CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS ON GRATES OR APPARATUS APPLICABLE TO STEAM ENGINES OR OTHER PURPOSES, AND IN APPARATUS FOR FEEDING THE SALE WITH FUEL, WHICH APPARATUS, CONJOINTLY OR SEPARATELY, WAY BE APPLIED TO OTHER PURPOSES
Year: 1834

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, JOHN
STANLEY and JOHN WALMSLEY, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster,
Mechanics, send greeting.
WHEREAS His present most Excellent Majesty King William the Fourth,
by His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date
at Westminster, the Twenty-second day of October, in the fifth year of His
reign, did, for Himself, His heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the
said John Stanley and John Walmsley, His especial license, full power, sole
privilege and authority, that we, the said John Stanley and John Walmsley,
our executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said John
Stanley and John Walmsley, our executors, administrators, and assigns, should
at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times
during the term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make,
use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick
upon Tweed, our Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS ON GRATES OR APPARATUS
APPLICABLE TO STEAM ENGINES OR OTHER PURPOSES, AND IN APPARATUS FOR FEEDING
THE SALE WITH FUEL, WHICH APPARATUS, CONJOINTLY OR SEPARATELY, WAY BE APPLIED
TO OTHER PURPOSES;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso
that we, the said John Stanley and John Walmsley, shall cause a particular
description of the nature of our said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be inrolled in His Majesty's High Court of Chancery
within six calendar months next and immediately after the day of the said

page_text: in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being there-
unto had, will more fully and at large appear, in compliance with the said
proviso.
NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said John Stanley and John Walmsley, do
hereby declare that the nature of the said Invention, and the manner in which
the same is to be performed, is particularly described and ascertained in and
by a Drawing hereto annexed, and to the following explanation thereof, that is
to say
Our Invention of Certain Improvements on Grates or Apparatus applicable
to Steam Engines or other Purposes, and in Apparatus for feeding the same
with Fuel, which Apparatus, conjointly or separately, may be applied to other
Purposes, consists, firstly, in a peculiar mode of mounting the fire bars of a
furnace, and of moving those bars simultaneously by a rocking vibratory action,
for tlic purpose of preventing the cinders from clogging the air passages
between the bars, and thereby affording at all times a sufficient supply of air
to keep up a vigorous combustion of the fuel; secondly, in the adaptation of
a reciprocating rotary fan for distributing the fuel over the surface of the fire
grate of a furnace as it falls from between the rollers of a feeding hopper;
thirdly, in the employment of an apparatus formed as a steam guage, through
the agency of which the feeding of fuel to the furnace will be suspended
whenever the force of the steam within the boiler has risen above any certain
determined point of pressure. These improvements will be more fully under-
stood by reference to the Drawing hereto annexed, in which Figure 1 represents
a front view of the boiler and furnace of a steam engine to which the improve-
ments are adapted. Figure 2 is a section taken horizontally through the
bottom of the feeding hopper, immediately above the feeding rollers; and
Figure 3 is a longitudinal section taken through the boiler, flues, furnace, fire
bars, and lower box of the feeding apparatus, in which several Figures the
respective letters of reference point out the same parts of the machinery. A is
the boiler; B, the furnace under the boiler; C, C, C, the flues passing from
the furnace under and round the boiler; D is the hopper, containing coal or
other fuel broken into small pieces, in order that it may be enabled to pass
between the indented rollers E, F, and deposited upon the feeding plate G,
from whence it is intended to be projected into the furnace B by means of a
reciprocating rotary fan, herein-after more particularly described. The fire
bars a, a, a, of the furnace are placed loosely upon the lateral rails b, b, one of
which is fixed on each side of the ash pit in the manner represented in
Figure 3. One of these lateral rails is shewn detached at Figure 4, and the
two rails are represented edgewise and in section at Figure 5, with one of the

page_text: fire bars a placed upon them. The ends of the bar a are formed concave at
c, c, for the purpose of being enabled to bear upon the tops of the cogs or
teeth of the lateral rails "b," and to vibrate thereon as upon pivots. Three of
the bars are represented in Figure 3, about the middle of the furnace, so cut
off in section as to shew the manner in which their concave ends are mounted
upon the cogs of the lateral rails "b." From the under part of each fire bar a
a small rod d extends downward, and all of these rods are connected to a
horizontal rod e, e, the outer end of which is jointed to a bell crank lever f
(see Figure 3), which bell crank lever is connected to the driving machinery
above, as will be further explained. The apparatus for feeding or conducting
the fuel from the hopper D to the furnace A is actuated by the following
means A vertical shaft g (see Figure 1), mounted in suitable bearings,
carries the fast and loose pullies or riggers h and i, over which the driving
band is passed, leading from the steam engine or any other first mover. When
the band embraces the fast pully h, the vertical shaft is made to revolve, and
a worm or endless screw at the bottom of this shaft, taking into the toothed
wheel m, on the axle of the feeding roller E, causes that roller to turn in the
throat of the hopper. A pinion n, fixed at the reverse end of the axle of the
roller E, takes into a toothed wheel O on the axle of the other feeding roller
F, which, when locked to the axle by the clutch p, causes the roller F to
revolve also, but with a different speed to E, according to the difference of the
diameters of the wheel and pinion n and o.
the fuel in the hopper becomes crushed as it descends, and is delivered from
between the rollers to the feeding plate G. At the top of the vertical shaft g,
a crank or excentric stud q is fixed, from whence a crank rod r extends, which
rod is connected to an excentric stud in the pully s, mounted on a vertical
shaft t, supported in suitable bearings; from the pulleys, a cord or band is
carried round the pully n, fixed at the top of another vertical shaft v, v,
mounted in suitable bearings, which shaft v, v, is passed perpendicularly through
the fuel hopper. To the lower part of this shaft the fan w, w, is attached,
which fan moves round with the shaft within the semicircular box a under
the feeding rollers in front of the furnace. By the rotation of the shaft g the
crank and rod q and will cause the pully s to turn with a reciprocating rotary
movement, and the band which connects the pullies s and n together will give
to the shaft vand the fan to also a reciprocating rotary movement, but with
an increased speed, proportionate to the difference of the diameters of the two
pullies. Thus it will be perceived that when the driving strap K embraces the
fast pulley h, the feeding rollers will be made to revolve and to deliver the fuel
on to the feeding plate G, and at the same time the fan w, being put into a state
By the rotation of these rollers

page_text: a, a, a.
of rapid reciprocating rotary movement, the particles of the fuel as they fall,
will, by the action of the fan, be projected from the feeding plate G into the
furnace A, and by that means be distributed over the surface of the fire bars
On the end of the axle of the feeding roller F a crank arm y is
affixed, from whence a rod is carried to the bell crank lever f, before
mentioned. By this connection it will be seen that the rotation of the roller F
and crank y will cause the rod z, the bell crank f, and rod e, with the bars
a, a, a, of the grate, to vibrate to and fro on their pivots or bearings, as shewn
by dots in Figure 3, which will sufficiently disturb the fuel to prevent the
cinders in a great measure from forming themselves into clinkers, and also
cause the dust and other dross to fall through between the bars into the ash
pit below, and thereby keep the spaces between the bars open for the free
passage of air to support the combustion. In order to regulate the intensity
of the fire in the furnace, we have contrived a means of suspending the move-
ments of the feeding rollers and projecting fan whenever any extraordinary heat
shall have raised the steam within the boiler about that degree of pressure
required. This is effected by an apparatus, which is a sort of steam guage,
consisting of a syphon tube H, bent into any desired number of contortions
and filled with water; one end of this tube is immersed into the water in the
boiler, and the reverse end or outer extremity of the syphon tube is formed
into an open chamber, in which a float I is suspended. To this float is
attached a cord or chain passed over a pully, and at the lower or reverse end
of this chain or cord, the guide K of the driving strap is attached. By
means of this apparatus, whenever the intensity of the fire has raised the steam
within the boiler above the required pressure, the force of the steam, acting
upon the water in the syphon, will cause the water and the float I to ascend,
and consequently the strap guide K be depressed, which movement of the
strap guide will shift the strap k from the fast pully h to the loose pully i,
when the movements of the feeding apparatus will cease, and no more fuel
will be fed in until the pressure of the steam within the boiler is sufficiently
reduced by the lowered condition of the fire to allow the float I in the syphon
tube to descend, which will raise the guider K, and pass the driving strap k
from the loose pully i to the fast pully h, when the feeding apparatus will be
again set in action, and continue supplying the furnace with fuel until the
driving strap shall be again shifted.
Having now described the construction of our improved apparatus connected
with the boiler and furnace of a steam engine, we desire it to be understood
that the same or parts of the same, either conjointly or separately, may be
adapted to other situations for feeding fuel, keeping up combustion, and regu-

page_text: lating the intensity of furnaces; and that tho' some of the parts exhibited in
the Drawing and described are not new, and form no feature of our Invention
apart from their combination and adaptation, yet when so combined and
applied, whether by the same arrangement or any modification to affect the
same object, we claim them as constituting the subject of our Invention.
And, lastly, we wish it to be understood that we claim,-
First, the rocking vibratory movements of the fire bars, whether mounted on
pivots or as shewn in the Drawing, and whether moved by machinery or by
hand, and whether placed transversely in the furnace or longitudinally.
Secondly, we claim the reciprocating rotary fan for projecting the fuel into
the furnace, actuated by any convenient power.
And, thirdly, we claim the adaptation of the syphon tube and float for the
purpose of stopping the feeding of the fuel, or putting the feeding apparatus in
operation, dependant upon the varying pressure of the steam within the boiler.
In witness whereof, we, the said John Stanley and John Walmsley, have
hereunto set our hands and seals, this Fourteenth day of April, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and thirty-five.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Fourteenth day of April, in the
fifth year of the reign of His Majesty King William the Fourth, the said
John Stanley and John Walmsley came before our said Lord the King in
His Chancery, and acknowledged the instrument aforesaid, and all and every-
thing therein contained and specified, in form above written. And also the
instrument aforesaid was stamped according to the tenor of the Statute made
in the fifty-fifth year of the reign of His late Majesty King George the Third.
Inrolled the Twenty-second day of April, One thousand eight hundred