IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM ENGINE BOILERS AND SAFETY VALVES, AND IN APPARATUS FOR INDI- CATING THE VACUUM IN STEAM ENGINE CONDENSERS IN RELATION TO THE EXISTING ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joseph Hopkinson the younger, of Huddersfield,
in the County of York, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
STEAM ENGINE BOILERS AND SAFETY VALVES, AND IN APPARATUS FOR INDI-
CATING THE VACUUM IN STEAM ENGINE CONDENSERS IN RELATION TO THE
EXISTING ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE."*
Sealed the 20th April 1855, and dated the 24th October 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joseph Hopkinson at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
24th October 1854.
1, JOSEPHI HOPKINSON the younger, of Huddersfield, in the County of
York, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN STEAM ENGINE BOILERS AND SAPETY VALVES, AND IN APPARATUS
FOR INDICATING THE VACUUM IN STEAM ENGINE CONDENSERS IN RELATION TO THE
EXISTING ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE," to be as follows:-
My improvements relate, firstly, to an arrangement of boilers placed side by
side, the furnaces being so adapted that the products of combustion pass over
their surfaces in a transverse direction, and consist in so combining them that
two levels are formed by carrying the bottoms of a portion of the said boilers
lower down than the others, by which means occasional spaces are formed, into
which the products of combustion are-directed by means of corresponding

page_text: bridges; this effect I practically accomplish by placing one or more boilers of
comparatively small diameter between two or more of larger diameter, or I use
boilers of the same dimensions, and place them at different heights.
My improvement in safety valves for steam boilers consists in using one valve
for the seat of another; the one being loaded within the boiler or a casing, so
as to be beyond the control of the attendant, and the other by usual external
apparatus; thus I adapt an ordinary flat valve, and load it by means of a
weighted lever. Within this valve I form an aperture for the second valve, by
which a dead weight is suspended.
My improvement in guages for condensers consists in using the same column
of mercury for ascertaining the existing pressure of the atmosphere and for
indicating the vacuum. To accomplish this, I use a cock or cocks capable of
alternately opening a communication between the atmosphere and the mercury,
and between the mercury and condenser.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Joseph Hopkinson in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
24th April 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSEPH
HOPKINSON the younger, of Huddersfield, in the County of York, Engineer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of October, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the eighteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Joseph Hopkinson, Her special license that I, the said Joseph Hopkinson,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Joseph
Hopkinson, 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 Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM ENGINE
BOILERS AND SAFETY VALVES, AND IN APPARATUS FOR INDICATING TEE VACUUM
STEAM ENGINE CONDENSERS IN RELATION TO THE EXISTING ATHOSPHERIC
PRESSURE," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Joseph
Hopkinson, by an instrument in writing under my hand and scal, should par-

page_text: ticularly 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 Joseph Hopkinson, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to bo
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement and accompanying Drawings (that is to say):
My improvements relate, firstly, to an arrangement of boilers placed side by
side; the furnaces being so adapted that the products of combustion pass over
their surfaces in a transverse direction, and consists in so combining them that
two levels are formed by carrying the bottoms of a portion of the said boilers
lower down than the others, so as to form occasional spaces, into which tho
products of combustion pass.
My improvement in safety valves consists in using one valve for the seat of
another; the one being loaded within the boiler or a casing, so as to be beyond
the control of the attendant, and the other by the usual external apparatus.
My improvement in guages for condensers consists in using the same column
of mercury for ascertaining the existing pressure of the atmosphere and for
indicating the vacuum.
And in order that my Invention may be fully understood, I have appended
to this my Specification two Sheets of Drawings, which I will now proceed
to describe.
Fig. 1 is a longitudinal vertical section of a stationary steam boiler con-
structed according to my Invention; and Fig. 2 is a cross section of the same.
A series of boilers a, a, a, b, 62, 3, of two diameters are set in masonry c.
The upper parts of those shewn at a, a, a, are provided with passages d,
communicating with a steam chamber e, extending throughout the range. The
smaller boilers communicate with the passages d by means of pipes f, excepting
the last of the series, which has a pipe 9 communicating with the force pump
or other source from which water is supplied. The boilers a, a, a, have man-
holes, as at g, and access to those shewn at b, 2, is provided for by passages
h, h. The fire bars are shewn at i, divided by masonry, so as to constitute
three furnaces, and behind them is a bridge j, extending throughout their
width; between the boilers a, a, and a³, b, are other bridges k. The flue
communicating with the chimney is shewn at 7. The lower part of the boiler a¹
is furnished with two water chambers m, extending downward in the masonry,
which divides the sets of fire bars. These chambers are connected by a cross
pipe, to which is joined a central pipe n, communicating with chambers o, p,

page_text: open to the lower ends of the boilers a², a³, by which arrangement water is
supplied to the larger series, and through the passages h to the smaller. Safety
valves according to my improvement, hereafter to be described, or on any of the
ordinary plans, may be adapted to the steam chest, as at p*, or to one of the
boilers. By this improved form of boiler the products of combustion arising
from the several furnaces will be directed by the bridges into the spaces formed
by the two levels of boilers, and will curl around the bottoms thereof as they
pass onward along the entire series. Figs. 3 and 4 shew. this part of my
Invention applied to a boiler for marine purposes. The outward shell of the
boiler, forming a water chamber, is shewn at a, secured by stays in the ordinary
manner. Within the chamber thus formed are placed a series of cylindrical
boilers b, of different diameters, as before. These boilers are connected to the
outer water chamber by passages.d, divided into two compartments, and imme-
diately behind them is a bridge g, which directs the products of combustion, as
before described, from whence they pass into the flue h. In order, however,
to take up the remaining heat, transverse water chambers, as at c, may be
adapted, arranged as shewn, or in any other ordinary manner. The upper tier,
according to the Drawing, is connected to the outer casing by a passage e, and
to the boilers by man-holes f.
In concluding the description of this part of my Invention, I would observe
that I am aware of steam-generating apparatus having been constructed with
a series of cylindrical boilers placed side by side. An arrangement of this
description is known as "Woolf's boiler; " but in such case the products of
combustion were prevented from traversing the under sides of the several
boilers, there having been intervening masonry, which compelled them to pass
upward and return downward through spaces existing between the boilers;
whereas according to my Invention the said products are prevented from
passing over the tops, and are directed so as to lap around the under parts.
Other steam-generating apparatus have also been constructed with series of
cylindrical boilers, arranged in such a manner as to prevent the products of
combustion from passing over the tops thereof; but the said boilers have been
placed side by side, so that their bottom parts have been on a level instead of
forming two lines, as in the case of my improvements.
The second part of my Invention is shewn in the sectional view, Fig. 5. A
part of the shell of a boiler is shown at a, upon which is a mounting b, pro-
vided with a seat for a valve c. This valve is surrounded by a cover, carrying
a lever d, by which the valve c is loaded, after the ordinary manner. The valve
c is formed with a central aperture, constructed as a-seat for a second valve e,
kept thereon by a weight f, situate within the boiler. By this arrangement the

page_text: larger valve c is loaded, not only by its own weight d, but also through the
medium of the smaller valve by the interior weight f. Suppose the pressure
in the boiler to have arrived at the point at which the steam is intended to
blow off, the valve e will be lifted from its seat, and as the weight f will then
be raised, a portion of the loading will be removed from the valve c, so as to
enable it to rise, and furnish a larger orifice for the escape of steam.
According to my last improvement, I use a column of mercury as ordinarily
employed for ascertaining the atmospheric pressure, but with the addition of
suitable passages or cock ways, for opening it at pleasure to the condenser of a
steam engine or to the atmosphere, so that the pressure in the former may be
compared to that of the latter at corresponding periods.
Having thus described and ascertained the nature of my said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, I desire it to be under-
stood that I claim, as secured to me under the above in part recited Letters
Patent,-
-
Firstly, so arranging a series of boilers in communication with each other
that their lower parts shall constitute two or more levels, forming a wavy
line, so as to expose the sides of the boilers, against which the products
of combustion are caused to impinge, by means of bridges, such products of
combustion being prevented from passing between the boilers.
Secondly, the double safety valve above described, the one constituting a seat
for the other.
Thirdly, the use of a column of mercury with communications, capable of
being opened at pleasure to the atmosphere and to the condenser.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Hopkinson, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Twenty-third day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.
JOSEPH HOPKINSON. (L.S.)