AN IMPROVEMENT IN. FURNACES.
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Thomas Selby, of Smethwick, in the County.
of Stafford, Manufacturer, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT IN.
FURNACES.
Sealed the 23rd March 1855, and dated the 7th October 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Thomas Selby
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
7th October 1854.
"
I, GEORGE THOMAS SELBY, of Smethwick, in the County of Stafford, Manu-
facturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
IMPROVEMENT IN FURNACES" to be as follows:-
My Invention has for its object the causing of more perfect combustion than
takes place in furnaces as now ordinarily constructed. For this purpose I
admit heated-air into the fore part, by causing air to pass through or under
hollow or shaped bars, open at the back of the furnace, and opening at
the front into hollow bearers, one or more, which are carried up into the
furnace..

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said George Thomas Selby in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 5th April 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
THOMAS SELBY, of Smethwick, in the County of Stafford, Manufacturer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventh day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the eighteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said George Thomas Selby, Her special licence that I, the said George
Thomas Selby, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said George Thomas Selby, 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 night
make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for
"AN IMPROVEMENT IN FURNACES," upon the condition (amongst others) that
I, the said George Thomas Selby, by an instrument in writing under my
hand and seal, 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 George Thomas Selby, do hereby
declare the nature of my 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, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto
annexed, that is to say :-
My Invention has for its object the causing of more perfect combustion than
.takes place in furnaces as now ordinarily constructed. For this purpose I
admit heated air into the fore part, by causing air to pass through or under
hollow or shaped bars, open at the back of the furnace, and opening at the
front into hollow bearers, one or more of which is or are carried up into
the furnace. In some cases I find it more advantageous to form the bar and
the bearer in one piece, and turn the bars up at their front ends at a more or
less obtuse angle, and carry them up to the required height where they open
into the front of the furnace.

page_text: In the Drawings hereunto annexed I have shewn the manner in which I
carry this my Invention into effect.
Figure 1 is a section of the fire box of a locomotive boiler with my improve-
ment applied thereto. A, A, is the fire box; and B, the body of the boiler;
C, C, are the fire bars, which are of the hollow form, separately represented in
Figure 2, and are open at their further end to the atmosphere. These bars
rest in front upon the bearer D, and at the back upon the bar E, which are
placed transversely across the fire box. F is a plate, interposed between the
bar E and the side of the fire box. This plate and bar may, if desired, be
cast in one piece. G is a vertical plate, placed inside the fire box, and kept at
a distance from the back thereof by the bolts a, a, so as to form a channel to
conduct the air from the hollow bars into the furnace; H is a deflecting plate
for causing the air to pass directly into the hollow bars. By this arrangement,
the air, in its passage along the hollow in the bars and behind the plate G,
becomes highly heated before passing into the fire, and thereby causes more or
less perfect combustion of the smoke and gases arising from the fuel. I is the
furnace door. Figure 3 represents a longitudinal section of an ordinary muffle
with my improvement adapted thereto. A, A, is the muffle; and B, the
furnace; C, C, are the hollow bars, which are of the shape separately repre-
sented in Figures 4 and 5. These bars are supported at each end upon the
hollow bearers D, D'. Figure 6 is a plan of these bearers. The bearer D is
formed with a number of openings a, a, on its under side, to allow currents of
air to pass from the external atmosphere into the hollow bars at the back,
from whence the air circulates along hollow bars and through the hollow parts
of the bearer D' into the space behind the brickwork E, thereby becoming
highly heated before entering the furnace. Figure 7 represents another form
of bar in section, being of the inverted U shape. In these bars the air passes
along their under side, and becomes thereby heated before passing to the
furnace; or I form the bars of the shapes represented in Figures 8 and 9,
the front ends being turned up, as indicated, whereby I am enabled to dispense
with the plate G, Figure 1, and brickwork E, Figure 3.
Although I have represented and described my improved arrangements of
hollow bars as applied to locomotive boilers and the furnaces of muffles, I do
not confine myself to these alone, as they may with equal advantage be applied
to furnaces of all descriptions where it is desired to heat the air previous to its
entrance into the furnace.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim as my

page_text: improvement in furnaces is, the causing of air to pass through or under hollow
or shaped bars, and to enter the front part of the furnace through hollow
bearers, one or more carried up into the furnace, in the manner and for the
purpose herein-before described and represented in. the Drawings hercunto
annexed..
In witness whereof, I, the said George Thomas Selby, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Second day of April, One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-five.
GEORGE THOMAS SELBY. (L.S.).