IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MEANS OF AND APPA- RATUS FOR GENERATING HEAT
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Vincent Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane; in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughts-
man, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MEANS OF AND APPA-
RATUS FOR GENERATING HEAT."-A communication from abroad by Albert
Borsig, Edward Freudenthal and Alexander Daelen, all of Berlin, in the
Kingdom of Di
Sealed the 20th October 1864, and dated the 5th May 1864.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Vincent Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 5th May 1864.
I, ALFRED VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MEANS OF AND
APPARATUS FOR GENERATING HEAT," to be as follows:-..
This Invention relates to a novel mode of constructing steam boiler and
other furnaces, and of supplying air thereto to support combustion. The
fuel is fed to the fire-place from a closed hopper, and the ash-pit is also closed.
Compressed air, either heated or otherwise, is supplied by a suitable arrange-
ment of pipes both above and below the fuel. These currents of air, the one
descending through the fuel, and the other passing between the grate bars
and ascending through the fuel, meet and effect a vivid and very perfect
combustion of the fuel.

page_text: The Invention may be employed in connection with furnaces having
horizontal or inclined fire-bars and whether the bars be fixed or moveable.
In one arrangement of furnace which it is proposed to employ the coal
as it descends from the hopper will fall on to a ledge of fire-brick, below
which a current of compressed air enters the furnace (a separate current
descending with the fuel.) The fuel thus arrested will become heated and
attain incandescence before reaching the fire-bars; the bars receive an up-
and-down motion to prevent clinkers forming rotating cams below the fire,
bars lifting and lowering them in succession. The fuel is discharged from
the ledge by means of a piston operated by a crank lever. A current of
air passing up to the fuel between the fire-bars will mingle with the other
currents and thus produce an intense heat suitable for smelting purposes.
In another arrangement of furnace, the gases of combustion collect in
an annular flue, passing to it through radial passages and they are thence
led off as desired. The stream of air for supporting combustion must be
separately regulated by suitable valves.
Note. The removal of the clinkers may also be facilitated by construct-
ing the grate so that it may be lowered by a crank action and access thereto,
obtained
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Alfred Vincent Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 5th November 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALFRED
VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifth day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-seventh year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, Her special license that I, the said
Alfred Vincent Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, 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, within the United Kingdom
of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an

page_text: 2.
Invention for IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MEANS OF AND APPARATUS FOR GENERATING
HEAT," being a communication from Albert Borsig, Edward Freudenthal,
and Alexander Daelen, all of Berlin, in the Kingdom of Prussia, upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, 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 immediately after
the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say) :-
This Invention relates to a novel mode of constructing steam boiler and
other furnaces, and of supplying air thereto to support combustion. The fuel
being fed to the fire-place from a closed hopper, and the ash-pit being also
closed, admit of compressed air, either heated or otherwise, being supplied by
a suitable arrangement of pipes both above and below the fuel. These
currents of air, the one descending through the fuel, and the other passing
between the grate bars and ascending through the fuel, meet and effect a
vivid and very perfect combustion of the fuel.
The Invention may be employed in connection with furnaces having
horizontal or inclined, fire-bars, and 'whether the bars be fixe 1 or moveable.
In one arrangement of furnace which it is proposed to employ the coal as
it descends from the hopper will fall on to a ledge of fire-brick, below which a
current of compressed air enters the furnace, while a separate current
descends with the fuel. The fuel thus arrested by the ledge of fire-brick
will become heated and attain incandescense before reaching the fire-bars.
The fuel is discharged from the ledge by means of a piston operated by a
crank lever.
-
In another arrangement of furnace the gases of combustion collect in an
annular flue surrounding the fire-place, and are led off through radial passages,
and are thence led off to be applied as may be desired. The streams of air
for supporting combustion will in all cases be separately regulated by suitable
valves. The action of a current of compressed air passing up to the fuel
between the fire-bars will be to mingle with the descending current, and thus
produce a heat sufficiently intense for smelting and other metallurgic
operations:

page_text: In the accompanying Drawing Fig. 1 shews in sectional elevation so
much of a furnace for puddling iron as will serve to explain the nature of
the first of the above-mentioned arrangements.
A is the fire-place fitted with oscillating fire-bars a, a, which when at rest,
as in the Drawing, bear upon fixed supports b, b, but are capable of being
actuated in sets formed, say, of the odd & even fire-bars by means of the
transverse crank shafts c, c; dis a suspended grate supported by a transverse
shaft d', and capable of being actuated by a hand lever keyed to the shaft so
as to stir the fuel. It also affords access (when raised by the lever) to the
fire-place to remove any clinkers that may form on the fire-bars a, a. Above
this grate and projecting over it into the fire-place is a ledge of fire-brick B.
This ledge is arranged immediately below a vertical shaft C, which com-
municates at bottom with the fire-place A, and at top with a hopper D for
supplying fuel to. the furnace. The position of the ledge of fire-brick B is
therefore to serve as a temporary support for the fuel as it is discharged into
the furnace from the hopper. In order to facilitate the discharge of the fuel
from time to time from the ledge by a piston or plunger E, which is actuated
by a cranked hand lever F, the air to support combustion is admitted to the
fuel accumulated in the shaft C by a pipe H, and a vivid combustion is
thereby kept up on the ledge B. Below this ledge the air enters the fire-
place at by the pipe H', and air is also taken through the fire-bars from the
ash-pit 1. For regulating the supply of fuel. to the furnace, the closed
hopper is fitted at bottom with a cup wheel e, and a regulating valveƒ³, the
position of which latter is adjusted by a hand lever g. On the axle of the cup
wheel is keyed a fly wheel h, by rotating which the cup is caused to discharge
the regulated supply to the furnace. The action of the furnace will now be
readily understood, it being premised that the black arrows represent the
direction of the currents of compressed air discharged into the furnace, and
the red arrows the course of the flame. The gases of combustion will descend
with the blast from the pipe H, and meeting with the ascending gases at the
bridge of the furnace, will pass off to the puddling hearth by the flue K.
Fig. 2 shews in longitudinal sectional elevation so much of a steam boiler
furnace as will serve to explain a modification of the above described
apparatus. In this arrangement the fire-bars a fixed and set on an incline;
and ledge B of fire-brick is set at a corresponding inclination, but so as to
intercept the fuel as it descends from the hopper 1 to the fire-place A.
A piston or plunger E is provided as at Fig. 1 for dislodging the incandescent
fuel from the ledge. This piston is connected by means of the levers and
rods i, 1, 2, 3, with the hopper D, which in this instance is made to

page_text: slide on the top of the furnace, so that it may be brought over the open
shaft C, when a further supply of fuel is required and caused to deposit fuel
thereon. This hopper carries a cover for closing the shaft as shewn in the
Figure. The hopper is therefore slidden backwards and forwards without
access of the atmosphere to the furnace being permitted. This movement is
effected by means of the lever 12. The blasts of air are delivered to the
furnace through the pipes H, H', the air from the pipe H passing downwards,
and the air from the pipe H' passing upwards between the fire-bars, thereby
producing an intense heat in the fire-place. The flame and gases of com-
bustion then pass off as shewn by the red arrow, and play around the boiler
K in the usual manner.
At Fig. 3 the Invention, under a still further modified form of apparatus,
is shewn as applied to reverberatory furnaces. L, being the reverberatory
chamber connected by a short flue with the fire-place A. In this example
the fire-bars are also inclined, but capable of being depressed through the
operation of a reciprocating crank shaftk, to discharge the clinkers therefrom.
The blasts of air for supporting combustion are discharged on to the upper and
lower surfaces of the fuel from a pipe H, closed shaft C, and a pipe H'in
the closed ash-pit.
The last of the above-mentioned arrangements is shewn in sectional
elevation at Fig. 4, which represents in vertical section an arrangement
suitable for generating heat for cupola furnaces. The shaft C it will be seen
stands centrally above the fire-place A. The fire-bars a are horizontal and
stationary, extending completely across the ash-pit. At its upper part the
fire-place is pierced with a series of radial passages which connect it with an
annular flue M. This flue M is for collecting the gases of combustion and
delivering them to flue M', which leads to the chamber containing the ore to.
be smelted. Both the fire-place A and shaft C, down which the fuel is
discharged from a shifting hopper D (like that shewn at Fig. 2) are sur.
rounded by a water reservoir or jacket N. The water contained in this
jacket will absorb the heat radiating from the fire-place, and may be used for
heating blasts of air supplied to the furnace, or for other purposes. Or the
water jacket may itself form the wall of the fire-place and shaft, instead of
merely a covering for the walls of fire-brick as shewn in the Drawing. The
compressed air for sustaining combustion is conducted by the branch pipe
H, H', both above and below the fuel, and an intense heat is thereby created
in or near the centre of the mass. The flame and gases of combustion
passing off by the radial passages are conducted away to operate upon the ore
contained in the adjacent cupola chamber.

page_text: Having now set forth the nature of the Invention of improvements in the
means of and apparatus for generating heat, as communicated to me by my
foreign correspondents; and explained the manner of carrying the same into
effect, I wish it to be understood that under the above in part recited Letters
Patent I claim, arranging steam boiler, smelting, and other furnaces so that
blasts of air may be thrown in both above and below the fuel in the manner
and for the purpose above described:
the
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Fifth day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.