IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM BOILER AND OTHER TUIDNACE
Year: 1877

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Arthur Wilson, of Walsall, in the County of Stafford,
Engineer and Ironfounder, and John James Palmer, of Walsall aforesaid,
Breeze Merchant, and Thomas Henry Palmer, of Walsall aforesaid, Meat
Salesman, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM BOILER AND OTHER
TUIDNACE"
Sealed the 22nd January 1878, and dated the 26th July 1877.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Arthur Wilson, John James
Palmer, and Thomas Henry Palmer at the Office of the Commissioners of
Patents on the 26th July 1877.
ARTHUR WILSON, of Walsall, in the County of Stafford, Engineer and Iron-
founder, and JOHN JAMES PALMER, of Walsall aforesaid, Breeze Merchant, and
THOMAS HENRY PALMER, of Walsall aforesaid, Meat Salesman. "IMPROVEMENTS IN
STEAM BOILER AND OTHER FURNACES."
Our Invention consists of the improvements, herein-after described, in steam
boiler and other furnaces, whereby the production of smoke is wholly or largely
prevented, and economy of fuel effected.
We will describe our Invention in connection with a steam boiler furnace.
We make the frame to which the door of the furnace is hinged hollow, and we
cause the said hollow frame to communicate at any convenient part with the
atmosphere.
We also make the furnace door hollow, and provide the said door and the hollow
door frame with openings, so that when the door is shut, it shall be in communication
with the said hollow frame.
::
The inner side of the door is provided with a series of oblique or other slits or
openings.
Air enters the door frame from the atmosphere, and circulating through the said
frame becomes heated before passing from the said frame into the door, where it
becomes further heated, and the heated air enters the furnace through the slits or
openings in the inner side of the door in the form of thin sheets or small jets, and

page_text: mixes thoroughly with and effects the combustion of the volatile matters first given
off when fuel is charged into the furnace.
As the quantity of air required to prevent the formation of smoke is greatest
when the furnace is freshly charged with fuel, and becomes less and less as the
combustion proceeds, we provide the passage at which the air enters the hollow door
frame from the atmosphere with a throttle or other valve. This valve is actuated
by the door in the following manner :-Connected with the said valve is a lever
worked by a small cataract cylinder and piston. On the opening of the furnace
door for charging the fuel, the piston of the cataract is raised to the top of its
cylinder, thereby opening the throttle or other valve to its full extent.
When the door has been closed the said cataract piston commences slowly to
descend in its cylinder, thereby gradually closing the throttle or other valve, and
diminishing the amount of hot air allowed to enter the furnace by the door.
The cataract can be so arranged as to shut off the air from the door at any
required time after the charging of the furnace with fresh fuel.
When the cataract piston has reached the bottom of its cylinder, the throttle or
other valve is quite closed, and the air now enters the furnace only from the ash-
pit and between the fire-bars.
The cataract we employ is of the kind well known and commonly used in
pumping engines, and we therefore do not think it necessary to describe the same.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by the
said Arthur Wilson, and John James Palmer, and Thomas Henry Palmer in the
Great Seal Patent Office on the 24th January 1878.
ARTHUR WILSON, of Walsall, in the County of Stafford, Engineer and Iron-
founder, and JOHN JAMES PALMER, of Walsall aforesaid, Breeze Merchant, and
THOMAS HENRY PALMER, of Walsall aforesaid, Meat Salesman. "IMPROVEMENTS IN
STEAM BOILER AND OTHER FURNACES."
Our Invention consists of the improvements, herein-after described, in steam
boiler and other furnaces, whereby the production of smoke is wholly or largely
prevented, and economy of fuel effected."
We will describe our Invention in connection with a steam boiler furnace.
We make the frame to which the door of the furnace is hinged hollow, and we
cause the said hollow frame to communicate at any convenient part with the
atmosphere.
We also make the furnace door hollow, and provide the said door and the hollow
door frame with openings, so that when the door is shut, it shall be in communication
with the said hollow frame.
The inner side of the door is provided with a series of oblique, or other slits or
openings.
Air enters the door frame from the atmosphere, and circulating through the said
frame becomes heated before passing from the said frame into the door, where it
becomes further heated, and the heated air enters the furnace through the slits or
openings in the inner side of the door in the form of thin sheets or small jets, and
mixes thoroughly with and effects the combustion of the volatile matters first given
off when fuel is charged into the furnace.

page_text: As the quantity of air required to prevent the formation of smoke is greatest
when the furnace is freshly charged with fuel, and becomes less and less as the
combustion proceeds, we provide the passage at which the air enters the hollow
door frame from the atmosphere with a throttle or other valve. This valve is
actuated by the door in the following manner:-Connected with the said valve is a
lever worked by a small cataract cylinder and piston. On the opening of the
furnace door for charging the fuel, the piston of the cataract is raised to the
top of its cylinder, thereby opening the throttle or other valve to its full extent.
When the door has been closed, the said cataract piston commences slowly to
descend in its cylinder, thereby gradually closing the throttle or other valve, and
diminishing the amount of hot air allowed to enter the furnace by the door.
The cataract can be so arranged as to shut off the air from the door at any
required time after the charging of the furnace with fresh fuel.
When the cataract piston has reached the bottom of its cylinder, the throttle or
other valve is quite closed, and the air now enters the furnace only from the ash-
pit and between the fire-bars.
The cataract we employ is essentially of the kind well known and commonly
used in pumping engines, and we therefore do not think it necessary to describe the
same.
We will now proceed to describe, with reference to the accompanying Drawing,
the manner in which our Invention is to be performed.
Figure 1 represents in perspective the door and door frame of a steam boiler
furnace and appliances connected therewith, constructed and arranged according to
our Invention, Figure 2 represents in perspective a section of the same, the said
section being taken in a vertical plane midway between the front and back of the
door frame and door.
In Figure 1 the furnace door is represented open, and in Figure 2, closed.
Figures 3 and 4 represent, on a larger scale, detached parts of the apparatus
herein-after described.
The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in the several Figures of the
Drawing.
a is the hollow frame at the front of the furnace, to which the door bis hinged.
The said hollow frame a communicates with the atmosphere on one side at c. The
furnace door b is also hollow, as represented, and is open at the side 62. The hollow
frame a has an opening at a², that is, at the side opposite to the side c at which air,
enters.
When the door b is shut into the arch or doorway d of the hollow frame a, the
opening be in the door 6 coincides with the opening a² in the hollow frame a, and
the air entering at c, and passing through the hollow frame a, enters the hollow
door at b, as indicated by the arrows in Figure 2. The front of the door b is
unperforated, but the back plate of the said door is perforated with a series of
oblique slits or openings e, e. Or in place of slits circular or other perforations
may be employed.
We prefer however the use of slits arranged in the manner represented. The air
as it passes through the hollow frame a is heated, and on entering the hollow door b
is further heated before it passes through the slits e in the form of sheets into the
furnace. By arranging the slits in the manner represented, the heated air entering
the furnace is more uniformly distributed than it would be by the use of parallel
slits. The slits represented have a smaller area at the ends nearest the opening a²
in the hollow frame a than at the opposite ends, so that a more free access to the
heated air is given at the part of the door most distant from the opening a² than at
the part nearest the said opening a², and the entrance of the heated air is thus
rendered uniform, or nearly uniform, from every part of the door."
The valve, by which the access of air to the hollow frame a is regulated and cut
off, is marked f. The said valve f is hung to a lever g having a counterbalance
weight h.

page_text: As the quantity of air necessary to effect the combustion in the furnace of the
volatile matter first given off after charging the furnace is greater than that required
in the subsequent stages of the combustion, we connect the valve f with the
regulating apparatus represented, which is brought into action by the opening of
the door for charging the furnace. This automatic regulating apparatus consists of
a modification of the mechanical arrangement used in certain kinds of pumping
engines, and commonly called a cataract. i is the cataract cylinder; and k, the rod
of the piston working in the said cataract cylinder; lis a loop in the piston rod k,
in which loop the end m of the cranked lever m, m2, engages. This lever is
represented in plan of under side in Figure 3, and in elevation in Figure 4; the said
Figures 3 and 4 being drawn to a larger scale than Figures 1 and 2. The arm m²
of the lever m, m2, is curved in the manner illustrated in Figures 3 and 4, the
extreme end of the arm m² being situated immediately under the heel part 6s of the
furnace door b, that is, the part nearest to the hinge n of the door.
When the door b is closed, and the cataract piston has run down, the lever m, m²,
has the position represented in Figures 2, 3, and 4. On opening the door b the
heel part b³ of the door travelling on the inclined arm m² of the said lever m, m²,
depresses the said arm m², and raises the other arm m, thereby lifting the piston
in the cataract cylinder i to its highest point.
When the door b is closed, and it no longer operates upon the lever m, m³, the
weight causes the cataract piston gradually to descend from its highest position,
Figure 1, to its lowest position, Figure 2. The piston rod k of the cataract cylinder
engages with the lever g carrying the valve f, as represented in Figures 1 and 2.
When the cataract piston rod is in the position represented in Figure 1, the valve
fis at its lowest point, and free access of air is permitted to the hollow frame a and
door b. As the cataract piston gradually descends, after the door 6 has been closed,
the valve f is gradually raised and comes to its highest position, Figure 2, when the
cataract piston rod has descended to its lowest position.
When the valve fis in the position represented in Figure 2, access of air by the
frame a and b is cut from the furnace, and the combustion is carried on by the air
supplied from the ash-pit between the fire-bars.
Figure 5 represents in vertical section the cataract cylinder i and parts connected
therewith. The said cylinder is filled and replenished when necessary with water
at its top.
2 is the piston, on the under side of which is the india-rubber disc ³. The
piston is perforated, so that when the piston rod is raised, the water above the
piston passes through the perforations in it, and depresses the india-rubber disc ³.
The piston thus rises through the water to the top of the cylinder without material
obstruction.
The water cannot pass through the piston from the lower to the upper side, and
the piston can only descend in the cylinder by the passage of the water through the
waterway from the bottom to the top of the cylinder. The rate at which the
piston 2 descends is regulated by a stop-cock or valve at p furnished with an
indicator as represented.
Although we prefer to combine with our Invention a cataract of the construction
described and represented, yet we do not limit ourselves to that particular kind of
cataract.
Having now described the nature of our Invention and the manner in which the
same is to be performed, we wish it to be understood that we claim as our
Invention of improvements in steam boiler and other furnaces,-
First. The construction and combination of the hollow frame, into which the
furnace door shuts, with a hollow furnace door, the inner face of which door is
furnished with slits or perforations, the said hollow frame and door being so
constructed and arranged that air from the external atmosphere may be admitted
to the furnace by entering the said hollow frame at one side, circulating through
the said frame before entering the door, and passing from the inner face of the door

page_text: in a heated and divided state into the furnace, the opening to the hollow frame
being provided with a regulating and closing valve, substantially as herein-before
described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawing.
Secondly. The combination with a furnace door frame and door, of the kind
referred to in the preceding claim, of a valve and appliances connected therewith, as
herein-before described, and illustrated in the accompanying Drawing, which valve,
by the opening of the furnace door, is opened, and after the closing of the furnace
door, gradually closes, and thereby gradually cuts off the supply of air to the
furnace door, the several parts being arranged and working substantially as
described and illustrated.
In witness whereof we, the said Arthur Wilson, John James Palmer, and
Thomas Henry Palmer, have hereunto set our hands and seals, this
Eighteenth day of January, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight
hundred and seventy-eight.
Witness,
WILLIAM PAINTER,
41, Blue Lane West,
Walsall.
ARTHUR WILSON.
JOHN JAMES PALMER.
THOMAS HENRY PALMER.
(L.S.)
(L.S.)
(L.S.)