AN IMPROVED FEED WATER REGULATOR FOR STEAM BOILERS
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Haseltine, of the "International Patent
Office," No. 8, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED FEED
WATER REGULATOR FOR STEAM BOILERS."-A communication from abroad
by John Wesley Doughty and Benjamin Franklin Olmsted, both of
Newburgh, New York, United States of America. .
Sealed the 3rd May 1867, and dated the 5th March 1867.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said George Haseltine at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition and Declaration,
on the 5th March 1867, pursuant to the 9th Section of the Patent Law
Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
HASELTINE, of the
of the "International Patent Office," No. 8, Southampton
Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS I am in possession of an Invention for "AN IMPROVED FEED
WATER REGULATOR FOR STEAM BOILERS," and have petitioned Her Majesty to
grant unto me, my executors, administrators, and assigns, Her Royal Letters

page_text: Patent for the same, and have made solemn Declaration that it has been
communicated to me from abroad by John Wesley Doughty and Benjamin
Franklin Olmsted, both of Newburgh, New York, United States of America.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said George Haseltine, do hereby declare
that the following Complete Specification, under my hand and seal, fully
describes and ascertains the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, in and by the following statement:-
This apparatus is intended to keep the water in a steam boiler at the same
height, or to raise or lower to the level of the water inside the boiler at
pleasure, and keep the level at a certain point.
The said apparatus consists of a chamber which is connected with the
interior of a steam boiler by means of two pipes, one of which extends down
into the water nearly to the boiler, while the other pipe extends only a little
way into the boiler, and is provided on its lower end with an adjustable
leg or branch, the mouth of which is set to correspond to the level of the
mean water line of the boiler. The long pipe is connected to the lowest
part of the chamber, while the short pipe is connected with the upper
part of the said chamber by another pipe running from the boiler to the
chamber. In this way a syphon is established, in which the long pipe is the
long leg and the short pipe with the adjustable branch the short leg. The
lower cylindrical part of the chamber contains a float which is suspended
from an oscillating beam, and is counterbalanced by an adjustable weight.
From this beam a rod rises to the stem of a valve which opens outward, and
which is enclosed in another chamber connected with the feed pipe. The
pressure of the feed water on the top of the valve is greater than the existing
pressure of steam inside the boiler, and in this way the valve is held down to
its seat; no feed water can enter into the chamber through the said valve
until the latter is opened from inside to admit the water. This operation has
to be performed by the float in the lower part of the chamber. When the
water in the boiler stands below the mean water line, so that the mouth of
the adjustable leg is not dipping in the water, the water in the long tube is at
a level with that in the boiler, and no water is inside the chamber, which in
this case is fitted. with steam. The float is so arranged that its, weight, after
deducting the counterweight and the rod, and making some allowance for
friction, is sufficient to overcome the pressure of the feed water on top of the
valve, and push the same, open, aided by the pressure of steam from inside on
the bottom of the valve. The feed water rushes through the valve opening into
the chamber, and around the float down into the long pipe and into the

page_text: boiler. The level of the water will rise until the mouth of the adjustable leg
is closed by the water; at this moment the feed water entering through the
valve will not run down into the boiler, but will fill the long pipe and the
lower part of the chamber until the float rises with the water, and by rising
withdraws the rod from the stem of the valve, which is closed by the higher
pressure of the feed water on its top. The steam enclosed in the chamber,
when the mouth of the short leg is closed by the rising water in the boiler,
will be condensed by the entering feed water and by being exposed to the
influence of cold air outside the chamber, so that if the feed water does not enter
through the valve quick enough to replace the volume of the condensed steam,
water will also enter the chamber from the boiler until the float is raised
and the valve closed. The water will rise in the short leg from the boiler to
the same height as in the chamber. By using steam from the boiler for
running an engine, or for any other purposes, the level of the water will soon
sink again, but as soon as the level sinks below the mouth of the short leg
steam will enter this pipe and pass into the chamber; at this moment the
water in the said chamber by its own gravity falls down through the long leg
into the boiler to the existing water line. The float is so adjusted that the
same when suspended in water and aided by the counterweight and weight of
the rod will float on the water, but it is so heavy that when suspended in
steam it is capable of pushing open the valve to admit a new supply of feed
water until the level of the water in the boiler rises again to the mean water.
line and shuts the mouth of the adjustable leg, when the float will rise again.
and shut the valve. Below the valve of the chamber is an apron, which
serves to lead the feed water when entering the lower cylindrical part of the
chamber which leads to the long syphon leg, and to spread the water out in a
sheet to expose the same effectually to the action of the steam contained in
the said chamber, so as to raise its temperature to a high degree before it is
allowed to pass into the boiler, at the same time the rod has a substantial
guide in a corresponding hole below the valve to lift it. The feed pipe is so
arranged that the feed water can be forced directly into the boiler without
passing through the regulator by connecting a branch pipe direct to the nozzle
casting, which is the connection between the apparatus and the boiler.
.
This Invention is illustrated in the accompanying Drawing making a part
of this Specification, in which Figure 1 represents a longitudinal vertical
section of my improved apparatus; Figure 2 is a front elevation, and
Figure 3 is a horizontal section of the same. Similar letters of reference.
in these views indicate corresponding parts.

page_text: A represents the shell of a steam boiler, which may be of any suitable con-
struction. To this boiler are secured two nozzles B, B', of which the one B
is connected to the long syphon leg C projecting down into the water, and the
other nozzle B' holds the other pipe C¹ with the adjustable leg D, as shewn
in Figure 1. This connection of the adjustable leg D to the upper pipe C¹ is
effected by a swivel joint of any suitable construction, which allows the mouth
of the leg D to be lowered or raised by a loop a and rod b, which passes
through a stuffing box in the shell of the boiler, and which may be provided
with a handle c to catch over the bar of a standard d, or which may be
lowered or raised by a rope and pulley from the engineer's stand in front of
the boiler, or by any other suitable means. On top of the nozzle B, B',
are bolted two stop-cocks G, G¹, to open or close the connection of the
chamber F and tube F¹ with the boiler. The chamber F. with its lowest
point is bolted to the stop valve G, while the tube F¹ completes the connection
between the stop valve G and the upper part of the chamber F. The lower
cylindrical part of the chamber F is made spacious enough, and of suitable
shape to receive a float of certain dimensions and allow it to move a few
inches up and down, and leave space enough between the float and the side of
the chamber equal at least to the area of the tube C. On the inner sides
of the chamber F are cast some ribs l, l, running down vertically to guide the
float in the centre, and to prevent it from swaying to and fro. This float is
suspended on one end of a lever I, which has its fulcrum in the standard f
bolted to the inner surface of the chamber F. On the other end of the
lever I is the counterweight J, which is adjustable on that end of the lever by
a set screw g, or any other suitable means. This balance weight is so adjusted
that it counteracts the weight of the float when suspended in water, and
assists the buoyancy of the float to let the valve come down to its seat, but
when the float is suspended only in steam the weight of the float must be
heavy enough after deducting the counterweight to push open the valve K by
means of the rod g, which is hinged to the lever I near the fulcrum on the
same side with the counterweight J. The secondary chamber L which
encloses the valve K' is connected with the feed pipe N by a branch pipe M.
The valve K¹ is kept down to its seat by the pressure of the feed water against
the pressure of the steam from inside, which object is effected by taking the
feed water from a water tank or reservoir situated at such a height that the
head of the water is capable of overcoming the pressure inside the boiler, or
by using a feed pump, which is kept constantly working, and which has a
waste valve loaded to the desired pressure between the pump and the check

page_text: valve in the feed pipe N. This feed pipe N has a branch pipe M leading to
the valve chamber L to let the freedom go through the apparatus, and
another branch pipe Q going direct to the nozzle B on top of the boiler to
feed the boiler without using the automatic regulator in case of repairing or of
trial. The water is kept by this apparatus at a uniform level. The volume
of water in the boiler can only differ as much as is required to fill up the long
syphon leg C and the lower part of the chamber F from the height of the
existing level of water in the boiler to the point when the float is raised high
enough to close the valve. This quantity of water falls into the boiler as soon
as the mouth of the leg D is open for steam, but it is so little compared with
the whole quantity of water in the boiler that the change of the level of the
water is hardly noticeable on the water gauge. As long as the movable leg
is left stationary at the same point the water will be kept at the same level,
but when the mouth of the leg D is lowered down into the water and left
there no water will enter the boiler before the level of the water sinks to the
mouth of the leg D, and steam can enter the said leg and ascend to the
chamber F. When the leg D is raised above the level and left there the
valve K will be open, and admit water until the water is raised to the mouth
of the leg D, and closes it against the entrance of steam; the regulator
itself will keep it at that point as long as the leg D is left stationary. This
apparatus has some advantages over any other feed water regulator; it
introduces the water at a high temperature continually as it is required to
make steam, thus keeping up a perfect equilibrium between temperature and
pressure, and securing a perfect uniformity in the generation of steam; it is
of superior accuracy and reliability in its operation; it enables the engineer
to ascertain the exact point at which bis boiler will generate steam in the
most economical and safe manner. By the uniformity of temperature and
pressure the boiler will not be subjected to the sudden contractions and
expansions which tell so severely upon boilers supplied in the ordinary
manner with water at long intervals.
Having thus fully described the said Invention, as communicated to me by
my foreign correspondents, and shown how the sanie may be conveniently
and advantageously carried into practice, I claim,-
First, the combination and arrangement of the float H with the syphon
leg C, the oscillating beam I, rod g, counterweight J, and valve K, with the
chamber F and tube F', substantially in the manner as set forth.
Second, the apron O placed in the chamber F, substantially as and for the
purpose set forth.

page_text: Tbird, the arrangement of the short syphon leg D, whereby the same is
rendered adjustable, for the purpose and substantially in the manner set
forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Haseltine, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fourth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven.
GEORGE HASELTINE. (L.s.)
Witness,
W*. ROB. LAKE,
8, Southampton Buildings, W.C.