Year: 1840

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Junius Smith, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention, and the
manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement thereof, reference being had to the
Drawing hereunto. annexed, and to the figures and letters marked thereon,
(that is to say)—
These improvements consist in a mode of supplying heated atmospheric air to
furnaces of every description by a new form of revolving blower, mounted in
a double box or case, which blower draws in the fresh air through openings in
the centres of the blower boxes, and forces the same by compression into the
ash-pit, which is closed air-tight, the fresh air being commingled with and
heated by the heat which would otherwise.escape with the unconsumed com-
bustible gases produced by the combustion of the fuel, which heat and gases
are not allowed to escape by the chimney or flue in the ordinary way, but instead
thereof are retained in a receptacle between the usual point of escape and the
top or back of the blower box, and being received thence by the blower, are
returned into the fire through the closed ash pit, the combustion of the fuel and
these returned gases being maintained by the fresh air supplied through the
centres of the blower boxes. The heavy and incombustible gases are allowed.
to descend by their own gravity into a receptacle in the outer box beneath the
blower, where the general compression operates in aid of the gravity to force
them through the interstices of a bed of sand, gravel, small pebbles, or any com-
pound of similar substances that will offer and maintain a resistance to the
internal pressure and yet allow these gases to escape by filtration into a chamber,
whence they are taken away by a pipe or channel in any convenient direction.
The form of blower intended to be generally used in these operations is equally
and advantageously available for furnaces of any description, whether working
so that the gases evolved by combustion escape into the atmosphere or not, and]
is herein-after described accordingly. By these combined operations the smoke
and combustible cases are all or nearly all consumed; no smoke or. sparks are
given off, no heat escapes, no chimney is needed to produce the draft required
for combustion, and a considerable saving of fuel is effected, as the heat and
combustible gases which are lost in and through the common.chimney are all
used within the furnace and flues, and a complete protection is afforded against
fire.
The mode of constructing and using the apparatus for producing these effects"
is now to be described, reference being had to the Drawings attached to and
making part of this Specification, wherein Figure 1 is a plan, Figure 2. a vertical
section of a common upright furnace, with this apparatus attached for use."

page_text: Figure 3 is a plan, and Figure 4 a vertical section, of a mode for fitting .the
apparatus to the furnace of a locomotive boiler, of which only the lower part of
the fire chamber is shewn. Figure 5 is an end elevation, and Figure 6, a
sectional elevation lengthwise, of a steamboat or stationary boiler with the
apparatus attached. But it is not intended by these representations to limit or
confine the mode or place for attaching the apparatus, as these must be varied
according to the local circumstances of any particular boiler intended to be fitted
therewith. The detached Figures are herein-after separately and consecutively
referred to and explained, and each letter of reference used applies to the same
parts in all the several Figures. A is a common vertical furnace or a boiler.
B is the fire.chamber. a, the fire bars. C, the ash pit, which is to be fitted and
enclosed in all cases air tight with doors 6. The fire doors c are made with an
outer flat surface, shutting tight and close on a projecting flanch all round the
opening, and the inner part or additional thickness of the door which goes
within the opening is made less than the opening, so as to leave a small channel
all round the opening for purposes hereafter explained. d, d, are the fire flues
or tubes through the boiler. D is the connexion from the fire flues to the outer
chamber of the blower E, which encloses the interior or blower chamber. e,fi
are the bearings for the blower shaft g; and h is the blower made with arms h',
formed either to carry common straight fans or fans set as in Figure 2, to force
the air and gases through straight and parallel canals, or with fans set at a
tangent to the centre air opening, or with curved fans. These 'two last forms are
shewn in the Figure 4 and the detached Figure 10; but any other form of fan
may be used that will answer the intended purpose, or a cylinder and piston
blower, or any other blowing apparatus, may be used; but the form of blower
herein described will generally be found preferable. In any form of rotary fans
the ends of the fans are to be enclosed by the metal disk or plate rings i, i, to
prevent any lateral escape, and thereby more effectually impel and compress the
current of commingled heated air and returning gases, which are prevented
from escaping out of the exterior case or chamber E by collar tubes k. These
are
to the atmosphere, and project from the inner edges of the disc plates i,
and their outer ends run, air-tight, in corresponding turned rings in the open-
ings in the chamber E. These collar tubes are shewn
Figures 1 and 2, and on both sides in Figures 3 and 4.
produced by combustion of the fuel are to be admitted
opening in the blower box e, in any convenient manner.
this are shewn in the Drawings; the first, in the detached
for use with a common fan blower, and represents a circular slot / in the side
of the-blower box e, which, when used, must be as near as possible at the point.
open
on one side only in.
The heat and gases
into the blower by an
Three modes of doing
Figure 7, is applicable

page_text: where the amount of pressure within the fans will be the same as the pressure
of the heat and gases within the outer chamber E, and the quantity of the gases
admitted is to be regulated by a sliding, valve cover over the opening 1, moved
by a handle going through the outer box Ẹ.
The second mode of admitting and regulating the quantity of the entering
gases is shewn in the detached Figure 9. In this the collar k is fixed in a neck
on the exterior box, and does not revolve with the blower, as in the other modes
described, and has, in any part, an opening a between the inner and outer boxes,
that is to be more or less.closed by a bent plate y, forming a circular slide or
valve to regulate the quantity of the gases admitted.
:
The third mode is shewn in Figure 3, where a small stationary collar is
shewn on one side as made conical, the smallest end inwards, within the running.
collar, k, leaving a space m between the collar tube k and the inner edge of the
disk or plate ring i, which will allow the entrance of the gases into the blower
at the part where they will be forced in by the general internal pressure in the
chamber E: The other collars may either be made to run the same, or be made.
tight as represented. The passage way n from the blower into the closed ash,
pit is shewn in Figure 2 as opening direct, and in Figures 3 and 4 as entering.
by a flat horizontal funnel or tube n³, extending to the further end of the ash pit,
and terminating in an opening n³ on each side of the tube n¹. In. Figures 5
and 6 the passage way from the blower to the ash pit is shewn as a descending.
flue. In Figure 4 the rib o, round the ash pit C, supports a plate p, between the
fire bars and the entering blast of hot air and gas. This plate p is perforated
full of small holes, and receiving the first pressure of the blast, disseminates it
equally against and through the under part of the fire. In the bottom of the
exterior box E is a box v, shewn separately in Figure 8, the top and bottom of
which are formed by a wire or metal grating, and the space within is filled with
small pebbles, fine gravel, coarse sand, or pummice stone pounded, or any similar
compound that will, in quantity or texture, or both, offer a partial resistance to
the internal, general, and equal pressure created by the action of the blower.
The uncombustible gases generally from burning fuel, being specifically heavier
than those which are combustible, will by their own gravity separate from the
others, and in the first instance lodge on the bed of sand or gravel, where the
compression created by the blower will operate in aid of their increased gravity.
to force such gases. through the sand or gravel into the space beneath, whence
they may be conveyed away in any convenient manner, as by the escape pipe u
shewn in Figure 2, or by the pipe u, Figures 5 and 6. In these last Figures
the bed of sand or gravel is shewn as under the exterior case E, and the
pressure and filtration from within is upwards through the gravel or sand into

page_text: the escape pipe u, as shewn in the detached Figure 11;-but the gravel bed may;
be placed below the blower box e, and the hot gases carried behind and beneath!
the gravel, s so that the lighter gases shall filter upwards into the inner box e,
leaving the heavier and incombustible gases to go off through a second filtering:
bed v', as shewii in section in the detached Figure 12. In Figure 5 the firė:
doors c are shown as of two thicknesses, as before noticed, the outer thickness;
fitting tight on a projecting flanch; the inner thickness does not quite fill the
aperture, but closes against an inner frame, and leaves a channel all round the
outer part. Into this arc two or more small pipes ¹ from the descending flue n;
and from this a small pipe z³ leads down, and turns into the ash pit. ..This con-
struction allows a portion of the heated air and gases to pass by the compression
through the doors and into the fire, which produces the effect of keeping the:
inner part of the doors cool by abstracting the heat. This mode of construc
tion is shewn in Figure 14. The exterior case E is not shewn in the Drawing
as surrounded with a water jacket, but it is intended to fit such an addition to
the apparatus, both for general safety and to form a heater from which the boiler.
may be supplied. In some situations the whole apparatus may be so arranged
as to be contained entirely within the boiler, and thus save heat and fuel, pre-
vent all-smoke, sparks, and dust, and be an entire protection against fire. The
general intent of these improvements, as thus far described, is to retain the
heat within the fire flues under compression, and thus obtain a more perfect and
equal distribution of the heat and ignition of the fuel, and. to return the heat
and gases into the fire through the closed ash pit, commingled with a supply of
fresh atmospheric àir, instead of the heat and gases being allowed to escape in
the ordinary mode through the chimney. It is, however, not intended to limit
the mode of using the apparatus to returning the heat and gases into the, fire,-
as the apparatus may be so constructed as to allow of these escaping through
the filtering bed, or the escape may be by a pipe and valve to regulate the
pressure, or by a pipe with a diminished opening, going off by any convenient,
channel. But in practice these modes will not be so.advantageous as returning,
the combustible gases through the blower, the operation of the blower remaining.
the same in producing an equal pressure within. the 'fire' way and flues, and.by,
that a more perfect ignition of the fuel, as in either of these two last modes, a
considerable portion of the heat passing through the outer box E surrounding,
the blower will be communicated by the metal to the fresh air passing in, which
will thus be supplied to the fire in a state' producing the same effect as any other
hot blast. Above the perforated plate p, Figure 4, is an apparatus for raking;
the fire bars, formed by two cross shafts 2, carrying each two small cranks.
These support a small frames, fitted with vertical teeth tt, so spaced as to pass;

page_text: upwards between the grate bars a, and rake the fuel up by an alternating motion;,
given by a crank.or, any other competent means applied to one end of the cross;
shafts q; outside the furnace.. In cases where a fuel feeder is required, it is,
intended to place a slide box where the fire doors are now usually placed, as
shewn in Figure 13, where a' is the slide box, open at the inner end, and having
a cover a² opening upwards against the boiler by hinges. This box encloses a,
tray a³, made to fit. close to the box a¹.. At the furnace end a handle a passes,
through the outer end of the box a¹.. The cover a being opened, the box is to.
be filled with fuel, and the cover closed.. The box is to be purshed in and turned.
so.as to empty the fuel.over the fire as required. When a feeder is not used,
it will be needful to interrupt the blast when the fuel is put in, and the Figures 1.
and 2 shew. a mode of doing this safely. w is a valve in the passage from the.
blower chamber to the ash pit on the outer end of the rod; carrying this valve
is a small crank w¹, shewn by dotted lines, connected to a vertical rod w². In.
the connecting pipe D is a second valve u³, connected by a crank w, shewn,
also by dotted lines, to the rod w³. A hanging link w³ connects the rod w to.
the cross lever w*. At the other end of this is a descending rod w³, fitted with
a shoulder to take the spring catch wo, which is operated on by the fire door
latch w'.. When the fire door is to be opened, the catch we will be disengaged,
the rod w³ will descend by its own weight and close the lower valve w, at the
same time dropping the valve w; this closes the pipe D, and opens the escape
pipe above, giving vent to the smoke and gas, and interrupting the operation of
the blower. When the fire is fed and the door is shut, the fireman draws down,
the rod ws, and hitches it to the latch w; this opens the lower valve w, and rises.
the upper valve w³, which opens the pipe D, and closes the escape pipe above;
this retains the smoke and gas, and the operation of the blower recommences..
Figure 15 is a plan, and Figure 16 a side sectional elevation, representing the.
mode of constructing the rotary blower for use in open furnaces without the
exterior case E, the other references all remaining the same as in the preceding
description, except that at 1 the joint between the collars le and the ring in the
sides may be covered by a metal flanch if the blower is used with a hot blast,.
or by a leather flanch ring if used to drive a common cold blast; either of these
will be useful to keep the joint. air. tight.. This mode is applicable to any kind.
of open furnace, and will give an equal continuous blast, of considerable pressure,.
which may be varied by changing the speed at which the blower is driven, and.
will be in proportion to the size of the blower, employed., In Figures 5 and 6,.
b is a damper in the descending flue n; b² is a damper in the connecting pipe D;.
b is a drum for. driving the blower; by a belt from the engine; is. a. damper,,
to shut the common chimney when the apparatus is attached to a boiler already.

page_text: so fitted. This shuts off the common escape, and fits the boiler for receiving;
the apparatus. It is not intended by anything herein, contained to limit.the.
particular form or arrangement of any or all of the respective parts herein.
described, but to vary these, according to circumstances, in any way substantially
the same, by which the whole or any part will be best adapted to the purposes.
intended, as herein set forth. What it is intended to claim as new is as
follows:-
First, the mode of constructing revolving blowers for any purpose, with the.
ring plates on discs i, i, forming enclosures to prevent lateral escape of the air,.
as shewn in Figures 15 and 16; and the combination of such discs with.fans,.
formed either as radiating from the centre in the common way, or with straight
rectangular fans, such fans forming parallel canals for the passage.of the air, as
shown in Figures 2 and 16, or with curved fans, as shewn in Figure 4, or.
tangential fan, as shown in Figures 10 and 12; these two last modes forming,
canals larger at the periphery, where the air is forced outwards, than when,
it enters the blower; substantially as such constructions and combinations are.
described.
Second, the mode of admitting the atmosphere into the centre of the blower.
and preventing the escape of the air from the air chamber e, by the collars k, k,
as shewn in Figures 15 and 16, whether the collars are fixtures to the blower:
case or made to revolve with the blower, having the outer ends to run in rings.
in the case of the blower, or with the two modes combined, as described, and
the combination of such mode of admitting and preventing the escape of, the.
air with the inclosed fans described in the. first claim, whether. the blower. be
used. with a hot or cold blast, substantially as the same are represented and.
described herein.
.
Third, the mode herein described of supplying hot air to any furnace by sur-
rounding the inner case of the blower with an exterior chamber E, into which.
the hot. and, unconsumed. gaseous products of combustion from the fuel are. to.
be, received through the fire flues, to heat the air passing through the blower. e,.
and combining with such outer chamber E an ash pit, tightly closed, through:
which the hot air blast is to be forced into and through the fire and flue ways,,
when such hot air blast is used with an open chimney, or with any common escape.
for the smoke and gas beyond the chamber E, substantially as the, same are
herein described.
Fourth,,the, mode herein. described of obtaining compression within the fire.
and flue ways, and thereby, creating a more effective ignition and action of the.
fuel and combustible gases within the flues, by interposing a bed of sand, gravel,
pebbles, or any proper compound which will offer a partial, resistance. to and

page_text: filter the compressed and escaping" gasès, such bed being between the fire and
the common chimney or final escape of the gases, and such bed of any proper
compound being used in combination with a blower within an exterior heated:
chamber, and forcing the fresh and heated air into a closed ash pit, and into and
through the fire and flue ways, substantially as such mode and combination is
herein described.
;
Fifth, the mode hercin described of separating the heavy incombustible griseous
products of combustion from the lighter and combustible gases, by the direct
gravity and the compression created by the blower in the flue ways and chamber.E,
acting downwards within the exteriör chamber E of the blower e shewn in the
Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4; substantially as the same is represented and described: -
Sixth, the mode herein described of separating the heavy and incombustible'
gaseous products of combustion from the 'lighter and combustible gases, by the
change of temperature and their own gravity, and causing these heavy gases to
accumulate in the lower part of the chamber E, whence the compression created.
by the blower' forces them to filtrate upwards, and escape through the filtering
bed, as shewn in the Figures 5, 6, and 11, substantially as the same are repre-'
sented and described
:
Seventh, the several modes herein described of separating the heavy'incom-
bustible products of combustion from the lighter and combustible gases, or any
mode of obtaining compression; separation, and filtration of the gases, by the
interposition of porous substances, which shall be substantially the same
as any of the foregoing modes in the means employed or the effects produced...
Eighth, the modes described of admitting any portion of the hot and com-
bustible gaseous products of combustion from the outer chamber E into the
inner blower case e, at any point in the inner case e, where the hot gas will be forced
into the blower box e by the general compression created by the blower within
the chamber E, such hot gas being commingled with the fresh air in the blower,
and forced into the fire, substantially as herein described; or any mode of admitting
the hot and unconsumed combustible gaseous products of combustion into the
blower case e, and commingling the same with the fresh air entering, by the
blower to support combustion, which shall be substantially the same as herein
set forth in the means employed or the ends produced.
Ninth, the combination of a closed ash pit with the blower, and with all or any
of the before-described means of obtaining compression, separation, and filtra
tion of the gases evolved by combustion of the fuel, by the bed of sand or porous
substances, or any compound that will produce the required effect, and the com-
bination of these with the means described and claimed for forcing any portion'
of the unconsumed combustible gases into the blower, and commingling the same-

page_text: with the fresh and heated air forced in by the blower to support the combus-
tion of the fuel, substantially as such. combinations are; herein. described and
set forth.
...Tenth, the mode of introducing the blast into the closed, ash pit by the tube n',
combined with the perforated plate p, to spread and distribute the blast equally,
under and through the fire, and the combination of these parts with the parts,
before described and claimed, substantially as the same are herein described.
..
Eleventh, the mode described of råking the fire bars by an alternating motion
given to the shafts q, cranks r, frames, and teeth t, t, as shewn in Figure 4,
and the combination-thereof.with the other parts herein set forth,- substantially
as such mode and combination is herein described.
Twelfth, the mode described of feeding the fire with fuel by the slide box a',
cover a fuel tray a³, and handle a', shewn in Figure 13, and the combination
thereof with the other parts, substantially as such mode and combination are
herein described.
Thirteenth, the mode of constructing and fitting the fire doors and frames
tight, with an internal channel between the inner thickness of the doors and the
frames, and a pipe or pipes z¹, entering from the blast pipe n, and a pipe or
pipes, passing from the lower part of the doors and frames into the closed ash
pit, as shewn in Figures 5 and 14, to keep the doors cool by the circulation of
the blast abstracting the heat from the inner thickness of the doors, and the com-
bination of these parts with all or any of the other parts herein-before described,
substantially as such mode of construction and combination is herein set forth.
Fourteenth, the surrounding the outer chamber E of the blower case with a
water jacket, and applying such water jacket to serve as a heater of water to the
boiler, in combination with the other parts herein described.
7
Fifteenth, the mode of interrupting the blast, to feed the fire at the doors, when
a fuel feeder is not used, by the valves w and w³, cranks w¹ and w³, rods w³ and w³,
link w³, cross lever w*, spring catch w, and latch w", as shewn in Figure 2, and
the combination of these parts with the others, substantially as such mode and
combination is herein described and set forth.
the
Sixteenth, the construction, arrangement, and combination of each and all
parts herein described with each other, where such construction, arrange-
ment, and combination, all or any thereof, are applied to the purposes of
economizing heat and saving fuel, substantially as the same are herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Junius Smith, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-fifth day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and forty-one.
JUNIUS (L.S.) SMITH.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Twenty-fifth day of May, in
the year of our Lord 1841, the aforesaid Junius Smith, Esquire, came before
our said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification
aforesaid, and all and everything therein contained and specified, in form above
written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the
tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Inrolled the Twenty-fifth day of May, in the year of our Lord One thou-
sand eight hundred and forty-one.