IMPROVEMENTS IN INJECTORS FOR FEEDING STEAM BOILERS WITH WATER."
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Robert Francis Fairlic, of Victoria Chambers,
Westminster, in the County of Middlesex, Engineer, for the In-
vention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN INJECTORS FOR FEEDING STEAM BOILERS
WITH WATER."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Robert Francis Fairlie
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 18th August 1869.
I, ROBERT FRANCIS FAIRLIE, of Victoria Chambers, Westminster, in
the County of Middlesex, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN INJECTORS FOR FEEDING STEAM BOILERS
WITH WATER," to be as follows:-
Much time is wasted in using injectors of the ordinary kind in
consequence of the spindle which regulates the flow of steam requiring
to be screwed home each time the injector is shut off, which consequently
involves the raising of it again when the injector is required to work.
To arrive at the exact adjustment of the spindle for the purpose of

page_text: allowing for the passage of the proper quantity of steam to force the
water into the boiler requires great care and attention; although it at
times happens that this is guessed at correctly, yet in the great majority
of cases this is not so, and considerable time is frequently lost in tentative
efforts to get the steam to catch the water. In locomotive engines
this loss of time is important, as it frequently takes place at difficult
parts of the line where the attention of the driver is most required in
keeping good look out. Beyond the loss of time thus occasioned and
during its continuance there is also a considerable loss of steam and
water, for the reason that when the water is turned on for the 'purposes
of feeding the boiler it runs to waste, so likewise does the steam until
the injector begins to feed. Now the object of this Invention is to
obviate these objections, for which purpose I propose to fix the spindle
permanently in the proper position for working when the injector is first
fitted to the engine, so that it shall always be in the proper working
condition and really self-acting instead of, as at present constructed,
being subject to the caprice or fancy of the user thereof as to what this
position should be.
The improved injector is constructed in sections in order that those
parts where the greatest care is required in defining the exact distances
between one section and another may be moved or adjusted by a screw
to their exact positions and then permanently locked in their proper
adjusted places. Two valves or cocks only are employed requiring
attention when the injector is to be used instead of the usual number.
One of the two is for the admission of steam, the other for admitting the
water, and both are arranged so as to allow the proper quantity of steam
or water to pass through the injector. The steam and water admission
to the injector is effected by ordinary cocks or valves, the amount of
opening of which is regulated to suit different pressures of steam by a
handle working on an indicator plate suitably divided and marked with
the various pressures of steam likely to be employed, so that the amount
of opening will be in accordance with such pressure. By this mode of
construction also a considerable saving will be effected in the cost of
manufacture, since all the unnecessary gearing now required in its use
will be dispensed with, whilst its useful action will be secured imme-
diately the steam and water are turned on.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Robert Francis Fairlie in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 18th February 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ROBERT
FRANCIS FAIRLIE, of Victoria Chambers, Westminster, in the County of
Middlesex, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eighteenth day of August, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the thirty-third
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said Robert Francis Fairlie, Her special license that
I, the said Robert Francis Fairlie, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Robert Francis Fairlie Fairlie, my
executors, administrators, or 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
INJECTORS FOR FEEDING STEAM BOILERS WITH WATER," upon the condition.
(amongst others) that I, the said Robert Francis Fairlie, my executors
or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal,
should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Inven-
tion, 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 Robert Francis Fairlie, 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
Drawings, and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is. to say :-
My said Invention relates to the permanent adjustment of certain of
the parts of injectors, as it is found in practice that much time is wasted
in using injectors of the ordinary kind in consequence of the spindle
which regulates the flow of steam requiring to be screwed home each
time the injector is shut off, which consequently involves the raising of
it again when the injector is required to work. To arrive at the exact

page_text: adjustment of the spindle for the purpose of allowing for the passage of
the proper quantity of steam to force the water into the boiler requires
great care and attention; although it at times happens that this is
guessed at correctly, yet in the great majority of cases this is not so, and
considerable time is frequently lost in tentative efforts to get the steam
to catch the water. In locomotive engines this loss of time is important,
as it frequently takes place at different parts of the line where the
attention of the driver is most required in keeping a good look out.
Beyond the loss of time thus occasioned and during its continuance there
is also a considerable loss of steam and water, for the reason that when
the water is turned on for the purposes of feeding the boiler it runs to
waste, so likewise does the steam until the injector begins to feed. Now
the object of this Invention is to obviate these objections, for which
purpose I propose to fix the spindle permanently in the proper position
for working when the injector is first fitted to the engine, so that it shall
always be in the proper working condition and really self-acting, instead
of, as at present constructed, being subject to the caprice or fancy of the
user thereof as to what this position should be.
°
The improved injector is constructed in sections in order that those
parts where the greatest care is required in defining the exact distances
between one section and another may be moved or adjusted by a screw
to their exact positions and then permanently locked in their proper
adjusted places. Two valves or cocks only are employed requiring
attention when the injector is to be used. One of the two is for the
admission of steam, the other for admitting the water, and both are
arranged so as to allow the proper quantity of steam or water to pass
through the injector to these cocks to suit different pressures of steam
by a landle working on an indicator plate suitably divided and marked
with the various pressures of steam likely to be employed, so that the
amount of opening will be in accordance with such pressure. By this
mode of construction also a considerable saving will be effected in the
cost of manufacture, since all the unnecessary gearing now required in
its use will be dispensed with, whilst its useful action will be secured
immediately the steam and water are turned on.
And in order that my said Invention may be fully understood I shall
now proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose
I shall refer to the Drawing annexed, which represents a longitudinal
section of my improved injector, the regulating cocks for water and

page_text: steam and their indicator plates and handles being omitted, as their
construction is well understood by engineers.
The steam is conducted direct to the injector through the pipe A,
which is attached by a union nut or flange to the stud B at the top of
the apparatus, which also serves to secure the spindle C and the conical
pipe or nozzle D in their proper position. The proper permanent adjust-
ment of these parts is effected by putting in or taking out small washers
or collars, as shewn at E, E, by which means they may be raised or
lowered to suit the pressure of steam under which they are intended to
work. The water delivery and overflow pipes are constructed similar
to those of the ordinary injector. The outer barrel or case of the injector
is made in three sections, F, G, and H, cach of which is screwed into the
other, as shewn, for the facility of adjusting the more important parts of
the apparatus. I is the overflow pipe, and K is the pipe leading to the
boiler.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my
said Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used
or carried into effect, I would observe in conclusion that what I consider
to be novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured
to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,-
First. The construction and use of injectors with permanently adjusted
spindles, and with regulating steam and water cocks provided with
indicator plates or dials, as and for the purpose herein-before described
and illustrated by my Drawings.
Second. The construction and use of injectors made in sections with a
view to the permanent adjustment of the more important parts of the
apparatus, as herein-before described and illustrated by my Drawings.
"
In witness whereof, I, the said Robert Francis Fairlie, have to this
my Specification set my hand and seal, the Fourteenth day of
February One thousand eight hundred and seventy.
ROB. F. FAIRLIE. (L.S.)