IMPROVEMENTS IN THE APPLICATION OF STEAM TO THE WARMING OF BUILDINGS AND APARTMENTS, AND IN APPARATUS THEREFOR
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Vincent Newton, of the Office for Patents.
66, Chancery Lane. in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughts-
man, for the invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE APPLICATION OF STEAM
TO THE WARMING OF BUILDINGS AND APARTMENTS, AND IN APPARATUS
THEREFOR" A Communication from abroad by Lewis Walker, Leeds,
1
سيك
Now York limited
States of
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Vincent Newton at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
31st May 1860.
1. ALFRED VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66. Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex. Mechanical Draughtsman, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE APPLICATION OF STEAM
TO THE WARMING OF BUILDINGS AND APARTMENTS, AND IN APPARATUS THEREFOR,"
to be as follows:-
This Invention relates, firstly, to an arrangement of apparatus for heating
air that is intended to be circulated through the building to which the
apparatus is applied by the agency of hot water, which water is to be heated
by means of steam. In applying the apparatus one or more water vessels
may be used according to the size of the building to be heated. The vessel,
Price Sd.1

page_text: which may be of any desired form, is placed, say in the basement of the
building, and it is fitted with a series of air-warming tubes or channels,
through which the air to be heated passes. A boiler situated say outside of
the building supplies steam to a pipe arranged in a serpentine form or coi!
within the water vessel, and having a return for conveying back the water of
condensation to the boiler.
The object of the second part of the Invention is to employ steam for
warming buildings or apartments at a pressure as much below that of the
atmosphere, and as little above it, as may be desirable, and at the same time
to obtain an equal distribution of steam to all parts of a heater or radiator,
thereby obtaining a very considerable range of temperature, as in the use of
water, as the warming medium, and a uniformity of temperature of all parts
of the warming surface, and to this end this part of the Invention consists in
the admission of the steam to the heater or radiator by means of numerous
perforations, very fine slits, or narrow openings, so arranged as to deliver it into
the heater or radiator at or very near the bottom thereof, and at all parts of
its horizontal area in a minutely divided state, by which its uniform diffusion
throughout all parts of the interior, and over all parts of the warming surfaces,
is effected.
The heater consists of a box, having a number of upright open air tubes
extending right through it, as in the case of the water vessel, and furnished
with a pipe for the admission of steam from the boiler to the heater at or near
the bottom thereof. This pipe takes a circuitous course near to and over a
large portion of the bottom, and is pierced throughout the whole length of that
portion which is within the heater with numerous holes for discharging fine jets
of steam to the heater.
The pipe is to be furnished with a regulating steam-cock, so that a much
less pressure may be kept up in the heater than in the boiler in which the
steam is generated. The steam thus admitted will heat all parts alike, and
this will be the case, no matter how small the quantity admitted, even though
the pressure in the heater be lower than the pressure of the atmosphere.
The third part of this Invention relates to an improved thermometric regu-
lator, composed. of a vessel which may be termed a secondary heater, having
no internal communication with the primary heater, or that from which the
air for warming the building derives its heat, but exposed at the same time to
the heating influence of the primary heater, and to the cooling influence of the
current or currents of incoming cold air, and containing water or other fluid
which, by the expansion and contraction due to variations in its temperature,
is caused to operate upon a piston or its equivalent, connected or geared with

page_text: a regulating cock or valve in the pipe which supplies the steam or other
heating agent to the primary heater in such a manner as to cause the supply
of such agent to the heater to vary inversely with the temperature of the
incoming cold air. To the steam pipe for conveying steam from the boiler to
the coil within the primary heater a regulating valve is fitted, to which the
regulator for controlling the supply of steam to the coil is applied. The
secondary heater consists of a close water vessel, having a number of air tubes
extended right through it. One side of the heater his close up against the
lower part of one side of the primary heater. so that heal may be conducted
from the latter to the water or other fluid within the former, and that some
of the incoming, currents of cold air may pass through the tubes and over its
outer surfaces before being heated by passing over the surfaces of the primary
heater. From the water space surrounding the tubes within the secondary
heater a pipe leads to a small cylinder containing a piston, to which is attached
a rack rod in gear with a pinion on the stem of the regulating valve. The
piston rests on the surface of the water supplied to its cylinder from the
water space of the secondary heater, and according as the water contained
therein is heated to a greater or lesser degree, it is more or less expanded, and
causes the piston to occupy a higher or lower position in the cylinder, and
through its rack rod regulate the valve in the steam supply pipe. The
incoming cold air is so directed that the currents will flow continually through
the tubes of the heater, and hence the temperature of the water therein will
depend, in a very great degree. upon the temperature of the atmosphere,
which, when low, will ensure a large supply of steam to the primary heater,
and when higher, a proportionately less supply.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Alfred Vincent Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 30th November 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALFRED
VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents. 66. Chancery Lane. in the County
of Middlesex. Mechanical Draughtsman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent. bearing date the Thirty-first day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-third year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me.
the said Alfred Vincent Newton, Her, special license that 1, the said Alfred

page_text: Vincent Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, 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 THE APPLICATION OF STEAM TO THE WARMING
OF BUILDINGS AND APARTMENTS, AND IN APPARATUS THEREPOP," being a commu-
nication from abroad, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Alfred Vincent Newton, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal,
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 Sea! Patent Office within six calendar months next and imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed. and to the
letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
The first part of this Invention, as communicated to me by my foreign
correspondent, has for its object to combine all the advantages of warming by
steam and those. of warming by hot water, while getting rid of the disadvantages
of both. Before explaining the nature of this part of the Invention, it may be
well briefly to state the advantages and disadvantages of the two above men-
tioned methods of warming when employed separately.
The advantages of warming by hot water retained in this part of the
Invention are, first. that it permits the warming surfaces to be kept at a
uniform temperature at any desirable degree below two hundred and twelve
degrees Fahrenheit, so that the temperature of the air may be regulated to
.suit mild weather. Second, that as water contains several hundred times as
great a quantity of heat in the same space as sicam, the warming surfaces
deriving heat from it are not so soon affected by any sudden variation in the
fire or source of heat, or the fluctuation of the current of cold air passing over
them. Third, that it is entirely free from any danger from explosion of the
apparatus employed. Fourth, that the apparatus employed can never become
hot enough to set woodwork on fire. The disadvantages avoided. are, first,
that the motive power for creating the circulation in a hot water apparatus is
so small in proportion to the body of water to be set in motion, that the
circulation is very sluggish and even fails in cold weather. if the water is to be

page_text: carried far from the fire: second, that the hot water apparatus requires a long
time to become heated after it has been allowed to get cold.
The principal advantages to be derived from the use of steam for warming.
which are retained in this part of the Invention, are, first, the extreme rapidity
with which it can be conducted a long distance in small pipes, which gives it
the power of extending over and heating a very large surface almost
instantaneously second. that it is very effective in heating water. The dis-
advantages are, first. that unless it has a pressure less that that of the
atmosphere it cannot exist at a temperature below two hundred and twelve
degrees Fahrenheit, which makes it inconvenient for mild weather; second.
that the whole of the warming apparatus in which it is employed has to be
made of considerable strength. which makes it costly third, that when more
than a very low pressure of steam is used. the apparatus is in constant danger
of explosion. and when a low pressure is used, the range of temperature is so
small it is not adapted to meet the great variations of the temperature of the
external atmosphere, and the fire requires to be very carefully regulated, as the
least excess of combustion causes a waste by the escape of steam, and the least
deficiency allows all the steam to condense, leaving the apparatus entirely cold.
With a view then to combine all the advantages and get rid of all the dis-
advantages above specified, the first part of the Invention consists in placing
one, or more vessels of water of any convenient form to present the desired
amount of warming surface in the cellar basement or any other part or parts of
a building to be warmed, where it may be convenient to warm the air for
circulation through the building, and heating the water in the said vessels
through the agency of steam generated in a separate boiler. which may he
placed at any convenient distance, and where its explosion would not he
attended with danger.
This part of the Invention is illustrated in Figures 1 and 2 of the accom-
panying Drawing: Fig. 1 is a vertical section of a warming apparatus and
Fig. 2 is a vertical section at right angles to Fig. I in the plane indicated by
the line, z, of that Figure; similar letters of reference indicate corresponding
parts in both these Figures.
In the apparatus represented in the Drawing only one water vessel A is
represented. as that is sufficient for illustration, but in a building of any con-
siderable size it is proposed to use a number of these vessels arranged as may
be most convenient or desirable, generally one directly under each of a series
of air flues for conveying the heated air to different points or apartments of the
building. These vessels may be of any desired form. and contain any arrange-
ment of air-warming tubes a, a, of the form considered best adapted to present

page_text: the most effective surface for warming the air. The boiler B may be placed
outside of or in any convenient place within the building. The steam pipe b
is represented as being arranged in a serpentine form within the water vessel A.
and with a return for conveying back the water of condensation to the
boiler. but it may have the form of a coil or be arranged in any other way
within the water vessel, and it might discharge its steam directly into the
water vessel, but it is considered better for several reasons to have a return to
the boiler for the water of condensation. The distinguishing characteristic of
this apparatus is that by it the steam is made to warm the air through the
medium of the water.
The object of the second part of the Invention is to employ sicam for
warming buildings or apartments at a pressure as much below that of the
atmosphere, and as little above it, as may be desirable, and at the same time to
obtain an equal distribution of steam to all parts of a heater or radiator.
thereby obtaining a very considerable range of temperature, as in the use of
water as the warming medium, and a uniformity of temperature of all parts of
the warming surface, and to this end this part of the Invention consists in
the admission of the steam to the heater or radiator by means of numerous
perforations, very fine slits, or narrow openings. so arranged as to deliver it into
the heater or radiator at or very near the bottom thereof, and at all parts of its
horizontal area in very thin jets or streams, or in other words in a minutely
divided state by which its uniform diffusion is caused throughout all parts of
the interior and over all parts of the warming surfaces.
This part of the Invention is illustrated in Figures 3 and 4 of the accom-
panying Drawing: Fig. 3 is a vertical section of a heater or radiator, and
Fig. 4. a horizontal section of the same. Similar letters of reference indicate
corresponding parts in both these Figures.
The heater represented consists of a box A, having a number of upright
open air tubes a, a, extending right through it, but it may be of other form:
B is the pipe for the admission of steam from the boiler, entering the heater at
or near the bottom, and taking a circuitous course near to and over a large
portion of the bottom, and having throughout the whole length of that portion
which is within the heater numerous perforations for the admission of the
steam to the heater only in fine jets. One or more of these pipes may be used,
and in a heater of considerable size it may be desirable to use several, to
obtain a uniform diffusion of steam throughout all parts of its interior. Each
pipe B is to be furnished with a cock or valve, by which the admission of steam
may be regulated. so that a much less pressure may be kept up in the heater
than in the boiler in which the steam is generated. The steam being thus

page_text: admitted at the bottom of the heater in a minutely divided state, cannot fail to
be diffused throughout the whole of the interior and to heat all parts alike,
and this will be the case, no matter how small the quantity admitted, even
though the pressure in the heater be lower than the pressure of the atmosphere.
It is in thus obtaining a uniform low temperature in all parts of the heater
that the advantage of this part of the Invention consists. This result cannot
be obtained by the admission of a small supply of steam at a single opening, as
it is by the simple steam pipe commonly used for supplying steam heaters; for
the tendency of steam is always to rise to the top of a vessel in which it is
confined, and when admitted at a single opening it rises in a regular streami
and collects at the top, heating the upper part and leaving the lower part cool.
The third part of the Invention relates to the regulation of the supply of
steam or other heating agent to the heaters or radiators,, by which the warm-
ing of the air is effected. In the various kinds of apparatus for warming
buildings many kinds of regulators have been used, but mostly of two classes,
one class being controlled by the temperature of the air in the apartment or
one of the apartments that is warmed, and the other class by the temperature
of the heater or radiator itself. The first class may serve the purpose very
well when the building contains but one apartment, but in a dwelling-house or
building containing many apartments to be warmed by the same apparatus, it
is obviously almost impossible to regulate the temperature of all the apart-
ments by that of any one of them, and the second class can never operate
successfully in a climate of very variable temperature, as they tend to pre-
serve a uniform temperature of the heater without regard to the tem-
perature of the incoming cool air. The object of this part of the Invention
is to obtain a regulator more perfect than any operating upon either of
the above-mentioned systems, and to this end it consists in an improved
thermometric regulator, composed of a vessel which may be termed a secon-
dary heater, having no internal communication with the primary heater or that
from which the air for warming the building derives its heat, but exposed at
the same time to the heating influence of the primary heater and to the
cooling influence of the current or currents of incoming cold air. This regu-
lator contains water or other fluid, which by the expansion and contraction due
to variations in its temperature is caused to operate upon a piston or its equi-
valent connected or geared with a regulating cock or valve in the pipe, which
supplies the steam or other heating agent to the primary heater, in such a
manner as to cause the supply of such agent to the heater to vary inversely
with the temperature of the incoming cold air.
The construction and application of the improved thermometric regulator is

page_text: illustrated by Figures 5, 6, 7, and 8 of the accompanying Drawing. Fig. 5
is a vertical section of the regulator; Fig. 6 is a horizontal section of the
same; Fig. 7 is a sectional elevation, exhibiting its application to a radiator
like that at A, represented in Figures 1 and 2; and Fig. 8 is a plan corre-
sponding with Fig. 7. Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts
in all these Figures.
Before describing this regulator it may be well to state that it is applicable
in connection with various kinds of heating apparatus, but the kind represented
serves as well as any other to illustrate its application. A (Figures 7 and 8)
shews the water vessel or primary heater, and B (Figures 5, 6, 7, 8), the
steam pipe for conveying steam from the boiler to a coil B' within the said
heater, by which the water contained therein is heated; C is the regulating
valve to which the regulator is applied to control the supply of steam to the
coil. The valve représented is what is known as a globe valve, but other kinds
of valves or a cock may be used.
D (Figures 5, 7, and 8) is the secondary heater containing the principal
portion of the improved regulator, consisting of a close vessel or chamber having
a number of tubes a, a, extended right through it. One side of this heater
fits close up against the lower part of one side of the primary heater A, so that
heat may be conducted from the latter to the water or other fluid within the
former, and that some of the incoming currents of cold air may pass through
the tubes a', a', and over its outer surfaces before being heated, by passing over
the surfaces of the primary heater. A single sheet of metal may serve to form
the division between the two heaters, in which case the heat will be conducted
more rapidly than when each heater is made separate, as shown in the Draw-
ing. From the space b, b, surrounding the tubes a, a, within the secondary
heater, a pipe E leads to a cylinder F, which contains a piston G, to which is
attached a rod H, on one side of which is a toothed rack c gearing with a
pinion d on the stem e of the regulating valve C. The space b, b, is entirely
filled with water or other liquid, and so is the pipe B, and the portion of the
cylinder F below the piston G, and the said piston which fits to work easily but
closely in the cylinder F, rests on the surface of the water in the cylinder, and
according as the water in the secondary heater is heated to a lesser or greater
degree, it is more or less expanded, and the piston occupies a higher or lower
position in the cylinder, and the valve C is less or more open, the valve being
geared to be opened wider as the piston descends, and to have its opening
reduced as the piston rises.
The secondary heater is so arranged, or the incoming cold air is so directed,
that currents of such air flow continually through the tubes a, a, and hence

page_text: the temperature of the water in the secondary heater depends, in a very great.
degree, upon the temperature of the incoming cold air, and consequently the
water in the heater expands or contracts very soon after any rise or fall of the
atmospheric temperature takes place, and so gives more or less opening to
the valve or cock C. and diminishes or increases the supply of steam to the
heater A, and if the valve is properly adjusted, and the gearing between it and
the piston properly proportioned, the regulation to suit the requirements of
the changes of atmospheric temperature will be very perfect, and a uniform
temperature will be preserved within the building.
It will be readily understood that the secondary heater may be of different
form and construction from the one represented, and may be arranged differ-
ently, as, for instance, inside of the primary heater, but it must be so constructed
and applied that some of the incoming cold air will pass over a portion of its
surface before being heated by the primary heater.
Having now set forth the nature of the Invention of "Improvements in the
Application of Steam to the warming of Buildings and Apartments, and in
Apparatus therefor," as communicated to me from abroad, and explained the
manner of carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that under
the above in part recited Letters Patent I claim,-
First. combining the uses of steam and water for warming buildings or
apartments by means of one or more water vessels combined with a steam
boiler, and applied in such manner substantially as represented in Figures 1
and 2 of the Drawing, that the steam from the boiler is employed only to heat
the water in the said water vessel or vessels, and that the said water vessel or
vessels constitute the heaters by which the air is warmed, as herein described.
Second, the admission of the steam at or near and over all parts or a great..
portion of the bottom of a steam heater for warming air in numerous jets
or streams, or in other words, in a finely divided state by a perforated pipe.
or its equivalent, in such manner substantially as herein described and
illustrated by Figures 3 and 4 of the Drawing, that an equable diffusion
of steam at as low a pressure as may be desired may be effected throughout
the whole of the heater for the purpose herein specified.
Third, I would have it understood that I do not claim as novel a thermo-
metric regulator composed of a vessel or chamber containing fluid and
a piston operated upon by the expansion and contraction of such fluid to
work a valve irrespective of the special application above set forth; but I
claim so applying the secondary heater in combination with the primary
heater, and so applying the floating piston or its equivalent. in combination
with the secondary heater and with the regulating valve, that the secondary

page_text: heater is exposed at the same time to the heating influence of the primary
heater and to the cooling influence of the incoming cold air, and that the
fluid contained therein is made by its expansion and contraction to control
directly the admission of the steam or other heating agent, and cause the
supply of such agent to the heater to vary inversely with variations in the
atmospheric temperature as herein set forth.
In witness whereof, 1, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Thirtieth day of November, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty.
Witness.
J. W. MOFFATT.
66, Chancery Lane.
A. V. NEW
JAS.)