IMPROVEMENTS IN FURNACES OR FIRE-PLACES FOR THE PREVENTION OF SMOKE
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joseph Exley, of Leeds, in the County of York,
Engineer, and John Ogden, of the same Place, Engineer, for the Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN FURNACES OR FIRE-PLACES FOR THE PREVENTION OF
SMOKE."
Sealed the 18th August 1857, and dated the 24th June 1857..
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joseph Exley and Jolin
Ogden at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their Petition,
on the 24th June 1857.
We, JOSEPH EXLEY, of Leeds, in the County of York, Engineer, and JOHN
OGDEN, of the same Place, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN FURNACES OR FIRE-PLACES FOR THE PREVENTION
OF SMOKE," to be as follows:-
Our Invention of improvements in furnaces or fire-places for the preven-
tion of smoke relates to a novel or improved mode of constructing the dead
plate of furnaces, so that air may be supplied to the burning fuel in a
better manner than heretofore. Instead of a flat or plain dead plate placed
on a level with the grate bars, as is now usually the case, we propose to bevel

page_text: or incline the back part of the dead plate, and place the grate bars on a level
with the lower part of the dead plate. The inclined or bevilled part of the
dead plate is perforated with holes to admit air to the fuel, and the upper or
flat part of the dead plate is provided with an air valve, which opens inwards
and towards the burning fuel. This air valve is capable of being opened and
closed by rack and pinion, or other mechanical means which will admit of the
supply of air being regulated according to circumstances.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Joseph Exley and John Ogden in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 24th December 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, JOSEPII
EXLEY, of Leeds, in the County of York, Engineer, and JoHN OGDEN, of the
same Place, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent; bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twenty-first year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors; give and grant unto us,
the said Joseph Exley and John Ogden, Her special license that we, the said
Joseph Exley and John Ogden, our executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as we, the said Joseph Exley and John Ogden, 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 FURNACES OR FIRE-PLACES FOR
THE PREVENTION OF SMOKE," upon the condition (amongst others) that we,
the said Joseph Exley and John Ogden, by an instrument in writing under
our hands and seals, or under the hand and seal of one of us, should par-
ticularly 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 Joseph Exley and John Ogden, do
hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and

page_text: by the following statement, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto
annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say) :-
Our Invention of "Improvements in Furnaces or Fire-places for the Pre-
vention of Smoke" relates to a novel or improved mode of constructing the
dead plate of furnaces, so that air may be supplied to the burning fuel in a
better manner than heretofore. Instead of a flat or plain dead plate placed
on a level with the grate bars, as is now usually the case, we propose to bevil
or incline the back part of the dead plate, and place the grate bars on a level
with the lower part of the dead plate. The inclined or bevilled part of the
dead plate is perforated with holes to admit air to the fuel, and the upper or
flat part of the dead plate is provided with an air valve, which opens inwards
and towards the burning fuel. This air valve is capable of being opened and
closed by rack and pinion, or other mechanical means which will admit of
the supply of air being regulated according to circumstances.
Fig. 1 is a longitudinal vertical section of a furnace constructed and arranged
according to our improvements; Fig. 2 is a horizontal section or plan view
of the same; and Fig. 3 is an end or front elevation.
The Invention is shewn in the Drawings as being applied to an ordinary
cylindrical boiler a, a, a, a, the furnace being placed within the same; b, b, aro
the fire bars; c, the fire bridge; d, the flue; c, the fire door; f and f*, the
dead plate. The part of the dead plate nearest the fire bars is inclined
and perforated with holes, as shewn in the Drawing, to admit air to the fuel
on the fire bars. This part of the dead plate is of course a fixture. Tho
higher or flat part of the dead plate f has a long opening made therein, and
is provided with a valve g, which is mounted on centres, so that it may bo
opened and closed to any extent desired. The forward edge of this valve is
provided with a quadrant-shaped plate h, perforated with a large number of
holes, through which the air also enters the furnace from the ash-pit, as
indicated by the arrows, and is distributed in thin streams among the con-
bustible gases arising from the fuel. By the combustion of such gases the
beat of the furnace is increased, and the evolution of smoke is prevented.
The valve g is opened and closed by means of the lever i, to which it is
connected by the link j. The lever i is mounted in suitable bearings, fixed
to the metal door frame or some other convenient part of the apparatus, and
its outer end is connected to the vertical rod k of a self-closing regulator,
which will govern the action of the valve g, and consequently the admission
of air to the furnace. This regulator or governor may be placed in any other
convenient position; for instance, it may be placed above the level of the fire

page_text: door instead of below it, as shewn in the Drawing, or if preferred it may be
dispensed with altogether, and the valve g may be opened and closed by tho
fireman or attendant by means of an ordinary lever, such as the lever i, or by
means of a sector rack and pinion, as will be well understood by any intelligent
mechanic,
The construction and operation of the self-closing regulator or governor is
as follows: A cylindrical vessel is filled half full of water, and another
cylinder m, half an inch less in diameter than the outside, is placed within
the cylinder 7. The inner cylinder m is open at top, and is provided with a
cross bar n, fixed near the top to connect it to the rod at the end of the
lever . At the bottom of the inner cylinder m is a flat valve, which admits
the water when the lever i is thrust down. A small cónical brass valve o is
also placed at the bottom of the inner cylinder, and the extent of its exit
cpening is regulated by a screw at the upper end of the rod p, whereby it
is kept open to let out the water at any given speed, thereby allowing the
inner cylinder m to rise by the gravity of the valve ġ and its quadrant h.
By this means the valve g and its quadrant is gradually shut down and closed,
so as to prevent the air from passing through and mixing with the combustible
gases.
Having now described our Invention of "Improvements in Furnaces or
Fire-places for the Prevention of Smoké," and having explained the manner
of carrying the same into effect, we would observe, that although we have
shown our improvements as applied to the furnace of a cylindrical boiler only,
the Invention may be adapted to other furnaces, and as in such other appli-
cations of the Invention it may be found necessary to modify the arrangement
and construction of some of the parts, we do not mean or intend to confino
ourselves rigidly to the precise arrangement and construction of parts herein
shewn and described, as they may doubtless be varied in some particulars
without departing from the nature and object of our Invention. And we
would further remark that we are aware that it has heretofore been proposed
to admit air to the burning fuel from the ash-pit through an opening made in
the dead plate. We do not therefore mean to claim such contrivance as any
part of our Invention, except the object be effected substantially in the manner
herein shewn and described; but that which we claim to be new in the above-
described improvements, and therefore desire to claim as the Invention secured
to us by Letters Patent, as aforesaid is,-
First, placing the dead plate above the level of the fire bars, and constructing
a part thereof at an inclination to the other part and to the fire bars, and

page_text: perforating such inclined part for the admission of air from the ash-pit to the
burning fuel.
Second, we claim adapting to the flat part of the dead plate the valve g,
with its perforated distributing plate h, whereby air to support combustion is
supplied in thin streams from the ash-pit, and made to commingle with the
gases given off from the fuel.
In witness whereof, we, the said Joseph Exley and John Ogden, bave
hereunto set our hands and seals, the Twenty-second day of December,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
JOSEPH EXLEY.
EXLEY. (L.S.)
JOHN OGDEN.
(L.S.)
JOSEPH EXLEY. (L.S.)
JOHN OGDEN.
(L.S.)