US66387A - p r a t t - Google Patents

Description

E. LJPRANTT. STEAM BOILER CLEANER.

Patented July 2,1867.

gnifrh gtstrewfiatmt E. LQ-PR TT, OF B osr 0 N], MASSACHUSETTS.

i I Letters Patent No. 166,387, dated July 2, 1867.

IMPROYBMENT IN BOILER-TUBE as Ens.

TO ALL n ne)! 11'; MAY coNcnnN;

Be it known that I, L; PRATT, of Boston, in the'coun'ty of Sufi'olkfand State of Massachusetts, have invented an' improved Boiler-Tube Scraper; and I do hereby declare that the following, taken in connection with the drawings which accompany and form part of this specification, is a description of my invention s uflicient to enable those skilled in the artto practise it.

' The invention relates to the constriiction of a scraper for cleaning the tubes of steam boilers, and consists primarily in an arrangement of a series of segmental or sectional scraping-blades around a'centralrod or spindle made movable longitudinally within the scrapers, \\hich are so arranged with relation to a tube-or sleeve through which the ,rod passes, and with relation to cxpanding shanlis' byuhich they are connected with and hung to a head attached to the sleeve, and to anenlargement formed on the rod,' that while they may be introduced into the tnbe in a contracted or closed form to any depthpermittedbythe length of the sleeve, theymay be expanded so as to bring their scraping cdgesagainst;thesides of th e tube to be cleaned; bydriving. the rod inwards by a blow or pressure upon the head thereof, and-in thisexpanded position maybe drawn from the 3 tube, orreciprocatcd within it, by longitudinal lnoi etnent'of th e-- s1cc i',e, in' such manneras to .scrape all alldeposits'upon the surfac'e of said tube. The shanks at;,tire-endsat which {thescrapers are fixed or formed are jointed to the head so as to permit a slight rocking motion'imcach scraping edge, and cach-is cushioned upon 7 V as pring uhich bears thc' sc rapers against the surface of the tube, \ihen theyflareex panded, but allows them to ."yieldso'm'eirhat to resisting inequalities inobstructionsjnponfthc surface being scraped. y 1 The dra vings represent a scraper embodying my inventioinffA shows aside view of the seme /the scraping fedgcsfbeing closed together. I}, a centralsectioinsaidjetlges binglexpandem C, a cross-section through the "pins, by which the scrapers are connected to the head. Il a: cross-section taken on the line :v. a denotes a headQha ving" slots b on its side s, in.uhich are pivoted,fon.pins c, shanks it, having fixed upon or preferably formed,integraluritlitheir-frec ends,-segmental bladesio ls cl'ape rsQi2, the enter edge of each of which is formed witha cunve concentric, orapproximately concentric, with t-he inner surfacejof the tube to be cleaned. The head dis scre ii'ed orlothern'ise fastened upon thcendof as-leve, f, through which extends a rod, g, upon the end of uhichtniay befixed asap, IL, and-this rodhas nponl 'it-sng; enlargement or expander, ll, as seen at B. Each shank piece d hassccured to-itslinner face a long-spring,ltfbending inwardly toward the axis of the rod vg, andirhen tbe bladese arc; contracted or closed "together,1;thc spfingscome up to or nearly into contact with the rod, with the ex-pander i drawn just within these bonds, as seen at .A. ln this condition the blades are introduced into a tnbe, l, to be cleaned, and are carried to the rear end thereof, the sleeve f being made of requisite length for that pnrpose.' When bionght to the pointixt which the scraping lsto commence, the rod g is forced inwardly, driving "the expander 2' against the springaandforcing thesprings outwardly, thereby expanding the blade e and forcing their scraping'edges againstthe innensurface of the tube, "the cap it arrestingthc inward movement of the rod, so as to leave the expaiider 1' against the bends in the springs. If the sleeve f be now drawn from the tube, it will be'obviousthat the blades 0 will draw with them the accumulations of soot, &c., deposited on the inner surface of the ,tube, cushionin'gthe blades by means of the springs, enabling them to yield to the natural or permanent inequalities in the surface of the tube; The shanks d may have springs formed integral withthem, or may have/their inner surfaces-formed with inclines to be acted upon by the enlargement on the rod bnt cushioning the shanksupon the springs, as shown, is 'considered preferable.

It is desirable that each blade should be capable of a slight rocking movement in the line of its edge, for which purposeeach pivot hole, m, is first made of size to correspond-withthe'diameter of the pin a, and the hole is then reamed out at each side towards the centre, as seen at C, thereby enabling the shank, and-through it the dge of the blade, to rock as may be necessary to cause it tomcat the surface of" the tube, the slot '6 being of enough greater width than the'thickness of the shank to permit such rocking movement. Each shank with its blade is preferably made of malleable cast'iron, formingthe two in one piece of metal, rendering the blade much more enduring than if it were fastened upon theshank. Each blade has one part, n, below the otheri part, a, to allow the part'o of the next adjacent blade to shut in under it when the blades are closed together.

Scrapers made, ,as shown and described, are found "very eflicient in removing carbondeposits from boilertubes, and are greatly superior to brushes and other devices heretofore 'used forsucll purpose, ivhile the instrument is inexpensive as well as enduring, and is very easily manipulated.

When necessary or desirable to contract the blades while they are expanded within the tube, the rod is drawn outwardly, causing the expander to strike the inner ends of the shanks, and thereby to draw together the blades, as will b: readily understood. I v

I claim, in combination with a series of scraping-blades arranged as described, a sliding-rod, by movement of which the scraping edges may be expanded or contracted when they arewit-llin a tube, substantially as described.

Also, in combination with the blades and their shanks and the movable rod, the springs upon which the shanks are cushioned when the blades are expanded, substantially as set forth.

E; L; PRATT.

Witnesses.

F. GOULD, S. B. Kmmm.

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