IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF OVENS OR FURNACES FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF COKE, AND IN THE MEANS OF EMPTYING OR DISCHARGING THE SAME
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to David Williams, of Tredegar, in the County of
Monmouth, in South Wales, Miner, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF OVENS OR FURNACES FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF COKE,
AND IN THE MEANS OF EMPTYING OR DISCHARGING THE SAME."
Sealed the 30th
1 the 30th March 1858, and dated the 4th February 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said David Williams at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
4th February 1858.
I, DAVID WILLIAMS, of. Tredegar, in the County of Monmouth, in South
Wales, Miner, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF OVENS OR FURNACES FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF COKE,
AND IN THE MEANS OF EMPTYING OR DISCHARGING THE SAME," to be as follows:-
This Invention of improvements in the construction of ovens or furnaces for
the manufacture of coke, and in the means of emptying or discharging the
same, consists, in the first place, in so constructing the bottom or floor or
hearth of the oven or furnace that it shall be capable of being removed, and of
allowing the mass of coke or "batch" to fall into a suitable receptacle for the
purpose of "quenching" or "slacking" the same, and of transporting or

page_text: removing it away from the oven.
The false or moveable bottom is so fitted as
to nicely regulate the admission of air, and by means of the peculiar con-
struction of the oven or furnace a larger quantity of coal may be coked or
The oven
charred in a less space of time than is usual with coking ovens.
or furnace is built upon a suitable cast-iron frame, raised by means of pillars
or columns to the height of about seven feet from the ground; the oven is
built of good refractory material, either bricks or stone, measuring inside
about six feet square, and from five to six feet high or deep, or about twelve
feet high from the ground to the top of the walls of the oven, which should be
slightly tapering from the bottom to the top, say six feet square at the bottom,
or on the iron frame, and five feet square near the top. The oven may be
provided with a top or cover, if desired, and this top or cover should be
built in the form of a dome or arch, and in the crown or centre of the top is
an aperture left about two feet square, or two feet six inches in diameter, if
made round or circular, and through which the oven is charged; the sides or
walls of the oven or furnace should be built about one foot six inches in thick-
ness, firmly stayed and strapped by means of iron bars bolted and fastened at
the corners, or in any other convenient manner.
The frame of the structure is made of cast iron, measuring six feet square
inside and nine feet square outside, and about two and a half inches thick.
This frame is supported by four pillars or columns, one at each corner,
measuring about seven feet in height and eight inches in diameter. The
false bottom or moving hearth is made of an iron frame measuring about
seven feet square, lined with fire clay bricks or tiles made evenly so as to
fit the bottom of the oven or furnace tolerably accurate, so as to exclude air.
In the frame are left apertures properly fitted with regulators to regulate the
admission of air. This frame or false or moving bottom or hearth is provided
with a frame fitted with wheels to run on rails or guides, and capable of being
moved backwards and forwards by means of a pinion and rack or a chain
winding on a drum, or the false bottom may be provided with suitable hinges,
and on the other side with catches and fastenings to hold it securely in its
place. If the furnace or oven does not "draw or create a sufficient draught,
I erect a chimney on the top over the charging hole, and fix suitable apparatus
on the top to regulate the draught.