it to be understood that under the above in part
recited Letters Patent I claim, the tools or apparatus above described
for removing incrustation from boiler tubes, and for stopping the ends
of leaky or defective tubes.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Ballantine Knott, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, the Eighteenth day of March, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-