APPARATUS FOR CLEANSING OUT THE SEDIMENT FROM THE WATER IN STEAM BOILERS, AND PREVENTING INCRUSTATION OF THE SAME
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edmund Topham, of Mansfield Road, Nottingham,
for the Invention of "APPARATUS FOR CLEANSING OUT THE SEDIMENT FROM
THE WATER IN STEAM BOILERS, AND PREVENTING INCRUSTATION OF THE SAME."
Sealed the 24th October 1856, and dated the 26th April 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edmund Topham at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 26th
April 1856.
I, EDMUND TOРHAM, of Mansfield Road, Nottingham, in the County
of Nottingham, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention of
"APPARATUS FOR CLEANSING OUT THE SEDIMENT FROM THE WATER IN STEAM
BOILERS, AND PREVENTING INCRUSTATION OF THE SAME," to be as follows:-
This Invention consists in adapting to the interior of steam boilers, and in
the direction of the length thereof, one or more rotating rods or spindles,
around which are fixed or formed in a helical direction a series of detached
plates, or one continuous plate or blade, constituting a screw; the purpose of
which is to remove the sediment from the bottom or other desired part of the
boiler from time to time by the rotation of said screw, and by these means to
prevent incrustation in the boiler.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Edmund Topham in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
25th October 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDMUND
TOPHAM, of Mansfield Road, Nottingham, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-sixth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the nineteenth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Edmund Topham, Her special licence that I, the said Edmund Topham, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Edmund
Topham, 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 "APPARATUS FOR CLEANSING
OUT THE SEDIMENT FROM THE WATER IN STEAM BOILERS, AND PREVENTING IN-
CRUSTATION OF THE SAME," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said Edmund Topham, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should par-
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 Edmund Topham, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed,
to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement
thereof, that is to say:-
My Invention consists in adapting to the interior of steam boilers, and in
the direction of the length thereof, one or more rotating rods or spindles,
around which are fixed or formed a series of detached plates, or one con-
tinuous plate or blade, constituting a screw; the purpose of which is to remove
the sediment contained in the water from the bottom or other desired part
of the boiler from time to time, and by these means to prevent incrustation
in the boiler, a circumstance of constant occurrence with steam boilers as
generally constructed, by which they become much injured, and the effect of
the fuel very much lessened.

page_text: proceed to describe the best means I am acquainted with for carrying the
same into practical effect, reference being had to the illustrative Drawing
hereunto annexed, and to the numeral figures and letters of reference marked
thereon respectively, as follows:-
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Figure 1 is a longitudinal and vertical section of a square-end boiler, shew-
ing my Invention applied thereto; Figure 2 is a transverse and vertical
section of the same, through the line A, B, at Figure 1. At each of the
foregoing Figures I employ similar letters of reference to denote correspond-
ing parts, in so far as such parts appear or can be seen at each of the said
Figures respectively.
At or
At Figures 1 and 2, A, A, is the boiler, within which the following parts
are placed:-B is a screw which extends nearly the length of the boiler,
one end of which is supported the stay or bracket C, through which the
spindle a works; the other end of the spindle or rod a works in a steam-
tight stuffing box b, on which the wheel c is fixed, which gives motion to
the screw B, and causes it to rotate at or about the usual working level of
the water in the boiler, and is employed for removing any scum that may arise
on the surface of the water, the said scum being discharged through the outlet
pipe D, to which is attached a cock or valve into a suitable culvert.
near the bottom of the boiler a screw E is placed, one end of which is enclosed
in the pipe or chamber F, the said chamber being securely fixed in any con-
venient manner to the bottom of the boiler, and having an outlet G, to which is
attached a cock or valve and pipe H. This pipe proceeds to a suitable culvert
or other discharge. One end of the spindle d, on which is fixed a wheel f, which
imparts motion to the screw E, passes through the stuffing box 6, the other
end works in a bearing I. The said screw E is employed for the purpose of
removing any sediment collected at the bottom of the boiler, and discharging
it through the outlet G. K is a lever, to which is connected the rod L by a
pin at g, which rod works through a stuffing box h, made secure on the top of
the boiler, the other end is attached to the lever or arm M by a pin at i; the
said arm is securely keyed on to the spindle or rod N, (supported by brackets
or stays N', N1, securely fixed to the boiler,) on which are keyed the arms
0, 0, to which are securely attached the rods or spindles O¹, 01. P, P, are
a series of scrapers working loosely on the rods or spindles O¹, O¹. I would
here remark that I do not confine myself to any particular method of working

page_text: the aforesaid screws or scrapers, as I can either work them by lever, rotatory
motion, steam, or self-acting, different descriptions of boilers requiring a
different application. Thus, it will be obvious, that by imparting motion to
the handle G of the lever K, which is transmitted by means of the rod L to
the levers or arms M and O, O, and thus gives a reciprocating motion to the
scrapers P, P, and in this manner and by these means the water in the boiler
may be agitated, and the sediment in the water kept in suspension instead of
being allowed to precipitate and become incrustated upon the boiler. The above
apparatus having been put in motion, there is immediately a cock opened,
through which the water mixed with the sediment is forced by means of the
pressure of the steam and water in the boiler, as fully set forth and described
in a former Patent, granted to me the Eleventh day of August, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, intituled, apparatus for
cleansing out the sediment from the water in steam boilers, and preventing
incrustation of the same. Should any sediment collect at the bottom of the
boiler, a rotatory motion is given to the screw E, by means of the wheel f, or
other mechanism, and by these means and in this manner is propelled or con-
veyed into the chamber F, and by the pressure of the water through the
aperture, and discharged through the cock and pipe H into a suitable culvert.
The same means is employed for expelling any scum that may arise on the
.surface of the water in the boiler by means of the screw B, to which a rota-
tory motion is imparted by the wheel c (or other mechanism, as before referred
to), and by these means and in this manner is propelled or conveyed by the
pressure of water through the pipe D into a suitable culvert or other dis-
charge. It will appear evident that the particular arrangement of the above
apparatus will depend upon the shape of the boiler, and must therefore be so
arranged as to prevent the accumulation of sediment at the angles of the
boiler; and should the peculiar shape of the boiler require it, more than one of
the before-mentioned apparatus may be employed for effecting the above object,
every description of boiler requiring a different application.
Having now fully described and set forth the nature and object of my said
Invention of apparatus for cleansing out the sediment from the water in steam
boilers, and preventing incrustation of the same, together with the best means
I am acquainted with for carrying the same into practical effect, I would
remark, in conclusion, that I claim,-
Firstly, as my Invention, the use and employment of one or more rotating
-screws or perforated tubes, combined or separately, as may be found most
advantageous, for the removal of the sediment from the bottom of the boiler,

page_text: arranged, combined, and constructed in the manner and upon the principle
above stated.
Secondly, I claim the use of a screw or screws for the purpose of agitating
the water, or removing the scum from the surface of the water in the
boiler.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edmund Topham, have hereunto set my
band and seal, this Twenty-second day of October, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
Witness,
ALEX. PRINCE,
Agent for Patents,
4, Trafalgar Square,
Charing Cross, London.
EDMUND TOPHAM. (L.S.)