IMPROVE- MENES IN THE CONSTRUCTION AND ARRANGEMENT OF KILNS AND OVENS
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Gilbert Robinson, of the Ainley Fire-clay
Works, Elland, in the County of York, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENES IN THE CONSTRUCTION AND ARRANGEMENT OF KILNS AND OVENS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Gilbert Robinson at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
2nd February 1867.
I, JOHN GILBERT ROBINSON, of the Ainley Fire-clay Works, Elland, in the
County of York, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION AND ARRANGEMENT OF KILNS AND OVENS,"
to be as follows:-
My Invention is applicable to the ordinary kilns and ovens for burning
bricks, sewer tubes, pottery, tiles, pipes, lime, ironstone, and other ores, and
other articles, and it consists in certain improved arrangements of the flues
and dampers for connecting two or more kilns or ovens, so that the heated
products of combustion may be conveyed from one kiln or oven to the other,
thereby economising fuel and preventing the escape of smoke into the
atmosphere.
In performing my Invention the heated products of combustion are
conveyed by a flue with dampers from the kiln or oven in which the bricks or

page_text: other articles are being burnt, into an annular flue surrounding the adjacent
kiln or oven in which the unburnt bricks or other articles are piled ready to
be burnt, thereby making the heat of one kiln or oven available for drying and
burning the articles in the next, and when more than two kilns or ovens are
united by flues the heated products of combustion are taken from the second
kiin or oven to the third, and so on in succession, until the last kiln or oven is
united again to the first or to the main flue leading to the chimney. All the
kilns or ovens are connected by flues with dampers to a main flue leading to
a chimney, and the heated products of combustion after leaving one kiln or
oven are delivered into the chimney or into the annular flue surrounding the
next, and when the heated products of combustion have been drawn from
above through the articles in the kiln or oven they are conveyed through a
central hole in the floor of the kiln or oven to the flue which is in communi-
cation with the main flue leading to the chimney, or to the flue leading to the
adjacent kiln or oven.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Gilbert Robinson in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 30th July 1867.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
GILBERT ROBINSON, of the Ainley Fire-clay Works, Elland, in the County of
York, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Second day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirtieth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said John Gilbert Robinson, Her special license that I, the said John
Gilbert Robinson, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said John Gilbert Robinson, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION AND ARRANGEMENT OF KILNS AND
OVENS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John Gilbert
Robinson, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under
my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and

page_text: 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 John Gilbert Robinson, 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 (that is to say):-
My Invention is applicable to the ordinary kilns and ovens for burning
bricks, sewer tubes, pottery, tiles, pipes, lime, ironstone, and other ores, and
other articles, and it consists in the application of an annular flue in the floor
of the kiln or oven, and in certain improved arrangements of the flues and
dampers for connecting two or more kilns or ovens, so that the heated
products of combustion may be conveyed from one kiln or oven to the other,
thereby economizing fuel and preventing the escape of smoke into the
atmosphere.
And in order that my Invention may be fully understood and readily carried
into operation I will proceed to describe the accompanying Sheet of Drawings,
reference being had to the figures and letters marked thereon.
Figure 1 is a plan of a series of four circular kilns constructed and arranged
according to my improvements; but I wish it to be understood that a greater
or less number of kilns or ovens either of my improved construction or of the
ordinary construction may be arranged in a similar manner. Figure 2 is a
sectional elevation of my improved kilns and of the flues by which they are
united.
In Figure 1 a, b, c, and d are the four kilns forming the series; each kiln is
provided with an opening e, through which the bricks or other articles to be
fired are introduced and removed, and with ten or other convenient number
of fire-grates f; the openings e and grates f, as well as the walls and roof of
the kiln, are made in the usual manner. In the centre of the floor of the
kiln is the grid g through which the products of combustion are conveyed
into the flues leading to the adjacent kiln or to the chimney; these grids g
are also common to some kilns. The main flue h which passes by preference
through the centre of the series of kilns is in communication by means of the
flues a, b, c, and d¹ with each kiln and with the main chimney i, the height
and capacity of which must be in proportion to the number of kilns in the
series. The kilns a and b are united by the flue j, in which is the damper j¹
to shut off the communication between them when required. The kilns 6
and c are united partly by the flue b' and partly by the flue k in which is the
.

page_text: damper. The kilns c and d are united by the flue in which is the
damper ; and the kilns d and a are united partly by the flue d' and partly
by the flue m, in which is the damper m¹.. All the flues leading from the
kilns to the main flue h are provided with dampers to shut off or open the
communication with the chimney as may be required.
My improvement in the construction of kilns or ovens consists in the
application of the annular flue n placed below the floor, and communicating
with the interior of the kiln or oven by the slots or apertures o placed on each
side of the space leading from the fire-grates. The object of this annular
flue and the slots or apertures is to distribute the products of combustion
uniformly within the kiln or oven, and to bring the products of combustion
into contact with fresh oxygen passing through the fire holes f.
.
are then lit, and the firing is
products of combustion passing
chimney i. While the bricks
The mode of operation is as follows:-The bricks or other articles to be
fired having been charged in the kiln a the dampers m' and j' are closed, and
the damper in the flue a¹ is opened; the fires
allowed to proceed in the usual manner, the
through the grid g, the flues a¹ and h, to the
or other articles in the kiln a are being fired the kiln b must be charged, so
that when the kiln a has been at work for a sufficient time the damper in the
flue a is closed, the damper j¹ is opened, and the damper 63 is also opened ;.
the products of combustion of the kiln a are thus admitted into the circular
flue n of the kiln b, the fires f in the kiln 6 being lighted the combustion of the
heated gases from the kiln a is secured, and after circulating through the
bricks or other articles they are conveyed through the grid g, flue b', and main
flue to the chimney. The kilns c and d are worked in the same manner,
thereby making the heat of one kiln or oven available for drying and burning
the articles in the next and following kilns, the operations proceeding in
succession until the products of combustion from the kiln d, or the last of the
series, are taken into the kiln a, or the first of the series.
Another part of my Invention consists in arranging and working ordinary
kilns or ovens as described, but without annular flues.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Gilbert Robinson, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-sixth day of July, One thousand
eight hundred and sixty-seven.