Furnaces or Sources of Intense Heat.
Year: 1885

page_text: Furnaces or Sources of Intense Heat.
I, JOSIAH HAMILTON LANGDON TUCK, of San Francisco, State of California,
United States of America, Geologist, do hereby declare the nature of my inven-
tion for "IMPROVED METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR APPLYING THE HEAT OF
FURNACES, OR SOURCES OF INTENSE HEAT," 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 a device for applying heat to large masses or surfaces of
iron or other metal where it would be inconvenient or impossible to subject the
said mass or surface to the fire in the ordinary manner.
As heretofore pursued among boiler makers and other workers in heavy iron, the
method of keeping the iron in a condition for bending, welding, cutting or other-
wise working it, has been to subject the mass or surface to the fire, in the ordinary
manner of such work, as often as it becomes cold. This has to be repeated
many times on various kinds of work, and at each repetition great labor, trouble
and delay are entailed.
By means of my invention I am enabled to apply heat and flame at any point
upon a mass or surface of metal without moving or disturbing the same, and from
a fire at a distant point. So that from the ordinary forge, hearth or furnace used
for heating the mass or surface when placed upon or in said forge, hearth or
furnace, I obtain the heat and flame to apply to the metal at a distant point
without any handling or labor of any consequence, and without the trouble of
building a fire upon, in, under or about the mass or surface to be treated.
For this purpose I construct and employ a hood or receptacle to place over the
fire, to receive the heat flame and burning gases. This receptacle or hood is formed
of any fire-proof material and of any appropriate or desired form, square, cylindrical,
oblong, polygonal or otherwise as may be desired; with a convergent top or dome,
to the apex of which is secured a flexible, fire-proof tube or conveyor to lead the
products of combustion off to be delivered at the desired point upon the mass or
surface of metal. This pipe may be formed of short iron or other metallic sections
having knuckle joints to insure pliability and capacity for bending in any direction,
or it may be made of asbestos or other naturally flexible fire-proof material.

page_text: At the end where it is joined to the apex of the hood or receptacle a universal
joint is provided so that the pipe can readily be turned round or this point
extended in any direction without twisting the pipe.
At the delivery end the pipe is provided with a distributor to scatter and
disseminate the heat and flame over and upon the mass or surface under treatment
in such a manner as to produce the best results with the least expenditure of fuel
or heating power. I also provide means for regulating the extent and number of
the escape openings for the flame and heat in this distributor, so that I can make
the same distributor serve to deliver the same amount of heat and flame over a
large surface and gently or very forcibly through a small number of openings over
or upon a contracted point.
In places remote from a furnace or other fire I employ a modified form of this
device, dispensing with the hood and using some highly inflammable oil or other
fluid, with a suitable number of burners and a blower for supplying oxygen to the
flame and giving the required force to the flame, burning gases and heat.
I may also employ a distributor of a larger pattern and provide it with shut off
gates or cocks at suitable points to throw the heat and flame in any part thereof,
to condense and intensify it upon any spot or distribute it over considerable space.
In the accompanying drawings I have shown what I consider a. preferable means
for carrying the invention into practice. It will be remembered however that I do
not confine myself to any particular form of hood or receptacle, or material of
which it is formed, nor the character of nor material for forming, the pipe, nor the
size or style of the distributor on the delivery end thereof.
In the said drawings
Fig. 1-is a general side elevation of the device showing a portion of boiler plate
and a portion of the furnace.
Fig. 2-is a central vertical section of the hood showing the non-conducting
covering for the hood.
Fig. 3 is a face view of the distributor.
Fig. 4-is a cross section of the same on an enlarged scale.
Fig. 5 is a general view of the device as modified for use at localities remote
from a furnace or other fire.
Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures where
they occur.
Lets represent a part of a steam boiler, hull of a metallic vessel, or other large
mass or surface of metal, and Y the hearth, forge, furnace or other fire-place where
the fire is made.
Over this fire I place my hood or receptacle A. As shown in the drawings this
is cylindrical in form over most of its body but as already explained it may be of
any form. The top or dome A¹ of the hood is conical or funnel shaped as shown
to draw the heat and flames into the pipe B which is to carry them off to the
point of application.
The receptacle A, dome A' and pipe B may either or all be covered with some
approved non-conducting material such as is in general use for boilers and steam
pipe covers. This covering is shown at a, a¹, b, in Fig. 2.
The pipe B is secured upon the apex of the dome A³ by means of joint, as shown
at B¹ which allows the pipe to be turned in any desired direction without twisting
the pipe.
The pipe is made of any fire-proof material, as metal or asbestos.
When made of metal it must be provided with flexible joints such as knuckle
joints (as shown in Fig. 2). It may be coated both inside and outside with any
approved material capable of withstanding the beat, so as to prevent the escape of
heat; or the coating may be dispensed with on either the inside or outside,
or both.
The pipe may be of any desired length and at the delivery end is provided with
a distributor C which is shown in the form of an elongated rose or box punctured
on its face so as to thoroughly scatter and disseminate the heat and flame,

page_text: In the distributor under the face I provide a slide C₁ which works in ways in
the side of the distributor as shown at C2, Fig. 4, and springs C³ are provided to
hold the slide securely in any position in which it is placed.
By means of this slide I am enabled to expose the entire lot of apertures in the
face of the distributor to the passage of heat and flame or may slide it into the
distributor and hide more or less of the aperatures, so as to condense and intensify
the flow of heat and flame.
When the slide is drawn out to the full extent as shown in Figs. 1 & 3, the
whole face of the distributor with its punctures is exposed to the passage of the
heat and flame and the flow is gentle. When the slide is pushed in so as to allow
only a few apertures to be open to the passage of heat and flame, the flow will be
forcible and intense and will heat up a point or small surface in a very short time.
In positions where it is inconvenient to get the heat from a furnace or similar
fire I employ the construction and arrangement of parts shown in Fig. 5, where a
tank Y containing oil, benzine, naptha, alcohol or any highly inflammable liquid
is connected to a set of burners 1, 2, 3, & 4, in a suitable lamp or hood 5 by a pipe 6
with a regulating cock 7.
This hood or lanp 5 is connected with the distributor C by the fire-proof pipe B
similar to the one described and shown in the other views. The distributor C is
here shown as enlarged to cover a greater surface of metal with the heat and flame
but it will be understood that the same distributor used in the other figures may
he used here, or that this distributor may be used with the mechanism shown in
the other views.
To properly handle this distributor, I equip it with a handle c*, and to throw
the heat to any part of it I employ the stop cocks or shut off gates 10, 10, or more if
desired. When the two gates are used the distributor is divided into 3 compart-
ments or chambers and the heat may be confined to the center compartment made
very intense or thrown out to either or both of the end sections or compartments
in connection with the center compartment. In this way by turning either or
both of these cocks partially or entirely the heat may be thrown in either or both
directions in any desired amount or confined to the center compartment, causing
'very intense heat at this point.
In connection with either of the forms of collecting the heat, shown in Figs. 1
& 5, I employ the blower 11 shown in Fig. 5, which is connected with the hood or
lamp 5 by a pipe 12 and which furnishes oxygen to mingle with the flame and
increase and intensify it, a draft to make the burners more active and a blast to
drive the flame, burning gases and heat through pipe B and out through distributor.
In this way I get the effect of many hundred blow pipes.
A means for supplying power to drive the fan is shown at 13 Fig. 5, which as
shown consists of a band wheel suitably mounted and cranked, and a band for
transmitting power to a pulley on the blower shaft. But it will be understood
that any other power may be substituted for this. This however makes the device
portable.
It will also be understood that any desired form of distributor may be used in
lieu of the two shown and that the construction of the lamp, flame chamber or
hood 5 may be varied as desired or as experience and economy dictate.
Instead of employing a tank or vessel set on a higher level so that the oil will
flow to the burners by gravity, I may employ a device for forcing the oil to them
from a lower level, by means of an air or force pump of any convenient size and
construction.
The distributor may be formed in sections hinged together so that one or more
of them can be turned back. This is particularly desirable where the distributor
is made of circular form to encircle a shaft or other object.
As thus constructed and applied my device will be found to possess qualities of
a most desirable character and will work with great economy of time, labor and
fuel in heating or keeping hot, masses, surfaces, etc., where it is not possible or
convenient to apply heat in any of the ordinary methods.

page_text: In using my device, the first heat may be taken in the ordinary way and then
the subsequent heats made by use of my apparatus, or the metal kept continuously
hot by the use thereof.
The force of the furnace blast will concentrate the flame in the hood, dome, and
pipe, and produce a most intense volume of heat and flame to pass out through the
pipe which may be applied at any point within reach of the pipe.
As shown in the drawings and as hitherto described my invention has been
mentioned only in connection with heating metal for purposes of working it. But
in the application of my device it will not be limited to such case only, as it will
be found to be eminently useful in melting or refining ores or metals and in many
other situations where it is desirable to apply heat at a distance from the fire or
source of heat.
The breaking of shafts of steam ships is of constant occurrence and by aid of my
device the same may be welded in mid ocean without removal, in a short time.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is
1. The herein described method of applying flame and heat to points, materials
and objects which are not readily subjected to heat in the ordinary way, consisting
in gathering the heat and flame in a convenient receptacle and leading it through
a flexible pipe and applying through a suitable distributor or nozzle upon the
point, material or object to be heated or kept hot.
2.—The herein described apparatus for applying flame and heat consisting of the
collecting receptacle, a fire-proof conveying pipe of flexible character and a suitable
nozzle or distributor, as set forth.
3. The combination of the collecting receptacle A, having the conical or
convergent top adapted to receive and collect the heat and flame, and a fire-proof
conveying pipe secured to the apex thereof, said pipe being flexible, substantially
as set forth.
4. The apparatus described for collecting and conveying heat, flame and other
products of combustion consisting of the receptacle A having the convergent top A¹.
for location over the furnace or fire, the fire-proof pipe B united to the apex of the
top by a swivel joint, said pipe being formed of such material or in such manner
as to be flexible, and a distributor C attached to the outer end of the pipe, as set
forth.
5. In a device for transmitting and applying heat, the combination with the
collector A, pipe B and distributor C, of the slide C¹ worked under the punctured
face of the distributor, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
6. A heat distributor provided with two or more stop cocks or gates for turning
the heat in different directions, as set forth.
7. The combination with the hood or flame chamber and conveying pipe of the
blower or fan, substantially as and for the purpose setforth.
8. The combination with the hood or flame chamber of the tank for containing
oil or other inflammable liquid, and burners in said hood or flame chamber.
DAL Inso of hot TRAK