IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS USED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF GAS, WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE ALSO APPLI- CABLE TO OTHER PURPOSES
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Purvis Wilson, of Addiscombe, in the
County of Surrey, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS
USED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF GAS, WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE ALSO APPLI-
CABLE TO OTHER PURPOSES."
Sealed the 15th September 1871, and dated the 17th March 1871.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Purvis Wilson
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 17th March 1871.
I, WILLIAM PURVIS WILSON, of Addiscombe, in the County of Surrey,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
APPARATUS USED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF GAS, WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE ALSO
APPLICABLE TO OTHER PURPOSES," to be as follows:-
This Invention has reference to the construction of furnaces or ovens
used for heating the retorts in such manner and of such materials as to
increase the durability of the said furnaces and to reduce the amount of
smoke emitted therefrom. To effect these objects the furnaces are built
with one, two, or more flues passing around the two sides and back and

page_text: open at the front or into the ashpit. These flues are provided with
dampers or other means for regulating the admission of air to them.
At the back of the furnace there is an extra flue above the series
before indicated extending to the two sides only, and receives its supply
of air from the flue immediately below it by a number of vertical nostrils
communicating with both.
All the flues are constructed with openings to admit air to the furnace
which openings may be of any shape or size according to the size of the
furnace and the amount of fuel consumed in a given time.
It is desirable to increase the number of openings as much as possible
consistent with the stability of the structure in order to expose the more
surface of the materials of which the furnace is composed to the passing
air, thereby keeping them comparatively cool and, consequently, ensuring
their durability.
The materials of which the.bricks, blocks, and linings are made may
be Stourbridge, Newcastle, Ewell, Welsh, or other suitable fire-clay, the
material known as garner, together with plumbago and other graphites,
asbestos, and pumice. Two or more of these ingredients may be mixed
together in such proportions as to suit the particular purpose to which
the brick is applied. For general use, however, it is preferred that the
materials should also have mixed with them some easily combustible
substance so that when the bricks are burnt they may become porous
or honeycombed and thus admit of a circulation of air through them.
Furnaces constructed in this manner and of these materials are adapted
not only to the heating of gas retorts but are equally applicable to 1
smelting furnaces, the manufacture of iron or steel, and indeed in almost
all cases where a high temperature is necessary.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Purves Wilson in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 15th September 1871.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
PURVES WILSON, of Addiscombe, in the County of Surrey, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of March, in the year
3

page_text: of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the thirty-
fourth year of Her reign, did for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said William Purves Wilson, Her special
licence that I, the said William Purves Wilson, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Purves Wilson,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with,
and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during the
term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise,
and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the
Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
APPARATUS USED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF GAS, WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE ALSO
APPLICABLE FOR OTHER PURPOSES," upon the condition (amongst others) that
I, the said William Purves Wilson, my executors, or administrators,
by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands
and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the
said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be performed,
and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within
six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Purves Wilson, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement, reference being had to the accompanying
Drawing and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say :-
This Invention has reference to the construction of furnaces or ovens
used for heating the retorts in such manner and of such materials as
to increase the durability and efficiency of the said furnaces and to
reduce the amount of fuel used, and smoke emitted therefrom. To
effect these objects the furnaces are built with one, two, or more flues
passing around the two sides and back, and open at the front, or into
the ash-pit, or in any other part of their course where it may be con-
venient or desirable to have such openings. The openings to these flues
are provided with dampers or other means for regulating the admission
of air to them.
At the back of the furnace there is an extra flue above the series
before indicated extending to the two sides only, and receives its supply
of air from the flue immediately below it by a number of vertical nostrils
communicating with both.

page_text: All the flues are constructed with openings to admit air to the
furnace, which openings may be of any shape or size according to
the size of the furnace and the amount of fuel consumed in a given
time.
It is desirable to increase the number of openings as much as possible
consistent with the stability of the structure in order to present the
more surface of the materials of which the furnace is composed to the
passing air, thereby keeping them comparatively cool and, consequently,
ensuring their durability.
The materials of which the bricks, blocks, linings, &c. are made may
be Stourbridge, Newcastle, Ewell, Welsh, or other suitable fire-clay,
the materials known as garner and ganister, together with plum-
bago and other graphites, asbetos, and pumice. Two or more of these
ingredients may be mixed together in such proportions as to suit the
particular purpose to which the brick is applied. For general use,
however, it is preferred that the materials should also have mixed
with them some easily combustible substance, so that in the process
of moulding or when the bricks are burnt they may become porous
or honeycombed, and thus admit of a circulation of air through them.
Furnaces constructed in this manner and of these materials are adapted
not only to the heating of gas retorts but are equally applicable to
smelting furnaces, the manufacture of iron or steel, and indeed in almost
all cases where a high temperature is necessary.
In order that the foregoing may be more easily understood Drawings
are attached hereto of which the following is a description, the illustra-
tions shewing the application of the principle to the heating of gas
retorts.
Fig. 1 is a front elevation of the furnace; Fig. 2 is a vertical trans-
verse section through C, C, Fig. 3, which is a vertical longitudinal
section through H, H, Fig. 2; Figs. 5 and 6 are vertical longitudinal
sections through H, H, Fig. 2; shewing the same principle in the con-
struction of the furnace, but with different forms of bricks; Figs. 7 and 8
are horizontal sections of the same corresponding to Fig. 4; Fig. 4 is a
horizontal section through D, D, Fig. 2.
A, Fig. 1 is the furnace door; B, B, are dampers to the flues G, G;
Fin Figs. 2, 3, 5, and 6 is the body of the furnace; G, G, in each of
the Figures represents the flues, and the smaller spaces colored black

page_text: shew the openings into the flues constructed for the admission of air to
the furnace.
Having now described and particularly set forth the nature of this
Invention, I would observe in conclusion that I do not confine or
3 restrict myself to the precise details or arrangements which I have
described or referred to, as variations may be made therefrom without
deviating from the principles or main features of this Invention; but
what I consider to be novel and original, and therefore claim as the
Invention secured to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters
Patent is,-
Firstly. The manufacture of bricks, blocks, linings, &c. from the
materials mentioned, and in the manner before described.
And, secondly. In the construction of furnaces having a multiplicity
of openings from the flues to the furnace so arranged as to admit air to
it, and keep the materials of which it is composed as cool as practicable,
substantially as herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Purves Wilson, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twelfth day of September, in
the year of our Lord One thousand cight hundred and seventy-
onc.