IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF دو PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Fletcher, of Heywood, in the County of
Lancaster, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF
دو
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Fletcher at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
5th April 1869.
I, JOHN FLETCHER, of Heywood, in the County of Lancaster,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF FIRE-BARS TO BE EMPLOYED IN FURNACES," to be as
follows:-
My Invention is applicable to the furnaces used in connection with
steam boilers and for other purposes, and the object of the said Invention
is to improve the combustion of the fuel employed and to consume or
prevent the formation of smoke.
The Invention consists in the use or employment of one or more fire-
bars raised above the level of the rest and perforated with air holes so as

page_text: to admit a supply of heated atmospheric air into the centre of the fire
or fuel, and by the use of this Invention the combustion of the fuel will
be greatly improved and the smoke consumed or its formation entirely
prevented, and hence a considerable economy in the working of the
furnace effected.
It will be evident that the number of these raised perforated fire-bars
employed may be varied to suit the nature of the fuel to be consumed
in the furnace, and the form of their transverse section may also be
varied, but for general purposes I prefer to use one central raised bar of
the form of an ordinary ridging tile (or an inverted V shape) perforated
on both its sloping sides, and a similar bar at each side of the furnace
perforated on the inner sloping side only, or if preferred the transverse
section of the central perforated fire-bar may be a semicircle and that
of the side bars a quadrant or arc of ninety degrees.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Fletcher in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 5th October 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
FLETCHER, of Heywood, in the County of Lancaster, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fifth day of April, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the thirty-
second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said John Fletcher, Her special license that I,
the said John Fletcher, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said John Fletcher, 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 THE CONSTRUCTION
OF FIRE-BARS TO BE EMPLOYED IN FURNACES," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said John Fletcher, my executors or administrators,
by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands

page_text: 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 Fletcher, 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 and accompanying Drawings (that is to say) :-
My Invention is applicable to the furnaces used in connection with
steam boilers and for other purposes, and the object of the said Invention
is to improve the combustion of the fuel employed and to consume or
prevent the formation of smoke.
The Invention consists in the use or employment of one or more fire-
bars raised above the level of the rest and perforated with air holes so as
to form a perforated air chamber or channel and to admit a supply of
heated atmospheric air into the centre of the fire or fuel, and by the use
of this Invention the combustion of the fuel will be greatly improved
and the smoke consumed or its formation entirely prevented, and hence a
considerable economy in the working of the furnace effected.
It will be evident that the number of these raised perforated fire-bars
employed may be varied to suit the nature of the fuel to be consumed in
the furnace, and the form of their transverse section may also be varied,
but for general purposes I prefer to use one central raised bar of the form
of an ordinary ridging tile (or an inverted V shape) perforated on both
its sloping sides either with or without a similar bar at each side of the
furnace perforated on the inner sloping side only, or if preferred the
transverse section of the central perforated fire-bar may be a semicircle
and that of the side bars a quadrant or arc of ninety degrees, or they
may be made of any other convenient form that will answer the same
purpose.
Such being the nature and object of my said Invention for " Improve-
ments in the Construction of Fire-bars to be employed in Furnaces," I
will now proceed to describe more in detail the manner in which the
same is to be or may be performed or carried into practical effect, and in
order that the same may be clearly understood I have annexed hereunto
a Sheet of Drawings illustrative thereof, and have marked the same with

page_text: figures and letters of reference corresponding with those in the following
explanation thereof (that is to say) :-
In the annexed Drawing Fig. 1 is a longitudinal section through the
centre of the furnace of a single flued boiler showing the application
of my Invention thereto, and Fig. 2 is a transverse section of the same.
a, a, are the ordinary fire-bars, and b, b, are the raised perforated fire-
bars forming a chamber for the admission of heated oxygen to the fire,
as herein-before described. In Fig. 2 one of the raised perforated fire-
bars or chambers is shown running longitudinally through the centre of
the furnace and a half bar along cach side, but in most cases the latter
may be dispensed with. These raised perforated fire-bars or oxygen
chambers may be made of different forms in transverse section, as shown
in Fig. 3, 4, and 5, and their ends also may be square, rounded, or
angular as may be found most convenient. The height of the said per-
forated fire-bars or chambers, and the number, size, and position of the
perforations may be considerably varied to suit the size and form of the
furnace as well as the nature and quality of the fuel to be consumed
therein so long as the principal distinguishing feature of my Invention
is maintained, which consists in the introduction into the furnace above
the level of the ordinary fire-bars of a longitudinal raised fire-bar, air
chamber, or channel of any suitable form having lateral perforations or
ducts for the admission of a supply of heated air to the fuel above the
level of the. fire-bars.
Having now described the nature and object of my said Invention,
together with the manner in which the same is to be or may be
performed or carried into practical effect, I wish it to be distinctly
understood that I claim as my Invention, the use of perforated fire-bars,
air chambers, or channels raised above the level of the ordinary fire-bars,
substantially in the manner and for the purpose herein-before more
particularly set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Fletcher, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Second day of October, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine.
JOHN FLETCHER. (L.S.)