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Spencer-Hopwood Boilers
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Author:  Roger Cooke [ 25 Apr 2013, 18:11 ]
Post subject:  Re: Spencer-Hopwood Boilers

Steve, it's good to hear of your boiler overhaul, and I wish you every success.

With the overhaul of the boiler for GWR 2 we took the firebox out, which made it possible to replace the stay tubes. It made tube replacement very straightforward and also made various other repairs a lot simpler.

It was actually surprisingly easy to remove and refit the firebox. There are photos in my GWR 2 overhaul thread.

Author:  Mardi [ 04 Mar 2017, 00:30 ]
Post subject:  Re: Spencer-Hopwood Boilers

Here are the patent details:- http://patentimages.storage.googleapis. ... 743918.pdf

Author:  David Withers [ 04 Mar 2017, 10:37 ]
Post subject:  Re: Spencer-Hopwood Boilers

That's a most interesting find. Thanks very much for sharing it with us.

However, like so many patents, it describes only an improvement to an existing design. The 'improvement' in this case is the addition of baffling and heat-absorbing members in dead spaces within a vertical-flue, water-tube, boiler.

I haven't come across the invention in my very limited experience of vertical boilers, but that's not to say it wasn't incorporated in some boilers at some point (but not those in breakdown cranes so far as I'm aware).


The 'legalese' wording of patents can be very difficult to follow, and it is often easiest to refer to the 'Claims' (towards the end of the document) to see exactly what the invention is about. Claim 1 is usually the most revealing, the claims that follow it being further embodiments (i.e. invention as already claimed but with refinements).

Author:  Mardi [ 10 Mar 2017, 02:11 ]
Post subject:  Re: Spencer-Hopwood Boilers

You are very welcome..... I found your thread while doing family research. Spencer-Hitchcock is a distant relation. Guess you know he is related to Alfred Hitchcock the famous film director.
Does this link give you anything more?

http://www.google.com/patents/US1743918

Author:  David Withers [ 10 Mar 2017, 11:04 ]
Post subject:  Re: Spencer-Hopwood Boilers

Often a patent will cite earlier patents, papers, etc, of relevance (known formally as 'prior art') which can be very useful in tracing histories, but unfortunately this one doesn't help in that respect.

Every snippet of information is potentially useful though, and the link to Alfred Hitchcock is interesting, so thanks again for the information.

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