IMPROVEMENTS IN MARINE STEAM ENGINES
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Biden, of Gosport, in the County of Hants,
Gentleman, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MARINE STEAM ENGINES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Biden at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 22nd March
1855.
I, JAMES BIDEN, of Gosport, in the County of Hants, Gentleman, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MARINE STEAM
ENGINES" to be as follows:-
My Invention consists in feeding the boilers with fresh water, obtained by
the condensation of steam after having been employed in the steam cylinders.
I lead a pipe or pipes from the cylinders into the water outside of the ship,
and cause the end of the pipe to open into a reservoir in the hold or other
convenient part of the ship. As the steam passes through this pipe or series
of pipes it becomes condensed, and fresh water produced by such condensation
will flow into the reservoir, from whence it may be pumped as required into
the boilers. I also lead a pipe from the steam chest to the condensing pipe or
pipes, so that when the engine is not at work any excess of steam may be
condensed, and conducted into the reservoir.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said James Biden in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 18th
September 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
BIDEN, of Gosport, in the County of Hants, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of March, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the eighteenth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said James Biden, Her special licence that I, the said James Biden,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
James Biden, 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
MARINE STEAM ENGINES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
James Biden, 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 Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
my
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said James Biden, do hereby declare the nature
of said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to
be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement
thereof, that is to say:-
My Invention consists in feeding the boilers of marine steam engines
with fresh water, obtained by the condensation of steam after having been
employed in the steam cylinders. The manner in which I carry my Inven
tion into effect is as follows:-I lead a pipe or pipes, or I form a passage
or passages leading from the cylinders into the water outside of the ship
at one side thereof; and after carrying the pipe or pipes, or the passag
or passages, round the stem or stern of the ship, I cause the end of the
pipe or pipes, or of the passage or passages, to enter at the other sid
thereof, and to open into a reservoir in the hold or other convenient part o
the ship. I form this reservoir with two compartments, one above the other
and make the pipe or pipes, or the passage or passages, communicate with th
lower one thereof. I keep the upper compartment filled with fresh water, an

page_text: make it communicate with the lower compartment, by means of a ball-cock or
float valve; and I provide a pipe or pipes to the lower compartment, so as to
make it communicate with the atmosphere, and thereby allow any uncondensed
steam to blow off. As the steam from the cylinders passes through the before-
mentioned pipes or series of pipes, or through the passage or passages, it
becomes condensed, and the fresh water produced by such condensation will
flow into the lower compartment of the reservoir, from whence it may be
pumped as required into the boilers. I also lead a pipe from the steam chest
to the condensing pipe or pipes, or to the condensing passage or passages, so
that when the engine is not at work, any excess of steam may be condensed
and conducted into the reservoir. When the water in the lower compartment
of the reservoir is reduced below its determined level, the ball-cock or float
valve will fall and open the communication with the upper compartment, so as
to allow water to flow from that into the lower compartment, and thus keep
the supply therein at its appropriate height. The condensation of the steam
may also be effected by allowing the sea water to enter into the ship, and to
flow through a suitable channel within the hull, through which channel the
pipe or pipes, or the passage or passages, for conducting the steam from the
cylinders is or are made to pass, so that the condensation of the steam may be
effected by the sea water flowing through the channel.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim as my
Invention is, the arrangements herein-before described for feeding the boilers
of marine steam engines with fresh water, obtained by the condensation of
steam after having been employed in the steam cylinders.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Biden, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Twelfth day of September, One thousand eight hundred
JAS BIDEN. (L.S.)