IMPROVEMENTS IN RACES HAD STEAM BOILERS AND OTHER PRIPRODE
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Seed, of Preston, in the County of
Lancaster, Machinist, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
RACES HAD STEAM BOILERS AND OTHER PRIPRODE"
Sealed the 2nd October 1869, and dated the 4th May 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Seed at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 4th May 1869.
I, WILLIAM SEED, of Preston, in the County of Lancaster, Machinist,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
FURNACES FOR STEAM BOILERS AND OTHER PURPOSES," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists of an improved self-feeding rotating internal
circular grate by which the fuel is consumed more advantageously than
heretofore and the emission of smoke is prevented.
In performing my Invention I construct a circle of fire-bars encased
in fixed brickwork or metal. The circle of fire-bars is mounted upon
shafts or rollers, and it is caused to rotate at a suitable speed either by
manual labour or other power for giving the required supply of fuel.

page_text: The space enclosed by the circle of fire-bars is divided into two compart-
ments by a curved or other shaped partition made of iron, tile, brick, or
other suitable material, or by a water compartment made of iron or other
metal. In the upper compartment is a hopper, in which the fuel is
placed or charged and falls by its own gravity against the inside circle
of bars, which by rotation remove or convey it into the lower com-
partment or combustion chamber, the amount of fuel being regulated by
a movable slide forming the bottom of the hopper. The front of the
casing of the furnace is provided with doors for kindling the fire, and for
supplying the fuel, and for removing the clinkers and refuse, and the
products of combustion from the fire pass into the flues of the boiler or
other flues in the ordinary manner. The atmospheric air is admitted
betwixt the fire-bars from the ash-pit below, and it has also free access
to the entire outer circle of bars to keep them from being rapidly injured
by the heat. I place a hollow bar of tile or iron at a suitable distance
from the grate bars, which hollow bar can be adjusted to give the proper
thickness of feed, and through which air may be admitted if required
to prevent it from being rapidly injured by heat and to supply air to the
fuel. At the opposite side of the circle of fire-bars to the feed there is
a compartment, into which the non-combustible part of the fuel is carried
by the rotation of the circle of fire-bars. The water from the boiler may
be made to circulate through passages or pipes connected to the end of
the boiler and to the front water casing. The above details may be
considerably modified.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Sced in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 3rd November 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
SEED, of Preston, in the County of Lancaster, Machinist, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fourth day of May, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the thirty-
second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said William Seed, Her special licence
that I, the said William Seed, my executors, administrators, and

page_text: -
assigns, or such others as I, the said William Seed, 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
5 within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel
Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN FURNACES
FOR STEAM BOILERS AND OTHER PURPOSES," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said William Seed, 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 William Seed, 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 (that is to say) :-
The nature of my Invention consists in the use of a self-feeding
rotating internal circular gråte supported on rollers, and turned slowly
round by steam or other power. The fuel is supplied at one side to the
interior of this internal circular grate, and is gradually consumed as the
grate rotates, the clinkers being collected in a chamber within the
internal circular grate. The products of combustion are conveyed from
the furnace to the flues of a steam boiler, or to the flues of a heating
apparatus, or to any other apparatus to which the furnace may be
applied.
And in order that my Invention may be fully understood and readily
carried into operation, I will proceed to describe the accompanying Sheet
of Drawings, reference being had to the figures and letters marked
thercon.
Figure 1 is a front elevation of my improved furnace applicable to an
ordinary two-flued steam boiler; Figure 2 is a longitudinal section, and
Figure 3 is a transverse section of the same.
a represents part of the boiler, and b, b, the flues. To the front of the
boiler is rivetted the oval-shaped chamber c, which is in communication
with the interior of the boiler by means of the opening d and by the
elbow pipe e, the lower end of which is attached to the front of the

page_text: boiler between the flues b, and the upper end is continued into the
chamber c to about the level of the tops of the flues b. To the front of
the chamber c is fixed the front plate f, the lower part of which forms
one side of a water compartment, the other, side of which is the plate g.
The water from the boiler has free access to this compartment from the
chamber and through the pipes h and i, the particular objects, of which
will be explained hereafter. The steam generated in the chamber c is
conveyed into the boiler through the elbow pipe c¹.
The internal circular grate is constructed in the following manner :-
,j, are two rings of strong sheet metal united together at twelve or other
convenient number of places by the double square stay bars, j, keyed
at each end in the rings j. The grate bars k, k, fit between the stay bars,
and projections are cast on the bars k to carry the coal round with the
grate. The end grate bars are made with ribs or projections to prevent
the coal escaping endwise. The rings j, j, rest upon and are turned
slowly round by the rollers or pulleys l, l, fixed on the side shafts m;
these shafts are supported in bearings fixed on each side of the ash-pit,
and they are turned round by the worms n fixed on the cross shaft n',
the worms n gearing into the wheels m¹ on the side shafts m. The cross
shaft is driven by the lever a and catch a' taking into the rachet
wheel. The lever o vibrates on the shaft n', being moved up and
down by the link o², which is actuated by an eccentric fixed on a shaft
driven by the steam engine or in any other convenient manner, or the
shaft n' may be worked by the hand wheel p, shaft p', pinion p², and
bevel wheel n³ fixed on the shaft n'. The coal is fed by hand through
the sliding door f' into the hopper a, which is formed by the division
plater and by the interior of the fire-bars, and it falls by its own gravity
until its descent is checked by the curved plate, the distance of which
from the fire-box is regulated according to the fuel to be consumed.
While the fuel is passing along this contracted space it becomes partially
ignited. The lower end of the curved plate r¹ reaches as far as the water
pipe h, and when the fuel has passed beyond this pipe it is carried
forward by the rotating grate into the combustion chamber. The smoke
from the fresh fuel is consumed in this chamber, and the products of
combustion after being most advantageonsly applied to the lower part of
the chamber c and the water pipes hand'i are conveyed into the flues b, b.
The cinders and clinkers that do not escape between the fire-bars into
the ash-pit are carried upwards by the rotation of the grate, and after

page_text: passing the pipe i they are collected in the chambers formed by the
partition &¹ and the fire-bars, from which they are removed occasionally
through the door f in the front plate f. The water pipes h and i are
connected to the chamber c by the small pipes and ; these small
pipes are to assist in establishing a proper circulation of water through
the pipes and i. The door f³ in the plate fis for kindling the fire when
the furnace is to be started, and the man-holes f* and f³ are for examining
and cleaning out the chamber c and pipes and i. The lower edge of
the front plate f is supported by the pillars fe; these pillars bear upon
the plate connecting the bearings of the shaft n'. This arrangement allows
the front plate to move according to the expansion or contraction of the
boiler. An air tube is applied at the end of the boiler opposite the firing
end for the purpose of allowing the air to escape when the furnace is
first started; by this means the steam generated in the chamber c is not
prevented from coming in contact with the water in the main body of
the boiler; this air tube is closed when the water in the main body of
the boiler has attained the boiling point. The atmospheric air required
to support the combustion of the fuel enters betwixt the fire-bars from
the ash-pit and on each side thereof, and it has also free access to the
entire outer circle of the fire-bars, thereby preventing them from being
rapidly injured by the heat. The fuel is or may be fed into the hopper
from a platform t, see Figure 2, and so long as this hopper is kept
supplied the fuel is gradually carried down into the combustion chamber,
and the clinkers are deposited into the chamber & without further manual
labour, the fuel is consumed more advantageously than heretofore, and the
cmission of smoke is entirely or to a great extent prevented. The entire
grate is or may be enclosed by the brick or iron casing v, the upper part
of which is provided with a lid v¹; this lid can be removed for examining
and repairing the grate bars.
Figure 4 is an end view of a modification in the arrangement of the
parts of my improved furnace for a steam boiler. In this instance c is a
cylindrical chamber secured to the front end of the boiler, and h and i
are the water pipes connected as before described to the chamber c by
the pipes and . The roof of the combustion chamber is formed by
the fire-brick arch w, the ends of which abut against the pipes and i.
The firing door f¹ can be brought much lower than in the furnace
previously described, thereby dispensing with the platform & in Figure 2.
°
Figure 5 represents a furnace for the production of gases at a very high

page_text: temperature suitable for puddling iron and other purposes constructed
according to my improvements. In this instance the passage of the fucl
from the hopper to the combustion chamber is checked by the corner of
the fire-brick arch w; the clinkers are collected in a chamber above the
other corner of the arch. The dimensions of the grate and the arrange-
ment of the doors for feeding the fuel and removing the clinkers must be
made to suit the particular purpose for which the furnace is intended.
Having thus stated the nature of my Invention, and described three
convenient modes of constructing the same, I wish it to be under-
stood that I do not intend to limit myself to the details given, as they
may be considerably varied or modified; but what I claim as my
improvements in furnaces is, the use of a rotating internal circular grate
and the arrangements of the various parts of the furnace to adapt them
to the circular grate, as shewn and described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Seed, have hereunto set
my hand and scal, this Second day of November One thousand
eight hundred and sixty-nine.