IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR PREVENTING OR CONSUMING SMOKE IN FURNACES AND CHIMNIES
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Donald Bethune, of Cambridge Terrace, Hyde Park,
London, Esquire, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR
PREVENTING OR CONSUMING SMOKE IN FURNACES AND CHIMNIES."
Sealed the 8th December 1857, and dated the 8th June 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Donald Bethune at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
8th June 1857.
I, DONALD BETHUNE, of Cambridge Terrace, Hyde Park, London, Esquire,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
APPARATUS FOR PREVENTING OR CONSUMING SMOKE IN FURNACES AND CHIMNIES," to
be as follows:-
My said Invention consists in improvements in apparatus for the admission
of air into the flues of furnaces, boilers, and chimnies, by which improvements
such apparatus is made self-acting, and the smoke is consumed without such
attention on the part of the stoker as is now required, and the air necessary
for the consumption of the smoke is admitted into the flues or chimnies by the
self-acting apparatus when required, and shut off when no longer necessary.
For this purpose, I employ a cylindrical or other shaped vessel, and by means
of water or other fluid I regulate the supply of air to the flues or furnaces,

page_text: and I admit the air into the flues or furnaces either at the doors or at the
back of the bridge, as may be most convenient; or the air may, when
necessary, be admitted by the said self-acting apparatus back of the bridge,
and at the door of the furnace or flue at the same time.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Donald Bethune in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
8th December 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, DONALD
BETHUNE, of Cambridge Terrace, Hyde Park, London, Esquire, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eighth day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twentieth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Donald Bethune, Her special licence that I, the said Donald Bethune,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Donald
Bethune, 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 APPARATUS FOR
THE ADMISSION OF AIR INTO THE FLUES OF FURNACES, BOILERS, AND CHIMNIES," upon
the condition (amongst others) that I; the said Donald Bethune, 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 immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.
.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Donald Bethune, 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, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings, and to the
letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):
My said Invention consists in "Improvements in Apparatus for the
Admission of Air into the Flues of Furnaces, Boilers, and Chimnies," by
which improvements such apparatus is made self-acting, and the smoke is

page_text: consumed without such attention on the part of the stoker as is now required,
and the air necessary for the consumption of the smoke is admitted into the
flues or chimnies by the self-acting apparatus when required, and shut off
when no longer necessary. For this purpose, I employ a cylindrical or other
shaped vessel, and by means of water or other fluid I regulate the supply of
air to the flues or furnaces; and I admit the air into the flues or furnaces
either at the door, or at the back of the bridge, as may be most convenient;
or the air may, when necessary, be admitted by the said self-acting apparatus
back of the bridge, and at the door of the furnace or flue at the same time.
Such being the nature of my said Invention, I will proceed to describe by
reference to the accompanying Drawings an arrangement of apparatus suitable
for carrying my said Invention into practice.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 shews a front view of the apparatus applied for the admission of
air through the door of a boiler or furnace; Figure 2 shews the interior of the
outer cylinder; Figure 3 shews another description of cylinder for effecting
the same object, and which is well known; in Figure 4 is shewn a valve for
the admission of air through the dead-plate of a boiler or furnace at or near
the door, and which is closed by the self-acting apparatus in the same manner
as the valve which admits the air through the door; Figure 5 shews a view
of the apparatus for closing the valve which admits the air at the back of the
bridge; Figure 6 shews the cylinder, and the interior of it. In each of these
Figures the same letters of reference indicate the same parts.
A is the furnace front; B, the furnace door; C, the valve or lid for admitting
the air into the furnace, and which shuts off the air on being closed; D; the
cylinder, which regulates: the speed of closing the lid or valve of tlie door; E,
the interior of the cylinder; F, the beam connected with the cylinder, and with
the lid or valve of the door; G, the stud upon which the beam works; H, a
double joint connecting the beam with the connecting rod to the inner cylinder;'
I, the chain connecting the beam with the lid or valve of the door; K, the
rods, connecting the lid in Figure 4 with the cylinder; L; the grate bars-in'
Figure 4; M, the oscillating lever for opening and closing the valve in'
Figure 5; N, a pulley, round which the chain traverses which connects the
valve or lid in Figure 5 with the oscillating lever, which lever is secured by a'
stud P to the boiler; O is the piston rod, with a screw at the upper end, and'
with a conicali lower end, for regulating the passage of water through the
piston.; R. is a piece of iron about three-eighths of an inch thick, secured to
the sides of the inner cylinder, through which the upper end of the piston rod

page_text: passes, and contains a screw corresponding with that upon the piston rod, so
that the rod may be elevated or depressed at pleasure. The piston may be of
cast iron, or other metal, about half an inch thick, and about two inches deep,
with a boss nearly two inches deep for the piston rod with the conical end to
pass through so far as the conical end will permit. The diameter of the inner
cylinder may be about an inch less than that of the outer one. Water is put
into both cylinders until it reaches about an inch above the perforated holes
shewn in the inner cylinder, which serves the purpose of a valve. There may
be a valve in the piston of the inner cylinder, if desired, of india-rubber, or other
material. The valve or lid for admitting the air through the door or through
the dead plate is attached by hinges to the door or dead plate, and a stud or
loop is attached thereto, to which the chain to the beam is fastened. The
outer cylinder may be of cast iron, galvanized iron, or other metal; and the
inner cylinder may be of galvanized iron or other metal. When the outer
cylinder is of light material it should stand upon and be secured to a cast-iron
or other heavy foundation, and which may be extended sufficiently high to
preserve it from injury. There is a top to the outer cylinder, with a hole in
it for the rod connecting the beam with the inner cylinder to work through.
When fuel is put upon the fire, and the door is closed, the stoker raises the
beam F, shewn in Figure 1, which opens the lid or valve in the door for the
admission of air into the furnace, and depresses the inner cylinder and piston
attached thereto nearly to the bottom of the outer cylinder, and the water in
the inner cylinder is allowed to flow out between the conical or lower end of
the piston rod and the boss of the piston, and according to the speed at which
it flows out so will be the time taken for the closing of the lid or valve of the
door. There is a screw at the upper end of the piston rod, and also a screw
in the iron through which the rod passes, so that the rod may be screwed up
to prevent the passage of water through the piston, or opened at pleasure. In
using the apparatus shewn in Figure 4, the stoker, after coaling, presses the
connecting rod down into the cylinder, and which opens the lid or valve in the
dead plate, and which is closed in the same manner as in Figure 1, by the
action of the inner cylinder. The valve or lid in Figure 5 is opened when the
door of the furnace is opened for coaling, as the door presses the oscillating
lever M back towards the front of the boiler, and which being connected at
the upper end of it by a double joint (and which also turns in every direction,
and which is well known), raises the beam, and, by throwing out the lower
end of the oscillating lever, opens the lid or valve at the split bridge. The lid
or valve is then closed by the action of the inner cylinder, as in Figure 1. The
cylinder shewn in Figure 3 may be of brass or iron, and is well known. The

page_text: piston has a valve in it, which may be of india-rubber, or other material, and
as it descends upon raising the beam F, the water in the cylinder passes
through the valve to the upper side of the piston; and as the water can only
pass through the tube leading from the upper to the lower part of the cylinder
(and which may be more or less closed by the cock T), the closing of the valve
or lid may be regulated at pleasure.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in which
it is to be performed, I would have it understood that I make no claim to the
mechanical parts separately, nor do I confine myself to the details; but what
I do claim is, the combined apparatus herein described applied to the door
or other parts of a furnace or boiler, as herein described or mentioned.
In witness whereof, I, the said Donald Bethune, have hereto set my
hand and seal, this Eighth day of December, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
Signed, sealed, and delivered, by the within-
named Donal Bethune, in the presence of
JA RD BURTON,
D. BETHUNE. (L.S.)
Clerk to Mr. Warner, Law Stationer,.
314J, Oxford Street.