Improved Method and Devices for Connecting the Tubes of Tubulous. Boilers to the Steam and Water Chambers or Collectors.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 12th Apr., 1894-Accepted, 7th July, 1894
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improved Method and Devices for Connecting the Tubes of Tubulous.
Boilers to the Steam and Water Chambers or Collectors.
We, HENRY ALONZO HOUSE, Senior, and HENRY ALONZO HOUSE, Junior,.
both of The Columbine Ship Yard, East Cowes, Isle of Wight, Engineers, and
ROBERT RINTOUL SYMON, of 20 Abchurch Lane, in the City of London,.
Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of this 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 sheet of drawings.
and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say :—
In that kind of tubulous boiler in which a number of comparatively small water
tubes are connected at one end to a steam chamber or collector and at the other
end to a water chamber or collector, it has been customary to fix the ends of the-
said tubes in the steam and water chambers respectively, by drifting or expanding,.
so that when it becomes necessary to remove a tube it must be cut out which some-.
times renders the tube unfit to be used again, and the operation is an inconvenient
and sometimes a difficult one to perform. The object of our present invention is:
to provide improved means for connecting the tubes to the steam and water
chambers, or to either of them, whereby such tubes can be easily connected with or
disconnected from the steam or water chamber when required.
Figure 1 of the drawing hereto annexed is a transverse sectional elevation of the
steam and water chambers or collectors of a boiler of the kind above mentioned.
with water tubes of different shapes connected thereto by means of our improved.
devices, and Figure 2 is a longitudinal section to a larger scale of one of the said
connecting devices.
A is the steam chamber or collector, B B the two water chambers or collectors,.
and C water tubes of the usual kind connected at their upper ends to the steam
chamber A and at their lower ends to the water chambers B. It will be under-
stood that the right hand side of Figure 1 illustrates the application of the invention
to the tubes of one well known form of tubulous boiler, and the left hand side of
the same figure the application to the tubes of another well known form of such
boiler. Dare short lengths of tube or nipples screwed steam-tight into the shells
of the steam and water chambers. The outer ends of these nipples are of conical
shape as seen clearly at D' in Figure 2 and are screwed externally to receive the
union nut E. The ends of the water tubes C are flared out to a conical shape to
fit the conical ends of the nipples D, and the shoulder F of the union nut E is
correspondingly shaped so that when the nut E is screwed on to the end of the
nipple D the said shoulder presses the conically flared end of the pipe snugly
against the conical end of the nipple, making therewith a perfectly steam-tight
joint, metal to metal.
When it is required to remove one of the tubes C it is only necessary to unscrew
the union nut E and the tube C can then be easily taken off the conical ends of the
nipples D which nipples remain permanently fixed in the steam or water chambers
as the case may be. And when a fresh tube is to be fixed, it is only necessary to
place the flared ends of such tube on the conical ends of the nipples and to screw-on
the union nuts E.
The nipples D are preferably screwed into the shells of the steam and water
chambers as shown at Figure 2, but they may be fixed therein by drifting,.
expanding, or by any other suitable means.
The surface D' at the end of the nipple D may be truly conical, that is to say
generated by a straight line as shown in Figure 2, or it may be of a more or less

page_text: concave or convex conical form, that is to say a more or less conical form generated
by a concavely or convexly curved line; the end of the pipe C being of course
shaped to suit.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is :-
:-
First. The improved method of connecting the tubes of tubulous boilers to the
steam and water chambers which consists in flaring the ends of the said tubes to a
more or less conical shape, and securing such ends by means of a union nut to the
correspondingly conical end of a short tube or nipple secured in the steam or water
chamber, substantially as described.
Second. The improved device for connecting the tubes of tubulous boilers to the
steam and water chambers which consists of a short length of tube or a nipple D
having a more or less conical end, adapted to receive the correspondingly shaped
end of the tube, and a union nut E substantially as described with reference to
the accompanying drawings.
344
VHID
p
H. A. HOUSE, SENIOR,
H. A. HOUSE, JUNIOR,
R. R. SYMON,
Per W. H. Beck,
115, Cannon Street, London, Agent,