Improvements in Apparatus for Ensuring Perfect Combustion and Preventing Smoke in Furnaces, more especially applicable to Boilers of Locomotive Type.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 13th Sept., 1893
Complete Specification Left, 13th June, 1894-Accepted, 4th Aug., 1894
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Apparatus for Ensuring Perfect Combustion and
Preventing Smoke in Furnaces, more especially applicable to
Boilers of Locomotive Type.
I, EDWIN FAULKNER PADDON, of 36, Walbrook, in the City of London'
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
My invention relates to furnaces, and more especially to the furnaces or fireboxes
of boilers of the well-known locomotive type, and it has for its objects novel
methods of construction of the firegrate and of the parts supplying air to the fuel
by which more perfect combustion of the latter is attained, and the firebars can
be easily and quickly cleaned and the clinker formed upon them removed, and the
fire can when required be entirely withdrawn and removed.
Assuming that my invention is to be applied to an ordinary locomotive boiler
having a square firebox at the open bottom of which the firebars are arranged,
I prefer to use firebars of the kind described in the Specification of Letters Patent
No. 3663 A.D. 1881, in which the firebars are arranged transversely across the
firebox and are provided with pivots at their ends capable of oscillating or turning
in notches or bearings in side frames, each bar being provided with projections
entering freely into the spaces or recesses between the projections of the adjoining
bars, and all the bars being connected by a link or links by which they can be
made to oscillate upon their centres, angled plates or feathers being moreover
formed upon or attached to the lower side of the bars by which the air space
between the latter is more or less opened or closed and regulated when the bars are
made to oscillate by means of a suitable lever or handle.
By my present invention I make the frame in which the ends or pivots of the
bars oscillate as described capable itself of oscillating upon transverse pivots at or
near the centre of its length from back to front, these pivots turning in bearings or
recesses in fixed supports carried by and attached to the lower edge of the firebox.
This oscillating frame carrying the firebars is provided with a lever and connecting
link actuated preferably by a screwed bar passing through a nut in a hand wheel
turning in suitable bearings arranged in a convenient position near the firedoor of
the furnace, the lower end of the screwed bar being preferably jointed to one arm
of a bell crank turning upon a fixed centre and having its outer arm jointed to
the connecting link which actuates the oscillating frame. The bars themselves are
made to oscillate or turn simultaneously upon their several centres (in the way
described in the Specification of the said Letters Patent already referred to) by
means of a lever situated near the hand wheel already described, which lever
operates the bars by means of a bell crank turning upon a centre in a line or nearly
so with that of the bell crank first described. By this method of arrangement the
movement by means of the hand wheel of the frame carrying the bars will not
injuriously interfere with the simultaneous rocking of the firebars upon their
several centres.
When it is desired to clear the firebars and to break up the clinker upon them,
or to regulate the air space between the angled plates below them, the lever is
moved backward and forward so as to oscillate the bars upon their centres. When
it is required to remove and discharge the clinker from the fire grate, or to draw
and discharge the fire, the frame carrying the bars is made by means of the hand
wheel to turn or cant upon its side pivots, its front end being lowered and the fuel
being discharged into the ashpan or pit below.
Simultaneously with this the lever may be worked to oscillate the bars upon their

page_text: several pivots and so facilitate the discharge and the proper cleaning of the fire
grate, which can then be returned to its normal position.
It is evident that the oscillating frame may be made to carry any other kind of
rocking bars, or it may carry fixed bars of any of the ordinary kinds, the frame
which carries them being alone made to oscillate. In order to provide for admission
of air above the fuel, so as to ensure perfect combustion and to prevent smoke, I
leave a space between the forward end of the frame which carries the bars and the
inner or tube plate end of the firebox, and in this space I arrange and fix a vertical
passage open below, preferably of cast iron, which after rising above the top of
the fire is curved over and directed backward (or away from the tube plate).
The outer end of this passage is directed preferably slightly upward and for a
sufficient distance over the fire, so that it forms a kind of firebridge round and
over which the flame and products of combustion have to pass on their way to the
tubes, meeting as they pass round its open end, a current of air which rises up
through the open lower end of the passage and after being beated as it passes is
discharged through the front open end above the fire. The passage described is
preferably coated with fireclay or other material sufficiently refractory to heat,
and may be made tapering in cross section, its upper open end being of less
sectional area than its lower open end, which may be provided with a moveable
door or damper by which the admission of the air can be regulated and adjusted,
and by which a part of the air entering the ashpit is deflected into the lower open
end of the chamber.
Instead of a single passage as described, two or more may be used, or it may be
made in the form of a series of pipes arranged side by side across the firebox and
these pipes may be circular, elliptical, rectangular, or of other desired shape in
cross section.
They are preferably either wholly or in part enclosed in fireclay as already
described.
The inner or discharge end of the passage or pipes may be serrated or toothed
to facilitate the more perfect distribution and mixing of the issuing air with the
products of combustion.
By my invention the firegrate of the furnace is readily and quickly cleaned or
the fire withdrawn, and the admission of air both below the grate and above the
burning fuel is provided for and is easily adjusted whilst the apparatus is simple,
effective, and not liable to get out of order.
I do not confine myself to the exact details of construction, or of the form and
proportions of the several parts, which may be varied more or less as may be
found advisable, and to suit different circumstances.
Dated this 13th day of September 1893.
EDWARDS & Co.,
35, Southampton Buildings, London, Agents for the Applicant.
COMPLETE
SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Apparatus for Ensuring Perfect Combustion and
Preventing Smoke in Furnaces, more especially applicable to
Boilers of Locomotive Type.
I, EDWIN FAULKNER PADDON, of 36, Walbrook, in the City of London,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement, and accompanying drawings that is to say:-
My invention relates to furnaces, and more especially to the furnaces or fireboxes
of boilers of the well-known locomotive type, and it has for its objects novel
.methods of construction of the fire-grate and of the parts supplying air to the fuel,

page_text: by which more perfect combustion of the latter is attained, and the firebars can be.
easily and quickly cleaned and the clinker formed upon them removed, and the fire..
can when required be entirely withdrawu and removed.
The accompanying drawings are in illustration of my invention.
Figure 1 is a longitudinal section through the firebox of a boiler of the ordinary
locomotive type fitted with firebars of the usual kind, and Figure 2 is a transverse
section through the same.
Figure 3 is a longitudinal section through a similar firebox fitted with oscillating
or rocking firebars, and
Figure 4 is a similar section shewing the frame carrying the firebars tilted or
inclined upon its pivots.
Figure 5 is a longitudinal section through the firebox of the boiler of a
locomotive engine, and
Figures 6 and 7 are detailed views shewing the air passages separately.
The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in the different figures.
Assuming that my invention is to be applied (as illustrated in Figures 1 and 2),
to an ordinary locomotive boiler having a square firebox a, at the open bottom of
which the firebars of the ordinary kind are arranged, I fit these bars in a
rectangular frame c, of sufficient strength, which frame is capable of oscillating
upon pivots d, d', in or carried by the sides of the firebox near its lower edge.
This frame c, together with the firebars b carried by it, is shewn oscillated or canted
in dotted lines in Figure 1, for which purpose a lever e is attached to the frame c
and is operated by means of a lever, or by a screw and wheel or other equivalent
means, situated in a convenient position to be worked by an attendant.
Instead of the ordinary bars b, as shewn in Figures 1 and 2, I prefer, however,
to use firebars of the kind described in the Specification of Letters Patent,
No. 3663, A.D. 1881, as illustrated in Figures 3 and 4, in which the firebars bare
arranged transversely across the firebox, and are provided with pivots at their ends
capable of oscillating or turning in notches or bearings in the sides of the frames f,
each bar being provided with projections g, entering freely into the spaces or
recesses between the projections of the adjoining bars, and all the bars being
connected by a link or links h by which they can be made to oscillate upon their
centres, angle plates or feathers i being, moreover, formed upon or attached to the
lower side of the bars by which the air space between the latter is more or less
opened or closed and regulated, when the bars are made to oscillate by means of a
suitable lever or handle, (as shewn at k in Figure 5).
in
By my present invention, I make the frame in which the ends or pivots of the
bars oscillate as described, capable itself of oscillating to any desired angle of
inclination, upon transverse pivots d'at or near the centre of its length from back
to front, these pivots turning in bearings or recesses in fixed supports, carried by,
and attached to, the lower edge of the firebox. This oscillating frame carrying
the firebars is provided with a lever e, and connecting link 1, which may be actuated
any convenient way in order to oscillate or tilt the frame fas shewn in Figure 4.
For instance, (as illustrated in Figure 5), by a screwed bar m passing through a nut
in a hand wheel n turning in suitable bearings, arranged in a convenient position
near the fire-door of the furnace, the lower end of the screwed bar being jointed
to one arm of a bell-crank o, turning upon a fixed centre, and having its outer arm
jointed to the connecting link which actuates the oscillating frame f. The bars
themselves are made to oscillate or turn simultaneously upon their several centres
as already described, (in the way described in the Specification of the said Letters
Patent already referred to), by means of a lever k situated in a convenient position,
which lever operates the bars by means of a connecting link p. The movement
of the frame f carrying the bars will not injuriously interfere with the
simultaneous rocking, if desired, of the firebars upon their several centres, in the
said frame.
When it is desired to clear the firebars, and to brake up the clinker upon them,
or to regulate the air space between the angled plates below them, the lever it is

page_text: When
moved backward and forward so as to oscillate the bars upon their centres.
it is required to remove and discharge the clinker from the firegrate or bars, or to
draw and discharge the fire, the frame f carrying the bars is made to turn or cant
to any desired angle of inclination, upon its side pivots d, (as shewn in Figure 4),
its front end being lowered, and the fuel being discharged into the ash-pan or pit
below.
Simultaneously with this, the lever k may be worked to oscillate the bars upon
their several pivots, and so facilitate the discharge and the proper cleaning of the
firegrate, which can then be returned to its normal position. E is a stop which
.determines the proper position of the frame when raised.
It is evident that the oscillating frame may be made to carry any other kind of
rocking or other firebars, instead of those described and shewn.
In order to provide for the admission of air above the fuel, so as to ensure
perfect combustion and to prevent smoke, I leave a space between the forward end
of the frame which carries the bars, and the inner or tube-plate end r of the fire-
box, and in this space I arrange and fix a vertical passage open below, preferably
of cast iron, which, after rising above the top of the fire, has its open end
directed backward (or away from the tube plate, as shewn in the several figures).
The outer end of this passages is directed preferably slightly upward and for a
sufficient distance over the fire, so that it forms a kind of firebridge (which may
be curved or arched, as shewn in Figure 2), round and over which the flames and
products of combustion have to pass on their way to the tubes t, meeting as they
pass round its open end, a current of air which rises up through the lower open end
of the passages, and after being heated as it passes, is discharged through the
front open end above the fire. The passage described may be coated with fireclay
at u, or other material sufficiently refractory to heat, and may be made tapering in
cross section as shewn, its upper open end being of less sectional area than its
lower open end, which is provided with a moveable door or damper ", by which the
admission of the air can be regulated and adjusted, and by which a part of the air
entering the ashpit is deflected into the lower open end of the chamber a.
The passages may be made in the form of a series of pipes arranged side by
side across the firebox (as shewn separately in Figure 6), and these pipes may be
circular, elliptical, rectangular, or of other desired shape in cross section.
They may be either wholly or in part enclosed in fireclay, as already described.
Or they may be used in combination with the firebrick arch used in locomotive
fireboxes, as shewn at w in Figure 5.
The inner or discharge end of the passage or pipes may be serrated or toothed
as shewn at in Figures 1 and 2, to facilitate the more perfect distribution and
mixing of the issuing air with the products of combustion.
vare
As illustrated in Figure 5, which shews the boiler of a locomotive engine, air
chambers s, s', of the kind described, may be used both at the front and back ends
of the firebox a, that being used when the engine is running backward. The
arrangement of the oscillating firebars, and of the tilting frame which carries
them, is similar to that already described, and moveable doors or dampers v,
used for closing or regulating the admission of air to the bottom open ends of the
passages, s', and for directing the air into the latter, whilst similar moveable
doors or dampers y, y', are fitted to the open front and back of the ashpan z, and
are regulated and adjusted by connecting rods and handles in the usual way, as
illustrated. When the engine is running forward, the doors v and y are opened,
and and y', closed, whilst when it is running backward, the doors and y are
closed, and v' and y², opened.
In Figures 6 and 7, the passages & are shewn made in several parts, arranged
side by side, and fitting into a lower chest or support A, which is fixed in the
bottom of the firebox. By this method of arrangement, any of the separate
passages s can be easily removed or replaced when necessary, to facilitate which,
the centre of the front of the chest A may also be made removeable at C, and

page_text: when removed, either of the passages can be easily removed by drawing it.
forward.
The edges of the discharge openings for the air are shewn notched at D, to.
facilitate the lateral distribution of the air.
By my invention, the firegrate of the furnace is readily and quickly cleaned, or
the fire withdrawn, and the admission of air, both below the grate, and above the
burning fuel, is provided for and is easily adjusted, whilst the apparatus is simple,
effective, and not liable to get out of order.
I do not confine myself to the exact details of construction, or of the forms and
proportions of the several parts, which may be varied more or less, as may be
found advisable, and to suit different circumstances, but
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said.
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is :-
1. In furnaces, the frame c, carrying suitable firebars b, and turning upon
centres d, in combination with a lever e, and means whereby the frame c can be
inclined or canted when desired, substantially as, and for the purposes described,.
and illustrated in Figures 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5, of the accompanying drawings.
2. In furnaces, the air passages, through which air is admitted at its lower open
end, whilst its upper end is inclined over the fire, in combination with a regulating
valve substantially as and for the purpose described, and illustrated
Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 8, of the accompanying drawings.
in
3. In the furnaces of locomotive engines, the use of two air passages, s, s, such
as that described in Claim 2, at the front and back of the furnace respectively, in
combination with regulating valves vo', substantially as described, and illustrated
in Figure 5.
4. The adjustable doors v, by which the admission of air to the lower ends of
the passages s, can be induced or regulated or stopped, substantially as described,
and illustrated in Figures 1, 3 and 5.
5. The method of making the inner open end of the air passages, serrated or
notched, substantially as and for the purpose described, and illustrated in Figures 1
and 2.
6. The method of making the air passage s, in two or more separate noveable.
parts, their lower ends fitting into a fixed chest or support A, substantially as and
for the purpose described, and illustrated in Figures 5, 6, 7, and 8.
7. In the arrangement described and claimed in Claim 6, the notches D, in the
edges of the inner open ends of the passages s, substantially as and for the
purpose described, and illustrated in Figures 5, 6, 7, and 8.
8. In the arrangement described and claimed in Claim 3, for the furnaces of
locomotive engines, in combination with such arrangement, the adjustable doors y, y'..
at the front and back of the ash-pan, substantially as and for the purpose
described, and illustrated.
9. In furnaces, the combination of pivotted frames carrying suitable firebars in
such manner that they can be inclined or canted when desired, with the air-
passages ³, all arranged and operating substantially as described and illustrated.
Dated this 13th day of June 1894.
EDWARDS & Co.,
65 & 66, Chancery Lane, London, Agents for the Applicant..