IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF FURNACES
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Ebenezer Seymour, of Bloomfield, New Jersey, in the
United States of America, but now residing at Furnival's Inn, in the
City of London, Gentleman, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE CONSTRUCTION OF FURNACES."-A communication.
Sealed the 1st November 1856, and dated the 17th July 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Ebenezer Seymour at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
17th July 1856.
I, EBENEZER SEYMOUR, of Bloomfield, New Jersey, in the United States of
America, but now residing at Furnival's Inn, in the City of London, Gentleman,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
CONSTRUCTION OF FURNACES," to be as follows:--
This Invention relates to a novel arrangement or construction of furnace for
generating heat, the object being to economise the consumption of coal. To
this end, the air supplied to the furnace is first heated, and then let into the
ash-pit and into a hollow bridge; its admission to the latter (from which it
escapes in thin streams, and impinges on the passing flames,) being regulated
by means of a valve or damper. The ash pit is shut off from the outer
atmosphere, and in front of it an air chamber is formed. From this chamber
the air passes through-hollow-fire-bars (triangular in section), and-when it has

page_text: reached the opposite ends of the bars it escapes into the ash-pit and passes
thence upwards between the bars into the fire-place. The fire bars are sup-
ported by pipes bent to the form of a stirrup, and pendant from the boiler.
These stirrup pipes are in communication with the interior thereof, and they
may be used as feed pipes or merely as auxiliary heating surfaces. By causing
water to circulate through them they will be protected in a great measure from
the destructive heat of the fire. In some cases air may be made to circulate
through the supporting pipes for the like object.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Ebenezer Seymour in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
17th January 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EBENEZER
SEYMOUR, of Bloomfield, New Jersey, in the United States of America, but
now residing at Furnival's Inn, in the City of London,. Gentleman, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the twentieth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, IIer heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Ebenezer Seymour, Her special license that I, the said Ebenezer Seymour, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Ebenezer
Seymour, 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 THE CONSTRUCTION=
OF FURNACES," being a communication from abroad, upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Ebenezer Seymour, 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 per-
formed, 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 Ebenezer Seymour, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following

page_text: statement, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to tho
letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
This Invention, which relates chiefly to steam boiler furnaces, consists in a
novel arrangement of parts, whereby the in-draft of air for keeping up the fire
is first heated before it finds it way to the fire chamber.
In the accompanying Drawing, Fig. 1 shews in longitudinal vertical section
a steam boiler furnace, constructed according to the present Invention, and
Fig. 2 is an end view thereof, with the cast-iron front partly removed, the
better to shew the interior construction of the furnace.
:
In these views, a, a, a, are the grate bars, made hollow and of a triangular
form in cross section; they are supported in part by water pipes b, b¹, whic!
are suspended from and attached to the boiler at opposite sides thereof, thus
forming a stirrup to receive and support the fire grate." In locomotive or
Cornish boilers these pipes would be perfectly straight, connecting with the
water chamber on either side below the grate. The object of emplying water.
pipes to support the fire grate bars is that they shall absorb a portion of the
heat from the bars, and thus provent their attaining too high a temperature.
When this arrangement is applied to a common stove or furnace, cold air.is
substituted for water in the pipes or bearers b, b', one end of which is open to
receive the cold air, while the other end conveys it to the bridge wall or to á
hot-air chamber. At the back end of the fire grate or furnace a hollow bridge
wall c, c, is built up, which is capped with an arch d, furnished with narrow
openings in the crown for the purpose of allowing a sufficient portion of hot air
to escape into the fire flue e from the hot-air chamber.f, and facilitate the com-
bustion of the smoke. g is a flat damper, extending the entire width of the
furnace bridge wall, and intended for regulating the quantity of hot air to be
supplied above the fire for ensuring the proper combustion of the smoke gene-
rated in the fire chamber. The grate bars a, a, a, are open at both ends, their
front ends opening into an air chamber in the front part of the furnace, and
their hinder ends opening into the ash-pit. All the air that passes through the
hollow grate bars is returned under the grate to support combustion,, excepting
that portion which passes upwards; as above explained, through the hollow
bridge wall, (when the damper g is up, as shown in the Drawing,) for con-
sumption of the smoke. The ash-pit h is kept constantly closed while the
furnace is in operation (excepting when the ashes are required to be removed),
and thus the admission of cold air to the interior of the furnace is prevented.
The air for supplying the fire grate first passes through the grate bars from the
cold-air-chamber i at the front end of the grate. jis the fire door; k is a door-
way in the cast-iron front for the admission of the cold air. This opening may

page_text: be closed when a blower is used, and the blast conducted through a pipe to the
air chamber in front of the grate. I is the ash-pit door; m is a pipe for feeding
the boiler through the fire grate bearers; and n is the blow-off cock connected
with the bearers at the opposite side, similar to the feed pipe.
From the above explanation it will be understood that the advantages of
this arrangement over those now in use is, .first, that by causing all the air
that is used in combustion to pass through the grate bars previous to its
admission under the grate, an intense hot blast instead of a cold one is obtained,
and thus the economical consumption of the fuel is ensured; secondly; whatever
carbonaceous matter may rise from the grate unconsumed, is immediately met
at the bridge wall or hot-air chamber by a stream of hot air extending the
whole width of the hollow bridge wall, and is there converted into a flame;
thus an almost perfect combustion takes place; thirdly, the pendent pipes effect
à double purpose (that is to say), they support and protect the grate bars, and
at the same time act as feed pipes to the boiler; supplying it with hot water
instead of cold.
Having now explained the nature and object of the Invention of "Improve
ments in the Construction of Furnaces," as communicated to me by my foreign
correspondent, I wish it to be understood; that under the above in part récited
Letters Patent, I claim,.
First, supplying closed furnaces with hot air to support combustion, bý
causing the supply air to pass through hollow fire bars and imbibe tho requisite
amount of heat therefrom before being brought into contact with the fuel.
Secondly, I claim the use of the hollow supporting pipes for feeding steam
boilers with water.
In witness whereof, I, the said Ebenezer Seymour, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Eleventh day of September, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.