IMPROVEMENTS IN, KILNS FOR BURNING PIPES, TILES, BRICKS, POTS, AND EARTHENWARE
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Adcock, of Woodville, in the County of
Leicester, Manager, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN, KILNS FOR
BURNING PIPES, TILES, BRICKS, POTS, AND EARTHENWARE."
Sealed the 17th March 1868, and dated the 24th October 1867.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Adcock at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
24th October 1867.
1, HENRY ADCOCK, of Woodville, in the County of Leicester, Manager, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN KILNS
FOR BURNING PIPES, TILES, BRICKS, POTS, AND EARTHENWARE," to be as
follows:-
The object of my Invention of "Improvements in Kilns for Burning Pipes,
Tiles, Bricks, Pots, and Earthenware" is to economise fuel in drying and
burning these articles. To this end the heat from the fuel after it has acted on
the pipes or other articles in one kiln is prevented by a damper from passing
out at the top of the chimney into the atmosphere where it would be lost, and
instead thereof is conducted through an opening in the chimney into a hori-
zontal flue, and from thence into a second kiln where it will be brought into
contact with and caused to dry and burn a second lot of pipes or other articles,.
after which if the heat be not spent the vapours may be conducted to a third
and even a fourth or more kilus. There are certain times during the burning
and finishing processes when it is desirable not to allow the heated gases of

page_text: one kiln to pass into the next, and this is prevented by means of sliding
dampers or valves adapted to the horizontal flue just mentioned, so that the
communication between any two kilus may be cut off when desired. These
horizontal connecting flues extend from an opening in the chimney of one kiln
to an annular chamber at the top of the next kiln and surrounding the chimney
or vertical flue. In the bottom of this annular chamber are made a series of
holes communicating with the firing chamber below, and in which are placed
the pipes, tiles, or other articles to be burned. The heated gases are thus
made to pass down through or among these articles and through the perforated
floor to the lower part of the chimney, up which they pass either into the
atmosphere or along another horizontal flue to the next kiln.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Henry Adcock in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
23rd April 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, 1, HENRY
ADCOCK, of Woodville, in the County of Leicester, Manager, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirty-first year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Henry Adcock, Her special licence that I, the said Henry Adcock, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Henry
Adcock, 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 KILNS FOR BURNING
PIPES, TILES, BRICKS, POTS, AND EARTHENWARE," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Henry Adcock, 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 Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Henry Adcock, do hereby declare the
nature of my. said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be

page_text: performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the
letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):
11
The object of my Invention of "Improvements in Kilns for Burning Pipes,
Tiles, Bricks, Pots, and Earthenware" is to economise the fuel in drying and
burning these articles. To this end the heat from the fuel after it has acted
on the pipes or other articles in one kiln is prevented by a damper from
passing out at the top of the chimney into the atmosphere where it would be
Jost, and instead thereof is conducted through an opening in the chimney into
a horizontal or inclined flue, and from thence into the upper part of a second
kiln where it will be brought into contact with and caused to dry and burn a
second lot of pipes or other articles, after which the heat may be conducted
to the dome or upper part of a third kiln, and from thence even to a fourth or
more kilns. There are certain times during the burning and finishing processes
when it is desirable not to allow the heated gases and products of combustion
of one kiln to pass into the next, and this is prevented by means of sliding
dampers or valves adapted to the horizontal or inclined flue just mentioned,'
so that the communication between any two kilns may be cut off when desired.
These horizontal or inclined connecting flues extend from an opening in the
chimney of one kiln to an annular chamber at the top of the next kiln and
surrounding the chimney or vertical flue. In the bottom of this annular
chamber are made a series of holes communicating with the firing chambér
below, and in which are placed the pipes, tiles, or other articles to be burned.
The heated gases and products of combustion are thus made to pass down,
through, or among these articles, and through the perforated floor to the lower
part of the chimney, up. which they pass either into the atmosphere or along
another horizontal or inclined flue to the next kiln.
In the accompanying Drawings I have shewn various arrangements of
apparatus for effecting the object of Invention.
my.
Fig. 1, Sheet I., is a longitudinal vertical section of one form of kiln shewing
two kilns connected together according. to my Invention; Fig. 2 is a sectional
plan view of the same; Fig. 3 is a plan view of one kiln with the top cover
removed; Fig. 4 is a horizontal section of one of the kilns taken in the line
1, 2, of Fig. 1.
The kilns represented in Sheet I. are of the ordinary form for burning
pottery with my improvements adapted thereto.
The kilns A and B'are provided with central flues or chimneys a, a, arranged
with dampers b, b, at or near the top and with lateral openings a¹ leading into
a horizontal flue c provided with sliding dampers c, d. The articles to be

page_text: i
burned are charged into the kiln A through the opening d, Fig. 4, and are
placed on the perforated false bottom e which is surrounded with an internal
circular dwarf wall f which forms. the burning chamber. The kiln is heated
by fires in the openings 9, 9, which communicate with the annular space f¹
between the inner dwarf wall f and the outer wall of the kiln. The dome is
perforated, and above it is formed a chamber i (outside of which and upon the
cover may be placed any articles that require drying;) the chamber i is covered
with removeable covers 2,,; the heated vapors from the fires in the
openings 9, 9, ascend in the kiln (filling the chambers i), and are rever-
berated by the dome into the burning chamber, from whence they pass down
through the perforated bottom e into a space below the floor, and from thence
to the central vertical shaft or chimney a, as indicated by the arrows in Fig. 1.
If the goods in the kiln are green, that is in a damp state, the sliding damper c¹
in the horizontal flue c is closed, and the damper bat the top of the chimney a
is opened in order to allow the steam to escape from the oven into the atmosphere.
When the goods have been sufficiently dried and no steam is given off, the
damper b may be closed, and the sliding damper c¹ opened, as shewn in the
kiln A, in Fig. 1. The heated gases and products of combustion from the
fires in the openings g, g, after acting on the goods in the kiln A will thus be
conducted up the chimney a along the horizontal flue c into the annular
chambers i, i, and through openings h, h, made in the dome of the second
kiln B as indicated by the arrows. The heat by acting on the green goods
in this kiln will drive off the water or steam which will pass up the chimney a
and escape at top, the sliding damper 6 having been drawn out for the
purpose, and the damper a' closed as shewn in the Figure. A third, fourth,
and even more kilns may be connected in this manner in one continuous
series, but each kiln must have fire-places 9, g, for burning the articles when
it may be necessary to shut off the heat from the previous kilus.
Another method of operating with this arrangement of kilns would be to
commence with "steaming off" the first kiln by making a slow fire in the
ordinary way, and when the goods are partly dried to make up the fires in
the second kiln, so that the goods therein may be prepared to receive the heat
of the first kiln, when the steaming off process has been completed, the heat
which may then be passed from the first kiln to the second will materially
assist in "burning" the goods therein until such time as the first kiln must be
cut off in consequence of the glazing process commencing, after which the
heat of the cooling off may be utilized by being again admitted into the second
kiln, and so on with the whole of the series.
!
Fig. 5, Sheet II., is a part section and a part elevation of a modification of

page_text: he plan shewn in Sheet I.; Fig. 6 is a sectional plan of the same taken in
he irregular line 8, 4, of Fig. 5. As the same letters of reference indicate
imilar parts to those shewn in Sheet I., it will only be necessary to observe
hat the chimney a instead of being placed in the centre of the kiln is situated
outside of the kiln. In this instance a well is formed below and in the centro
of the perforated floor,, into which the gases of combustion are drawn
and descending pass by the horizontal flue into the outside chimney as
shewn in the Drawing. The cover to the chambers i, i, may be formed in
one piece as here shewn. The kilns are arranged in a circular series cou-
sisting of any convenient number of kilns through which the heated gases and
products of combustion from the fires are made to pass and ultimately escape
into the atmosphere.
Fig. 7, Sheet III., is a longitudinal vertical section (taken in line 5, 6, of
Fig. 8) of two oblong rectangular kilns suitable for burning bricks; Fig. 8
is a sectional plan view taken in the irregular lines 7, 8, of Fig. 7. In
this instance the floor of the kiln is not perforated, but there is a long
sunk central channel j, j, made from end to end of the kiln and also across the
sunk channel j', j', in which some of the bricks may be placed to support
those immediately over the channels, the remainder are then to be piled
up in the kiln in the ordinary manner. The heated vapors after reverber-
ating in the kiln pass down the interstices left for that purpose into the
channels i, j, and from thence into the chimney a, and either into the
atmosphere or along the channels c into the second kiln, and so on from
kiln to kiln throughout the series. A chamber i is formed above the kilu,
and in this chamber may be placed various articles which may be dried
or burnt by the heat from the first kiln before the vapors pass into the
interior.
In Sheet IV., Fig. 9 is a side elevation, and Fig. 10, a sectional plan
view of a series of kilns, all of which communicate with a common horizontal
Blue C terminating in the common chimney B; in this case the first kiln A¹
is to be heated until the goods are dried, during which operation the
sliding damper in the branch flue is opened to allow the steam from
the kiln to pass direct to the chimney B; when the goods in the kiln A'
are sufficiently dried the damper must be closed and the heated gases
5 caused to pass as indicated by the arrows into the second kiln A where they
will act on and dry the goods, the steam from which will pass along the
side channel into the common flue c, and from thence to the chimney
shaft B. The heated gases from the kiln A will pass in like manner
into the kiln A³, from which the steam from the green goods will pass

page_text: into the common flue and chimney B and so on throughout the series
of kilns which are constructed upon the plan shéwn' at Figures 5 and 6,
Sheet II.
Having now described my Invention of "Improvements in Kilns for
Burning Pipes, Tiles, Bricks, Pots, and Earthenware," and having explained
the manner of carrying the same into effect, I.claim as the Invention
secured to me by Letters Patent as aforesaid, economizing the heat in kilns
for burning pipes, tiles, bricks, and earthenware articles by causing the waste
beat from one kiln to pass into a second, and from thence to a third or more
kilns, as and for the purposes herein set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Adcock, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the 14 day of April, in the year of our Lord Oue
thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight.
Witness,
HENRY KNOWLES,
of Woodville,
in the County of Leicester.
HENRY ADCOCK. (L.S.)