Improvements in or relating to the Distributing or Regulating Valves of Regenerative Gas Furnaces for Steel Melting and analogous purposes.
Year: 1890

page_text: Date of Application, 23rd Dec., 1890
Complete Specification Left, 16th Sept., 189'-Accepted, 17th Oct., 1891
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or relating to the Distributing or Regulating
Valves of Regenerative Gas Furnaces for Steel Melting and
analogous purposes.
I, ISAAC BEARDMORE of Lymington Lodge, Bothwell, in the County of Lanark,
North Britain, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
This invention which relates to improvements in or relating to the distributing
or regulating valves of regenerative gas furnaces for steel melting and analogous
purposes has for its object to keep the valves gas tight; my improvements also
relate to the construction of the passages or culverts leading the gas to the furnace
and also relating to the flues to the chimney and to the valves in connection
therewith.
.
In the carrying out of my invention I construct each of the gas valves as
cylinders, so as to contain a supply of water around their central gas passages
which may be lined either inside or outside if desired with fire clay or brick or
other non-heat conducting material; immediately above the said central gas
passages I mount a dome shaped cover or valve in such a manner that when it is
lowered its edge dips into the water contained in the cylinder and so seals it. The
said domes which may be made of cast or malleable iron or both, or of fire clay or
any other suitable material, are connected to the lower ends of adjustable vertical
spindles which pass up through the said cylinders covers; the said covers may be
made so to act as relieve valves in cases of internal explosions occurring, by making
them loose and simply laid in position and their edges sealed by a sand or fire
clay joint; or they may be fixed if desired by bolts and nuts when not required to
act as relieve valves. The said adjustable vertical spindles are preferably pro-
vided with means whereby the said valves or domes may be raised or lowered as
desired so as to regulate the supply of gas, as well as for means to open and close
the said valves or domes; the said cylinders are also provided near their lower ends
with a suitable tar receiving tank, having a tight fitting cover thereon, and the
supply of water is preferably obtained by means of a tank and ball cock so as to
keep the height of the water the same, and I also provide suitable siphon shaped
overflow pipes having tar plugs for cleaning purposes. The whole arrangement
being such that on the dome being raised the gas passes underneath its edge and
thence down the central passage and so on, and on the dome being shut or lowered
the gas cannot pass as the domes edges are sealed by the water in the cylinder;
there is one of such valves employed over each passage or culvert to the furnace
for reversing the gas currents.
Within the passage or culvert to the chimney I employ a suitable flat-
hinged outlet valve, or a conical raising and lowering outlet valve, either
of which may be made of malleable or cast iron or both, and if desired
lined with fire brick or clay, or they may be made of fire clay, the said
outlet valves being suitably connected to adjustable spindles or rods, so as to
regulate the air and waste heat currents, and therefore prolong the duration of the
gas chamber of furnace, which at present has a much shorter duration than the air
chamber. The said outlet valves are also provided with suitable covers which
may act as relieve valves in cases of explosions, and the said valves themselves
may be so mounted as to act as relieve valves, as also the domes of gas valves if
desired, which is not the case with ordinary butterfly or other valves; the whole
of said valves may be connected by suitable mechanical means, preferably by rods,
levers, bell cranks etc. in such a manner as to be worked jointly or separately.

page_text: In some cases I may divide the passages or culverts by a longitudinal partition
for the purpose of ensuring the more perfect flow of said currents of gas and air,
or I may lower the roof of said culverts or passages in front of the said outlet
valves, so as to ensure the more perfect flow of said currents of gas and air, that
is to keep the waste heat currents lower than the gas currents, so as to assist in
preventing any tendency of the gas being attracted to said outlet valves to chimney.
Dated this 22nd day of December 1890.
JOHNSONS,
115, St. Vincent Street, Glasgow, Petitioner's Agents.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or relating to the Distributing or Regulating
Valves of Regenerative Gas Furnaces for Steel Melting and
analogous purposes.
I, ISAAC BEARDMORE, of Lymington Lodge Bothwell, in the County of
Lanark, North Britain, Gentleman, 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 which relates to improvements in or relating to the distributing
or regulating valves of regenerative gas furnaces for steel melting and analogous
purposes, has for its object to keep the valves gas tight; my improvements also
relate to the construction of the passages or culverts leading the gas to the furnace,
and also to the flues to the chimney and to the valves in connection therewith.
In order that my said invention may be more readily understood and easily
carried into effect I will proceed to describe the same with reference to the accom-
panying explanatory sheets of drawings, throughout which the same reference letters.
denote similar parts.
=
Figure 1, is a sectional elevation and Figure 2 a plan of one arrangement of
improvements.
my.
Figure 3 is a sectional elevation and Figure 4 a plan of another arrangement of
same, and
Figure 5 is a sectional detail of a modification.
Referring to the said drawings I construct each of the gas valves 1, 2, as
cylinders A, so as to contain a supply of water around their central gas passages B,
which may if desired be lined either_inside_or_outside_with.fire_clay,.or_brick.or
other non conducting material; immediately above the said central gas passages B,
I mount a dome shaped cover or valve C, in such a manner that when it is lowered
its edge dips into the water contained in the cylinder A and so seals it. The
said domes C, which may be made of cast or malleable iron or both or of fire clay,
or any other suitable material are preferably mounted or hung on the lower ends
of adjustable vertical spindles D in such a manner as to be free to slide up and
down the spindles which pass up through the covers A' of said cylinders A, thus
acting as relief valves C, in cases of internal explosions occurring, and the said
covers A', are preferably so constructed as to act also as relief valves, that is to
say, by mounting them loosely on the top of the cylinders A, with their edges a¹
lying in the circular trough a formed on or attached to the outside top of said
cylinders A the joint being if desired sealed by sand or fireclay in said troughs a..
The said vertical spindles D are provided at their top ends with slots d³, which.
allow the said valves a slight drop into their seats and so ensure their perfect
closing, and the said spindles D are preferably made in two pieces one of which
has a sleeve d attached and into which the end of the other piece enters, there
being a number of holes d' in the sides of the sleeve d and in the end of the rod
through which a pin d² is passed, thus connecting the two pieces in such a manner,
that they may be readily adjusted so as to regulate the opening of the domes C,
when desired to alter or regulate the supply of gas. The said spindles D also act

page_text: as means for opening and closing the said domes C. The said cylinders A and
central passages B which may be made of cast or malleable iron or both may be
constructed as shown in the drawings, that is in separate parts and connected
together by means of a soleplate E and rust or other joints e, though if desired they
may be made in one piece. Near the lower ends of said cylinders A, I provide a
suitable tar receiving tank F having a tight fitting cover thereon, and the supply
of water is preferably obtained from a tank by means of the piping G, the said
tank having a suitable ball cock so as always to keep the height of the water the
same, and which may also be assisted by means of suitable siphon shaped overflow
pipes or as is shown in the drawings by overflow pockets G', which may if desired
be provided with suitable tar plugs for cleaning purposes, the whole arrangement
being such that on the dome C, being raised as shown in valve 1, Figure 1, the gas
passes underneath its edge c, thence down the central passage B, and so on, and on
the dome C being lowered, as shown in valve 2, Figure 1, and valve 1, Figure 3,
the gas cannot pass the dome's edges e which are sealed by the water in the
cylinders A, thus forming a distributing or regulating valve which is easily and
efficiently kept gas tight, and which may be used in a regenerative furnace in the
ordinary manner, that is to say, by mounting one of such valves over each of the
passages or culverts H which lead the gas to the furnace so as to enable the currents
of gas being reversed.
;
Within each of the passages or culverts J which lead the waste heat to chimney
I mount an outlet valve K, which may be a conical raising and lowering valve L,
or a flat hinged valve L, Figure 5, either of which may be made of cast or
malleable iron or both, and if desired lined with fire brick or clay, or they may be
made of fire clay the said outlet valves L are mounted or hung on the lower ends
of adjustable spindles or rods M preferably in such a manner as to be free to slide
up and down the said spindles, and so act as relief valves in cases of explosions,
though they may also be fixed to the lower end of the spindle if desired, the
spindles or rods M being provided at their top ends with slots d, adjusting sleeve d,
holes d', and pin d as already described so as to permit of the outlet valves L
being properly closed and adjusted so as to regulate the air and waste heat
currents and therefore prolong the duration of the gas chamber of furnace, which
at present has a much shorter duration than the air chamber. The said outlet
valves K are also provided with covers N preferably constructed and mounted in a
similar manner to the dome valve covers A' so as also to act as relief valves, their
troughs n being formed in a soleplate which if desired may be as shown that is to
say formed in one with the main soleplate E. The whole of the said reversing
dome valves C and outlet valves K may be connected to each other by any suitable
mechanical means, preferably by rods, levers, bell cranks etc. in such a manner as
to be worked jointly or separately. One modification or arrangement of same I
have shown in Figure 1 of the drawings for working the valves jointly, the
or efficient working of the levers, rods etc. being effected by means of the weighted
levers P and the valves also caused to drop down into their seats by means of the
slots on top ends of spindles.
proper
In order to permit of the gas connecting pipe Q being easily cleaned when
desired I preferably form or provide each of the valve casings A with a hinged
door A², through which a brush or other cleaner may be inserted; and in order to
provide means for cleaning the junction R, I also provide a door R¹ in the lower
side of the connecting pipe Q.
In some cases I may divide the passages or culverts H leading to the furnace by
a partition for the purpose of ensuring the more perfect flow of said currents of gas
and air, or 1 may lower the roof of said passages or culverts H in front of the
said outlet valves K as shown at H' so as to ensure a more perfect flow of the said
currents of gas and air, that is to say, to keep the waste heat currents lower than
the gas currents, so as to assist in preventing any tendency of the gas being
attracted to the said outlet valves K to chimney..
It is to be understood that my improvements are applicable to furnaces having

page_text: all their reversing and outlet valves in line as is shown in Figures 1 and 2, or to
furnaces having their reversing and outlet valves arranged side by side as is shown
in Figures 3 and 4.
In both of these arrangements it will be seen that owing to the outlet valve
being placed side by side or at either end of the gas valve, there is no tendency of
any tar getting at it, and so clogging it; also owing to the said outlet valve being
on a lower level than the top of the gas culvert H, there is no tendency, should the
said outlet valve be not perfectly close, of the gas current being drawn to the
chimney as of course the light gas always tends to flow highest.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what 1
claim is :-
1st. The general arrangement, construction, and combination of the various parts
constituting my improved distributing or regulating valve, substantially as described
with reference to the annexed drawings.
2nd. The general arrangement, construction and combination of the water con-
taining cylinder A, central passage B, relief dome C, and relief cover A',
substantially as and for the purposes hereinbefore described and shown in the
accompanying drawings.
3rd. The general arrangement, construction and combination with my improved
distributing or regulating valve, of the outlet valve K, cover N, and culvert H,
having its roof in front of said outlet valve K, lowered or provided with a
partition, all substantially as and for the purposes hereinbefore described and
shown in the accompanying drawings.
4th. The general arrangement, construction and combination with my improved
distributing or regulating valve of the means whereby all or any of the said valves
and their covers may be caused to act as relief valves, all substantially as and for
the purposes herein before described and-shown in the accompanying drawings.
Dated this 15th day of September 1891.
JOHNSONS,
115, St. Vincent Street, Glasgow, Applicant's Agents.