IMPROVEMENTS IN GENERATING STEAM
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joseph Jesse Comstock, of New York, in the United
States, but now at Liverpool, County of Lancaster, for the Invention of
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joseph Jesse Comstock
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
17th January 1856.
I, JOSEPH JESSE COMSTOCK, of New York, in the United State, but now
at Liverpool, County of Lancaster, do hereby declare the nature of the In-
vention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN GENERATING STEAM" to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in generating steam, and
consists in means of bringing water, in small quantities, and divided into
minute particles, into contact with metal heated by steam.
The result of this Invention is a great saving of fuel and space, a saving in
the wear of the metal, by contact with which the steam is generated, as it.
lasts much longer when heated in this way than when heated directly by fire,
and less liability of danger by explosion. Within a steam chest are placed
several metal steam boxes extending in length and width nearly across the
steam chest; the upper parts of which boxes are the plates which generate
steam. These boxes are firmly braced within and to the steam chest, but do
not themselves come in contact or connect with it, except by supports, so that
the steam in the chest outside the boxes while passing freely into every part
of the chest does not communicate with the steam inside the boxes. Steam, is
admitted into a jacket, and into the boxes, and is used to heat the apparatus
for generating the working steam; it is not used to work the engine, except as

page_text: herein-after described.
The steam in the steam chest outside the boxes is the
working steam; the steam chest and steam boxes should be steam tight; small
metal pipes enter the steam chest at one end, and are secured to it at the
other, in which pipes the water to be converted into working steam is intro-
duced into the chest; these pipes run the whole length of the steam boxes and
near to the surfaces of the same. These pipes are perforated with numerous
very fine orifices, so arranged on the.bottom and sides of the pipes that when
the water in the pipes is forced through them in small jets, it will strike on
different portions of the plates composing the upper parts of the above-named
boxes both towards the extremities and the centre of the plates. These pipes
extend from the point where they enter the steam chest to small pumps,
by which they are supplied with water; these pumps are driven by the engine.
The number of these pumps may be varied; these pumps are so geared to
the engine that they do, not force the water into and through all the pipes at
the same time, but successively. The quantity of water forced through each
pipe can be easily regulated by ordinary apparatus, so that at each movement
of the piston just as much steam will be generated as is required by the
working of the engine. A screw valve is used for connecting the steam jacket
with the steam chest, by means of which a communication between them may
be made. A cock or passage is used for drawing off water that may at any time
collect the steam chest, or the same can be pumped up and used over again
generate steam. There is a pipe through which any water produced by the
condensation of steam in the steam boxes and jacket may be drawn off into
the boiler employed'for generating the steam for heating the boxes, and from
the supply of hot water thus furnished; the boiler can be worked many hours
without introducing therein' any other water. For the purpose of drawing off
the water, it is a matter of convenience to have the lower part of the steam
chest as high as the ordinary surface of, the water in the boiler. The opera-
tion of this apparatus is as follows: When the steam' is raised in the
boiler in the usual way, it passes through a steam' pipe into the jacket and
steam boxes, and rapidly heats the steam boxes and the inner covering of the
steam chest. The valve is then raised so as to admit the steam into the chest
outside the steam boxes. The steam thus admitted into the chest outside the
steam boxes passes through the steam" pipe to the steam cylinder, and gives
motion to the engine and to the pumps. The valve is then closed so as to
exclude the steam of the boiler from the chest outside the boxes, the boxes
being filled 'inside with the boiler steam.
The water raised by one of the pumps, put' in motion as above described,
is then forced through one of the pipes in the steam chest, and. through the

page_text: orifices therein, and is thus formed into numerous small jets which fall upon
nearly every portion of the metal plate forming the surface of one of the steam
boxes directly underneath the pipe. This plate: being intensely heated by the
steam from the boiler contained in the box (of which this plate is the upper
part) immediately converts the water thus thrown thereon into steam, and this
steam passes through the steam pipe into the steam cylinder, and causes the
piston to make another stroke, and thus the working of the apparatus continues,
each box having time to regain the necessary degree of heat before, it is again
used to create steam. The steam jacket aids much in preventing the waste of
heat. The waste of heat may also be prevented, although, as I think, in as less
convenient way, by enlarging the jacket, and carrying through the same into
the chimney the heated air and smoke of the furnace, in which case, the steam
from the boiler is conveyed directly therefrom into the steam boxes; or the
steam chest may be entirely enclosed within the boiler, all which can easily be
done by any machinist, only changing the form of some parts of the apparatus.
The apparatus may be of different forms and of sizes proportioned to the
power required.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,' filed
by the said Joseph Jesse Comstock in the 'Great Seal Patent Office on
the 16th July 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSEPH
JESSE COMSTOCK, of New York, in the United States, but now at Liverpool,
County of Lancaster, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of January, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the nineteenth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Joseph Jesse Comstock, Her special licence that 1, the said
Joseph Jesse Comstock, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Joseph Jesse Comstock, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS. IN. GENERATING STEAM," (a communication,) upon the
condition: (amongst others), that I, the said. Joseph Jesse.. Comstock, my

page_text: 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 Joseph Jesse Comstock, 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 :-
The Invention consists in generating steam, by means of bringing water in
small quantities, and divided into minute particles, into contact with metal
heated by steam. The result of this Invention is a great saving of fuel and
space; a saving in the wear of the metal, by contact with which the steam is
generated, as it lasts much longer when heated in this way than when heated
directly by fire, and less danger by explosion, as a boiler necessary for the same
power with the improvement is much smaller than is required in the usual
mode of generating steam, and of two boilers constructed in the same way,
and with iron of the same thickness, the smallest has the most strength.
To enable others skilled in the art to make and use the Invention, I will
proceed to describe its construction and operation. I construct the steam
boiler for generating the steam with which the plates are to be heated in any
of the known forms with the usual appendages; such a boiler is represented on
the accompanying Drawings, and marked A. These Drawings are on a scale
of one and a half inches to a foot, and represent an engine of about twenty
horse power.
The Figure marked A² represents in perspective the chest containing the
metal plates which generate the working steam; the Figure marked B being
a cross section thereof, and the Figure marked D a longitudinal section
thereof. Within this steam chest are placed several metal steam boxes quite
flat in proportion to their length and width, and extending in length and width
nearly across the steam chest, the upper parts of which boxes are the plates
which generate the working steam; these boxes are indicated by the letter E,
on the sections of the steam chest, and they are connected with each other,
and with the steam jacket herein-after described by the hollow supporters G.
The letter F indicates a steam jacket surrounding the steam chest, into
which jacket the steam passes from the boiler through the pipe C, and from
the jacket the same passes into the steam boxes E, through the hollow sup-
porters G; these boxes are firmly braced within and to the steam chest, but

page_text: do not themselves come in contact or connect with it, except by the sup-
porters G, so that the steam in the chest outside the boxes, while passing
freely into every part of the chest, does not communicate with the steam inside
the boxes and in the jacket, except as herein after mentioned.
The steam in the jacket and boxes is used to heat the apparatus for gene-
rating the working steam; it is not used to work the engine except as herein-
after described. The steam in the steam chest outside the boxes is the
working steam.
The steam chest and steam boxes should be steam tight, and may be made
of boiler iron of about the thickness of that used for the boiler connected with
the apparatus. The letter H, in the section of the steam chest, represents
small metal pipes entering the chest at one end, and secured to it at the other,
in which the water to be converted into working steam is introduced into the
chest; these run the whole length of the steam boxes and near the surface of
the same. These pipes are perforated with numerous very fine orifices, so
arranged. on the bottom and sides of the pipes, that when the water in the
pipes is forced through them in small jets, it will strike on different portions
of the plates composing the upper parts of the above-named boxes both towards
the extremities and the centre of the plates; some of these orifices, as also the
passage of the water through the same, are indicated on the sections of the
steam chest by the letter I. Eighty orifices in each of said pipes, and each
orifice about the eightieth part of an inch in diameter, would be a convenient
number and size for an apparatus such as is represented in these Drawings.
These pipes extend from the point where they enter the steam chest to the
small pumps indicated on the Drawing by the letter J, with which pumps
they are connected, and by the working of which they are supplied with
water; these pumps are driven by the engine. The number of these pumps
may be varied according to the number of pipes, the extent of the surface
of the steam boxes, and the power of the engine; I employ one for each of
the pipes H. These pumps are so geared to the engine that they do not force
the water into and through all the pipes H at the same time, but successively.
The quantity of water forced through each pipe can be easily regulated by
the ordinary apparatus, so that at each movement of the piston just as much
steam will be generated as is required by the working of the engine.. K, on
the Drawing, indicates the pipe through which the steam is conveyed from the
steam chest into the cylinder; L on the Drawing indicates a screw valve con-
necting the steam jacket with the steam chest by means of which a communi-
cation between them may be made. M is a cock for drawing off water that
may at any time collect in the steam chest, or the same can easily be

page_text: pumped up and used over again to generate steam. N. is a pipe, through
which any water produced by the condensation of steam in the steam boxes
and jacket is drawn' off into the boiler A, and from the supply of thot water
thus furnished the boiler can be worked many hours without introducing any
other water. For the purpose of drawing off the water, it is a matter of
convenience, to have the lower part of the steam chest as high as the ordinary
surface of the water in the boiler. The operation of this apparatus is as
follows:-
When the steam is raised in the boiler in the usual way, it passes through
the pipe C into the jacket and steam boxes, and rapidly heats the steam boxes,
and the inner covering of the steam chest; the valve L is then raised so as to
admit the steam' into the chest outside the steam boxes. The steam thus
admitted into the chest outside the steam boxes passes through the pipe K to
the cylinder, and gives motion to the engine and to the pumps. The valve.L
is then closed, so as to exclude the steam of the boiler from the. chest outside
the boxes, the boxes being filled inside with the boiler steam. The water
raised by one of the pumps, put in motion as above described, is then forced
through the pipe Hiconnected therewith, and through the orifices therein, and
in numerous small jets falls upon nearly every portion of the metal plate, forming
the surface of the steam box F, directly underneath the pipe. This plate being
intensely heated by the steam from the boiler contained in the box of which
this plate is the upper part immediately converts.the water thus thrown thereon
into steam, and this steain passes instantly through the pipe K into the cylinder,
thus causing the piston to make another stroke and also working the pump
connected with another of the pipes H, and thus the working of the apparatus
continues, each box having time to regain the necessary degree of heat before
it is again used to create steam. The steam jacket aids much in preventing
the waste of heat. The waste of heat may also be prevented, although, as I
think, in a less convenient way by enlarging the jacket and carrying through
the same into the chimney the heated air and smoke of the furnace, in which
case the steam from the boiler is conveyed directly therefrom into the steam
boxes; or the steam chest may be entirely enclosed within the boiler.; all which
can easily be done by any machinist, only changing the form of some.parts of
the apparatus. The apparatus may be of different forms, and of sizes.propor-
tioned to the power required. Four square feet of surface of heated metal,
receiving the jets of water as herein-before described,,will generate steam.equal
to about one horse power; I do not claim 'as the Invention; either singly or in
combination, the boiler pumps, steam chest, or the 'surrounding the same with
steam or heated air; nor do I claim as the Invention any part of said apparatus

page_text: by itself, nor the generation of steam by bringing water either in large or
small quantities in contact with metal heated directly by fire. The usual mode
of generating steam is, as in ordinary boilers, by keeping large quantities of
water in contact with metal heated by fire; this involves a great waste of fuel
from keeping so large a volume of water constantly heated to the necessary tem-
perature. There have also been attempts made to generate steam by bringing
small quantities of water successively in contact with metal heated directly by
fire, but one practical difficulty, among others, in thus generating steam has
been, that the action of the fire would so operate upon the metal that the appa-
ratus would keep in working order but a very short time, and the metal would
soon be destroyed. The mode herein described of bringing successively small
portions of water divided into minute particles in contact with metal heated by
steam, remedies these practical difficulties, and yields the advantages herein-
before stated.
And therefore, what I do claim as the Invention, and desire to secure by
Letters Patent, is, an improvement in the mode of generating steam by bring-
ing into contact successively with metal heated by steam, and by means of an
apparatus substantially as herein described, such small quantities of water
and divided into such small portions by jets or otherwise, as that the whole or
nearly the whole thereof will be instantly converted into steam upon coming
in contact with such heated metal.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Jesse Comstock, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of May, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
Witness,
WILL. STOCKLEY, Attorney-at-Law,
Liverpool.
JOS. J. COMSTOCK. (L.S.)