Improved Furnace Fittings for Steam and other Types of Boilers.
Year: 1899

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improved Furnace Fittings for Steam and other Types of Boilers.
HENRY SIMCOCK, Engineer, Lodge View, Birch, nr. Heywood, in the County of
Lancaster, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
:-
My invention relates to my Patent No. 19133/97, improved furnace fittings for
steam boilers and other boilers or generators, and consists in an improved combination
and arrangement of furnace fittings for admitting air at the front of the furnace above
the level of the grate bars, also combination and arrangement of my special automátic
mechanism for regulating the admission of air through the firebars.
To admit air over the firebars and at the front of the furnace I employ any of the
following special arrangements as inay be found most convenient,
(1st.) To admit air on each side of the furnace door by means of a circular grid
placed in the furnace frame and in the same plane as the frame.
(2nd.) To admit air on each side of the furnace door by means of a rectangulär grid
placed in the furnace frame and in the same plane as the fraine.
(3rd.) To admit air in the furnace door by means of a circular grid placed in the
furnace door and in the same plane as the door.
In each of the above three arrangements special provision will be made for
admitting the air automatically (during the time only that the smoke would 'be'
formed during ordinary firing) and in the following manner :-
The first arrangement mentioned will consist of two circular metal grids, one on
each side of the furnace door above the level of the grate bars.
Each grid will be provided with a number of V slots or openings, each of which,
will radiate towards the centre of the said grid. The centre of each grid will be
connected to the furnace frame at a convenient position by a suitable pin, in such a
manner that the said grid can rotate about the said pin as required.
..
Each of the said grids will be provided. or accomodated with a perforated recess in
the furnace frame each of the said perforations being V shaped of the same size to
correspond with the V slots in the grids.
By this means air can be admitted to the furnace through the furnace frame and
can be shut off at any time by the rotation of; the grid through a space equal to the
pitch of the V slots..
The bottom side of each of the said grids will be provided with 2 projecting
pieces, in order that a bracket or stud between them and connected to a slide plate
working in a horizontal direction for a certain distance will cause the said grids to
rotate through the space aforementioned.
The motion of the said slide plate will be controlled by a special automatic
mechanism in such a manner that the said metal grids can be opened to allow air to
enter the furnace at the required time and can also be closed automatically when air'
is not required for the furnace.
The automatic mechanism will consist of two hollow metal balls fixed at the ends.
of a lever, and further connected by two metal pipes one parallel to the axis of the
lever and the other bent up towards the centre to form a syphön pipe the first pipe
named being provided with a stop tap.

page_text: At a point on the lever and between the balls will be provided a pin so that the
lever can rotate about the pin. The said lever will be connected with a slotted
quadrant in order that when the lever rotates about the pin, the quadrant will
rotate about the same centre.
The said automatic mechanism will be further provided with a special slotted rod
and pins in such a manner that when the fire door is opened a projecting piece on
the hinge will move the said slotted rod in a horizontal direction so as to tilt the said
quadrant over through a sufficient angle thus turning the lever over with the metal
balls in such a position, that if one of the balls be charged or partially filled with
mercury the said mercury will flow to the lowest ball due to gravity.
When the fire door is closed the said projecting piece on the hinge will pull back
the gaid slotted rod until the said balls become horizontal. When in this position
the mercury will be allowed to flow back to the empty ball, and by allowing this ball
to be of greater weight or have more leverage than the other ball the result will be
that the said lever will tilt over in the opposite direction.
By having this mechanism connected to the said slide plate, the motion of the
grids necessary for regulating air to the furnace will be controlled or governed by the
tilting action of the balls. The said stop tap on the pipe parallel to the said lever is
provided so as to regulate the time of the mercury flowing from one ball to the other
after the fire door has been closed.
The second arrangement mentioned will be generally similar to the first arrange-
ment above described, except that air will be admitted to the furnace on each side of
the door. by means of a rectangular grid instead of a circular grid. The necessary
motion of each rectangular grid will be generally similar to that described in the first
arrangement.
The third arrangement mentioned will consist of a circular grid placed in the
furnace door and in the same plane as the door.
The grid will be of similar design to those described in the first arrangement afore
specified, and be connected to the door by means of a pin through its centre so that
the grid can rotate about that centre. .
The furnace door will be provided with a number of V slots to correspond with
those in the grid.
The bottom side of the said grid will be connected to the special mechanism by a
chain in such a manner that when the furnace door is closed and the balls are in a
horizontal position, the said chain will be in tension, and the V slots in the
grid opposite to the slots in the
furnace door thus enabling air to enter
the furnace.
The said circular grid will be weighted on one side in such a manner that when the
balls tilt over the said grid will rotate about its centre through a certain amount and
close the slots in the door and thus shut off the air from the furnace, this will be
done by reason of the said chain going slack when the said balls tilt over as stated,
thus allowing the weight on the grid to descend (due to gravity) and rotate the grid
through the required amount necessary to shut off the air in the furnace.
Dated this 27th day of March 1899.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improved Furnace Fittings for Steam and other Types of Boilers.
HENRY SIMCOCK, Engineer, Lodge View, Birch, nr. Heywood, in the County of
Lancaster, 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:-
My invention will be illustrated by reference to the accompanying drawings, of

page_text: Fig. 1 is a front elevation of my improved furnace fitting for steam boilers and
other boilers or generators, showing my first arrangement of admitting air to the.
front of the furnace and on each side of the furnace doors, also my automatic
mechanism attached for regulating the admission of air to the furnace, and
Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same.
Fig. 3 is a front elevation of my improved furnace fittings for steam boilers or
other boilers or generators, showing my third arrangement of admitting air to the
front of the furnace, and through the furnace door, also my automatic mechanism
attached for regulating the admission of air to the furnace, and
Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the same.
My invention relates to furnace fittings for burning fuel in the furnaces of steain
boilers and other boilers and generators, and consist of an improved combination,
arrangement and construction, of an automatic mechanism and slides for admitting
air to the furnace at the front over the fire bars and also through the fire bars.
The automatic mechanism herein specified and the manner in which it is applied
for controlling the admission of air through the fire bars, is an improvement to my
Patent No. 19133/97, but the application of the said automatic mechanism for
controlling the admission of air to the furnace over the fire bars and the arrangement
and construction for admitting the air over the fire bars, is novel. To carry out my
invention I employ any of the three following methods.
There-
(1.) The first of which is illustrated by Figs. 1 and 2 Sheet 1 and consists of a
furnace frame B having a hinged door A and two circular slide ventilators or grids X
fixed in the frame B and one on each side of the door A. Each circular ventilator X,
will be provided with a number of V slots or openings X¹ each of which will radiate
towards the centre of the said ventilator X. At the centre of each ventilator X will
be provided a pin X2 about which the ventilator X can rotate as required. Each
ventilator X will work in a shield X³ connected by set screws or otherwise to the
frame B. The said shield X³ is provided with an equal number of V slots as the
ventilator X and of the same size, shape and pitch, the angular pitch of the ventilators
being equal to the horizontal pitch of the slots in the slide H. At X on each
ventilator X is fixed two pins X and a finger X5 connected to the slide H .projects
between the said pins X+ and are so set that when the slide. H is open so are the
ventilators X open, that is, when air is allowed to enter the fire bars so also air enters
the furnace at the same time above the fire bars, through the ventilators X.
fore the opening and closing of the slide H supplies or shuts off air as desired
simultaneously above the fire bars and through the fire bars. The movement.
necessary for opening the slide If is obtained from a cain A¹ on the hinge of the
door A working against a bracket A² when the door A is opened.
The said bracket A2 is connected to the slide H SO that when the
door A is opened the cam A¹ moves the bracket A2 away from the hinge of the door
for a distance equal to half the pitch of the fire bars, that is, half the distance between
the centres of any two adjacent fire bars. The movement necessary for closing the
slide H and consequently the ventilators X is controlled by the automatic mechanism
to be hereinafter described. The second method is not illustrated but is generally
similar to the first method above described, except that air is admitted on each side
of the door A by means of a rectangular ventilator moving horizontally in a vertical
plane in the frame B instead of the circular ventilators X.
The necessary motion of the rectangular ventilators is obtained in a similar manner
to that of the circular ventilators X in the first method.
(3.) The third method is illustrated by Figs. 3 and 4 Sheet 2 and consists of a
furnace frame B having a hinged door A and a circular slide ventilator V fixed in the
door A and in the same plane as the door A. The ventilator V will be provided with
V slots V2 and of similar design to the ventilators X Figs. 1 and 2 of the first method.
The door A will be provided with a similar number and sizes of V slots to suit the
ventilator V.
A pin V₁ will connect the ventilator V to the door A in such a manner that the
ventilator V can rotate about the said piu V₁. The ventilator has one side at W

page_text: weighted in such a way that, due to gravity the ventilator will always tend to settle
at rest with the heavy part downwards.
A chain N will be attached to the
ventilator V towards the bottom at P and will also be connected to the pin D2 of the
automatic mechanism, and will be of such a length that when the quadrant D is in a
vertical position as illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4 the ventilator V in the door will be
open to allow air to enter the furnace as hereinafter described.
.
The part of my invention consisting of the automatic mechanism for regulating the
admission of air to the furnace, both through the fire bars and at the front of the
furnace over the fire bars, is illustrated by Figs. 1 2 3 and 4 Sheets 1 and 2
and consists of two hollow metal balls C and C¹ of a convenient shape, fixed at the
ends of a lever E and connected to each other by two metal pipes C² and C³, the
pipe C² being parallel to the axis of the lever E and provided with a stop tap C+.
The pipe C³ is bent upwards to form a syphon pipe.
The lever E is supported towards its centre by a pin D at right angles to the plane
of the balls C and C in such a manner that the said lever E can rotate about the said
pin D¹. The pin D¹ is connected to a bracket K which bracket is connected to the
furnace frame B by means of two bolts at K¹ and K². The ball C¹ will have
the greatest purchase or inoment by being the heaviest, or farthest from the
pin D or both.
There is a quadrant D at right angles to the axis of the pin D' having a slot or
recess D³. The quadrant D is rigidly fixed to the lever E in order that it can rotate
about the pin D₁ with the lever E.
At a convenient position on the quadrant D is fixed a pin D2 and a special slotted
rod G having the slot G2 of sufficient size is arranged so as to rotate the quadrant
through a sufficient angle by means of the said pin D². .
The said rod G is connected to the furnace door A by means of a projecting finger
or pin O in such a manner that when the furnace. door A is opened or closed, the said
rod G moves backwards and forwards, and by having the rod G hinged at G¹ the
portion farthest from the door A is allowed to move in a vertical plane, being guided
by means of the guide bar F.
The said guide bar F is bolted to the frame B.
This mechanism will be so set in position that when the door A is being opened,
the slot G2 of the rod G will come in contact with the pin D2 and push the quadrant D
over through a sufficient angle of inclination to the vertical line, the amount of which
will be hereinafter explained, and the quadrant D being rigidly connected to the
lever E, the ball C will be lowered and the ball C¹ raised. The balls C and C¹ will be
charged or partially filled with mercury, so that when the ball C is lower than C¹ all
the mercury will flow into the ball C by means of the two pipes C and C³ due to
gravity. The syphon pipe C³ is so made, and the amount of mercury such, that when
the said mercury is all contained by one of the said balls C or C¹ and the balls Cand C¹
are on the same horizontal level, the said mercury cannot flow to the other ball
through the said pipe C³, but when one of the said balls is raised until the bottom
side of such ball is on a horizontal line with the highest part of the bore of the
pipe C³, then all the said mercury will flow quickly from the highest to the lowest
ball, the sufficient angle of inclination" mentioned above is that which is required
to place the balls C and C¹ in the relative position thus described.
When the door A is being closed, the said slot G2 of the rod. G will come in
contact with the pin D and pull back the quadrant D, but the length of the slot G2.
is so arranged that when the door A is closed, the quadrant D has only been pulled
back sufficient to bring the balls C and C¹ in the same horizontal level. If the tap C
is opened, the said mercury will flow from C to C¹ and thus when or before half the
said mercury has passed into the ball C¹ the said ball C¹ will lower due to its extra
moment, and thus the remainder of the mercury in ball C will flow through to
ball C¹ with increasing speed the higher the ball C is raised, for the pipe C³ will
come into use, and allow the last portion of the mercury to flow quickly, thus com-
pleting one operation of the automatic mechanism. By adjusting the tap C4 the

page_text: said mercury can be arranged to flow at any desired speed from ball C to C¹ and thus
the tilting of the mechanism is regulated to work to any desired time.
The perforated slide H is provided with a pin L projecting into the recess D³ of
the quadrant D and in such a position that when the ball C¹ is lowered as above
explained, the quadrant D comes in contact with the pin L and moves the slide H
forward through the required distance.
This required distance is sufficient to shut off the air to the fire bars.
In the first and second methods aforenamed, by having the slide H connected to
the ventilators X as described and illustrated by Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings, air
will be admitted above the fire bars and through the fire bars simultaneously and in
the third method afore named when the door A is opened the slide H is opened and
the automatic mechanism moves so as to have the ball C the lowest, just as in the
other two methods named. When opening the door A the chain N goes slack
thereby allowing the ventilator V to close due to the heavy side W of the ventilator V
moving downwards due to gravity and rotating the ventilator V on the pin V¹ the
amount of the rotation of the ventilator V is just sufficient to close the slots in the
door A, being controlled by a stopper V8. When the door A is being closed
the
the chain N becomes tight and as the resistance at D2 is greater than at P,
ventilator V is rotated in the opposite direction, that is, the heavy side W is raised,
and thus the ventilator V is opened. When however the automatic mechanism tilts
over, and the ball C¹ is lowered, it is evident that the tension on the chain N is
again released, thus allowing the ventilator V to close. By this means, air is allowed
to enter the furnace and the fire bars at the same time, and is shut off to both
simultaneously.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
(1) The combination, arrangement and construction, of an apparatus for admitting
air to the furnaces, over the fire bars and through the fire bars, in which the air is
controlled automatically at the front of the furnace, substantially as hereinbefore
described and illustrated by Figs. 1 2 3 and 4 of the drawings.
(2) The combination, arrangement and construction of an automatic mechanism
for controlling the admission of air to the furnace and fire bars, substantially as
herein before described and illustrated by Figs. 1 2 3 and 4 of the drawings.
(3) The combination of the automatic mechanism, with the ventilating grids in
the furnace frame, substantially as hereinbefore described and illustrated by Figs. 1
and 2 of the drawings.
(4) The combination of the automatic mechanism with the ventilating grid in
the furnace door, substantially as herein before described and illustrated by Figs. 3
and 4 of the drawings..
1000