IMPROVEMENTS IN CHIMNEY Tops
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Billing, of Abingdon Street, Westminster, in
the County of Middlesex, Architect, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN CHIMNEY Tops."
Sealed the 12th February 1860, and dated the 14th August 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Billing at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
14th August 1860.
I, JOHN BILLING, of Abingdon Street, Westminster, in the County of
Middlesex, Architect, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN CHIMNEY TOPS," to be as follows:-
Chimneys are constructed in such a great variety of places, and exposed to
so many different conditions, that it is almost impossible to construct one
simple form of chimney top which shall be equally successful in curing every
case of "a smoky chimney." Thus in the majority of cases the chimney tops
described in the Specification of certain former Letters Patent granted to me,
and bearing date on or about the Fifteenth day of November, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, No. 2706, are fully suc-
cessful, but in some adverse situations these tops do not effect an entire. cure
in gusty and stormy weather. In such or other difficult cases I employ one
or other of the contrivances herein-after described.
I construct a number of bars of angular, semicircular, parabolic, or other

page_text: gutter-shaped form, and I place several of them in proximity and parallel to
each other, or radiating to a centre. If a grating or fan or star be thus
formed, it will be easily permeated by a current of air in one direction, which
will be guided by the gradually contracting passages between the bars; while,
if a current of air be moving in the opposite direction, it will enter the gutters
and regurgitate, and be reflected backwards, and thus oppose a great resistance
to the passage of the air.. The gutter bars may be made separate, or several
may be made in one piece, and they may be constructed of wrought or cast
iron, or zinc, or terra cotta, or other suitable material.
I apply these "gutter gratings" in various ways. Thus, I construct the
tops of a row of chimneys with cones or pyramids and partitions, as described
in the aforesaid Specification, and I place over each cone or pyramid, and a
few inches above them, two inclined "gutter gratings" meeting in the centre.
A horizontal gust of wind is received by the gutters on one side and directed
upward, while very little of it passes between the bars, .and this little with the
smoke finds-a-comparatively.easy.exit between the bars on the other side of the
top. A vertically descending gust of wind is also, in, great measure, dis-
persed by the gutter-shaped. bars. Instead of constructing. a conical or
pyramidal top, it will sometimes suffice to slope or bevil the two sides only
between the partitions.
In some cases two or more gutter gratings may be placed one above the
other. One or more, may be capable of being raised and lowered by means
of the brush used in-sweeping, the chimney, or otherwise, so as to clear them
from any adhering soot. In lieu of causing the gutter gratings. to. incline
downwards from the centre, I sometimes make them incline upwards, or form
them into an inverted cone suspended over the mouth of the chimney.
The aforesaid partitions are not always requisite, and the aforesaid gratings
may be made with close ends. I also apply these gutter gratings to chimney
tops in a conical or pyramidal form, or in a double. conical, or pyramidal, 'or
similar form, either with straight or curved sides:
ໃນ'..
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Billing in the Great Seal Patent: Office on the
18th February 186:1.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME,.-I, JOHN
BILLING, of Abingdon Street, Westminster, in the County of Middlesex,
Architect, send greeting.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourteenth day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty, 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 execu-
tors, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN CHIMNEY TOPS,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that, I, the said John Billing, my execu
tors 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 following.
statement thereof, reference being had to the accompanying Drawing, and to.
the figures and letters marked thereon, that is, to say:-
.
Chimneys are constructed in such a great variety of places, and exposed to so
many different conditions, that it is almost impossible to construct one simple
form of chimney top, which shall be equally successful in curing every case of
a smoky chimney." Thus," in the majority. of cases, the chimney tops
described in the Specification of certain former Letters Patent granted to me,.
and.bearing date. on or about the Fifteenth day of November, in the year of
our. Lord One thousand. eight hundred and fifty-six (No. 2706): are fully:
successful, but in some adverse. situations these tops do not effect, an entire,
cure in gusty and stormy weather. In such or other difficult cases I employ
one or other of the contrivances herein-after 'described. I construct a number
of bars of angular; semicircular, parabolic, or other gutter-shaped form, and I
place several. of them in proximity and parallel to each other, or radiating to a
centre. If a grating or fan or star be thus formed, it will be easily permeated
by a current of air. in one direction, which will be guided by the gradually.
contracting passages between the bars,. while, if a current of air be moving in;
the opposite direction it will enter the gutters, and regurgitate and be reflected,.

page_text: backwards, and thus oppose a great resistance to the passage of the air. The
gutter bars may be made separate, or several may be made in one piece, and
they may be constructed of wrought or cast iron, or zinc, or terra cotta,. or
other suitable material. I apply these gutter gratings in various ways.
Thus, I construct the tops of a row of chimneys with cones or pyramids and
partitions, as described in the aforesaid Specification, and I place over each
cone or pyramid, and a few inches above them, two inclined "gutter gratings":
meeting in the centre. A horizontal gust of wind is received by the gutters
on one side, and directed upward, while very little of it passes between the
bars, and this little with the smoke finds a comparatively easy exit between
the bars on the other side of the top. A vertically descending gust of wind is.
also in great measure dispersed by the gutter-shaped bars. Instead of con-
structing a conical or pyramidal top it will sometimes. suffice to slope or bevil
the two sides only between the partitions. In some cases two or more gutter.
gratings may be placed one above the other. One or more may be capable of
being raised and lowered by means of the brush used in sweeping the chimney, or
otherwise, so as to clear them from any-adhering soot. -In-lieu of causing. the:
gutter gratings to incline downwards from the centre I sometimes make.them
incline upwards, or form them into an inverted cone suspended over the mouth
of the chimney. The aforesaid partitions are not always requisite, and the
aforesaid gratings may be made with close ends. I also apply the gutter
gratings to chimney tops in a conical or pyramidal form, or in a double,
conical, or pyramidal or similar form, either with straight or curved sides.
Having generally described the nature of my Invention, I will now proceed
to give a more accurate description of one of the applications of the same in
the accompanying Drawing.
'
Figure 1 represents a part front elevation of a stack of chimnies provided
with one description of the before-mentioned gratings which I employ ;
Figure 2 is a transverse section, and Figure 3 is a longitudinal-section through:
the same; Figure 4 is a part plan, and Figure 5 :is an end. view of the
chimney stack.
Similar letters indicate similar parts in each of the
Figures.
. . ;
.
Over the opening of one of the flues a of the stack A, I. place a conical
chimney top B, which together with the partitions C, C, form. the subject of
and are more particularly described in the Specification. of former Letters.
Patent granted to me on or about the Fifteenth day of November, One,
thousand eight hundred and fifty-six (No. 2706). On each side of the chimney
top B, and between it and the vertical partitions C, C, I place two upright>
cast-iron frames D, D,. of one of which a side view is shown, partly in full and:

page_text: partly in dotted lines in Figure 5. These frames are flat at the bottom where
they rest on the stack A, being provided with feet E, E, which pass under 'the
bottom of the partitions C, C, and are thus held by them. The sides of these
frames slope upward, and are each furnished with four fork-like projections
F, F, to receive the projecting studs H, H³, of the gratings I, I', which are
thus carried by the two upright frames D, D. The forks F, F, are so formed
that when the studs H, H¹, which are attached to the gratings I, I¹, have
passed vertically down them they then pass into a lateral recess, which prevents
their being easily lifted out of the forks by the sweeping machine. The gratings
I, I, when thus fixed in their proper position meet at the top, and thence
respectively incline downward on either side of the conical top, at an angle of
ábout forty-five degrees to the horizon, as shown in Figure 2; and also in blue
lines in Figure 5, thus covering the opening of the before-mentioned conical
top, as also the top itself. These gratings I, I, are of cast or wrought iron,
or any other suitable material, and consist of a series of bars b, b², of a
V-section parallel to each other, the ridge of each bar being underneath, and
the sides inclining upwards respectively towards the next bar, leaving a narrow
interstice e between two consecutive bars; as shown more clearly in Figures 6
and 7, which are respectively a front view and a transverse section of a grating.
detached. These bars are connected together at the points c,-c. The lower
part of these bars are curved downwards until they reach the level of the top
of the chimney stack in a vertical position. The effect of these gratings I, 14,
when the wind strikes against one of them I, as indicated by the direction of
the arrows, shown in red in Figure 2 on the accompanying Drawing, will be
that the wind is almost entirely caught up by the groove-shaped bars, and is
thereby caused to pass along in them, and is thus conducted over and
from the flue, only a small portion of the wind penetrating through the
narrow interstices e, which portion loses its force by regurgitation as it passes
through and finds its exit together with the smoke and heated air from the
flue through the grating 1' on the other side with great facility as the ridges
of the bars are presented to the current. A portion of the wind will also enter
underneath the grating I at the lower extremity between it and the conical
chimney top B, and will be directed upwards by the latter, as shewn by the
arrows on the Drawing, and will also pass away through the narrow interstices
e of the grating 1' on the other side without beating down the chimney.
The smoke and heated air from the flue will not be prevented from passing
away by these gratings, even though it should only be enabled to do so through
one of them, as the collective area of all the interstices in one grating alone is
more than equal to the area of the exit orifice of the conical top B. -These
away

page_text: narrow spaces e between the bars of the grating are sometimes liable to be
choked in course of time. by an accumulation of soot in them. I therefore
in such cases provide each grating with a scraper, consisting of pieces of
iron f, f, formed to fit the gutter-shaped bars, and having small projections
9; 9; passing. in between the interstices. These scrapers are connected with the
gratings I, I, in such a manner that they can be made to slide up and down
against the bars b, b, clearing the sides of the same, as also the interstices be-
tween them of adhering particles of soot; this motion is imparted to the scrapers
by the links h, h, being connected with the levers i, t, fixed to a spindle K
passing across the flue-opening, and having a bearing in each of the upright
side frames D, D. The levers i, i¹; receive a reciprocating motion from below.
by means of chains j,j, passing down the flue. Thus by pulling-one chain j.
the lever i, to which it is attached, is depressed, and the opposite lever ¹ and the
scraper connected therewith is raised, the latter moving up along the bars b.
In positions where it is required to prevent the wind obstructing the issue of.
the smoke more effectively, I construct two of the before-mentioned gratings,
one-in-close proximity over the other in such a manner that the interstices
between the bars of the top grating are opposite to the centre of the bars-of.
the grating beneath; Figure 8 shows. a. section through a grating constructed
in this manner. In certain-cases I vary. the sectional form of grooved bars;
thus I sometimes make them of the sectional form, as shewn in Figure. 9,
or I make the bars of a semicircular form, and I also vary their arrangement,
as herein-beforė described.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in
which the same is to be performed, I. wish it to be understood that I do not
claim the conical chimney tops or the vertical partitions between the same, as
Letters Patent have already been granted to: me for these, nor do I claim the
use of such gratings before-mentioned when not applied to chimney tops or
ventilating flues; nor do I claim the scraper as herein-before described; nor
do I limit myself to the exact' manner as regards the details of carrying my
Invention into effect, as shown in the Drawing; but what I claim is,-
Firstly, the use of such gratings constructed in the manner as herein-
before described, when applied to the tops of chimnies and ventilating flues
generally..
:
Secondly, the use of such gratings constructed in the manner herein-before
described when applied to the tops of chimmies. and ventilating flues in con-
nection with the conical or pyramidal chimney tops and vertical partitious, as.
herein-before described.
Thirdly, the use-of such gratings -constructed in the manner herein-before

page_text: described when applied to the tops of chimnies and ventilating flues in com-
bination with the vertical partitions herein-before described, but without the
conical or pyramidal tops.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Billing, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Eleventh day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
JOHN BILLING. (L.s.)