IMPROVEMENTS IN SAFETY APPARATUS APPLICABLE TO CERTAIN BOILERS AND
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Dircks, of the Patent Agency Office, 32,
Moorgate Street, in the City of London, Engineer, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN SAFETY APPARATUS APPLICABLE TO CERTAIN BOILERS AND
Sealed the 18th July 1854, and dated the 20th January 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Dircks at tho
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 20th
January 1854.
I, HENRY DIRCKS, of the Patent Agency Office, 32, Moorgate Street, in the
City of London, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN SAPETY APPARATUS APPLICABLE TO CERTAIN BOILERS AND
STILLS" to be as follows:-
My Invention relates to the application of a refrigeratory process, to reduce
the temperature of liquids in boilers, stills, coppers, and other vessels when
the same have acquired a danger heat, liable to occasion the accident of the
explosion of closed vessels, and the boiling over of open vessels, such safety
apparatus also in some instances having peculiar guages or alarums, to
indicate excessive temperature and consequent danger.
I effect the reduction of temperature by means of an apparatus formed by
circulating through boilers or other vessels a sufficient quantity of tubing, which

page_text: enters the vessel at its upper side, and passes through any convenient part of
the lower side, and is made air and water tight at its junction with the sides
of such vessel. The upper end of this tube communicates with an elevated
cistern of water, which can be turned on or off by a water-cock on the tube
near the boiler. Now, if a closed or open boiler thus provided requires
cooling down, it is evident that on turning the water-cock the water from the
cistern will flow through the pipe circulating in the boiler, and thereby act as
a refrigerator on its contents.
To render this apparatus self-acting,-I add a lever-handle to the water-
cock, one end being over an aperture in the boiler, supplied with a brass
collar, covered by a suitable strong metal plate, in which is a stuffing box
with a rod sliding through it, the upper end of which rod is attached to the
ever handle of the water-cock. Withinside the boiler hangs a metal chain
rom the same plate, terminating in a-ring of fusible metal, carrying a weight,
rom which weight also proceeds a short chain attached to the end of the
before named sliding rod. It is clear, therefore, that when the heat within
the boiler melts the the fusible alloy ring, the weight will drop from the ring
and chain, by which it first hung to the metal plate, and will then hang by the
chain terminating the sliding rod, draw down the same, depress the lever
handle of the water-cock,, and so put the refrigerator into action as before
described. This self-action dependent on the fusible metal may be variously
modified, as may also the refrigerator, particularly by arrangements for
employing cold air in place of water, and the situation of the weight may be
either internal or external.
That portion of the apparatus which actuates the lever handle of the
water-cock may either at the same time or independently work alarums or
indicators to give warning of danger beats. I am thus enabled, by selecting
fusible alloys, fusing at different known temperatures, to indicate on suitable
scales gradations of danger heats, and likewise to operate on springs, weights,
steam whistles, bells, and the like.
My apparatus may, therefore, be used self-acting, both to announce and to
allay danger simultaneously, or be worked by hand, or by a float and standard,
when only used to prevent boiling over, or one part thereof may be employed
simply to indicate the state of the contents of boilers. And the novelty of my
Invention consists in the adaptation of the arrangements employed for cooling
the contents of boilers or stills, when arrived at danger heats, and in the
peculiar modes of applying fusible metal, to regulate the several operations of
my apparatus.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Henry Dircks in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 20th
July 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
DIRCKS, of the Patent Agency Office, 32, Moorgate Street, in the City of
London, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the seventeenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Henry Dircks, Her special licence that I, the said Henry Dircks, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Henry
Dircks, 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 SAFETY APPARATUS
APPLICABLE TO CERTAIN BOILERS AND STILLS," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Henry Dircks, by an instrument in writing under my hand and
seal, 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 Henry Dircks, 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 state-
ment-
My said Invention relates, firstly, to a novel arrangement and application
of a refrigerator, to be used either self-acting or otherwise, to reduce the
temperature of liquids in boilers, stills, coppers, and other like vessels, when
the same have acquired a temperature liable to occasion the accidents of the
explosion of closed vessels, and the boiling over of open vessels; and,.
secondly, to peculiar indicators, or guages, and alarums, to be connected
therewith, or employed independently, to give warning, & indicate excessive
heat and consequent danger.
And for the better understanding of my said Invention, I will now proceed
to describe the details thereof, reference being had to the Drawings hercunto
annexed, in which the same letters and figures apply to like parts throughout.

page_text: I would first observe, however, that it has hitherto been usual when attempt-
ing to give increased security to steam boilers to provide cither improved
safety valves, or other like means, for the ready escape of any excess of steam
generated. Now, my safety apparatus is constructed on an entirely different
principle, for in the event of danger heat occurring, I would, by preference,
prevent the escape of any steam whatever, if possible, at unduly high tem-
peratures, and in lieu thereof condense the excess of steam by means of a
refrigerator within the boiler or other vessel.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 is a longitudinal section of one arrangement of my safety appa-
ratus, applied to a common cylindrical steam-boiler; and Figure 2 is a
transverse section of the same; A, being the boiler; B, a coil of pipe therein,
bent to any required form, entering the boiler at a, through a suitable collar,
and so also in like manner secured at a', where it escapes at the lower side of
the boiler, and may thence be directed to the furnace, grate, ashpit, or clse-
where. The pipe B rises vertically from a, as at B', to a cold water cistern C,
at any convenient elevation, the flow of water being checked at D, by a water-
cock, which can be turned on or off by its lever handle b, e; at E is a metal
collar on an aperture in the boiler, of three or four inches in diameter, or
thereabouts, having a strong cover c, and a stuffing box at d, with a rod, c, f,
working therein, from which hangs a chain f, g, having a fusible metal link
or ring ; into the cover c is screwed a metal rod or hanger i, hooked at its
lower end, and fastened by an eye therein to the lower link g of the chain f, g;
this chain, and the rod e, f, thus prevent the descent of the weight W, attached
at b to the lever b, e; but on the melting of the fusible metal ring h, the
weight W depresses the lever handle b, opens the water-cock D, and allows
the flow of water from the cistern C, through the pipe B', and thence through
the coil B, within the boiler A, and thereon the coil B will act as a refri-
gerator, without any portion of the cold water escaping into the boiler.
Figure 3 is an enlarged view of another arrangement of the fusible metal.
E, E, is a copper or other metal tube, having a cover at c', and closed at
its lower end E"; at j, j, the tube has an external screw, and screws into
a strong metal collar, secured to an aperture in the top of the boiler. I
is the water-cock; e', 6', its lever handle, and W, the weight, as before
described; but at e', the lever has attached to it the rod e, f, g, which goes
centrally down the tube until it nearly touches the bottom, and is retained in
its place by pouring in melted fusible metal h', g', which on cooling becomes a
solid metal plug. The length of the tube E', E", may be continued until it

page_text: reaches the boiler bottom, or be as much shorter as desired. On the melting
of the plug h', g', the weight W, being released, will depress the lever, and
draw the rod e', f', g', upwards, and thus set the refrigerator in action.
The two arrangements for operating the lever handle of the water-cock D
are capable of being differently constructed in their details. Thus the
weight W may be within the boiler, suspended by a fusible metal ring,
which, on melting, the weight will cause the descent of the lever handle, or a
spiral or other spring may take the place of the weight; so likewise a weight
or spring might be employed to cause the rod in the tube E' to pierce tho
fusible metal on its melting, resting on its surface while hard; but in principle
these plans are all of like effect to open the water-cock D, which is the object
to be attained.
I sometimes employ fusible metals to operate indicators or alrums only.
Thus, Figure 3, by itself, would indicate to the eye, by the descent of the
weight W', that the boiler was unduly heated, and, therefore, might be so
used; likewise the portion D, E, W, of Figure 1, and the several modifica-
tions of both, without the refrigerator. It is evident also that the same action
which serves to open the water-cock D may therewith, or by itself, be made
to ring a bell, or if the weight, spring, or lever be attached to a bell wire,
the notice may in like manner be conveyed to a distance, thus acting as an
alarum.
Having thus described several modes of carrying out my said Invention, I
would here remark, that in applying the refrigerator to stills, coppers, and
other like vessels, merely to prevent boiling over, the expansion of the boiling
liquid may be made to raise a fluat, carrying a vertical shaft, attached to the
lever handle of the water-cock D. Or, when indicators of danger heats are
used, but not connected to the refrigeratory apparatus, the lever handle may
in such cases be turned by hand, to supply the refrigerator; and in like
manner the violent ebullition of boiling liquids in coppers and similar vessels
may be immediately allayed.
The novelty of my said Invention consists in the adaptation of a refrigera-
tory process to boilers or stills when over heated, and also in the peculiar
modes of applying fusible metals, melting at known temperatures, to regulate
and render the operations of my said apparatus self-acting, and in other appli-
cations for indicators and alarums; and as the same are capable of numerous
modifications, I do not limit myself to the precise form, dimensions, material,
or situation of the several parts thereof, nor to any particular compositions of
fusible alloys, or shape in which the same shall be used; but I do declare that
what I claim as my improvements are, namely,―

page_text: First, the novel arrangement and application of a self-acting refrigerator.
Second, the peculiar application of the refrigeratory apparatus, however i
other ways actuated.
Third, the peculiar arrangements for steam boiler indicators and alarums.
And, fourth, the novel applications of fusible alloys to operate boiler safety
apparatus, without the emission of steam, as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Dircks, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Nineteenth day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four.
HENRY DIRCKS. (L.S.)