IMPROVE- MENTS IN APPARATUS FOR THE PREVENTION OF SMOKE IN STEAM BOILER AND OTHER FURNACES
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Richard Leake and Joseph Beevers, both of
Barnsley, in the County of York, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN APPARATUS FOR THE PREVENTION OF SMOKE IN STEAM BOILER AND
OTHER FURNACES."
Sealed the 10th November 1868, and dated the 11th May 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Richard Leake and
Joseph Beevers at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
their Petition, on the 11th May 1868.
We, RICHARD LEAKE and JOSEPH BEEVERS, both of Barnsley, in the
County of York, do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR THE PREVENTION OF SMOKE IN STEAM BOILER
AND OTHER FURNACES," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object the prevention of smoke and the
obtaining of more perfect combustion in steam boiler and other furnaces,
and consists according to one mode of carrying out the Invention in the

page_text: employment of a fire-door, perforated or otherwise, and hung upon
centres at the top side so as to act as a flap and close by its own gravity.
In this door there is attached a lever arm by depressing which the door
will turn partly on its top centres or hinges inwards towards the
furnace. This lever is connected to the lower end of a piston rod, the
piston of which works fluid-tight or nearly so in an inverted cylinder
suspended on trunnions in brackets, attached either to the front of the
boiler itself or to the edge of the setting. On the top of this cylinder
there is fitted a receiver or receptacle for water or other liquid of any
convenient form, such receiver communicating with the cylinder below
by a small perforation made in the bottom of the receiver or in the
partition which separates the cylinder from the receiver. The water-
way of this small perforation is capable of being regulated by a conical
plug inserted therein passing down through the receiver and adjusted
by a regulating nut or screw for the purpose herein-before explained.
In addition to this small perforation there is a larger aperture made in
the bottom of the receiver, and to this opening there is fitted a spring
valve opening downwards into the cylinder. Sufficient water or other
liquid is poured into the receiver to fill the cylinder, and when the
furnace door is opened for the purpose of stoking, the piston is simul-
taneously drawn down to the bottom of its cylinder, the liquid from the
receiver or vessel above then entering by the valvular opening and
filling that part of the cylinder which is above the piston. The furnace
door by its own gravity now tends to descend or close, but it is controlled
in its descent by the resistance of the liquid in the cylinder. As this
liquid is however caused by the upward movement of the piston to
flow through the small adjustable perforation back into the receiver
again, it follows that the door will slowly close, and that the time
occupied in its closing may be varied to suit different kinds of fuel
by increasing or diminishing the size of the perforation through which
the liquid is urged by the ascending piston. If desired, a ram or
plunger may be substituted for the piston in the cylinder.
According to another modification the top vessel or liquid receiver
above the cylinder may be dispensed with, the liquid being always con-
tained within the cylinder itself either above or below the piston as
the case may be. The piston should either be fitted with a valve
opening upwards or with a cup leather packing that will expand when

page_text: the piston rises and contract when it is drawn down; the upper and
lower ends of the cylinder should also be brought into communication
either by a small perforation made in the piston itself, or otherwise
arranged so as to control the flow or displacement of the liquid from
one side of the piston to the other. On opening the furnace door,
which is hung on top centres and connected by a lever with the piston
rod as herein-before described, the piston is drawn down to the bottomn
of the cylinder, the fluid passing freely through the valve or past the
sides of the cup leather packing, and as the door by its gravity tends
to close, the liquid flows slowly through the small perforation or passage
into the lower part of the cylinder again, the size of such thoroughfare
regulating the duration of time of the closing of the furnace door.
SPECIFICATION in- pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Richard Leake and Joseph Beevers in the Great
Seal Patent Office on the 10th November 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, RICHARD
LEAKE and JOSEPH BEEVERS, both of Barnsley, in the County of York,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eleventh day of May, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the thirty-
first year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto us, the said Richard Leake and Joseph Beevers,
Her special licence that we, the said Richard Leake and Josephi
Beevers, our executors, adininistrators, and assigns, or such others as
we, the said Richard Leake and Joseph Beevers, our exccutors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from
time to time and at all times thereafter during the terin 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
FOR THE PREVENTION OF SMOKE IN STEAM BOILERS AND OTHER FURNACES," upon
the condition (amongst others) that we, the said Richard Leake and
Joseph Beevers, our executors or administrators, by an instrument in

page_text: writing under our, 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 we, the said Richard Leake and Joseph
Beevers, do hereby declare the nature of our said 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 has for its object the prevention of smoke and the
obtaining of more perfect combustion in steam boilers and other fur-
naces, and consists according to one mode of carrying out the Invention
in the employment of a fire-door, perforated or otherwise, and hung upon
centres at the top side so as to act as a flap and close by its own
gravity. In this door there is attached a lever arm by depressing which
the door will turn partly on its top centres or hinges inwards towards the
furnace, such lever being connected to the lower end of a piston rod,
the piston of which works fluid-tight or nearly so in an inverted cylinder
suspended on trunnions in brackets, attached either to the front of the
boiler itself or to the edge of the setting. This cylinder has fitted on its
top a receiver or receptacle for water or other liquid of any convenient
form, such receiver communicating with the cylinder below by a small
perforation made in the bottom of the receiver or in the partition which
separates the cylinder from the receiver. The waterway of this small
perforation is capable of being regulated by a conical plug inserted
therein pessing down through the receiver, and adjusted by a regulating
nut or screw for the purpose herein-before explained. In addition to
this small perforation there is a large aperture made in the bottom of the
receiver, and to this opening there is fitted a (spring) valve opening
downwards into the cylinder. Sufficient water or other liquid should be
poured into the receiver to fill the cylinder, and when the furnace door
is opened for the purpose of stoking, the piston is simultaneously drawn
down to the bottom of its cylinder, the liquid from the receiver or vessel
above then entering by the valvular opening and filling that part of the
cylinder which is above the piston. The furnace door by its own gravity
now tends to descend or close, but it is controlled in its descent by the

page_text: resistance of the liquid in the cylinder. As this liquid is however
caused by the upward movement of the piston to flow through the small
adjustable perforation back into the receiver again, it follows that the door
will slowly close, and that the time occupied in its closing may be varied
to suit different kinds of fuel by increasing or decreasing the perforation
through which the liquid is urged by the ascending piston. If desired,
a ram or plunger may be substituted for the piston in the cylinder.
According to another modification the top vessel or liquid receiver
above the cylinder may be dispensed with, the liquid being always
contained within the cylinder itself either above or below the piston as
the case may be. The piston should either be fitted with a valve
opening upwards or with a cup leather packing that will expand when
the piston rises and contract when it is drawn down. The upper and
lower ends of the cylinder should also be brought into communication
either by a small perforation made in the piston itself, or otherwise
arranged so as to control the flow or displacement of the liquid from one
side of piston to the other. On opening the furnace door, which is hung on
top centres and connected by a lever with the piston rod as herein-before
described, the piston is drawn down to the bottom of the cylinder, the
fluid passing freely through the valve or past the sides of the cup leather
packing, and as the door by its own gravity tends to close the liquid
flows slowly through the small perforation or passage into the lower part
of the cylinder again, the size of such thoroughfare regulating the
duration of time of the closing of the furnace door.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
accompanying these Presents, and of the manner in which the said
Invention is to be performed or carried out in practice.
Fig. 1, section of our apparatus as applied to a boiler furnace; Fig. 2,
front elevation of same; Fig. 3, plan; Figs. 4 and 5 show check plates
and brackets or lugs for the door to work in; Fig. 6, view of door;
Figs. 7, 8, and 9, diagrams showing modifications of the apparatus.
The chief feature of this Invention is the adoption of the perforated
(or plain) door a at the mouth of the furnace working on pivots 6
opening inwards to the fire c and upwards to the boiler B. The pivots b
are on the top edge of the door a and brackets d for the pivots of the
door to work in (which are when applied to an old door frame screwed on

page_text: to the same or cast on the door frame when it is a new one). These cheek
plates extend into the furnace according to the inclination to be given to
the door, the breadth of the dead plate being generally the guide. A
lever fis attached to one end of the door for the purpose of opening
and shutting the same; this leverf can be cranked either to the right
or left so as to be out of the way at the time of firing. Connected with
the lever f of the door is a spring catch having notches in it to hold
the door open or in any position between open and shut, according to
the smoke-causing propertics of the fuel used. A principal point in
this Invention is that the angle at which the door is placed causes the
atmospheric air to impinge on the front of the fire in a long narrow film
similar to the action of so many hydrogen blow pipes or smiths'
bellows, which gives every particle of gas as it arises from the grate its
due quantity of atmospheric air, thereby preventing smoke and the
cooling down of the furnace at the time of firing or stirring the fire,
affording no back radiation to annoy the stoker as the front of tho
furnace remains quite cool. A self-actor may be used or not as
may be desired, but when the self-actor is used only one notch in
the spring catch is required to keep the door in position at the time of
firing.
The construction of the self-actor is as follows:-First. Two cylinders
m and n, 2 or 3 inches in diameter each, are screwed together with a
centre piece between them to form trunnions h. For the cylinders to
oscillate in there is a bracket i fixed to the end of the boiler or the top
of the boiler case for the pivots of the centre piece of the two cylinders
forming the trunnions to work in; this centre piece has two holes
in it, a (spiral sping) valve j is fitted in one hole opening downwards
into the bottom cylinder, a conical regulating plug k is fitted in the
other; this plug k reaches through the lid of the top cylinder m, and
is screwed with a lock nut to hold it in position, the top cylinder m
being used simply as a receiver for the water or other fluid contained
in the bottom cylinder n. The length of cach cylinder should be from
18 to 20 inches, the bottom cylindern being fitted with a piston o, piston
rod
P, and stuffing box q. The piston rod p is attached to the lever f
of the door a with a slot hole and pin. The piston is of cast iron
turned to fit the cylinder, and has three small holes in it, with a leather
or indian-rubber lid on the top, so that if any fluid passes by the side

page_text: of the piston it can easily pass through the perforations of the piston
when the lever of the door is pulled down for the purpose of opening
the door a. A cup leather might be used instead of the perforations
in the piston, and the self-actor may be constructed with one cylinder
with pivots cast on it forming the trunnions, open at the bottom, with
a bar for steadying the piston rod, and a lid on the top with a (spiral
spring) valve in it opening downwards so as to admit air into the
cylinder. Likewise a tap at the top of the cylinder to regulate the
discharge of the air according to the time in which the door is required
to fall or shut itself. When the stoker wishes to fire he weighs down
the lever attached to the door, and then the piston o falls to the bottom
of the cylinder n, and the fluid in the top cylinder or receiver m flows
throw the valve j in the centre piece into the bottom cylinder n, a
catch being provided to hold the door open till he has done firing,
when he knocks off the catch, and the door being heavier than the
resistance of the fluid in the cylinder gradually closes itself, the time
of closing being regulated by the conical plug in the centre piece of
the two cylinders, and if the air cylinder be used, then by the tap on
the top of it. When the stoker wishes to stir the fire with the poker
or scrag hook he raises the door a half open, and by the time he has
done stirring, the door will nearly have closed itself. To use the door
without the self-actor we use a spring catch with several notches in it,
one to hold the door open and the other to hold the door at any angle
between open and shut, according to the smoke-causing properties of
the fuel. When the door is placed at the proper angle for preventing
smoke the greatest heat is generated in the furnace, hence it is im-
material whether the door is closed entirely or not, as it is frequently
one or two inches open, according to the state of the fire..
This Invention may be used in another form, that is, the mouth of
the furnace may be constructed similar to a house oven without a door
or back, and the shelf sliding in and out at the proper angle for pre-
venting the smoke. The sliding shelf or door may be worked by a
self-actor or by hand, as may be desired.
Having now particularly described the nature of this said Invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed, we hereby declare
that we claim, the said Invention of improvements in furnaces and the
doors thereof for the prevention of smoke in steam boilers and other

page_text: furnaces, the nature and character whereof are set forth in the outset
of this Specification by the words preceeding the words description of
the Drawings.
In witness whereof, we, the said Richard Leake and Joseph Beevers,
have hereunto set our hands and seals, this 5th day of November,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-
eight.
RICHARD LEAKE. (L.S.)
JOSEPH BEEVERS. (L.s.)