Im- PROVEMENTS IN FURNACES, FURNACE DOORS, AND FURNACE BARS
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Robert Alfred Wright, of Shepherd's Lane, Homer-
ton, in the County of Middlesex, Engineer, for the Invention of "Im-
PROVEMENTS IN FURNACES, FURNACE DOORS, AND FURNACE BARS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Robert Alfred Wright
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Pétition, on the
12th June 1866
I, ROBERT ALFRED WRIGHT, of Shepherd's "Lane, Homerton, in the County
of Middlesex, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for." IMPROVEMENTS IN FURNACES, FURNACE DOORS, AND FURNACE BARS," to be as
follows:-
My Invention first consists in constructing furnaces with one or more
openings for the admission of air just over or nearly over, the fire-bars or
grate bars; such opening or openings, which is or are made in the thickness
of the brickwork or masonry of the furnace, is or are provided with a slotted
or other door or register or valve, which may be connected with the furnace.
door, so as to be opened when the furnace door is opened.

page_text: My Invention next consists in applying to or combining with a furnace door,
whether opening borizontally or vertically, a sliding plate formed with
openings or slots corresponding with openings or slots in the furnace door.
This plate is opened or pushed forward by the opening action of the furnace
door, so as to bring its openings coincident with or directly opposite to those
in the furnace door, and when pushed back it brings its openings away from
those in the furnace door opposite blank or plane parts of the latter, so as to
shut off air through the door. To cause it thus to open with the door it may
be formed with a stem or tail, which when the furnace door opens necessarily
comes against its face or against a projection thereon, and is thus forced or
drawn forward so as to open the slots in the door; it may also have a handle
so that it may be drawn forward independently of the furnace door. The
arrangement may be applied to slides opening vertically.
My Invention consists, thirdly, in improved bars for furnaces; these bars
have openings at bottom, and are hollowed out for a portion of their length;
other openings are provided at the sides of the bar communicating through
the hollow part of the bar with the openings at bottom, which latter do not
open exactly opposite the lateral. openings, but opposite blank or solid parts
of the bar..
My Invention further consists in forming in the upper part of the bar
openings made through its thickness, and having oblique or inclined instead
of parallel sides, so as to be wider at bottom than at top, or slots tapering.or.
andon towards the unner and
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions. of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Robert Alfred Wright in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 12th December 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS: SHALL COME, I, ROBERT
ALFRED WRIGHT, of Shepherd's Lane, Homerton, in the County of Middlesex,
Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twelfth day of June, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the twenty-ninth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Robert Alfred Wright, Her special licence that I, the said Robert
Alfred Wright, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others

page_text: as I, the said. Robert Alfred Wright, 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 FURNACES, FURNACE DOORS, AND FURNACE
BARS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Robert Alfred
Wright, 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 Robert Alfred Wright, do hereby
.declare the nature of the 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 accompanying
Drawings, that is to say:-
.n
My Invention first consists in constructing furnaces with one or more.
Copenings for the admission of air, just over or nearly over the fire-bars or
grate bars.
Such opening or openings is or are made in the thickness of the
brickwork or masonry of the furnace, and is or are provided with a slotted or
other door, register, or valve which may be connected with the furnace door
so as to be opened when the furnace door is opened.
My Invention next consists in applying to or combining with a furnace
door, whether opening horizontally or vertically, a sliding plate formed with
openings or slots corresponding with openings or slots in the furnace door.
This plate is opened or pushed forward by the opening action of the furnace
door, so as to bring its openings coincident with or directly opposite to those
in the furnace door, and when pushed back it brings its openings away from
those in the furnace. door opposite blank, plane, or solid parts of the latter, so
as to shut off air through the door. To cause it thus to open with the door
it may be formed with a stem or tail, which when the furnace door
opens necessarily comes against the face of the furnace or against a projection
thereon, and is thus forced or drawn forward so that the plate opens the slots
in the door; it has also a handle so that it may be moved independently of the
opening action of the furnace door; this arrangement may be applied to slides.
opening vertically..

page_text: My Invention consists, thirdly, in improved fire-bars for furnaces; these
bars have openings at bottom, and are hollowed out. for a portion of their
length; other openings are provided at the sides of the bar communicating
through the hollow part of the bar-with the openings at bottom, which latter
need not necessarily open exactly opposite the other openings, but may open
opposite blank or solid parts of the bar... :
- My Invention further consists in forming in a bar openings extending
through its thickness, having oblique or inclined sides instead of parallel sides;."
so that they are wider at bottom than at top, or they may be described, as
slots tapering or sloping inward from the under towards the upper end.
I now proceed to describe more particularly in what manner the Invention;
may be carried into effect, with reference to the Drawings.
Figures 1, 2, and 3 illustrate my first improvement, according to which
openings are made in the brickwork of the furnace to admit air nearly over
the fire-bars.
9
Figure 1 is a plan; Figure 2, a longitudinal section; and Figure 3,
transverse section of a reverberatory furnace constructed according to this part
of my Invention.
D
A is the brickwork of the furnace'; B, bridge'; C, fire-bars. The furnace
shewn is a reverberatory furnace 'made' according to the plan for consuming:
smoke by injecting steam into the fire, for which I obtained a Patent in con-
junction with Ernest. Wright, dated 23rd January 1864, numbered 195.
D shews, one of the steam injection, nozzles used in this description of a
furnace, but I wish it to be understood that I apply my Invention to other
descriptions of furnaces, in manner herein described.. E, E, are passages
made through the thickness of the brickwork A open at their lower ends,
in which are fitted throttle valves F, F; these passages meet at their upper
ends in a passage G formed in the crown of the furnace, which passage G
opens through one or more: openings 9 into the interior of the furnace over
the bridge B, that is to say, nearly over the fire-bars C. The opening g
may be divided by bricks placed edgewise so as to divide the currents of air;
these bricks serve to maintain the opening. The throttle valves E.may be
worked by hand, or they may be connected by. a system of bell-crank levers.
or other ordinary connections with the furnace door, so that the action of
opening the door may open the valves. When the valves are opened air.
enters through the passages E and flows in the direction of the arrows through
the passage G into the furnace, becoming heated as it circulates through the
brickwork. The air may be drawn into the passages E by the ordinary draft

page_text: of the furnace or by a fan, or by other artificial means of forcing air. The
fan which I prefer to use for the purpose is represented in Figures 20 and 21,
and is herein-after described.
17 1
The furnace constructed as described is arranged for admitting heated 'air
through the passage G; but if I desire to construct it for admitting cold air I
do not use the passages E, E; and I do not require the brickwork cap K, but
I open the passage G to the atmosphere at top, while at bottom it opens at g
into the furnace; in, this case I use a register or valve h, h, which. I open
and close either, by a handle extending, outside the furnace, or it may be
worked by connecting it with the furnace door by a system of bell-crank levers
or other ordinary, connections so that it may open and close with the door..!
-The form of register I prefer is shewn at Figures 4 and 4*, and is similar.
to the slotted slide plate, herein-after described; it consists of a plate I formed.
with. slots i, and sliding to and fro in guideways on a plate J which is 'fitted)
across the passage G, and is formed with slots; corresponding with the slots ..
When the plate I is slidden on the plate J so as to bring the slots i opposite:
to and coincident with the slots.j air will enter through the slots i, j, into the,
furnace, but when the plate I is slidden back so as to bring its solid parts
(which intervene between and separate the slots :) directly over the slots j
those slots will be closed and the air will cease to enter; this slotted plate-
ór. register may also be used when hot air is admitted:.
Although I have described this part of my Invention as applied to a smoke-
consuming reverberatory furnace constructed according to the plan spécified;
under the Patent obtained by myself in conjunction with: Ernest Wright,
dated 23rd January 1864,, and numbered. 195, I wish it to be distinctly
understood that this part of my Invention (that is to say, constructing the
furnace with an opening or openings in the brickwork for, admitting, air over
or nearly over the fire-bars) may be applied in like manner to other,
descriptions of furnaces, whether reverberatory or otherwise, without requiring,
further explanation..
Figures 5, 6, 7, 8 illustrate my improvements in furnace doors.:
Figure 7 is an elevation of a furnace door. L constructed according to this,
part of my Invention.
Figure 5 is an elevation of the door without the slide M. In this door L
are made slots or openings 1, 2, and over the slotted part of the door is fitted:
a slotted sliding plate M capable of travelling in guide ways N fixed on the,
furnace door; the slots in the door correspond in size and shape with the
slots m in the plate M. n is a handle fixed on the sliding plate M; p is a

page_text: tail or stem fixed to the plate M, and bearing against a stud or abutment
fixed on the face or front plate of the furnace near the door, or the tail may
bear against the surface of the front plate itself. When the furnace door is
opened the tail p bears against the stud or front plate, and thereby the
plate M is pushed-forward in its guide grooves so as to bring its slots m
immediately opposite to or coincident with the slots / in the door, as shewn in
Figure 7 (which is an elevation), and as long as the plate remains in this
position, which it will do even after the furnace door is closed, air will enter
through the openings l, m, into the furnace; but when sufficient air has entered
the slots can be closed by restoring the plate to its previous position by
its handle n so as to bring its slots m away from the slots 1, that is to say,
so as to bring the blank or solid parts of the plate M. (or parts of its sur-
face which are between the slots. m) over the slots / in the door so as to
close the slots and exclude the entry of air into the furnace, as shown in
Figure 8, which is an elevation showing a sufficient portion of the door to
illustrate this arrangement and position. Instead of the tail p other ordinary
contrivances may be used for. causing the slide M to be worked by the
opening action of the door...
Figure 6 is a transverse section of the furnace door showing a plate W,
which I fix to the door in such manner that it depends in front of and at a
little distance from the slide plate M, a space being left between the plates W
and M for the passage of air which enters between the bottom of the plate W
and the plate M into the slots m, l, when open; this plate W prevents or
intercepts the outward radiation of heat.
Figures 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, exemplify my improved
furnace bars. :
Figure 9 is a top view; Figure 10, bottom view; Figure 11, side
elevation; Figure 12, longitudinal section; and Figure 13, transverse section.
of an improved fire-bar constructed according to my Invention.
The bar is hollow for a portion of its length, as shewn at r, that is to say,
throughout what is called the web of the bar; 8, 8, are openings in the bottom
of the bar; t, t, openings in the sides; these openings communicate through
the hollow part of the bar; the openings s need not open directly opposite.
the side openings t, but they may open opposite solid parts of the bar and
into the hollow passage r, so that the air circulates more thoroughly; s* are
openings made in the top of the bar leading into the hollow part r.
times I form the bottom openings s opposite the other openings formed in the
bar.
Some-

page_text: Figure 14 is a transverse section shewing the same arrangement, except
that in this bar there are no top openings s*. I sometimes find two bottom
openings, one near each end, sufficient.
Figure 15 is a top view; Figure 16, bottom view; Figure 18, sido eleva-
tion; Figure 17, longitudinal section; and Figure 19, transverse section of
another of my improved fire-bars. v, v, are openings made in the top of the
bar and extending through the thickness of the bar to the bottom thereof
where they open, so that the bar is open through; these openings have
sides sloping inwards so that they are wider at bottom than at top, and they
are separated from each other by solid parts of the bar. u are openings in
the sides of the bar which communicate with the openings for the circulation
of air. I do not always use the openings u.
Figure 20 is a vertical section, and Figure 21 a transverse section of my
improved fan. w is a disc of the same internal diameter as the fan case X so
as to extend across it vertically and breadthwise, and thus divide its interior
in halves vertically; this disc is fastened on the shaft k. y, y, are the fan
blades, two or more of which are at the upper part of the case and two or
more at the lower part; these blades are fixed to the disc, one or more being
on each side thereof, that is to say, one or more at the upper part and one or
more at the lower part. is the air opening. As the fan revolves, the currents
of air are thus separated and prevented from impinging against each other.
When I use a steam damper I place two friction rollers in the damper
frame at each end of the damper axis or pinion for the latter to work on
instead of its rolling on a fixed surface I usually guide the lever which
works the damper by causing it to work in guides formed in an arch or
otherwise shaped appliance fixed on the damper regulator.
Having thus described the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner
the same may be performed, I declare that I claim,―
First, constructing furnaces with one or more openings in the brickwork or
masonry for admitting air over or nearly over the fire-bars, such openings
having slotted or other valves, doors, or registers, connected or not with the
furnace door, all substantially as described.
Second, constructing a furnace door with slots or openings over which is a
sliding slotted plate acted on by opening the furnace door, and caused to
open and close the slots or openings in such door, substantially as described.
Third, constructing fire-bars with openings at bottom communicating
through hollow parts of the bar with lateral orifices, and arranged substantially
as described.

page_text: Fourth, constructing fire-bars with openings having inclined sides, as
described.
Fifth, constructing fire-bars with lateral openings or openings in the sides
of the bar communicating with openings in the bottom of the bar.
In witness whereof, I, the said Robert Alfred Wright, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Eleventh day of December, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six.
Witness,
M. HENRY,
* Patent Agent,
68, Fleet Street,
London.
ROB. A. WRIGHT. (L.S.)