CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE METHOD OF GENERATING AND APPLYING HEAT TO KILNS, OVENS, AND FURNACES FOR MANUFACTURING PURPOSES
Year: 1854

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION, left by the said John Ridgway at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 24th
January 1854
.
I JOHN RIDGWAY, of Cauldon Place, in the County.. of Stafford,, China
Manufacturer; do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "CERTAIN
IMPROVEMENTS IN THE METHOD OF GENERATING AND APPLYING HEAT TO KILNS,
OVENS, AND FURNACES FOR MANUFACTURING PURPOSES," to be as follows:-
These improvements consist, first, in the construction of furnaces with air
ducts and balance doors so as to ensure perfect combustion, with the power
of-raising the heat to whatever degree is necessary for the reduction of ores
and minerals, as also for the burning of pottery, bricks, and similar substances,
and in the manufacture of glass. Second, in the peculiar application of heat,
by which the greatest uniformity may be attained. This is accomplished by
means of dampers or regulators, so that the heat generated in the furnace
may be directed to any part of a chamber or oven. For instance, in a potter's
oven the whole of the heat is conducted up a tube to the top, and when the

page_text: upper part is sufficiently burned the current is 'reversed, brought under the
floor, and directed to any other part until the whole is raised to the heat which
is wanted. In other manufactures the arrangements will be varied according
to circumstances; but the novelty in all cases will consist in the power to
raise the heat to any temperature, and in the use of the upward and down-
ward currents, alternately or otherwise, in the same kiln or chamber, and the
full control of the same by the aid of dampers or regulators and valves.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Ridgway in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 22nd
July 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JoHN
RIDGWAY, of Cauldon Place, in the County of Stafford, China Manufacturer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of January, One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-four, in the seventeenth year of Her reign, did, for Her-
self, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said John
Ridgway, Her especial license that I, the said John Ridgway, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John Ridgway,
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 "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE METHOD OF GENERATING AND APPLYING HEAT TO KILNS, OVENS, AND FURNACES
FOR MANUFACTURING PURPOSES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said John Ridgway, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal,.
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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that. I, the said Jolin Ridgway, 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
and accompanying Drawings (that is to say):-

page_text: ducts and balance doors so as to insure perfect combustion, with the power
of raising the heat to any required degree for the burning of bricks and other
like articles; and of pottery ware and such like substances; and for the cal-
cination of ironstone and other minerals; and for the manufacturing of iron
after the same has been extracted from its ores, and for the smelting and
manufacturing other minerals; and for the manufacture of glass, and for all
other manufacturing purposes to which heat is applicable, except the gene-
ration of steam and the extraction of iron from its ores.
Secondly, in the peculiar application of heat, by which the greatest possible
uniformity may be attained. This is accomplished
the aid of dampers or
regulators, so that the heat raised in the furnace may be directed to any part
of a chamber, kiln, or oven.
For instance, in a pottery oven the whole of the heat is conducted up a
tube to the top of the oven, and then distributed throughout; and when the
upper part of the ware is sufficiently burnt, the current is reversed, brought
under the floor, and conveyed to any part until the whole is uniformly heated.
For other manufactures the arrangement must be varied to suit the par-
ticular manufacture. The novelty consists in the power of raising the heat to
any required degree; in the use of the upward and downward current. alter-
nately or simultaneously, in the same chamber or oven; in the means of
equalizing the same, and in the mode of conveying off the surplus heat to
those or other useful purposes, thereby effecting a considerable economy of
time and fuel; for the burning of bricks and other like articles; and of pottery
ware and such like substances; and for the calcination of iron stone, and other
minerals; and for the manufacturing of iron after the same has been extracted
from its ores; and for the smelting and manufacturing other minerals; and
for the manufacture of glass; and for all other manufacturing purposes to
which heat is applicable, except the generation of steam, and the extraction
of iron from its ores.
Having described the nature and object of my said Invention, I will now
proceed to shew the manner in which the same may be carried into practical
effect; and in order that these improvements may be clearly understood and
explained in detail, I have attached to these presents two Sheets of Drawings,
made upon a scale of about a quarter of an inch to the foot, and have marked
similar letters of reference upon corresponding situations in the several Figures
exhibited. In Sheet 1, Fig. 1 represents a ground plan or horizontal view of
a kiln or oven for 'burning pottery, bricks, tiles, &c.; Fig. 2 being a vertical
section taking longitudinally in the direction of the line A, B, in Figure. 1,

page_text: I
representing a set of kilns. A is the ash-pit; B, the stoke hole; C, the chimney;
D, the doors'; E, the air chamber around the furnace for consuming the smoke;
F, the furnace;' G, the central tube; H, the flues, under the floor; I, the floor;
K, the regulators; L, the kiln or oven; M; the stopper or valve suspended inside
the dome by the irons N, upon a bar O, made of hollow tubing; P, the flue
which takes off the products of combustion to the chimney, or forward into
a second kiln or chamber. In Sheet 2, Fig. 1 is a vertical transverse section,
taken in the direction of the line C, D, in Fig. 1, Sheet. 1: (the arrows indicate
the direction of the currents); and Fig: 2 is a plan view of the same; shewing
the upper flue connecting the.. kiln.with the..chimney, and the furnace and
flues. underneath. When it is desired to put, a kiln or oven into operation,
the goods are to be placed in the ordinary way upon the floor, and filled
up level with the top of the central tube G; the valve is then suspended by
the iron tube to the top of the kiln or oven, thereby stopping the egress of the
products.of.combustion, which, passing up the tube G in the centre of the kiln;
are drawn down through the goods, and escape by a flue into the chimney.
But, as soon as the required heat is sufficiently obtained half-way down the
oven (which is done in a few hours); the dampers or regulators are with-
drawn, and the valve is lowered down upon the top of the tube G (as clearly
exhibited in Fig. 2); the stream of heat is then reversed, bringing up the
heat at the bottom so as to be: equal with that at the top, by this means
obtaining throughout the whole kiln, oven, or chamber, the great desideratum,
uniformity of heat, which has not hitherto been obtained in any other kiln or
chamber. The surplus heat, may.then be conducted along a channel or flue
into the top of an adjoining kiln or oven, and allowed to pass through the
goods in the manner. before described, thus drying and partially burning
the same without any further cost. Or, should it be found, advisable to take
the waste heat directly into the chimney, the damper. Q is lowered down and the
communicaton cut off, and another damper R is withdrawn which opens, the
communication direct to the chimney. The surplus heat may also be conveyed
into drying rooms by a series of flues, or otherwise employed. In .applying
my Invention to the calcenation of ironstone and other minerals, I-use.a
similar kiln or oven, and apply the heat principally from the bottom; but, for
the manufacture of iron I take, for instance, the process of puddling; for which
purpose I use a similar description of furnace, and build a floor of fire.bricks
dovetailed together, and make the furnace seven feet deep, more or less, as the
case may be; but generally seven feet deep I find the best, bringing up the
flame in a sheet, and causing it to pass around and above the metal, so that
no unconsumed fuel is allowed to come in contact with it when in a, fluid

page_text: state, thus preventing great loss in the manufacture, and considerably econo-
mising the fuel. For glass I build also a similar description of furnace, but
of much less height, and bring the heat in a continuous stream around the
pots, conveying the waste heat under annealing ovens or kilns, thereby
making a far more uniform heat than can possibly be attained in the ordinary
way.
I also construct a similar furnace to be employed for the manufacture of
chemical compounds, wherein great and uniform heat is required.
Having now particularly described the nature of my said Invention, and
the manner in which it is to be carried into practical effect, I do hereby
declare that I do not claim as of my Invention the central fire, nor any of the
parts separately employed for the burning of plastic substances, having so
employed them before; but I claim the peculiar construction, arrangements,
and combinations of furnaces, flues, and regulators or dampers, as herein-
before set forth and described, and most clearly exhibited in the Drawings
attached to these presents, that is to say,-
First, the arrangement of the flues H in connection with the central fur-
nace F, G, with dampers and regulators K, for the purpose of directing to and
retaining the heat in any particular part of the kiln or oven, for whatever
purpose it may be employed in the application of heat.
Secondly, the arrangement of the valve m at the top of the kiln in con-
nection with the central tubes G, flues II, and regulators K.
Thirdly, the employment or use of both an upward and downward current,
alternately or simultaneously, in one and the same kiln.
And, lastly, the novel application and use of central fire in connection with
the flues, as before described, and employed as a kiln or oven in calcining iron-
stone and other minerals, and in the manufacture of iron after its extraction
from its ores; also in the manufacture of glass and chemical compounds.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Ridgway, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Nineteenth day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four.
JOHN RIDGWAY. (L.S.)