Improved Means for Heating Water by Gas.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 20th Apr., 1893-Accepted, 17th June, 1893
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improved Means for Heating Water by Gas.
I, GEORGE ERNEST WRIGHT, of Essex Works, Thimble Mill Lane, Birmingham,
Warwickshire, Managing Director of John Wright & Company, Limited, 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:-
This invention consists of the herein-described improved means for heating water
by gas, for domestic and other purposes such as for warming buildings and other
places.
In carrying out this invention I construct a water heater in which the water
circulates through a series of sections or passages under and over which the heat
from the gas flames in ascending passes in a tortuous manner, the plates or walls of
the sections or passages being so constructed as to form large heating surfaces, so
near together as to divide up the water into very shallow streams, thus very quickly
heating the water as it flows between them.
The said sections or passages may as I will now describe by referring to the
I will first describe the
accompanying drawings be arranged in various ways.
and 6 of which Fig. 1 is
arrangement of my invention shewn by Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4,
a sectional elevation of a water heater constructed according to this invention;
Fig. 2 is a plan of the same; Fig. 3 is a plan and Fig. 4 is an elevation of one
of the sections of the same separately; Fig. 5 is a sectional elevation of the said
section on line X X of Fig. 3 and Fig. 6 is a sectional elevation of the same on
line Y Y of Fig. 3.
The water heater shewn by Figs. 1 to 6 consists of six similar sections marked
respectively A A A A A A of circular form enclosed in a thin metal cylindrical
casing B which is open at the top and bottom. We do not confine ourselves to any
particular number of the said sections as their number varies according to the
capacity of the water heater. Nor do we confine ourselves to the circular form of
the sections and casing as they may be octagonal, square or of other shape in plan.
Each of the said sections A A A A A A consists of a separate thin hollow
disc like casting (as will be seen more clearly by an examination of Figs. 3, 4, 5
and 6) the top and bottom plates or walls of which are near together say about
five eighths of an inch apart more or less There are four vertical openings in
each section marked respectively b', 62, 63, 64, 6º extending from the central boss c
for a certain distance towards the periphery d as shewn thus the portions of the
section between these openings form four passages e¹ e³ ³ ³ communicating with
the hollow boss c and the outer portion of the section. It will be seen that the two
passages e e slant upwardly from the periphery d and enter the boss C near the
top thereof and the other two passages e et slant downwardly from the periphery d
and enter the boss c near the bottom thereof. The boss c is flanged at top and
bottom so as to joint on to the corresponding flange of the next section. The said
sections are secured together by a central tube f which passes through the sections
and has a nut f and washerfs at the top and a corresponding nuts and washer f
at the bottom which are screwed up tightly so as to close the hollow bosses of the
top and bottom sections. The lower part of the outer casing B has a water jacket G
which as hereinafter shewn helps to heat the water, or this water jacket may be
dispensed with. H is an ordinary atmospheric gas burner by the flames of which
the sections A' A' A³ A' A' A° are heated the said burner being carried by the

page_text: three legged or other stand I which also carries the outer casing B. The said
sections may be secured in the outer casing B by any convenient means as by resting
on three internal brackets two of which are shewn in Fig. 1 and marked j' j².
The heated air from the gas burner H rises upwardly through the openings 61 62 63 64
in the various sections, the openings in any one section being arranged midway
between the openings in the adjacent section or sections (see Fig. 2) so that the
heated air has to rise in a tortuous manner and travel under each of the sections
in turn, thus thoroughly heating the sections and the water circulating through
them.
The water is heated by circulating through the sections and the water can either
enter the bottom section A by the pipe K and flow up and out at the pipe L in the
top section A¹ as would be the case where my invention was required for heating
water to circulate through pipes for warming buildings or connected to a tank for
domestic purposes or as an instantaneous water heater. Or the water may circulate
in the opposite direction that is to say the cold water may enter at the top section A'
and flow through the sections and out at the bottom section A*.
It will be seen that the peculiar form of the sections compels the water to
circulate to and fro through each section in turn. For instance the water entering
the hollow boss c of the bottom section A circulates through the rising passages e² et
towards the periphery d and then returns again to the hollow boss c by the other
two rising passages eles. The water then Hows through the next section in the
same manner. Each section has (or may have) a collar m cast in the hollow boss c
of about the same size internally as the outside of the pipe f to prevent the water
passing directly through the bosses c without circulating through the sections; or
these collars m may be dispensed with.
The object of using the tube f to connect the sections together instead of a
tie bolt (although a tie bolt may be used if preferred) is that the tube f may form
a flue to start the upward current of hot air from the gas burner when the burner
is first lighted and the sections are cold.
When the water jacket G is used (as shewn in Fig. 1) the inlet pipe K is
connected thereto and the water flows round the jacket and then through another
pipe K into the hollow boss e of the section A³. When the water jacket G is
dispensed with then the inlet pipe K (or outlet pipe) is connected directly to the
boss c of the section Aº.
Another arrangement of my invention is illustrated in sectional elevation by
Fig. 7 and in plan by Fig. 8. In this example of my invention the water jacket G
extends from the bottom to the top of the outer casing B and the hollow
sections A' A² A A A A which are heated externally by the gas and through
which the water circulates are each made of a thin copper or other metal plate
which is folded centrally at a and bent back so that the two halves of the plate are
a short distance apart and form the top and bottom of the horizontal section which
fits and is secured in the outer casing B as shewn, the outer casing B being slotted
at n² n² n³ to correspond with the open sides of the sections and allow of the water
circulating freely from the water jacket G into and through the sections. The
said sections A' A' A' A' A* A* are as shewn made of such a size as to leave a
space o for the passage of the hot air between the closed side a of each section and
the inside of the outer casing B this space o being at opposite sides in the alternate
sections so that the heat in rising from the gas burner has to travel between the
sections in the said tortuous manner as indicated by the arrows in Fig. 7.
The water heater above described and shewn by Figs. 7 and 8 is square in plan
but it will be evident that without departing from the nature of my invention it
may be made oblong or of other shape as for instance circular as shewn in sectional
elevation by Fig. 9 and in plan by Fig. 10. In this case as will be seen by an
examination of these figures the spaces o in the various sections through which the
hot air passes have to be arranged nearer to the centre of the heater otherwise
there is a considerable waste of the sheet metal of which the sections are formed.

page_text: 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 I
claim is :-
1. The hereindescribed improved means for heating water by gas, consisting
of an open ended cylindrical or other shaped outer casing containing a series of
water circulating sections constructed and arranged in either of the ways sub-
stantially as herein described and shewn by the accompanying drawings so as to
divide up the water contained therein into very shallow streams and cause the
heat from the gas burner to pass up in a tortuous manner under and over the
said sections as hereinbefore set forth.
2. In an apparatus of the kind denoted under Claim 1 for heating water by
gas, the use of water circulating sections constructed and arranged substantially
as hereinbefore described and shewn by Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 of the accom-
panying drawings.
3. The construction combination and arrangement of parts constituting the
improved apparatus for heating water by gas herein before described and illustrated
by Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 of the accompanying drawings.
4. The construction combination aud arrangement of parts constituting the
improved apparatus for heating water by gas herein before described and illustrated
by Figs. 7 and 8 of the accompanying drawings and the modification hereinbefore
described and shewn by Figs. 9 and 10.
Dated this 19th day of April 1893
CHARLES BOSWORTH KETLEY,
Agent for the Applicant.