AN IMPROVED METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR MAINTAINING THE WATER LEVEL IN BOILERS
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Richard Archibald Brooman, of 166, Fleet Street,
in the City of London, E. C., Patent Agent, for the Invention of
"AN IMPROVED METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR MAINTAINING THE WATER
LEVEL IN BOILERS." A communication.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Richard Archibald
Brooman at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 7th March 1857.
I, RICHARD ARCHIBALD BROOMAN, of 166, Fleet Street, in the City of
London, E. C., Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "AN IMPROVED METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR MAINTAINING THE
WATER LEVEL IN BOILERS," (communicated to me by a foreigner residing
abroad,) to be as follows:
This Invention consists in connecting to boilers a tube or vessel fixed outside
of the boiler, on a level with the water level required in the boiler, which
tube or vessel, as long as the water in the boiler does not sink below the
regular level, remains filled with water, but on the water sinking, then it
becomes full of steam, and expanding under the increase in temperature opens
communication with a liquid supply, from whence water rushes into the boiler

page_text: until the regular level has been obtained, when the tube or vessel becoming
also full of water contracts and shuts off further supply; at the same time that
the water communication is opened up the expansion of the tube where
desired opens a valve or cock and admits steam to sound a whistle.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Richard Archibald Brooman in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 7th September 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, RICHARD
ARCHIBALD BROOMAN, of 166, Fleet Street, in the City of London, E. C.,
Patent Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventh day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twentieth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Richard Archibald Brooman, Her special licence that I, the said
Richard Archibald Brooman, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said Richard Archibald Brooman, my executors, admi-
nistrators, 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 "AN IMPROVED METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR MAINTAINING
THE WATER LEVEL IN BOILERS," (a communication from a foreigner residing
abroad,) upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Richard
Archibald Brooman, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should par-
ticularly 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Richard Archibald Brooman, 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
following statement thereof, reference being had to the Drawings liereunto
annexed, that is to say:-
This Invention consists in connecting to boilers a tube or vessel, fixed

page_text: outside of the boiler on a level with the water level required in the boiler,
which tube or vessel, as long as the water in the boiler does not sink below
the regular level, remains filled with water, but on the water sinking, then it
becomes full of steam, and expanding under the increase in temperature opens
communication with a liquid supply, from whence water rushes into the
boiler until the regular level has been obtained, when the tube or vessel
becoming also full of water contracts and shuts off further supply. At the
same time that the water communication is opened up the expansion of
the tube where desired opens a valve or cock and admits steam to sound a
whistle.
The Drawing hereunto annexed shews, in section, a steam boiler with this
apparatus applied partly in section. A is the steam boiler; B is metallic
tube, closed at both ends and held fast at the extremity a by the frame F, but
in such a manner as to be at perfect liberty to move by its expansion or
contraction. Into the fixed end a of the tube B a small pipe n is inserted,
which is connected with the water in the steam boiler A, and the other and
loose end d of the tube B is connected through the tube m with the steam in
the boiler A. C is a small valve chest supported by the frame F, and con-
nected through the pipe v with the steam in the boiler A. This valve
chamber contains a small valve o, which is connected through the lever f with
the end of the metallic tube B. The valve o in the chamber C is so arranged
that the pressure of the steam in the boiler will keep the valve closed while
the expansion of the metallic tube B acting upon the lever f will open it.
This metallic tube B is placed near the boiler, and in such a position that it
will be in a line with the water line in the boiler. The connection between
the tube B and the valve o is by means of a screw, so regulated that the valve
At the same
will always be kept closed as the tube B is filled with water.
time that the water falls in the boiler it also leaves the tube B, which becomes
filled with steam from the pipe m, the difference of temperature thereby
produced will cause the tube B to expand, and as this tube is held perfectly
fast at the enda by the frame F, all the expansion will take place towards the
other end, thereby producing a motion on the lever f sufficient to open the
valve o, so as to allow steam to escape through this valve. Near the valve o
a steam whistle D is attached, which is connected to the steam chamber E,
and by this means an alarm will be given as soon as the valve o is operated on
by the expansion of the metallic tube B, or as soon as the water in the; boiler
falls below its proper level. E is a spherical vessel, formed of two half spheres
bolted together, with an india-rubber diaphragm. between them. This

page_text: diaphragm is connected through a rod with a lever G; the lower part of this
spherical vessel E is connected to the steam chamber C, so that as soon as the
steam is allowed to pass through the valve o, or as soon as the water in the
boiler falls below its proper level, the full pressure of the steam in the boiler
will come against the whole surface of the diaphragm, thereby producing any
required power upon the lever G, according to the size of the vessel E, and
by the motion communicated to this lever G any operation can be performed
to feed the boiler with water as soon as it falls below the proper level, as will
be fully hereafter explained; or a cord can be attached to the lever G to
sound an alarm in any part of the building. This lever G is connected with
a cock in the pipe h, which leads from the water tank W to the bottom of
the boiler A, and, this lever G is likewise connected with a cock y in the
pipe k, which leads from the steam room in the boiler A to the top of the
water tank W. This water tank W is likewise provided with a spherical
vessel V, and similar in construction to the vessel E, before described; this
vessel E acts upon a lever Q, which operates a cock æ in the pipe p, and from
this pipe water is supplied to the tank W, and from thence to the boiler. As
soon as the india-rubber diaphragm in the vessel E is acted upon, in con-
sequence of the water falling in the steam boiler, as was before described,
the lever G will open the cock in the pipe h, as well as the cock y in the
steam pipe k, by which pipe steam from the boiler will ascend and enter the
water tank W, in consequence of which the water contained therein will enter
the steam boiler by its own gravity, until by the reverse action of the
diaphragm, assisted by weights or springs, the cocks will again be closed. The
outward strain in the water tank W will then be eased by the atmosphere
surrounding the tank cooling it, whereby a partial vacuum will be produced in
the tank, when the atmosphere will press upon the india-rubber diaphragm
in the spherical vessel v on the top of the water tank, so as to open the cock a
in the supply pipe p, thereby again filling the tank ready for feeding the boiler
the next time. If the position of the tank W be not too high, the supply
pipe p may be led directly into the well, whereby a self-acting pump will be
obtained, for the vacuum produced in the manner before described will be found
'sufficient to draw up the water from the well.
Instead of the arrangement of spherical vessels before described, cylinders
with pistons may be substituted, the pistons being put in communication with
the levers.
And having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim,

page_text: the method of and apparatus for maintaining the water level in boilers,
substantially as herein-before described and represented in the Drawings
annexed.
In witness whereof I, the said Richard Archibald Brooman, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Seventh day of September, One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven:
R. A. BROOMAN. (L.S.)