IMPROVEMENTS IN LOW WATER ALARM APPARATUS FOR STEAM GENERATORS
Year: 1884

page_text: I JOHN WILLIAM KENYON of the City of Manchester in the County of Lancaster,
Engineer do hereby declare the nature of the said invention for IMPROVEMENTS
IN LOW WATER ALARM APPARATUS FOR STEAM GENERATORS to be as follows:-
•
My Invention relates to apparatus intended to give warning in the event of the
water in a steam generator falling to a dangerous level. I connect a pipe with the
interior of the generator in such a manner as that the said pipe shall remain filled
with water during the proper working of the generator but shall become empty on
the water falling to a dangerous level as in the case of ordinary alarms. The
upper end of this pipe or a contracted mouth piece screwed thereon is closed by
means of a disc or mouth piece of an alloy which will be melted by the steam in
case of the pipe becoming empty. This valve piece is screwed firmly down by
means of a screw spindle which is formed at its inner end with a hollow perforated
collar and is or may be provided with a hand wheel and works in a gland. The
mounting in which the said spindle is fitted also carries a steam whistle which is
preferably enclosed within a perforated guard casing the said mounting being
secured to the end of the pipe by means of the screw coupling. The back or inner
side of the collar upon the spindle is turned and fitted to act as a valve to close
the opening leading to the whistle when the spindle is turned back. To check the
passage of the melted alloy to the whistle I may make the steam passage of a
syphon form. When the alloy has become melted the escape of steam can be
arrested by turning back the spindle whereby the steam passage is closed.

page_text: I JOHN WILLIAM KENYON of the City of Manchester in the County of Lancaster
Engineer do hereby declare the nature of the said invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
" and in what manner
the same is to be performed to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement and accompanying drawings:-
IN LOW-WATER ALARM APPARATUS FOR STEAM GENERATORS
My Invention relates to apparatus intended to give warning in the event of
the water in a steam generator falling to a dangerous level. I connect a pipe with
the interior of the generator in such a manner as that the said pipe shall remain
filled with water, during the proper working of the generator but shall become
empty on the water falling to a dangerous level as in the case of ordinary alarms.
The upper end of this pipe or a contracted mouth-piece screwed thereon is closed
by means of a disc or valve-piece made of an alloy which will be melted by the.
steam in case of the pipe becoming empty. This valve piece is held firmly down
by means of a screw spindle which is formed at its inner end with a hollow
perforated collar and is or may be provided with a hand wheel and works in a
gland. The mounting in which the said spindle is fitted also carries a steam
whistle which is preferably enclosed within a perforated guard casing. the said
mounting being secured to the end of the pipe by means of a screw coupling. The
back or inner side of the collar upon the spindle is turned and fitted to act as a
valve to close the opening leading to the whistle when the spindle is turned back.
In the accompanying drawing the manner in which I carry my invention into
practical effect is fully shown. In the said drawing a is the pipe on which the
alarm apparatus is mounted b. is the valve piece c. is the screw spindle and d is
the guard which encloses an ordinary steam whistle. The pipe a extends down-
ward into the water or is in communication with the water in the generator so
that under ordinary conditions the said pipe will remain full of water. An
ornamental stand might carry the apparatus in some cases. A pet cock e is
provided to enable air to be discharged from the upper end of the pipe without
having to unlock the spindle c. The said pipe carries a mounting f. in which is
formed a chamber f¹ which communicates by means of a passage g. with the pipe a.
The said passage is closed by means of the disc or valve b. made of fusible alloy.
A removable screw cap h. closes an opening provided for the ready introduction of
this disc into position The disc is forced down upon its seating by means of the
screw spindle which can then be locked by means of the padlock i. In the lower
end of the said spindle is a recess c¹ and in the shell of this recess perforations to
permit of the passage of steam are formed. A chamber f* is formed in the upper
part of the mounting and this chamber communicates by means of a branch pipe k.
with the steam whistle. Between this chamber and the lower chamber f¹ is
formed a valve seating and a shoulder c³ upon the spindle is turned and finished
to fit the said seating. The action of the apparatus is as follows. So long as the
pipe a. remains filled with water the disc or valve piece prevents the escape of the
water and as a consequence the access of steam to the disc, but on the water level
falling to such an extent as to cause the emptying of the pipe a. the steam reaches
the disc b. and melts the same and thereby obtains for itself access to the whistle
and sounds an alarm. The alarm having answered its intended purpose the
continued sounding of the whistle can be stopped by screwing back the spindle c.
so as to shut off the communication with the chamber. A channel to receive

page_text: the melted alloy is formed in the lower part of the chamber f¹ and to still further
check the passage of alloy to the whistle I may make the branch k, of a syphon
form.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what
I claim is:
1. The low water alarm apparatus constructed and acting substantially as set
forth and indicated hereinbefore and in and by the accompanying drawing.
2 The screw spindle c. which when screwed in one direction presses a fusible
alloy disc valve or stopper upon its seating and when screwed in the other
direction closes the communication with a steam whistle substantially as and for
the purpose set forth and indicated.
EDWARD K. DUTTON,
41, John Dalton Street, Manchester,
⚫ Agent.