IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM TRAPS, PARTS OF WHICH ARE APPLICABLE TO OTHER PURPOSES
Year: 1880

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Lancaster, of Pendleton, in the County of
Lancaster, Engineer, for an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM TRAPS,
PARTS OF WHICH ARE APPLICABLE TO OTHER PURPOSES.”
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Lancaster at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 31st December 1880.
HENRY LANCASTER, of Pendleton, in the County of Lancaster, Engineer.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM TRAPS, PARTS OF WHICH ARE APPLICABLE TO OTHER
PURPOSES."
The first part of this Invention relates to steam traps used in connection with
drying cylinders, sizing machines, and similar apparatus, and is composed of a cast
iron receptacle with a moveable cover adjusted and kept in position by screws, and
a hand wheel working into parts fixed in or to the sides of the framework. In the
interior of the vessel employ a hollow metal ball connected with a tube having a
valve facing fitting into the exit pipe for the discharge of the condensed steam, the
end of the tube nearest the exit being swivelled or hinged to a projection attached
to the framework. Fastened to the interior of one side of the trap is a curved
piece of metal which acts as a spring, and is capable of adjustment by a set screw
from the outside, the bottom of this spring abutting against and slightly holding
up the ball or the bottom of the tube to which it is attached. By means of the
set screw this spring is so set that it shall slightly hold up the ball, and consequently
the tube and valve, when not in work, so that on the first entrance of steam any
air that may be in the vessel will be forced out through the exit pipe, but as the
spring gets warm it will expand or lengthen in its longitudinal direction and so
cause the ball to drop and close the valve. In the interior of the tube I place a
marble or small sphere, so that if by any accident there is a hole in the ball and steam
gets into it, it will drive the marble into the orifice of the tube and close it, but
when the steam condenses the marble will roll away and allow the water to escape.
The ball is so proportioned to the size of the vessel that when it is about half
submerged in the condensed steam or at any other desired point it will rise, and

page_text: with it the tube fitting into the exit pipe, and so allow the water to escape. By
this arrangement there is no possibility of the ball sticking or becoming fast, and
therefore a perfect steam trap is obtained.
The second part of this Invention relates to cisterns or other apparata where a
supply of fluid matter is required to be regulated, as, for instance, feed or other
cisterns where a supply of water is desired for flushing closets or other purposes.
In this case the ball rests on the water and floats up and down according to
its height to open or close the source of supply. The ball is connected by a rod or
tube hinged or swivelled to the framework, as described in the first part of this
specification, the rod or tube having the same valve facing as before described to
ensure the proper closing of the aperture, which in this case is where the water
enters. To prevent the ball in extreme cases from falling too low I joint to the
swivel which allows upward and downward motion to the tube or rod and ball a
small curved rod or arm, which will come in contact with the inner framework or
shell of the cistern or vessel if the water from any cause should fall too low, and
thus prevent all danger of breakage.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said Henry Lancaster in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 30th
June 1881.
"
HENRY LANCASTER, of Pendleton, in the County of Lancaster, Engineer.
IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM TRAPS, PARTS OF WHICH ARE APPLICABLE TO OTHER
PURPOSES."
This Invention relates, first, to box steam traps used in connection with drying
cylinders, slashing frames, steam pipes, steam presses, steam engines, steam hammers,
and all descriptions of engines, and other apparatus in which air and the water of
condensed steam have to be discharged without loss of steam; and, secondly, to
cisterns or other apparatus where a supply of water or other fluid is required to be
regulated, as, for example, where water is required for flushing closets or other
purposes. The improvements will be readily understood by the following descrip-
tion thereof, reference being had to the Figures and letters on the accompanying
Sheet of Drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a vertical section, Fig. 2 a plan, and Fig. 3 an
elevation, these three Figures drawn to a reduced scale, and Fig. 4 a detached view
of one of my improved steam traps, and Fig. 5 is section representing the apparatus
for regulating the supply of water or other fluid, this last. Figure also drawn to a
reduced scale. For each trap I use a box or receptacle a provided at the top or
side with two loose lids or covers b, b, which can be readily fastened and loosened
by a hand wheel c, screw d, and cross bar e, there being a nut and pin at the
bottom of the screw working in a slot formed in a dome cast or fixed to the box
to prevent the screw from rising, and thereby enable it by means of the hand
wheel to lower and raise the cross bar as required, so that the tedious process of
fastening and unfastening the cover by ordinary bolts and nuts is altogether
avoided. In the interior of the box I employ a hollow metal ball or float f, con-
nected with a tube g, having at its front end a semi-globular valve h fitting into
one end of the exit pipe i which forms the valve seating, the valve being loosely
jointed, hinged, or swivelled to a bracket k connected to the exit pipe which is
screwed to the corresponding side of the box, and afterwards held fast by the
screwed nut . To the interior of one side of the box is fastened a curved piece of
metal m which acts as a spring, and is capable of adjustment from the outside
by a set screw n, the end of the spring abutting against the bottom of the tube to
which the ball or float is connected, and by means of the set screw the spring is so
set that it shall slightly hold up the valve until the steam entering closes it, so
that on the first entrance of steam any air that may be in the box will be forced
out through the exit pipe, but as the spring gets warm it will expand or lengthen
longitudinally, and thereby allow the float and tube to drop and close the valve
against its seating. In the interior of the tube I place a marble or small sphere, so
that if by any accident there is a hole in the ball or float through which the steam
enters, the steam will drive the marble against a small orifice p in the valve and
prevent any escape, but when the steam condenses the marble will roll away from the
orifice and allow the water to be discharged. The ball or float is so proportioned
to the size of the box that when the water of the condensed steam is at a certain
level the ball or float will rise, and with it the tube, to turn back and open the
valve, as shewn in Fig. 4, thereby allowing the water to escape through the exit
pipe. I do not confine myself to the use of a hollow metal ball for the float, as it
may be made solid or hollow, of any suitable shape or material, but if solid I
connect it to a rod or tube, and the marble will not be required. The second part
of this Invention, relating to cisterns or other apparatus where a supply of water
or other fluid is required to be regulated, is shewn in the vertical section Fig. 5.

page_text: In this case the float 9 rests on the water or fluid, and floats up and down
according to its height to open or close the inner end of the supply piper which
forms the seating of the valve. The float is connected to the rod 8 hinged on a
pint fixed in a bracket u cast to the supply pipe, the part of the rod surrounding
the pin being formed eccentric, as shewn at v, and on the supply pipe there is an
arm or projection w, to which is jointed the lever x carrying a semi-globular piece y
forming the valve. When the level of the water or fluid is low the float is
depressed and a smaller radius of the eccentric is in contact with the lever x,
thereby allowing the valve to be forced from its seating and the supply passage
opened, but when the level of the water or fluid is high a larger radius of the
eccentric forces the valve tightly against its seating and shuts off the supply, and
when desired, instead of an eccentric I use a cam.
Having now described the nature and particulars of my said Invention, I desire
it to be understood that in the box steam trap, claim the mode of fastening and
loosening the two lids or covers of the box, and the semi-globular valve with its
corresponding seating at the inner end of the exit pipe, the valve working on a
hinge and connected by a tube or rod with the float; and in the water or fluid
regulator or flushing apparatus I claim the semi-globular valve with its
corresponding seating, and the mode of closing the valve and allowing. it to be
opened by means of an eccentric or cam on the rod connected to the float, as all
such improvements are herein described and illustrated on the accompanying
Sheet of Drawings, or any mere modifications thereof.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Lancaster, have bereunto set my hand
and seal, this Twenty ninth day of June, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and eighty one.
Witness,
CHAB. W. COLLINS,
Engineer & Patent Agent,
Manchester.
HENRY LANCASTER. (L.S.)