IMPROVEMENTS IN FURNACES OR KILNS FOR THE BURNING OF BRICKS. POTTERY, IRON ORE. AND OTHER SIMILAR SUB- STANCES
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Dewhirst Cliff, of Wortley, near
Leeds, in the County of York, Brick and Tube Manufacturer, for
the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN FURNACES OR KILNS FOR THE
BURNING OF BRICKS. POTTERY, IRON ORE. AND OTHER SIMILAR SUB-
STANCES."
Sealed the 25th September 1868, and dated the 26th March 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Dewhirst
Cliff at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 26th March 1868.
I, WILLIAM DEWHIRST CLIFF, of Wortley, near Leeds, in the
County of York, Brick and Tube Manufacturer, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN FURNACES OR KILNS
FOR THE BURNING OF BRICKS. POTTERY, IRON ORE. AND OTHER BIMILAR
SUBSTANCES," to be as follows:-
-
In this arrangement of furnaces a straight flue or kiln A, B, C, is
built of fire-brick or other material open at both ends; this flue or
[Price 8d.]

page_text: kiln may be on a level plane or at an inclination. The centre or
middle part B, where the goods will be at a high heat, I propose
making of rather less dimensions than the two end portions A and C.
The carriages upon which the goods are placed are so constructed as to
fit close to the sides of this part of the kiln. By making the part A
a little larger than B it enables the air for supporting combustion to
pass along more freely. By enlarging part C, in which are the green
or unburnt goods, the steam generated therefrom passes away more
freely and with less injury to the goods. I do not confine myself to
this particular form, as substantially the same results might be obtained
by slight modifications. The ends of the flue or kiln may be partially
or altogether closed by doors or other methods, and at one end is a
chimney to carry off the waste products. The kiln, by preference, is
built at an inclination, the highest end being that nearest the chimney.
On each side (by preference near to the centre) of the kiln are fixed
furnaces separate from the kiln in which are produced gases, which
gases are taken through openings into the kiln; near to these openings
for admitting the gases into the kiln may be left other openings for
admitting cold air; these may be used or not as found advisable from
time to time. On the bottom of the kiln iron rails are fixed which
run the whole length of the kiln. The bricks or other materials to be
burned are placed on moveable trucks or waggons, which are protected
from the action of the fire by fire-bricks, ganister, or other refractory
material.
When in operation the following would be the method of working:-
At the end nearest the chimney the green or unburned goods are
introduced, and are at intervals or by degrees moved forward to the
point where the heat is produced. When the goods are sufficiently
burned another waggon of unburned goods is introduced at that end
nearest the chimney, and so on until the whole length is filled. These
waggons may be moved forward by hydraulic ram, screw, chains, or
other approved means. The air to support combustion of the gases
would then be admitted at the end furthest from the chimney, and in
passing forward to the point of contact with the gases would absorb
heat from the burned goods, and thus meet the gases in a highly heated
state, the heat would be drawn forward through the unburned goods
by the chimney, which goods would absorb or be acted upon by the
heat instead of it passing away as waste heat up the chimney; the

page_text: consequence is that the goods intended to be burned are already at a
high heat before coming to that part of the kiln where the gases arc
admitted.
Although it is preferred to produce the required heat by generating
the gases in separate furnaces or chambers I do not confine myself to
this, as a similar result might be obtained by applying the fire direct
either at the sides or from any other points.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Dewhirst Cliff in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 26th September 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
DEWHIRST CLIFF, of Wortley, near Leeds, in the County of York,
Brick and Tube Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-sixth day of March, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the
thirty-first year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said William Dewhirst Cliff, Her special
licence, that I, the said William Dewhirst Cliff, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William
Dewhirst Cliff, 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 FURNACES OR KILNS FOR THE BURNING OF BRICKS
POTTERY. IRON ORE. AND OTHER SIMILAR SUBSTANCES," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said William Dewhirst Cliff, 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 performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great

page_text: 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 William Dewhirst Cliff, 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 this arrangement of furnaces a straight flue or kiln A, B, C, is
built of fire-brick or other material open at both ends; this flue or
The centre or
kiln may be on a level plane or at an inclination.
middle part B, where the goods will be at a high heat, I propose
making of rather less dimensions than the two end portions A
and C. The carriages upon which the goods are placed are so
constructed as to fit close to the sides of this part of the kiln. By
making the part A a little larger than B it enables the air for
supporting combustion to pass along more freely. By enlarging part C,
in which are the green or unburned goods, the steam generated
therefrom passes away more freely and with less injury to the goods.
I do not confine myself to this particular form, as substantially the
The ends of
same results might be obtained by slight modifications.
the flue or kiln may be partially or altogether closed by doors or other
methods, and at one end is a chimney to carry off the waste products.
The kiln, by preference, is built at any inclination, the highest end
being that nearest the chimney. On cach side (by preference near to
the centre) of the kiln are fixed furnaces separate from the kiln in
which are produced gases, which gases are taken through openings into
the kiln; near to these openings for admitting the gases into the kiln
may be left other openings for admitting cold air; these may be used
or not as found advisable from time to time. On the bottom of the
kiln iron, rails are fixed which run the whole length of the kiln.
The bricks or other materials to be burned are placed on moveable
trucks or waggons, which are protected from the action of the fire by
fire-bricks, ganister, or other refractory material.
When in operation the following would be the method of working:-
At the end nearest the chimney the green or unburned goods arc
introduced, and are at intervals or by degrees moved forward to the
point where the heat is produced. When the goods are sufficiently

page_text: burned another wagon of unburned goods is introduced at that end
nearest the chimney, and so on until the whole length is filled. . These
wagons may be moved forward by hydraulic ram, screw, chains, or other
approved means. The air to support combustion of the gases would
then be admitted at the end furthest from the chimney, and in passing
forward to the point of contact with the gases would absorb heat from
the burned goods, and thus meet the gases in a highly heated state,
the heat would be drawn forward through the unburned goods by the
chimney, which goods would absorb or be acted upon by the heat instead.
of it passing away as waste heat up the chimney; the consequence is
that the goods intended to be burned are already at a high heat before
coming to that part of the kiln where the gases are admitted.
Although it is preferred to produce the required heat by means of
generating the gases in separate furnaces or chambers I do not confine
myself to this, as a similar result might be obtained by applying the
fire direct either at the sides or from any other points.
In the Drawings hereunto annexed are shewn various views of a
kiln constructed as above described.
Figure 1 is a transverse sectional elevation taken through two of
the furnaces or gas producers on opposite sides of the kiln; Figure 2
is another transverse sectional elevation on a larger scale, and shewing
an end view of one of the trucks upon which the materials to be burned
are placed; Figure 3 is a side elevation of that part of the kiln where
the furnaces are situated; and Figure 4 is a horizontal section of the
same part of the kiln. The manner in which I prefer to construct the
kiln is clearly shown by these Drawings.
The parts colored yellow are of fire-brick or refractory material,
the parts colored red are of brickwork, and the parts colored bluc are
of iron. The furnaces or gas producers are marked a, a, and the pipes
by which the gases from the furnaces enter the kiln or flue are marked b;
c, c, are holes in the top of the kiln to afford opportunity for examining
from time to time the state of the goods in the kiln. At the points
marked d on the two opposite sides of the kiln or flue are recesses or
dovetail grooves which are by preference filled with sand or refractory
material in powder; into these grooves side plates or curtains of sheet
iron fixed to the two sides of the trucks enter, as shown at Figure 2,
and so effectually break all communication between the bottom of the

page_text: kiln which is below the trucks and the working part of the kiln which
is above the trucks. The metal top or bed of the truck is covered,
as is also shown by Figure 2, with fire-brick to protect the truck from
the action of the fire.
The manner in which I prefer to form this fire-brick covering is
shown more clearly in Figures 5 and 6, Figure 5 being a side view of
one of the trucks, and Figure 6 a plan view of the same. From these
views it will be seen that the bricks in the top course are formed
so that narrow slits or openings are left between them, whilst the
bricks of the course below are formed in the manner shewn by the
dotted lines in Figure 6, so as to form passages e,e, for the more uniform
diffusion of the gases which enter the flue or kiln from the furnaces
or gas producers, and as the gases rise up through the slits they come.
in contact with air, and are thus generally and evenly consumed.
The ends of the frames of the trucks are formed with lugs f, f, by
which the several wagons as they pass through the flue or kiln arc
connected together end to end by bolts, chains, or otherwise. Any
small space there may be between the end of one truck and the end of
the truck next to it is covered over by the top course of the fire-brick
covering of one truck overlapping the fire-brick covering of the other
truck, as shewn at Figure 5. The dimensions of the kiln or flue will
vary according to the size of the articles requiring to be burnt. For
burning bricks, chimney pots, and such like articles a kiln or flue of
a length of about 90 feet is suitable; the length of the kiln must be
such that the goods are cooled very gradually, and that all the waste
heat may be thoroughly absorbed by the green or unburned bricks before
passing up the chimney. As before stated the chimney is placed near
the entrance end of the flue or kiln, and the bottom of the kiln is by
preference made to slope slightly downwards from this end, say about
1 inch to the yard, so that but little power will be required to move
the trucks through the flue. The trucks are moved forward at intervals
a distance equal to the length of one truck or it might be more, a fresh
truck or trucks being at this time introduced into the entrance end
of the kiln whilst a truck is removed from the exit end of the kiln,
the articles upon this truck being thoroughly cooled down. The ends
of the kiln are by preference closed by iron doors, but other means
might be resorted to. The two ends of the kiln may, as above stated,
be made somewhat wider than the central portion shown by the trans-

page_text: verse sections, say about six inches or a foot wider, or the flues might be
made even still wider at the ends than at the centre.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Dewhirst Cliff, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-fourth day of Sep-
tember, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred
and sixty-eight.
WILLIAM DEWHIRST CLIFF. (L.S.)