AN IMPROVED MODE OF CONSTRUCTING GRATE BARS
Year: 1856

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 "AN IMPROVED MODE OF CONSTRUCTING GRATE
BARS." A communication from John Beal, Andrew D. Melick, and
Theodore De Witt, of New York.
Sealed the 30th September 1856, and dated the 14th April 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Vincent Newton at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
14th April 1856.
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 AN IMPROVED MODE OF CONSTRUCTING GRATE
BARS, to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object the casting of grate bars so that they
may be free to yield to the expansion and contraction consequent upon the
changes of temperature to which they are subjected, but so that they shall not
warp or twist or get out of their places from any cause whatever. To this
end, suitable projections, or projections and depressions are cast on the several
bars intended to form a grate, upon, under, against or between which they shall
engage or interlock one with the other, so that the whole series will be held
firmly in place, both vertically and horizontally, proper facility being of courso

page_text: afforded for the removal of any single bar, and its replacement by another, in
case it should give way.
The inside bars it is preferred to cast all exactly alike, but the two side bars
will differ slightly in form,, to suit the opposite surfaces of the bars against
which they are intended to abut.
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 14th October 1856.
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 Fourteenth day of April, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the nineteenth 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, excrcise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "AN IM-
PROVED MODE OF CONSTRUCTING GRATE BARS," being a communication from John
Beal, Andrew D. Melick, and Theodore de Witt, of New York, upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, by an in-
strument 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, as communicated to me by my foreign correspondents, has

page_text: for its object the casting of grate bars so that they may be free to yield to the
expansion and contraction consequent upon the changes of temperature to
which they are subjected, but so that they shall not warp or twist or get out of
their places from any cause whatever. The Invention consists in casting on:
the several bars intended to form a grate suitable projections, or projections
and depressions, which will permit of the bars interlocking one with the other.
The whole series will thus be held firmly, proper facilities being of course
afforded for the removal of any one bar, and its replacement by another, in case
it should give way.
In the accompanying Drawing, Fig. 1 is a perspective view of several bars
constructed according to the Invention, separated from one another to shew
the projections and depressions by which they engage or interlock one with the
other. Fig. 2 represents the reverse side of the bars represented in Fig. 1.
Fig. 8 represents a plan of a grate formed of the same bars. Fig. 4 is an end:
view of the grate. Fig. 5 is a perspective view of two bars of a modified
form. Fig. 6 represents the reverse side of one of the bars shown in Fig. 5.
Fig. 7 is a plan of a grate composed of the bars shewn in Figures 5 and 6;
and Fig. 8 is an end view of the same.
A, A, Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, represent any suitable number of bars, all cast
exactly alike, and having each upon one of its sides projections c, c, which
begin at or near the lower edge of the bar, and extend upward to about one-
half the height or depth of the bar, and on their opposite sides other projec-
tions e, e, which begin at or near the top of the bar, and extend downward far
enough to meet and rest on or against the projections c on the adjacent bar.
These projections are intended to be so formed that their outer faces will fit
closely against the adjacent bars to keep them in place laterally, whilst those
on one side of the bar are underneath the set on the adjacent bar on that side,
and those on the other side are upon the set of the adjacent bars on that side,
and thus prevent them from rising vertically. At their extremities the bars A
are formed with a projection i near the lower edge on one side of the bar,
and a recess opposite to it on the other side. The parts a, a, of the bars, from
the extremities to a short distance back or within these projections i, i, and
recesses T, ?, are made of such thickness that they fit close together, only
allowing room for expansion. The projection i at each end of each bar enters.
and fills the recess on the contiguous side of the adjacent bar, only allowing
room for the unavoidable expansion; and thus, not only is lateral motion at
the ends prevented, but the bars are prevented moving endwise independently
of each other more than is required by any variation in their expansion.
The bars A, A, which have been described, are only those which lie between.

page_text: the outside bars. The outside bars B, B', resemble in form at their ends one.
an upright and the other an inverted "L," as shown in Figures 1 and 4, and
serve as keys to hold the bars within them together. They have on their
faces, towards, the centre of the grate, projections and recesses, over, under, or.
against which the projections and recesses on the bars A, A, catch, and hold as
the latter do, with those on each other.
To construct a furnace grate with the bars above described, the outside
bar B (Figures 1 and 4) is first laid down, and then the bars A, A, are laid:
one after the other and pushed each against its predecessor until the furnace
is filled just near enough to drop in the outside bar B', which last-named bar
may, as a better security, be keyed or otherwise fastened into the seat; but as
the heat is much less at the extreme sides of the furnace than at the centre,
and the tendency of the bars there placed to warp and twist correspondingly.
less, it will be found the bars will furnish their own interlockings without
other appliances.
To remove an injured bar from the grate, the bar B' must be taken out,
and the other bars, commencing from that side of the grate and proceeding as
far as the one to be removed, must be moved laterally toward the side from
whence B was removed, far enough to lift out the injured bar. After
replacing the injured bar by a new one, the other bars which have been moved
must be moved laterally back again to their places and the bar B' replaced.
The upper sides of the projections c, c, and lower sides of the projections e, e,
are bevelled, to enable them to meet each other casily and without obstruction.
To lock each bar, with the adjacent one on each side, both against upward and
downward displacement, each side of the bar may be furnished with projec-
tions c near its bottom, and also with projections e near its top, to rest upon
and pass under corresponding projections on the adjacent ones.
The bars C, C, shown in Figures 5, 6, 7, 8, are cast with projections b, b, on
one side, one above the other, beginning at or near both their upper and
lower edges, and extending each about one-third the depth of the bar, to
receive between them a single projection d on the adjacent side of the next
bar. These projections on each bar are formed to fit against the contiguous
side of the next bar to prevent lateral warping, and lock over, under, and
between each other to prevent vertical warping of any one of the bars. Near
their extremities these bars are constructed with projections f, g, which fit
together like the projections c, e, of the bars A, B.
Having now described the nature and particulars of the Invention of "An
Improved Mode of Constructing Grate Bars," as communicated to me by my
foreign correspondents, I desire it to be distinctly understood that I do not

page_text: confine myself strictly to the precise form of the bars, or to the precise form of
any portion thereof, as herein represented, as such may be modified without
departing from the principle of the Invention; but what I claim, under the
above in part recited Letters Patent, is, casting grate bars with projections, or
projections and recesses on their sides and ends of such form, that when laid
together they will interlock in such a manner as to prevent their moving
vertically and horizontally, or from warping or twisting, whilst they admit of
being readily removed or replaced, as herein set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Thirteenth day of October, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT.
66, Chancery Lane.
A. V. NEWTON. (L.S.)