IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF FLATTENING KILNS
Year: 1849

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
DEACON, of Eccleston, Lancashire, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Twenty-fourth day of
September, in the tenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said Henry Deacon, my exors, admors,
and assigns, Her special license, full power, sole privilege and authority, that
I, the said Henry Deacon, my exors, admors, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said Henry Deacon, my exors, admors, or assigns, should at any time agree
with, and no others, from time to time and at all times during the term of years
therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend,
within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my.Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF FLATTENING KILNS;" in which said
Letters Patent is contained a proviso, that I, the said. Henry Deacon,.shall
cause a particular description of the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, by an instrument in writing. under?mý
hand and seal, to be inrolled in Her said Majesty's High Court of Chancery
within six calendar months next and immediately after. the date of the said in
part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto
had,, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Henry Deacon, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and

page_text: the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described and
ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, reference being had to the
Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked thereon,
that is to say:-
The nature of my improvements consist, first, in certain improvements in
the construction of the bridge or partition between the flattening or spreading,
and the piling or annealing kilns, whereby I am enabled to raise or lower the
said bridge or partition at pleasure; and, secondly, in certain improvements in
the construction of the floors of the spreading and annealing kilns, so as to.
admit of two rows of wheels with fixed bearings, that the flattening or spreading
stone, suitably supported or prepared, may traverse on the aforesaid wheels
to and fro under the bridge or partition between the spreading and annealing
kilns aforesaid.
And in order that my improvements may be the more perfectly under-
stood, and more readily applied, I have prepared and attached hereto Drawings
of the said improvements as made by me in kilns now in use, and will proceed
to set forth the particular nature of these my improvements :-.
First, the improved bridge or partition I employ is constructed in nearly the
same manner as those moveable doors belonging to various descriptions of
furnaces employed by iron masters, boiler makers, smiths, and others; namely,
by filling an iron frame with fire bricks or other suitable. substance, and
attaching an iron rod or chain to the said frame by convenient levers or chains
and counterbalance weights, the said door may easily be raised or lowered.
The application of this improvement is shewn in Sheet 1. A is the door,
bridge, or partition, suspended by an iron rod B passing through a hole in the
crown of the kiln sufficiently large to admit of its easy passage; to this sus-
pending rod is attached a chain, which passes over two pullies secured to the
brickwork of the kiln, and which hangs down to the left-hand of the workman,
whilst standing in front of the spreading kiln.
In Drawing No. 2, I have given a representation of the cast-iron frame I
usually employ, and the mode of attaching the suspending rod is also shewn
in the same Figure; A¹ being an end view; B', a plan; and C, a front
view of the frame, the side next the spectator being that which I put towards
the spreading kiln. It is advantageous to make the sides of the kiln against
which the door, bridge, or partition is placed, to batter slightly from the per-
pendicular, that the door, bridge, or partition aforesaid, may by its weight be
kept against the wall of the kiln.
I find this moveable bridge or partition of great service whenever it is

page_text: desired to bend squares or panes of glass to make tiles or other articles, or to
heat or anneal any vessels or articles made of glass. In the former of these
instances I place the plate or mould on which the glass is to be bent upon the
flattening or spreading stone, introducing the mould or plate and also the
panes or squares of glass through the push hole, or through a hole made for
the purpose in the front wall of the kiln. When the glass has acquired the
proper shape, I raise the moveable door, bridge, or partition, to allow of the
passage of the mould or plate under the said bridge into the annealing kiln,
and the bridge or partition may then be lowered if the opening be great, or if
it be desired to maintain the relative temperatures of the spreading and an-
nealing kiln. When the glass on the plate or mould has nearly attained the
temperature of the annealing kiln, the bent glass may be removed from the
plate or mould by means of the tools used in piling flattened glass, and the bent
pane, square, or other article may then be piled on its end or side, or left in
the same position to anneal; according to the shape of the article, or the skill
of the workman. The mould or plate may be pushed back into the spreading
kiln for another square or pane of glass, and so the process may be repeated
with one or several plates, according to their shape and size, until the.anneal-
ing kiln is wholly or partly filled with the bent glass, and the annealing is
carried on as heretofore; or, a kiln may be constructed solely for bending
panes or squares of glass, or making tiles or other articles of glass on the prin-
ciple of a flattening kiln, by removing the flattening stone in the spreading and
the first stone in the annealing kilns, suspending the moveable door, bridge, or
partition between the two chambers or kilns, and laying bars of iron along the
bottom of the kiln in the space from which the stones are removed, upon
which said bars the plates or moulds can be pushed backwards and forwards
from one kiln to another, as above described; and it will not be always
requisite to raise and lower the bridge or partition on every occasion of a
mould passing, but only so often as the heat of the kilns or the necessities of
the case require.
.
These modes of constructing and using flattening kilns I have found highly
advantageous in making tiles for roofs, greenhouses, and conservatories,
and in bending squares and panes of glass for such erections, or for domes,
skylights, and the like. And as sheet and crown glass is being gradually
introduced for other purposes than window glass, it is advantageous to the
manufacturer to have an economical mode whereby he can anneal a few
articles he may occasionally make without incurring any extra expense. By.
.employing my improvement this can be effected. The bridge or partition
being raised, the article to be annealed as soon as completed is introduced

page_text: into the spreading kiln through the push hole, then passed under the bridge
into the annealing kiln, and there left to cool. I have followed this plan with
milk pans, globes, bottles, pipes, &c. I do not confine myself to the particular
description of frame here shewn, nor to the mode of suspending the door.
Secondly, the latter part of my improvements are best effected by building
into the floors of the spreading and annealing kilns two rows of cast-iron
plates, each perforated with a hole, and provided on the upper side with suit-
able ordinary bearings, that a wheel may work in the said hole, and the axle
thereof in the said bearings. The wheels I generally employ are of cast iron,
about seventeen inches in diameter and three quarters of an inch broad. The
axle is made of wrought iron, seven-eighths of an inch in diameter and four
inches long, being jagged or roughed in the centre; it is placed in the mould
before the wheel is cast, in order that it may be securely fixed in its place;
. the wheel and axle are afterwards turned true in a lathe. The cast-iron plates
are about twenty-two inches long, eight inches wide, and one half inch thick,
the hole for the wheel to work in being about nineteen inches long and two
inches and a half wide, excepting at the centre where the bearings for the axle
are on each side of the opening, and project so far from the sides as is neces-
sary to make them nearly to touch and guide the boss of the wheel, the width
of the opening between the two bearings being about one-sixteenth of an inch
more than the depth of the boss of the wheel.
This description is illustrated by Drawings Nos. 3, 4, and 5, the former of
which is an elevation, and the latter a plan or bird's-eye view of the wheel in
its place, with the plate. The same letters refer to the same part in each
Figure. D is the plate; E, the wheel, and e, the wrought-iron axle in its
bearings, which are of the shape shewn, that a piece of hoop iron F, being
bent to the same curve may cover the axle and bearing, and so prevent dust
from falling therein. The plates are placed in the direction of their length in
two parallel lines from the spreading to the annealing kilns; the workman
whilst rubbing down the sheet of glass having these two parallel lines going
directly in front of him, as is shewn in sectional plan of flattening kiln in
Sheet 2, the length of the lines, and consequently of the number of plates
therein (which I put about two or three inches from each other) depending
on the distance which the flattening stone has to traverse, in general so long
as the space commonly occupied by the flattening or spreading stone, and the
first stone in the piling or annealing kiln, the distance from centre to centre
of the two parallel lines of plates being about five-eighths of the width of the
flattening stone to be supported; for example, if the stone be four feet broad,
the distance from centre to centre of the two parallel lines of plates should be

page_text: about two feet six inches.
The plates are placed so low down in ine brick-
work that the surface of the flattening stone may be nearly level with or about
one-eighth of an inch higher than the other stones in the annealing kiln, the
exact situation of the said plates being determined by the size of the wheels
and the thickness of the stone and its supports.
I have neither made, nor claim any improvements in the mode of heating
flattening kilns, and find that my improvements may be successfully applied to
any kiln that 1 have yet seen, but the mode I usually adopt is shewn in the
Drawings hereto attached, which represents the brickwork of a kiln without
the usual and necessary binders, which are omitted to avoid confusion in the
Figures.
The exterior views in Sheet 1 are of a kiln, heated in a similar manner to
that represented by the sectional views in Sheet 2. To the former Sheet I
have shewn the application of my improved bridge or partition, and the
Drawings in Sheet 2 represent a kiln nearly completed, for the use of the
second part of my improvements, the plates and wheels being in their places,
but the brick work between the wheels not yet introduced. The space between.
the wheels is filled up with brickwork level with the top of the wheels, and so
close to the wheels as to leave a passage or groove sufficiently wide to allow
of the wheels, with their axles, being lifted up through the same out of the
bearings in the plates. The flattening stone I make use of is about four
inches thick, the surfaces on both sides being dressed true and nearly parallel
to each other, the stone being of such descriptions as are commonly used for
the formation of flattening stones. The carriage or support for the stone is
formed of two rails or bars of cast iron, of the figure and shape shewn in
Drawing No. 6, one of the said rails being flat on the under side, and about
two inches and a quarter wide, with lugs on the top at the two extremes, the
distance between the said lugs and the length of the bar being determined by
the length of the stone to be supported, which lays between the said lugs.
Small projections of the width of the bar, and three inches long, are cast on;
the top of the bar, the stone resting on these projections, and not on the body
of the bar; the projections are marked a; and, the lugs 6. The upper side of
the fellow rail is similar to the one described, but the underside is provided
with a groove, as is shewn in the Drawing No. 7, the width of this groove being
about one-eighth part more than the width of the wheels before described, and
about one inch deep; the ends of these rails or bars being slightly chamfered off
on the under side of the projection a, on the upper sides of the rails, are pierced
with round holes of about three quarters of an inch in diameter, through which
holes bars of wrought iron provided with collars are rivetted, for the purpose of

page_text: keeping the rails so far apart as may be required, and retaining them in that
position; the distance from centre to centre of these rails should be the same
distance as from centre to centre of the parallel rows of plates in the kiln; the
lugs at one end of each rail are likewise pierced with holes, and a piece
of angle iron is thereby rivetted to the bars or rails. The completed carriage
or support is shewn in Drawing No. 8. The wheels resting on their bearings
in the plates fixed in the kilns, as before described, the carriage or support is
placed upon them, the grooved rail being on one line of wheels, and the
plain or flat rail upon the parallel line of wheels, as shewn in Drawing
No. 9; upon the projections on the upper sides of the rails the flattening
stone is then bedded by reducing such parts as may be too high until all
the projections touch the stone; the angle iron is kept in the front of the
stone, and serves as a hold for pulling back the stone by using the lever
employed by flatteners, called a "crappie," as a hook, the head of this instru-
ment being shewn in Figure No. 10. The axles of the wheels and their
bearings should be black leaded and covered with the hoop iron before
described. It is advantageous to heat the kiln thoroughly when the brick work
is so far advanced, as shewn in the sectional Drawings already referred to,
but before inserting the plates and wheels, therein shewn in their places, and
reheating the kiln after the plates alone are in aud the brickwork completed;
the plates may then be finally adjusted, and will seldom vary in any important
amount with after service. The passages or grooves in the brickwork, in which
.the wheels work, have openings at bottom through the front of the kiln for the
introduction of a narrow rake, whereby any dust, broken glass, or other
substances may be withdrawn, and they are made four or five inches deeper
than the bottom of the wheels to admit of the passage of the rake without
inconvenience, and to prevent dust or glass (which may fall into the grooves)
from impeding the free motion of the wheels.
The foregoing directions having been complied with, the flattening kiln is to
be prepared for use in the usual manner; the flattening stone being pulled
into the spreading kiln, a "largre" is laid upon it, as in the ordinary mode,
and a sheet of glass having been flattened and rubbed down by the "polissoir,"
according to the well-known method of flattening sheet glass, I use the
"polissoir" as a tool to push the carriage and stone into the annealing kiln by
resting the wood or flattening end of the "polissoir." on the angle iron in front
of the carriage, and pushing at the other extremity of the instrument, and I find
this to be accomplished with much greater ease than pushing the "largre" over
the stone, as heretofore. The sheet of glass is removed from the stone, cooled,
and piled in the usual well-known manner, and the stone drawn back to the

page_text: spreading kiln by hooking the "crappie" to the angle iron, introducing the
tool through the usual opening in the spreading. kiln. These details may be
varied, but I have given the best information I possess.
.
The superior advantages which such a kiln possesses is remarkably.shewn in
the case with which learners are instructed in the art; good flattening depends
in a great measure upon preserving a good surface to the "largre;" in ordinary
kilps the constant shifting of the "largre" renders this impossible, and is
frequently the cause of its breaking, the "crappie," also indents the "largre,"
and thus virtually shortens it; consequently a great saving in the expenditure
in "largres" results from the use of kilns so constructed. In common flatten-
ing kilns dust falls on the stone, whilst the "largre" in the annealing kiln,
which, on its return to its place, raise bumps and cockles, only too faithfully
copied by the sheets afterwards flattened upon it. And the advantages derived
from my improvement over the ordinary carriage kilns, which are constructed
more on the principle of common railway rails and waggons, are its perfect
freedom and ease of motion, the withdrawal of the working parts from the heat
lessening the weight to be moved, diminishing the space usually left open for
the passage of the axle of the common carriages, thereby reducing the expen-
diture of fuel by better retaining the heat of the kiln, the prevention of dust
falling on the rails to impede the motion, the impossibility of contraction or
expansion fastening or rendering the apparatus ricketty in an inconvenient
manner, and the more equal mode of supporting the stone, which I find
preserves its original figure.
Having thus described the nature of my improvements to the best of my
knowledge and ability, and in the modes I have practically found most useful
and advantageous, I would be understood as not confining myself to the
particular materials, sizes, or arrangements herein set forth, so long as the
peculiar characteristics of these my improvements are retained; but what
I claim is,-
:
.
First, the application of the improved bridge or partition between the
flattening or spreading, and the piling or annealing kilns.
And, secondly, I claim the mode of arranging wheels and flattening stones;
as herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Deacon, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fifteenth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and forty-seven.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Fifteenth day of March, in the
year of our Lord 1847, the aforesaid Henry Deacon, Esquire, came before our
said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification
aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form
above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according
to the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.