AN IMPROVED SELF-ACTING APPARATUS FOR SUPPLYING BOILERS WITH WATER, APPLICABLE ALSO TO THE RAISING AND TO THE MEASURING OF LIQUIDS
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Victorin Florentin Cleuet, of Paris, Rue d'Allemagne,
No. 182, Engineer, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED SELF-ACTING
APPARATUS FOR SUPPLYING BOILERS WITH WATER, APPLICABLE ALSO TO THE
RAISING AND TO THE MEASURING OF LIQUIDS."
Sealed the 13th February 1868, and dated the 19th August 1862.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Victorin Florentin Cleuet
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
19th August 1862.
I, VICTORIN FLORENTIN CLUET, of Paris, Rue d'Allemagne, No. 182,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED
SELF-ACTING APPARATUS FOR SUPPLYING BOILERS WITH WATER, APPLICABLE ALSO TO
THE RAISING AND TO THE MEASURING OF LIQUIDS," to be as follows:-
My apparatus consists of a hollow vessel or float immersed in liquid
contained in another vessel or case, which float in alternately filling and
emptying becomes in turn heavier or lighter than the liquid which surrounds:
it, and partakes of itself of alternative vertical motion, whereby it is placed in

page_text: successive communication with the boiler and the feed supply, to transfer from
one to the other the water necessary for the generation of steam.
The accompanying Drawing shows in sectional elevation my apparatus in its
most simple form applied to a steam boiler.
A is a vessel constantly filled with water from a reservoir or other source of
supply; B is a cylindrical float with jacket b, intended to prevent the too
great heating and vaporization of the water in the vessel A. The space
between 'the jacket and the float communicates with the atmosphere through a
flexible pipe, through which any steam which might be generated in the
jacket may pass off. A tube C traverses the float, and has two series of
openings made in it at d¹, d¹, and e', e'. Two tubes C, Cu, also provided
with openings d, d, and e, e, form prolongations of the tube C, and slide in the
stuffing boxes G, G'; F, F, are rings pierced with holes fixed in the stuffing
boxes 'G, 'G; h is a space formed in the upper stuffing box intended to allow
of the escape of steam, which may be returned through a tube 7 into the
vessel A.; I is the steam boiler; J, steam pipe carried down into the boiler to
the proper water level N; K, water feed pipe to boiler. The working is as
follows: Suppose the boiler empty, and the float and vessel A full of water,
the weight of the float is equal to one-half of the weight of water that its
volume displaces, and its dimensions are so calculated that the ascending or
descending power it possesses, according to its being empty or full, shall be
sufficient to overcome the friction of the tubes C³, C1, in their packing. These
conditions fulfilled, the float rests upon the bottom of the vessel A, and is in
communication with the steam pipe J through the openings d, d, of the tube C,
and with the water feed pipe K through the openings e, e, of the tube C¹¹.
Ia consequence of the difference of the level between the float and the boiler,
the water it contains will run into the boiler, and will be replaced by air
entering through the pipe J. As the water runs out from the float the air
which takes its place makes the density of the float lighter and lighter than
that of the water which surrounds it, consequently its ascending power
increases until sufficient to overcome the friction of the packings, when the
float will rise to the top of the vessel A. In this new position the openings
d, d, in the tube C¹ become placed in the space h opposite the escape tube
communicating with the atmosphere or the supply. The openings e, e, of the
tube Cu communicate with the vessel A, the water in which replaced by that
entering from the supply reservoir enters the float by the openings e¹, e', and
drives out the air therefrom. As the water enters the float the power which
kept it raised decreases, becomes neutral, and the float resumes its first.

page_text: position; the running out into the boiler again takes place and continues
until the level of the water in the boiler reaches and stops the mouth of the
tube J, when the air being prevented from entering the float the flow of water
from the float ceases. If now steam is generated in the boiler the same
actions as those described follow, and water from the float will only. run into
the boiler as long as the water level in the boiler does not close the mouth of
the tube J. The density of steam differing little from that of air will soon
impart sufficient lightness to the float to cause it to rise, the steam then goes
off through the escape pipe and enters the reservoir where it becomes
condensed. Through a pipe P water might be drawn up from a reservoir
at a lower level, as the vacuum produced by the condensation of the steam
is sufficient to raise the water a few feet, but it is preferable that the main
source of supply should be placed on a level rather above that of the float.
The raising of liquids is effected by the vacuum produced in the apparatus
as just described, and liquids may be measured by the ascent and descent of
the float.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Victorin Florentin Cleuet in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 19th February 1863.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, VICTORIN
FLORENTIN CLEUET, of Paris, Rue d'Allemagne, No. 182, Engineer, 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-two, in the twenty-sixth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Victorin Florentin Cleuet, Her special licence that I, the said Victorin
Florentin Cleuet, executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said Victorin Florentin Cleuet, 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 IMPROVED SELF-ACTING APPARATUS FOR SUPPLYING BOILERS WITH WATER,

page_text: APPLICABLE ALSO TO THE RAISING AND TO THE MEASURING OF LIQUIDS," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Victorin Florentin Cleuet, 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 per- 5
formed, 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 Victorin Florentin Cleuet, 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 apparatus consists of a hollow vessel or float immersed in liquid
contained in another vessel or case, which float in alternately filling and
emptying becomes in turn heavier or lighter than the liquid which surrounds
it, and partakes of itself of alternative vertical motion, whereby it is placed in
successive communication with the boiler and the feed supply, to transfer from
one to the other the water necessary for the generation of steam.
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawings shews in sectional elevation my
apparatus in its most simple form applied to a steam boiler.
A is a vessel constantly filled with water from a reservoir or other source of
supply B is a cylindrical float with a jacket 6 intended to prevent the too
great heating and vaporisation of the water in the vessel A. The space
between the jacket and the float communicates with the atmosphere through a
flexible pipe b', through which any steam which might be generated in the
jacket may pass off. A tube C traverses the float and has two series of
openings made in it at d³, d¹, and e¹, e¹. Two tubes C¹, Cu, also provided with
openings d, d, and e, e, form prolongations of the tube C, and slide in the
stuffing boxes G, G'; F, F, are rings pierced with holes fixed in the stuffing
boxes G, G¹; h is a space formed in the upper stuffing box intended to allow
of the escape of steam, which may be returned through a tube 7 into the
vessel A; I is the steam boiler; J, steam pipe carried down into the boiler to
the proper water level N; K, water feed pipe to boiler. The working is as
follows:-Suppose the boiler empty and the float and vessel A full of water.
The weight of the float is equal to one-half of the weight of water that its
volume displaces, and its dimensions are so calculated that the ascending or
descending power it possesses, according to its being empty or full, shall be

page_text: sufficient to overcome the friction of the tubes C¹, C", in their packing. These
conditions fulfilled the float rests upon the bottom of the vessel A, and is in
communication with the steam pipe J through the openings d, d, of the tube C¹
and with the water feed pipe K through the openings e, e, of the tube Cu. In
consequence of the difference of the level between the float and the boiler the
water it contains will run into the boiler, and will be replaced by air entering
through the pipe J. As the water runs out from the float the air which takes its
place makes the density of the float lighter and lighter than that of the water
which surrounds it, consequently its ascending power increases until sufficient
to overcome the friction of the packings, when the float will rise to the top of
the vessel A. In this new position the openings d, d, in the tube C¹ become
placed in the space h opposite the escape tube communicating with the atmos-
phere or the supply. The openings e, e, of the tube C" communicate with
the vessel A, the water in which replaced by that entering from the supply
reservoir enters the float by the openings e¹, e¹, and drives out the air there-
from. As the water enters the float the power which kept it raised decreases,
becomes neutral, and the float resumes its first position. The running out into
the boiler again takes place and continues until the level of the water in the
boiler reaches and stops the mouth of the tube J, when the air being prevented
from entering the float the flow of water from the float ceases. If now steam
is generated in the boiler the same actions as those described follow, and water
from the float will only run into the boiler as long as the water level in the
boiler does not close the mouth of the tube J. The density of steam differing
little from that of air will soon impart sufficient lightness to the float to cause
it to rise, the steam then goes off through the escape pipe and enters the
reservoir, where it becomes condensed. Through a pipe P water might be
drawn up from a reservoir on a lower level, as the vacuum produced by the
condensation of the steam is sufficient to raise the water a few feet, but it is
preferable that the main source of supply should be placed on a level rather
above that of the float. The raising of liquids is effected by the vacuum
produced in the apparatus as just described, and liquids may be measured by
the ascent and descent of the float.
In the arrangement represented at Figure 2 the water from the reservoir is
admitted to or shut off from the vessel A by a spring float Q; it is therefore
unnecessary for the vessel A to be closed at top, there need only be a cross
bar m, as shewn. The action is the same as in the arrangement represented
at Figure 1, and the same letters refer to corresponding parts. In both
arrangements there is a packing both above and below, but the lower packing

page_text: may be replaced by a valve seat, care being taken to place a valve on the
return pipe to prevent the return of water from the boiler when the float rises
and the valve leaves its sent.
In Figures 3 and 4 I show another arrangement of my apparatus. L is a
plug fixed to the float by lugs L, and connected to the tube C; 1, 1, are!
passages in the plug L, one I communicates with the interior of the float, the
other with the tube C. The plug L has two enlargements m, m³, at its
upper part which act as flat slides. The parts M, M', form by their union the
slide box; they are brought together by the closing of the flanges n, n, or by
any other means of closing proportioned to the pressure in the boiler; j,j, are
openings or ports over the box M; j communicates with the steam pipe J and
with the escape steam pipe J'; k, k¹, are openings or ports over the box M¹;
k communicates with the feed pipe K and k¹ with the pipe K'. o is a plug
screwing into the plug L and communicating with the passage , for the
purpose of filling the float when it is required to set the apparatus to work;
o¹ is a screwed plug closing the lower end of the tube C, and serving at the
same time as a guide in the socket X; o' is a cock on the pipe K. The
action is as follows:-In the position represented in the Drawing the float is
in communication on the one hand with the feed pipe K, and on the other
with the steam pipe J. The tube C, the passage , and the pipe K, thus a
form a syphon, the longer leg of which is that which dips into the boiler; the
water in the float under pressure of the steam will therefore pass into the
pipe K, and thence to the boiler. When the float becomes light it rises
together with the plug L, the top of which will then abut against the stop y.
At the same time the upper ends of the passages 1, P, come opposite the s
openings j, k, the float is in communication with the steam escape pipe J',
which leads the steam from the float into the vessel A, where it is condensed,
while water again enters the float by the pipe K', which together with the
passage and tube C acts as a syphon.
In the three arrangements herein-before described with the exception of the
loss of heat by radiation (a loss which can be materially reduced by enclosing
the vessel A in a bad conductors of heat) the feeding of the boiler is accom-
plished without any expenditure of fuel, because the heat of the steam
employed in my apparatus is transmitted to the feed water, and consequently
restored to the boiler.
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,-
First, the self-acting apparatus for supplying boilers with water constructed

page_text: and acting substantially in manner herein-before described and illustrated in
the accompanying Drawings.
Second, the raising and the measuring of liquids by means of the vacuum
produced by the condensation of steam in apparatus constructed and working
substantially as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Victorin Florentin Cleuet, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Fourth day of February, One thousand
eight hundred and sixty-three.
Witness,
CH. ARMENGAUD, J., Ing'. Civil,
Boulevard de Strasbourg, 23,
à Paris.
V. F. CLEUET. (L.S.)