IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR HEATING GREENHOUSES AND HORTICULTURAL AND OTHER BUILDINGS."
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Cowan, of Dromore, Kenmare, in the County
of Kerry, Ireland, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS
FOR HEATING GREENHOUSES AND HORTICULTURAL AND OTHER BUILDINGS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Cowan at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
8th May 1873.
I, JOHN COWAN, of Dromore, Kenmare, in the County of Kerry, Ire-
land, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for“ IMPROVE-
MENTS IN Apparatus for HEATING GREENHOUSES AND HORTICULTURAL AND OTHER
BUILDINGS," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object the heating of horticultural and other
buildings, and the manufacture of lime at the same time and by the
same apparatus.

page_text: In order to accomplish this object I use a boiler of conical or other
suitable form, which boiler forms part of the whole of the kiln for
calcining the lime. When the boiler forms only a part of the kiln I
form the remaining part of bricks or other suitable material.
In order to assist the burning of the lime the inside of the boiler may
be lined with fire-brick or iron plates perforated to admit of the heat
passing through the boiler.
On the top of the first-mentioned boiler I place a second one of saddle
or other convenient form, and I connect the two boilers together by
means of pipes. I then conduct pipes round the buildings which are to
be warmed, and connect them to the bottom of the lower boiler and the
top of the upper one. The heated water then passes out at the highest
pipes and round the houses to be warmed, and returns by the lower
ones, or vice versa.
The mouth of the upper boiler is fitted with a door by which the kiln
is fed, and this boiler is enclosed with bricks or other materials, and the
smoke and other products of the kiln are led round its exterior before
escaping up the chimney.
In order that the manufacture of lime may be carried on when the
houses are not required to be heated, I place a tank or cistern a few
fect above the boiler. Into this tank or cistern I lead two small pipes,
one from the flow, and one from the return pipes, which leads the water
from the boiler to the houses; then, by shutting the valves in the pipes
leading to the houses, and opening those in the small pipes leading to
the cistern, the water circulates into the cistern, so that by this
arrangement the houses can be kept either cool or hot at pleasure.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eighth day of May, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in the thirty-
sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said John Cowan, Her special license that
I, the said John Cowan, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said John Cowan, 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 APPARATUS FOR HEATING
GREENHOUSES AND HORTICULTURAL AND OTHER BUILDINGS," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said John Cowan, my executors, or
administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one
of their hands and seals, 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 calender months next and immediately after the date
of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Cowan, 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 thereof, that is to say :-
This Invention has for its object the heating of horticultural and other
buildings, and the manufacture of lime at the same time, and by the
same apparatus.
In order to accomplish this object I use a boiler of conical or other
suitable form, which boiler forms part or the whole of the kiln for
calcining the lime. When the boiler forms only a part of the kiln I
form the remaining part of bricks or other suitable material.
On the top of the first-mentioned boiler I place a second one of saddle
or other convenient form, and I connect the two boilers together by
means of pipes. I then conduct pipes round the buildings which are to
5 be warmed, and connect them to the bottom of the lower boiler add the
top of the upper one. The heated water then passes out at the highest

page_text: of the apparatus arranged according to my Invention.
a, a, is the chamber of a lime kiln; it is sunk in the ground, and is
circular in horizontal section. is the containing wall of the chamber
of a lime kiln; it is built of fire-brick or stone, with a backing c of sand,
and outside this there is a filling of rough broken stone or other material
arranged in a cubical form; d is an arched recess giving access to the
drawing and lighting hole e at the foot of the chamber a. So far the
kiln is similar to that described in the Specification of a former Patent
granted to me, and dated the Eleventh day of February in the present
year, No. 500; but now I set in the wall a boiler f, which is shewn
also in plan at Figure 4. This boiler is annular, and its inner circum-
ference forms a portion of the side or wall of the chamber of the kiln.
Behind the boiler fis an air space g, into which the heated products of
combustion are able to pass by the openings g¹ from the chamber of the
kiln, and so to impart heat to the back of the boiler.

page_text: The boiler fis connected by the pipes h, h, with the upper saddle-form
boiler i, of which a longitudinal section is shown at Figure 5. This
boiler is set over the mouth of the kiln as is described in the Specification
of my former Patent. The kiln is fed at the arch-like opening at the
front of the boiler, and doors are here provided which at other times
are closed. The heated products of combustion of the kiln rise beneath
the boiler i and pass out by the flue passage i¹. They then enter the
side flues k, and from thence pass over the top of the boiler. n, n,
are pipes by which the hot water passes away from the boilers into the
warming pipes which traverse the buildings to be heated, and tho
warming pipes return into the pipes o, o, which enter the boiler f near
the bottom.
The size of the apparatus may.be varied; the Drawings, however,
are made to a half-inch scale, and the apparatus is competent to heat
three thousand feet of four inch pipe.
When the heat is not required in the buildings it can be shut off
without interfering with tho lime burning by closing the valves n³, n',
o', o², on the pipes n and o respectively, and then the hot water from
the boilers flows by the pipe n³ into the cistern p, which is of a capacity
to contain, say, 100 gallons of water. The water returns from the
cistern by a pipe o² into the pipe o, and so to the boilers. When the
circulation is required to be through the warming pipes the valve o³ is
closed.
Sometimes I make the boiler f of greater height, so as to enclose a
larger part, or even the whole, of the chamber of the kiln, and then I
line the boiler partially with fire-brick, taking care to leave the sides of
the chamber smooth, so that the descent of the materials in the kiln
may not be interfered with.
Having thus described the nature of my said Invention, and the
manner of performing the same, I would have it understood that I
claim,-
The method of heating horticultural and other buildings by means of
a boiler which forms part or the whole of a kiln for burning lime,
substantially as described.
I also claim the combination of apparatus for heating horticultural and
other buildings, substantially as described.

page_text: I also claim the method of diverting the heat of the kiln from the
buildings by the combination with the heating apparatus of a cistern.
and valves, substantially as described:
In witness whereof, I, the said John Cowan, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Sixth day of November, in the year of 5
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three.