Year: 1898

page_text: I, HENRY FROEHLICH, of School Street, Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands, Engineer,
do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
The invention relates to water gauges or indicators for marine or other boilers
and it has for its object to provide a safety device arranged to immediately close
the gauge on the breaking of the glass to prevent the escape of steam and water
from the boiler.
The invention consists principally of a valve normally resting on the gauge
glass and adapted to be seated on a valve sent through which passes the glass
whenever the glass breaks and is forced out of the said seat.
The invention also consists of certain parts and details and combinations of the
same as will be fully described hereinafter.
The water gauge is provided with the usual heads secured to the boiler in the
ordinary manner and the outer ends of the heads are connected with each other by
a water glass. On the opposite faces of the heads are secured safety devices which
take the place of the usual packing nuts and through which extend the upper
and lower ends of the glass.
The safety devices are alike in construction and each is provided with a casing
screwed with one end to the corresponding head and acting as a packing nut. In
the open end of each casing screws a cover formed with a central valve seat for
the passage of the corresponding end of the water glass and for the reception of
a valve hung on a pivot supported on the inner face of the cover the said valve
normally resting against the side of the water glass. A spring presses on the
valve so that when the glass breaks and the end thereof is forced by the steam or
water pressure out of the corresponding head and the corresponding safety
device, the valve is caused to close on its seat by the action of the said spring and
by the pressure of the steam and water entering the casing and exerting pressure
on the said valve for the purpose mentioned. The valve has a bevelled edge
and the surface of the valve is concaved so that the steam or water has ready
access to the said bevelled edge and top surface, to force the valve into a closed
position as soon as its normal support, that is the glass is removed from the
safety device. The casing is made sufficiently large to allow of hinging the valve
in such a manner that the said valve stands in an inclined position, that is
towards the seat, to ensure an instant closing of the valve either by the spring
only or by the pressure of the water and steam as soon as the glass has passed out
of the casing. It is evident that when this takes place the casing is completely
closed and consequently steam or water cannot pass from the boiler through the
heads to the outside.
It is to be understood that in the upper safety device the valve swings down-
wardly to its seat while in the lower safety device the valve swings upward upon

page_text: its seat as soon as the ends of the water glass have passed out of the safety device.
The device can be readily applied to the ordinary water gauges now in use.
Dated this 22nd day of February 1898.
A. M. & WM. CLARK,
Chartered Patent Agents, 53, Chancery Lane, London.
Improvements in Safety Devices for Water Gauges.
I, HENRY FROEHLICH, of School Street, Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands, Engineer,
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:-
The invention relates to water gauges or indicators for marine or other boilers;
and its object is to provide a new and improved safety device arranged to
immediately close the gauge on the breaking of the glass to prevent the undesir-
able escape of steam and water from the boiler.
The invention consists principally of a valve normally resting on the glass and
adapted to be seated on a valve-seat through which passes the glass whenever
the glass breaks and is forced out of the said seat.
The invention also consists of certain parts and details and combinations of the
same, as will be fully described hereinafter and then pointed out in the claims.
Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this
specification, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding
parts in all the figures.
Figure 1 is a side elevation of the improvement as applied, with part of the
boiler in section. Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional side elevation of the improve-
ment with the glass in position and the valve open. Fig. 3 is a plan view of
the same. Fig. 4 is a sectional side elevation of the improvement with the glass
removed and the valve seated, and Fig. 5 is a sectional plan view of the same on
the line 55 of Fig. 4.
The water-gauge is provided with the usual heads A A¹, secured to the
boiler B in the ordinary manner, and the outer ends of the heads are connected
with each other by a water-glass C. On the opposite faces of the heads A A
are secured safety devices 1 D), which take the place of the usual packing-nuts
and through which extend the upper and lower ends of the glass C, as is plainly
indicated in Figs. 1 and 2.
The safety devices D D¹ are alike in construction and each is provided with a
casing D2, screwed with one end to the corresponding head A or A' and 'acting
as a packing-nut. In the open end of each casing D2 screws a
cover D³, formed with a central valve-seat 14 for the passage of the
corresponding end of the water-glass C and for the reception of a valve D³.
hung on a pivot D6, supported on the inner face of the cover D³, the said
valve D normally resting against the side of the water-glass C, as is plainly
indicated in Fig. 2. A spring D7 presses on the valve D, so that when the
glass C breaks and the end thereof is forced by the steam or water pressure out of
the corresponding head and the corresponding safety device then the valve D
is caused to swing to its seat by the action of the said spring D' and by the
pressure of the steam and water entering the casing D2 and exerting pressure on
the said valve for the purpose mentioned. The valve D5 has a beveled edge and

page_text: the surface of the valve is concaved, as plainly indicated in the drawings, so that
the steam or water has ready access to the said beveled edge and top surface to
force the valve into a closed position as soon as its normal support-that is, the
glass C is removed from the safety device.
It is understood that the casing D2 is made sufficiently large to allow of hinging
the valve D in such a manner that the said valve stands in an inclined position―
that is, toward its seat D--to insure an instant closing of the valve either by the
spring D only or by the pressure of the water and steam as soon as the glass has
passed out of the casing D². It is evident that when this takes place the casing D²
is completely closed, and consequently steam or water cannot pass from the
boiler through the heads A A¹ to the outside.
It is understood that in the safety device ]) the valve D5 swings downwardly to
its seat, while in the safety device D' the valve D5 swings upward upon its seat,
as soon as the ends of the water-glass C have passed out of the safety device.
The device is very simple and durable in construction and can be readily applied
to the ordinary water-gauges now in use.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is:
1. The combination with a gauge-glass and its mounting provided with a valve-
seat through which extends the gauge-glass, of a valve hinged in the mounting
and held normally off its seat by the gauge glass and adapted to seat itself on
the seat to close the mounting on the removal of the gauge-glass, substantially
as shown and described.
2. The combination with gauge-glass and its mounting provided with a valve-
seat through which extends the gauge-glass, of a valve hinged in the mounting
and held normally off its seat by the gauge-glass and adapted to seat itself on the
seat to close the mounting on the removal of the gauge-glass, and a spring pressing
the said valve to hold the latter against the gauge-glass and to assist in closing
the valve on the removal of the gauge-glass, substantially as shown and
described.
Dated this 14th day of October 1398