IMPROVEMENTS IN SPARK ARRESTERS AND EXTINGUISHERS FOR LOCOMOTIVES
Year: 1875

page_text: ETTERS PATENT to William Morgan-Brown, of the Firm of Brandon
and Morgan-Brown, Engineers and Patent Agents, of 38, South-
ampton Buildings, London, and 13, Rue Gaillon, Paris, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN SPARK ARRESTERS AND EXTINGUISHERS
FOR LOCOMOTIVES." A communication from abroad by William
Halsted, of the City of Trenton, State of New Jersey, United States
of America, Counsellor-at-Law.
sealed the 6th December 1875, and dated the 7th August 1875.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Morgan-
Brown at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 7th August 1875.
I, WILLIAM MORGAN-BROWN, of the Firm of Brandon and Morgan-
Brown, Engineers and Patent Agents, of 38, Southampton Buildings,
London, and 13, Rue Gaillon, Paris, do hereby declare the nature
of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN SPARK. ARRESTERS AND
EXTINGUISHERS FOR LOCOMOTIVES," to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is to arrest and extinguish sparks of fire

page_text: _ejected_from_locomotive engines_and_to_prevent fire which might
otherwise be communicated to property on or near the railroad on which
the locomotive is operated. To effect this, instead of placing the smoke
pipe or stack in an upright or vertical position as customary I place it
in a horizontal position, projecting forward, and in American engines
over what is commonly called the "cow catcher," covering the flues of
the boilers so that the smoke of the flues may pass in a straight line into
the smoke pipe or stack.
"
"
The exhaust pipes for the steam have their ends turned so as to
project the steam in a straight line into the end or opening of the smoke
stack which covers the flues of the boiler. The front end of the smoke
pipe or stack is turned downwards so as to enter and be fitted closely
into a triangular box or covering placed over the " cow catcher or on
the forward part of the locomotive, such box being made of sheet iron,
copper, or other appropriate metal, and fastened in a proper manner on
the outer rim of the " cow catcher or fore part of the locomotive so as
to be air-tight on its top and sides. The sides of the box are per-
pendicular or vertical, and the top flat or horizontal, and it may be from
two and a half to four feet or more in height, according to the size of
the engine for which it is to be used; its top may be made as it were
double so that it may form a water-containing vessel or compartment of
a depth of about four inches or more under the whole surface of the
upper covering of the triangular box. The under side of this com-
partment, vessel, or tank for the space of a number of inches (say, six,
eight, or more), around the hole where the forward end of the smoke
pipe projects into the triangular box is perforated to allow the water to
drip through the same and fall on to the road or cow catcher, or both,
or upon a corrugated plate of sheet metal attached to the forward
portion of the cow catcher or fore part of the engine.
Instead of making the upper part of the box double to receive water
a water chamber of any suitable shape or kind may be secured thereto,
serving the same purpose.
The cow catcher may be made in any ordinary form, the only
alteration or addition which I make for the purpose of this Invention is
the placing of a corrugated plate, say, of sheet iron, extending from or
from near the front point thereof backward and downward to the
distance of three or four feet, so that the water that drips through the
perforations of the tank may fall upon the said plate and keep it con-

page_text: stantly wet, and that the sparks from the front end of the smoke pipe
may also fall thereon and be extinguished by the water collected in the
corrugations or grooves, or by that which may drip upon them while
there, and may thence fall or be driven downward upon the road.
"
Another good effect which may be produced by allowing the water
to drip down upon the cow "catcher in the manner aforesaid is to
cool the smoke and thus reduce its temperature to a degree not higher
than that of the atmosphere, and therefore prevent its rising so high or
so fast as to annoy persons in the car.
The box instead of being made with vertical or straight sides may be
made shelving or flaring outward and upward somewhat resembling a
snow plow. This admits of making the top broader, thus affording space
for a larger water tank in its top, and the box itself may be made to
perform the duty of a snow plow.
The smoke pipe instead of being made strictly horizontal may be
made in a semicircular form and so that its lower end may project under
the boiler.
The following may be enumerated among the advantages due to this
Invention:-
"
First. The wire screens usually employed over a smoke stack are
dispensed with, and the great risk of setting fire to houses and other
property from the sparks escaping through broken or damaged parts of
these screens is avoided as these devices collect and drive them down to
the earth besides showering them with water.
Second. The projecting of the smoke stack forward instead of upward
removes a serious obstruction to the sight of the engineer and to his
perception of dangerous objects ahead of the train.
Third. The low position of the smoke stack avoids the need of high
bridges or high tunnels under or through which the train is to pass, thus
materially lessening the cost of building the road.
Fourth. The water employed to extinguish the sparks also serves in a
measure to lay the dust along the road and in advance of the passenger
cars.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Morgan-Brown in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 2nd February 1876.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
MORGAN-BROWN, of the Firm of Brandon and Morgan-Brown,
Engineers and Patent Agents, of 38, Southampton Buildings, London,
and 13, Rue Gaillon, Paris, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Seventh day of August, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the thirty-
ninth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said William Morgan-Brown, Her special license
that I, the said William Morgan-Brown, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Morgan-Brown, 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 SPARK ARRESTERS AND EXTINGUISHERS FOR LOCOMOTIVES,"
(a communication to me from abroad by William Halsted, of the
City of Trenton, in the State of New Jersey, United States of America,
Counsellor-at-Law,) upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said William Morgan-Brown, 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 per-
formed, 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.
66
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Morgan-Brown, do hereby
declare the nature of the 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, that is to say, in connection with the
accompanying Drawings forming part of this Specification, in which,-
Figure 1 represents. a locomotive with the Invention applied thereto.

page_text: pipes and the forward end of the boiler.
Figure 3, a detached view in perspective, and partly broken away, of
the forward projecting smoke pipe or stack, the triangular case into
which it discharges, and the water vessel or sprinkler.
"
And, Figure 4, a perspective view of the " cow catcher and its
attachments.
The object of this Invention is to arrest and extinguish sparks of fire
ejected from locomotive engines, and to prevent fires which might
otherwise be communicated to property on or near the railroad on which
the locomotive is operated. To effect this, instead of placing the smoke
pipe or stack in an upright or vertical position as customary I place it
in a horizontal position projecting forward, and in American engines
over what is commonly called the "cow catcher," covering the flues of
the boilers so that the smoke of the flues may pass in a straight line
into the smoke pipe or stack, as shown at A, Figures 1 and 3.
"
The exhaust pipes for the steam, which are represented at B, B', in
Figure 2, have their ends turned so as to project the steam in a straight
line into the end or opening of the smoke stack which covers the flues
of the boiler. The front end of the smoke pipe or stack is turned
downwards so as to enter and be fitted closely into a triangular box or
covering C placed over the "cow catcher or on the forward part of
the locomotive, such box being made of sheet iron, copper, or other
appropriate metal, and fastened in a proper manner on the outer rim of
the " cow catcher
or fore parts of the locomotive so as to be air-tight.
on its top and sides, as represented in Figure 3. The sides D, D, of the
box, as shown in the Drawings, are perpendicular or vertical, and the
top flat or horizontal, and it may be from two and a half to four feet or
more in height according to the size of the engine for which it is to be
used; its top may be made as it were double so that it may form a
water-containing vessel or compartment of a depth of about four inches
or more under the whole surface of the upper covering of the triangular
box; the under side of this compartment, vessel, or tank for the space
of a number of inches (say, six, eight, or more), around the hole where
the forward end of the smoke pipe projects into the triangular box is

page_text: perforated to allow the water to drip through-the-same and fall on to
the road or cow catcher, or both, or upon a corrugated plate of sheet
metal (see E, Figure 4), attached to the forward portion of the cow
catcher or fore part of the engine, substantially as shown. The little
elbow or pipe F (see Figures 1 and 3) on the top of the box C represents
the pipe by which water may be conveyed into the tank or com-
partment G.
Instead of making the upper part of the box C double to receive
water a water chamber of any suitable shape or kind may be secured
thereto, serving the same purpose.
The cow catcher may be made in any ordinary form; the only
alteration or addition which I make for the purpose of this Invention is
the placing of a corrugated plate, say, of sheet iron, and shown at E in
Figure 4, extending from or from near the front point thereof backward
and downward to the distance of two or three feet, substantially as
represented in the Drawings, so that the water that drips through the
perforations of the tank G may fall upon the said plate and keep it
constantly wet, and that the sparks from the front end of the smoke
pipe may also fall thereon and be extinguished by the water collected
in the corrugations or grooves, or by that which may drip upon them
while there, and may thence fall or be driven downward upon the
road.
Another good effect which may be produced by allowing the water to
drip down upon the "cow catcher" in the manner aforesaid is to cool
the smoke and thus reduce its temperature to a degree not higher than
that of the atmosphere, and therefore prevent its rising so high or so
fast as to annoy persons in the car.
The box C instead of being made with vertical or straight sides may
be made shelving or flaring outward and upward somewhat resembling
a snow plough. This admits of making the top broader, thus affording
space for a larger water tank in its top, and the box itself may be made
to perform the duty of a snow plough.
The smoke pipe instead of being made strictly horizontal may be
made in a semicircular form and so that its lower end may project
under the boiler.

page_text: The following may be enumerated among the advantages due to this
Invention:-
First. The wire screens usually employed over a smoke stack are
dispensed with, and the great risk of setting fire to houses and other
property from the sparks escaping through broken or damaged parts of
these screens is avoided as these devices collect and drive them down to
the earth besides showering them with water.
Second. The projecting of the smoke stack forward instead of upward
removes a serious obstruction to the sight of the engineer and to his
perception of dangerous objects ahead of the train.
Third. The low position of the smoke stack avoids the need of high
bridges or high tunnels under or through which the train is to pass,
thus materially lessening the cost of building the road.
Fourth. The water employed to extinguish the sparks also serves in
a measure to lay the dust along the road and in advance of the passenger
cars.
Having now described the construction and operation of this Inven-
tion, what I claim is as follows:-
First. In combination with a locomotive a smoke stack, pipe, or
chimney projecting from the engine directly forward over the cow
catcher and having its forward end turned downward and entering a box
which covers the cow catcher, substantially as and for the purpose set
forth.
Second. In combination with the smoke stack or chimney projecting
directly forward from the locomotive a triangular box or covering over
the cow catcher, the combination serving to convey the sparks and
igneous matter directly forward from the smoke stack and then down
upon the track forward of the locomotive.
Third. In combination with the box which covers the cow catcher a
tank or water compartment located in the top of such box and provided
with perforations or water outlets in its bottom to permit the water to
drip through the same, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
Fourth. In combination with the box that covers the cow catcher and
with a water dripping apparatus the corrugated or grooved plate beneath
the cow catcher and inclining backwards and serving to receive the

page_text: falling water and the cinders-or-sparks and to extinguish them, all
substantially as set forth.
In witness. whereof, I, the said William Morgan-Brown, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Second day of February,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and
seventy-six.
WILLIAM MORGAN-BROWN. (L.S.)