USRE647E - Improvement in safety indicators for steam-boilers - Google Patents

Description

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

I LUCIUS J. KNOVVLE, OF WARREN, MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPROVEMENT IN SAFETY INDICATORS FOR STEAM-BOILERS.

lSpecification forming part of Letters PatenthNo. 16,596 dated February l0, 1857; Reissue No. 530, datcd February 23, 1858; Reissue No. 647, dated January ll, 17359.

To aiZZk whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, LUCIUS J. KNOWLES, of Warren, in the county ot Worcester and State of' Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Safety Feed Apparatus for Steam-Boilers, of which the following is afull, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making part of this specitication, in which- Figure' l is a front elevation of a steamboiler to which my invention has been applied; Fig. 2, a rear view; Fig. 3, an end elevation; Fig. 4, a horizont-al section through the expansion-vessel and its supporting-stand.

Steam-boiler feed-regulators have been contrived, in which by the rise or fall of the water in the boiler more or less steam was admitted to a metallic cylinder orv vessel, which was thus caused to contract or expand the Ysaid vessel, being so connected with the inletcock of the feed-pump as to regulate the feed in accordance with the height of the Water in the boiler. Such arrangement has not, however, been found to be reliable or safe, owing to the various accidental circumstances which may impede and clog the pumps. A similar device has also been proposed as a safety-indicator of the level of the water within the boiler, the expanding tube or vessel being caused to sound an alarm when the water reaches a level below which it would not be safe for it to descend. Such contrivance, however, unaccompanied by any method of regulating the feed-pu1nps, has been found to be ot' no avail, as the attendant is constantly called upon to alter his pumps as the wants of the boiler may vary.

My invention has for its object the regulation of the feed to the exact requirements of the boiler, and in connection therewith the sounding of an alarm when, from accident or from any cause whatever, the feed apparatus shall fail to do its duty; and my invention consists in the adaptation of a telltaleor safety apparatus to the feed apparatus, both the feed and the safety apparatus being controlled by expansion and contraction, the safety apparatus being placed at a level below which it would not be safe for the water within the boiler to descend.

To enable others skilled in the art to underl stand my invention, l will proceed to describe a method of carrying it out. t

In the said drawings, A is a steam-boiler; 13, the feed-water pipe leading from a pump or other feeding apparatus to the boiler. lu is a stan d, which is supported upon the columns K, and carries two metallic expansion steanv is secured to the stand E by a pin, a., the other end being supported by a lever, F. The ves-v sel D is supported at one end by the pin b, which passes into or through the stand, and at the other end it is attached tothe end ofa lever, F2. The pin b' is the fulcrum of the lever F and the pin a. the fulcrum ofthe lever F2. The vessel O is'placed with its centerline on or near the l'evel at which it is desirable that the water shall stand in the boiler. The vessel D is to be placed beneath the other or at a level below which it would not be safe for the water in the boiler to descend. the upper part or stealn-space ot' the boiler and the vessel C a communication is opened through the bent pipe H, and from the opposite end of this vessel to the vessel D passes the pipe Gr, in which are one or more turns or coil c. Frein the opposite end of the vessel D' passes the bent pipe I to the feed-pipe B. As the vessel C expands, the lever F moves around its fulcrum Z1 in the direction of its arrow, and it is connected with the valves or inlet cock ofthe feed-pump, that the amount of water fed to the boiler shall be proportionate to the expansion of the vessel C. The vessel D being firmly attached to the stand at b and at the other end connected with the lever F2, in proportion as it expands this lever is thrown in the direction of its arrow, and it is so connected with the valve of a stean1-whistle that on the vessel D expanding to a certain point, the whistle is sounded. The pipes H and G are bent or coiled to allow of the-free expansion of the vessels C and D, and the pipe I is bent downward at d, Fig. 3, to prevent the water in the vessels C andi) from being heated by any redux from the boiler into the feedpipe B. A

Operation The apparatus above described is so arranged that when the water is at its proper level in the boiler, the vessel or tube G shall be about half filled with water. The

upper halt' of this vessel will then be filled tight vessels, U and D. One end of the vessel O Between with steam entering .by the pipe H. lf now the Water rise in the boiler and in the vessel C above its proper level, this vessel will contract longitudinally, and the feed Will be diminished. i If, on the contrary, the level of the Water in the boiler descend below its proper level, the excess of steam Within the vessel G will cause it to expand and the feed will be increased. Thisvessel thus acts as a consta-nt regulator tothe feed, which can never fail so long as the valves and Water-passages remain in 'order and unobstructed. A valve may, however, be raisedby a chip, or the feed-apparatus may be rendered unfaithful by other slight causes, in which case the feed appara-- tus rabove described, if depended upon, Would prove a source of danger instead of safety. To meet this case and to render my apparatus really a safety apparatus the vessel D is employed. Should noivthe feed apparatus fail to act properly and the Water continue to descend until the steam reaches the vessel D, the expansion of this vessel will open the valve and sound the whistle,`thus calling the attention of the engineer.

This apparatus thus combines in one an efficient feed-regulator and a watchful tell- A tale, readyto give notice should the feed apparatus, from any cause, prove unfaithful.

Byr causing the pipe I to enter the feedpipe B it receives cool Water from the pipe instead' of hot water from the boiler, by which the ap paratus is caused to act With more efficiency ciple of my invention. It is essential, hoW-.

ever, that the two vessels be placed at different levels, that they may only act in succession, the uppermost one being employed to regulate the feed apparatus and the lower one togive the alarm, as described.

rVhatl claim las my invention, and to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A feed apparatus controlled 'by expandesire sion and contraction, in combination with an expansion tell-tale placed below the desired Waterievel and above the level to which it would not be safe for the Water in the boiler to descend, substantially as set forth.

2. The Within-described arrangement ofthe vessels C and D -as applied and connected with the feed-pumps and steam-Whistle, for

the purpose `of regulating the pump and sounding an alarm, as set forth.

3. Connecting the pipe I With the boiler .by means of the feed-pipe B as set forth, for the purpose described.

Witnesses SAM. COOPER, P. E. TEscHnMAcHER.

L. J. KNO VVLES,

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