IMPROVEMENTS IN GRATES OR FURNACES FOR STEAM BOILERS
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Caesar Heilmann, of 22, Milk Street, Cheapside,
London, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN GRATES OR
FURNACES FOR STEAM BOILERS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Caesar Heilmann at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 5th
December 1855.
I,. CAESAR HEILMANN, of 22, Milk Street, Cheapside, London, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN GRATES OF
FURNACES FOR STEAM BOILERS" to be as follows:-
My improvements, which can be applied either in front of the steam boiler or
under it, according to the construction of the boiler, consist in a grate inclined
at an angle of from 35 to 40 degrees, and the bars of which are arranged simi-
larly to the steps of a staircase with suitable air spaces between them. Upon
this inclined grate the green coals drop from a hopper through an adjustable
sliding door, and after having been converted into coke they fall upon a series
of short horizontal grate bars of the ordinary construction, where the process of
combustion is completed. As the gases proceeding from the coals will be com-
pelled to pass into the flue or flues through the flames proceeding from the
coke on the horizontal grate bars, it is evident that they will be consumed, so
as to allow scarcely a vestige of smoke to issue from the chimney. In order
to admit of a sufficient accumulation of coals, the inclined grato is provided

page_text: with a foot plate projecting inwards to the required extent, and on a level with
the horizontal grate a fire door or fire doors are introduced, through which the
depth of the coke can be regulated and the clinkers removed when necessary.
In order still further to increase the consumption of the smoke, I place the
inclined grate in such a position with regard to the flue or flues, that the
smoke, after rising to and passing along the top of the furnace, has to descend
to the flue or flues, the opening of which is very much contracted.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Caesar Heilmann in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
3rd June 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CAESAR
HEILMANN, of 22, Milk Street, Cheapside, London, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifth day of December, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the nineteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Caesar Heilmann, Her special license that I, the said Caesar Heilmann,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Caesar
Heilmann, 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 Invention for IMPROVEMENTS IN GRATES OR
FURNACES FOR STEAM BOILERS, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, 'the
the said Caesar Heilmann, my executors or administrators, by an instrument
in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particu-
larly 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 inmediately
after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Caesar Heilmann, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
Specification thereof, reference being had to the accompanying Sheet of
Drawings (that is to say):-

page_text: The nature of my Invention consists in an improved combination of the
parts constituting the grate or furnace for a steam boiler, which may be applied
either in front of or under the boiler, according to its construction. My improve-
ments in grates or furnaces consist in the combination of a set of horizontal
grate bars placed one below the other, the lower bars projecting beyond the
upper ones to form an inclined surface, and a horizontal set of grate bars with
a hopper, furnished with a sliding door to regulate the admission of the coal,
and a fire-brick arch over the grates to promote the combustion of the coals.
My improvements also consist in contracting the opening of the flue or flues,
for the purpose of uniting the products of combustion as they pass from the
grates to the flues of the boiler, thereby increasing the consumption of the
smoke.
And in order that my Invention may be fully understood and readily carried
into effect, I will proceed to describe the said Sheet of Drawings, in the several
views of which similar letters of reference are put upon corresponding parts.
Fig. 1 is a front elevation, Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation, and Fig. 3 a
plan, in section, of my improved grate or furnace, and of part of a single-flued
boiler to which it is applied. a, a, are horizontal grate bars, which are placed
in an inclined direction and at such an angle that the coal from the liopper b
has a tendency to drop from one grate bar to the other until it arrives at the
foot plate c; this plate projects inwards sufficiently to allow of the requisite
accumulation of coals on the grate bars a. .I prefer to place the grate bars
a, a, at an angle of from thirty-five to forty degrees, as I have found from
experiments that such angles are best adapted to the descent of the coals; but
the angle must be determined by the quality or description of coal to, .be
consumed. The depth of coal on the grate bars a is governed by means of
the sliding door d in the hopper b; this door is raised or lowered by racks
and pinions, as shown in the Drawing, or in any other convenient manner.
The coal in descending the inclined grate a becomes partially consumed,
and as the hopper is kept constantly supplied with fresh; coal, the pres-
sure from above causes the partially coked coal to fall over the foot plate
con to the short horizontal grate bars e; these bars are supported at one
end by the dead plate f, and at the other by the rail g, let in the brick-
work. The clinkers can be removed from the grate e through the doors
h, h, and the ashes through the door i; these doors are kept closed, in order to
compel the air requisite for the combustion of the coal to pass between the
grate bars a, a, and through the coal upon them, but a further supply of air
may be introduced through the pipe j, the orifice of which is closed or partially
closed, when required, by the sliding door k, shewn in Fig. 1. The doors h

page_text: and the space above the grates a and eare arched over with fire brick or other
material, and the orifice of the flue in the boiler is contracted with fire brick or
other material, as shewn at p, in Figs. 2. and 3. When the grate or furnace is
in its regular working condition, the fire on the grate bars e is composed of
coke in an incandescent state, and that on the inclined grate a is fresh or green
at the top near the hopper, the combustion gradually increasing as the coals
approach the lower end, where they accumulate on the foot plate c, from
whence they fall, as before stated, on the grate e. The attendant is enabled to
ascertain the state of the fire on the grato a by looking between the grate bars,
and he is also enabled to regulate the descent of the coals by passing a suitable
instrument between the bars. The clinkers from the grate e are cleared out
occasionally through the doors h, h. The arch o above the grates a and e is
made sufficiently high, that the smoke rising from the green coal is obliged
to descend before it enters the contracted orifice p of the flue, by which means
the unconsumed smoke is brought into contact with the heated air and gases
arising from the fire on the grate e, thereby effecting the consumption of the
smoke, the atmospheric air admitted by the pipe k assisting to accomplish
this object.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of per-
forming the same, I wish it to be understood that I make no claim to any of
the parts taken separately, as they have all been used either alone or differently
combined; but what I do claim is, the combination of a hopper, an inclined
and a horizontal grate with the arch over them, and the contracted orifice of
the flue, as herein-before shewn and described..
In witness whereof, I, the said Caesar Heilmann, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Second day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
CAESAR HEILMANN.. (L.S.)