IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR REGULATING AND CONTROLLING THE TEMPERATURE OF LIQUIDS AND FLUIDS
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Walker, of Manchester, in the County
of Lancaster, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
APPARATUS FOR REGULATING AND CONTROLLING THE TEMPERATURE OF LIQUIDS
AND FLUIDS."
Scaled the 20th January 1874, and dated the 15th September 1873.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Walker at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
15th September 1873..
I, WILLIAM WALKER, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE
MENTS IN APPARATUS FOR REGULATING AND CONTROLLING THE TEMPERATURE OF
LIQUIDS AND FLUIDS," to be as follows :-
:
In performing my Invention I place in the boiler, flue, or other
receptacle, containing heated liquid or fluid, an air-tight vessel or
chamber filled with some expansive liquid or fluid (for instance with
atmospheric air). This vessel or chamber I connect by a pipe or other-

page_text: wise with a tube or cylinder, having one of its ends open, in which I fit
in an air-tight manner a moveable piston connected by a crank or other
suitable mechanical arrangements for transmitting motion with the
regulator, damper, valve, or cock, which it is intended to actuate.
In its application to a damper for controlling the furnace of a boiler
the vessel or chamber (which I call the expansion box) may be fixed.
inside the boiler or in a chamber in the flue near the damper, and the
tube or cylinder containing the piston may be fixed on it, or on the
boiler or in any convenient position. When the water in the boiler
becomes heated the air or fluid within the expansion box will expand
and cause the piston to move towards the open end of the tube or
cylinder and thus close the damper, thereby checking or controlling the
draft of the chimney. When the contents of the boiler and flue have
from this causo become cooler those of the expansion box will be also
reduced in temperature, and contract in their dimensions, by which their
pressure on the piston will be diminished, on which the atmospheric
pressure on the piston, through the open end of the tube or cylinder,
will cause it to move towards the closed end, and in this way reopen the
damper.
When the expansion box is fixed in the flue of a furnace it may be
enclosed in another vessel or jacket containing water to protect it from
injury by the heated gases, which vessel or jacket may be connected
with a system of pipes for heating rooms by the circulation of hot
water; or the jacket may have the feed water passed through it so as to
supply hot water to the boiler or for other purposes.
Where it may be desirable to keep the damper or regulator pulley open
and to close it suddenly, I use an upright intermediate tube or cylinder
having a port or opening near its lowered or closed end covered by the
piston when the damper or regulator is open. This port or opening is
to be kept closed by the weight of the piston by a spring, or by other
means which must be so adjusted that it may rise and uncover the port or
opening when the fire requires to be checked. The opening of the port
admits pressure from the expansion box to the piston, which at once
will close the damper or regulator. On the cooling of the furnace the
pressure from the expansion box diminishes, thereby allowing the
damper to close quickly by its own weight.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Walker in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 14th March 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
WALKER, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters.
Patent, bearing date the Fifteenth day of September, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in the thirty-
seventh year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said William Walker, Her special licence
that I, the said William Walker, my executors, administrators, and.
assigns, or such others as I, the said William Walker, 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
APPARATUS FOR REGULATING AND CONTROLLING THE TEMPERATURE OF LIQUIDS AND
FLUIDS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William,
Walker, 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 Walker, 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 (that is to say) :-
In performing my Invention I place in the boiler, flue, or other.
receptacle, containing heated liquid or fluid an air-tight vessel or
chamber filled with some expansive fluid (for instance with atmospheric
air). This vessel or chamber I connect by a pipe or otherwise with a
tube or cylinder having one of its ends open in which I fit in an air-
tight manner, a movable piston connected by a crank or other suitable.

page_text: mechanical arrangement for transmitting motion, with the regulator
damper, valve, or cock, which it is intended to actuate.
In its application to a damper for controlling the furnace of a boiler,
the vessel or chamber (which I call the expansion box) may be placed
inside the boiler or in a chamber in the flue near the damper, and the
tube or cylinder containing the piston may be fixed on it or on the
boiler or in any convenient position. When the water in the boiler
becomes heated the air or fluid within the expansion box will expand
and cause the piston to move towards the open end of the tube or
cylinder and thus close the damper, thereby checking or controlling the
draft of the chimney. When the contents of the boiler or flue have
from this cause become cooler those of the expansion box will be also
reduced in temperature, and will contract in their dimensions, by which
their pressure on the piston will be diminished, on which the atmospheric
pressure on the piston through the open end of the tube or cylinder,
will cause it to move towards the closed end and in this way reopen the
damper.
When the expansion box is fixed in the flue of a furnace it may be
enclosed in another vessel or jacket containing water to protect it from
injury by the heated gases, which vessel or jacket may be connected with
a system of pipes for heating rooms by the circulation of hot water; or
the jacket may have the feed water for a boiler passed through it so as
to supply hot water to the boiler or for other purposes.
Where it may be desirable to keep the damper or regulator fully open
and to close it suddenly, I use an upright intermediate tube or cylinder
between the first named tube or cylinder and the expansion box, having
a port or opening near its lower or closed end covered by the piston in
such second tube or cylinder when the damper or regulator is open.
This port or opening is to be kept closed by the piston in the said second
cylinder, or by a spring or by other means which must be so adjusted :
that it may rise and uncover the port or opening when the fire requires
to be checked. The opening of the port admits pressure from the ex-
pansion box to the piston of the damper which at once will close the
damper or regulator. On the cooling of the furnace the pressure from the
expansion box will diminish, thereby allowing the damper to open quickly a
by its own weight.
And in order that my Invention may be fully understood and
readily carried into operation, I will proceed to describe the accom-

page_text: panying two Sheets of Drawings, reference being had to the figures and
letters marked thereon.
On Sheet 1, Fig. 1 is an elevation partly in section of my improved
automatic regulator as applied to a sun gas burner for preventing con-
flagrations; Fig. 2 is an end view; and Fig. 3 a plan view of same.
"
The apparatus consists of a water-tight chamber or vessel a made of sheet
copper or other metal or material, and a* is an air-tight chamber or vessel
placed within the vessel a; this air-tight chamber or vessel a* I call the
expansion box" and it is filled with atmospheric air or any other ex-
pansive fluid. This expansion box a' is secured between the joists b of
a floor, or in any other convenient position, by the bridles c and the
pipe d, which supplies gas to the burners e, passes through one of the
four cross pipes a¹ which pass through the expansion box a³, and through
the vertical pipe a²; the lower end of which is bell mouthed to collect
the heated gases from the burners. The water is supplied to the
chamber a from the cistern ƒ by the pipe f¹, and the heated water is
conveyed from the upper part of the chamber a through the pipe f
back again to the cistern. I prefer to place a three-way cock f³ in the
pipe fto divert the current of hot water into the coil of pipes f* when
required, and this coil of bot water pipes may be used for warming; the
cistern is also provided with a draw-off pipe f³ which may supply hot
water for a bath or for other purposes.
The air or gas in the expansion box at is in communication by means
of the pipe a³ with the movable piston g fitting accurately in the cylinder
h and the piston g. is connected by the link g¹ with the disc i, which is
fixed to the plug of the tap d³ in the pipe d by which the supply of gas
is regulated.
The mode of operation is as follows:-So long as no dangerous heat
is generated by the burning gas the piston g remains near the closed end
of the cylinder h and the tap d₁ remains open, the water from the
cistern continues to circulate through the down pipes f¹, chamber a,
and up pipes f; but as soon as the heat increases beyond the desired
limit the pressure of the air or gas in the expansion box forces the
piston g towards the open end of the cylinder h, and the link g¹ then
turns the disc i and with it the plug of the tap d', thereby wholly or
partially closing the passage for the gas and reducing the heat from the
burners. When the air or gas in the expansion box is sufficiently

page_text: cooled, the pressure of the atmosphere on the piston g forces it back to
its original position and reopens the gas tap d¹. By this means no
dangerous heat can be generated and consequently conflagrations from
such causes can be avoided. As a further security against fire I sur-
round the expansion box by fire bricks or tiles ; to protect the joists
and floor, and the heated gases from the burners are carried off to a
chimney or ventilating shaft as indicated by the arrows through the pipe k.
g
On Sheet 2, Fig. 4 is an elevation of a modification of my Invention
which is applicable for regulating the heat in the flue of a boiler, stove,
or furnace; Fig. 5 is a plan, and Fig. 6 an edge view of the same. In
this case the water-tight chamber a containing the expansion box a* is
placed in the boiler or flue, and the expansion box is connected to the
cylinder h by the pipe a³ which is made by preference with a double
bend; within the cylinder h is the piston 9 which is made air-tight by
means of metallic rings, or in any other convenient manner, and the
piston rod g¹ is furnished with a cross head with a slot in which the
bowl from the lever i works. The cross head is guided between slide
bars cast to the cylinder h, and the lever i is fixed to the axle of the
swivel damper m. So long as the pressure in the boiler or the heat in
the flue does not exceed a given limit the damper m is open, as shewn
by vertical dotted lines in Fig. 4; but when the pressure or heat
increases beyond the desired limit, the air or gas in the expansion box
is expanded and acts on the piston g in the manner above described,
thereby causing the lever i to swivel partly round, and closing the damper,
as shewn by the horizontal dotted lines in Fig. 4 or partially closing it.
In some cases it may be desirable to force atmospheric air under
pressure into the expansion box.
Figs. 7 and 8 are two views of an ordinary heating stove to which
my improvements are applied. The expansion box a¹ is placed in the
chimney and it is connected to the two cylinders h, h¹, by the bent pipes
as; the upper cylinder h is made to act on the damper m in the manner
above described in reference to Fig. 4, and the lower cylinder h¹ acts
on the sliding plate n in which are openings corresponding to other
openings in the under side of the stove to regulate the admission of air
to the furnace. By this arrangement when the heat increases beyond
the desired limit the expanded air from the expansion box a closes or
partially closes the damper m, and shuts off or partially shuts off the
supply of air to the under side of the furnace; the damper m and sliding

page_text: plate n may be used combined as shewn, or independently of each other.
This arrangement is also applicable to steam boiler and other furnaces.
Fig. 9 represents another modification of my Invention. In this
arrangement the expansion box at is placed in the hot water or steam of
a boiler, or in the heated air of a flue or chimney, and it is connected
to the cylinder by the pipe a³, the piston in the cylinder is held
down by the weights fitting on the spindle g¹; the cylinder h is
connected to the cylinder o. by the narrow port and passage o¹, and
the piston rod p₁ of the piston p in the cylinder o is connected
to the damper p² which is placed in the flue leading to the chimney,
the mode of operation is as follows:-When the expansion box
becomes heated beyond the proper limit the expanded air or gas
acting on the piston g causes it to rise in the cylinder h until the port
o is uncovered, the expanded air or gas then rushes along the passage o¹
into the cylinder o and causes the piston p to rise suddenly, thereby
closing or partially closing the flue in which the damper is placed.
The cylinder o and piston p may be used for acting on the throttle or
admission steam valve, or upon other apparatus for regulating the
draught in the flue, or the admission of air or steam.
Having thus stated the nature of my Invention and described several
modes of carrying the same into practical operation, I wish it to be
understood that I do not intend to limit myself to the details given, as
the same may be considerably varied or modified, and I claim, the im-
proved automatic apparatus for regulating and controlling the temper-
ature of liquids and fluids by valves, dampers, stop-cocks, or ventilators,
actuated by the expansion and contraction of confined heated air or gas
in the manner and by the means described in the Specification, and
shewn in the Drawings, or by any mechanical equivalents thereof.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Walker, have hereto
set my hand and seal, this Twelfth day of March, One thousand