A New or Improved Furnace for Burning or Firing Stained or Painted Glass and Enamels, and for other Purposes.
Year: 1885

page_text: A New or Improved Furnace for Burning or Firing Stained or
Painted Glass and Enamels, and for other Purposes.
I, GEORGE JONES ATKINS, of Tottenham, in the County of Middlesex do hereby
declare the nature. of my said invention for "A NEW OR IMPROVED FURNACE
FOR BURNING OR FIRING STAINED OR PAINTED GLASS AND ENAMELS, AND FOR
OTHER PURPOSES to be as follows:-
"
My invention relates more especially to furnaces employed for burning or firing
glass or enamels, but is also applicable for other purposes such as, for example,
enamelling metals, bending glass, bronzing, roasting ores, and generally for any
purpose where it is required to employ a high temperature without allowing the
articles operated upon to come in contact with the products of combustion, or
where radiated heat is required.
In furnaces heretofore employed for the purpose of burning or firing glass and
enamels, no effectual means have, so far as I am aware, been provided for preventing
the products of combustion in the furnace from coming more or less in contact with
the goods while they are being burned or fired, whereby the colours or stains are
injured, or altered, and the results obtained are not uniform. The heating arrange-
ments in such furnaces are also unsatisfactory, as it is difficult to maintain them
at the proper temperature; the burning or firing occupies a long time, and the
raising of the furnace to the required heat is a long and tedious operation, and the
burner has little or no control over the operation.
The object of my invention is to obviate these inconveniences, and for this
purpose I employ the following arrangements:-
I construct a shallow muffle, retort, or chamber, one or both ends of which is or
are closed by suitable doors. These doors serve, when opened, to permit of the
insertion of the goods to be burned or fired into the muffle, retort, or chamber, as
will be hereafter explained. The bottom and sides of the muffle or retort may be
constructed in fire brick, or fire lumps, but I prefer to form the top thereof of
metallic plate such as cast iron or copper for example. The fireplace of the furnace
is constructed at the side of the muffle or retort, and the products of combustion of
the fuel, which latter may be coal, coke, charcoal, petroleum, gas, or other suitable
combustible, are conveyed direct from the fireplace over the top of the aforesaid
metallic plate and in contact therewith; they are then carried down the side of

page_text: the muffle or retort opposite to the fireplace, thence through suitable flues under
the floor of the muffle or retort to the side thereof next the fireplace, and thence
to the chimney. At the ends of the muffle or retort, I construct chambers furnished
with suitable doors to exclude the outer air. These chambers are heated more or
less by heat radiating from the hot brickwork of the furnace, or they may be
heated, if required, by suitable flues, and they serve as warming and annealing
ovens, in which the articles to be burned or fired may be allowed to remain for a
greater or lesser length of time before and after their treatment in the mufile or
retort itself, whereby they are gradually heated before introduction into the muffle
or retort, and are gradually cooled down after being withdrawn therefrom before
being taken out into the open air.
The doors at the ends of the muffle or retort open into these warming and
annealing ovens, and the objects to be operated upon are run into, and withdrawn
from, the muffle or retort upon a carriage or trolly running upon rails which
extend through the said warming and annealing ovens and through the muffle or
retort.
In this furnace the greater portion of the heat acting upon the articles in the
muffle or retort is transmitted directly from the products of combustion through
the metallic plate formning the top of the muffle or retort, and is radiated therefrom
directly on to the articles under treatment, whereby the heat is utilized in the best
possible way. As there is no communication whatever between the interior of the
muffle or retort and the furnace or any of the flues, the products of combustion are
wholly excluded from the said muffle or retort, and the articles contained therein
are consequently not subject to the injurious action of deleterious gases.

page_text: Painted Glass and Enamels, and for other Purposes.
I, GEORGE JONES ATKINS, of Tottenham, in the County of Middlesex, 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, reference being had to the accompanying Sheet of Drawings and to the
letters and Figures marked thereon:-
My invention relates more especially to furnaces employed for burning or firing
glass or enamels, but is also applicable for other purposes, such as, for example,
enamelling metals, bending glass, bronzing, roasting, ores, annealing, and generally
for any purpose where it is required to employ a high temperature without
allowing the articles operated upon to come in contact with the products of combus
tion, or where radiated heat is required.
In furnaces heretofore employed for the purpose of burning or firing glass and
enamels, no effectual means have, so far as I am aware, been provided for preventing
the products of combustion in the furnace from coming more or less in contact with
the goods while they are being burned or fired, whereby the colours or stains are
injured or altered, and the results obtained are not uniform. The heating arrange-
ments in such furnaces are also unsatisfactory, as it is difficult to maintain them
at the proper temperature; the burning or firing occupies a long time, and the
raising of the furnace to the required heat is a long and tedious process, and the
burner has little or no control over the operation.
The object of my invention is to obviate these inconveniences, and for this
purpose I employ the arrangements hereinafter desoribed and illustrated in the
accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 represents a transverse section of a
furnace constructed in accordance with my invention, taken on line Z Z of Figure 3,
Figure 2 is a longitudinal section on line Y Y of Figure 3, and Figure 3 is a half
plan and a half section on line X X of Figure 1.
A is a shallow muffle, retort or chamber the ends of which are closed by the
doors B and B¹ which may be operated from the outside of the furnace by means
of the chains CC for example. The doors B B' serve when opened, to permit of
the insertion of the goods to be burned or fired into the muffle, retort or chamber A
as will be hereafter explained. The bottom and sides of the muffle, retort or
chamber A may be constructed in firebrick or fire lumps, but I prefer to form the
top. D thereof of metallic plate such as cast iron or copper for example, which may
be either flat, or arched as shewn. E is the fireplace of the furnace so arranged
that the products of combustion of the fuel are conveyed direct from the fireplace E
over the top of the metallic conducting and radiating plate D, and in contact.
therewith. These products are then carried down the Blue F at the side of the
¡muffle, retort or chamber A, thence through the flues G under the same (which
flues are by preference made to communicate one with another through the
nostrils G³), and into the side Blue H and thence by either of the flues J to
the uptake or chimney K which is preferably placed in the position shewn, so
that the heat which penetrates through the brickwork of the fireplace E shall be

page_text: '
utilized in reheating to a certain extent the gases as they pass to the uptake K,
thereby increasing the draught in the said uptake or chimney K. L and L' are
chambers furnished with doors M M¹ for the exclusion of the outer air. These
chambers L L' are heated more or less by heat radiating from the hot brick-
work of the furnace, or they may be heated, if required, by suitable flues, and
they serve as warming and annealing ovens in which the articles to be burned
or fired may be allowed to remain for a greater or lesser length of time before and
after their treatment in the muffle, retort or chamber A, whereby they are gradually
heated before introduction into the muffle, retort or chamber A, and are gradualled
cooled down after being withdrawn therefrom before being taken out into the open
air. When required, the space L over the chamber A may be utilized as an
additional warming or annealing oven. When the annealing chambers L L' are
employed, the inner doors B B¹ may in some cases be dispensed with. N is a trolly
or carriage running upon rails O which extend through the warming and annealing
ovens L L' and through the muffle, retort, or chamber A.
When it is required to employ the above described furnace for burning or
firing stained or painted glass for example, the pieces of glass are laid on a bed
of plaster of Paris or other suitable material on the trolly or carriage N while the
same is in the position indicated in Figure 2. The door B is then opened by
pulling the chain C, and the trolly or carriage N is then pushed into the muffle,
retart, or chamber A and the chain C is released and the door B closed. After the
glass has been exposed to the radiated heat of the metallic conducting and radiating
plate D for the required period of time, the door B is again opened the trolly N
withdrawn and the pieces of glass are removed from the trolly and stacked, if
required, in the space L³ at the side of the annealing chamber L and the trolly is
then charged ready for another operation. While the trolly is being emptied and
re-charged in the chamber L; another trolly operated from the other end of the
furnace may be in the muffle, retort or chamber A which may thus be more or less
continuously occupied and the waste of heat reduced to a minimum. If preferred
however the furnace may be constructed so as to be operated from one end only,
the other end being closed and the flues F, G, H, and J may, in some cases be
dispensed with and the products of combustion be allowed to escape direct into a
chimney or uptake after passing over the top of the metallic conducting and radiating
plate D or they may be utilized for heating, drying, or annealing chambers or
otherwise. The fireplace E may be adapted to burn coke, coal, charcoal, gas,
petroleum, or other suitable combustible.
In this furnace the greater portion of the heat acting upon the articles in the
muffle, retort, or chamber A is transmitted directly from the products of combustion,
through the metallic conducting and radiating plate D, and is radiated therefrom
directly, on to the articles under treatment, whereby the heat is utilized in the
best possible way. As there is no communication whatever between the interior
of the muffle, retort, or chamber A and the fireplace E or any of the flues, the
products of combustion are wholly excluded from the said muffle, retort or
chamber A, and the articles contained therein are consequently not subject to the
injurious action of deleterious gases. In the arrangement shewn and described
whereby the furnace may be operated from both ends simultaneously, a great
economy of time and fuel is effected.
My invention is described above and illustrated in the Drawings as applied to
a furnace adapted specially for firing or burning sheets of glass and other such
like articles, but it will be readily understood that, with suitable modifications of
construction and detail the furnace is equally applicable for other purposes, such
as those herein before mentioned. When intended for use in roasting ores for
example I prefer that the ores shall be first subjected to the heat of the outer and
upper chambers so that they may be thoroughly dried and the moisture and more
volatile gases driven off before being subjected to the intense heat of the muffle,
retort, or chamber A, and more or less automatic means and apparatus may be
employed for conveying them through the various chambers.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is:-
First. The new or improved furnace, consisting of the fireplace E, the muffle, .
retort, or chamber A, with or without the doors B B', a metallic conducting, and
radiating plate D, the flue leading the products of combustion over the top of the
said metallic conducting and radiating plate, and with or without the flues F, G, H,
and J communicating with the uptake or chimney K, the whole arranged, combined,
and operating, as hereinbefore described, and illustrated in the Drawings hereto
annexed.
Second. The combination of the furnace constructed and arranged in accordance
with the first claim clause hereof, with the heating and annealing chambers, as
hereinbefore described, and illustrated in the Drawings hereto annexed, and for
the purposes set forth.
Third. In furnaces constructed and arranged in accordance with the first claim
clause hereof, placing the chimney over the crown or arch of the fireplace, for the
purpose of increasing the draught in such chimney, as hereinbefore described, and
illustrated in the Drawings hereto annexed.