CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM BOILERS AND CONDENSERS
Year: 1839

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WALTER
HANCOOK, of Stratford, in the County of Essex, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Sixth day of March, in the second year of Her reign, did,
for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Walter Hancock, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority,
that I, the said Walter Hancock, my exors, adñiors, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Walter Hancock, my exors, adiñors, or assigns, should
at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times
during the term of years therein mentioned, should and lawfully might make,
use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-
upon-Tweed, and also in all Her Majesty's Colonies and Plantations abroad,
my Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM BOILERS AND CONDENSERS ;
in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso that I, the said Walter
Hancock,shall cause a particular description of the natureofmysaid Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, to be inrolled in Her
said Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as
in and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at
large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, 1, the said
Walter Hancock, do hereby declare that whereas Letters Patent for England,
Wales,and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed were granted to me by his late

page_text: Majesty George the Fourth, bearing date the Fourth day of July, One
thousand eight hundred and twenty-seven, for an Improvement in the Forma-
tion of Steam Boilers invented by me. a Specification of which invented
improvement was duly inrolled in the High Court of Chancery: And whereas
other Letters Patent for England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-
Tweed were granted to me by his late Majesty King William the Fourth,
bearing date the Fifteenth day of January, One thousand eight hundred and
thirty-three, forcertainother Improvements in the Formation of Steam Boilers,
also invented by me,a specification of which invented improvements was duly
inrolled in the High Court of Chancery: And whereas the.improventents de-
scribed in the two before-recited Specifications consist chiefly in constructing
steam boilers of numerous separate chambers or compartments of certain
prescribed forms, and connected together in certain peculiar modes, I
declare that the improvements for which Letters Patent were last granted
to me, and which I am now about to describe, are improvements upon or
additions to those for which the two preceeding Patents were granted, but that
the same are also applicable to all tubular or other boilers which are com-
posed of separate parts. And I declare that the nature of my said lastinvented
improvements consists in attaching to steam boilers a self-acting apparatus,
by means of which when one chamber, tube, or division of a boiler, or when one
boiler in combination with other boilers gives way, the rest of the sound
chambers, tubes, or divisions, or boilers, shall continue in perfect operation;
whereas, by the modes of construction hitherto followed, when one chamber,
tube, division, or boiler, in combination with other boilers, gives way, all the
rest of the chambers, tubes, divisions, or boilers in combination with that
injured become useless for the moment, and consequently the generation of
steam is suspended and the work stopped; and I declare that the manner in
which my said last invented improvements are to be performed, is fully set
forth and detailed in the Sheets of Drawings hereunto annexed, and in the
following description thereof, the same letters of reference being used to
denote the same or similar parts in all the Figures, that is to say:-
Figure 1 is a side elevation in part; and Figure 2 a front elevation of a
steam boiler, composed of six distinct chambers or compartments communi.
cating with each other, and throughout the series at the bottom for the supply
of water, and at the top for the reception and transmission of steam. Figure 3
is a side elevation of a boiler composed of tubes; and Figure 4 a front
elevation of the same, all these tubes, like the chambers of Figures 1 and 2,
being similarly connected both at top and bottom. The necessary and usual
outside casings, as well as several other appendages, are omitted in each of

page_text: these four Figures for the sake of shewing more clearly the parts to which
my improvements have reference. c 6, Figure 1, is a part of the side of a
chamber, and cl to c6, Figure 2,are the fronts of the six chambers comprising
the boiler. The chambers c 1, c 2, and c 3, are shewn perfect; c 4 and c 5
are sections in the lines A, B, and C, D, of Figure 1; and c 6, a section in
the line E, F, of Figure 1. The sides of the chambers are kept from distending
by screwed bolts rivetted at both ends, as shewn at t. Although this mode of
staying the chambers is shewn on these Figures, yet it is not the only means
of keeping the sides of the chambers in position, and thereby preserving the
flue or fire way f, as may be seen by reference to the Specifications of my two
former Patents, of the dates herein-before recited. Each chamber, it will
be observed. is enlarged in thickness at top and bottom for its whole length,
so that the rivet heads touch each other, whilst between the enlargements a
space is left for the flue or fire way. These chambers, as shewn in Figure 1,
extend both over and under the fireplace. The bottom connections are formed
by a series of perforated rings w, one in each chamber, as shewn also in section
at c 4 and c 5, Figure 2. The top connection of the chambers is effected by
separate rings s, s, one to each chamber, the entire series of these rings form-
ing a continuous pipe or steam reservoir. At the bottom of each ring a pipel
communicates with and is secured to each chamber, as shewn in the Drawings.
In each of these rings there is a valve v, as shewn at s, Figure 1, and s 3,
Figure 2, where the ring is given in section in order to shew the valve more
distinctly. The valve v is guided in its direction whilst rising or falling, and
is also prevented from rising too high by the hollow stud d. This guide
stud d terminates in a screw plug which not only regulates the height of the
valves rising, but, when withdrawn from its ring s, permits the valve to be
taken out if required. A plug p is screwed into the bottom of each of the
chambers, by unscrewing which they can at any time be very readily cleaned.
is the injection pipe from the feed pumps. At each end of these series of
rings there is a blank cap or flange i, which is extended outwards so as toform
a strong brace, and through the holes in this brace pass bolts, which, being
screwed tight, secure all these rings together. Similar braces, and bolts, and
nuts are made use of (as shewn by the letters i and j) to secure the bottoms
of the chambers and the series of the perforated rings in one body. The steam
chest or reservoir s might be made in one pipe, but not so conveniently as in
rings. There is a considerable advantage in having the brace bolts outside;
they are not so exposed to heat in this situation, and, therefore, not so liable
to expand, as in my former arrangements. In the tubular boiler, represented
in Figures 2 and 3, all the tubes y, y, of each set or row are secured into a

page_text: pipe n, both at top and bottom, which pipes lead the one from the supply
pipe w, the other into the steam chest s.. These channels wands are com-
posed of separate rings, one to each set or row of tubes, bolted up as before
explained, in Figures 1 and 2. In each of these rings, both in the top (s).
and bottom (w) channels, are valves and their appendages, similar to those
represented in Figures 1 and 2. The bottom valve vis guided in rising
and falling, and also prevented from falling too low, by the guide stud d.
On the top of the pipe n is the stuffing box, through which passes a rod g,
terminating in a wooden ball at top. When a chamber or division gives way,
and the valve is closed, if this rod be pushed down occasionally it will push
down the valve and permit the entry of the water into the chamber, tube,
or division out of condition; and thus prevent its entire destruction through
remaining constantly dry and exposed to the action of the fire. To prevent
this rod from rising too high, there is an enlargement on its stem, as shewn in
the Drawings.
Having now described, as far as is required, the forms and constructions of
two sorts of boilers, the one consisting of different chambers or compartments
and the other of tubes, I will now explain more fully my improvements upon
Ithe system of divisional steam boilers, as it is now commonly practised.
It is well known to all persons conversant with the generation of steam,
that it is obtained most abundantly when the area of the boiler containing the
water is divided, and thereby a greater heating surface obtained, and also that
the same object is obtained by passing tubes or channels through the bulk of
water, through which tubes or channels the flame and heat, or caloric, is made
to pass.
In following either of these arrangements, it is essential for the
ready transmission of heat that the metal composing the divisional parts should
not be too thick, and it is from
that the rupture of one or more
of the divisions, tubes, or compartments so frequently occurs, by which
partial rupture the operation of the whole boiler is immediately suspended
Now by my present improvement, when any one chamber, tube, or division
or any set of chambers, tubes, or divisions, or when any one boiler in com
bination with other boilers, gives way, the operation of the remainder is no
stopped for a moment, but continues as before; and this is effected by mean
of the top and bottom valves v, before described, in manner following:-The
tube No. 3 is supposed to be in a working condition, and therefore the bottom
valve is shewn as sunk from its seat to the distance required to admit a prope
supply of water from the channel w into the tubes, while on the other hand
the top or steam valve is suspended from and above its seat by the flow o
steam generated in the tubes, so as to allow the steam to pass into th

page_text: reservoir or steam chest s. The top valve is of greater weight than the bottom
one, is order that the steam shall escape into the reservoirs, under a pressure,
by which means the efflux of water with the steam is in a great measure
prevented, and the great desideratum of dry or nearly dry steam obtained.
By this means also chambers, tubes, or divisions may be worked with a
far greater height of water in them than under the usual means of free
escape. The tube No. 4 is supposed to be out of condition, and the moment
that it became so (through the diminution of its internal pressure) the top
and bottom valves became both closed by the superior pressure of the neigh-
bouring sets of perfect tubes.
In the form of boiler represented in Figures 1 and 2 there are no bottom
valves, the supply of water being there obtained through perforated rings and
connections, my principal object in that variety of construction being to
shewn the benefit of steam retained in its separate tubes, chambers, or
divisions, or in a boiler in combination with other boilers, under the pressure
before alluded to, previous to its escape into the steam chest or reservoir s.
Neither are any safety valves or exit pipes shewn in Figures 1 and 2; and as
to these I have only to observe that they may be placed in any convenient
part of s.
The mode in which the tubes in Figures 3 and 4 are shewn secured into
the pipes, (by means of nuts o, o,) is shewn on a large scale in Figures 5, 6,
7, 8, and 9. The ends of the tubes y, and the holes in the pipes n, to receive
them, are screwed or tapped with the same threads. The holes in the pipes n
are so much larger than the ends of the tubes, as the nut is thick at its bottom.
The nut o is of brass, or other soft and suitable metal, alloy, or material, and
should be conical, or of larger diameter upwards on the ontside, as much as the
depth of the thread in the aperture of the pipe n. On the inside it is tapped
to screw upon the end of the tube Y.
Figure 5 shews a nut before it is screwed down, and Figure 6 after it has
been turned down by a spanner, by which it has cut it own thread on the
outside, and completed the connection of the tube y with the pipe n..
Figure 7 is a bottom plan of the nut, Figure 8 an elevation, and Figure 9
a section of it before it has been placed down and cut its outside thread.
Another means of making such a connection might be as follows:-The nut
might be of hard metal, as iron, and the pipe n of copper, brass, or other soft
metal, alloy, or material, and in that case thenut would be tapped outside, and
the hole in the pipe would be plain, previous to the nut being forced down,
when it would cut the thread in that pipe (n) and complete the junction. By
turning the nut bottom upwards, it might sometimes. be advantageously

page_text: employed to make a joint from the interior of a pipe or vessel instead of the
exterior, as shewn in the Drawings.
I shall now proceed to describe my improvements in condensers, which
consist of a ready, economical, and effective mode of fixing a series of tubes,
pipes, chambers, or compartments, in their required portions, for the
purposes
of condensation or refrigeration.
Figure 10 is a vertical section, and Figure 11 a horizontal section of such
an arrangement. The tubes m, and top and bottom plates b, and casing l
may be of copper or any other suitable metal. The plates bare perforated, so
as to permit the tubes to pass through them, and the perforations must be made
at such distance as the tubes may be required to be apart. The manner of
putting them together is as follows:-The ends of all the tubes m, the casing
Z inside, and the whole of the plates b, are prepared by tinning. The edges of
the plates b may be turned up and rivetted, as shewn at 7, in the top line of
connections, which will give additional strength, and keep each in its place
until the whole are secured by the body of solder. The several parts being
placed in their proper positions, the whole is put over a lump of hot iron,
fitting the interior of the casing 4, which heated piece of iron or other material
is used for the purpose of running the solder, and thereby affecting an union
with the tin, copper, or other metal to which it is applied. This piece or slab
of heated iron is to be covered with sand on its upper surface, to such a
depth as to seal the ends of the tubes, and thereby prevent the bed of solder,
when poured in, from running into the interior of the tubes.
The plates b
having had a few small holes drilled through them, so as to permit the solder
to flow below them, one run of the solder through each get q will make the
bed on each side of the plate at the same time. Previous to running the
solder in at the gets q, the space between the casing and the lump of hot
iron is luted with clay to stop the solder from flowing away. When the
solder has set, the whole is turned the other end upwards, and the soldering
process repeated to the other end of the vessel. The top and bottom plates
of the casing may be fixed on when the apparatus is complete. The solder
is represented in the Drawing as about half an inch thick on each side of the
two plates b, but more may be used if found necessary, which will greatly
depend upon the size of the whole apparatus, or the purpose to which it is
to be applied. My object in applying such thick sheets, or entire beds of
solder or other metal, is to obtain strong and sound joints in lieu of the
expensive process of screwing up, whereby the tubes are weakened through
the cutting of threads upon them. The plates b are only appendages to keep
the tubes in their places until the beds of solder are run and cooled, there-

page_text: fore they need not be any thicker than required for this their main purpose.
It would be advantageous to mike vessels of this description in divisions, so
that one part being defective it might be removed, repaired, and replaced
without stopping the operation of the others.
And having now described the nature of my said last invented improve-
ments, and the manner in which the same are to be performed, I declare that
what I claim as of my invention is the twofold use of valves in connection with
the chambers, tubes, or divisions of steam boilers, or of one steam boiler in con-
nection with other steam boilers, whereby I effect these two important objects:
first, that if one, two, or more of a series of chambers becomes or become
defective, the others shall continue in effective operation; and second, that the
steam is made to escape under pressure from each division into the reservoir
or steam chest, by which means it is obtained in a far purer state than here-
tofore. I also claim the use of the bolts placed outside to connect and keep
the joints of the passages, made by perforated rings, instead of passing a bolt
through these perforated rings, as described in my two former Specifications,
by which means the expansion of the bolts, and consequent leakage of the
joints,are prevented. I further claim the methods, which I have herein-before
described, of connecting pipes together, of whatever size, by the means of soft
metal nuts turned down into hard metal, or of hard metal turned down into
soft metal, by which in either case the thread is cut.
I claim morcover the mode, herein-before described, of forming the joints
and fixing a series of tubes, pipes, channels, or compartments in their required
positions, by running or casting a strong layer or entire bed of solder, or other
alloy or suitable metal; and I declare that though the chambers or tubes in
each of the Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4, are exhibited in vertical positions, yet
that they may also be placed in either a horizontal or an inclined position.
Neither is it essential that the chambers should be rectangular on their sides,
or parallel in their thicknesses, noris it material that the tubes should be of
the same diameter throughout. The number, as well as the dimensions of the
chambers or tubes must be governed by the heating surface required to give
the necessary power.
And I declare further, that though the bottom passages w, and the top pas-
sages s, in the said Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4, are shewn of a circular form, yet
that they may be elliptical, or square, or of any other regular or irregular
figure; and that in like manner the sectional form of the tubes need not be
confined to a circle any more than the valves or their corresponding pipes and
passages. The forms, positions, and proportions which I have in every case
given to the different tubes, chambers, or compartments, as also the mode of

page_text: staying and uniting them, which I have shewn, are those which I find to
answer best; but I claim every modification or variety of the same which shall
involve no material departure from the principle or principles of my said
invented improvements.
And such my invented improvements being, to the best of my knowledge
and belief, entirely new, and never before used within that part of Her said
Majesty's United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland called England, Her
Dominion of Wales, or Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, or in any of Her said
Majesty's Colonies and Plantations abroad, I do hereby declare this to be my
Specification of the same,and that I do verily believe this my said Specifica-
tion doth comply,in all respects, fully and without reserve or disguise, with the
proviso in the said herein-before in part recited Letters Patent contained;
wherefore I hereby claim to maintain exclusive right and privilege to the said
Invention.
In witness whereof, I, the said Walter Hancock, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Sixth day of September, One thousand eight
hundred and thirty-nine