IM- DRAVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF STEAM BOILERS
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alexander William Williamson, of University College,
Gower Street, in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "IM-
DRAVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF STEAM BOILERS."
Sealed the 2nd May 1862, and dated the 7th November 1861.
Williamson at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 7th November 1861.
I, ALEXANDER WILLIAM WILLIAMSON, of University College, Gower Street,
in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inven-.
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF STEAM BOILERS," to be as
follows:-
I construct boilers of a number of metal tubes closed at one end, and the
open end somewhat contracted like bottles; some of these are placed in a
slanting position with their open ends downwards, and are screwed by their
open ends into main horizontal pipes serving to connect these bottles together
in rows at convenient distances from each other. The main horizontal pipes
are closed at one end, and are screwed by their open end into large side pipes
closed at both ends, so as to project from the latter in parallel rows. The large
side pipes also have a number of similar bottles screwed into them in a vertical
position in close contiguity, so as to form the sides of the boiler; these bottles
being fixed, some with their openings upwards, and others with them down-
wards; those which have their openings upwards are provided with a partition
in the neck, so as to divide the current of steam and water coming out from
the current of water going into the bottle. From this arrangement it
will be seen that intercommunications existing between the bottles, main

page_text: borizontal pipes, and large side pipes, all the steam which is generated in the
bottles fixed with their openings upwards, as also that generated in the main
horizontal pipes and large side pipes, will find its way into the upper part of
those bottles, which are fixed with their openings downwards, and that conse-
quently the upper part of each of these bottles will constitute a steam chamber
of the boiler. In order to conduct the steam hence to the steam engine, or
wherever it.is required, a small steam pipe passes up inside each of the last
named bottles, which small steam pipes are screwed at their lower ends into
large horizontal steam pipes closed at one end, and placed inside the main
horizontal pipes. These horizontal steam pipes are again screwed by their
open ends into still larger steam pipes, which are placed in the before-men-
tioned large side pipes, and pass out at the ends of the same to wherever
required. Some of the horizontal main pipes are omitted at one end of the
boiler, so as to form an opening for the passage of the flame from the fire-grate,
which is situated at the other end of the boiler below the aforesaid horizontal
main pipes. One of the main horizontal pipes is left at the extreme end,
away from the fire-grate of the large side pipes, having a close row of bottles
attached above and below it with. their mouths both upwards and downwards,
so as to form the back of the boiler.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Alexander William Williamson in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 6th May 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALEXANDER
WILLIAM WILLIAMSON, of University College, Gower Street,, in the County of
Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventh day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fifth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant 'unto me, the
said Alexander William Williamson, Her special licence that I, the said
Alexander William Williamson, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said Alexander William Williamson, my executors, ad-
ministrators, 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,

page_text: an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF STEAM BOILERS," upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Alexander William Williamson,
my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my,
or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascer-
tain 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 Alexander William Williamson, 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 fol-
lowing statement thereof, reference being had to the accompanying Drawing
and to the figures and letters marked thereon, that is to say:-
These improvements consist in constructing steam boilers entirely of tubes
or tubular vessels, arranged in such a manner that each tube has perfect
freedom to expand and contract by being attached only at one end to and com-
municating with a tube or tubular vessel, serving to connect a number of such
tubes together, the other ends of such tubes being closed, and simply steadied
or held in position by suitable contrivances. These tubes are placed either in
a slanting or in a vertical position, with the closed ends either upwards or
downwards, whilst the connecting tubes or tubular vessels to which they are
attached are placed in a horizontal or nearly horizontal position. Those tubes
that are fixed with their closed ends upwards are filled only partially with
water, the upper ends serving as steam chambers, whence the steam is
conducted through pipes fixed inside the tubes into other pipes or equivalent
passages, fixed or formed inside the connecting tubes, whence the steam is
conducted in the usual way to wherever it may be required. By this arrange-
ment, not only is each tube or element of the boiler capable of expanding and
contracting, without in any way straining the connections, but also any defec-
tive tube or tubes can be readily removed and replaced by another or by
others,, without in any way interfering with the other connections.
The above-described principle of construction admits of being practically
carried out in various ways. Figures 1, 2, and 3, on the accompanying
Drawing shew one arrangement. Figure 1, shews a transverse section;
Figure 2, shews a longitudinal section; and Figure 3, shews a sectional plan
on line x, x. Similar letters of reference indicate similar parts in each of the
Figures. In this arrangement a number of vertical or slightly slanting tubes
A, A, A, closed at their upper ends and open at their lower ends, are ranged
at small distances apart in rows across the fire-grate F. The lower open ends

page_text: of these tubes are somewhat contracted as shewn, and are screwed into
branches formed on the transverse connecting tubes B, B, B', B'. These
transverse connecting tubes are also closed at one end, the open ends of those
B, B, being screwed into branches on the main side connecting tube C, whilst
the open ends of B', B', are screwed into branches on the main side connecting
tube C¹. The tubes B, B, and B¹, B', are so arranged that those B, B, just
fit into the spaces between the tubes B', B', and vice versa, thus forming a
close roof of connecting tubes over the fire-grate F. An opening is formed at
D in this roof by the omission of some of these tubes, through which space
the flames or hot gases from the fire-grate pass up amongst the tubes A, and
traversing through the small spaces between them on their way to the uptake
E, impart to the tubes the greater portion of their heat. One tube B, is fixed
at the extreme end of C, having a close vertical row of tubes A¹, similar to
'those A, screwed into branches at top, and another close row of tubes A³, with
their open ends upwards screwed into similar branches at bottom, thus
forming a close wall of tubes preventing the flames from passing through.
Similar walls of vertical tubes A1 and A2, are formed on either side of the
boiler, these tubes being fixed to branches formed on the top and under side
of the main connecting tubes C, C¹. These latter are closed at both ends, and
receive the feed water through pipes fixed in any convenient position. A close
row of vertical tubes A', is also formed at the front end of the boiler over the
last transverse connecting tube B. Those tubes A³ having their open ends
upwards may be provided with a partition in the contracted open ends, so as
to facilitate the escape of the steam and the entrance of the water.
By the before described arrangement it will be readily understood that all
the steam that is generated in the various tubes A, A', A, B, B, C, C¹, will
find its way into the upper closed ends of the tubes A and A', which are only
partly full of water, and the upper ends of which constitute so many steam
chambers to the boiler. In order to conduct the steam hence to wherever it
is required, small internal steam pipes a, a, are introduced into each of the
tubes A, A', and pass up to nearly the top of the same, where they are open
and communicate with the steam chambers. At the bottom these steam pipes
are connected to branches formed on other steam pipes b, 61, placed inside the
connecting pipes B, B', and these are closed at one end, and are again con-
nected by their open ends to the main steam pipes c, c', fixed inside the main s
connecting tubes C, C', and which pass out at the ends of the latter, conducting
the steam to wherever it may be required. The steam pipes a¹ from the ver-
tical side tubes A¹ are also connected to branches on the main steam pipe c, c¹.
The closed unconnected ends of all the tubes A, A', B, B', are supported and

page_text: steadied by means of stays or brackets, as shewn, or in any convenient manner
that will not prevent their expanding and contracting freely under the
influence of heat, and the main side connecting tubes C, C', are held together
in the position indicated by means of stays H and straps I, and are supported
by saddles J, fixed to the foundation. The whole arrangement is surrounded
by a suitable casing G.
Figure 4 shews a transverse section of a modification of the above described
arrangement, the principal difference being that the tubes A³, shewn in
Figures 1, 2, and 3, with their open ends upwards, are here dispensed with,
and that the main side connecting tubes C, C¹, instead of being formed of
wrought iron with a separate internal steam pipe, are in this case formed of cast
iron of a rectangular transverse section, having partitions c, c', dividing the tubes
into
passages, ,d, d, for the water and passages, e, e, for the steam. These tubes
are shielded from the heat of the fire by the fire-brick sides L, L, to the fur-
nace F. The vertical tubes A, A, and connecting tubes B, B¹, with their
steam pipes a and b, b, are arranged and connected in a similar manner to
those described with reference to Figures 1, 2, and 3, but the steam pipes b, b¹,
are screwed or otherwise connected to the partitions c, c', of the tubes C, C',
thus forming a communication with the steam passages e, e¹. The vertical side
tubes A' are in this case formed with an internal flange, as shewn, and are
bolted down to the side tubes C, C¹, by means of bolts h, h¹, over openings f,f',
communicating with the water passages d, d, whilst the steam pipes a¹ are
screwed or otherwise fixed into other apertures 9, 9', in the tubes C, C', com-
municating with the steam passages e, e¹.
The other arrangements are similar to those described with reference to
Figures 1, 2, and 3, and require no further description.
The arrangement of my improved boiler which I prefer to adopt, is shewn
in Figures 5, 6, and 7. Figure 5 shews a transverse section; Figure 6 shews
a sectional plan on line x, x; and Figure 7 shews a part longitudinal section
on line y, y, and part side elevation with the casing removed. In this arrange-
ment the before described transverse connecting tubes are dispensed with,
and the tubes or steam generators A, A, A, A¹, A', A¹, are all attached in
parallel rows respectively to the cast iron side connecting tubes or tubular
vessels C, C, C, C', C', C, placed close together on either side of the furnace
F; the tubes A, A¹, are arranged in such positions as to lean over the furnace
from either side, so as to meet at the top in the centre. Each of the con-
necting tubes or tubular vessels C, C, C, C,C,C, is divided by a partition 9, 9',
into two others c, d, c, d, of which the upper ones c, c, c, cl, c³, c¹, are the water.
passages, whilst the lower ones d, d, d, d' d', di, constitute the steam passages.

page_text: In this arrangement three of these connecting tubes C, C¹, with three rows of
steam generating tube A, A', are shewn on each side of the furnace, but a
greater or smaller number may be employed, according to the power required.
The steam generating tubes A, A¹, are, as in the former arrangements, closed
at the top and open at the bottom, where they are fixed either by bolting or in
any other suitable manner, in rows over openings e, e', in the tubular vessels
C, C', and communicate thus with the water passages c, c¹, of the same.
The steam tubes a, a, a, pass up, as before described, to the closed ends or
steam chambers of the tubes A, A¹, where they are open, whilst the lower
ends pass through the openings e, e¹, and are fixed either by ferrules or in any
other suitable manner into the openings f,f, in the partition 9, 9, of the
tubular vessels c, c¹, being thus made to communicate with the steam pas-
sages d, d¹, and to conduct the steam from the tubes A, A¹, into the passages
a, d¹, whence it is taken to wherever required by means of pipes H, H. The
water passages c, c, c, c², c¹, c³, are made to communicate with each other at
the ends through pipes h, h¹, and are provided with feed pipes i, i¹. The steam
generators A, A, are, by preference, so arranged that between each two tubes in
the longitudinal rows there exist small spaces k, k, whilst the tubes situated one
behind the other in a transverse direction are in more or less close contiguity.
The tubular vessels C, C', are shielded from the effects of the heat from the
furnace F, F, by means of the fire-brick sides L, L; they are carried by means
of brackets I, I, and are tied together by suitable straps J, J. The furnace is
here shewn, consisting of four separate fire grates f,f,f,f, the flames from which
are directed over to either side among the tubes A, A, by means of fire-brick
arches K, K. The flames or hot gases pass up in the interstices between the
tubes A, A, and after imparting to them the greater portion of their heat
éventually escape into the uptake U.
The manner in which I prefer to fix the tubes A, A', and steam pipes a, a,
to the tubular vessels C, C', is shewn more clearly in an enlarged part trans-
verse section in Figure 8. The tubes A are formed with an internal flange l,
into which are screwed four bolts m, m, m, m; the bottom of the flange l is pro-
vided with a conical projecting ring, which fits on to the planed surface of
the casting C. The bolts m pass through holes formed in the casting, being
surrounded by the metal of the same, and also through the cover p, which has
a coned meeting surface, and serves to close the opening o; and the nuts m,
screwed upon the ends of the bolts m, serve both to draw the tube A closely
to its seat as also to fix the cover p. The steam pipe a is fixed into the par-
tition g by means of a ferrule, this operation being readily effected through
the bottom opening o.

page_text: By this arrangement it will be seen that should at any time, either the
tube A or steam pipe a become defective it can be easily removed and replaced
by unscrewing the nuts m' of the bolts m. In some cases, instead of making
each of the tubes C, C, C, C¹, C, C¹, a separate casting, I form each set on
either side of the furnace into a single casting, as shewn in transverse section
at Figure 9, which is otherwise precisely the same arrangement as that
described with reference to Figures 5, 6, and 7.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the best methods
that I am acquainted with of performing the same, I wish it to be understood
that I do not claim the various details of connections of the separate parts.
as herein-before set forth, nor do I limit myself to them only, nor to the
precise arrangements, forms, or proportions of the tubes, as shewn on the
accompanying Drawing, as they may be variously modified without departing
fron the nature of my Invention; but what I claim is, the construction of
steam boilers consisting of tubes placed in a vertical or slanting position, the
upper ends of which tubes have no rigid connections and are closed and con-
stitute the steam chambers of the boiler, whilst the lower ends are open, and
are fixed to and communicate with connecting tubes. or tubular vessels; the
steam from the aforesaid steam chambers being conducted thence through
pipes fixed inside the same, and through other pipes or equivalent passages
fixed or formed inside the aforesaid connecting tubes or tubular vessels,
substantially as herein-before described with reference to the accompanying
Drawing.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alexander William Williamson, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Fifth day of May, in the year of
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.
ALEX³. W. WILLIAMSON. (L.S.)