IMPROVED MEANS OF AND APPARATUS FOR FEEDING STEAM BOILER FURNACES WITH FUEL
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Young, of No. 4, Wimpole Street, in the
County of Middlesex, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVED
MEANS OF AND APPARATUS FOR FEEDING STEAM BOILER FURNACES WITH
FUEL."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Young at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
2nd April 1873.
I, JOHN YOUNG, of No. 4, Wimpole Street, in the County of
Middlesex, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inven-
tion for "IMPROVED MEANS OF AND APPARATUS FOR FEEDING STEAM BOILER
FURNACES WITH FUEL," to be as follows:-
1
This Invention relates to means and appliances for facilitating the
feeding of coal or other fuel to the furnaces of steam boilers, and consists
in enclosing a screw spreader within a casing, which can be attached
to the mouth or be connected to the front of the boiler in a loose

page_text: manner, and made to traverse from one fire to the next, if desired.
The casing is open at the part facing the furnace entrance, and the
screw which is caused to revolve continuously or intermittently by
gearing moved by hand or otherwise from the outside. The gearing is
also in most cases in combination with a pair of rollers working under
or in connection with a hopper or shoot from which the fuel is supplied
to the casing, the rollers reducing the fuel in its passage to one
uniform size, to be afterwards spread over the surface of the in-
candescent mass, by the blades (of which there are preferably three) of
the screw spreader.
By my Invention an automatic feed can be kept up for any length of
time with fuel in quantities for maintaining the greatest amount of heat
and without damping the fire at each supply as is usual.
The gearing is of the bevil kind, the screw and the rollers receiving
their motions in the proper directions by a winch, or a band wheel from
the engine direct. If the casing is fitted to the mouth of the furnace,
it may be perforated for the admission of air to the furnace the per-
forations being preferably at the top and at the sides.
Blades or vanes may also be fitted to the outlet of the casing
to regulate the direction of the fuel when thrown into the furnace by
the screw.
SPECIFICATION filed in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters
Patent, and of an Order of the Lord Chancellor, by the said John
Young in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 11th October
1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
YOUNG, of No. 4, Wimpole Street, in the County of Middlesex, En-
gineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Second day of April, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in the thirty-
sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said John Young, Her special licence that I,
the said John Young, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or

page_text: such others as I, the said John Young, 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 "IMPROVED MEANS OF AND APPARATUS FOR
FEEDING STEAM BOILER FURNACES WITH FUEL," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said John Young, my executors or administrators,
by an instrument in writing under my, 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 on or
before the Fourteenth day of October One thousand eight hundred and
seventy-three.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Young, 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 thereof, reference being had to the Drawings here-
unto annexed, that is to say :-
This Invention relates to means and appliances for facilitating the
feeding of coal or other fuel to the furnaces of steam and other boilers,
and consists in enclosing a screw spreader within a casing, which can
be attached to the mouth or be connected to the front of the furnace
in a loose manner, and in some cases made to traverse from one fire to
the next, if desired. The casing is open at the part facing the furnace
entrance, and the spreader screw which is caused to revolve continuously
or intermittently in one direction only by gearing moved by power or
otherwise from the outside. The gearing is in combination with two or
more serrated ribbed rollers working under or in connection with a
hopper or shoot from which the fuel is supplied to the casing, the rollers
reducing the fuel in its passage to be afterwards spread over the surface
of the incandescent mass by the curved blades (of which there are
preferably three) of the screw spreader.
By my Invention an automatic feed can be kept up for any length of
time with fuel in quantities for maintaining the greatest amount of heat
and without damping the fire at each supply as is usual.
The gearing is of the bevil kind, the curved screw blades and the
serrated ribbed rollers receiving their motions in the proper directions

page_text: by a winch or a hand wheel from the engine direct. If the casing is
fitted to the mouth of the furnace it may be perforated for the admission
of air to the furnace, the perforations being preferably at the top and at
the sides.
The manner of carrying my Invention into effect is represented in the
accompanying Drawings, in which Figure 1 is an elevation, and Figure 2
a plan; Figure 3 being a vertical section of the apparatus, and Figure 4
a front view.
A is a casing or box which can be affixed to the front of a furnace
or supported by rods or chains from a gallery or overhead rail, so that
it can be moved along from one furnace mouth to another in a con-
venient manner for feeding fuel to several furnaces arranged in proxi-
mity. This box contains a three-bladed screw B, the faces a, b, c, of
which blades are so shaped and curved that as they revolve under the
action of the bevil wheels e, f, g, h, they throw forward a quantity of
coal or other fuel in a thin layer upon the surface of the incandescent
mass already upon the bars, the layer of fresh fuel being equally
distributed over the entire surface without in the least damping the
fire. The box is of circular form, and the fuel falls gradually into it
from a receptacle C above in which three serrated faced rollers D, E, F,
are situated, these rollers being so arranged that should comparatively
large pieces of, say, coal be thrown or shot into the hopper G, which
is arranged above the receptacle C, they become cracked by the action
of the upper roller D, and then fall into the space between the two
other rollers E, F, which are arranged to work as a pair by means of
gearing H, I, upon the roller spindles, the rollers F, D, running at
different speeds by the difference of diameter of their drivers. The
rollers are driven by a pinion J upon a main shaft K which can be
rotated by hand or by a belt upon the pulley L from an overhead
pulley. I prefer, however, to turn this shaft K by hand so that if the
apparatus is arranged to feed several furnaces by traversing from one
to another the apparatus is more under the control of a workman, and
he can then regulate the quantity of fuel supplied to each, an advantage
of importance in large works and on board ships propelled by steam,
where it often happens that one or more of the series of furnaces has a
much quicker draught than the others, consequent upon their position
for catching the draught from a doorway or an opening close at
hand.

page_text: My apparatus is so arranged that the rollers can be thrown out of
gear by shifting the clutch M over by the handle N, the blades then
continuing to spread the green fuel which falls into the case A upon
the fuel upon the furnace bars, the supply of which can be regulated to
the greatest nicety by the shutter or sliding plate P above the case A, so
that in the case of supplying coal screenings the rollers can be dispensed
with, the opening which is more or less (closed by the plate P serving
to regulate the quantity furnished to the face of the blades a, b, c, of
the spreader. This opening can, however, be entirely closed, and the
coal supply stopped at any time, the blades by their revolution then
answering as a fan for enlivening up a sluggish fire, the air being drawn
into the box A through openings at the top which can at other times
be closed by sliding plates to prevent the dust flying about and inter-
fering with the health of the men.
In some cases I arrange an air trunk to the top side of the case A
the upper part of the trunk being near the ceiling, say, of a stokehole
of a steam ship, whereby the fan would draw the heated air down the
trunk and feed it into the fire along with or without the fresh fuel, the
sucking action of the fan being sufficient to prevent dust rising up the
trunk. By this means a fixed quantity of fresh air can be supplied
with a regulated quantity of fresh fuel to the fire either continuously
or intermittently as deemed necessary for producing perfect combustion
of the gases of the combined air and fuel for ventilating the furnace,
and for preventing the formation of smoke, two important points for
manufacturers and steam shipowners at the present time to look closely
after, as not only can more steam be generated in less time than can
be effected by any present method, but the coolness of the stokehole
will enable a workman to undergo greater fatigue, necessarily a great
advantage to his employers.
The exact shape and curve of the blades or spreaders a, b, c, is shown
in the sectional plan, Figure 5; the fresh fuel after falling upon the
bottom of the casing at Q is taken by the next spreader blade as it moves
in the direction of the arrow, flirts the small particles over the surface
of the mouth R and into the furnace in an even manner, as before
explained.
I have not shown the apparatus suspended from a rail, but Figure 6

page_text: boiler. Here the mouth has a flange all round its edge to enable it
to be bolted to the boiler skin and above the ordinary fire-door, which
door in some cases may be perforated for the admission of air, the
coal only being spread by the blades.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I
make no claim broadly to the feeding of furnaces with fuel, or with fuel
and air combined by spreaders or fan blades operated from the outside
of the casing, nor do I claim as any part of my Invention the reduction
of coal by rollers arranged above the spreader blades, as these have
been before effected by earlier Inventors, but very inefficiently and
have not produced the results contemplated, but what I do claim
is, the improved means of and apparatus for feeding furnaces with
fuel in the special manner as herein-before described and shown,
whereby the fuel is spread alone or in combination with air in an even
manner over the entire surface of the incandescent mass upon the bars
as set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Young, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Second day of October One thousand
eight hundred and seventy-three.