similarly Constructed Furnaces.
Year: 1887

page_text: Date of Application, 12th Dec.. 1887
Complete Left, 4th June, 1888
Complete Accepted, 6th July, 1888
similarly Constructed Furnaces.
I, HERBERT LE NEVE FOSTER, of Bergholt House, Jarrow-on-Tyne, in the County
of Durham, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows :-
This Invention consists of a combination of mechanical parts constituting valves
and the mode of operating them which are required in regenerative or similarly con-
structed furnaces to control the supply of gas and air and the exhaust of the elements
and products of combustion concerned in the operation carried on in the furnace, as
for instance in the production of steel or glass.
By means of my invention I substitute slide valves for the valves at present in use
such as butterfly or mushroom valves.
In order to effectually control the supply of gas and air to an open hearth furnace
and to exhaust the products of combustion therefrom in carrying out the regenerative
system at present in use it is requisite to employ valves to intercept or open out two
inlet passages or flues communicating with the regenerators and also two outlet
passages
or flues communicating with the chimney, all of which valves must be operated in
connection with each other in working the furnace.
In carrying out my invention I provide slide valves fitted in suitable valve seats or
casings with operating spindles extending therefrom, the valves being so placed in
their respective passages or flues that the spindles of two opposite valves can be
coupled together and the valves operated in pairs so as to reverse the inlet and outlet
passages to and from the regenerators in the well known manner. In order to
operate all the valves simultaneously and in the manner required in the management
of regenerative furnaces, I provide a spur wheel which may be rotated on its spindle
by any suitable means whatever in a central position between the slide valve spindles
to which spindle racks are attached to gear into the spur wheel, when the spur wheel
rotates the spindles are moved in opposite directions, thus operating the four valves
simultaneously and in the required manner.
It is of course obvious that other mechanical equivalents may be substituted for a
central spur wheel geared into racks attached to the valve spindles and that such
mechanical equivalents can be readily designed to suit the position or other conditions
involved in operating the valves simultaneously.
Dated this 10th day of December 1887
G. J. CLARKSON,
Agent for the Applicant.

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or relating to Valves for Regenerative or
similarly Contructed Furnaces.
I, HERBERT LE NEVE FOSTER, late of Bergholt House, Jarrow-on-Tyne, now of
West Hartlepool, in the County of Durham, 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 :-
This Invention which consists of a combination of mechanical parts constituting
valves and the mode of or means for operating them, relates to that class of valves
which are required in regenerative or similarly constructed furnaces to control the
supply of gas and air thereto as elements of combustion, and the exhaust therefrom
of the products of combustion concerned in the operation or process carried on in such
furnaces, as for instance in the production of steel or glass.
In carrying out the regenerative system at present in use as applied to open hearth
or similarly constructed furnaces, gas and air are supplied to the furnace through one
set of regenerative chambers, whilst the products of combustion escape to the chimney
through another set of regenerative chambers, the object being to absorb the heat
carried away from the furnace with the products of combustion into each set of
regenerative chambers in turn, so that by similarly admitting the gas and air through
cach set of chambers in turn, the heat so absorbed from the escaping products of
combustion is given up to the gas and air to be carried back to the furnace to promote
combustion; this is effected by changing the direction of the currents of the gases
through the furnace from time to time in the well known manner of alternately
intercepting and opening out passages or flues between the furnace and the regenerative
chambers, which passages are suitably constructed for this purpose and controlled by
valves usually of the butterfly or mushroom type.
The object of my invention is to supersede the valves at present in use, such as
butterfly or mushroom valves, each of which must be operated separately each time
the gases are changed from one set of regenerative chambers to the other, and to
substitute therefor slide valves connected to suitable mechanism by which they are all
operated together in the required manner as parts of one apparatus.
And in order that my invention may be fully understood and readily carried into
effect I will now proceed to describe the same with reference to the accompanying
drawing which illustrates partly in sectional view and partly in elevation a set of
valves a¹ a² as a¹ with their operating mechanism constructed and fitted up in position
in accordance with my invention, two valves being provided in the usual position in
each of the flues or passages ¹³, that is one above and the other below the branch
flues or passages c¹ c², through which the gases are admitted to the
062 or
passages
escape therefrom as the case may be. In the drawing the valves a¹ a are closed and
the valves a² a³ are open, in this position of the valves the gases passing from passage
into 'the vertical passage have their course diverted downwards as indicated by
arrows, whilst the escaping gases entering passage 2 from above have their course

page_text: diverted into the branch passage c also as indicated by arrows. If the position of
the valves is exactly reversed it is obvious that the direction of the currents through
the passages will be correspondingly changed, and that by reversing the valves from
time to time the requisite succession of changes in the current of the gases can be
effected in the well known manner required in working a regenerative furnace.
In order to operate the valve simultaneously the valves in the passage b¹ are fitted
up in position so as to be exactly opposite respectively to the valves in the passage 63,
so that by connecting the spindles d' d² of the valves a' a² together, and the spindles d³ d¹
of the valves as a together, the valves can be coupled together in pairs in the manner
illustrated in the drawing. By providing suitable mechanism such as a spur wheel
mounted on a spindle in such a position as to gear into racks provided on the valve
spindles, that is one rack fixed to the united spindles d' and the other rack to the
united spindles d³ d, the valves will all be operated together by the rotation of the
spur wheel and will be moved in the required manner, that is the upper pair of
valves a' a² in one direction and the lower pair of valves a³ a in the opposite direction,
thus affording the requisite control of the passages between the regenerative chambers
and the furnace.
It is of course obvious that other means can be devised for operating the valves in
the same manner, as for instance by a hydraulic motor applied in the manner illustrated
in the drawing, in which e¹ e²ese are hydraulic cylinders provided in the positions
shown for the reception of the plungers, which are secured by means of coupling
pieces g g to the valve spindles, so that any motion imparted to the plungers is
simultaneously shared by the valves; 2³ are pipes communicating from the
pump k to the cylinders e¹ e²ee, that is water pumped into pipe enters the
cylinder el, and by means of pipe h at the same time enters the cylinder e, thus
driving the plunger in one direction and the plunger in the opposite direction
similarly water pumped into the pipe ³ drives the plungers back again.
Having now described the nature of my invention and in what manner the same is
carried into effect, I would observe that I do not confine myself to the particular form
of slide valves illustrated in the drawing, nor to the particular mechanism described
and illustrated for operating them, as these can be readily varied both in general
design and in details of construction without departing from the nature of my
invention, but what I claim is —
In the construction of regenerative or the like furnaces the employment of slide
valves constructed and operated substantially as and for the purpose as hereinbefore
described with reference to the accompanying drawing.
1000
G. J. CLARKSON,
Agent to the Applicant.