IMPROVEMENTS IN OR APPLICABLE TO THE FURNACES OF STEAM BOILERS
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Whitworth, Engineer,and Joseph Wrigley,
both of Sowerby Bridge, near Halifax, in the County of York, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN OR APPLICABLE TO THE FURNACES OF STEAM
BOILERS."
Sealed the 12th February 1864, and dated the 29th August 1863.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Whitworth and
Joseph Wrigley at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
their Petition, on the 29th August 1863.
We, WILLIAM WHITWORTH, Engineer, and JOSEPH WRIGLEY, both of
Sowerby Bridge, near Halifax, in the County of York, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN OR APPLICABLE TO THE
FURNACES OF STEAM BOILERS," to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is to prevent wear and tear of such furnaces,
and the improvements consist, firstly, in applying a jet or jets of steam to the
grate bars by means of a perforated pipe placed underneath at the point or
place of greatest heat (which is generally near the bridge) to prevent the
burning or melting of the said grate bars.
The second part of our Invention consists in constructing the sides or side
walls of external furnaces to boilers of metal made hollow and forming water
spaces having inlet and outlet pipes connected to the boiler, so that the water
of the boiler may circulate therein, and so prevent the burning away of the
sides of the furnace, as is the case when they are constructed of bricks.

page_text: These improvements are especially applicable to furnaces where travelling
grate bars are employed, such as for which Letters Patent have been granted
to John Juckes, and known as Juckes's Patent, Number 9067, and dated
September 4th. 1841.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Whitworth and Joseph Wrigley in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 29th February 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, WILLIAM
WHITWORTH, Engineer, and JoзEPH WRIGLEY, both of Sowerby Bridge, near
Halifax, in the County of York, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent,bearing date the Twenty-ninth dayof August, in the year of our Lord Ore
thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-seventh year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the
said William Whitworth and Joseph Wrigley, Her special licence that we, the
said William Whitworth and Joseph Wrigley, our executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as we, the said William Whitworth and Joseph
Wrigley, our 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 Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN OR APPLICABLE TO
THE FURNACES OF STEAM BOILERS," npon the condition (amongst others) that we,
the said William Whitworth and Joseph Wrigley, our executors or adminis-
trators, by an instrument in writing under our, or their, or one of our or 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 we, the said William Whitworth and Joseph
Wrigley, do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement, that is to say :-
The object of this Invention is to prevent wear and tear of such furnaces,
and the improvements consist, firstly, in applying a jet or jets of steam to the
grate bars by means of a perforated pipe placed underneath at the point or

page_text: place of greatest heat (which is generally near the bridge) to prevent. the
burning or melting of the said grate bars.
The second part of our Invention consists in constructing the sides or side
walls of external furnaces to boilers of inetal inade hollow and forming water
spaces having inlet and outlet pipes connected to the boiler, so that the water
of the boiler may circulate therein, and so prevent the burning away of the
sides of the furnace, as is the case when they are constructed of bricks.
These improvements are especially applicable to furnaces where travelling
grate bars are employed, such as for which Letters Patent have been granted
to John Juckes, dated 4th of September, A.D. 1841, No. 9067, and may be
applied to other furnaces.
This Invention will be readily understood by reference to the accompanying
2 Sheets of Drawings, which illustrate an ordinary two flued boiler and a
furnace similar to those herein before referred to as manufactured under Juckes'
Patent with our improvements applied thereto. As both the boiler and the
furnace are well known and understood, and therefore of themselves form no
part of our Invention, they need not be particularly described in this
Specification.
Fig. 1 is a front elevation (one-half being in section) of the boiler and
furnace with the brickwork, shewing our method of setting, and Fig. 2 is a
longitudinal section of the same. A is a perforated pipe placed under the
grate bars B, and connected by an ordinary pipe to the front of the boiler,
having a tap or valve C for regulating the supply or flow of steam from the
boiler to the furnace through the perforations of the pipe. The perforations
are so arranged and the pipe is so placed that the steam will be emitted
towards or thrown upon or against the grate bars, and pass into the fire at
that part of the furnace where there is the greatest amount of heat. Steam
thus applied will not only prevent the burning of the bars, but promote tie
combustion of the fuel, as is well known, and consequently increase the
generation of steam in the boilers, and the principle or system of travelling
grate bars as herein shewn having been proved to be the most efficient in the
prevention of smoke, but the great wear and tear or burning away of the
grate bars has hitherto been the great obstacle to its more general adoption;
now, by this improvement the great wear and tear or burning away of the
grate bars is almost entirely prevented or avoided.
The second part of our Invention is shewn at D and E, which are hollow
metal tanks or water spaces so formed or constructed as to be a substitute for
brickwork for the side walls of furnaces. These tanks are connected at each
end to the boiler by pipes F and G, so that the water of the boiler will

page_text: circulate therein, the water passing through the pipes F from the lower part
of the boiler into the tanks, and becoming heated therein by the intense heat
of the furnace, it is thence forced out and conducted by the pipes G into the
upper part of the boiler at an increased temperature. We also employ a
similar tank H to form the bridge of the furnace, which is connected in like
manner to the boiler by pipes I and J. A blow-off tap and pipe K is also
affixed to each tank, so that the sediment or dirt may at any time be
expelled.
Whilst these our improvements are especially applicable to the particular
kind of furnaces herein referred to and illustrated, it will be evident that the
said improvements are also applicable to other furnaces. The perforated steam
pipe or series of steam jets may be applied to all kinds of furnaces with
beneficial effects, and the tanks or water space furnace sides may be applied
to all boilers having external furnaces or such furnaces as usually have their
sides constructed of bricks.
Having thus fully described the nature of the said Invention, and the manner
in which the same is or may be performed or carried into practice, we would
have it understood that what we consider new, and therefore claim as of our
Invention, is, -
Firstly, the application of steam jets to thegrate bars of furnaces in manner
and for purposes substantially as described.
Secondly, the application of hollow metal, forming water spaces or tanks
in substitution of bricks for the sides of furnaces, substantially as herein
described and illustrated in the two accompanying Sheets of Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Wrigley, for and on behalf of
myself and the said William Whitworth, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Twenty-second day of February, One thousand eight
hundred and sixty-four
Signed, sealed, and delivered by the
within-named Joseph Wrigley in
the presence of
WM. TASKER,
Patent Agent,
Halifax.
JOSEPH WRIGLEY. (L.S.)