IMPROVE- MENTS IN APPARATUS TO PROMOTE CIRCULATION IN LOCOMOTIVE STEAM BOILERS
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Robert Sinclair, of Glasgow, in the County of
Lanark, North Britain, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN APPARATUS TO PROMOTE CIRCULATION IN LOCOMOTIVE STEAM
BOILERS." A communication from abroad by William Blanc Mack,
residing in Detroit, Michigan, United States.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Robert Sinclair at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
20th April 1870.
I, ROBERT SINCLAIR, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North
Britain, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS TO PROMOTE CIRCULATION IN LOCOMOTIVE STEAM
BOILERS," which Invention has been communicated to me from abroad
by William Blane Mack, residing in Detroit, Michigan, United States,
to be as follows, that is to say :-
This Invention has for its object the obtaining of improved circulation
of the water in locomotive steam boilers, with the view of facilitating the
production of steam.

page_text: The Invention consists in fixing a chamber to the bottom of the barrel
of the boiler at the front end, which is the coolest point, and in leading
a pipe or pipes from such chamber towards the fire-box, branches from
such pipes being carried round the fire-box, and being connected to the
bottom of the water space surrounding the fire-box at the corners or at
other points. With this arrangement the water in the boiler will
circulate with a strong steady current which will greatly facilitate the
separation of the steam. The pipe or pipes under the barrel of the boiler
are made to project inside the chamber at the front end of the boiler,
their ends being turned up inside; and the chamber bottom is fitted
with a stop-cock for periodically discharging the sediment or mud which
will have a tendency to collect in the chamber from the action of the
current.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Robert Sinclair in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 19th October 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ROBERT
SINCLAIR, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North Britain, Engineer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of April, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the thirty-third
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said Robert Sinclair, Her special licence that I,
the said Robert Sinclair, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said Robert Sinclair, my executors, adminis-
trators, 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
TO PROMOTE CIRCULATION IN LOCOMOTIVE STEAM BOILERS," (a communication to
me from abroad by William Blane Mack, residing in Detroit, Michigan,
United States), upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Robert Sinclair, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in

page_text: 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 Robert Sinclair, 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 in writing, reference being had to the accom-
panying Drawing, that is to say:-
The said Invention has for its object the obtaining of an improved
constant and equable circulation or current of the water in locomotive
steam boilers, so as to distribute the heated water equally and uniformly
to all parts of the boiler, thereby facilitating a regular production of steam
and causing a more even expansion of the boiler plates and greatly
lessening their liability to rupture, as well as the liability and danger of
explosions.
And in order that the said Invention, and the manner of performing
the same may be properly understood, I have hereunto appended a Sheet
with an explanatory Drawing to be herein-after referred to, and repre-
senting a locomotive steam boiler in sectional side elevation as fitted
with the improved circulation apparatus.
The Invention consists in fixing a chamber 1 to the bottom of the
barrel 2, at the front end, which being furthest from the fire is the
coolest point, and in leading a pipe 3 (or it might be two or more pipes)
from such chamber 1 towards the fire-box end 4 of the boiler, branches 5
from such pipe 3, or pipes being carried round the fire-box and being
connected to the bottom of the water space surrounding the fire-box at
the corners 6, or at other points. With this arrangement the water in
the boiler will circulate with a strong steady current from the further
end 2, through the pipes 3, 5, to the bottom of the fire-box end 4, and
thence upwards inside the boiler at the several sides of the fire-box, and
this current will greatly facilitate the separation of the steam. The
pipe 3 under the barrel 2 of the boiler is made to project up through
one 7 of the openings 7, 8, by which the chamber 1 communicates with
the interior of the boiler; and the current inside the boiler towards the
mouth of the pipe 3 will cause any sediment or mud to be carried into
the chamber 1, wherein it will collect, and whence it may be removed

page_text: periodically by means of a blow off stop-cock 9 provided for the purpose.
If preferred the pipes for inducing the circulation may be arranged
partly or entirely in the interior of the boiler, as indicated by the dotted
lines 10, 11.
Having thus particularly described the said Invention, and the manner
in which the same is to be performed, I have to state that it is not
restricted to the precise details herein described or delineated, but that
what I believe to be novel and original, and claim as secured to me
by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is, the fitting of
locomotive steam boilers with circulating pipes and sediment collector, 1
arranged and combined substantially as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Robert Sinclair, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of October, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy.
Witness,
EDMUND HUNT,
Patent Agent,
Glasgow.
ROBT. SINCLAIR. (L.S.)