Year: 1887

page_text: 1 PHILIP ARTHUR NEWTON of the Office for Patents, 6 Bream's Buildings,
Chancery Lane in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agent 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 relates to hot air furnaces which are employed for heating buildings,
and an essential object of the invention is to provide a furnace which will economically
heat the air to a desired temperature without burning the oxygen of the air or over-
heating it, and without affording any opportunity, even after continued use, for the
mingling of products of combustion with the heated air.
The principal elements of the improved furnace are a base or foundation, which may
be constructed of masonry or other material, a metal chamber inverted and supported
upon said base, a casing surrounding the chamber and having an inlet for cold air
and an outlet for heated air, and a furnace external to the casing, from which an
escape flue for products of combustion extends through the base or foundation, and
beneath the chamber, and communicates with the interior of the chamber.-In such a
construction, the smoke and hot gases pass through the escape flue and into the
interior of the chamber, in which they circulate, and the air contained within the
surrounding casing is heated by contact with the exterior of this chamber.-Usually,
two or more metal chambers will be arranged in a line or row within a suitable casing,
and upon a foundation, and the products of combustion passing from the external
furnace through the escape flue, will pass into and circulate in the metal chambers
in succession.

page_text: here large mans or unings are to be neared, two or more lines or rows of
such metal chambers may be arranged on a single foundation, and within a single
air casing, and from the external furnace as many flues as there are lines or
rows of chambers will lead through the foundation or base, and each flue will
communicate in succession with all the chambers in its line or row.
In the accompanying drawing,
Fig. 1 is a longitudinal section of a hot air furnace or air heating apparatus
embodying the invention.
Fig. 2 is a transverse vertical section thereof on about the plane indicated by
the dotted line xx Fig. 1.
Fig. 3 is a horizontal section thereof on about the plane indicated by the dotted
line y y Fig. 1.
Fig. 4 is a sectional elevation similar to Fig. 1, of a furnace having but a
single inverted or dome shaped chamber through which the products of combustion
pass and
Fig. 5 is a sectional elevation, similar to Fig. 4, showing a modification of
the invention.
Similar letters of reference designate corresponding parts in all the Figures.
I will first describe the construction shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3.
A designates the base or foundation, which may have a horizontal surface, and
on which a number or series of dome-shaped or inverted chambers B are supported.-
Two such chambers are here represented, and they consist simply of inverted pot
shaped vessels of cast metal resting with an air tight and smoke-tight joint upon
the hed or foundation A, the bed or foundation being usually of brickwork.-The
bed or foundation may be covered upon its surface with a layer b of fire clay, cement,
or other suitable material, which, when laid, is more or less plastic, and each chamber
may have at its lower edges downwardly extending ribs or flanges, which embed
themselves, by the weight of the chamber, and also by any pressure which may be
applied to it, into the facing b of fire clay or other material. The joints which each
chamber B forms with the bed or foundation, may also be luted or covered with fire-
clay, ², to prevent leakage of the products of combustion.
C designates an air casing, which may be of brickwork, and which encloses the
chambers B. The top of this casing is supported by iron bearers or crossbars c¹, and
the side walls of the casing Care at such distance from the opposite sides of the bed
or foundation A, as to form longitudinal channels or spaces c³, as shown in Fig. 2,
for a purpose hereinafter described. In one side of the casing is a door C³, which
may be double, so as to form a dead air space to prevent radiation, and by which
access may be had to the interior of the casing for sealing the chambers B by
Juting 2, in case there should be, after use, any leakage of products of combustion
from said chambers B into the air casing C.
!
D designates a furnace or fire place having a grate d and fire and ash pit doors d', d³.
and from this furnace the products of combustion pass over the bridge wall d³ into
and through the flue E. This flue E is approximately horizontal through the bed or
foundation A and beneath the chambers B, and it communicates, at its farther end,
with the smoke pipe e, and it also communicates successively with the two or more
chambers B of the series, by inlet openings e and outlet openings e². The top of the
flue E may be formed of tiles e, which are flush on the surface with the bed or
foundation A, and the inlet and outlet openings el leading to and from each
chamber B, may be formed simply by omitting certain of the tiles.
In the present example of the invention, the Hue E beneath each chamber is
interrupted by a transverse partition or deflector e, which extends upward to the
chamber B. This partition compels the products of combustion, as they pass along
the flue E, to take the course indicated by the arrows in Fig. 1, that is to say, from
the furnace D along the flue E upwards into the chamber B, thence over the partition
or deflector e, and downwards through the outlet opening e². By this arrangement,
the products of combustion, circulate within the chamber B which is nearest to the
furnace D, and from that chamber they pass to the next, and so on throughout the

page_text: several chambers employed in the series. It will be seen that by this construction,
the necessity for any joints for pipes etc. is avoided in the chambers B, which may
be made integral of a single piece of cast metal, and the joint between the lower edges
of such chambers and the bed or foundation A may be easily kept air tight.
The drawing shows in the bridge wall a cleaning hole ', which may be closed by
a door or stopper, and at the junction of the smoke pipe e with the flue E is a second
cleaning hole, also closed by a stopper. Through these holes a rake or hoe may
be inserted for cleaning out the flue E.
One or more escape or outlet pipes for heated air extend from the top of the air
casing C, and three such pipes are here represented. The casing C also has
suitable inlets for cold air, and such air is heated by contact with the exterior of the
chambers B, and passes in a heated condition through the outlet pipes C. It is
necessary that inlet openings be so arranged that the air will pass through the
casing in the proper direction, and for this reason it is desirable to have the inlet
openings as low as possible in the casing C. These inlet openings are represented
at the extreme bottom of the casing C, and they may admit cold air into the
channel-like spaces 2 at opposite sides of the bed or foundation A, as shown in
Fig. 2. The air is heated by contact with the chambers B, and by arranging the
inlet openings flow down in the casing, the circulation of air through the casing
in the direction of the arrows shown in Fig. 2 is secured. As here represented,
these openings are at short distances apart, as best shown in Fig. 1, along the
two sides of the casing, but they might be upon a single side only. The inlet
openings on each side take their supply from a cold air box, which may be
supplied by a pipe leading to the outside of the building.
The example of the invention shown in Fig. 4 corresponds in all respects to
that shown in Figs. 1. 2 and 3, save that, in Fig. 4, a single chamber only (B)
is supported upon the base or foundation A.
For convenience in erecting the furnace in some locations, the dome shaped
chamber B may be cast in two or more sections bolted together, as shown at s
in Fig. 4, a rust joint being used, so as to prevent the escape into the air casing C
of any of the products of combustion, but it will be evident that it will be better
to cast the chamber B in one piece when the location will admit of it.
In Fig. 5, as a slight modification of the invention, a furnace is shown in
which the air casing C is not constructed of brick work, as in the previous
Figures, but consists of a sheet metal shell of shape similar to, and surrounding
the chamber B. This shell, which has an outlet pipe C for the escape of heated
air, may be covered with asbestos o, or other non-conducting material, and may
rest upon, and be secured to a flange o projecting from the exterior of the
chamber B. Inlet openings for cold air may be provided in the flange o¹, as
shown at o², and the air entering those openings, will be heated by contact with
the exterior of the chamber B, and will finally escape at the pipe 02.
To heat large halls or buildings, two or more rows of chambers B may be
enclosed in one casing C, and each row heated by a separate flue E, the products
of combustion from one or more external furnaces or fire-places passing through
these flues beneath the chambers B, and communicating with them in succession.
It is important to employ the external furnaces, because of the large number of
joints which would otherwise be in the parts arranged within the air casing C.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed as communicated to me by my
foreign correspondent, I declare that what I claim is :-
1. The combination with a base or foundation and a metal chamber supported
thereon, of a casing surrounding said chamber, and having an inlet for cold air, and
an outlet for heated air, a furnace for supplying heat external to the casing, and
a flue for products of combustion extending from the furnace through the base
and beneath the chamber, and communicating with the interior of the chamber,
substantially as herein described.

page_text: 2. The combination with the base A and the chamber B supported thereon, of the
air casing having a cold air inlet and a heated air outlet, an external furnace D, and
a flue E, leading from the furnace through the base, and intercepted at the opening
under the chamber B by a deflector, substantially as herein described.
3. The combination with a base or foundation and a series of two or more dome-
shaped metal chambers supported thereon, of a casing enclosing the base and chambers
having an inlet for cold air thereto and an outlet for heated air therefrom, a furnace
external thereto, and a combustion flue extending from the furnace through the
base and communicating with the chambers in succession, substantially as herein
described.
4. The base or foundation A, the chamber B, the casing C with cold and heated air
openings therein, the furnace D, the space with the air inlets communicating
therewith, and the combustion flue E, all arranged relatively to each other as herein
shown and described.