IMPROVEMENTS IN BOILERS OR STEAM GENERATORS AND IN FUEL ECONO- MIZERS OR APPARATUS FOR HEATING WATER."
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Edgo, of Bolton-le-Moors, in the County
of Lancaster, Mechanical Draughtsman, for the Invention of
“IMPROVEMENTS IN BOILERS OR STEAM GENERATORS AND IN FUEL ECONO-
MIZERS OR APPARATUS FOR HEATING WATER."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Edge at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
29th August 1871.
I, JAMES EDGE, of Bolton-le-Moors, in the County of Lancaster,
5 Mechanical Draughtsman, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN BOILERS OR STEAM GENERATORS AND IN FUEL
ECONOMIZERS OR APPARATUS FOR HEATING WATER," to be as follows:-
My Invention relates in the first place to boilers or steam generators,
and more particularly to the class of boilers having internal flues, such

page_text: .
as for example the Cornish and the double-flued cylindrical boilers.
In such boilers I form the internal fluc or each internal flue in two
portions, or I divide the said flue into two portions, the front portion
containing the furnace communicating with the rear portion by means
of a circuitous route, as will be herein-after described. The said front &
portion communicates with front side flucs by means of side pipes;
which are connected with the upper portion of the said flue and with
the shell of the boiler, the said pipes passing through the water space in
a horizontal direction or thereabouts.
In the case of a boiler having one furnace flue the products of com- ]
bustion flow in opposite directions through the said side pipes, and
entering the said front side flues descend into a flue beneath the boiler
through which fluo the said products flow to the back end of the boiler,
and rising enter the rear side flues which convey the said products to ·
side pipes or openings through which the said products flow into the ]
back internal flue, or the rearward portion of the internal flue. The
said products after having passed through the said flùc or portion of.
the flue, are conveyed to the chimney. In the case of a double-flued
boiler the products of combustion flow towards the right hand in one
furnace, and towards the left hand in the other furnace, and passing 2
through the said side pipes mingle or may be allowed to mingle in the
flue beneath the boiler. On arriving at the back end of the boiler the
said products may either flow through the side pipes or openings into
the back internal flues, or may flow through one of the said side flucs,
and into one of the said back internal flues, and after passing through 2
the said flue to the end of the boiler may enter the other of the
said internal flues, and flow through the same into the other of the said
side flues according as the boiler seating is arranged.
•
""
In order to promote the combustion of the gases generated in the
furnace we prefer to introduce inclined air gratings on both sides of the 3
furnace, or in the case of double-flued boilers on one or on both sides of
each furnace as preferred, air flowing through a space on each side or on
one side of the fire-grate, as the case may be, and passing through the
said gratings into the furnace. This arrangement is applicable in the
case of other descriptions of boilers...
In the improved economizer which constitutes the second part of my.
Invention the water heater is fitted with a number of tubes through

page_text: which the heated gases, are caused to flow. The said tubes are arranged
around a common centre, so that a number of scrapers, which are fixed
to a frame capable of being rotated around the said centre may be
caused to act consecutively upon sections or portions of the entiro
number of tubes. The said frame is fixed on a shaft which is mounted
in bearings, and is provided with a worm wheel, with which gears a
worm driven by a shaft which receives motion through a strap from the
prime mover. The said shaft carrying the frame is formed with grooves
answering the purpose of rack teeth, and a pinion is in gear with tho
said grooves, the said pinion also receiving motion through reversing
gear from the aforesaid driving shaft.
When the said scrapers are opposite a section of the tubes the frame
carrying the said scrapers is propelled by the action of the aforesaid
pinion towards the economizer, the scrapers entering and passing along
the tubes in the said section. The direction of motion of the said pinion
being now reversed the said scrapers are withdrawn, and the revolution
of the said pinion ceases. The parts giving motion to the aforesaid
worm are now thrown into action until the scrapers have been moved
into positions opposite another section of tubes when the aforesaid to and
fro motions of the scraper are repeated, the whole of the sections of·
tubes being thus cleaned in succession.
'
· SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent;
filed by the said James Edge in the Great Seal Patent Office, on
the 28th February 1872.
5 TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, James
EDGE, of Bolton-le-Moors, in the County of Lancaster, Mechanical
Draughtsman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of August, in the year
▸ of our Lord Qne thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the thirty-
fifth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said James Edge, Her special licence that I, the

page_text: said James Edge, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said James Edge, 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, tho Channel Islands, and Isle
of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN BOILERS OR STEAK GENERATORS
AND IN FUEL ECONOMISERS OR APPARATUS FOR HEATING WATER," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said James Edge, 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 calendar months next and immediately after
the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said James Edge, 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 statement and accompanying Drawings, that is to say :—
My Invention relates to boilers or steam generators, and more parti-
cularly to the class of boilers having internal flues, such as for example
the Cornish and the double-flued cylindrical boilers. In such boilers I
form the internal flue or cach internal flue in two portions, or I divide
the said fluc into two portions, the front portion containing the furnace
communicating with the rear portion by means of a circuitous route, as
will be herein-after described. The said front portion communicates
with front side flues by means of side pipes, which are connected with
the upper portion of the said flue and with the shell of the boiler, the
said pipes passing through the water space in a horizontal direction or
thereabouts.
In the case of a boiler having one furnace flue the products of com-
bustion flow in opposite directions through the said side pipes, and
entering the front side flues descend into a flue beneath the boiler,
through which flue the products flow to the back end of the boiler,
and rising enter the rear side flues, which convey the said products to 3
side pipes or openings, through which the said products flow into the

page_text: back internal flue or the rearward portion of the internal fluc. The said
products after having passed through tho said flue, or portion of the flue;
are conveyed to the chimney. In the case of a double-flued boiler the
products of combustion flow towards the right hand in one furnace, and
3 towards the left hand in the other furnace, and passing through the said
sido pipes.mingle or may be allowed to mingle in the fluo beneath tho
boiler. On arriving at the back end of the boiler the said products may
either flow through rear side flues and through the side pipes or
openings into the back internal flues, or may flow through one of the
O said side 'flues, and into one of the said back internal flues, and after
passing through the said flue to the end of the boiler may enter the
other of the said internal flues, and flow through the same into the
other of the said side flues accordingly as the boiler seating is
arranged.
:
In order to promote the combustion of the gases generated in the
furnace we prefer to introduce inclined gratings on both sides of the
furnace, or in the case of double-flued boilers on one or on both sides of
each furnace as preferred, air flowing through a.space on each side or on
one side of the fire-grate, as the case may be, and passing through the
O said gratings into the furnace. This arrangement is applicable in the
case of other descriptions of boilers.
And in order that my Invention may be fully understood I will
in this place refer to the accompanying. Drawings illustrative of the
manner in which I carry the said Invention into practical effect.
In Sheet 1 of the said Drawings Fig. 1 represents a vertical longi!
tudinal section, and Fig. 2 a cross section of a double-flued cylindrical
boiler, Fig. 3 being a horizontal section on the line A, B, in Figs. 1 and 2.
Figs. 4, 5, and 6 are corresponding views of a single-flued cylindrical
boiler.
In Figs. 1, 2, and 3 the "fire-boxes" a, a, are each made of a length
suitable to contain the fire-grate, and each fire-box is closed at its inner
end by an end plate b. The back internal flues c, c, are also closed at
their inner ends by the end plates d, d, and the plates 6 and d are
connected together by means of the "stays" or plates e, or are or may
be otherwise suitably connected together: Short tubes f, f, are riveted

page_text: to the shells of the boiler and of the fire-box, so as to form the sido
pipes or openings 9, g, extending through the water space, and forming
passages for the flow of the flame and heated gases from the fire-boxes
into the outer flues h, h. In the example illustrated there are four of
the said openings on the outer side of each fire-box, but their number
may be varied as found to be desirable. Short tubes i, i, are also
riveted to the shells of the boiler and of the internal flues c, c, so as to
form the side pipes or openings j, j, for the passage of gases from tho
side flues k, k, into the internal flues c, c, or from the said internal flues
into the said side flues, as the case may be. Each of the said internal
flues is represented as communicating with a side fluck by means of
only one opening j; but if preferred two or more openings may be
formed, as in the case of each fire-box, in which case the said openings
may be of a lesser size than represented in the example illustrated. It
will be seen that the bridge is not required in my improved boiler.
The gases or products of combustion flow through the several flues
and side pipes or openings in the direction indicated by the arrows,
that is to say, the said gases flow from the fire-boxes through the
openings 9, g, into the flues h, h, through which the said gases descend
into the bottom flue 2, and flowing through the said flue to the back of
the boiler pass through the flue m into the internal flues c, c, and thence
through the openings j, j, into the side flues k, k, which conduct the
said gases to the fluc leading to the chimney. The arrangement of tho
seating and of the outer flues may, however, be so varied as that the
gases will be caused to enter the internal flues through the openings j,j,
or to flow through one of the flues c, c, before entering the other of the
said flues as herein-before mentioned. Tho herein-before mentioned
air gratings are represented at n, n, and will be described when referring
to Sheet 2

page_text: Sheet 2 is illustrative of the arrangements for promoting the com-
bustion of the gases generated in the furnaces or fire-boxes.
Referring to the said Sheet, Fig. 7 represents a vertical longitudinal
section, and Fig. 8 a vertical cross section of the furnace or fire-box of
the boiler illustrated by Figs. 1 to 3 herein-before described.
In this example r, r, are the ordinary fire-bars, and 8, 8, are side bars,
which are cast or formed with the inclined air gratings n, n. A plan of
a portion of the grate showing the said side bars is represented at
Fig. 10. The said gratings extend in an upward direction above the
burning fuel, so that air is permitted to flow between the side bars 8, 8,
and the shell of the fire-box and through the said gratings, and to
mingle with the gases, thereby promoting the combustion of the said
gases in manner as is well understood.
Fig. 9 illustrates the adaptation of this part of my Invention to the
furnace of an ordinary Cornish boiler, or to other descriptions of boiler.
The said air gratings may be formed separately from the side bars if
preferred, and may or may not be attached thereto as found to be most
convenient. The said air gratings may be made of a greater propor-
tionate length than is represented in the Drawings, or may extend to
the full length of the fire-bars as preferred or found to be suitable in
any case.
In the latter part of my Provisional Specification I described an
"economiser," but as I have not carried this portion of my Invention
into practical effect I have not included it in my present Specification,
nor in the accompanying Drawings, and therefore make no claim in
respect thereof.
Having now fully described and illustrated the nature of my In-
vention, and the means whereby I carry the same into practical effect,
I would in conclusion have it to be understood that I claim as secured
to me by the herein-before mentioned Letters Patent,―
First. The method of constructing boilers or steam generators, sub-
stantially as described and illustrated herein, and by the accompanying
Drawings, the most important features being the "side pipes'
openings" in the furnaces or fire-boxes.
66
"
ог

page_text: And, lastly. The employment of the air gratings formed and
arranged substantially, as and for the purpose herein-before set forth
and indicated, and as illustrated by the accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Edgo, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-sixth day of February, in the 6
year of our Lord One thousad eight hundred and seventy-two.
Signed and sealed by the said
James Edge in the presence
of
EDWARD K. Dutton,
Agent for the Patentee,
3, Smithy Door,
Manchester.
JAMES EDGE. (L.S.)