IMPROVEMENTS IN APPLIANCES FOR CLEANING, SCALING, AND STOPPING TUBES
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Black, of Liverpool, in the County of
Lancaster, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPLIANCES
FOR CLEANING, SCALING, AND STOPPING TUBES."
Sealed the 9th April 1874, and dated the 14th October 1873.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Black at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
14th October 1878.
I, THOMAS BLACK, of Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster, Engineer,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
APPLIANCES FOR CLEANING, SCALING, AND STOPPING TUBES," to be as follows :—

page_text: And, Second. To provide appliances by which fire or flame tubes in
steam boilers shall be easily and efficiently stopped in case of leakage ;
and consists,-
First. As means for cleaning or scaling water tubes internally in
employing one or more hammers or picks worked through a lever or
levers and connecting rod contained in a sleeve. Other well known
devices may be used instead of the lever and rod to cause each hammer
to vibrate. Tho said sleeve and connections are adjustable longitudinally
and radially so that the hammers or picks can be caused to act on every
part of the internal surface of the tube being operated upon. The con-
necting rod and sleeve are made in jointed lengths so as to be applicable
to any length of tube.
In practice when a tube has to be cleaned or scaled a workman inserts
the above described apparatus into the tube and causes the hammers or
picks to vibrate by giving to-and-fro motion to a handle attached to the
connecting rod at the same time he gives to the sleeve, and with it the
hammers or picks, an intermittent rotary and longitudinal motion so as
to cause the said hammers or picks to operate on every part of the tube.
Steam or other power could be caused to operate the above mechanism.
To clear a passage for the hammer or pick mechanism above described
when the tube to be operated upon is very foul I make use of a drift
provided with radial spring cutters which can be caused to expand by a
sliding piece.
Second. As means for stopping fire or flame tubes in case of a leak
whilst the boiler is working, in employing a double cone screwed spindle
and sleeve so arranged that when the said apparatus is inserted into a
leaky tube and the screwed spindle caused to rotate longitudinal motion
is given to the cones in such manner that one or more rings of wire
packing (metal rings may be used) which surround the said cones are
caused to expand and stop the ends of the said tube so as to prevent
passage of steam therethrough.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Thomas Black in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 14th April 1874,
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
BLACK, of Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster, Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourteenth day of October, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in the thirty-seventh
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said Thomas Black, Her special licence that I,
the said Thomas Black, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said Thomas Black, 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 APPLIANCES FOR
CLEANING, SCALING, AND STOPPING TUBES," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Thomas Black, my exccutors 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 Thomas Black, 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 accompanying Sheet
of illustrative Drawings and to the letters and figures marked thereon,
that is to say :-

page_text: And, Second. To provide appliances by which fire or flame tubes in
steam boilers shall be easily and efficiently stopped in case of leakage,
and consists,
First. As means for cleaning and scaling water tubes internally in
employing one or more hammers or picks worked through a lever or
levers and connecting rod contained in a sleeve. Other well known
devices may be used instead of the lever and rod to cause each hammer
to vibrate. The said sleeve and connections are adjustable longitudinally
and radially so that the hammers or picks can be caused to act on every
part of the internal surface of the tube being operated upon. The con-
necting rod and sleeve are made in jointed lengths so as to be applicable
to any length of tube.
In practice when a tube has to be cleaned or scaled a workman inserts
the above described apparatus into the tube and causes the hammers or
picks to vibrate by giving to-and-fro motion to a handle attached to the 1
connecting rod at the same time he gives to the sleeve, and with it the
hammers or picks, an intermittent rotary and longitudinal motion so as
to cause the said hammers or picks to operate on every part of the tube.
Steam or other power could be caused to operate the above mechanism.
To clear a passage for the hammer or pick mechanism above described ?
when the tube to be operated upon is very foul I make use of a drift
provided with radial spring cutters which can be caused to expand by a
sliding piece.
Second. As means for stopping fire or flame tubes in case of a leak
whilst the boiler is working in employing a double cone screwed spindle
and sleeve so arranged that when the said apparatus is inserted into a
leaky tube and the screwed spindle caused to rotate longitudinal motion
is given to the cones in such manner that one or more rings of wire
packing, metal rings may be used, which surround the said cones, are
caused to expand and stop the ends of the said tube so as to prevent
passage of steam therethrough.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Fig. 1 is a longitudinal section through A, A.; Fig. 2, a longitudinal
section through B, B; and Fig. 3, a transverse section through C, C ;
11
1

page_text: a is the tube to be scaled; b are the hammers or picks with bent
handles c pivoted at d, and connected at e to the guide rods f; to the
said guide rods f is attached the cross head g, to which latter motion
is given by the rod h and handle i; j, threaded sleeve made in lengths
and provided with lugs through which the guide rods f work; is a
supporting box secured to the sleeve j; the pin on which the hammer
shafts work is secured in 1; m, holding piece through which the threaded
sleeve; works; n, handle for operating the sleeve j.
In practice the piece m having the apparatus attached is fitted in the
front plate and the workman operates the hammers by the handle i.
As soon as one part of the tube is scaled the sleeve is caused to rotate
by the handle n so as to advance the hammers along the tube. The
foregoing operations are repeated until the scale is removed from the
whole of the tube, or until the sleeve j is screwed its full length through
the piece m, when, if necessary, the handles i and n are removed, a fresh
piece of sleeve and rod attached, and the operations continued.
Fig. 4 is a longitudinal section through D, D; Fig 5, a longitudinal
section through E, E; and Fig. 6, an end view; all of cleaning apparatus
constructed in accordance with the first part of my Invention. In these
views like letters denote the same parts. o is the tube to be cleaned;
pare the scrapers, secured at one end to the piece q by the ring r;
8, disc for expanding the scrapers. The said disc operates by being
caused to approach or recede from the piece q ; the said motion is com-
municated to the disc by turning the rod t; the rod t also serves to
work the scrapers to and fro through the tube.
Fig. 7 is a longitudinal section of a modification of scrapers suitable
for scaling tubes. o, tube to be scaled; p, cutters; q, securing piece;
8, expanding disc; t, rod for operating disc and expanding the cutters;
u, sleeve for working the cutters to and fro.
Fig. 8 is a longitudinal elevation and Fig. 9 a longitudinal section of
tube stopping apparatus constructed in accordance with the second part
of my Invention. 1 is the tube to be stopped; 2, 21, is the packing,
here shown as copper rings; 3, cone for expanding the packing ring 2;
the other packing ring 2¹ is held against the end of the tube by the
box 4; 5, plug for packing the rod 6. To cause the cone 3 and box 4
to approach each other so as to tighten the said packing a rod 6 operated
by the nut 7 is made use of; the said rod 6 is secured to the cone 3 by

page_text: .
a screw thread, so that if the packing should adhere to the tube the cone
can be easily removed. 8, sleeve and box to hold the packing in
position whilst being expanded by the cone.
It will be obvious that a second cone could be used in place of the
box 4, and that by grooving the said box and cone copper wire could be
applied instead of the rings above described.
Fig. 10 is a longitudinal view showing the apparatus described under
Figs. 8 and 9, adapted for stopping leaks in tube plates. The apparatus
is the same as that before described, except that an overhanging
expanding copper ring 9 is used instead of the packing 2, and the box 4
and plug 5 are replaced by a box 10 and plug 11; 2¹ is the other packing
ring; 12, tightening nut; 13, sleeve and box; 14, rod.
In practice the apparatus is slacked back and the expanding ring 2 is
adjusted on the smallest part of the cone; in this position the apparatus
is passed into the tube until the ring 2 is outside the fire-box end; the
nut 12 is then tightened on the rod 14 until the ring is fully expanded
and rests against the flange 31 of the cone 3; the nut 12 is then run
back together with the plug 5%; the nut is now again tightened and the
box 4 and cone 3 caused to approach until the packing rings 9 and 2¹
are sufficiently tight against the faces of the tube plates.
is loose in the box 4 to allow free motion to 3 and 4.
be removed, if necessary, by unscrewing from the rod 14.
The sleeve 13
The cone 3 can
In Figs. 8 and 9 there is sufficient play to allow the cone and box to
approach without making use of a loose sleeve.
Although copper packing rings and wire are preferred other metallic
packing may be used.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and par-
ticularized the same in such manner that others will be enabled to carry
out my Invention, I would have it understood that I do not confine
myself to the precise details described and illustrated, as various modifi-
cations can be made without departing from my Invention; what I
do claim is,-
First. The hammer or pick tube scaling apparatus, substantially as
described and illustrated under Figs. 1, 2, and 3, for the purpose set

page_text: Second. The tube cleaning apparatus, substantially as described and
illustrated under Figs. 4, 5, and 6, for the purpose set forth.
Third. The tube scaling apparatus, substantially as described and
illustrated under Figure 7, for the purpose set forth.
Fourth. The tube stopping apparatus, substantially as described and
illustrated under Figs. 8 and 9, for the purpose set forth.
Fifth. The apparatus, substantially as described and illustrated under
Fig. 10, for the purpose set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Black, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, the Eleventh day of April, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four.
In the presence of
J. JOHNSON,
Patent Office,
Clayton Square,
Liverpool.
THOMAS BLACK. (L.S.)