Improvements in Apparatus for Drying Bricks, Earthenware, Lumber, and the like.
Year: 1895

page_text: Date of Application, 26th Nov., 1895-Accepted, 12th Sept., 1896
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Apparatus for Drying Bricks, Earthenware,
Lumber, and the like.
1, Max WOLFF, of 358 Dearborn Street, Chicago, Illinois, United States of
America, Manufacturer, 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:-
My invention relates to a novel construction in an apparatus for drying bricks
or tile of the kind made by hand or by ordinary machines and introduced into the
kiln or dryer in a moist or plastic state, and may also be used for drying lumber
and the like. The object of my invention is to provide a hot air dryer of the
general construction now in use, but modified to overcome various objections now
existing in dryers of this kind and to adapt it to the particular conditions in which
bricks of varieties of clay are to be treated in order to obtain the best results in
the finished article.
In the accompanying drawings illustrating my invention:
Figures 1 and 2 together show a view in longitudinal section of a dryer
constructed in accordance with my invention with the heating chamber below the
same, Fig. 1 showing the portion of the dryer at which the bricks enter, and
Fig. 2 showing the portion at which they leave the same.
Fig. 3 is a view in horizontal section of a part of the drying chamber showing
the heating apparatus in plan, as well as the rails and general construction of the
floor of the drying chamber.
Fig. 4 is a view in vertical transverse section on the line 4-4 of Fig. 1, taken
on one side of the interior partition of the chimney and looking in the direction
indicated by arrows.
Fig. 5 is a view in vertical longitudinal section, on an enlarged scale, of a part
of the floor of the hot air chamber, showing the continuous cold air conduit and
the openings leading from said conduit into the heating chamber.
Figure 6 is a view in transverse vertical section, on a larger scale, of the heating
chamber, showing the details of construction of the same and illustrating the
meaus whereby any portion of the heating apparatus may be reached for purposes
of repair at any time.
Figure 7 is a detail plan view of the heating apparatus showing a suitable
construction of the same and the connections of the various coils with a suitable
supply of steam, such as a boiler.
Figure 8 is a side view in detail of the construction shown in Figure 7.
Figure 9 is a detail view of the tank for receiving the condensed steam and
water from said heating apparatus and the pump for pumping the water from said
tank into the boiler, also the connections between the tank and the pump and the
tark and last heating coil.
Figure 10 is a detail sectional view, on the line 10-10 of Figure 11 showing
the anti-friction roller bearing used in my dryer in connection with the car for
carrying the bricks.
Figure 11 is a detail sectional view of the same on the line 11-11 of Figure 10.
Figure 11 is a face view of the ring-shaped plate hereinafter described, and
Figure 11 is a side elevation of Figure 11.
In its general character the dryer herein described and represented, comprises a
drying chamber 1, of elongated form, the floor 2 of which is inclined downwardly

page_text: in the direction of the length and is provided with a series of tracks or rails 3
upon
which the cars 4 loaded with the bricks or other articles to be dried are adapted to
run. The bricks or the like on said cars are arranged in tiers one above the other
and are laid in such a manner as to leave passages between the same to give free
passage to the currents of hot air, and bring every portion of each brick or other
article in contact therewith.
The said drying chamber 1 is usually about 30 metres or more in length and is
provided at its inlet end 5 with a stack or chimney 6 which will be hereafter
described. The said cars 4 are introduced into the said chamber 1 at its inlet
end 5 and gradually progress toward the outlet end 7 thereof, as the drying of the
bricks on said cars progresses.
In dryers of this description I have found that the hot air current is most
efficient in its horizontal passage through the drying chamber, and it is a distinct
advantage that the air, which becomes laden with moisture during its horizontal
passage, should traverse the bricks last which are nearest the chimney and were
last introduced into the drying chamber.
In order to provide a more uniform hot air current and to more thoroughly heat
the air, I provide a heating chamber 8 below the floor 2 of said dryer and extending
almost the entire length of the same. Said heating chamber opens into said drying
chamber its entire length to permit an equal and constant distribution of hot air
therein. The openings from said heating chamber 8 into said drying chamber 1
(indicated by 9 Fig. 3) extend between the joists 10 upon which said rails 3 are
mounted, said joists extending longitudinally in the direction of said rails. The
said openings 9 extend between each pair of rails forming a track for the cars 4,
the spaces between each pair of rails being closed. Said joists 10 are supported
by posts 11 resting at their lower ends upon beams 12. Movable cross-pieces 13
extend over the space between the said joists 10 and serve to hold the same more
firmly in their relative positions.
The space between each pair of rails 3 forming a track forms a heating chamber
in which heating coils 14, 15, 16, 17 and 18 are situated, the construction of which
will be hereinafter fully described.
It will thus be seen that the heated air rises up from directly underneath the
cars 4, the bricks or other articles on which are thus subjected to heat directly as
it rises. When said bricks are first introduced into said drying chamber they are
in a very moist and plastic condition and when first subjected to the action of the
heated air the evaporation of moisture therefrom is very great and forms what is
termed "water smoke" which is very injurious to tender clay and should be
removed from the drying chamber as quickly as possible to prevent its injurious
action on the fresh bricks. To provide an outlet for the said water smoke
I provide a conduit or channel 19 between the ceiling 20 of said drying chamber 1
and the roof 21 of said dryer which leads into the chimney 6. I provide
openings 23 leading from said drying chamber into said conduit 19 at regular
intervals to establish communication between the same, said openings 23 being
adapted to be closed by dampers 24. Said conduit 19 leads from a point above
the coils 15 to the chimney 6 and as the bricks which have progressed to this point
are usually dry as to generate very little water smoke, I provide only one opening
above said coils 15 and about 4 metres from this in the direction of the chimney
another, and 4 metres from this another, then about 2 metres from this a fourth
opening, and 2 metres from this fourth opening and about 2 metres from the
chimney, a fifth opening, so it will be obvious that the openings are in greatest
number near the inlet end 5 of the drying chamber where the fresh bricks enter.
Obviously this conduit is used only when such water smoke is formed and is shut
off as soon as the greater part of the surface moisture of said bricks has been
removed.
Said chimney 6 rises from the ceiling of said drying chamber to a great height
above the same and is adapted to be shut off therefrom by a series of vertically
movable dampers or sliding doors 25 which are hung upon cables 26 Fig. 4 trained

page_text: over pulleys in said chimney and provided with counterweights whereby they are
enabled to be raised and lowered easily whenever it is desired to provide or shut
off the draught. It will also be seen that the draught can be nicely regulated and
the currents of hot air made to move along underneath the cars or through and
between them as desired. Said chimney 6 is preferably braced by braces 27
and 28.
Beyond each end of said drying chamber 1 are chambers or sheds 29 and 30,
said shed 29 being at the inlet end of the dryer and serving to shelter the bricks
while waiting to be introduced into the drying chamber, and said shed 30 being at
the outlet end thereof and serving as a cooling room in which the bricks are
allowed to cool slowly after leaving said drying chamber, and are protected from
wind and rain and thus made less liable to shrinkage.
The said cars 4 are of the kind having double floors, that is to say, a shelf some
distance above the bottom thereof, to enable a greater number of bricks being
piled thereon without danger of the lowest tier being crushed by the weight of the
bricks piled thereon. The bottoms of said cars are as usual made of slate and
the bricks are piled thereon in such a manner as to leave channels or air passages
between them extending from one end to the other of said cars. To permit of
greater ease in moving said cars the wheels of the same are provided with anti-
friction roller bearings (shown in detail in Figs. 10 and 11). The said anti-friction
roller bearings consist preferably of six rollers 31 pivotally mounted between two
ring shaped plates 32 and 33 and are adapted to surround the axles 34 and fit
within the journal boxes 35 on said cars. The ring shaped plate 32 shown separately
in Figs. 11 and 11B is provided with three pins 36 having wrought iron pins 36* of
smaller diameter secured in the ends thereof, and three studs 37 situated alternately
between the pins 36. The plate 33 is provided with three studs 37 corresponding
in size and location with said studs 37 on the plate 32, and three bosses having
openings 38 corresponding in location with the pins 36 and adapted to receive the
wrought iron rivet pins 36* on the pins 36. Three of the rollers 31 are mounted
upon the pins 36 and the other three are mounted upon the studs 37 and are held
in place thereby. When the rollers 31 have been placed in position between the
plates 32 and 33 the projecting ends of the wrought iron rivet pins are flattened
out like rivets, whereby the plates are permanently held in their relative positions.
The anti-friction devices are held in place in the journal boxes by means of a
flange 39 on the said journal box on one side and the wheels of the cars on the
other side.
The heating chamber 8 is provided over its entire length with a floor 40 having
numerous apertures 41 for the entrance of the air to be heated. The said floor 40
is preferably formed of transverse planks 42 secured at regular intervals to the
beams 12 in such a manner that the planks nearest the inlet to the conduit 43
underneath the same have small spaces between then which gradually increase in
width toward the forward end of said heating chamber. Obviously in this manner
an equal distribution of the air is attained as, if the spaces between the planks
were of equal size the entire length of the heating chamber a larger quantity
would rise underneath the coils 14 and 15 and a proportionately small amount
under coils 16, 17 and 18. The air conduit 43 is provided at its inlet end with
a damper 44 by means of which the amount of air fed to the heating chamber
can be regulated.
The partition 45 between drying chamber and shed 30 extends downwardly
and forms the end wall of the heating chamber. The said end wall of the heating
chamber is preferably provided with an opening adapted to be closed by a trap or
sliding door 46 which may be used when it is desired to create greater draught
within the said drying chamber. This trap or sliding door is, however, seldom
used as the air entering therethrough comes in contact only with the end portion
of the first coil and immediately rises in an insufficiently heated condition.
The heating apparatus is placed above the floor 40, the pipes thereof extending
lengthwise of the heating chamber. As before stated the pipes are grouped in

page_text: •
coils 14, 15, 16, 17 and 18 plared consecutively the entire length of the heating
chamber, and in the instance illustrated there are four of each of these coils, one
being placed underneath each track transversely across the dryer. The coils are
of less width than the spaces between each pair of rails forming a track, and in this
manner I am enabled to raise and remove any one of the said coils for purposes of
repair at any time. The passages 47 between each line of coils allow of easy
access to any portion of said heating apparatus at any time.
The coils of pipe are each connected with transverse feed connections 48 and
transverse return connections 49. The transverse feed connections 48 are each
connected with a feed main 50 leading from the boiler, and by a pipe 55 with the
receiver 56, and the transverse return connections 49 are each connected by
pipes 51, 52, 53, 54 and 50%, with the receiver 56, the return pipes being provided
with valves 57 as shown in Fig. 7. The receiver is provided with a blow-off
pipe 58 having a valve 59 therein, and is connected by a pipe 60 having a valve 61
with a tank 62, shown in detail in Fig. 9.
Heretofore it has been customary to pump the water from the receiver 56
directly into the boiler, but my experience has been that most of the time the pump
pumps steam only as this latter usually runs ahead of the water, and this is
obviously useless and expensive. To overcome these objections and use all the
steam constantly and to the greatest advantage. I have provided the tank 62 which
receives the water or condensed steam from said receiver 56. Said tank 62 is
provided with a hood 63 Fig. 9 which is adapted to receive the dry steam forcing
its way into said tank. Said tank 62 is connected by a pipe 64 with the
pump 65 by means of which the water is pumped back to the boiler through the
pipe 66.
1 find in practice that the steam in the tank 62 is under almost equal pressure as
the steam in the feed pipe from the boiler, and to thoroughly utilize this steam
I connect the hood 63 of the tank with the steam supply pipe 67 leading from the
boiler to the pump, by a pipe 68 having a valve 69. The pipe 67 is provided with
a valve 70 by means of which the steam supply from the boiler is regulated. In
this manner it will be seen that the pump 65 may be supplied either from the
boiler or from the tank 62, or partially from both, and in this manner all steami
utilized. To further utilize the steam in the tank I connect the hood 63 thereof
with the transverse feed connection 48 of the coil 18 by a pipe 70 having a valve 71
therein. In this manner it will be seen that the coil 18 may be fed entirely from
the tank 62 or when insufficient steam is contained therein the supply from the pipe
may be cut off and the coil fed from the boiler, or it may be fed partially from
both. It will be obvious, however, that in this manner I utilize all the steam in
the most economical manner.
The operation of my dryer is as follows:
The doars in the partition 45 are tightly closed and the cars loaded with fresh
bricks introduced at the inlet end 5 of the drying chamber. The said bricks being
very moist at the time of their introduction into the drying chamber, the
openings 23 in the conduit 19 are opened and the water smoke formed in said
drying chamber allowed to escape. During this time the dampers or sliding
doors 25 leading to the chimney at the inlet end of the drying chamber are
preferably closed entirely er only partially raised to create a draft adjacent the
floor of the drying chamber. As soon as a sufficient amount of the nioisture in
said bricks has been evaporated to prevent the formation of further water smoke,
said openings 23 are closed and the dampers 25 opened to create the horizontal
draught which is found most efficient for drying bricks. Usually a line of from
twelve to fifteen cars are on each track, the bricks or other materials on the cars
nearest the outlet end of the drying chamber having travelled the entire length of
the drying chamber from the inlet or cooler end to the outlet or hot end being
dried, the doors in the partition 45 are opened and the cars nearest the same
moved into the shed 30 where they are allowed to cool. The remaining cars are
then advanced to take the places of those removed and other cars loaded with

page_text: fresh bricks introduced into said drying chamber at the inlet or cooler end of same
when the operation is repeated.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. In an apparatus for drying bricks, earthenware, lumber, and the like the
combination with the drying chamber and the heating chamber below the same, of
a conduit 19 situated above said drying chamber and emptying into the chimney,
and openings 23 to establish communication between said drying chamber and said
conduit 19, substantially as described.
2. In an apparatus for drying bricks, earthenware, lumber, and the like a drying
chamber, a heating chamber situated below the same, and a heating apparatus in
said heating chamber consisting of a series of coils of pipe connected with a source
of supply of steam and with a receiver for receiving the condensed steam, a tank
connected with said receiver, a pump connected with said tank, and connections
between said pump and said boiler for pumping the water or condensed steam from
said tank into said boiler, substantially as described.
3. In an apparatus for drying bricks, earthenware, lumber, and the like a drying
chamber, a heating chamber situated below the same, and a heating apparatus in
said heating chamber consisting of a series of coils of pipe connected with a source
of supply of steam and with a receiver for receiving the condensed steam, a tank
connected with said receiver, a hood on said tank, a pump connected with the
bottom of said tank to pump the water therefrom into the boiler, and connection
between the hood of said tank and the steam cylinder of said pump whereby said
pump may be operated from said tank, substantially as described.
4. In an apparatus for drying bricks, earthenware, lumber, and the like a drying
chamber, a heating chamber situated below the same, and a heating apparatus in
said heating chamber consisting of a series of coils of pipe connected with a source
of supply of steam and with a receiver for receiving the condensed steam, a tank
connected with said receiver, a hood on said tank, a pump connected with the
bottom of said tank to pump the water therefrom into the boiler, connection
between the hood of said tank and the steam cylinder of said pump whereby said
pump may be operated from said tank, and connection between the hood of said
tank and the farthest coil of said heating apparatus whereby said coil may be fed
from said tank, substantially as described.
5. In a dryer for bricks, earthenware, lumber, and the like the combination with
a drying chamber provided with rails, of a car for carrying bricks adapted to run
on said rails, said cars being provided with anti-friction roller bearings consisting of
two plates adapted to be secured together and provided with lugs and pins upon
which said rollers are mounted, substantially as described.
6. In a dryer for bricks, earthenware, lumber, and the like a drying chamber
provided with rails, and cars for carrying bricks adapted to run on rails, the said
cars being provided with anti-friction roller bearings consisting of two ring-shaped
plates 32 and 33 provided with pins 36 and studs 37 upon which rollers 31 are
adapted to be revolubly mounted, the said pins 36 extending through the said
rollers 31 and being adapted to be secured at their other ends to the other plate,
substantially as described.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45 Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.