An Improvement or Improvements in Connecting the Tubes of Root and other Tubulous Steam Boilers and in Connecting Tubes or Pipes for other Purposes.
Year: 1888

page_text: An Improvement or Improvements in Connecting the Tubes of Root
and other Tubulous Steam Boilers and in Connecting Tubes or
Pipes for other Purposes.
We SARGENT HICKMAN SMITH of No. 44 Chapman Road Small Heath Birmingham
in the County of Warwick Pattern Maker and HOWARD LANE of Nos. 11 and
116 Palmerston Buildings Old Broad Street in the City of London Mechanical
Engineer do hereby declare the nature of this Invention to be as follows:-
In Root and other tubulous steam boilers the tubes of the said steam boilers or
the tubes and caps or hollow bends which effect a junction between the tubes are
connected by metallic ring like connecting pieces by which a water and steam tight
junction is effected and a slight play in the tubes permitted without injuriously affecting
the junction.
Our invention consists of the following improvement or improvements in connecting
the said tubes or pipes and caps or bends. In making one of the said connecting
pieces according to our invention we take a short piece of tubing preferably of steel
and of somewhat greater internal diameter than the diameter of the tubes or tube
and cap or bend to be joined. We subject the said short piece of tubing to pressure
in dies or tools worked by a press so as to contract the ends of the tube and thereby
give the said short tube a bulbous figure. We make the ends of the connecting piece
of the figure of a hollow sphere of such radius that they fit closely upon the spherical
heads of the boxes with which the ends of the tubes or tubes and caps or bends
terminate. The short tubular connecting piece described is placed between the boxes
of the tubes or tubes and caps or bends to be connected and when the parts are pressed
together in making up the boiler the concave faces of the ends of the connecting piece
fit closely upon the convex faces of the boxes and a steam and water tight connection
is effected although the tubes or tubes and ends of the caps or bends may not be in
line.
Although we prefer to make the connecting pieces of a bulbous figure as described
yet they may be made of a cylindrical figure with the same effect.
And although

page_text: we prefer to make the said connecting pieces from tubing as described yet they may
be made by casting. In this case the connecting piece may be cast with the concave
spherical ends and when we make the connecting piece by the process called chill
casting that is casting in metal moulds the concave spherical ends of the connecting
piece are sufficiently accurate in figure to form a good junction without finishing the
surface of the said spherical ends by turning. Where however great accuracy is
required in the junction we turn the ends of the connecting piece.
Instead of making the ends of the connecting piece spherical as described they may
be made conical as ends of this shape form a steam and water tight connection when
they are pressed upon the spherical ends of the boxes of the tubes or tubes and caps
or bends.
As the pressure of the connecting piece is on the outside of the spherical
surfaces of the boxes of the tubes or tubes and caps or bends there is no tendency
to burst the said boxes an accident which sometimes occurs when the connecting
piece is pressed in the interior of the said boxes.
The application of our invention to the connecting of tubes or pipes for various
purposes other than for steam boilers differs in no essential respect from its application
to steam boilers as herein before described.
Dated this 10th day of August 1888
W. T. WHITEMAN,
Agent for the Applicant.

page_text: We SARGENT HICKMAN SMITH of No. 44 Chapman Road, Small Heath, Birmingham
in the County of Warwick Pattern Maker and HOWARD LANE of Nos. 115 and
116 Palmerston Buildings, Old Broad Street, in the City of London Mechanical
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of our invention and in what manner the
same is to be performed to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement :-
In Root and other tubulous steam boilers the tubes of the said steam boilers or
the tubes and caps or hollow bends which effect a junction between the tubes are
connected by metallic ring like connecting pieces by which a water and steam tight
junction is effected and a slight play in the tubes permitted without injuriously
affecting the junction.
Our invention consists of the following improvement or improvements in connecting
the said tubes or pipes and caps or bends. In making one of the said connecting
pieces according to our invention we take a short piece of tubing preferably of
steel and of somewhat greater internal diameter than the diameter of the tubes or
tube and cap or bend to be joined. We subject the said short piece of tubing to
pressure in dies or tools worked by a press so as to contract the ends of the tube
and thereby give the said short tube a bulbous figure. We make the ends of the
connecting piece of the figure of a hollow sphere of such radius that they fit
closely upon the spherical heads of the boxes with which the ends of the tubes or
tubes and caps or bends terminate. The short tubular connecting piece described
is placed between the boxes of the tubes or tubes and caps or bends to be connected
and when the parts are pressed together in making up the boiler the concave faces
of the ends of the connecting piece fit closely upon the convex faces of the boxes
and a steam and water tight connection is effected although the tubes or tubes and
ends of the caps or bends may not be in a line.
Although we prefer to make the connecting pieces of a bulbous figure as described
yet they may be made of a cylindrical figure with the same effect.
The application of our invention to the connecting of tubes or pipes for various
purposes other than for steam boilers differs in no essential respect from its application
to steam boilers as herein before described.
We will now proceed to describe with reference to the accompanying Drawings
the manner in which our invention is to be performed.

page_text: Figures 1 and 2 represent in vertical section and Figure 3 in plan, a connection
for a Root or other tubulous steam boiler constructed according to our invention.
The section Figure 1 is taken on the line a, a Figure 3 and the section Figure 2 is
taken on the line b b Figure 3. In the Drawing, the tube box or head of the
connection is vertical and the tube inclined but our invention may be applied to
tubulous boilers in which the boxes or heads are inclined and the tubes vertical.
The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in Figures 1, 2 and 3:
care the boxes or heads into which the boiler tubes d, d open and e is the
hollow cap or bend for effecting a connection between the two tube boxes c and e³,
the said cap or bend e being bolted to the said tube boxes by screw bolts passed
through the snugs at f, f on the said cap or bend and boxes. The cap or bend at the
left hand side of the box Figures 1 and 3 is omitted for the purpose of better
exhibiting the convex face on which one end of the connecting piece seats itself for
forming the connection.
The connecting piece between the box and cap or bend is marked g in the Drawing.
It consists of a short piece of steel tubing the ends of which are contracted so as to
give the said tubing a bulbous figure the contracted ends of the connecting piece
having a spherical figure; h, h are the spherical heads on the tube boxes c c² and ii
are the spherical heads terminating the cap or bend e. Upon the spherical heads h, h
on the boxes c c² and the spherical heads i, i on the cap or bende the hollow spherica!
ends of the connecting piece 9 bear as represented in the Drawing to form the
connection between the tube boxes and cap or bend.
In making up a tubulous boiler short tubular connecting pieces of the kind marked g
are placed between the tube boxes and bends or caps and when the parts are pressed
together by screw bolts passed through the snugs at ff, the concave ends of the
connecting pieces g fit closely upon the convex faces of the boxes and bends or caps
and a steam and water tight connection is produced.
Although we prefer to use a tubular connecting piece with hollow spherical ends
having a bulbous figure whereby increased strength is obtained yet a cylindrical
connecting piece or ring having hollow spherical ends may be used in place of the
bulbous connecting piece represented; and although we prefer to make the said
connecting pieces from tubing as described yet they may be made by casting. In
this case the connecting piece may be cast with the concave spherical ends and when
we make the connecting piece by the process called chill casting; that is, casting in
metal moulds, the concave spherical ends of the connecting piece are sufficiently
accurate in figure to form a good junction without finishing the surface of the said
spherical ends by turning. Where however great accuracy is required in the junction
we turn the ends of the connecting piece.
Instead of making the ends of the connecting piece spherical as described and
represented they may be made conical as the ends of this shape form a steam and
water tight connection when they are pressed upon the spherical ends of the boxes
of the tubes or tubes and caps or bends. As the pressure of the connecting piece g
is on the outside of the spherical surfaces of the boxes of the tubes or tubes and
caps or bends there is no tendency to burst the said boxes, an accident which
sometimes occurs when the connecting piece is pressed in the interior of the said
boxes.
Figures 4, 5 and 6 represent sections of portions of steam pipes the ends of
which are connected together according to our invention. In the said Figures 4, 5
and 6 g, 9 are the bulbous (or cylindrical) connecting pieces having hollow spherical
(or conical) ends and k, k are the spherical ends of the pipes on which spherical ends
the concave faces of the ends of the connecting pieces 9 seat themselves tightly when
the ends of the pipes are pressed together by the screw bolts at 1, 1. In Figure 4 the
two pipes are represented connected together in the same line; in Figure 5 the two
pipes are represented connected together at an angle and in Figure 6 the two pipes
are represented connected together out of line.
Connections constructed according to our invention are of great durability.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our inven-
tion and the manner in which the same is to be performed we declare that we
claim as our invention of "An improvement or inprovements in connecting the
tubes of Root and other tubulous steam boilers and in connecting tubes or pipes for
other purposes":—
Connecting together the tubes of Root and other tubulous steam boilers by means
of short tubular external connecting pieces preferably bulbous having hollow or
concave spherical or conical ends in combination with spherical beads on the tube
boxes and on the ends of the tubular caps or bends substantially as hereinbefore
described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings; also connecting the ends
of pipes or tubes together for various purposes by means of the said external tubular
connecting pieces and spherical heads on the ends of the pipes or tubes substantially
as herein before described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings.
Dated th
L 1
1 1000
SARGENT HICKMAN SMITH.
HOWARD LANE.