IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR STOVING OR HEATING TOBACCO
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Richard Edward Donovan, of Ashgrove House,
Upper Rathmines, in the County of Dublin, Ireland, for the In-
vention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR STOVING OR HEATING
TOBACCO."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Richard Edward
Donovan at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 26th April 1873.
:
I, RICHARD EDWARD DONOVAN, of Ashgrove House, Upper Rath-
mines, in the County of Dublin, Ireland, do hereby declare the nature
of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR STOVING OR
HEATING TOBACCo," to be as follows:-
In the Specification of a Patent granted to Robert James Goodbody,
and to me, the said Richard Edward Donovan, dated the 1st March
1869, No. 620, were described a method of and apparatus for heating
and compressing tobacco in tubes placed in a close casing or jacket
supplied with steam or other heated fluid.

page_text: For working in the manner described in that Specification a separate
boiler is necessary for generating the steam or heating the fluid supplied
to the jacket, and for the high temperature often required. The арра-
ratus, in order to withstand the pressure of hot steam has to be of
considerable strength to be tight and consequently costly.
My present Invention relates to apparatus for the purpose of heating
or stoving tobacco in tubes or cylinders without the necessity for a
separate boiler, or for such strength or tightness of parts as is
requisite when a close jacket is employed. For this purpose I adopt
the following method for heating the tubes or cylinders containing
the tobacco to be operated on. I place any convenient number of
these tubes or cylinders in a pan or open vessel, and surround them
with a liquid. Under this pan I place a furnace and flues which
directly heat the liquid in the pan, and the heat thus imparted to
the liquid is by it conveyed to the tubes or cylinders immersed in it.
When a moderate heat is required the liquid used may be water.
For greater heats may be employed oil or a solution of chloride of
calcium or other salt, or other liquid or saline solution, which can be
heated to a temperature considerably above that of boiling water.
According to the above-described arrangement the tubes or cylinders
are most conveniently placed vertically in the pan, and are. lifted into
or removed from the same by a crane or suitable tackle mounted above
the pan, and this crane or tackle may be placed in a central position
so as to command all the tubes or cylinders arranged around the centre
of the pan.
In order to avoid the necessity for lifting the tubes or cylinders
to such a height as is required for a pan arranged as above described,
and in order to expose them in a horizontal attitude and equably
round their peripheries to the required heat, I adopt the following.
arrangement:-Above a furnace I provide two lines of rails within
an expanded horizontal portion of the flue leading from the furnace.
On these rails I place the tubes or cylinders in a horizontal position™
so that they can roll along the rails. I cause them to roll slowly
along by means of a, travelling endless chain at either side of the:
flue having at intervals bearings in which trunnions projecting. from
the ends of the cylinders or tubes are inserted. The length of chain:
from bearing to bearing is made such as to keep the cylinders or tubes
4

page_text: apart, so that they do not rub against each other, and that space is
provided for the hot products of combustion from the furnace to pass
between them.
Instead of using endless chains as above described two screws may
5 be employed revolving one at either side of the flue, and the trunnions
of the tubes or cylinders may be laid in the hollows between the
projecting threads of these screws, so that as the screws revolve the
cylinders or tubes are made to advance slowly along the flue. Or
instead of making the flue and rails horizontal, and employing power
to advance the cylinders or tubes, the flue and rails may be inclined
to such an extent that the tubes or cylinders will roll down the incline,
so that as one of them is removed at the lower end, the others follow
down the incline, and a fresh tube or cylinder is introduced at the top
of the incline.
To prevent the tubes or cylinders coming close together when this
plan is adopted, I prefer to mount loosely on each end of each tube
or cylinder a wheel of somewhat larger diameter than the tube or
cylinder itself. The wheels of two contiguous tubes or cylinders being
in contact the peripheries of the tubes or cylinders themselves are thus
kept apart.
. The opening from the furnace to the flue in which the tubes or
cylinders are made to roll may be of limited width, so that each tube
or cylinder shall be exposed to the direct action of the fire only during
the time occupied in its transit across such opening.
Also, the fire may be entirely closed over by a metal or other plate
so that the flue becomes an oven heated by radiation from such plate or
covering.
And further, when the flue or oven is made with a flat bottom the
rails may be dispensed with, the tubes or cylinders rolling along the
bottom or floor.
Also, instead of causing a number of such tubes or cylinders to travel
along a fluc, one or more such cylinders may be supported in fixed
bearings above the fire, and be rotated by hand or by gearing, without

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Richard Edward Donovan in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 23rd October 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, RICHARD
EDWARD DONOVAN, of Ashgrove House, Upper Rathmines, in the
County of Dublin, Ireland, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters.
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-sixth 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 Richard Edward Donovan, Her special license-
that I, the said Richard Edward Donovan, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said Richard Edward Donovan,
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 "Im-.
PROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR STOVING OR HEATING TOBACCO," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Richard Edward Donovan,
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 Richard Edward Donovan, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement thereof, reference being had to the
accompany Sheet of Drawings, and to the letters and figures marked
thereon, that is to say :-
In the Specification of a Patent granted to Robert James Goodbody,
and to me, the said Richard Edward Donovan, dated 1st March 1869,
No. 620, were described a method of and apparatus for heating and
از

page_text: compressing tobacco in tubes placed in a close casing or jacket supplied
with steam or other heated fluid.
For working in the manner described in that Specification a separate
boiler is necessary for generating the steam or heating the fluid supplied
to the jacket, and for the high temperature often required the appa-
ratus, in order to withstand the pressure of hot steam, has to be of
considerable strength to be tight, and is consequently costly.
My present Invention relates to apparatus for the purpose of heating
or stoving tobacco in tubes or cylinders without the necessity for a
separate boiler, or for such strength or tightness of parts as is
requisite when a close jacket is employed. For this purpose I adopt
the following method for heating the tubes or cylinders containing
the tobacco to be operated on :-I place any convenient number of
these tubes or cylinders in a pan or open vessel and surround them
with a liquid. Under this pan I place a furnace and flues which
directly heat the liquid in the pan, and the heat thus imparted to
the liquid is by it conveyed to the tubes or cylinders immersed in it.
When a moderate heat is required the liquid used may be water.
For greater heats may be employed oil or a solution of chloride of
calcium or other salt or other liquid, or saline solution which can be
heated to a temperature considerably above that of boiling water.
י
:
According to the above-described arrangement the tubes or cylinders
are most conveniently placed vertically in the pan; and are lifted into
or removed from the same by a crane or suitable tackle mounted above
the pan, and this cranc or tackle may be placed in a central position
so as to command all the tubes or cylinders arranged around the centro
of the pan.
In order to avoid the necessity for lifting the tubes or cylinders
to such a height as is required for a pan arranged as above described,..
and in order to expose them in a horizontal attitude and equally
round their peripheries to the required heat, I adopt the following
arrangement :-Above a furnace I provide two lines of rails within.
an expanded horizontal portion of the flue leading from the furnace.
On these rails I place the tubes or cylinders in a horizontal position
so that they can roll along the rails. I cause them to roll slowly
along by means of a travelling endless chain at either side of the
flue having at intervals bearings in which trunnions projecting from
:
i

page_text: the ends of the cylinders or tubes are inserted. The length of chain
from bearing to bearing is made such as to keep the cylinders or tubes
apart so that they do not rub against each other, and that space is
provided for the hot products of combustion from the furnace to pass
between them.
Instead of using endless chains as above described two screws may
be employed revolving one at either side of the flue, and the trunnions
of the tubes or cylinders may be laid in the hollows between the
projecting threads of these screws, so that as the screws revolve the
cylinders or tubes are made to advance slowly along the flue. Or
instead of making the flue and rails horizontal, and employing power
to advance the cylinders or tubes, the flue and rails may be inclined
to such an extent that the tubes or cylinders will roll down the incline,
so that as one of them is removed at the lower end the others follow
down the incline, and a fresh tube or cylinder is introduced at the top
of the incline.
To prevent the tubes or cylinders coming close together when this
plan is adopted, I prefer to mount loosely on each end of each tube
or cylinder a wheel of somewhat larger diameter than the tube or
cylinder itself. The wheels of the two contiguous tubes or cylinders
being in contact, the peripheries of the tubes or cylinders themselves
are thus kept apart.
The opening from the furnace to the flue in which the tubes or
cylinders are made to roll may be of limited width, so that each tube
or cylinder shall be exposed to the direct action of the fire only during
the time occupied in its transit across such opening.
Also the fire may be entirely closed over by a metal or other plate
so that the flue becomes an oven heated by radiation from such plate or
covering.
And further when the flue or oven is made with a flat bottom the
rails may be dispensed with, the tubes or cylinders rolling along the
bottom or floor.
Also instead of causing a number of such tubes or cylinders to travel
along a flue, one or more such cylinders may be supported in fixed
bearings above the fire, and be rotated by hand or by gearing, without
being made to travel along a flue.

page_text: DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Fig. 1 represents a section of a pan for heating or stoving tobacco
by immersing the cylinders containing it in hot liquid. A, A, are
two of the cylinders charged with tobacco; B is the pan heated by a
furnace C and flue D, and charged with water, oil, or a solution of
chloride of calcium, or other salt; E is a jib crane by which the
several cylinders can be conveniently raised to be placed into the pan
or removed from it; or the cylinders may be stationary in the pan,
the tobacco being charged into them and raised out of them.
The pan B instead of being placed over a furnace to receive its
direct heat may be made with a jacket, which can be charged with
steam from a boiler, or the liquid in the pan may be heated by steam
blown through it.
Fig. 2 represents a longitudinal, and Fig. 3 a transverse section
of one of the arrangements above described for subjecting the cylinders
containing tobacco to heat in a flue. A¹, A², &c., are the cylinders
which are placed on rails a, a, in an inclined flue. Each of the
cylinders A is provided at its ends with trunnions on which aro
placed loose wheels F somewhat larger in diameter than the cylinders
themselves; these wheels meeting each other serve to keep the
cylinders apart, so that the products of combustion in the flue can
freely circulate round them; C is the furnace, and G is the chimney,
the draught of which may be regulated by a damper. Each end of.
the flue is contracted so as nearly to fit the cylinder, and so to prevent
leakage to or from the flue.
In operating with this apparatus the last of the cylinders A' being
removed all the others roll down the inclined rails till the last cylinder
left, namely A, takes the place of A', and room is left at the other end.
of the flue for the introduction of a fresh cylinder A¹.
Instead of making the flue inclined so that the cylinders may be
advanced at intervals, as above described, the flue may be made level,
and the cylinders may be continuously advanced by screws or chains,
as shewn in Figs. 4 and 5.
In Fig. 4 A, A, A, represent three of the cylinders, at each end
of which is mounted a screw H having a thread rounded in its hollow

page_text: parts. The trunnions at the ends of the cylinders are laid into the
hollows of the threads of the screws H, and as the screws are rotated
all the cylinders are advanced preserving their relative distances.
In Fig. 5 pitch chains K are applied instead of screws, these chains
being made with forked bearings to receive the trunnions of the
cylinders A.
In cases where the screws or chains are employed the distance
wheels F, shewn in Figs. 2 and 3, are unnecessary, as the distances
of the cylinders from each other are determined by the bearing of
their trunnions in the hollows of the screws or forks of the chain
links.
Fig. 6 represents a longitudinal section of a tobacco stoving appa-
ratus in which the movement of the cylinders is effected by hand.
A, A, are the cylinders charged with tobacco occupying two storeys
of flues, and made to run therein on rails a, a. Both flucs are pro-
vided with side doors at L', L, L³, and L', by which the cylinders
can be introduced and withdrawn, which is effected most conveniently
by lodging them on trucks that can be moved transversely to the flue
in a manner similar to that in which railway carriages are transferred
from one line of rails to another; such trucks are shown in end view
at M¹ and M². At each end of cach cylinder there is a trunnion
over which is laid a frame N having a forked bearing for the reception
of the trunnion, and these frames are made to hook to each other
so as to connect the several cylinders at certain distances apart. The
frames N are also provided with feet n to keep them in a horizontal
position.
.
.
The first of the trucks M¹ may have on it rollers m on which the
cylinder rests. After the truck M₁ carrying the cylinder has been
introduced immediately above the fire the cylinder can be rotated by
turning those rollers for such time as may be desired.
In operating with this apparatus the last cylinder A* is withdrawn
by the side door IA, and all the upper row of cylinders is pushed
one space to the left. The last cylinder A² of the lower row is then
withdrawn and introduced to take the place of A³ in the upper row,
the cylinders of the lower row being then advanced one space to the
right, whereupon a fresh cylinder is introduced in the place of A¹.

page_text: Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I claim,—-
First. The use, for heating or stoving tobacco, of apparatus wherein
the cylinders containing the tobacco are immersed in a heated liquid
contained in a pan, substantially as herein described.
Second. The use, for heating or stoving tobacco, of apparatus wherein
the cylinders containing the tobacco are caused to travel along a flue
or oven exposed to the heat of products of combustion from a furnace,
substantially as herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Richard Edward Donovan, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this 18th day of October, in
the year our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
three.
RICHARD E. DONOVAN. (L.S.)