AN IMPROVED CHIMNEY HEAD
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Billing, Architect, of 12, Abingdon Street,
Westminster, in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "AN
IMPROVED CHIMNEY HEAD."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Billing at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 23rd
March 1861.
I, JOHN BILLING, Architect, of 12, Abingdon Street, Westminster, in the
County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"AN IMPROVED CHIMNEY HEAD," to be as follows:-
My Invention has for its object the attainment of a perfect draught in
chimneys situated in such peculiarly exposed localities, in which the contri-
vances for which I have already obtained Letters Patent, dated 15 Nov.
1856, No. 2706, & also No. 1963, dated 14 August 1860, or any other
contrivances heretofore employed are inadequate. It consists of a chimney
head constructed of terra-cotta, zinc, iron, or other suitable material, having a
cylindrical, octagonal, or other shaped tube closed at the top, but provided with
an opening or openings in the side of the tube a short distance down from the
closed top, for the issue of the smoke. This opening or these openings is or
are covered by a chamber formed round the outside of the tube by means of a

page_text: cylindrical, octagonal, or other shaped short tube attached to the first-named
tube, which chamber is open at top and bottom for the passage of the smoke.
To both these last-named openings I attach coverings or shields in the shape
of hollow truncated cones, or octagonal or other shaped truncated pyramids,
whose smaller openings are large enough to leave narrow spaces for the
passage of the smoke round the first-named tube. Or, the above-named
coverings or shields may have curved in lieu of straight surfaces, thus deflect-
ing the wind in both an upward and downward direction. Over each of these
wind deflectors I place one or more similar deflectors, or I place one or more
such deflectors over the top opening of the chamber, and only one over the
bottom opening, or one or more at the bottom, and one only at the top, accord-
ing to the particular circumstances under which my improved chimney heads
are applied. I sometimes construct such before-mentioned chamber and wind
deflectors of angle iron, or of iron of a semi-circular or other shaped section, or
of a similar shape, in any other suitable material. I sometimes form round the
openings in the side of the first-named tube a shield or shields of angular or
half cylindrical-shaped section, which serves to direct any current of wind that
may enter the chamber away from the aforesaid side opening. The chamber
and wind deflectors are fixed to the central tubes by means of round or flat
stays or partitions, or in any other suitable manner. In cases where from the
nature of the fuel consumed in the chimney the central tube and the outer
chamber or either of them become choked with soot, I apply a frame of iron
or other material capable of being moved up and down in the tube or chamber,
or both of them, and thus clear them from the adhering particles of soot. The
necessary motion is imparted to them either by the ordinary sweeping machine
or by any other contrivance.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Billing in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
23rd September 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN 30
BILLING, Architect,. of 12, Abingdon Street, Westminster, in the County of
Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-third day of March, in the year of our Lord

page_text: One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fourth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said John Billing, Her special licence that I, the said John Billing,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
John Billing, 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 "AN IMPROVED
CHIMNEY HEAD," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
John Billing, 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 John Billing, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the follow-
ing statement thereof, reference being had to the accompanying Drawing
and to the figures and letters marked thereon, that is to say :-
My Invention has for its object the attainment of a perfect draught in
chimneys, situated in such peculiarly exposed localities where the contrivances
for which I have already obtained Letters Patent at various times or any
other contrivances heretofore employed are inadequate. It consists of a
chimney head, constructed of terra-cotta, zinc, iron, or other suitable material,
having a cylindrical, octagonal, or other shaped tube, closed at the top, but
provided with an opening or openings in the side of the tube, a short distance
down from the closed top for the issue of the smoke. This opening or these
openings is or are covered by a chamber formed round the outside of the tube
by means of a cylindrical, octagonal, or other shaped short tube, attached to
the first-named tube, which chamber is open at top and bottom for the passage
of the smoke. To both these last-named openings I attach coverings or shields
in the shape of hollow truncated cones, or octagonal or other shaped truncated
pyramids, whose smaller openings are large enough to leave narrow spaces for
the passage of the smoke round the first-named tube. Or the above-named
coverings or shields may have curved in lieu of straight surfaces, thus deflecting
the wind in both an upward and downward direction. Over each of these

page_text: wind deflectors I place one or more similar deflectors; or I place one or more
such deflectors over the top opening of the chamber, and only one over the
bottom opening, or one or more at the bottom, and one only at the top,
according to the particular circumstances under which my improved chimney
heads are applied. I sometimes construct such before-mentioned chamber
and wind deflectors of angle iron, or of iron of a semi-circular or other shaped
section, or of a similar shape in any other suitable material. I sometimes.
form round the openings in the side of the first-named tube a shield or shields
of angular or half cylindrical shaped section, which serves to direct any
current of wind that may enter the chamber away from the aforesaid side
opening. The chamber and wind deflectors are fixed to the central tube by
means of round or flat stays or partitions, or in any other suitable manner.
In cases where from the nature of the fuel consumed in the chimney the
central tube and the outer chamber, or either of them, become choked with
soot, I apply a frame of iron or other suitable material capable of being
moved up and down in the tube or chamber, or both of them, and thus clear
them from the adhering particles of soot. The necessary motion is imparted
to them either by the ordinary sweeping machine or by any other contrivance.
In Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4 on the accompanying Drawing is represented
one arrangement of my improved chimney head. Figure 1 shews an
elevation; Figure 2 shews a vertical section; Figure 3 shews a plan of the
same; and Figure 4 shews a sectional plan on line Z, Z. Similar letters
indicate similar parts in all the Figures. A, A, is an octagonal tube, of zinc
or any other metal, which is fixed over the chimney flue B; this tube is
closed at the top C, and is provided at D with a latteral opening all round, at
the edges of which are fixed the rims or shields g, g'; covering this lateral
opening D is the chamber E, consisting of the straight octagonal portion a and
the two inclined portions b, 61, so formed as to leave narrow spaces c, c', all
round the tube A. The chamber E is attached to the tube A by means of
the stays d, d¹. Covering the openings c, c', are the wind deflectors F, F',
fixed by means of stays to the chamber E, and formed so as to leave narrow
'openings e, el, all round the tube A, and other openings f, f¹, between them
and the portions b, b', of the chamber E. By this arrangement the hot air
and smoke rising from the chimney flue B passes through the opening D into
the chamber E, and thence into the air through the openings c, c', e, e¹, and
ff. If a horizontal gust of wind strikes the chimney head in the direction
of the arrows, the same will enter through the openings f, f¹, between the
wind deflectors F, F, and the chamber E, and striking against the portions b, b,

page_text: of the latter will be directed out again through the openings e, e', without
entering the chamber E. Again, if a gust of wind strikes the chimney head
in a vertical or nearly vertical downward direction, then it will, to a certain
extent, enter through the opening e, and in part will pass out again through
the opening b, whilst such portions as penetrate downwards into the chamber E
will be guided away from the opening D by the projecting rims or shields 9, 9',
and will eventually pass out again through the opening e', as indicated by the
arrows.
In order to cleanse the chamber E and tube A from adhering particles of
soot, I provide a scraper, consisting of a series of rings i; i, i, of iron, which are
in contact with the sides of the chamber E; and of the tube A; these rings
are all connected together by the framework j, between which and the closed
top of the tube A is shewn a spring h. The scraper being pushed up from
below by means of an ordinary sweeping machine, the rings i, i, i, scrape
against the sides of the chamber E, and against the inside of the tube A,
removing the collected soot. On ceasing to push from below the scraper falls
again partly by its own weight, and partly by the action of the spring h.
In Figures 5 and 6 are shewn an arrangement of my improved chimney
head made of terra-cotta or earthenware. Figure 5 shews a vertical section,
and Figure 6 shews a sectional plan on line X, X.
A, A, is the tube closed at C, with an opening D all round; E is the
chamber attached to the tube A by the stays 9, g¹; b, b¹, are the inclined
portions of the same, which in this case are formed curved; F, F, are the
wind deflectors, also formed with a curved surface, and fixed to the chamber E
by stays.
Figures 7 and 8 shew another arrangement of my improved chimney head.
Figure 7 shews a vertical section, and Figure 8 shews a sectional plan on
line Y, Y. Here the tube A, A, which is of zinc or any other suitable
material, is shewn of a cylindrical form, and the chamber E, as also the wind
deflectors F, F, are formed of bars of a trough-shaped section a, a, a, having
narrow interstices b, b, b, between them, through which the hot air and smoke
can pass, in addition to through the openings c, c, d, d¹, and e, e¹. The wind
in blowing against the outside of the chamber E is caught in the hollow of the
bars a, a, a, and is reflected without penetrating to any great extent into the
interior of the chamber through the narrow interstices b, b, b. In order to
prevent these latter from getting choked by an accumulation of soot a scraper
may be provided similar to that previously described.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and in what manner the

page_text: same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I do not limit myself
to the exact details as shewn on the accompanying Drawing, as these may be
variously modified without departing from the principle of my Invention; thus,
for instance, there may be two or more wind deflectors fixed over each other
at either end of the chamber E, as already herein-before mentioned; but what
I claim under the before in part recited Letters Patent is, the construction of
an improved chimney head, substantially as herein-before set forth with
reference to the accompanying Drawing.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Billing, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-first day of September, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
INO DITT NA
JNO. BILLING.
INC. (S.)