IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS TO BE EMPLOYED FOR THE PURPOSES OF DRYING
Year: 1853

page_text: County of Dancaster, Engineer, fo
IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS TO BE EMPLOYED FOR THE PURPOSES OF
DRYING."
Sealed the 4th August 1853, and dated the 4th February 1853..
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Walker
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Peti-
tion, on the 4th February 1853.
I, WILLIAM WALKER, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS TO BE EMPLOYED FOR THE PURPOSES OF
DRYING" to be as follows:-
My Invention consists in the application to the purposes of desic-
cating or drying of metallic blocks or plates, each of them having a
series of openings passing through it for the admission and passage
of atmospheric air, which openings present a large surface of metal
to the atmosphere in a small space. Such cellular or "honeycombed"
blocks or plates are to be enclosed in a brick chamber, in connexion
with a furnace or fire-place, in such manner that its heat or caloric

page_text: will circulate between and pass into the said cellular blocks or
plates. The surfaces surrounding the openings in them will thus
become heated, and give out a large portion of their heat to the
atmospheric air contained therein, whereby such air will become
lighter and pass off through suitable ducts or channels to be pro-
vided for that purpose into one or more receptacles containing the
materials or goods to be dried, its place being supplied by cooler
and denser air admitted to the cells or openings in the blocks or
plates from without, by which means a current of air will be
established through them. A metal bar is to be built into the
brickwork of the chamber enclosing the blocks in such position as
to be strongly acted on by the heat, and so that one of its ends shall
be firmly fixed, while the other shall be free to move lengthwise when
expanded by the heat. This moveable end is to be connected by a
suitable lever with a perforated plate, sliding in an air-tight manner
upon another plate having corresponding perforations, and attached
to the front or side of the ashpit. The ashpit being made air-tight,
except as regards the aforesaid perforations, the expansion of the
bar when heated will cause the sliding plate to cover and close the
perforations in the fixed plate, and will thus control the intensity
of the fire, and maintain a nearly uniform rate of combustion. By
a simple contrivance permitting a change in the position of the
fulcrum of the lever, the relative proportions of the lengths of its
arms may be altered so as to limit the maximum temperature at-
tainable to any desired degree.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters
Patent, filed by the said William Walker in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 4th August 1853.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
WILLIAM WALKER, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, 3
Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fourth day of February, in the

page_text: year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, in
the sixteenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said William Walker, Her
special license that I, the said William Walker, my executors, ad-
ministrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William
Walker, 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 Kingdoin
of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man,
an Invention for "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS TO BE EMPLOYED
FOR THE PURPOSES OF DRYING," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said William Walker, 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 is 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 Walker, 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):
My Invention relates to the heating of air to be employed for
any ordinary purposes of drying or desiccating. My Invention con-
sists in the application to such purposes of metallic cellular blocks
or boxes of the following form or construction. Each of these
blocks or boxes is of a cellular form, being provided with a series
of openings or passages through the same for the admission and
passage of atmospheric air; the peculiar advantage of this form
being that it presents a large surface of metal to the atmosphere in
a small space. These said cellular blocks or boxes are to be placed
around a furnace or fire-place enclosed in a brick chamber, in such
a manner that the heat or caloric from the said furnace or fire-place
shall circulate between and impart heat to the said blocks or boxes.

page_text: The surfaces surrounding the cells or openings in the said blocks
will thus become heated, and will impart a large proportion of their
caloric to the atmospheric air contained therein, whereby such air
will become lighter, and pass off through suitable ducts or channels
provided for that purpose into one or more chambers or receptacles
containing the materials or goods to be dried or desiccated. As the
heated air ascends its place is supplied by cooler and denser air ad-
mitted to the cells or passages in the blocks or boxes from without,
and thus a constant current of air is established through the said
heated cells or passages. A bar of metal is is to be built into the
brick work of the chamber enclosing the blocks or boxes in such a
position as to be strongly acted upon by the heat, and so that one
end thereof shall be firmly fixed, whilst its other end shall be free
to move lengthwise as it becomes expanded by the heat. The
moveable end of this said bar is to be connected by means of a
suitable lever with a perforated plate, which slides in an air-tight
manner upon another plate having corresponding perforations, and
attached to the front or side of the ash-pit. The ash-pit being
made air-tight, except as regards the said perforations, the expan-
sion of the bar when heated will cause the sliding plate to cover
and close the perforations in the fixed plate, and thus, by decreasing
the amount of atmospheric air admitted to the ash-pit, will control
the intensity of the fire, and maintain an almost uniform rate of
combustion. By means of a simple contrivance, allowing of a
change in the position of the fulcrum of the lever, the relative pro-
portions of the two arms of the same may be varied so as to limit
the maximum temperature attainable to any requisite degree.
In order more fully to illustrate the practical application of my said
Invention I have annexed hereunto a Sheet of Drawings represent-
ing several views of my improved apparatus, drawn to a scale of
about one inch to a foot, and have marked the same with figures
and letters of reference corresponding with those in the following
explanation thereof. Fig. 1, is a plan or horizontal section of the
apparatus taken above the fire bars. Fig. 2, is a longitudinal sec-
tion taken through about the centre of the apparatus; and Fig. 3,
'

page_text: is a transverse section of the same taken also through about the
centre. Fig: 4, is a longitudinal section of one of the aforesaid
cellular blocks or boxes; and Fig. 5, is an end view of the same.
a, a, are the external walls of the furnace; b, b, are the walls of the
ash-pit; c, c, is the ash-pit; d, d, are the fire bars. It will be ob
served that there is a space e, e, between the external walls 'a, a;
and the walls b, b, of the ash-pit. The space forms a chamber to
which atmospheric air is admitted at the four openings f, f, f, f
(see Fig. 1.) Immediately above this air chamber e, e, and sur
rounding the sides of the furnace, are placed the cellular blocks or
boxes g, 9, 9, 9. The cells in the said blocks or boxes form a series
of passages leading from the chamber e, e, to a chamber h, h, above
the furnace; i, i, is a duct or passage to convey the heated air from
the chamber h, h; to the chamber or receptacle containing materials
or goods to be dried; j, j, is a flue leading to the chimney; k, k, is
an inverted bridge formed of fire clay; 7; 7, is the arched top of the
furnace, which is ribbed upon its upper surface; and m, m, are two
tiles for the purpose of causing the heated air to pass over the same;
m*, m*, is a metal bar placed in front of the flue leading to the
chimney. This bar mx is made fast to the brick work at one end;
the other end of the same passes out through the brick work, and
is connected to one end of the lever n, n. The other end of this
lever. n is attached, by means of a rod o, o, to a perforated plate
P, P, which slides upon a plate q, q, having similar perforations,
placed in front of the ash-pit. r is the fulcrum of the lever n, n,
which is moveable, in order to allow of the desired adjustment of
the said lever. It will be evident that, upon a fire being lighted in
the furnace of fire-place d, d, the heated gases, &c. from the same
must necessarily pass between the blocks or boxes g, g, g, g, which
will thereby become heated; and, owing to the large amount of
heating surface contained in the cells, the air therein will quickly
become heated, and assend to the upper chamber h, h, its place
being supplied by cooler and denser air from the lower chamber
e, e, and thus a constant current of air passes through the cells and
becomes heated. The said heated air may be applied to any or-

page_text: dinary purposes of drying or desiccating in any suitable or convenient
It will be obvious that, as the intensity of heat in the
furnace increases, the bar m*, mx, will expand lengthwise, and, by
means of the lever n and rod o, close the perforated plate p, and
decrease the quantity of air admitted to the ash-pit, and thus regu-
late the rate of combustion, and consequently the intensity of the
heat.
Having thus described the nature and object of my said Invention
of certain improvements in apparatus to be employed for the pur-
poses of drying, together with the manner of carrying the same into
practical effect, I would remark in conclusion that I claim as my
Invention the application of cellular (honey-combed) metallic blocks
or boxes as above described, and shewn in the Drawings, for heating
air to be employed for the purposes of drying, without confining
myself to the rectangular form of the boxes or their cells, as they
may be of a triangular or hexagonal or other suitable form.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Walker, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Third day of August, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-
three.
W WALKER. (L.S.)