Improvements in or relating to Means or Apparatus for Cleaning the Tubes of Tubular Boilers.
Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application, 1st July, 1899
Complete Specification Left, 7th Sept., 1899-Accepted, 7th Oct., 1899
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or relating to Means or Apparatus for Cleaning the
Tubes of Tubular Boilers.
We, WILLIAM Fox, of Stony Royd, Whitehall Road, Low Wortley, Leeds, in
the County of York, Woollen Manufacturer, and HENRY LAVERACK, of 20, Far
Fold, Armley, Leeds aforesaid, Stoker, do hereby declare the nature of this
invention to be as follows:-
This invention relates to improvements in means or apparatus for cleaning or
removing deleterious matter, such as scale, from the exterior of the tubes of say
a marine or other tubular boiler.
The object of the present invention is to provide a tool of simple construction
that will more readily and quickly clean the tubes of tubular boilers than by
means now employed.
According to this invention the tool is made, say, tong shaped and of metal
such as, say, wrought iron or steel, and its head or principal portion is made in,
say, two parts arranged to be hooked or otherwise interlocked together, to enable
it more readily to engage with and embrace the tube to be cleaned. At the main
end of the tool a circular or other shaped tapering hole is provided. The peri-
phery or wall of the said hole is provided with serrated or ratchet like teeth for
removing the scale. The said tapering hole may be made at its smallest diameter,
say, the same size as, or slightly larger than the original diameter of the tube
to be cleaned, whilst the larger diameter of the said hole may be, say, half an
inch, more or less as occasion requires-larger than the diameter of said tube
for the purpose of more readily gripping and removing the said scale or other
impurity adhering to the periphery of the tube. Each portion of the tool is
provided with an extending arm of a suitable length with an inner projection
formed thereon in which a portion of the said tapering hole is formed.
said inner projections answer the double purpose of providing means for the
complete formation of the said tapering hole, as well as allowing for the arms
being kept at such a distance apart so that not only may one or more tubes pass
between them but there is also space to oscillate or work the head of the tool
backwards and forwards on the tube it is made to embrace for cleaning purposes.
Means, such as, say, a hook or link, may or may not be employed for holding
the outer ends of the extending arms together when the head portion is made
to clasp or clamp the tube for cleaning purposes.
The
The extending arms may each be provided with a number of lengthening
pieces screwed, or otherwise fixed thereto or arranged, say, telescopically therein
or thereon. By this means the tubes in, say, the middle, and lower rows may
be as easily and readily cleaned as those in, say, the upper row.
T
J this Thintieth day of June 1899.
WILLIAM FOX,
HENRY LAVERACK,
By W. Fairburn-Hart,
Agent.

page_text: Improvements in or relating to Means or Apparatus for Cleaning the
Tubes of Tubular Boilers.
We, WILLIAM Fox, of Stony Royd, Whitehall Road, Low Wortley, Leeds, in
the County of York, Woollen Manufacturer, and HENRY LAVERACK, of 20, Far
Fold, Armley, Leeds aforesaid, Stoker, do hereby declare the nature of this
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement:-
This invention relates to improvements in means or apparatus for cleaning or
removing deleterious matter, such as scale, from the exterior of the tubes of, say,
a marine or other tubular boiler.
The object of the present invention is to provide a tool of simple construction
that will more readily and quickly clean the tubes of tubular boilers than by
usual and ordinary means now employed.
in the drawings hereunto annexed we have shown several methods of carry-
ing our invention into practice, which we wish it to be distinctly understood
are to be taken as examples only, as they may be varied to suit circumstances.
Fig. 1 is an elevation of a tool constructed according to this invention.
Fig. 2 a plan of same.
Fig. 3 an elevation of the tool shown at Fig. 1, with the portions thereof
shown asunder.
Figs. 4 and 5 are elevations of tools with modified forms for interlocking the
parts together.
Fig. 6 a diagrammatic view showing the application of the tool to the tube of
a boiler.
Fig. 7 an elevation of the head of tool showing the teeth arranged in groups.
Fig. S a sectional plan of head of tool with a part parallel and partly tapering
hole formed therein.
Like parts in all the views are marked with similar letters of reference.
The tool is made, as shown, say, tong shaped, and of metal, such as, say,
wrought iron or steel. Its head or principal portion, hereafter termed the
head A, is made in, say, two parts arranged to be hooked or otherwise inter-
locked together, as hereafter described, to enable it the more readily to engage
with and embrace the tube of the boiler to be cleaned.
In the head A of the tool, which may be of any required width, is cut, formed
or otherwise provided a circular or other shaped tapering hole B. A circular
tapering hole is shown in the drawings. If desired a parallel hole, or parallel
for a portion of its length, and tapering for the remainder of its length as at
Fig. 8, may be used in place of a tapering one, but in practice it has been found
that a tapering hole allows the tool to get more readily to its work.
The periphery or wall of the hole B is provided with a number of serrated or
ratchet like teeth C for removing the scale. The teeth C may be arranged, either
entirely around the periphery of the hole B at the same pitch or varying pitches
apart, or in a group or groups at the same or irregular distances apart.
In the drawings at Figs. 1, 4, and 5, the teeth Care shown entirely around
the periphery of the hole B and at the same pitch. But when the teeth C are
made in a group or groups, as at Fig. 7, there will be a space c between the
groups or between the ends of a single group extending from the root or lower
portion of the tooth, that is to say, the space thus left will be of larger diameter
than at the top of the teeth C.

page_text: When the tool is made of wrought iron or steel and the teeth C having been
ormed in the hole B in the head A, the latter is hardened or tempered by
ordinary means and in the usual manner. The tapering hole B is made at its
mallest diameter about, say, the same size as, or slightly larger than the original
liameter of the tube to be cleaned, whilst the larger diameter of the said hole
may be, say, half an inch,-more or less as occasion requires,-larger than the
liameter of said tube for the purpose of more readily gripping and removing
the scale or other impurity adhering to the periphery of the said tube. This
also admits of the tool being used upon tubes which vary slightly in diameter.
The head A of the tool is shown divided into two portions. The division
line D is shown at Figs. 1 and 5 about equidistant from the outer edges of the
head of the tool. But at Fig. 4, the division line is shown nearer to one edge
than the other.
On reference to the drawings it will be seen that the division line on the right
hand side of each view is in the form of a straight horizontal line, whilst at the
left hand thereof it takes an irregular course according to the contour of the
inter-locking device which is formed thereby.
The position of the division line, as well as the form of the same and of inter-
locking device to be used, varies according to circumstances, such as for example,
say, size of tube to be cleaned, and the distance between or pitch of the said
tubes. But in all cases it is essential that the division line D should be so
arranged that only about, say, one half of the hole B should be included in each
portion of the head A. Otherwise difficulty may be experienced in getting the
tool into position on a tube F.
E is an example of interlocking arrangement which has, by experiment, been
found suitable for holding the parts of the tool together when placed in position
on the tube F as shown at Fig. 6. At Figs. 1 to 4 the interlocking arrangement
is shown to consist of a recess e (Fig. 3) and a hooked projection e¹ (Fig. 3)
formed in each portion of the head A (by the course of the division line), and
which are made respectively to fit loosely into each other when the two parts of
the tool are placed together upon a tube as at Fig. 6, that is to say, the hooked
projection el of one portion is made to fit loosely into the recess e of the other
portion as shown at Figs. 1 and 4. But for, say, larger sizes of tools an extra
dovetail G may be provided on one of the parts, as shown at Fig. 5, which is
made to fit loosely into a corresponding shaped recess of the other part. Dove-
tails may also be provided on each portion of the head A, as well as the number
of recesses and projections may be increased as occasion requires. In the draw-
ings square shaped recesses e and hooked projections e¹ are shown, but these
may also vary in their configuration as may be required or desired.
Each portion of the head A of the tool is provided with an extending arm H
of a suitable length with an inner projection I formed thereon and which is
also a part of the head A in which a portion of the tapering hole B is formed.
The space
between the arms H should be always greater than the diameter of the
tube to be cleaned or scaled to permit of the free oscillation of the head A. The said
inner projections vary in length or size according to the position of the division
line D, and they answer the double purpose of providing means for the complete
formation of the said tapering hole, as well as allowing for the arms H being
pass between
kept at such a distance apart so that not only may one or more tubes
them but there is also space to oscillate or work the head A of the tool backwards
and forwards on the tube F it is made to embrace for cleaning purposes.
If desired a similar form of interlocking arrangement to that shown at E
may also be additionally provided in or on the projections I for retaining the
portions of the tool in position on the tube. But for the majority of cases one
set of interlocking parts formed at the point shown in the drawings will be
found to be sufficient.
Means, if desired, such as, say, a hook or link, not shown in the drawings,
may or may not be employed for holding the outer ends of the extending arms

page_text: together when the head portion A is made to clasp or clamp the tube for clean-
ing purposes.
The extending arms H may each be provided with a number of lengthening
pieces J, shown in dotted lines, screwed, or otherwise fixed thereto or arranged,
say, telescopically therein or thereon. The number of lengthening pieces will
vary with the number of rows of the tubes in the boiler. By this means the
tubes in, say, the middle, and lower rows may be as easily and readily cleaned
as those in, say, the upper row.
On reference to Fig. 6 it will be seen that the tool can be used equally in a
horizontal position (shown in dotted lines) as in a vertical position, which is
shown in full lines.
The two portions of the tool are placed separately in position on the tube, and
after being moved in a horizontal direction for causing the parts forming the
interlocking device to mesh together, the tool is then made to embrace or clamp
a tube F, and by rocking or oscillating the tool on a tube F the scale will be
easily removed.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that
what we claim is:
The apparatus for cleaning the tubes of tubular boilers substantially as herein
described and illustrated consisting of a tong like tool made in parts and arranged
to be interlocked together at the head portion thereof, said head being pro-
vided with a central hole, armed with teeth, for clamping the tube to be cleaned,
and with arms to which extension pieces may, or may not, be attached for oscillat-
ing purposes, all constructed and combined as set forth and as illustrated.
Dated this Sixth day of September 1899.
WILLIAM FOX,
HENRY LAVERACK,
By W. Fairburn-Hart,
Agent.