AN IMPROVED LOW-WATER ALARM APPARATUS FOR STEAM BOILERS
Year: 1868

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by William Robert Lake at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Pétition, on the
4th November 1868.-A communication from abroad by Theodore
F. Taylor, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America.
I, WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the "International Patent Office,"
No. 8, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the County of
Middlesex, Consulting Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "AN IMPROVED LOW-WATER ALARM APPARATUS FOR STEAM
BOILERS," a communication, to be as follows:-
My Invention relates to an automatic apparatus for indicating a
deficiency of water in steam boilers. The said apparatus is provided
with a whistle or' other similar instrument, which is attached to a tube.
The lower end of the said tube is open, and a little below the desired
water line; when the water sinks below this line steam enters the tube,
and by its heat expands the same. The upper end of the tube is closed
and provided with a socket, which carries the whistle. The socket com-
municates with the steam space of the boiler, and is provided with a
valve. The tube carries a lever which is arranged to open the valve and

page_text: sonnd the whistle when the tube is elongated. The lever is held by a
rod, which is attached to the lower end of the tube, and whose length is
not affected by the admission of steam to the said tube. The tube is
preferably constructed of brass. Upon the upper or closed end of the
tube I fit the socket which carries the whistle. The said socket is
provided with a branch or nozzle, whose outer end communicates with
the steam space of the boiler; in this branch or nozzle I arrange the
valve, which when closed prevents the passage of the steam to the
whistle, but which when opened allows the steam to pass through the
socket to the said whistle, and cause the same to sound. This valve is
kept closed by a spring. The valve spindle or stem projects through the
branch or nozzle, and lies under the end of the lever, which is pivotted
between or upon jaws or ears projecting from the socket. The rod which
holds this lever is preferably made of iron; the said rod extends from
the lower end of the tube to the lever, and is provided with a head,
which has a slot or aperture for the lever to pass through, the top of the
said aperture resting upon the top of the lever a short distance from the
pivot, and between the same and the valve spindle. The lower end of
the rod passes through a foot projecting from the tube, and is provided
with nuts on each side of the said projecting foot, whereby it may be
adjusted accurately to give it the required length between the foot and
the top of the lever. When the water in the boiler sinks below its
proper level and the steam enters the lower or open end of the tube, the
heat of the steam expands or elongates the tube, and carries the pivot of
the lever upward, increasing the distance between the said pivot and the
lower end of the tube. The iron rod which is fixed to the said lower
end, and whose length is not changed by the admission of steam into the
tube, holds the lever, and causes the free end of the same to press upon
the valve spindle, thereby opening the valve and sounding the whistle.