Improved Portable Rapid Heating Gas Branding Apparatus.
Year: 1895

page_text: Date of Application, 30th Mar., 1895
Complete Specification Left, 28th Dec., 1895-Acceoted, 8th Feb.,
1896
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improved Portable Rapid Heating Gas Branding Apparatus.
1 FREDERIC HUGHES of No. 20 Paget Road West Dulwich in the County of
Surrey Engineer do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
An apparatus for heating branding irons by gas consisting of an iron plate on
which is mounted a cast iron gas tube from which Bunsen or atmospheric burners
project at an inclination sufficient to allow the brands to hang in a perpendicular
position so that the gas flame plays on the underside of the figures or letters.
These brands are fixed in a stirrup shaped holder and when being heated are
detached and supported by brackets attached to the iron plate first referred to.
A tap is fixed to each of the Bunsen burners so that they can be used all at once
or one at a time. By the above arrangement all oxidation of the face of the brands
is prevented & economy of labour secured.
CMach 1905
Improved Portable Rapid Heating Gas Branding Apparatus.
I, FREDERIC HUGHES, of 20 Paget Road, West Dulwich, in the County of
Surrey, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in
and by the following statement :-
The object of my invention is to provide a simple, expeditious, and efficient
means of heating branding irons, so as to avoid oxidation of the face of the letters
or the like, and to do away with the need for coke or other fires for this purpose.
The brands will therefore last longer than the usual kind, and not need recutting.
The invention consists essentially of two parts, namely a new apparatus for heating
the branding irons, and secondly a new mode of constructing the irons themselves,
for use with my heating apparatus.
The beating apparatus can be quickly put in operation when required, and
quickly put out of use when no longer wanted.
In order that the invention may be the more readily understood, I make
reference to the accompanying sheet of drawings in which,
Fig. 1 is a front view of the heating apparatus showing a branding iron in
position for heating, and Fig. 2 a transverse section of it.
Fig. 3 is a front view of a branding iron, and
Fig. 4 a section through A B of Fig. 3.
Similar letters refer to the same parts in each figure.
Dealing with the heating part of my invention first, a is a metal plate bolted or
otherwise attached to the wall or other support b by bolts or their equivalents c.
To the plate a I attach a gas chamber or several chambers d connected with the
supply of gas and carrying a number of Bunsen burners e inclined away from the

page_text: plate a. Each burner is provided with a tap f, so that a greater or lesser number
of burners can be used as required by the greater or less length of the branding
iron employed. To the plate a are also attached a number of brackets g one on
each side of every burner. These brackets are for supporting the branding irons,
whilst being heated, and behind the burners d is a casting h somewhat wider than
the full width of the heating apparatus, and lined with fireclay or the like h¹ on
the face nearest the burners. To his attached another casting i having its under
surface lined with fireclay or the like . Along the front of i1 hinge at ; one or
more fall down metal flaps j, also lined with fireclay or the like on the face nearest
the burners. Similar fireclay-lined castings may be provided at each end as shewn
at, the object being to turn the heating chamber practically into a muffle furnace,
and so ensure the more rapid heating of the branding irons. The flaps jare
provided with suitable handles k, by which they can be raised or lowered as, and
when, required.
The branding iron for use with the above apparatus consists of a branding
plate, having the raised lettering or the like on its upper surface m. The under
surface of the plate is fluted or corrugated as shewn at n in Fig. 4.
The ends of
the plate are sloped as, or about as, shewn at o, and are inserted in the corre-
sponding undercut parts p of the top of the ends of the plate holder q. The
plate holder q has one or more upstanding parts 2 to support the plate l, and the
plate is prevented from slipping out of the ends r by a rod s one half of which
lies in one of the flutes or corrugations in the underside of I, and the other half in
notches provided for the purposes at the upper ends of r¹ and ². The ends of the
rods are held in holes in the ends r. A handle t is suitably attached to the plate
holder q for convenience in using the branding iron.
In using the apparatus, I raise one or more of the flaps and light one or more
of the burners e: I then place one or more of the branding irons on the brackets g,
so that the lower part of the plate holder 9 rests on top of the brackets, and so
that a Bunsen flame impinges on the corrugated under surface of the branding
plates from between each of the spaces comprised between the parts and or
and of the plate holder q. I then lower the flap or flaps j¹ and leave the iron
till sufficiently heated which will be iu from seven to ten minutes. I then raise
the flap or flaps j', remove the branding iron, and proceed to brand the goods in
the usual manner.
Although I have described the best means at present known to me for putting
into practice my invention, nevertheless I do not confine myself to the precise
details, relative proportions, conformations, shapes or dispositions of the various
parts constituting, or forming part of, my invention as described in the above
Specification, and exemplified in the drawings, as any or all of them may be
varied to suit different conditions of use, without departing from the spirit of my
invention.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
CLAIMS.
1. The method of heating branding irons or the like by a flame of gas or its
equivalent impinging on the under surface of a plate having the branding letter or
letters, figure or figures, device or devices, or any combination thereof formed on
its upper surface, substantially as described in the above Specification, and
exemplified in the drawings.
2. The method of concentrating the heat of the gas or other burners employed
for the purposes of my invention, and consisting in enclosing the said burners by
suitably shaped castings lined with fireclay or the like, substantially as described
in the above Specification, and exemplified in the drawings.
3. In branding irons, constructing them of a plate having formed on its upper
surface the required letter or letters, figure or figures, device or devices, or any

page_text: combination thereof, and held in a suitable holder, substantially as described in the
above Specification, and exemplified in the drawings.
4. In branding irons constructed in accordance with my invention, corrugating
or fluting the under surface of the plate, having formed on its upper surface the
branding letter, letters, or the like, substantially as described in the above
Specification, and exemplified in the drawings.
5. The combination of parts, substantially as described in the above Specification,
and exemplified in the drawings, and together forming my improved apparatus for
heating branding irons.
6. The combination of parts, substantially as described in the above Specification,
and exemplified in the drawings, and together forming the improved branding iron
or apparatus.
Dated this 27th dor of December 1895
HUGHES & YOUNG,
23 Coleman Street, London, E.C., Agents for the Applicant.