IMPROVEMENTS IN BOILERS OR GENERATORS FOR STEAM WHICH APPLICABLE FOR OTHER HEATING PURPOSES
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Landless, of Manchester, in the County
of Lancaster, Mechanical Engineer, for the Invention of "CERTAIN"
IMPROVEMENTS IN BOILERS OR GENERATORS FOR STEAM WHICH
APPLICABLE FOR OTHER HEATING PURPOSES."
ARE ALSO
Sealed the 12th February 1869, and dated the 18th August 1868..
.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Landless at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
18th August 1868.
I, JAMES LANDLESS, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster,
Mechanical Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN BOILERS OR GENERATORS FOR STEAM WHICH ARE
ALSO APPLICABLE FOR OTHER HEATING PURPOSES," to be as follows:-
My Invention is designed for the purpose of economising fuel in the
furnaces of steam boilers, household fires, or other receptacles containing
fuel employed for heating purposes, and the improvements consist in
the novel adaptation and construction of a peculiar form of damper or
screen composed of wire, perforated plates made of earthenware or other

page_text: fireproof material, or bars so arranged and constructed that they can be
placed in flues in such a position that the flame and gases evolved from
the fuel will in their passage through the flue impinge against such
heated screens and become consumed, by which means a more thorough
combustion of the gases is effected. In applying the improved screen or
screens to boilers for generating steam, for example, I suspend the
screw in sliding grooves immediately behind the tubular flues of the
boiler or other suitable positions in the flue by cords or chains which
pass over guide pulleys terminating in handles in front of the boiler,
thus when the boiler is in use the screens are lowered so as to form an
intersected or perforated abutment against which the flames and gas
passing into the flue impinge, the slight stoppage thus effected in their
course enables the unconsumed gases to become ignited and consumed,
thereby effecting a saving in the consumption of fuel.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said James Landless in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 18th February 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
LANDLESS, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Mechanical
Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eighteenth day of August, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the thirty-
second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said James Landless, Her special license
that I, the said James Landless, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said James Landless, 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 "CERTAIN IMPROVE
MENTS IN BOILERS OR GENERATORS FOR STEAM WHICH ARE ALSO APPLICABLE FOR
OTHER HEATING PURPOSES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said James Landless, my executors or administrators, by an instru-

page_text: ment 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 within six
calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said James Landless, 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 is designed for the purpose of economising fuel in the
furnaces of steam boilers, household fires, or other receptacles containing
fuel employed for heating purposes, and the improvements consist in
the novel adaptation and construction of a peculiar form of damper or
screen composed of wire, perforated plates made of earthenware, or other
fireproof material or bars so arranged and constructed that they can be
placed in flues in such a position that the flame and gases evolved from
the fuel will in their passage through the flue impinge against such
heated screens and become consumed, by which means a more thorough
combustion of the gases is effected. The screens may be employed in
various ways to boilers for generating, for instance, the screens may be
placed immediately behind the tubular flue of the boiler in an orifice
of a smaller diameter than the tube formed in a box through which the
feed water of the boiler is allowed to pass before entering the boiler, the
said screen or screens being arranged so as to slide, oscillate, or revolve,
the sliding or oscillating movement being obtained through the medium
of a self-acting pressure valve actuated by an indicated excessive
pressure of steam or through the opening and closing of the boiler doors.
The screen may also be employed as an economizer of fuel and radiator
of heat in household fires.
In order that the Invention may be better understood and explained
in detail, I have hereunto attached two Sheets of Drawings made upon
a scale of about 3 inches = 1 foot, similar letters of reference being
marked on all the Figures alike.
Sheet 1, Figure 1, represents a plan view of a boiler and its flues,
in which is shewn the arrangement and adaptation of the rising and
falling screens together wih the oscillatory or revolving screens and
hollow circulating or feed water boxes at the end of the boiler; Figure 2

page_text: represents an end elevation of the boiler, shewing the arrangement of
boxes through which the water circulates and the adaptation to the same
of the rotating screens; Figure 3 represents an end view of the same;
Figure 4 represents an elevation view of the arrangement of screens and
the terminal box through which the feed water circulates in its course to
the boiler; Figure 5 represents a plan view of the same.
In these Figures a, a, are the shells of two boilers; b, b, the cylindrical
flues; c the outside flues leading to the chimney stack; and d the exit
thoroughfare or pipe conducting the steam from the boilers, being all
well known parts.
In Figure 1 a general arrangement of the screen dampers are shewn
as an example of one modification or adaptation of the same to the flues
of steam boilers; e, e, and f, f', are all screens or dampers composed of
perforated or latticed non-combustible material, the screens e, e, the
position and arrangement of which together with their utility are more
particularly described hereafter, are actuated so as to. open and close
through the medium of the connecting rods g in connection with the
furnace doors or by other equivalent means; the screen dampers f, f,
in the side flues may be raised and lowered as desired, and the screen
damper in the main flue is suspended by a chain from a pulley h
which is actuated through the medium of the shaft pulley and rod i
by the pressure of steam on a piston inside the cylinder k, the steam
being admitted thereto through the pipe and valve when a certain
pressure has been attained in the boiler, thus forcing forward the said
piston which transmits motion through the shaft and pulley i for the
purpose of lowering and closing the screen damper f¹. In Figures 2
and 3 the screens e, e, are mounted on the vertical hollow shafts m, m,
so as to fit the orifice formed in a hollow casing or box n, n, placed
and secured in the flue a short distance from the terminal end of the
boiler; the orifice formed in these hollow casings or boxes are some-
what smaller than the diameter of the cylindrical flues of the boiler,
thus when the screens e, e, are closed the products of combustion in
passing from the boiler impinge against the hot perforated screens,
thereby effecting a thorough combustion of the gases evolved from the
fuel; these screens may be actuated to open and close alternately accord-
ing to the way the furnaces are replenished with coal, for instance,
when one furnace door is opened for replenishing the screen of such
furnace is immediately closed by the action of the door, thereby baffling
the newly created gases, which mixing in the space or chamber o become

page_text: by the united heat of the closed screen and the bright fire of the next
furnace thoroughly consumed before passing into the chimney, or the
screens may be actuated through the medium of the valve, vertical rods,
and levers p to open for the free passage of heat when a given pressure
has been attained in the boiler, or if desired the screens e, e, may be
driven so as rapidly to revolve, the effect of which will mix and ignite
the unconsumed gases, in this view pipes q are arranged which connect
the hollow casing or boxes n, n, with the boiler top and bottom, through
which the water in the boiler is kept in a constant state of circulation,
thereby preventing incrustation and also expediting the generation of
steam; or if desired in lieu of water the hollow casings may be con-
nected with the steam pipes through which the steam in its passage
from the boiler to the engine will flow, thereby becoming whilst passing
through such heated chambers rarified and superheated. The hollow
spindles m, m, are provided with perforations through which oil or air
may be discharged for combustion.
In Figures 4 and 5 an arrangement of pipes are shewn in connection
with the hollow casings n, n, through which the feed water is caused
to pass previous to its entering the boiler. To effect this a number of
copper or other metal pipes r, r, through which the water from the
pumps first enters are placed along the side of the boiler in the upper
chamber or flue r², from these pipes at the terminal end of the boiler
the water passes through the branch pipe s, taking a serpentine course
through the casings n, n, in the direction indicated by the arrows,
passing out therefrom into another series of longitudinal pipes s, from
whence it is injected in a state of high temperature into the boiler.
In Sheet 2, Figure 1 represents an ordinary household kitchen fire
supplied with an improved perforated or latticed screen and Figure 2
represents a vertical section of the same.
In Figures 1 and 2 a, a, is an ordinary kitchen range, and 6 the
flue; c is the improved screen or perforated damper supported by
pivots in the open bearings d, in which the screen is allowed to move
and from which it can be readily removed for cleaning; when the
screen is down, as seen in Figure 2, a small space or opening e is left
at the top for the purpose of allowing a free passage and escape for
any unconsumed gases in the form of smoke at the time the fire
is being replenished, the radiation of heat thrown from the perforated
screen not only economizes the consumption of fuel, but throws out
a greater amount of heat with a less amount of coal, thus fires not

page_text: supplied with the screen also, by consuming the gases evolved from
the smoke the formation of soot in the chimney is considerably.
diminished; when a large pan is place upon the fire the screen is
thrown back into the position shewn in dots (Figure 2).
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, together
with the method of carrying the same into practical effect, I wish
it to be clearly and distinctly understood that I claim,-
First. The novel construction and adaptation to the flues of steam
boilers of the perforated or latticed screens, also the hollow casings in
which they are mounted, together with the general arrangement and con-
struction of the various parts connected therewith or any slight modifi-
cation thereof as herein-before described, set forth, and fully illustrated
in the Drawings attached.
And, secondly, I claim the novel construction and adaptation, together
with the employment and use to household fires, of the perforated or
latticed noncombustible screen as described and shewn in Sheet No. 2
of the Drawings, or any slight modification of the fixing thereof.
In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal, this
Seventeenth day of February, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine.
JAMES LANDLESS. (L.S.)