IMPROVEMENTS IN MALT AND HOP KILNS, WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE PARTLY APPLICABLE TO THE VENTILATION AND WARMING OF BUILDINGS AND TO THE DRYING OF VARIOUS SUBSTANCES
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alexander Epps, of Chilham, in the County of
Kent, Builder, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MALT AND HOP
KILNS, WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE PARTLY APPLICABLE TO THE VENTILATION AND
WARMING OF BUILDINGS AND TO THE DRYING OF VARIOUS SUBSTANCES."
Sealed the 7th June 1864, and dated the 11th December 1863.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alexander Epps at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 11th
December 1863.
I; ALEXANDER EPPS, of Chilham, in the County of Kent, Builder, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MALT AND
HOP KILNS, WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE PARTLY APPLICABLE TO THE VENTILATION
AND WARMING OF BUILDINGS AND TO THE DRYING OF VARIOUS SUBSTANCES," to be as
follows:-
This Invention relates to a peculiar construction and arrangement of hot air
apparatus suitable for drying malt, hops, and other substances, and for the
warming and ventilation of buildings, and consists, as applied to a hop kiln,
for example, in the employment of any convenient arrangement of furnace
which I prefer to place in the centre of the ground floor of the kiln. At the
back of this furnace there is formed a chamber into which a flue or air passage
enters from the outside of the kiln. A number of metal or earthenware pipes

page_text: are made to open into this chamber, their opposite ends opening into a.cokel
built immediately over and in communication with the furnace, the pipes
themselves being heated by the direct action of the furnace over which they
are placed. From this cokel branch out on each side two other groups or
series of pipes which open into the kiln. Air is caused to pass round these
pipes and to be heated thereby, such air being brought in by separate flues
or passages for that purpose, and when heated enters with the other heated
air from the cokel into the body of the kiln where the whole of the different
currents of hot air mingle together. The fuel employed should be coke,
charcoal, Welsh coal, or other smokeless fuel.. In order to drive up or increase
the circulation of the hot air inside the kiln, cold air passages are formed
opening into the bottom of the kiln near the centre thereof. An even and
regular temperature is maintained in the kiln by means of a self-acting regu-
lator, which consists of a perforated tube provided with a valve at each end
opening inwards, and having its ends covered by a cap of perforated zinc, such
ends being outside the kiln whilst the rest of the pipe is within the kiln, so
as to be heated thereby. Should the air inside this pipe become too much
rarified or heated by reason of the over-heating of the kiln, the external atmo-
spheric pressure will force open the valves and cold air will enter the regulating
pipe, from which it escapes into the interior of the kiln in the form of a
number of fine streams or jets, which will temper or reduce the heat therein to
the proper degree, whereupon the valves will close and prevent the further
entrance of cold air until again required.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Alexander Epps in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
11th June 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALEXANDER
Epps, of Chilham, in the County of Hants, Contractor, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eleventh day of December, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-seventh year of Her
reign, did, for Herself; Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Alexander Epps, Her special license that I, the said Alexander Epps,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Alexander Epps, my executors; administrators, or assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter

page_text: 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
MALT AND HOP KILNS, WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE PARTLY APPLICABLE TO THE VENTI-
LATION AND WARMING OF BUILDINGS AND TO THE DRYING OF VARIOUS SUBSTANCES,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Alexander Epps, .my
executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my hand
and seal, or under the hand and seal of one of them, 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 Alexander Epps, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings, and to the
Jetters and figures marked thereon, that is to say :-
My said Invention, relates to a peculiar construction and arrangement of
hot air apparatus suitable for drying malt, hops, and other substances, and
for the warming and ventilation of buildings, and consists, as applied to a hop
kiln, for example, in the employment of any convenient arrangement of furnace
which I prefer to place in the centre of the ground floor of the kiln. At the
back of this furnace there is formed a chamber, into which a flue or air furnace
enters from the outside of the kiln. A number of metal or earthenware pipes
are made open into this chamber, their opposite ends opening into a coke!
built immediately over and in communication with the furnace, the pipes
themselves being heated by the direct action of the furnace over which they
are placed. From this cokel branch out on each side two other groups or series
of pipes which open into the kiln. Air is caused to pass round these pipes and
to be heated thereby, such air being brought in by separate flues or passages
for that purpose, and when heated enters with the other heated air from the
cokel into the body of the kiln, where the whole of the different currents of
hot air mingle together. The fuel employed should be coke, charcoal, Welsh
coal, or other smokeless fuel. In order to drive up or increase the circulation
of the hot air inside the kiln, cold air passages are formed opening into the
bottom of the kiln near the centre thereof.. An even and regular temperature
is maintained in the, kiln by means of a self-acting regulator, which consists of
a perforated tube. provided with a valve at each end opening inwards or out-
wards, as the case may be, and having its ends covered by a cap of perforated

page_text: zinc, such ends being outside the kiln whilst the rest of the pipe is within the
kiln so as to be heated thereby. Should the kiln become overheated the
external atmospheric pressure will force open the valves which open inwards
and cold air will enter the regulating pipe, from which it escapes into the
interior of the kiln in the form of a number of streams or jets which will
tèmper or reduce the heat therein to the proper degree, whereupon the valves
will close and prevent the further entrance of cold air until again required.
This will occur if the ventilating pipe be placed near the bottom of the kiln,
but if it be situate near the upper part thereof then the valves will be made
to open outwards in place of inwards, and the hot air will be free to escape
through the pipe and valves from the interior to the outside of the kiln, any
sudden influx of cold air being checked by the closing of the valves by the
atmospheric pressure.
And in order that my said Invention may be fully understood, I shall now
proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose I shall
refer to the several Figures on the Sheet of Drawings hereunto annexed, the
same letters of reference indicating corresponding parts in all the Figures.
Figure 1 of my Drawings represents a vertical section of a hop kiln provided
with my improved hot air apparatus and ventilator; Fig. 2 is a corresponding
sectional plan of the same, taken along the line 1, 2, in Figure 1; Figure 8
is a vertical section of the kiln and hot air apparatus taken along the line 3, 4,
in Figure 1; and Figures 4, 5, and 6, are details of my improved ventilator
detached.
A is the kiln, which may be of the ordinary construction, and B is the
usual drying floor upon which the hops, malt, or other substances to be dried
are laid; C is the furnace for heating the air employed in drying the sub-
stances; this furnace is enclosed in brickwork erected in the centre of the base
of the kiln, and is supplied with air to support combustion by the air flue D,
which is open to the external atmosphere and communicates with the ash-pit
of the furnace by the opening or mouth at E. A partition F divides the
mouth E from the air chamber G at the back of the furnace, which air
chamber is also in communication, as shewn in Figure 3, with the air flue D.
Two other air chambers H, H,. are constructed, one on each side of the
furnace, and are each supplied with fresh air from outside the kiln by the air
flues I, I, as shewn clearly in Figure 1. A group of air pipes K is fitted
immediately over the furnace so as to be heated directly from the fire therein.
These pipes K are fitted at one end into the back wall of the furnace so as
to communicate with the air chamber G, whilst their inner ends open into a
chamber or cokel (the roof or cover of which is shewn at G') formed above

page_text: the furnace, and thus supply air thereto.
From the two sides of this cokel
branch out two groups of pipes L, L, which are laid across the upper portion
of the side chambers H, H, and form a direct communication between the
furnace and the interior of the kiln, the heated gases or products of combustion
passing through such pipes. These pipes L.are so placed as to have inster-
tices or openings between them so that the fresh air which enters the
chambers H by the air flues I may, by passing round them, become heated,
and when heated this air rises upwards, as shewn by the red arrows, into the
kiln. The pipes. K are also set in such a manner as to allow the heated gases
and products of combustion to play and circulate freely round them so as to
impart heat thereto, and consequently the- fresh air which enters the cokel
through these heated pipes will have its temperature considerably elevated
before passing into the kiln- through the pipes L along with the products of
combustion. The red arrows in the Drawing indicate the currents of hot air
and products of combustion, and the black arrows those of the cold air. It
will thus be seen that one portion of the air which is supplied by passing
through the hot pipes K and cokel or chamber. above the furnace, whilst the
other portion is heated by circulating round and amongst the pipes L. .M, M,
Figure 2), are passages or flues opening direct into the kiln from the outside
thereof, for the purpose of admitting cold air, with a view to drive upwards or
facilitate the circulation of the hot air. The various passages or air flues may
be provided with regulating doors or dampers, if desired, for the purpose of
controlling the supply of air to the kiln. When the malt, hops, or other
substances are sufficiently dried, the two doors N, N, may be opened or
brought into position shewn in Figure 2, so as to check the inlet of air through
the front of the furnace and afford at the same time a free inlet of cold air
to the kiln through the opening at O, O.
The hot-air apparatus herein-before described is obviously equally applicable
to the supplying of warm air for warming buildings generally.
Figure 4 is a partial longitudinal section of one end of my improved venti-
lating apparatus which I employ for tempering the heat of the kiln and for
ventilating apartments and buildings generally; Figure 5 is a front elevation
of the valve; and Figure 6 is a side view of the same.
This apparatus consists of a tube a, (shown applied in Figures 1 and 3) which
extends from side to side or from one side only of the kiln or apartment or
building to be ventilated. It is situate either near the roof or ceiling or near
the floor, as the case may be, and opens outside to the external atmosphere, as
shewn in Figure 1. That portion of this tube which is contained within the
kiln or apartment or building to be ventilated is perforated, as shewn at b, b,

page_text: .
and is provided at one or both its extremities with a valve c made to open
either outwards or inwards according to the position of the tube. I prefer to
make the valve in the form of a hinged door suspended from above, as shown
in, my Drawings, and to attach it to a loose ring or holder d, which will fit
exactly inside the tube a in either direction, that is to say, with the valve
opening outwards or inwards as required. A small weight may be fitted so
as to slide along the valve; by means of an adjusting screw, whereby the
opening of the valve may be regulated. The extreme ends of the tube 'are
furnished with a perforated metal cap or cover e for the purpose of dividing
the air and preventing the influx into the tube of too great a volume of air at
one time. When the ventilating tube is placed near the roof or ceiling of
the apartment or building to be ventilated, the valves are so disposed as to
open outwards (see Figures 1 and 4), thus affording egress for the rarefied air,
but when situate near the floor the valves are inserted so as to open inwards
and permit of the entrance of cold air from without.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried
into effect, I would observe in conclusion that what I consider to be novel and
original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the herein-
before in part recited Letters Patent, is,
1st, the peculiar construction and arrangement of apparatus for supplying
hot air for drying malt, hops, and other substances, and for warming buildings,
substantially as herein-before described and illustrated by my Drawings.
2nd, the employment in malt and hop kilns of a hot air apparatus con-
structed and operated substantially in the manner and for the purpose herein-
before described.
3rd, the peculiar construction of ventilator, as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alexander Epps, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Ninth day of June, One thousand eight hundred
and sixty-four.