Improvements in and relating to Furnace Fire Bars, specially applicable to Refuse Destructors.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 3rd Feb., 1893
Complete Specification Left, 3rd Nov., 1893-Accepted, 9th Dec., 1893
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in and relating to Furnace Fire Bars, specially
applicable to Refuse Destructors.
We, JOHN THOMAS WOOD, Member of the Institution of Civil Engineers, and
JOHN ALEXANDER BRODIE, Associate Member of the Institution of Civil
Engineers, both of 3 Cook Street, Liverpool in the County of Lancaster, do
hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows :-
This invention relates to furnace fire bara and more particularly to the
arrangement and operation of the fire bars of refuse destructors, and one of the
objects of the invention is to supplement the labour saving appliancos described in
the Specification of Patent No. 19803 of 1891 granted to Henry Percy Boulnois
and the said John Alexander Brodie, by providing means for carrying forward the
refuso material over the grate surface towards the fire door, and to deliver the
clinkers on to a set of fire bars situated near the fire door and at a lower level
than the main fire bars, with less manual labour than has hitherto been necessary
in the ordinary arrangement.
According to our invention, which we will describe with reference to a refuse
destructor of the Fryer type, the fire bars are so arranged and shaped that their
upper surface slopes upwards from the fire door end towards the drying hearth, the
lower portion of the slope may be approximately straight and the upper portion,
which is a prolongation of the drying hearth, may be curved. It will be seen that
if, say, the alternate bars have a horizontal movement forward towards the firo
door, the upper surface and the material thereon will be raised relatively to the
fixed bars although the moving bars are not actually lifted, and the material will
bo fed forward with the forward movement of the bars, and that it will be prevented,.
by the superincumbent weight behind, from returning with the bars; the fixed bars
may have their upper surface stepped so as to still further prevent the material
moving back with the movable bars on their return stroke.
In some cases, we prefer to give a movement to all the bars, moving them in
independent sets of alternate bars, all the bars moving forward together, and to
return them separately in two sets of alternate bars, each set having a different
length of stroke, or having the same length of stroke, making the return stroke at
different periods.
In order to enable the fires to be shaken up without opening the fire doors, we
provide means for lifting the central portions of the bars which do not movo
horizontally, which in this case are made in two portions.
We provide at the fire door end a set of fire bars placed below the level of the
main fire bars, onto which the clinkers are delivered and through which the air
passes which supplies the fires, the air while serving to cool the clinkers being
itself heated thereby and being delivered to the fires at a comparatively high
temporature.
We will now describe the method of supporting the bars and the mechanism for
giving them the desired movements.
As stated, the horizontally moving bars require to have imparted to them a
reciprocating movement in an approximately horizontal direction, and it is further
desirable that this movement should be fairly rapid but not continuous, so that
there may be an interval of rest between the movements, as a continuous movement
tends to riddle the material through the bars; it is further desirable that all
working parts should be well forward near the fire door so as to be of ensy access
for repair etc.

page_text: We support the bars at opposite ends and at their centre; when the bars are
fixed, these supports are of the ordinary description but in the case of the moving
bars, the mode of support varies according to the kind of movement to be
imparted to the bar, and according to whether the bar is to be made in one or two
parts.
Where the alternate bars only have a horizontal movement, and where each bar
is in one piece, we support the bars at the ends and centro on rollers rolling on a
horizontal guide, the bearing surfaco of the bars being also horizontal; instead of
rollers, we prefer, in some cases, to support the fire bars on transverse bars carried
by radius rods pivoted below, the supported portions of the fire bars, according to
this method, moving in arcs of circles which approximate to straight lines. This
method of support is very suitable for bars made in two portions, as the transverse
supporting bar may be provided with a recess running in the direction of its length
in which projections formed on the adjacent euds of each half of the fire bar rest,
the two portions of the fire bar being thus supported at the centre on the one
transverse bar.
The horizontal movement is imparted to the fire bars by a cross bar carried by
rocking levers from a weigh shaft under the fire bars, said cross bar engaging with
lugs depending from the under side of the fire bars; in the case of alterunte bars
only being moved, the alternate bars only have these lugs. Where all the bars are
moved forward together but where the stroke of two sets of alternate bars is
different, the lugs with which the cross bar engages for the forward stroke are the
same for all bars, but the lugs with which the cross bar engages on the return
stroke are differently located, relatively to the forward stroke lugs so as to allow
of a different amount of clearance and therefore of a different length of stroke in
the two sets. By varying the depth of the return stroke lugs on one of the sets of
bars, the strokes of the two sets may be equal in length and the bars make the
forward stroke together but make the return stroko at different periods of the
return stroke of the cross bar.
In order to give the lifting motion to the fire bars which have no horizontal
movement, we make each bar in two lengths and we provide the adjacent ends of
each portion of, say, every fourth bar with a depending projection which rests on a
transverse bar carried by levers from a weigh shaft and adapted to raise, the said.
Are bars when required and so shake up the fires; or one portion only of each bar
may be adapted to lift. The weigh shaft last mentioned is proferably oporated
directly by the attendant when required, but the weigh shafts to give the horizontal
movement are preferably operated by power, the intermittent action being obtained
and regulated by the use of a cataract or other such device.
We prefer not to apply the power direct to the weigh shaft operating the cross
bars but to a secondary weigh shaft which operates the fire bars of a set of furnaces
so that any one may be disengaged and the stroke of each varied independently and
we also provide means whereby, if desired, the attendant may utilise the motion of
this shaft to operate the lifting device.
While we have described our invention with reference to the furnace of a refuse
destructor it will be seen that it is applicable to other furnaces and that the shape
of the fire bar may be modified to suit different furnaces provided that the top
surface of the bar is inclined to the direction of the feed motion.
In some cases we also prefer to carry the bars or the portions thereof in sets in a
frame and to operate the whole frame in manner described in reference to the
individual bars,

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in and relating to Furnace Fire Bars, specially
applicable to Refuse Destructors.
We, JOHN THOMAS WOOD, Member of the Institution of Civil Engineers, and
JOHN ALEXANDER BRODIE, Associate Member of the Institution of Civil
Engineers, both of 3 Cook Street, Liverpool in the County of Lancaster, do
hereby declare the nature of this 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 relates to furnace fire bars and more particularly to the arrange-
ment and operation of the fire bars of refuse destructors, and one of the objects of
the invention is to supplement the labour saving appliances described in the
Specification of Patent No. 19803 of 1891 granted to Henry Percy Boulnois and
the said John Alexander Brodie, by providing means for carrying forward the
refuse material over the grate surface towards the fire door, and to deliver the
olinkers on to a set of fire bars situated near the fire door and at a lower level than
the main fire bars, with less manual labour than has bitherto been necessary in the
ordinary arrangement.
the
According to our invention, which we will describe with reference to a refuse
destructor of the "Fryer" type, the fire bars are so arranged and shaped that their
upper surface slopes upwards from the fire door end towards the drying hearth;
lower portion of the slope may be approximately straight and the upper portion,
which is a prolongation of the drying hearth, may be carved. It will be seen that
if, say, the alternate bara have a horizontal movement forward towards the fire
door, the upper surface and the material thereon will be raised relatively to the
fixed bars, although the moving bars are not actually lifted, and the material will
be fed forward with the forward movement of the bars, and that it will be
prevented, by the superincumbent weight behind, from returning with the bars;'
the fixed bars may have their upper surface stepped so as to still further
prevent the material moving back with the inovable bars on their return
stroke.
In some cases, we prefer to give a movement to all the bars, moving them in
independent sets of alternate bars, all the bars moving forward together, and to
return them separately in two sets of alternate bars, each set having a different
length of stroke, or having the same length of stroke, making the return stroko at
different periods.
Wo provide at the fire door end a set of fire bars placed below the level of the
main fire bars, on to which the clinkers are delivered and through which the air
passes which supplies the fires, the air while serving to cool the clinkers being
itself heated thereby and being delivered to the fires at comparatively high
temperature.
In the accompanying drawings which illustrate our invention,
Fig. 1 is a fragmentary vertical section through a destructor cell, showing the
fire bars, the arrangements for supporting and operating them, and the receptacle
and lower bars for the clinkers.
Fig. II is a sectional elevation, the left hand and right hand portions being
sections on the lines A. A. and B. B. respectively, of Fig. I.
Fig. III is an elevation of the front part of the cell, the right hand portion being
in section on the line C. C. of Fig. 1 ;
Fig. IV is a plan of the front part of the cell, the right land portion being in
section on the line D. D. of Fig. 1.
Fig. V is a view analogous to Fig. I, and shows a modification.
Throughout the drawings, the same parts are indicated by the same reference

page_text: figures, aud in the case of sections, the directions in which they are viewed, are
indicated by the small arrows adjacent to the letters denoting the plane of section.
Referring first to the arrangement shown in Figs. I to IV; the fire bars 1, 1', are
arranged in two sets of alternate bars, of which the bars are adapted to be
reciprocated horizontally or approximately so through a small distance, and the
bars 1 are fixed. It is desirable that the movement of the bars I should be fairly
rapid but not continuous, so that there may be an interval of rest between ench
movement, as a continuous movement tends to riddle the material between the bare;
it is furthor desirable that all working parts should he kept well forward near the
fire doors, so as to be of ready access for repair, etc.
The fixed bars 1 are supported at the rear on the shelf 2, at frout on the clinker
receptacle 3, and about the middle of their length on the transverse bar 4, carried
by the brackets 5 from the sides of the cell.
The reciprocating bars 1 are supported at the rear on the roller bar 6 which can
roll freely on the surface of the shelf 2, the small projection 7 being provided to
prevent the accidental displacement of the roller bar; at the frout and middle, the
bars 1 are supported by their deeply notched bearing surfaces 11 on the cross
bars 8 and 8', respectively, which are secured at their ends to the tops of the
radius rods 9, supported pivotally on the brackets 10, carried from the sides of the
cell. The bearing surfaces 11 are sufficiently low to keep the cross bars 8, 8',
clear of the contour of the bottoms- of the fixed bars 1', which is shown by the
dotted line in Fig. I.
"
12 are facings formed on the bars to locate them side by side.
The radius rods 9 are linked together by the link 18, and are operated by the
link 14 from the rocking lever 15, mounted on the rocking shaft 16. As the radius
rods 9, 9, are comparatively long and their motion small, they impart a very
approximately horizontal movement to the fire bars. There is preferably a
separate shaft 16 for each cell, a main shaft (which is not shown in the drawings)
being provided to operate all the shafts of the set of cells; by this arrangement,
the fire bars of any individual cell may be thrown out of operation, or the amplitude
of their reciprocation varied. Any suitable source of power may be provided to
.operate the main shaft, the number of, strokes per minute being regulated by a
cataract or other governor of any suitable kind.
The clinker receptacle is a box 3, provided with a door 17, a removable grated
bottom 18, and a loose back plate 19, the object of which is to protect the back of
the receptacle from the heat of the clinkers; with the object of inducing a flow of
air in the space between the loose back plate 19 and the back of the receptacle,
they are perforated at 20 and 21. The clinkers which accumulate in the receptacle 3
are cooled by the current of air which flows through them.
Referring now to the modification shown in Fig. V; in this arrangement, the fire
bars aro arranged, as before, in two sets of alternate bars, but each set is
reciprocated horizontally; they are supported at the ends and middle on the
rollers 6, and are all operated by the rocking lever 22, mounted on the rocking
shaft 16. As before, each cell has its own shaft 16, which is operated from a main
shaft not shown in the drawings.
The top of the lever 22 extends right across below all the fire bars and it operates
them by engaging with the depending lugs 23, 24 and 25, formed on the bars; all
the bars have the lugs 23, and in addition, one set of bars have the lugs 24, and
the other set have the lugs 25. It is clear that in the forward stroke of the
lever 22, it will engage with the lugs 23, and move all the fire bars forward; in its
backward stroke, it will engage first with the lugs 24 aud move the corresponding
fire bars until it escapes from these lugs, and it will then move onward until it
engages with the lugs 25, so moving the remaining bars. The form of the lugs 24
and the position of the lugs 25 may be arranged so that both sets of fire bars shall
be moved backwards to the same amount but at different times, the forward move-
ment of both sets of bars being simultaneous. The lugs may however be modified
at pleasure, so as to correspondingly modify the movements of the bars; for

page_text: instance, lugs may be formed on one set of bars only, in which case the effect will.
be exactly similar to that produced in the arrangement shown in Figs. I to IV.
While we have described our invention with reference to the furnace of a refuse
destructor it will be seen that it is applicable to other furnaces and that the shape
of the fire. bar may be modified to suit different furnaces provided that the top
surface of the bar is inclined to the direction of the reciprocation.
In some casos we also prefer to carry the bars in sets in a frame, and to operate
the whole frame in the manner described in reference to the individual bars.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is ;-
1. The hereindescribed improvement in furnace fire bars, which consists in
inclining or curving the upper surface of the bars upwards towards their roar ends
and imparting to the alternate bara a reciprocating horizontal movement, whereby
the material on the bars is fed forward without any lifting of the bars, substantially
as set forth.
2. The hereindescribed improvement in furnace fire bars, which consists in.
inclining or curving the upper surface of the bars upwards towards their rear ends
and arranging them in two sets of alternate bars, each of which is reciprocated
differentially in a horizontal direction, whereby the material on the bars is fed
forward without any lifting of the bars, substantially as set forth.
3. The improved method of supporting and reciprocating furnace fire bars, which
consists in supporting them upon cross bars mounted on reciprocating radius roda,—
substantially as described with referenco to Figs. I and II.
4. The improved method of supporting and differentially reciprocating alternate
furnace fire bars, which consists in supporting them on rollers, and providing them
with depending lugs adapted to engage with a reciprocating lever,-substantially
as described with reference to Fig. V.
5. The combination and arrangement of parts, substantially as described and
illustrated with reference to Figs. I, II, III and IV.
6. The combination and arrangement of parts, substantially as described and
illustrated with reference to Fig. V.
Dated this 2nd day of November 1893.
SLOAN & LLOYD BARNES,
Castle Chambers, 26, Castle Street, Liverpool,
Agents for the Applicants.