Improvements in connection with Locomotive and other Boiler Furnaces.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 22nd Sept., 1896-Accepted, 14th Nov., 1896
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in connection with Locomotive and other Boiler
Furnaces.
I, ALBERT FRANKLIN KINGSLEY, of No. 803 H. Street in the City of
Washington in the District of Columbia, U.S. A., Merchant, 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 :-
My invention relates to appliances for securing perfect combustion of fuel in
boiler furnaces, particularly the boiler furnaces of locomotives and consists of
improvements upon the arrangements constituting the subject matter for which
Letters Patent in Great Britain were granted me and dated August 7th 1893,
No. 22568.
In the said patented structure the fire clay supports which were placed crosswise
of the furnace were made in one piece or continuous in length from one side of the
furnace to the other, and were supported upon two water bars one along each side
of the furnace, upon which bars the ends of the supports rested. In practice it has
been found that the supports under these conditions were not always strong
enough to uphold the load, even when reinforced by metallic core rods; and that
they require some intermediate support. To this end three or more water bars
(depending upon the width of the furnace) were provided, but it was then found
that owing to unavoidable inequalities in expansion and contraction of the parts,
the solid continuous fire clay cross pieces would at times be held so unevenly by
their supporting water bars as to render the cross pieces very liable to break, and
to make the structure as a whole quite insecure. A further objection was that
owing to the use of fire clay cross pieces of continuous length, it was necessary, in
making, repairs at any one point in the structure, to remove the whole structure.
To remedy these and other disadvantages I now employ three or more water
bars; and in connection with them I employ for the purpose of supporting the
sectional air conduits, fire clay cross pieces, which instead of being continuous, are
made each in sections, and are so combined with the water bars, that each one of
the sections of any one cross piece will be supported by two of the water bars only.
In this way I get an articulated structure made up of parts of short length
(in practice none of the sections need exceed eighteen inches in length) jointed
together in such manner as to yield and adapt themselves to any irregularities or
strains whether lengthwise crosswise or vertical. And to further promote this
end and to obtain a structure the parts of which will readily adapt themselves to
changes in conditions, the meeting ends of the fire olay air conduit sections are
constructed so as to form a spherical or ball and socket joint thereby admitting of
one section readily moving in any direction on the other, to accommodate itself to
changes and inequalities due to expansion or contraction of any of the parts.
I have also improved the mechanism for supplying air to the air conduit which,
together with other improvements will be hereinafter described with reference to
the accompanying drawings.
Figure 1 is a longitudinal vertical central section-partly in elevation-of so
much of a locomotive as needed to illustrate my invention.
Figure 2 is a front elevation partly in section of the head of the smoke box of
the locomotive showing the air supply inlets and the arrangement of the piping
connected therewith.

page_text: scale.
al section of one of the air injectors drawn to an enlarged
Figure 4 is a plan of the air grating proper also drawn to an enlarged scale.
Figure 5 is a side elevation of the same, partly in section to show the form of
joint between the members of the air conduite.
Figure 6 is an end elevation partly in section of the same.
Figure 7 is an end elevation of that end of the grating next to the flue head.
Figures 8-13 inclusive are perspective views of the different parts which make
up the fire clay portions of the device.
The arrangement shown in the drawings is designed for ordinary locomotives in
which the fire box extends down below the axles. A fire box of this kind is
usually some 34 inches in width. For a fire box of this width three water tubes or
bars A will suffice, one near each side wall and the third midway between the
other two. They extend from a point slightly below the flues in front, to a point
above the fire door in rear, and they open into the boiler at each end. For a short
portion of their length at the front, where they adjoin the flues, they are horizontal
and then are bent so as to extend up diagonally at a point above the door. Next
to the boiler head at front, and supported upon the horizontal portion of the water
bars, is a sectional cross-piece composed of two fire clay sections B B which are
placed end to end. Their abutting ends interlock as shown in Figure 7, the inner
end of the section B resting on the inner end of section B', and this end of
section B in turn resting upon the middle water bar A. The sections are of such
length that when thus fitted together they will stretch in a continuous length
between the sides of the fire box. They have on top recesses a and are also
provided on their vertical faces next to the flue head, with vertical ribs b which at
the top are opposite to the recesses a. The metal air-supply pipes a' from the
flues extend across the top of these ribs b which serve to protect the metal pipes
from burning, the latter being covered above by a fire clay hood, such as shown
in Figure 13, or by a coating of fire clay applied in a plastic condition after the
pipes are in place.
Directly in rear of the section B' and resting upon the horizontal parts of a pair
of the water bars A, the middle bar and one side bar, is one section D' of a fire
clay cross piece.
Besides the parts B B and D' on the horizontal portion of the water bars, there
are three fire clay cross pieces on the inclined portion of the water bars, each cross
piece consisting of two sections D D' of the form shown in Figure 11. These two
sections are of a length to lap one another; each at its outer end rests upon one of
the side water bars, and at its inner end rests upon the middle water bar which is
thus common to the two sections. At the inner end each section is formed on its
inner side with a seat d to engage with or straddle the middle water bar so as to
avoid any danger of end movement of the section.
Each section also has in its top two recesses c to interlock with the air conduit
sections. The inner ends of the cross piece sections are also bevelled at the top
(as shewn in Figures 6 and 11) so that they may not interfere with the air conduit
sections.
The air conduit sections are shown at E E E provided with the usual air
perforations n for the discharge of air. There are three sections in each conduit
and these sections at the bottom are provided with shoulders e to interlock with the
cross pieces, in the manner set forth in the specification of my aforesaid Letters
Patent. The rearmost sections are closed at their outer ends. The abutting ends
of the sections are formed the one f convex, to fit a concave f in the other,
after the manner of a ball and socket joint, thus permitting slight changes in
direction of individual sections without breaking joint between them. The front
section of each conduit is somewhat differently formed from the others; and two
of them E (Figures 4 & 8) which rest upon the sill or cross piece B, are somewhat
different in shape from the two E (Figures 4 and 9) which rest upon the contiguous
sill or cross piece section D'. This particular sill D' is placed in the position in

page_text: which it is seen because of the fact that the sections D D of each of the other
cross pieces are placed not end to end, but so as to overlap and pass by one another
at their inner ends this being to enable them to take a better bearing individually
on the middle water bar.
This necessitates a corresponding change in position of the air conduit sections
the ends of which rest upon their respective cross piece sections.
The peculiar shape of the sections E' E' is due to the fact that they rest at one
end upon a support or sill which has a horizontal top, and at the other end upon a
support which has an inclined top. Air is led into these sections by the metal
pipes a¹ one for each, which extend from selected ones of the row of boiler flues,-
to their appropriate sections.
The air grating when thus constructed is jointed throughout both its length and
ita breadth so that it can readily adapt itself to changes or inequalities in
practically any direction without detriment or without in any way endangering its
permanency.
The lapping arrangement of the cross piece sections D D is necessary where
there are only three water bars and the middle water bar is to serve as a support
for the inner ends of both sections of each cross piece. But where as in very
large locomotives, the fire box, is considerably wider, and four water bars are
provided, I can support each of the sections upon two water bars and arrange the
sections end to end."
Air is supplied to those boiler flues which are put in communication by the
pipes a with the air grating, through pipes which are led from the outside to the
Hues. These pipes, as shown at h in Figure 1, at the front, open out through
the upper part of the head of the locomotive; they thence pass through the upper
part of the smoke box, and down in front of the Blue head, until they reach the
particular flues at the bottom with which they are to communicate. By arranging
the air inlets at or near the top of the head they are not likely to be injured or
obstructed by snow or other objects thrown up by the locomotive; and by
carrying the pipes through the course shown in the smoke box the air becomes
heated in its passage to the air grating and in a condition best calculated to insure
complete combustion.
It is very necessary to the practical working of the air grating, that the supply
of air should be readily controlled and adjusted, and that it should be wholly
independent of the movement of the locomotive. To this end each pipe is provided
with an injector by which the air supply can be regulated to a nicety. This
injector (see Figure 3) consists of an outer shell í and inner air tube; between
which is an annular passage through which steam may pass. The air supply tube
can be adjusted longitudinally in the shell so as to regulate the size of the annular
nozzle or slit through which the steam discharges. The supply of steam is taken
from the boiler, through a pipe / which is connected by pipes with the various
injectors, the steam supply being controlled by the valve in the locomotive cab
as shown in Figure 1. The outer end of the air inlet or tube j of the injector is
protected by a screen or perforated head m. A coupling m' on the air injector
unites it to its air pipe h."
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed 1 declare that what I
claim is:
1. The combination with the flues and fire box of a boiler furnace of three or
more water bars, a series of fire clay cross pieces resting upon and supported by the
said water bars each cross piece being composed of sections each of which is
supported by two water bars only and a series of air conduits formed each of
tubular perforated sections put together end to end, the said sectional cross pieces
and air conduits being provided with recesses and engaging shoulders whereby
they are interlocked, the one serving to hold the other properly spaced and in place,.
whereby the said parts form an air grating, which is articulated or jointed both

page_text: lengthwise and crosswise substantially as and for the purposes herein before
described.
2nd. The air conduit composed of sections whose abutting ends meet in a ball
and socket joint as described, in combination with the sectional cross pieces having
locking recesses or shoulders to interlock with corresponding recesses and shoulders
on the air conduit sections and a series of three or more water bars upon which the
sections of the cross pieces are placed in such manner that each section of each cross
piece shall be supported by two water bars only substantially as hereinbefore
described.
3rd. In combination with the air grating, and the fire box, smoke box and boiler
flues of a locomotive, the air pipes / extending from the front and upper part
of the head of the locomotive down through the smoke box and in front of
the flue head, to those flues through which air is conducted to the air grating an
injector for each pipe, and a steam supply pipe, connected to the said injectors and
controlled by a valve or cock in the locomotive cab or at some other point
convenient to the engineer or fireman, substantially as and for the purposes
hereinbefore described.
Dated this 22nd day of September 1896.
JOHNSONS & WILLCOX,
47 Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, W.C., Agents.