Improvements in and relating to the Construction of Steam-boiler Furnaces.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 22nd May, 1894
Complete Specification Left, 23rd Feb., 1895-Accepted, 27th Apr., 1895
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in and relating to the Construction of Steam-boiler
Furnaces.
We, GEORGE MILAN CONWAY, of Number 229 Eleventh Street, and HAROLD
GREEN UNDERWOOD, of No. 691, Marshall Street, both in the City and County
of Milwaukee, and State of Wisconsin, United States of America, Manufacturers,
do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention consists, primarily, in constructing a steam-boiler furnace with a
bridge-wall, and providing the same with damper-controlled air-flues and a
transverse air-space communicating therewith, together with a series of gas and
air mingling and combustion chambers communicating with said air-space and with
each other, said chambers being open at each end, the inlet opening of each
chamber being of full height, and the outlet opening converging to a contracted
throat, and further said invention consists in the peculiar construction and
arrangement of tile sections, forming said chambers, the bottom tiles being rounded.
and grooved on their under surfaces, and the top tiles rounded on their upper
surfaces in conformity with the shape of the steam-boiler employed and radially
disposed about the same, the upper and lower tiling being separated by a series of
partition plates forming therewith the said chambers, and there being air passages.
through the bottom tiles and partitions for the admission of air within said
chambers, and in the peculiar construction and arrangement of the damper-
casings and dampers controlling said flues, whereby said damper-casings fit within
the mouths of said flues, and have ash-shields and lugs projecting from said casings,
and damper-plates projecting within said mouths and carrying shafts rigid with
said plates, said shafts being journaled between said ash-shields and lugs, together
with crank-arms rigidly attached to said shafts, damper-rods pivotally attached to
said crank-arms and projecting outside of the furnace-wall, and adjustable securing.
devices for holding said damper-plates in any desired position.
Dated this 28th day of April 1894.
GEORGE MILAN CONWAY..
HAROLD GREEN
UNDERWOOD.
Improvements in and relating to the Construction of Steam-boiler
Furnaces.
We, GEORGE MILAN CONWAY, of Number 229 Eleventh Street and HAROLD
GREEN UNDERWOOD of Number 691 Marshall Street both in the City and
County of Milwaukee, and State of Wisconsin, one of the United States of
America, Manufacturers, do hereby declare the nature of this invention, and.in
what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and;
ascertained in and by the following statement :-
Our invention relates.. to furnaces and consists in certain peculiarities of
construction, as will be fully set forth hereinafter, and subsequently claimed.

page_text: Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal section through our improved furnace, on the
line 1-1 of Figure 2; Figure 2 is a front elevation of the same with boiler front,
front wall, and grate removed, and with parts broken away, or in section, to
show details of construction.
Figure 3 is a plan view of the parts shown below the line 3-3 in Figure 1, with
portions broken away.
Figure 4 is a detail sectional view on the line 4-4 of Figure 2.
Figures 5 to 9, inclusive, are detail views of tiles or bricks employed in said
farnace.
Figure 10 is a detail view illustrating the construction of the air-flue casing and
damper.
A, Figure 1, represents the boiler front with suitable smoke arch door a, and
below this at a the opening for the furnace door leading to the grate B, and still
lower down, an opening a for the passage of the damper rod C, said rod being
notched as at c c, adjacent to its handle end, for adjustable engagement with a
latch plate a³ at this point, and below is the door at of the ash-pit L.
D is the throat of the chimney pipe.
E is the bridge-wall at the rear of the grate, between the side walls F, F, of the
structure. The top of this bridge-wall is part-circular and describes the arc of a
circle struck from the center of the boiler above, as shown in Figure 2, and, in the
present illustrations there are shown two air flues.G G, (though the number may
be more or less, as desired) communicating at top with the transverse arc-shaped
air space H, extending between the said side walls F, F. The lower mouths of
the described air-flues G are fitted with damper-casings I, to which the dampers
are attached, as best illustrated in Figure 10. From the upper part of each casing,
there projects an ash-shield i, below which at each side, are lugs i, and between
these parts is located the damper shaft j cast solidly with the damper J, and
secured in place by pins 2, as shown, and having one end outside of its bearings,
squared off to fit within a corresponding opening in one end of the crank arm c¹
whose other end is pivotally attached to the inner end of the damper-rod C. By
these meaus motion may be communicated by the handle of the said rod C, in or
out, to vary the position of the said damper J, which can thus be partially or
wholly closed, or opened, in the mouth of the air flue G, and the said damper is
kept in the desired position by dropping one of the notches cover the latch-plate a*.
If ashes and other refuse matter accumulate in the air-flue G, these can be
readily removed by raising up and fastening the damper J at its highest point, and
introducing a long handled hoe through the ash-pit door a, and this is a great
convenience in construction over the flue-dampers in common use.
Resting on the arc-shaped top of the bridge-wall E, are a series of the tiles or
bricks M, N, of peculiar construction, illustrated by the detail views Figures 5, 8
and 9. These tiles are transversely rounded on their upper and lower surfaces,
(to conform to the described shape of the bridge-wall, top) and are provided on
their under sides with longitudinal grooves or air-channels, m and n, respectively,
and the tiles M have vertical openings m' m² therethrough, communicating with
the described longitudinal grooves m on their under sides, and vertical side
openings m³ these tiles M are formed with right-angled shoulders m' at each side
on their upper surfaces, and hence these side openings m³ extend to a lower plane
than the central openings m'. The tiles N fit snugly against the adjacent ends of
the tiles M, as shown in Figures 1 and 4, and converge upward from this point of
contact to their outer ends, and are furthermore formed with right-angled
shoulders, in their sides, coinciding with the described shoulders m' of the
tiles M.
☑
O, P, represent other tiles (shown in Figures 7 and 6, respectively) which fit in
the described shoulders m* n' of each of the adjacent pairs of tiles M M and N N
when the latter are adjusted to place on top of the bridge-wall, as best shown in
Figure 2. The tile is shown as a plain rectangle, but the tile P has a vertical

page_text: inner end passage p, and above this a right-angled shoulder p', the said passage p
communicating with the described openings m³ in the tiles M M. When desired,
the tiles M N may be made in one piece, as may the tiles O P, but for convenience
of manufacture and application, I prefer to make them separately, as shown, in
which shape, further, they are more convenient for storage and transportation.
QQ represent the top tiles and these are made with right-angled shoulders q q
in their side edges to interlock with the top edges of the tiles OP, as best shown
in Figure 2, these tiles Q being rounded on their upper and under surfaces, so that,
when put together in use, they may conform to the arc of a circle struck from the
common center of the boiler above, from which the arc line of the tiles M N was
struck, the radially disposed tiles O P being held firmly in place between said
upper and lower series of tiles. These tiles Q are of uniform width and size, but
at each end of the radius the end tiles (marked Q1Q1) are of proper width to
impinge against the side walls F F, and need only the described shoulders 7 on
their inner sides.
R represents a horizontal tubular boiler of ordinary construction, supported in
the usual manner, by brackets (not shown) resting upon the side walls, and
independent of the described radial line of tiling below.
The operation of our described furnace is as follows:-The fuel is placed upon
the grate B, and when properly ignited the gases liberated therefrom pass into
the chambers formed by the tiles M N O P Q, and on their passage therethrough
they are supplied with air, which enters the damper-controlled mouths of the air-
flues G, passes into the arc-shaped air-space H, and from thence along through the
grooves mn, and up through the openings m¹ and m² into the bottom of the
described chambers, and up through the openings in³, passage p, and shouldered
openings p¹, into the upper part of said chambers, as shown by the arrows, in
Figures 1 and 2. The tiles forming the said chambers become heated, in the
operation of the furnace, and the air from the air flues G is heated in its described
passage through the said grooves, passages and openings, and when coming into
contact with the gases liberated from the fire-bed, is forced to mingle therewith by
the contraction of the chambers caused by the described convergence of the
tiles N, forming a practically perfect combustion of said mingled gases and heated
air as they pass out of the contracted throats of the chambers, thereby reducing
the smoke nuisance to a minimum, and by this process of elimination of smoke, the
heating properties of the fuel are increased, instead of being decreased by such
elimination, as is the case with the old methods, commonly employed. The gases,
now practically free from smoke, pass along the bottom of the boiler, returning
through the tubes thereof and up and out through the chimney. By the nearly
perfect combustion and elimination of smoke described, there is practically no
deposit of soot upon the heating surfaces, and they are therefore always in proper
condition for absorbing the heat of the passing gases.
Our described damper plays an important part in effecting the desired result, as
it is necessary, in order to obtain perfect combustion, that the carbonaceous
matter in the liberated gases should mingle with air of a proper temperature, and
if there is any excess of air admitted, the temperature will at once be lowered, as
only a certain quantity of air can be properly heated in a given time by its passage
against and into the heated tile chambers described, and hence the need of
regulating the admission of air at the air flue mouth.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is:
1. In a furnace, the combination with a bridge wall, provided with damper-
controlled air-flues and a transverse air-space communicating therewith, of a series
of gas and air mingling and combustion chambers communicating with said air-
space, and with each other, said chambers being open at each end, the inlet

page_text: opening of each chamber being of full height, and the outlet opening converging
to a contracted throat.
2. In a furnace, the combination with a bridge-wall, provided with damper-
controlled air-flues, and a transverse air-space communicating therewith, of a boiler,
and a series of gas and air mingling and combustion chambers, radially disposed
about said boiler, and interposed between it and said air-space, said chambers
communicating with said air-space, and with each other, and being open at each
end, the inlet opening of each chamber being of full height, and the outlet opening
converging to a contracted throat.
3. In a furnace, the combination with a boiler, of a series of gas and air
mingling and combustion chambers, composed of sections of tiles, the bottom tiles
being rounded and grooved on their under surfaces, and the top tiles rounded on
their upper surfaces in conformity with the shape of said boiler, and radially disposed
about the same, the upper and lower tiling being separated by a series of partition
plates forming therewith the said chambers, and there being air passages through
the bottom tiles and partitions for the admission of air within said chambers.
Dated this 23rd day of February 1895.
JENSEN & SON,
77, Chancery Lane, London, W.C., Patent Agents.