IMPROVEMENTS IN LIME AND OTHER KILNS AND FURNACES
Year: 1850

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSEPH
CHRISTIAN DAVIDSON, of Yalding, in the County of Kent, Brickmaker,
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 Westniinster, the Second day of
November (One thousand eight hundred and fifty), in the fourteenth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Joseph Christian Davidson, my exors, admors, and assigns,
Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, 'the
said Joseph Christian Davidson, my exors, 'admors, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Joseph Christian Davidson, my exors, adññors, 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 LIME AND
OTHER KILNS AND FURNACES;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a
proviso that I, the said Joseph Christian Davidson, 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 my hand and seal, to
be inrolled in Her Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar

page_text: 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
Joseph Christian Davidson, do hereby declare that the nature of my said
Invention, and 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:-
My Invention consists,-
First, of improvements in lime kilns and furnaces; and,
Secondly, my Invention consists of improvements in brick kilns and furnaces
for burning bricks, tiles, and such like articles.
And in order that my Invention may be most fully understood and readily
carried into effect, I will proceed to describe the means pursued by me.
Heretofore, in constructing lime kilns and furnaces thereto, it has been usual
to have the bed or bottom of the kiln with ashpits below and fire bars over
such ashpits, and such ashpits and fire bars have heretofore usually passed
from front to back of the kiln or nearly so, two such furnaces being usual to
each kiln. And in burning lime stone therein,. it has been the practice to
make arches of the lime stone over the furnace bars, and under such arches
the fires for burning the lime stone have been lighted, all which is well under-
stood. And it is also well known that the lime stone in becoming heated
breaks off more or less, depending partly on the care and skill and judgment
of the lime burner; the consequence of which is that the. fires require to be
often cleansed, and such fallen pieces to be removed therefrom.. Now
according to my Invention, I cause lime kilns to be constructed with complete
beds or bottoms, and construct the furnaces away from the bed or bottom of
the kiln. The construction of a lime kiln and the furnaces. thereto may be
varied, but the one shown by the Drawings is such as is now used, constructed
according to my Invention.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 shows a vertical section of a lime kiln and furnace, taken in a
direction from front to back; Figure 2 is another vertical section taken
in a direction at right angles to the section shown at Figure 1; and
Figure 3 is a plan. The kiln is of the ordinary construction, except at the
bed or bottom, which is made solid, and the furnaces are away from the bed
of the kiln.
a, a, is the bed or bottom of the kiln, there being no ashpits

page_text: formed therein, and consequently there are no fire bars within the kiln. b, b,
are the furnaces, which are away from the bed or bottom of the kiln, as shown.
In using lime kilns and furnaces so constructed, arches are to be built of
lime stone on the bed, of the kiln, as heretofore; but I find that they may be
some inches lower than heretofore when they were built over the furnaces;
and the charging and closing of the kiln is to be as heretofore, the arches
acting as reticulate flues, into which the flame and heat from the furnaces
flow, and up through which the same pass amongst the charge of lime stone
above, thus burning the same. By these improvements it will be found that
the fires will only require to be cleansed from clinkers, there will be less fuel
consumed, and the lime which falls from the arches, in place of becoming
mixed with the fire, will be good lime, and form part of the useful product of
the kiln.
In constructing kilns and furnaces for burning bricks, tiles, and such like
articles, it has been usual to have numerous fireplaces on each of two sides
of a furnace, the fire bars passing into the kilns. Now according to my
Invention, I have the fireplaces only on one side of such kilns, and, as in the
lime kilns above described, I have the furnaces away from the interior of the
kiln, and I prefer to construct the furnaces some feet away from the kiln and
exterior of the side wall thereof, so that the openings into the kiln through
the side wall shall constitute the throats of the furnaces. And I make the
back ends of the furnaces of such a kiln slightly below the level of the bed
or bottom of the kiln, so that the flues made through the wall may slightly
rise. The distance at which the furnaces are built from the kiln may vary,
depending on the convenience of the locality; but I prefer that the flue and
throat leading from the end of the fire to the bed or bottom of the kiln should
not be less than three to five feet, but they may be more. The furnaces I
construct similar to those shown for the lime kiln, but as they are to be more
numerous they will not require to be so long. In burning bricks, tiles, and
other like articles, I construct arches of bricks requiring to be burned, such
arches being built reticulate (having numerous openings) by placing the
bricks at distances apart so as to admit the flame and heat to pass freely in all
directions; and such arches are built across the bed of the kiln, and the
charge of bricks, tiles, or other articles are then built into the kiln as
heretofore.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention and the manner in which
the same is to be performed, I would have it understood that I do not confine
myself to the details as herein described. But what I claim is,―