Improvements in Water Tube Boilers.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 2nd Oct., 1893
Complete Specification Left, 30th June, 1894-Accepted, 1st Sept., 1854
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Water Tube Boilers.
I, GEORGE FRANCIS GABRIEL DES VIGNES, of 4 Montpellier Terrace,
Teddington, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Engineer, do hereby declare
the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
My invention refers to improvements in water-tube boilers composed of sectional
parts or detachable portions, the said boilers or steam generators being so arranged
and constructed, as hereafter described, that any desired group of tubes may be
readily removed therefrom without the necessity of taking the whole construction
apart, and thereby I am enabled to effect the renewal or repair of tubes or parts
with greater facility than heretofore.
According to my invention I provide an upper cylindrical chamber, which may
be made, if desired, in sections for convenience of transport, the axis or centre of
which is horizontal or nearly so, and at a suitable distance beneath such chamber I
locate the furnace, the bars thereof extending the entire length beneath the
chamber and being considerably greater in width that the said chamber. At both
ends of the upper cylindrical chamber are arranged downward annular connections
or tubes communicating with two horizontal passages, tubes, or pipes, located one
at each side of the firebars, and situated, for example, just below same, or in other
convenient position. From these lower horizontal passages or pipes 1 provide a
series of removable sectional parts, say, for example, six on each side, to form
connections therefrom to the upper side parts of the upper cylindrical chamber.
These removable sectional parts are or may be each composed of a group of tubes
having the upper and lower ends thereof respectively mounted in upper and lower
head casings provided with flanged connecting parts. The plan of these groups
of tubes may be of parallelogram or other suitable form. The connecting part of
the lower head casing is affixed to its corresponding part on one of the lower
horizontal pipes, while the connecting part of the upper bead casing takes onto a
bent tube connected to the upper horizontal chamber, and these removable sectional
parts, each constructed substantially as stated, are arranged adjacent to each other
on each side of the furnace, the axes of the opposite groups of tubes inclining
towards each other, that is, sloping inwards from the sides of the furnace to beneath
the upper cylindrical chamber, and beneath the apexial point, where the upper
head casings are contiguous to each other, I place a longitudinal rib of refractory
material to prevent injury to the joints of the said head casings; by this means
I have a furnace extending from end to end of the boiler, enclosed by tubes
arranged in triangular form, the furnace bars forming the base of the triangle.
Around the entire construction as described, I provide an enclosing case, having
an uptake for the waste products of combustion, and formed with detachable side
parts, suitable, when' removed, to allow of the extraction from, or replacement into,
the case, of one of the removable sectional parts, and this may be effected by
releasing the connection of the upper head casing from the cylindrical chamber,
and the connection of the lower head casing from the lower horizontal pipe, when
the part with its group of tubes may be removed and repaired or otherwise, and
again replaced, or another sectional part substituted, without disturbing any other
part of the generator.
The entire products of combustion from the furnace act on and pass through the
groups of tubes by which the furnace is, so to say, enclosed, and when desired I fill
the interspace between one group of tubes and the next group with refractory
material, and thereby cause the products of combustion to pass entirely through the

page_text: groups of tubes. Sometimes one side only may be filled with the tubular sections;
the other side, forming the firebox, may be an ordinary water space, and the
sections may be arranged vertically or otherwise.
Boilers constructed according to my invention are especially useful where it is
difficult to effect repairs, as for example when employed for marine purposes, say
for torpedo boat boilers, the arrangement and construction thereof providing for
the various sectional parts being interchangeable, and in fact, a spare section
carried on board ship may readily be replaced for a damaged one by the ordinary
engineers, in a very short time, and boilers constructed according to my said
invention, of practically any power, may be taken down into a ship's hold and there
erected without disturbing the deck or decks of the vessel.
Dated this 2nd day of October 1893
BREWER & SON,
London and Leeds, Agents for Applicant.
Improvements in Water Tube Boilers.
I, GEORGE FRANCIS GABRIEL DES VIGNES of 4 Montpellier Terrace,
Teddington in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical 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 :-
My invention refers to improvements in water tube boilers composed of sectional
parts or detachable portions, the said boilers or steam generators being so arranged
and constructed, as hereafter described, that I am enabled among other advantages,
to employ groups of straight tubes of equal lengths, to fit the straight tubes into
flat tube plates at right angles to the axes of the tubes, and to connect the upper
casing with which the tubes communicate with the upper or top part of the
container and not at a low level in the container. Any desired group of tubes may
be readily removed without the necessity of taking the whole construction apart,
and thereby the renewal or repair of tubes or parts may be effected with great
facility.
On the accompanying drawing, Figure 1 is a sectional end elevation and Figure 2
a half section and half side elevation showing an example of a water tube boiler
or steam generator constructed according to my invention.
According to my invention I provide an upper cylindrical chamber A which may
be made if desired in sections for convenience of transport, the axis or centre of
which is horizontal or nearly so, and at a suitable distance beneath such chamber A
I locate the furnace B, the bars B' thereof extending the entire length beneath the
chamber A and being considerably greater in width than the said chamber A. At
both ends of the upper cylindrical chamber A are arranged downward connections
or tubes C Figure 2 of any suitable or convenient construction, communicating
with two horizontal passages, tubes or pipes D D', located one at each side of
the firebars B' and situated for example just below same or in other convenient
position. Fren these lower horizontal passages or pipes D D' I provide a series
of removable sectional parts say for example six on each side to form connections
from the pipes D D' to the upper parts of the upper cylindrical chamber A.
These removable sectional parts are each composed of a group of straight tubes E
having the upper and lower ends thereof respectively mounted in tube plates F* G*
situated at right angles to the tubes and forming part of upper and lower head
casings FG provided with Hanged connecting parts F1 G. The plan of these
groups of tubes may be of parallelogram or other suitable form. The connecting
part G' of the lower head casing G is affixed to its corresponding part on one of
the lower horizontal pipes D or D', while the connecting part F' of the upper head
casing F takes onto a bent tube H arranged to be connected to the upper

page_text: horizontal chamber A; these connections H are clearly shown at Figure 1, where
it is to be particularly noted that the delivery into the chamber A takes place at
the upper part of same whereby priming in the steam supply tubes is effectually
prevented, such priming being generally produced by disturbance of the water
contained in the boiler whereas by my invention this priming is absolutely
obviated.
H' are guards or deflectors in the top chambers A to prevent any "wash" being
caused by the delivery through the tubes H. The removable sectional parts, each
constructed substantially as stated are placed adjacent to each other on each side of
the furnace B and arranged so that the axes of the opposite groups E of tubes, are
inclined towards each other, that is, sloping inwards from the sides of the furnace B
to beneath the upper cylindrical chamber A and beneath the apexial point, where
the upper head casings F are contiguous to each other, I place a longitudinal rib J
of refractory material to prevent injury to the joints of the said head casings F, by
this means I have a furnace B extending from end to end of the boiler enclosed by
tubes E arranged in triangular form, the furnace bars B' forming the base of the
triangle.
Around the entire construction as described, I provide an enclosing case K
having an uptake K¹ for the waste products of combustion, and formed with
detachable side parts or doors L, see Figure 1 and half side elevation Figure 2,
suitable, when removed to allow of the extraction from, or replacement into, the
case K, of one of the removable sectional parts, that is of one of the groups of
tubes E with its head and foot casings F and G, and this may be effected by
releasing the connection of the upper head casing F from the cylindrical chamber A
or from its connecting part H, and the connection G' of the lower head casing G
from the lower horizontal pipe D or D₁ as the case may be, when the part with its
group of tubes E may be removed and repaired or otherwise, and again replaced,
or another sectional part substituted, without disturbing any other part of the
generator.
The entire products of combustion from the furnace B are thus caused to act on
and pass through the groups of tubes E by which the furnace is, so to say,
enclosed, and when desired I fill the interspace M, Figure 2, between one group of
tubes E and the next group with refractory material, and thereby cause the
products of combustion to pass entirely through the groups of tubes. Sometimes
one side only may be fitted with the tubular sections, the tubular sections on the
other side being replaced by any suitable water space and the sections may be
arranged vertically or otherwise.
Boilers constructed according to my invention are especially useful where it is
difficult to effect repairs, as for example when employed for marine purposes, say
for torpedo boat boilers, the arrangement and construction thereof providing for
the various sectional parts being interchangeable, and in fact, a spare section as in
ordinary sectional boilers carried on board ship may readily be replaced for a
damaged one by the ordinary engineers in a very short time, and boilers constructed
according to my said invention, of practically any power, may be taken down into
a ship's hold and there erected without disturbing the deck or decks of the
vessel.
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 I am aware it
is not new to construct boilers with sectional or detachable parts, neither is it
broadly new to form such parts of groups of tubes, but what I claim is :-
1. In water tube boilers, having an upper chamber A, downward connections C
therefrom to lower lateral horizontal tubes D D'; the removable sectional parts
forming connections between the chamber A. and the tubes D D', each of such
parts being composed of a group of straight tubes E fitted into tube plates F* G*
ut right angles thereto, such tube plates forming parts of upper and lower casings F
and G, the lower casing G having flanged connection with lower tubes, and the

page_text: upper casing F being connected to chamber A by tube H arranged to enter
the chamber at the top or upper part of same substantially as and for the purposes
set forth.
2. In water tube boilers, the combination with an upper chamber A, downward
connections C and lower lateral tubes D D', of a series of sectional parts each
composed of a group of straight tubes E, a head and foot casing F G, and
connections, together with tube H entering chamber A at upper part of same,
such sectional parts being arranged to incline towards each other from each side of
the furnace to beneath the chamber A substantially as and for the purposes set
forth.
3. In water tube boilers, the upper chamber A, downward connections C, lower
lateral tubes D D', sectional parts connected as described and arranged upon each
side of the furnace, the said sectional parts inclining together to beneath the upper
central chamber A, the whole being enclosed within an outer casing K having an
uptake K' and detachable side doors L to allow of removal and replacement of the
sectional parts all substantially as and for the purposes hereinbefore set forth.
4. The general arrangement, construction and combination of parts composing
my improvements in sectional water tube boilers or steam generators arranged and
acting substantially as and for the purposes hereinbefore described with reference
to the accompanying drawings together with any mere modification or modifications
thereof.
Dated this 20th low of June 1801
BREWER & SON,
London and Leeds, Agents for Applicant.