IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM BOILERS
Year: 1870

page_text: Sealed the 23rd August 1870, and dated the 18th March 1870.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Sir William Fairbairn
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 18th March 1870.
"
I, Sir WILLIAM FAIRBAIRN, Baronet, of Manchester, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM BOILERS,"
to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in steam boilers. For
this purpose I combine together three cylindrical shells of boiler plate;
I arrange them parallel the one to the other and horizontally or nearly
So. Two of the cylinders which are set side by side are each traversed
from end to end by an internal tube in which are the furnaces, and these
cylinders each communicate with the third cylinder which is placed
over and between them by three or other number of pipes or passages
of sufficient size to allow the steam generated in the lower cylinders to

page_text: escape freely into the upper and to allow the water freely to circulate.
The brickwork or setting is arranged in such manner that the heated
products of combustion issuing from the furnace tubes are led back
over the top of the two lower boiler cylinders and under the bottom of
the upper or third cylinder to the front, where they are caused to descend
and again to return under the bottoms of the two lower cylinders to the
chimney. Thus the whole of the exterior of the three cylinders may be
rendered availing as heating surface excepting only so much of the
lower cylinders as is in contact with the supporting and partition walls
and so much of the upper cylinder as is above the water level. The
feed water is introduced by preference into the upper cylinder by a pipe
or pipes ascending through its bottom and rising up within it to within
a short distance of the water level. The fire tubes are put together in
lengths connected by rings of U form section, which both stiffen the
tube against collapse and provide for irregularity of expansion and con-
traction. The fire tubes are held in their places by screw bolts and can be
removed from time to time when requisite. At the far end of each fire
tube there is an external angle iron flange which butts against the end
plate of the cylinder. The plate is faced and the ring is turned. The
screw bolts for holding these parts together are also turned in a lathe to
fit truly into their places, and they screw into tapped holes in the angle
iron ring, or bolts and nuts may be used to attach the internal tube to an
iron ring rivetted to the end of the external tube. The heads of the
bolts are protected from the flame by a conical cast-iron guard. At the
furnace end the external cylinder has a turned angle iron ring or flange
surrounding it, and the furnace tube has the end plate rivetted to it
which is faced and abuts upon the turned angle iron ring, and bolts and
nuts hold these parts securely together.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Sir William Fairbairn in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 16th September 1870.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eighteenth day of March, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the thirty-
third year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said William Fairbairn, Her special
licence that I, the said William Fairbairn, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Fairbairn, 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 "Iм-
PROVEMENTS IN STEAM BOILERS," upon the condition (amongst others) that
I, the said William Fairbairn, my executors or administrators, by an
instrument in writing under my, 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 William Fairbairn, 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, that is to say :-
This Invention has for its object improvements in steam boilers. For
this purpose I combine together three cylindrical shells of boiler plate;
I arrange them parallel the one to the other, and horizontally or nearly
80. Two of the cylinders which are set side by side are each traversed
from end to end by an internal tube in which are the furnaces, and
these cylinders each communicate with the third cylinder which is
placed over and between them by three or other number of pipes or
passages of sufficient size to allow the steam generated in the lower
cylinders to escape freely into the upper and to allow the water freely to
circulate. The brickwork or setting is arranged in such manner that
the heated products of combustion issuing from the furnace tubes arc
led back over the top of the two lower boiler cylinders and under the
bottom of the upper or third cylinder to the front; where they are caused

page_text: to descend and again to return under the bottoms of the two lower
cylinders to the chimney. Thus the whole of the exterior of the three
cylinders may be rendered available, as also the inner surface of the two
enclosed cylinders, as heating surface, excepting only so much of the
lower cylinders as is in contact with the supporting and partition walls,
and so much of the upper cylinder as is above the water level. The
feed water may be introduced into the upper cylinder by a pipe or pipes
ascending through its bottom and rising up within it to within a short
distance of the water level, or it may be introduced into one or both
of the lower cylinders. The fire tubes are put together in lengths
connected by rings of U form section, which both stiffen the tube
against collapse and provide for irregularity of expansion and con-
traction. The fire tubes are held in their places by screw bolts and
can be removed from time to time when requisite. At the far end of
each fire tube there is an external angle iron flange which butts against
the end plate of the cylinder. The plate is faced and the ring is turned.
The screw bolts for halding these parts together are also turned in a
lathe to fit truly into their places, and they screw into tapped holes in
the angle iron ring, or bolts and nuts may be used to attach the internal
tube to an iron ring rivetted to the end of the external tube. The
heads of the bolts are protected from the flame by a conical cast-iron
guard, or it might be by a ring of fire-bricks suitably prepared. At the
furnace end the external cylinder has a turned angle iron ring or flange
surrounding it, and the furnace tube has the end plate rivetted to it,
which is faced and abuts upon the turned angle iron ring, and bolts and
nuts hold those parts securely together.
Sometimes in place of two lower cylinders I employ a greater number.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, I will proceed to
describe more fully the manner of performing the same.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.

page_text: a, a, a, are three cylindrical shells of boiler plate; the two lower
cylinders are each traversed from end to end with an internal tube 6, in
which are the furnaces as shown. The tubes a I prefer to be about
21 feet long by 3 feet 6 inches in diameter, and the tubes 6 21 feet
long by 2 feet 6 inches in diameter, but these dimensions may be
varied. c, c, are the tubes by which the two lower cylinders a com-
municate with the third cylinder, which is above them. The brickwork
setting is clearly shown by the Drawings. The heated products of
combustion from the furnaces traverse the interior tubes 6 from end to
end, and at their rear end the heated products from the two furnaces
meet together and are led upwards, and then back through a flue
marked d to cause them to impinge upon the lower surface of the upper
cylinder a, and also around the sides and upper surfaces of the two
lower cylinders, near the furnace end of the boiler they are led through
openings into a lower flue e which passes along under the bottoms
of the two lower cylinders, and at the back end of the furnace leads
away to a chimney. f is a copper tube forming the feed water pipe; it
passes from the front of the boiler into the upper flue d, and is led up
into the upper cylinder a and nearly to the water level therein, and
there terminates in a T piece, so as to diffuse the water issuing from it.
The water thus passed into the boiler becomes highly heated in its
passage through the feed water tube f. The feed water tube may also
as before stated be connected to either or both of the lower cylinders,
and the feed water be similarly heated on its way from the feed pump.
The manner of fixing the inner furnace tubes 6 in the lower cylinders a
is clearly shown at Figure 1. Each furnace tube is, as above stated, made
up in length connected by rings of U form section. At the far end of
each tube is an external angle iron flange b¹, the face of which is turned;
this turned face butts against the end plate of the cylinder a, which is
also faced. The flange and end plate are secured together as shown by
screw bolts, or it might be, as before stated, by bolts and nuts. g is the
cast-iron guard for protecting the heads of the bolts from the action of
the flame, or a ring of fire-bricks may be employed as before named.
At the furnace end each of the lower cylinders a has an external angle
iron ring or flange a¹ surrounding it, and the furnace tube 6 has the
end plate rivetted to it; the end plate is secured to the turned angle
iron ring a¹ by bolts and nuts, as shown. By thus securing the furnace
tubes to the outer cylinders of steam boilers the furnace tubes can

page_text: readily be taken out by unscrewing the bolts which retain them and be
again readily refixed..
A steam boiler constructed as above described and of the dimensions
given will be as effective in its amount of furnace room and area of
heating surface as the usual Lancashire boiler of 30 feet long by 7 feet
diameter and two-flued will give more steam in a given period owing to
the concentration of the parts. From the manner in which the boiler
is constructed the inner furnace tubes can also, as above stated, be
readily withdrawn at any time either for the purpose of cleaning or for
repairs, and great facility is thus afforded for removing incrustation or
other deposit injurious to the well working of the boiler.
The manner above described of securing the furnace tubes to the
outer tubes of steam boilers is also applicable to boilers arranged other-
wise than in the manner shown by the Drawings, as, for example, when
only one lower cylinder is employed in place of two.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner
of performing the same, I would have it understood' that what I claim
is,―
First. The construction of steam boilers, substantially as hercin
described and shown by the Drawings annexed.
Second. The securing the furnace tubes to the outer tubes of steam
boilers by means of turned and faced angle irons and plate ends bolted
to the outer tubes by turned bolts and nuts, substantially as herein
described.
2
In witness whereof, I, the said William Fairbairn, have hercunto 2
set my hand and seal, this 12th day of September, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy.