IMPROVEMENTS IN THE BURNING OF BRICKS AND OTHER LIKE ARTICLES, AND IN THE KILMS AND APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Henry Johnson, of 47, Lincoln's Inn
Fields, in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE BURNING OF BRICKS AND OTHER LIKE ARTICLES,
AND IN THE KILMS AND APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN."-A communi-
cation from abroad by Henry Wright Adams, of Philadelphia, State.
of Pennsylvania, in the United States of America.
Sealed the 15th June 1869, and dated the 18th January 1869,
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Henry Johnson
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 18th January 1809.
I, JOHN HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County
of Middlesex, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE BURNING OF BRICKS AND OTHER LIKE
ARTICLES, AND IN THE KILNS AND APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN," a communi-
cation to me from abroad by Henry Wright Adams, of Philadelphia,

page_text: State of Pennsylvania,
follows:-
Що UMLOU SMIS
This Invention relates to an improved mode of and means or apparatus
for burning bricks and other like articles whereby economy of fuel is
effected and a better article is obtained.
The essential feature of this Invention consists in so constructing a
brick kiln as that the products of combustion from fires contained in
furnaces at one end of the kiln are caused to forcibly permeate the mass
of bricks by the action of jets of steam or other equivalent exhausting
device situate at the opposite end of the kiln, and vice versa, the products
of combustion being caused to pass through the mass from one end to
the other of the kiln first in one direction and then in the opposite
direction, thereby heating the bricks uniformly throughout. Jets of
steam are also directed into the combustion chambers and over the fuel
of those fire-places which are in action for the time being as well as into
their corresponding ash-pits. The steam from the former jets becomes
superheated by the time it reaches the back of the fire-place and enters
with the products of combustion into a distributing chamber formed by
the bricks to be burned immediately behind the several furnaces or fire-
places, whence the superheated steam and products of combustion are
distributed throughout the mass, being drawn through it by the partial
vacuum produced by the steam jets before referred to, which are directed
outwards at the opposite end of the kiln. The jets in the ash-pit serve
to improve the combustion of the fuel and to check any tendency the
flame might have to pass down through the grate bars under the action
of the steam jet in the combustion chamber.
It is preferred to construct the kiln of four walls enclosing an oblong
space within which the bricks are stacked, taking care when stacking the
bricks to form distributing chambers extending across the kiln imme-
diately behind the fire-places or furnaces, which latter may be made in
two tiers or rows at each end of the kiln, each row containing, say, six
fire-places in three pairs. Between the fire-places of each pair an
opening is formed leading into the kiln, and within each of these
openings there is fitted a steam jet pipe bent so as to direct its jet
outwards with a view to create a draught through the kiln. The several
jet pipes branch off from main pipes leading from a steam generator, and
are provided with regulating cocks or valves. When the set of fires at
one end are burning the fire-places of the opposite end are closed up, the

page_text: vapour and products of combustion escaping through the openings before
referred to containing the steam jets for producing the draught. The
top of the stack of bricks is closed by luting the joints or interstices
with clay, so that no escape of heat can take place in that direction,
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Henry Johnson in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 17th July 1809.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, Jonn
HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of
Middlesex, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eighteenth day of January, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the
thirty-second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Ier heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, tho said John Henry Johnson, Her
special license that I, the said John Henry Johnson, my executors,.
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John Henry
Johnson, my executors, administrators, or 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 BURNING OF BRICKS AND OTHER LIKE ARTICLES, AND IN
THE KILMS AND APPARATUS EXPLOYED THEREIN," a communication from
abroad by Henry Wright Adams, of Philadelphia, State of Pennsylvania,
in the United States of America, upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, tho said John Henry Johnson, my executors or administrators, 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 performed, and cause the same to be filed in
the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and imme
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, tho said John Henry Johnson, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner tho
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained

page_text: in and by the following statement, reference being had to the accom-
panying Drawings, and to the letters and figures marked thercon,
that is to say :-
The said Invention relates to an improved mode of and means or
apparatus for burning bricks and other like articles whereby economy of
fuel is effected and a better article is obtained.
The essential feature of this Invention consists in so constructing a
brick kiln as that the products of combustion from fires contained in
furnaces at one end of the kiln are caused to forcibly permeate the mass
of bricks by the action of jets of steam or other equivalent exhausting
device situate at the opposite end of the kiln, and visa versa, the products
of combustion being caused to pass through the mass from one end to
the other of the kiln first in one direction and then in the opposite
direction, thereby heating the bricks uniformly throughout. Jets of
steam are also directed into the combustion chambers and over the fuel
of those fire-places which are in action for the time being as well as into
their corresponding ash-pits. The steam from the former jets becomes
superheated by the time it reaches the back of the fire-place and enters
with the products of combustion into a distributing chamber formed by
the bricks to be burned immediately behind the several furnaces or fire-
places, whence the superheated steam and products of combustion are
distributed throughout the mass, being drawn through it by the partial
vacuum produced by the steam jcts before referred to which are directed
outwards at the opposite end of the kiln. The jets in the ash-pits serve
to improve the combustion of the fuel and to check any tendency the
flame might have to pass down through the grate bars under the action
of the steam jet in the combustion chamber.
It is preferred to construct the kiln of four walls enclosing an oblong
space, within which the bricks are stacked, taking care when stacking
the bricks to form distributing chambers extending across the kiln
immediately behind the. fire-places or furnaces, which latter may be
made in two tiers or rows at each end of the kiln, each row containing,
say, six fire-places in three pairs. Between the fire-places of each pair
an opening is formed leading into the kiln, and within each of these
openings there is fitted a steam jet pipe bent so as to direct its jet
outwards with a view to create a draught through the kiln. The several
jet pipes branch off from main pipes leading from a steam generator, and
are provided with regulating cooks or valves. When the set of fires at

page_text: one end are burning the fire-places of the opposite end are closed-up, the.
vapour and products of combustion escaping through the opening
before referred to containing the steam jets for producing the draught.
The top of the stack of bricks is closed by luting the joints or interstices
with clay, so that no escape of heat can take place in that direction.
And in order that the said Invention may be fully understood I shall
now proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose
shall refer to the several Figures on the annexed Sheet of Drawings, the
same letters of reference indicating corresponding parts in all the
Figures.
Figure 1 of the Drawings is an end view of the improved brick kiln ;
Figure 2 is a longitudinal vertical section of the kiln on the line 1-2
(Figure 1) shewing the two opposite ends of the same; Figure 3 is a
longitudinal vertical section on the line 3-4 (Figure 1); Figure 4 is
a transverse vertical section on the line 5-6 (Figure 3); and Figure 5
is a diagram illustrating the arrangement of four kilns.
The kiln as illustrated in the Drawing is of oblong form, the permanent
portion consisting of the opposite ends A and A' connected together by
side walls, and the whole enclosing an oblong space for containing the
bricks to be burn. In each end of the kiln are built two tiers of
fire-places, six in each tier, as shown in Figure 1, and each fire-place
consists of a combustion chamber a and ash-pit o separated by the
ordinary grate bars b, the combustion chamber being furnished in front
with a suitable door or doors and communicating at the rear with the
interior of the kiln through a passage d over a bridge e. At each end of
the kiln are arranged pipes B and B', ono above each tier of fire-places
and communicating with the steam space of an adjacent boiler, and from
one or other of these pipes projects a branch pipe finto each fire-place,
this branch terminating at a short distance from the entrance of the
combustion chamber and below the roof of the same, so that a forcible
jet of steam may be directed in the course taken by the products of
combustion. A branch pipe h also extends from one or other of the
main steam pipes B or B' into the ash-pit so that a jet of steam may be
projected into the latter below the grate bars. In each of the permanent
ends A. and A' of the kiln are openings D, there being in the present
instance three openings above and three below and situated between the
fire-places, as shown in Figure 1. Into each of these openings projects
a pipe i turned at the end, so that a jet of steam may be projected

page_text: outwards and induce a partial vacuum within the kiln. It should be
understood that the different branch pipes are provided with suitable
cocks or valves, by which the passage of steam may be regulated or
stopped at pleasure. In using this kiln moulded bricks just dry enough
to bear handling are arranged on edge and end to end within the kiln
in alternate longitudinal and transverse rows, with narrow lateral spaces
as usual in preparing bricks for burning. This accumulation of bricks
having reached nearly to the top of the kiln the mass is surmounted
with two layers of bricks layed flatwise, and on the upper surface of the
top layer is deposited a thick clay wash, which fills the interstices and
prevents the upward escape of caloric. In arranging the bricks within
the kiln care should be taken to leave at the rear of each row of fire-
places chambers extending across the kiln. The upper chamber
however should be entirely separate from the lower chamber, as shewn
in Figure 2. The piling of the bricks having been completed the doors
of the fire-places at one end of the kiln (say the end A') are closed, the
ash-pit openings temporarily sealed, all the steam pipes at both ends of
the kiln being for the present closed. Fuel is then placed on the grates
of the fire-places at the opposite end A of the kiln, and after the fuel
has been ignited the valves of the steam pipes i at the end A' of the kiln
are opened, while at the opposite end of the kiln the valves of all the
branch pipes are opened, excepting those of the pipe . Owing to the
partial vacuum caused within the kiln by the outwardly projecting jets
of steam from the pipes i at the end A' the products of combustion rush
from the fire-places at the opposite end first into what may be termed
the distributing chamber a, and pass thence through the interspaces
between the bricks, and finally escape through the openings D at the
end A' of the kiln. At the same time the jets of steam through the
pipes above the fire serve to propel the products of combustion and
increase the force which they acquire from the outward jets of steam at
the opposite end of the kiln. The jets of steam below the fire-grato
serve to counteract the tendency of the steam above to force the flame
downward between the grates. At the same time this lower steam
coming in contact with the fire is decomposed, and meeting in its
decomposed state with the products of combustion increases the heat of
the same. The first action of this thorough and forcible permeation of
the products of combustion through the bricks in the kiln is to deprive
them of the moisture. This is done rapidly, the vapor passing in a
forcible volume through each of the openings D at the end A' of the

page_text: kiln, owing to the outward jets of steam in the latter. After the bricks
have been thus quickly deprived of their moisture the burning com-
mences, the heat gradually increasing in intensity from the end A of the
kiln towards the end A' until the bricks at this end are at a blood red
heat, while those nearest the fire-place and throughout the greater
portion of the mass are at the white heat necessary to ensure a thorough
burning of the bricks. The condition of the latter may be observed from
time to time through small holes in the side wall of the kiln, but the
best indication of the condition of the bricks is the extent of their
shrinkago, which can be ascertained by observing the depth to which the
mass of bricks has sunk below the original height. When the bricks of
the kiln have assumed an intense white heat throughout, excepting near
the end A' of the kiln where they are blood red, and when the mass at
the end nearest the fire-place has sunk to a depth indicating that the
bricks at this point have reached the limit of shrinkage and have been
properly burnt, the fire-places with the ash-pits at the end A of the kiln
are closed, steam is cut off from tho branch pipes and f, while at the
opposite end A' of the kiln the ash-pits are unscaled, the valves of the
pipos closed, and those of the pipes f and opened, and fuel supplied
to the firo-places. As the latter have already become red hot by the
firing at the opposite end the fuel at once commences to burn actively,
and the products of combustion are caused to pass forcibly through the
mass of bricks partly by the jets of steam from the pipes i at the other
end of the kiln and partly by the jets of steam which pass over the fires
at the end A'. The bricks near the latter soon become white hot, this
intense heat gradually approaching the centre of the kiln, where the
bricks had been previously thoroughly burned by the fires at the end A.
By thus firing first at one end and then at the opposite end of the kiln,
and by directing the products of combustion through the mass of bricks
first in one direction and then in the other, the whole becomes thoroughly
and equally burned and may be removed at pleasure.
A most important feature of the Invention is the steam which passes
from the pipes fover the fires and arrives at the distributing chambers
in a highly superheated condition. While this steam assists in forcing
the products of combustion through the mass of bricks it prevents those
bricks nearest the fire from being burnt or destorted, in other words,
there are none of those black ended and otherwise almost worthless
bricks which in ordinary kilns form such a large per-centage of the mass

page_text: burnt, owing to their contiguity to the fire and to the fact that there
are no provisions for counteracting the effect of the intense heat at this
point. It will be seen, therefore, that not only is a saving of time
effected in burning the bricks in the improved kiln by the forcible
permeation of the most effective products of combustion under pressure {
through the mass, but there is a saving as regards the product also
owing to the absence of imperfect bricks. To these advantages may be
added that of economy as regards consumption of fuel.
In Figure 5 is illustrated an economical mode of arranging four kilns
1, 2, 3, and 4, two being arranged side by side, so that a single partition 1
wall m serves for both, and between each pair of kilns is arranged a
boiler from which pipes p, p, pass in opposite directions and commu-
nicate with the above-described pipes of the separate kilns. In the side
of each kiln is an opening a large enough to admit carts or trucks for
the conveyance of the newly moulded bricks to the interior, these 1
openings being of course closed prior to commencing the burning of the
bricks.
It is not essential that the precise arrangement of the kilns described
should be adopted in carrying out this Invention, for instance, the mode
of quickly disposing of the vapor arising from the moist bricks and of 2
causing the products of combustion to permeate forcibly through the
mass of bricks by jets of steam ejected through openings communicating
with the interior of the kiln may be applied to kilns differing in
structure from that described. Other features of the Invention may
also be applied to differently constructed kilns.
The kiln described above has been selected for illustration as it has
succeeded admirably in practice; the general dimensions may, theretofore,
be given here, it being understood however that the Inventor does not
desire to confine himself either to any specific dimensions or arrangement
of parts.

page_text: In a kiln of these dimensions about one hundred thousand bricks, each
eight inches by four inches wide and two and a half inches thick, may be
burned. The entire moisture in this mass of newly moulded bricks can
be disposed of in about eighteen hours after lighting the fires at one end
of the kiln, after which the burning of the bricks throughout may be
completed in about fifty-four hours by the operations described above.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of the
said Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or
carried into effect, I would observe in conclusion that what I consider
to be novel and original and therefore claim as the Invention secured
to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,-
First. A brick kiln in which the products of combustion in fires at
one end are caused to pass through the mass of bricks by jets of steam
or other equivalent exhausting device at the other end of the kiln, sub.
stantially as specified.
Second. The projecting of jets of steam into the fire-chambers of a
brick kiln above the fire, substantially as and for the purpose herein set
forth.
Third. The burning of masses of brick by confining the same within
a kiln provided with such fire-places that the products of combustion
may be caused to pass through the said mass of bricks first in one
direction and next in the opposite direction for the purpose described.
Fourth. Forming in the mass of bricks to be burnt chambers x, x,
adjacent to the fire-places for the reception and distribution of the
products of combustion and superhcated steam.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Henry Johnson, have to
this my Specification set my hand and seal, the Sixteenth day
of July One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine.