AN IMPROVEMENT IN SURFACE CONDENSERS
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Thomas Selby, of Smethwick, in the County
of Stafford, Manufacturer, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT IN
SURFACE CONDENSERS."
Sealed the 31st October 1861, and dated the 19th August 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Thomas Selby
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the.
19th August 1861.
I, GEORGE THOMAS SELBY, of Smethwick, in the County of Stafford,
Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN
IMPROVEMENT IN SURFACE CONDENSERS," to be as follows:-
This Invention consists in forming the tubes of condensers of a spiral or
worm forin for the whole or part of their length, instead of being straight as
heretofore. The spiral or worm form will admit of expansion and contraction,
without affecting the joints where the ends of the tubes are fixed into the
plates.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, fil ed
by the said George Thomas Selby in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 19th February 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COMEI,
GEORGE
THOMAS SELBY, of Smethwick, in the County of Stafford, Manufacturer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth day of August, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fifth year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said George Thomas Selby, Her special licence that I, the said
George Thomas Selby, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I,the said George Thomas Selby,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
"AN IMPROVEMENT IN SURFACE CONDENSERS," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said George Thomas Selby, my executors or adminis
trators, by an instrument in writing under ny, or their, or one of their
hands and seals, 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said George Thomas Selby, do hereby.
declare the nature of my 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 hereunto
annexed, that is to say :-
My Invention consists in making the tubes of condensers of a spiral or
worm form for the whole or part of their length instead of straight, as
heretofore. The spiral or worm form will admit of expansion and contraction
in the length of the tube without affecting the joints, where the ends of the
tubes are fixed tight and fast in the plates or sides of the cistern of the
condenser.
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawings is a front view, Figure 2 a plan,
Figure 3 a side view, and Figure 4 a transverse section through the line A, B,

page_text: of a surface condenser fitted with tubes according to my Invention. C is a
pipe by which cold water enters the condenser; D is the exit pipe for the
E is a pipe by which the exhaust steam from the engine enters the
chamber F, and thence passes to the spiral tubes G, G, G. G; H is a pipe
by which the water is drawn off by an air pump in the ordinary manner.
same;
The ends of the spiral tubes are bent and fixed into the side plates of the
shell or frame of the condenser instead of being turned up and down so as to
fix them into the top and bottom of the condenser. A spiral tube arranged
in this manner is shown at Figure 5; the tubes may, however, be turned
into a flat spiral or worin form, as shown at Figure 6. The ends of the tubes
are fastened by means of nuts, each end being threaded far enough to pass
through the plate and receive another nut. Under either or both of these
nuts a washer of leather,india-rubber, or some other similar substance is placed
in order the more effectually to make the joint tight.
I do not confine myself to the form of condenser described, or to any of the
details when taken separately, as practice will determine these to suit the
particular kind of engine to which it may be fitted, whether it be marine,
stationary, or locomotive. The supply of cold water may pass through the
condenser cistern, and the steam through the spiral tubes, or the water may
pass through the spiral tubes and the steam through the cistern and among
the tubes, as may be preferred. Again, the spiral tubes may be connected
together by the ordinary steam or gas tube fittings, instead of being fixed in
the sides or ends of the condenser, as described. The spiral tubes are made
of copper, brass, iron, or other metal.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim the employment,.
in surface condensers of tubes twisted into a spiral or worm form, having their
ends fixed in the plates or sides of the cistern substantially in inanner and
for the purposes herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Thomas Selby, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Fifteenth day of February, One thousand
eight hundred and sixty-two.
GEO. THOS. SELBY. (LS.)