IMPROVE- MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF GLASS
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Nathaniel William Dobeson and George Warren, of
Bill Quay Bottle Works, near Gateshead, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF GLASS."
Sealed the 19th July 1861, and dated the 24th January 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Nathaniel William
Dobeson and George Warren, at the Office of the Commissioners of
Patents, with their Petition, on the 24th January 1861.
We, NATHANIEL WILLIAM DOBESON and GEORGE WARREN, of Bill Quay
Bottle Works, near Gateshead, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF GLASS," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in the manufacture of glass.
Heretofore in the manufacture of glass the fires employed have depended on
the natural draft of the chimney or cone, which is often uncertain and irregular,
in consequence of the varying state of the wind and the outer atmosphere.
Now our improvements consist in using air under pressure under the gratings
of the furnace, by which the draft through the fuel may be insured, and
rendered more constant and certain notwithstanding the changes of weather.
The air is forced into a closed ash-pit under the grating or fire-bars of the
furnaces by means of a fan or other suitable blowing apparatus.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Nathaniel William Dobeson and George Warren in the Great
Seal Patent Office on the 24th July 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, NATHANIEL
WILLIAM DOBESON and GEORGE WARREN, of Bill Quay Bottle Works, near
Gateshead, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fourth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the
said Nathaniel William Dobeson and George Warren, Her special licence that
we, the said Nathaniel William Dobeson and George Warren, our executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said Nathaniel Williamı
Dobeson and George Warren, our 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 "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF GLASS," upon the condition (amongst others)
that we, the said Nathaniel William Dobeson and George Warren, our
executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under our or their
hands and seals, or under the hand and seal of one of us or them, should parti-
cularly 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 I, the said Nathaniel William Dobeson, on behalf
of myself and the said George Warren, do bereby declare the nature of the
said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be par-
ticularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement thereof,
that is to say:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in the manufacture of glass.
Heretofore in the manufacture of glass the fires employed have depended on
the natural draft of the chimney or cone, which is often uncertain and irregular
in consequence of the varying state of the wind and the outer atmosphere.
Now our improvements consist in using air under pressure under the gratings
of the furnace, by which the draft through the fuel may be insured, and
rendered more constant and certain, notwithstanding the changes of weather.

page_text: the furnace is at work, is
On each side of the furnace
Figure 1 is a horizontal section of a glass furnace arranged as above
described; Figure 2 is a vertical section of the same, taken at the line 1, 1,
Figure 1; Figure 3 is an end view; Figure 4 is also an end view, partly in
section; Figure 5 is a portion of a side view; and Figure 6 is a portion of a
vertical section, taken at the line 2, 2, Figure 1. a, a, are the exterior walls
of the furnace, which are roofed over at the top by an arch b; c, c, are fire
boxes, enclosed at the top by arches c', c'. Within the fire boxes, and at the
level shewn in the Drawing, fire-bars are arranged. The ash-pit underneath
the fire-bars is enclosed at the front with brickwork, and a closely fitting ash-
pit door d. The space over the fire-bars is also enclosed at the front for the
most part with brickwork. A loose brick is left at for stoking, and an
opening at f for introducing fuel, but this, when
closed by small coal piled up on the dead plate g.
and within the same, a raised bench or platform h is formed for the pots i to
stand on; between these platforms a hollow or well is left; this is to collect
any glass which may boil over out of the pots, and the glass so collected
escapes by a hole k into a tunnel 1, under one of the platforms h, and is from
thence removed from time to time to be again used for rough purposes.
m, m, are arched openings, left in the sides of the furnace for the introduction
of the pots; they are, however, bricked up when the furnace is in use; n, n,
are flues or passages left through the side walls of the furnace for the escape
of the products of combustion; these openings are so placed as to compel the
flame to play around the lower parts of the pots; o, o, are holes or passages,
through which the instruments used in working the glass are passed to with-
draw the melted glass as required from time to time for use; these holes are
closed whilst the furnace is being urged to melt the glass-making materials,
but are opened when the glass is ready for use, the flues or passages n, n,
being then closed. p, p, are pipes for supplying compressed air to the closed
ash-pits. In order to compress or force the air, we employ a fan about 42
inches in diameter, and driven at about 1,800 revolutions per minute.
The furnace shewn in the Drawing is more especially applicable for the
manufacture of bottle glass, but with slight modifications, such as a glass

page_text: manufacturer will readily be able to make, it may be employed in the manu-
facture either of plate or flint glass.
In witness whereof, I, the said Nathaniel William Dobeson, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-fourth day of July, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
NATH. W. DOBESON. (L.s.)