IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR CONSUMING ENGINE COAL IN FIRE- GRATES.
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Lloyd, of Bradley Mills, near Hudders-
field, in the County of York, Book-keeper, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR CONSUMING ENGINE COAL IN FIRE-
GRATES.
"
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Lloyd at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
24th April 1873.
I, WILLIAM LLOYD, of Bradley Mills, near Huddersfield, in the County
5 of York, Book-keeper, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR CONSUMING ENGINE COAL IN FIRE-
GRATES," to be as follows, that is to say:-
This coid Invention be
12 1

page_text: "
tion consists in transforming the grate, of whatever ordinary shape it
may be, into a slope grate with the under back or back and sides of an
angled grate, constructed to support the small coal and conduct it as
burned to the lower and front part of the grate, over which there would
always be a red glow of burning fuel, the gases burning freely by reason
of the number of small narrow slits in the said angled grate surface,
forming the greater part of the fire-place, letting the air in freely and the
small dust or ashes down through it. This " glow fan or angled grate
bottom, or bottom and sides combined, is constructed of a thin, flat,
bevelled or segmental grate piece, with downward and backward pro-
jecting thin undulated right-angled or shell-shaped sides or edges, having
a thin transverse diaphragm strengthening it at the central or deepest
part, preferably with narrow furrows in it also, and parallel with it at
each end of the segmental grate, a similar grooved edging joining the
sides and bars thereof, forming two equal sized chambers underneath
for intercepting the air before passing through the fire into the upper
angular compartment behind this grate piece, and for the dust to escape
into the lower open space, both the hollow chambers being formed by
placing these edges and diaphragm into the right angle formed by the
ordinary grate bottom, and back or bottom and sides of the fixed grate,
which may be filled up with as many of these "glow fans" as it will
contain, either with their narrow ends at the back top part to suit a
segmental grate, or alternately at back and front for rectangular grates
with square or bevelled sides, or otherwise for oven, boiler, or furnace
grates, those at the sides might be laid alternately with their narrow and
broad ends at top, with the flat outer grate surface sloping down to the
bottom of the ordinary grate, with one or more in the centre sloping
towards the back, and the action is as follows:-The top of the seg-
mental fan grate rises against the back or sides of the fire-grate at an
angle of about forty degrees, the fine slits in it admitting air over its
entire surface, the fine dust falling through, while the ashes and scales
gravitate downwards as the cinders are consumed. This grate or its
bars require only a slight covering of fuel in order to distribute a great
heat and effectually consume the gas; the air is kept in constant action
impinging on the red hot fan from the back and under side with equal or
greater force than in front, the fire being kindled immediately and kept
constantly glowing throughout. The plain surface or bars run upwards,
and the number or position of these fan bars, as also the strength or
form of them may be varied according to circumstances for any kind of

page_text: fire-grate, being adapted for heating apartments or flues in boilers, ovens,
and furnaces with or without any of the other ordinary mechanical appli-
ances used in such furnaces, the broad ends being placed on the ordinary
grate together, or broad and narrow ends as the space will admit when
placed against the open flue, and covered with, burning fuel, it will
consume the smoke, increasing the heat around the oven or boiler; and
it is to be understood that these segmental glow fans may be made of
any kind of iron or mixed metals, or of clays or minerals, such as used for
crucibles, as fire-clay, plumbago, and asbestos, or mixtures of these, best
adapted to resist the action of intense heat under the fire, and it is
grooved and hollowed on every side to prevent overheating by the
adhesion of other substances thereto, and to secure a free current of air
around and under the fire, thereby radiating light and heat for the
purposes required.
•
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Lloyd in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 22nd October 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
LLOYD, of Bradley Mills, near Huddersfield, in the County of York,
Book-keeper, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of April, 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 William Lloyd, Her special licence that
I, the said William Lloyd, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said William Lloyd, my executors, adminis-
trators, 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 CON-
SUMING ENGINE COAL IN FIRE-GRATES," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I the said William Lloyd, my executors or administrators, by an
instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and

page_text: 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 William Lloyd, 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 in writing, reference being had to the several
Figures on the Sheet of Drawings which I have hereunto appended for
the purpose of showing the best modes and means I am at present
aware of for performing my said Invention, the same reference letters
indicating the same or like parts in all the Figures.
My said Invention has for its object the burning of engine or small
coal in open domestic or other fire-grates, and the nature of my said
Invention consists in transforming the grate, of whatever ordinary
shape it may be, into a sloping grate or hearth from the top of the angled
back, or back and sides down towards the ordinary grate by portable
angled grate pieces, which I term "glow fans" A, constructed to
support the small coal on their upper surface a, and conduct it while
being burned to the lower and front or central part of the grate, over
the upper suface of which there would thus always be a red glow of
burning fuel, which would keep the top surface of the "glow fans" nearly
red hot. The gases from the coals burning freely by reason of a number
of small narrow slits a¹ formed through the said upper surface or
angled grate a forming the great part of this improved fire-place;
these slits allowing the air to pass freely up to the burning fuel, and
the small dust or ashes to pass freely down through them to the hearth
or ash-pit below.
66
Referring to the Drawings Figure 1 is a perspective sectional elevation
or view of one of these "glow fans” A, suited for most forms of fire-
places and furnaces in use, and Figure 1 A is an under side plan of the
same glow fan "A to a small scale, laid down with its sloping top
horizontally to show the shape of the corrugated sides and ends b, c, o",
of the under air compartments d, d', for heating the air and conducting
it up through the slits and bars a, a', forming the top angled surface
of each of these improved "glow fans" A, while Figures 2 and 3 are

page_text: rectangular hearth, grate, or fire-place; and Figure 14 shows the same
applied to a broad nearly rectangular grate or fire-place, both with their
broad and narrow ends reversed to suit the size and shape of the fire-
place, and all sloping down from the back 2 towards the front 3; while
Figure 15 shows the application of these glow fans A, A', to a broad
fire-place between the sides 4, but narrow towards the back 2, showing
those A sloping down from the sides 4 towards the centre with a cross
one A', as that shown at A; Figures 1, 2, and 3 filling up the space in
the centre, and sloping down from the back 2 towards the front 3.
Figure 16 shews in plan the application of two glow fans A", A¹¹¹,
(Figures 6, 7, and 8, 9) to the grate of a small ordinary oven or boiler
fire-place, inverted and sloping down from the back 2 towards the
front 3, but they might be of any of the forms A, A¹, shown in Figures
1 to 5 to suit the size of the grate 1 1, or angle and height of the
back 2;
and Figures 17 and 18 are respectively a transverse section and
plan, showing the application of these glow fans to a large steam boiler
or other furnace sloping down from the back 2 and sides 4 to the central
part of the hearth 1 - - - 1.
---
These new or improved "glow fans" A, A, A, A, (shown
in Figures 1 to 9, forming the improved angled grate bottom and
sides combined of room and other grates or fire-places) are cach con-
structed of cast iron or other equivalent fire-resisting material, with
a thin hollow bevelled or segmental grate piece flat on the top a, with
slits a through it, having downward and backward projecting thin
right-angled and shell-shaped sides or. edges b, b, undulating or corru-
gated towards the back or under shell-shaped edges with a thin transverse
feather or diaphragm c, Figures 1, 1A, 2, and 3 (or more as shown in
Figures 4 to 9) connecting and strengthening the top a and sides bat
the central or deepest part, and parallel to this diaphragm the shallow
ends c¹, c¹¹, are formed (joining the sides b, b, and ends of the segmental
grate bars a) both preferably having narrow grooves or furrows in them
as well as in the diaphragm c (towards the back, seen particularly in
Figure 1A), and enclosing or forming the two nearly equal sized
chambers d, d', open underneath for partially intercepting and heating
the air while conducting it up to and through the slits a¹ to the fire or
to the upper fangular compartment d' from below and behind the grate
piece and diaphragm c (as indicated by the blue arrows in Figures 2, 4,
6, 8, 11, and 17), and affording means also for the dust to escape down

page_text: into the lower open space. The lower open hollow chambers d, à',
are disposed (and formed as described with diverging corrugated surfaces)
to heat, rarefy, and conduct the air up to the fire by placing the shell-
shaped edges of the sides b, b, and diaphragm e down into the angle
formed by the ordinary grate bottom 1. - 1 and back 2
in Figures 10 and 11 (or it may be the bottom 1
--
2, as seen
1 and sides 4, as
shown at B' in Figures 15, 17, 18, and 19) of the ordinary fixed grate or
fire-place, which is filled up with as many of these "glow fans" A (or"
it might be A', A", A",) as it will contain, with their narrow ends c₁ at
the back top part 2, sloping down towards the front 3 and broad ends c¹
of the segmental grate bar surface. a to suit a segmental form of grate
1, as shown in Figures 10, 11, and 12, or with their broad and narrow
ends c¹, c, reversed alternately or otherwise to the back 2 or sides 4 to
suit ordinary small nearly rectangular forms of room and other grates 1
with nearly vertical or slightly bevelled fire-brick or other backs 2 -
1
630
---
2'
or sides 4
4, Figures 13 to 16, or otherwise, for large close boiler or.
furnace grates, any of those glow fans A", A", A", shown in Figures 6,
7, and 8, 9, might be laid alternately with their narrow and broad ends
at the top along the sides 4- 4, as shown in Figures 17 and 18, with the
flat grate surface a sloping down towards the central bottom part 1- 1
of the ordinary grate, or with one or more in the centre filling and
sloping up towards the back 2- 2, as seen in Figures 15, 18, and 19.
Figure 19 is a diagram plan of a steam boiler or other close furnace
grate, similar to that shown in Figures 17 and 18, except that it is
fitted with parallel sloping grate "fans"A"", shown and described in
reference to Figure 9A.
a---
---
-
1, towards
4
The arrangement and action is as follows:-The sloping grate surface
a, so formed of any of these segmental "glow fans "A, A¹, A",
A", or A¹, rises up from the ordinary grate surface 1 -
and against the brick B, or other back 2 2 or sides B¹ at 4.
of the fire-place or grate 1 at any angle, such as shown in Figures 2, 4, 6,
and 8, as from 20° to 45°, which would allow the small coal and ashes
to roll towards the front 3 3 or central part of the grate 1 - 1,
the fine slits a' in this angled surface a admitting and dispersing the
heated air over its entire surface, the fine dust falling down througli
these slits. The unburnt ashes and scales, as the coal and cinders are
consumed, gravitate downwards over this improved inclined grate or
bar surface a, which requires only to be supplied with a slight covering
-
-

page_text: of fuel in order to radiate and distribute a great heat, and effectually
consume the gases evolved therefrom, whilst the air is thus kept in
constant action impinging on the corrugated sides and diaphragms of
the open chambers d, d', and under side of the red hot top a of the fan
from the open back and under side in a current of equal or greater
force than from the front. The fire is kindled immediately by laying a
little wood, cinders, and small "round" coal over the inclined surface,
and when bright it is replenished with a thin layer of damp slack small
coal or other fuel, and kept constantly glowing all over or throughout
as much as possible, the fuel being added to the top above the fire to
descend as it consumes, not smothering it up too much.
Referring to the "glow fans "A", A", shown in Figures 6 to 9, it
will be observed that slots 6' are formed at each end through the
sides b, b, for a long bar or bars 6" to pass through the whole row or
set when ranged along the sides of a furnace or fire-place in a line, as
shown in Figures 17, 18, and 19, so that the whole row may be moved
by these bars 6, the lower edges of which rest on the ordinary grate
1 1 out from the side at the front or door end, for the purpose of
pushing over the ashes which descend through the common grate bars
into the ash-pit while moving at the bottom of the fan so as to enable
them to be raked out without putting out the fire, leaving a great portion
of the burning fuel between the sloping grate surface a, a, a, to keep
up the heat while removing the ashes from the centre of the ordinary
grate 11. These glow fans may be made of various thicknesses or
strengths and sizes in their length or width, internally or externally, or
of any desired degree of segmental or sloping top angle with one or
more middle divisions or diaphragms c and number of spaces d, d, for
heating the air, and they may be used in any number to suit any par-
ticular form or size of grate or fire-place and height of space available
for heating the air therein, and they are adapted for heating apartments
or flues of boilers, ovens, or furnaces within the ordinary forms of grates
or heating fire-places, without requiring a mechanic to fit or secure
these "glow fans" or grates with holdfasts or other fixtures, the broad
ends being placed on the ordinary grate 1 1 together, or broad or
narrow ends alternately or irregularly as the space will admit; when
placed against the open side 4 -- 4 of wall or flue, and covered all as
previously described with burning fuel, the fire will consume nearly all
the smoke and give greater heat around the oven or boiler than ordinary
.
---

page_text: "
grate fires. The red hot "
glow fan
or glowing fuel over the angled
surface a, a, radiates the heat out into the apartment or the centre of
the open fire-place at a considerable angle as indicated by the red arrows
in Figures 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 11, and 17, according as used for open domestic
fires or close fire-places, furnaces, or flues.
It will be understood that these segmental "glow fans" may be made
of any kind of iron or mixed metals, or of clays or minerals such as
used for crucibles as fire-clay, plumbago, and asbestos, or mixtures of
these best, adapted to resist the action of the intense heat of the fires,
and also that all these sides are formed of hollow grooves or corrugations
to prevent their close contact or overheating, or the adhesion of clinkers
or other substances thereto, and to secure a free current of air around
them and under the fire, and thus insure the most perfect combustion
and dispersion or radiation of the light and heat produced for the objects
or purposes required. And although the section glow fans shown in
Figures 6 to 9 and 9A, and in the general views, Figures 17, 18, and 19,
are shown with their long side or four air chambers laid down on the
grate 1.
.1, it is to be understood that these might be laid up against
the back 2 2 or sides 4- 4 of the fire-places, with the two compart-
ments down on the grate 1- 1 for very contracted grates, and that
although these angled grate surfaces have been described and shown as
formed by preference of portable sectional pieces or "glow fans," it is
to be understood that they might be formed on or in one with the
ordinary grates 1. 1, in either case having the dividing chambers and
diaphragms for heating the air and conducting it up to and through the
perforated angled surfaces and fire above it.
Having thus particularly described and ascertained the nature of my
said Invention and the manner of performing it, I would observe that
I do not restrict myself to the precise details or arrangements herein
described and shown, as variations may be made without departing from
the main or essential principles or features of my said Invention, but
what I consider novel and original, and therefore claim as the Inven-
tion secured to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent
is,―
First. The construction and arrangement of the ordinary grates, fire-
places, furnaces, or flues for heating apartments, or for other general
heating purposes, with angled or sloping surfaces or hearths for sup-
porting and burning small coal or other fuel, all substantially in the

page_text: new or improved manner and for the purposes and advantages herein
described and shown in the accompanying Drawings or any mere modi-
fication thereof.
Second. The forming of angled or sloping grate surfaces with or by
portable segmental or sectional pieces hercin termed "glow fans," with
hollow open air spaces and diaphragms below for room and other fire-
places, grates, furnaces or flues, substantially in the new or improved
manner and for the purposes and advantages herein described and shown
in the accompanying Drawings.
Third. The sysetm or mode of arranging and constructing angled or
sloping fire-grates with air heating compartments and diaphragms, on
which the air will impinge for its rarefaction and divergence before
coming in contact with the fuel, diverting the heat from behind and
dispersing it in front, whether these grates are formed of sectional
picces or upon the ordinary grates themselves, all substantially in the
new or improved manner herein described and shown in the accom-
panying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Lloyd, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of October, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
threc.
WILLIAM LLOYD. (L.s.)