IMPROVEMENTS IN GAS BURNERS AND IN GAS FURNACES
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Gore, of Birmingham, in the County of
Warwick, Consulting Chemist, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
GAS BURNERS AND IN GAS FURNACES,"
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Gore at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 28th May
1863.
I, GEORGE GORE, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Consulting
Chemist, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE.
MENTS IN GAS BURNERS AND IN GAS FURNACES," to be as follows:-
My improvements in gas burners consist in constructing them in the
following manner :- I take a circular disc of sheet copper of a diameter equal
to about the height of the burner to be made, and having a hole in its middle
of the diameter of the finished burner; I make a series of equidistant radial
corrugations in the disc, by making which the metal is gathered up around
the central opening. In this way I give to the corrugated disc the general
figure externally of a cylinder, the lower end of the cylinder being plain or
tube like, a series of corrugations setting in from the said plain end and
gradually deepening towards the other end, where they approach so near as
almost to touch each other in the axis of the cylinder. I fix the corrugated
cylinder on an open tube of brass or other metal to form the complete burner,
and by means of a stop-cock inflammable gas is admitted near the bottom of
[Price 8d 1

page_text: the said tube. The gas in rising mixes with air, and the mixture issues from
the top of the burner in the form of a series of radial sheets where it is ignited.
Atmospheric air ascends in the radial spaces between those through which the
gas rises, and there is thus produced alternate sheets of air and a mixture of
air and gas. The gas rises in those portions of the corrugations which open
into the cylinder, and the air rises in those portions of the corrugations which
open outside the cylinder into the atmosphere. The combustion of com-
bustible gas by means of a burner of the kind described produces a very
intense heat.
Although I prefer the radial arrangement described, I do not limit myself
thereto, as the parts of the burner may be so arranged that the alternating
sheets of the combustible gaseous mixture and atmospheric air may be either
parallel or in concentric circles, and either horizontal or vertical.
My improvements in gas furnaces are as follows:-I fix the burner
described or other burner at the bottom of a vertical tube of fire-clay, which is
bulbous at top, and has in the bulbous portion projections on which a
crucible can rest. The said tube of fire-clay is supported in the axis of
a vertical hollow cylinder of sheet iron lined with fire-clay. The said
cylinder rests on a sheet iron disc, through which the top of the burner
projects into the tube of fire-clay. The said cylinder is closed at top by a
fire-clay slab, having a central opening closed by a ring and plug. A chimney
opens into the side of the cylinder near its bottom, and extends upwards about
five feet or more, according to the draft required. When the gas is ignited
the flame ascends within the tube of fire-clay, heating the crucible supported
at its upper part; the flame then descends outside the said tube, and the
products of combustion pass off by the chimney. The contents of the crucible
may be inspected by removing the plug at the top of the furnace, and by the
removal of the ring in which the plug fits the crucible may be introduced
into and removed from the furnace. In large furnaces one large burner or
a series of small burners may be employed.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said George Gore in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 25th
November 1863.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, 1, GEORGE
GORE, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Consulting Chemist, send 3
greeting.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-eighth day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-sixth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said George Gore, Her special licence that I, the said George Gore, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said George.
Gore, 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, excrcise, áud
vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel
Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN GAS BURNERS
AND IN GAS FURNACES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
George Gore, 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 within six calendar months next and immediatelyafter the
date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said George Gore, 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
thereof, that is to say:
My improvements in gas burners consist in constructing them in the
following manner:-I take a circular disc of sheet copper of a diameter equal
to about the height of the burner to be made, 'and having a hole in its middle
a little less than the diameter of the finished burner. I make a series of
radial corrugations in the disc, by making which the metal is gathered up
around the central opening. In this way I give to the corrugated disc the
general figure externally of a cylinder, the lower end of the cylinder being
plain or tube like, a series of corrugations setting in from the said plain end
and gradually deepening towards the other end, where some of them approach
so near as almost to touch each other in the axis of the cylinder. I fix the
corrugated cylinder on an open tube of brass or other metal to form the com-
plete burner, and by means of a stop-cock inflammable gas is admitted near
the bottom of the said tube. The gas in rising mixes with air, and the
mixture issues from the top of the burner in the form of a series of radial
sheets where it is ignited. Atmospheric air ascends in the radial spaces
between those through which the gas rises,and there is thus produced alternate
sheets of air and a mixture of air and gas. The gas rises in those portions of

page_text: the corrugations which open into the cylinder, and the air rises in those
portions of the corrugations which open outside the cylinder into the atmo-
sphere. The combustion of combustible gas by means of a burner of the kind
described produces a very intense heat.
Although I prefer the radial arrangement described I do not limit myself
thereto, as the parts of the burner may be so arranged that the alternating
sheets of the combustible gaseous mixture and atmospheric air may be either
parallel or in concentric circles.
Myimprovements in gas furnaces are as follows:-I fix the burner described
or other burner at the bottom of a vertical tube of fire-clay which is bulbous
internally at top, and has in the lower part of the bulbous portiou projections
on which a crucible can rest. The said tube of fire-clay is supported
in the axis of a vertical hollow cylinder of sheet iron lined with fire-clay. The
said cylinder is fixed upon a sheet iron disc, through which the top of the burner
projects slightly into the tube of fire-clay. The said cylinder is closed at top
by a fire-clay slab having a central opening closed by a ring and plug. A
chimney opens into the side of the cylinder near its bottom, and extends
upwards about five feet or more according to the draft required. When the
gas is ignited the flame ascends within the tube of fire-clay, heating the
crucible supported at its upper part. The flame then descends outside the
said tube and the products of combustion pass off by the chimney. The con-
tents of the crucible may be inspected by removing the plug at the top
of the furnace, and by the removal of the ring in which the plug fits the
crucible may be introduced into and removed from the furnace. In large
furnaces one large burner or a series of small burners may be employed.
Having explained the nature of my Invention, Iwill proceed to describe with
reference to the accompanying Drawings the manner in which the same is to
be performed.
Figure 1 represents in vertical section a gas burner constructed according
to my Invention; Figure 2 is an elevation of the upper part of the burner;
and Figure 3 is a plan of Figure 2.
In order to make that portion of the burner represented in Figures 2 and 3
I take a disc of sheet copper, Figure 4, having a hole in its middle, and
I make a series of corrugations in the said disc, Figure 4, the form of which
corrugations will be understood by an examination of Figures 1, 2, and 3,
each of the smaller divisions marked on the disk, Figure 4, being bent into
one of the smaller depressions represented in Figures 1 and 3, and each of
the larger divisions on the disc, Figure 4, being bent into one of the larger
depressions represented in Figures 1 and 3, which latter depressions come

page_text: almost into contact in the axis of the burner. In order to facilitate the
making of the corrugations, I divide the disc by a series of radial scratches or
marks on either side, as indicated in Figure 4. The manner in which the
metal of the disc, Figure 4, is gathered up into the corrugatious represented
in Figures 1, 2, and 3 is illustrated in Figure 9, as herein-after explained.
The corrugations formed set in from the plain lower end a, gradually
deepening until they approach the upper end 6, where the larger ones nearly
come in contact in the axis of the burner. The corrugated cylinder a, b, is
fixed upon the open tube of brass or other metal c by means of rivetting and
soldering or otherwise. Bymeans of a stop-cockd, coal gas or other inflammable
gas is admitted near the bottom of the tube c. The gas in rising mixes with
air entering at the bottom of the tube c, and the mixture of gas and air issues
from the top of the burner in the form of a series of radial sheets where it is
ignited. Atmospheric air ascends in the radial spaces between those through
which the mixture of gas and air rises, and there is thus produced alternate
sheets of air and a mixture of air and gas. The mixture of air and gas rises
in those portions of the corrugations marked e in Figure 3, while atmospheric
air rises in those portions of the corrugations marked fin Figures 2 and 3,
the former corrugations marked e opening into the interior of the burner and
the cylinder c, and the latter corrugations marked fopening into the atmo-
sphere. The quantity of atmospheric air entering the bottom of the tube c
may be regulated by means of the damper or valveg.
In making burners of large diameter compared with their length, I prefer
to employ two discs in their formation. In this case I take a disc of the
kind represented in Figure 5, having a small hole in its middle, and I
divide it into suitable proportionate parts by radial scratches or marks. I
then gather up or corrugate the disc, and slit it down at one of the corru-
gations corresponding to the line h, Figure 5, and thereby form one half of
the upper part of the burner, represented in plan in Figure 6, elevation in
Figure 7, and vertical section in Figure 8. I corrugate a second disc, similar
to Figure 5, into another half of the upper part of the burner, Figures 6, 7,
and 8, and afterwards join the two halves together by rivetting or otherwise
so as to form the cylindrical corrugated part of the burner, Figures 6, 7,
and 8. By thus using two discs, corrugations greater in number and of much
greater depth compared with the length of the corrugated part can be obtained
than when only one disc is used.
Where still larger burners are required, three or more discs maybe employed
for the production of the corrugated part of the burner. In order to regulate
the quantity of gas supplied by the stop-cock í, the plug of the stop-cockmay

page_text: carry an index finger k, traversing a graduated are 1, and the damper or
valve m, which regulates the quantity of air entering the interior of the burner,
may have a coiled spring n on its axis, which, bearing against the outside of
the cylinder o preserves the damper or valve in any position in which it may
be placed. Figure 9 illustrates the manner in which the discs are bent in
order to form the corrugated part of the burner. As the bending of the discs
is effected by tools and processes commonly employed in working in metals, I
do not think a description of the said tools and processes necessary.
Figure 10 represents in vertical section, and Figure 11 in plan, a burner
constructed according to my Invention, in which the alternating sheets of the
combustible gaseous mixture and atmospheric air are situated parallel to one
another. This burner consists essentially of a series of thin parallel plates of
fire-clay, in the spaces between which the gaseous mixture and atmospheric air
rise. One of these plates is seen in edge view at p2, Figure 11, and the
manner in which they are packed together will be readily understood by an
examination of the upper portion of Figure 11. An elevation of one of the
plates is seen at p in Figure 10. The plates p are supported on the shoulders
q of the square tube r, and the lower edge of each of the plates p rests upon
the top edge of one of the metallic plates s, as best seen in Figure 12, which
represents in vertical section a gas furnace to which this kind of burner is
applied. It will be seen by an examination of the said Figure 12, that the
plates s are joined at bottom in pairs, and the gaseous mixture rising up the
tube can only pass up the passages between the pairs of plates s, as in-
dicated by the arrows, while atmospheric air is introduced into the spaces
between the two plates of each pair. As the passages between the fire-clay
plates p are but prolongations of the passages formed by the metal plates s,
the alternating sheets of combustible gaseous mixture and atmospheric air
described pass out of the top of the burner and are there burned. The
manner in which atmospheric air is introduced into the spaces between the
two plates of each pair will be understood by an examination of Figure 13,
which is an elevation of the gas furnace and burner represented in vertical
section in Figure 12. The slits or openings t in the tube'r are situated
immediately opposite the spaces between the two plates of each pair of the
plates s, and atmospheric air passes into the said spaces through the said
slits t. In burners of this kind I prefer to supply the gas through two pipes
marked u, having numerous small holes in them for the passage
of the gas,
as indicated by the arrows in Figure 10. The valve w and the stop-cocks
which I employ in this burner resemble those already described. Instead of
making the burner deliver the alternate sheets of the gaseous mixture and

page_text: atmospheric air at the top of the burner in parallel planes, as in the burner
represented in Figures 10, 11, 12, and 13, the burner may be so constructed
that the alternate sheets of gaseous mixture and atmospheric air are delivered
at the top of the burner in concentric circles. In this case the slits or
openings in the burner, through which the gaseous mixture and atmospheric
air are supplied, are made circular and concentric with one another. Burners
of the last described kind may be made of a series of metal or fire-clay con-
centric tubes.
Gas burners constructed according to my Invention are especially appli-
cable to gas furnaces, but may also be used for gas stoves, and for other
purposes.
Figure 14 represents in elevation, and Figure 15 in vertical section, a gas
furnace constructed according to my Invention. aisa vertical hollow cylinder
of sheet iron, lined with fire-clay b. The said cylinder rests on a sheet iron
disc c, having a hole in its middle, through which the top of the burner d slightly
projects. The burner dis of the kind herein-before described and represented
in Figures 1, 2, and 3, but that described and represented in Figures 6, 7, and
8, or any other kind of burner may be employed. The disc c is supported on
the legs i. The cylinder a is closed at top by a fire-clay slab e, having a central
opening, which said opening is closed by the ring and plugg. A chimney h
opens into the side of the cylinder a, near its bottom, and ascends upwards five
feet or more, according to the draft required. In the axis of the cylinder a
is a vertical tube or cylinder k of fire-clay. I prefer to make this cylinder
bulbous at top, or of somewhat larger capacity at top than at its lower
portion. About midway in the cylinder k, or at the bottom of the bulbous
portion of the said cylinder, are three or more projections 7, on which a
crucible m can rest. The cylinder k stands upon the disc c, and its
central position in the furnace is preserved by small spheres or balls
of fire-clay n, n, and by a shallow ring or tube of sheet iron rivetted on the
iron bottom. The burner d is supported on the tubular bracket o by means
of the nut and screw p. I prefer to fix the burner d in such a manner that
its top just projects within the bottom of the cylinder k. The top of the
burner is surrounded by a loose ring of brass or iron, having three pegs
projecting for the purpose of keeping the top of the burner concentric with
the bottom of the tube k. In using the furnace, Figures 14 and 15, gas is
admitted through the stop-cock q, and atmospheric air by the valver. The
ring and plug f, g, are removed, and a light applied at the opening in the
plate e. The gas ignites, and the interior of the cylinder is filled with
the flame in which the crucible m is enveloped. The ring is then inserted

page_text: and the products of combustion then pass over the top of the cylinder k, and
descending into the cylindrical space between it and the fire-clay lining benter
the chimney h, and are conducted into the atmosphere. The relative
proportions of atmospheric air and gas entering the burner by the stop-cock
and valve must be so regulated by the said stop-cock and valve that all
whiteness of flame disappears or nearly disappears. The manner in which
atmospheric air enters at the top of the burner has been already explained.
When there is an ample supply of gas to the stop-cock q, and suitable draft in
the chimney, there is no difficulty in quickly arriving at the proper positions
of the stop-cock q and valve to produce the maximum heat in the furnace.
By removing the plugg the contents of the crucible may be inspected, and by
removing the ring the said crucible may be introduced into and removed
from the furnace.
In constructin glarge furnaces according to my Invention, I prefer to make
the said furnaces in the manner illustrated in Figures 12 and 13; Figure 12
being a vertical section, and Figure 13 an elevation. The furnace, Figures
12 and 13, differs mainly from that represented in Figures 14 and 15 in the
manner of supporting the crucible. The crucible x is supported on a
triangular clay support y, which rests on a flat ring of fire-clay supported on
the bottom of the furnace body instead of being part of the cylinder z. The
other respects in which the furnace, Figures 12 and 13, differs from that
represented in Figures 14 and 15 will be readily understood by an examination
of the Drawing. The body of the larger furnace may be either supported by
brickwork or by iron legs.
Although I prefer to use with gas furnaces constructed according to my
Invention gas burners of the kind herein-before described and illustrated in
the Drawings, and constituting part of my Invention, yet other gas burners
may be employed with the said gas furnaces; for example, a gas burner of
the kind represented in plan in Figure 16, and in elevation in Figure 17, may
be employed. The said burner consists essentially of a cylinder b, surmounted
by a series of tubes a, through which the mixture of gas and air passes, while
atmospheric air passes up the spaces between the said tubes. Or a burner of
the kind represented in plan in Figure 18, and in elevation in Figure 19, may
be employed. The said burner consists essentially of a hollow cylinder
closed at top by wire gauze, up which cylinder the mixture of combustible
gas and atmospheric air is passed and ignited on the upper side of the wire
gauze, the remainder of air necessary passing up the outside of the burner.
Where a furnace having a large horizontal area is required, two or more
burners may be used in place of one.

page_text: Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in which
the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I do not limit
myself to the precise details herein described and illustrated, as the same may
be varied without departing from the nature of my Invention; but I claim as
my Invention,
Firstly, the improvements in gas burners hereinbefore described and
represented in Figures 1 to 13, both inclusive, of the accompanying Drawings,
that is to say, constructing gas burners substantially in the several ways.
described and represented, whereby alternate radial sheets of atmospheric air
and a mixture of gas and atmospheric air, or alternate parallel or concentric
sheets of atmospheric air and the said gaseous mixture are delivered at the
top of the said burners.
Secondly, the improvements in gas furnaces herein-before described and
illustrated in Figures 12, 13, 14, and 15 of the accompanying drawings, that
is to say, arranging or combining the parts of the said gas furnaces sub-
stantially in the manner described and represented.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Gore, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Twenty-fourth day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three.
Witness,
RICHARD SKERRETT,
Clerk to George Shaw,
Birmingham.
GEORGE GORE. (L.S.)