IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR RETURNING THE PRODUCTS OF COMBUSTION ESCAPING FROM LOCOMOTIVE ENGINE AND OTHER FURNACES TO THE FIRE CHAMBER OF SUCH FURNACES
Year: 1871

page_text: ETTERS PATENT to Alfred Vincent Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical
Draughtsman, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS
FOR RETURNING THE PRODUCTS OF COMBUSTION ESCAPING FROM LOCOMOTIVE
ENGINE AND OTHER FURNACES TO THE FIRE CHAMBER OF SUCH FURNACES."-
A communication from abroad by Charles Frederick Pike, of
Providence, in the State of Rhode Island, United States of
America.
-
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Vincent Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 6th September 1871.

page_text: declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS
FOR RETURNING THE PRODUCTS OF COMBUSTION ESCAPING FROM LOCOMOTIVE ENGINE
AND OTHER FURNACES TO THE FIRE CHAMBER OF SUCH FURNACES," to be as
follows:-
This Invention relates to a mode of economizing the consumption of
fuel in the boilers and furnaces of locomotive, stationary, and marine
engines. It is however mainly designed to be used in connection with
locomotive engines, and the description will therefore for the sake of
succinctness be confined to such application.
The economy in the consumption of the fuel is obtained by arresting
in the chimney the solid and gascous products of combustion, and
returning the same to the fire chamber in combination with a supply of
oxygen, which will ensure their consumption. The arrest of the products
of combustion and their return to the fire chamber is effected by the aid
of a steam blast obtained from the exhaust steam of the engine, or
by a blast of air from a blower worked by the engine or a supplementary
engine or engines. The solid and gaseous products may be lead off from
the top of the chimney, and returned to the furnace by branch pipes
leading to opposite sides of the furnace, or they may be drawn from the
end of the smoke box and discharged into a receiver, whence they will
be conducted by pipes running on either side of the boiler and leading
either to the sides of the fire chamber or to the ash-pit. The smoke box
and chimney are fitted with conical pipes arranged somewhat like a
Giffard's injector to ensure a good up-draft, and when using a steam
jet the steam is caused to pass upwards through these pipes and thereby
draw in the gases of combustion and carry them upwards. The top of
the chimney is fitted with a damper by closing which the escape of the
gases is arrested. When taking off the gases from the top of the
chimney a flaring mouthed tube is employed to conduct them into the
discharging pipe, and the mouth of this tube may be fitted with or
partially filled by an inverted cone for the purpose of sharpening
the draft, and pendent from this tube may be applied a cylinder of
netting for preventing the scattering of the cinders.
When a blast of air is used in place of the steam jet, the exhaust
steam is conducted upwards by a central tube in the chimney and
allowed to escape into the atmosphere. The blower, whether worked

page_text: by supplementary engines or otherwise, is mounted on a hollow bed;
plate or reservoir into which the products of combustion are discharged.
They are thence impelled by the blast through the pipes leading to the
fire chamber. Or a flue running below the boiler may conduct the pro-.
ducts of combustion back to the fire chamber or ash-pit.
The blower may be driven by conical friction gear, which may be'
adjusted so as to regulate the speed of the fan to the requirements of the-
engine. Supplementary engines besides driving the blower may also be
used for supplying the boiler of a locomotive engine with feed water
when the latter is at rest.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Alfred Vincent Newton in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 6th March 1872.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALFRED
VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her:
Letters Patent, bearing date the Sixth day of September, in the year:
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the thirty-
fifth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,.
give and grant unto me, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, Her special:
licence that I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, my executors, admi-
nistrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Alfred Vincent
Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-:
after 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 APPARATUS FOR RETURNING THE PRODUCTS OF COMBUSTION
ESCAPING FROM LOCOMOTIVE ENGINE AND OTHER FURNACES TO THE FIRE CHAMBER
OF SUCH FURNACES," being a communication to me from abroad by Charles
Frederick Pike, of Providence, in the State of Rhode Island, United
States of America, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the

page_text: said Alfred Vincent Newton, 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 immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, 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, reference being had to the Drawings here-
unto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is
to say):-
$
This Invention, while applicable to marine and stationary engines or
their boilers and furnaces of different kinds, is mainly designed to be
used in connection with locomotive engines, and will here be more
particularly described accordingly. The object of the Invention as thus
applied is to arrest and convey back to the fire-box sparks, cinders,
smoke, and gases heretofore allowed to escape from the smoke stack of
the engine, thereby relieving the passengers of great inconvenience and
annoyance, and preventing conflagration by the escape of burning
matter or particles, also doing away with much annoyance to residents
along the route and economizing the consumption of fuel. These
advantages are attained in part when the Invention, suitably modified
as regards its details, is applied to marine or stationary engines, and by
the one part of said Invention an independent power for supplying the
boiler of a locomotive engine with feed water when the latter is at rest is
obtained. The Invention will here be divided into two leading parts,
and as herein-before mentioned be described by way of illustration as
applied to a locomotive engine.
The first part of the Invention comprises an inverted flaring or bell-
mouthed pipe, which may either be used separately or with a cone or
netting at its mouth, said pipe being arranged within the smoke stack
and over the inner smoke pipe of the engine to receive the cinders,
sparks, smoke, and gases, as the same are emitted from the inner pipe.
Said part of the Invention also comprises a combination of such bell
mouthed pipe with the outer smoke pipe or stack and smoke arch of the

page_text: engine, and so arranged with reference to said smoke arch that the
cinders, sparks, smoke, and gases discharged from the arch will be
carried by the exhaust steam or other artificial draft into the bell-
mouthed pipe. Furthermore said first part of the Invention includes a
combination of the flaring or bell-mouthed pipe, with conducting pipes
therefrom, arranged to receive the cinders, sparks, smoke, and gases from
the bell-mouthed pipe, and to convey them to the fire-box or ash-pit of
the boiler.
The other or second part of the Invention consists in a different and
in many respects superior method of accomplishing the same and other
ends, and comprises various combinations of means, including a fan or
blower arranged in suitable relation with the smoke arch, and having
pipes connected with it for producing an artificial draft and conveying
the cinders, sparks, smoke, and gases from the chimney back to the
combustion chamber or its ash-pit, also including a small auxiliary
engine or engines for driving said blower, and which may be used for
working the pump or pumps to feed the boiler when the locomotive is at
rest; likewise including a register on top of the chimney for shutting off
or regulating the natural draft, and furthermore including various other
combinations and relative arrangements of said devices or certain of
them with other parts of the engine or boiler whereby the desired results
are more perfectly or conveniently obtained.
Having thus specified the object or objects and nature of the
Invention, its description will be proceeded with in reference to the
accompanying Drawings:-
Figure 2
Figure 1 represents a side elevation of a locomotive boiler and engine
in part with the first portion of the Invention applied thereto, showing a
cone as arranged at the inlet end of the bell-mouthed pipe.
is a similar view shewing a netting as substituted for the conc.
is an end view of Figure 1, and Figures 4 and 5 are under views of the
bell-mouthed pipe with the cone and netting applied thereto.
Figure 3
Figure 6 represents a partly sectional side elevation of a locomotive
engine with the second part of the Invention under one of its forms or
modifications. Figure 7 is a partly sectional partial plan of the same,
and Figures 8 and 9 are front and back end views thereof. Figure 10 is a

page_text: "
plan view of the register used on top of the chimney. Figure 11 is a
skeleton side view of a locomotive, showing a modification of the second
part of the Invention as applied thereto, and Figure 12 is a skeleton
view in transverse section through the boiler. Similar letters of
reference indicate corresponding parts.
"
Referring in the first instance to Figures 1, 2, 3 of the Drawings, A is
the boiler of a locomotive engine; Bits fire-box; C, the smoke arch
containing the petticoat pipes b, b, b, and exhaust pipe or nozzle;
D, E, is the inside smoke pipe, and F the outside smoke pipe or stack.
In the operation of these parts as they are at present used, the gascous
products of combustion, including the smoke, sparks, and cinders, after
leaving the fire-box B, pass through the tubes of the boiler to the smoke
arch C, when the exhaust steam from the pipe D creates a draft that
forces them into and through the petticoat pipes b, b, b, and through the
iuner smoke pipe E, from which they pass into the outer smoke pipe F
and escape. To carry out the first part of this Invention as applied to
such a combination of parts, there is arranged within the outer pipe F,
near the top of the latter and attached, for instance, thereto by rods c, c,
an inverted flaring or bell-mouthed pipe G, the mouth of which is
directly over the inner smoke pipe E, while its smaller end projects
through the side of the smoke stack F, and is connected by a pipe H
to a pipe I, which partially surrounds or straddles the boiler, and is
connected by pipes J, J, with opposite sides of the fire-box B, thus
establishing a communication between the smoke pipe and fire-box.
Within the mouth end of the pipe G may be placed an inverted cone K,
(see Figure 1) having the diameter of its base smaller than the inside
diameter of the portion of the pipe within which it is situated. The
object of this inverted cone is to increase the force of the draft into the
pipe G by concentrating the same and causing it to be directed into and
through the space around the cone. Instead of the cone K a barrel
netting L (see Figure 2) may be used, said netting being attached to the
bell-mouthed pipe G, and extending over the inner end of the smoke-
pipe E. This netting serves to prevent scattering of the sparks and
cinders, and insures their passage to the pipe G. Both the conc and
netting may be used in combination if desired.
The operation is as follows: -The cinders, sparks, smoke, and gases
having passed through the tubes in the boiler A, are forced by the

page_text: .
exhaust steam from the nozzle D through the petticoat pipes b, b, b, and
úp the pipe E, but instead of escaping from the smoke pipe F as here-
tofore, they are received within the bell-mouthed pipe G, and carried by
the draft through the pipes H, I, and J, to the fire-box B, or to the ash-
pit, the same having been rendered combustible in their passage by the
action upon them of the exhaust steam. The opening in the outer
smoke pipe F, through which the smaller end of the pipe G is extended,
may be larger than the diameter of said pipe G, as shown in Figure 2,
and the pipe H, which connects the pipe G with the pipe I may also
exceed it in diameter, so that in case there should be any stray cinders
or sparks, the downward draft will carry them into the fire-box. The
pipe I may be provided with a damper d, which may be closed when the
engine is at rest, or at such other times as it may be necessary to stop
or regulate the draft.
.
Referring next to the remaining Figures of the Drawings, from
6 to 12 inclusive, in explanation of the second part of the Invention,
A represents the boiler of a locomotive engine; B', the firc-box or
combustion chamber thereof; C', its smoke-arch; D', the exhaust steam,
tip or nozzle; b', b', the petticoat pipes; E', the inner smoke pipe; and.
F, the outside pipe or chimney. This latter pipe is provided with a
register valve G¹ on top for the purpose of regulating the admission of air
to said pipe. In this register at its centre there is a hole for the reception
or passage through it of the exhaust steam pipe II', which is screwed at
its lower end upon the tip D¹ in the smoke arch. J', J', are the driving
wheels, and K', K', the truck wheels of the engine, L' is its frame, upon
the front end of which is screwed a hollow bed plate or reservoir M',
arranged to extend across the frame. On this bed plate are mounted
the artificial draft device or blower N¹, and a pair of auxiliary.
engines O, O', see Figures 6, 7, and 8.
The cylinders of these auxiliary engines need be but small, say four
inches in diameter and six inches stroke, or thereabouts, and their cranks
be set at an angle of 90° relatively to each other. To facilitate the start-
ing of said engines, P¹, P', are pipes connecting the blower N' with the
smoke arch C', and Q, Q', arc pipes leading from the reservoir M' to
the fire-box or combustion chamber B', said pipes running under the
footboard; R', R', are two balance wheels upon the shaft of the auxiliary
engines O, O'. These wheels are bevilled on their peripheries to

page_text: correspond with similarly bevilled pulleys or smaller wheels S', S¹, on
the shaft of the blower, one set of wheels being adjustable to give more
or less friction for the wheels R', R', to drive by friction alone the
wheels S', S', thus causing the engines O', O', to drive the blower N'
without the aid of belts or toothed gearing. The frictional driving
contact of said wheels may be produced or made adjustable by any
suitable means. T, T, are the exhaust pipes of the auxiliary engines
arranged so as to connect with the reservoir M'. In Figure 8 is shown
the steam pipe U₁ connecting the two auxiliary engines and furnished
with a stop-cock or valve for regulating the supply of steam to said
engines. This valve may be operated from the back end of the boiler
by any suitable means. V¹, V¹, are two small force pumps for forcing
water into the boiler when the locomotive is at rest, which has been
a long desired provision. These pumps are operated by eccentrics upon
the shafts of the auxiliary engines O¹, O¹.
rear.
'
Figure 9 shews the side entrance of the pipes Q', Q', into the fire-box.
Figures 11 and 12 show a similar connection for passing the sparks,
cinders, smoke, and gases from the reservoir M¹ to the fire-box B¹ by the
action of the blower N¹, but with a single pipe or flue Q' arranged to
partly encircle the boiler, or it may be made to wholly encircle the same,
thereby forming a jacket to the boiler and entering the fire-box in its
This disposition of the flue Q' is an advantageous one both for
locomotive, marine, and stationary engine boilers. In Fig. 11 the
blower is shown as operated by a crank g on the shaft of the wheels R',
which may be driven by a connecting rod attached to the main cross-
head of the locomotive or otherwise. This arrangement is simpler and
less expensive than driving the blower by independent engines. The
pulleys S', S', upon the blower shaft, are connected therewith by a slot
and spline or feather, with a thread cut upon the shaft and a nut for
adjusting them. The pulleys may be covered if desired with leather or
any other suitable material. The flues or pipes Q', Q', may be arranged
to connect with the ash-pan W' instead of with the fire-box B', for
the purpose of blowing under the grate bars into the furnace or
combustion chamber if preferred. This arrangement is shown by dots
in Figures 6 and 9.
:
The general operation, taking Figures 6, 7, 8, 9, by way of
illustration is as follows:-The combustion chamber B' being supplied

page_text: pipes E and F, and so arranged in relation with the pipe E that
it will receive the cinders, sparks, smoke, and gases discharged from
the pipe E in the manner and for the purposes specified with reference
to Figures 1, 2, and 3 of the Drawing..
2nd. Said inverted bell-mouthed pipe G, either separately or provided
with a cone K or netting L, or both in combination with the pipe F and
smoke arch G, and so arranged with reference to said smoke arch that
the cinders, sparks, smoke, and gases discharged from the arch will be
carried by the exhaust steam or other artificial draft into the pipe G in
the manner and for the purposes described.
3rd. The combination of the inverted bell-mouthed pipe G with the
conducting pipes H, I, and J, for the purpose of conveying the cinders,
sparks, smoke, and gases received within the pipe G to the fire-box B in
the manner and for the purposes described.
4th. The combination of the chimney having a smoke box or arch C³, 1
the artificial draft device or blower N¹, the pipes or flues P' and Q', the
furnace or combustion chamber B', and the boiler A', all constructed
and arranged for operation substantially as described with reference to
Figures 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, and 12 of the Drawings.
5th. The combination of the chimney F', the smoke box or arch G¹,
the artificial draft device or blower N', the auxiliary engines O¹, 0¹,
the pipes or flues P¹ and Q', the fire-box B', the boiler A', and the
wheels J, K, of the locomotive, all constructed and arranged for
operation substantially as and for the purposes herein set forth.
6th. The combination and arrangement of the chimney F¹ with the
smoke arch G', artificial draft device or blower N¹, the auxiliary engine
or engines O¹, O', the pipes or flues P¹, Q', the fire box or combustion
chamber B', and the boiler A', constructed for operation substantially as
and for the purposes hercin set forth.
7th. The combination of the ash pan or pit W₁ with the pipes or
flues P¹, Q, the artificial draft device or blower N³, the engines O¹, O¹,
the smoke arch G', the chimney F¹, and the boiler A', all constructed
and arranged for operation as herein specified.
8th. The arrangement of the chimney F", having a smoke arch G',
and provided with a register valve G, with the artificial draft device or a

page_text: blower N', the reservoir M³, the pipes or flues P¹, Q', the fire-box or
combustion chamber B', the boiler A', the auxiliary engine or engines O¹,
with their exhaust pipe H', essentially as herein set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, have here-
-
.
unto set my hand and seal, the Sixth day of March, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two.