IMPROVEMENTS IN AND APPLICABLE TO MECHANICAL STOKING FURNACES.”
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joseph John Butcher, of Liverpool, in the County
of Lancaster, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN AND APPLICABLE TO
MECHANICAL STOKING FURNACES.”

page_text: the opening from the said hopper to the fan box of radial or curved
form.
Second. As means for adjusting and varying the spreading of fuel
by the fan, in providing means whereby lateral motion can be given to
the hopper so as to deposit the said fuel on the fan in the position 5
desired.
Third. As means for supporting the fan and allowing access to the
interior of the fan casing, in supporting the fan spindle from below
only the top of the casing and hopper can thus be made removable.
Fourth. As means for driving the said fan, in making use of a friction 1
disc preferably covered with leather on the fan spindle, motion being
given thereto by a friction wheel on a horizontal shaft.
Fifth. As another means for driving, in making use of a bar having
a reciprocating motion, the fan spindle being connected thereto and
driven therefrom by means of a crank or eccentric and connecting rod,
I prefer to attach the said connecting rod to the reciprocating bar by a
spring instead of a bearing.
1
Sixth. As means for giving motion to the plunger or plate mentioned
under the above first head, in causing an eccentric crank or cam driven
direct from the fan shaft to operate the said plungers through a lever,
the amount of motion given to the lever, and with it the plunger or plate 2
is regulated by adjusting the connection between the eccentric crank or
cam rod and the lever. When more than one fan is used one eccentric
crank or cam and lever may be employed to operate all the plungers or
plates.
Seventh. As means for facilitating the inspection of the interior of the 2
furnace when my above described or other mechanical stoking apparatus
is used, in making use of a sliding furnace door, and inserting therein
or in the furnace front a piece of glass, preferably double. I also provide
a working hole.
Eighth. As means for crushing fuel before supplying it to the hopper, 8
in causing the said fuel to pass between vibrating bars.
Although only one fan and apparatus has been described in the above
Specification two or more fans and appliances can be used in com- .

page_text: SPECIFICATION filed in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
and of an Order of the Lord Chancellor, by the said Joseph John
Butcher in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 10th November 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSEPH
JOHN BUTCHER, of Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eleventh day of April, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in the
thirty-seventh year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said Joseph John Butcher,
Her special licence that I, the said Joseph John Butcher, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Joseph John Butcher, 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 AND APPLICABLE TO MECHANICAL STOKING
FURNACES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Joseph
John Butcher, 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 on or before the Tenth day
of November 1874.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Joseph John Butcher, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement, reference being had to the accompanying
two Sheets of illustrativo Drawings and to the figures and letters marked
thereon, that is to say :-
This Invention relates to that class of mechanical stoking furnaces in
which horizontal rotating fans are used to spread the fuel over the fire-
grate, and consists,―
First. As means for supplying fuel from the hopper to the fan in
making use of a reciprocating or rocking ram or plate, and in making

page_text: the opening from the said hopper to the fan box of radial or curved
form.
Second. As means for adjusting and varying the spreading of fuel
by the fan, in providing means whereby lateral motion can be given to
the hopper so as to deposit the said fuel on the fan in the position
desired.
Third. As means for supporting the fan, and allowing access to the
interior of the fan casing, in supporting the fan spindle from below only.
The top of the casing and hopper can thus be made removable.
Fourth. As means for driving the said fan, in making use of a friction
disc preferably covered with leather on the fan spindle, motion being
given thereto by a friction wheel on a horizontal shaft.
Fifth. As another means for driving, in making use of a bar having a
reciprocating motion, the fan spindle being connected thereto, and driven
therefrom by means of a crank or eccentric and connecting rod, I prefer
to attach the connecting rod to the reciprocating bar by a spring instead
of a bearing.
Sixth. As means for giving motion to the plunger or plate mentioned
under the above first head, in causing an eccentric crank or cam driven
direct from the fan shaft to operate the said plungers through a lever.
The amount of motion given to the lever and with it the plunger or
plate is regulated by adjusting the connection between the eccentric
crank or cam rod and the lever. When more than one fan is used one
eccentric crank or cam and lever may be employed to operate all the
plungers or plates.
Seventh. As means for facilitating the inspection of the interior of
the furnace when my above described mechanical stoking apparatus is
used, in making use of a sliding furnace door, and inserting therein or in
the furnace front a piece of glass preferably double. I also provide a
working hole.
Eighth. As means for crushing fuel before supplying it to the hopper,
in causing the said fuel to pass between vibrating bars.
Although only one fan and apparatus has been described in the
above Specification two or more fans and appliances can be used in
combination. *

page_text: Under the eighth head. The combination of the vibrating bars with
fuel feeding apparatus, substantially as described for the purpose set
forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph John Butcher, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, the Seventh day of November, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
four.
5
In the presence of
JAMES JOHNSON,
Patent Office,
Clayton Sq'.,
L'pool.
JOSEPH JOHN BUTCHER.
(L.S.)