IMPROVEMENTS IN THE METHOD OF AND MEANS FOR SUPPLYING FURNACES WITH FUEL. AND FOR PROMOTING THE ECONOMICAL COMBUSTION OF THE SAME.
Year: 1878

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Newton and John Edward Newton, of Oldham, in
the County of Lancaster, Manufacturers, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE METHOD OF AND MEANS FOR SUPPLYING FURNACES WITH FUEL.
AND FOR PROMOTING THE ECONOMICAL COMBUSTION OF THE SAME.'
"
Sealed the 7th March 1879, and dated the 22nd November 1878.
:
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Newton and John
Edward Newton at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 22nd
November 1878.
JAMES NEWTON and JOHN EDWARD NEWTON, of Oldham, in the County of
Lancaster, Manufacturers. "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE METHOD OF AND MEANS FOR
SUPPLYING FURNACES WITH FUEL AND FOR PROMOTING THE ECONOMICAL COM-
BUSTION OF THE SAME."
Our Invention relates principally to the furnaces of steam generators and has
for its objects to facilitate the feeding of the furnaces with fuel, to promote economy
in the consumption of the same, and to lessen the production of smoke. To this
end we employ coal which is sufficiently small or comminuted to be delivered into
and be distributed in the furnace by the action of a blast or of blasts of heated
air. If the coal is not already small enough we crush or grind it by suitable
means and supply it to the feeding hopper or hoppers of the boiler, or we fit the
hopper or each hopper with crushing rollers which may be arranged to regulate
the supply of fuel. The fuel is delivered on to a plate or into a passage or shute,
or on to or into two or more of such parts, from whence it is blown into the
furnace by means of a blast or of two or more blasts of heated air. The air may
be impelled by means of a fan or other suitable blowing or forcing apparatus, and
is heated by being forced through a pipe or pipes or conduits, which is or are
mounted within the flue or flues so as to receive heat from the gases on their way
to the chimney, or is or are mounted within the furnace or below the furnace grate
or in the internal flue, or the air may be heated by means of a supplementary fire
or furnace of any suitable construction.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said James Newton and John Edward Newton in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 22nd May 1879.
JAMES NEWTON and JOHN EDWARD NEWTON, of Oldham, in the County of
Lancaster, Manufacturers. "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE METHOD OF AND MEANS FOR
SUPPLYING FURNACES WITH FUEL AND FOR PROMOTING THE ECONOMICAL COM-
BUSTION OF THE SAME."
Our Invention relates principally to the furnaces of steam generators, and has
for its objects to facilitate the feeding of the furnaces with fuel, to promote
economy in the consumption of the same, and to lessen the production of smoke.
To this end we employ coal which is sufficiently small or comminuted to be
delivered into and be distributed in the furnace by the action of a blast or of blasts
of heated air. If the coal is not already small enough we crush or grind it by
suitable means and supply it to the feeding hopper or hoppers of the boiler, or we
fit the hopper or each hopper with crushing rollers which may be arranged to
regulate the supply of fuel. The fuel is delivered on to a plate or into a passage
or shute, or onto or into two or more of such parts, from whence it is blown into
the furnace by means of a blast or of two or more blasts of heated air.
And in order that our said Invention may be fully understood we have appended
hereunto a Sheet of Drawings marked with letters of reference, to which Drawings
we will now refer. Fig. 1, drawn to a scale of about three quarters of an inch to
the foot, represents the front end view of a Lancashire boiler fitted with our improved
apparatus, and Fig. 2 is a side view of part of the apparatus appearing in Fig. 1.
In the said Figs., A is the boiler front, and B, B, are hoppers in which the coal is
placed. Each hopper is mounted upon a feeding box C which is bolted to the
boiler front and contains the crushing and feeding rollers. The said box is repre-
sented separately drawn in section to a larger scale by Figs. 3 to 5, Fig. 3 being a
vertical section on the same plane as Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a horizontal section, and
Fig. 5 a vertical section on the line D in Fig. 3. Two crushing rollers e, e¹, are
fixed upon shafts which are fitted to revolve in bearings formed in or attached to
the sides of the box C. Each roller is formed with teeth and the axles of the two
rollers are connected together by means of spur wheels f. Upon the axle of the
roller c is fixed a ratchet wheel g, and upon the same axle is mounted a lever h which
carries a pawl which engages with the said ratchet wheel. When the said lever is
caused to vibrate the said pawl imparts an intermittent rotatory movement in the
indicated direction to the two rollers, whereby the coal placed in the hopper is
crushed if not already sufficiently comminuted, and is fed downwards into the
lower part of the box C. The said lower part of the box is in communication with
two feeding shutes i, i, which project into the boiler furnace.
The front ends of the said shutes are separated by a partition which is formed
with a double inclined top as seen in Fig. 5, the said top guiding the falling coal
into the two shutes. The front ends of the two shutes open into an air conduit K
which is in communication with a pipe l. In the example the pipe forms part of
a range of piping which extends along the side of the boiler from the front to the
back of the boiler, being fixed in the upper part of the side flue.
There is a corresponding range of piping in each side flue and the two ranges of
piping are connected together at the rear of the boiler, and are connected with a
fan by means of which air is forced into the two ranges of piping. The air becomes
heated whilst flowing through the piping fixed within the side flue and therefore
enters the conduit in the box C in a heated state. The blast of air meeting the
coal as it falls into the two shutes carries the said coal onwards into the furnace
and distributes it upon the grate. In the example the lever h is jointed to the
lower end of a rod m which is attached by its upper end to the strap of an eccentric
n which is fixed upon a shaft o. The said shaft receives a rotatory motion by any

page_text: suitable means from the engine or from any prime mover, and by means of the two
excentrics imparts a vibratory motion to the two levers h, h. When there is a
range of two or more boilers one shaft may actuate the feed apparatus of all the
boilers. It will be seen that at each upward movement of the lever h the feeding
rollers are rotated, and coal is thereby fed into the shutes and is carried by the
currents of air into the furnace. In some or in all cases we may provide the air
conduit or pipe with a throttle valve or with a suitable valve, and arrange for it to
be connected with the lever in such a manner as that when the said lever is
moving downwards, and as a consequence the feeding rollers are at rest, the blast
of air is shut-off or is throttled, or is reduced in volume, so that the full supply of
heated air to the furnace is not continued during the times when the fuel is not
being fed into the furnace. As this is not a necessary part of our Invention, and
as the method of regulating the supply of air may be greatly varied, it has not
been considered to be necessary to illustrate any particular arrangement in the
Drawings, and as it is not necessary to employ any particular description of fan or
air forcing apparatus, we have not represented any such apparatus in the Drawings.
The air conduit or piping may be otherwise heated than by being fixed within the
side flues, as for example, the air may be forced through a coil or range of piping
mounted within the flue leading to the chimney, as in the case of an ordinary fuel
economiser before entering the piping , or may be forced through pipes arranged
below the furnace grate or within the furnace or furnace flue, or through pipes
heated by means of a supplementary fire or furnace. The arrangements for actuating
the feeding rollers may also be varied.
Having now fully set forth and indicated the nature of our said Invention and
means whereby the same may be carried into practical effect we would have it to
be understood in conclusion that we claim,-
First. The apparatus, substantially as and for the purpose set forth and indicated
hereinbefore, and in and by the accompanying Drawings.
Secondly. The feeding hopper and rollers supplying coal to a shute or to shutes
into which a blast of heated air is admitted, substantially as and for the purpose
set forth and indicated.
And, lastly. The use of a blast or of blasts of heated air for propelling fuel into
furnaces.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Edward Newton, for myself and on
behalf of the said James Newton, have hereunto set my hand and seal, this
Twenty-first day of May, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight
hundred and seventy nine.
Signed and sealed by the
said John Edward Newton
in the presence of
EDWARD K. DUTTON,
Agent to the Patentees,
St. Ann's Churchyard,
Manchester.
JOHN EDWARD NEWTON. (L.S.)