CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN FURNACES AND FIRE-BARS.
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Baker, of Wigan, in the County of
Lancaster, for the Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN FURNACES
AND FIRE-BARS.
Scaled the 27th April 1869, and dated the 6th November 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Baker at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
6th November 1868.
I, WILLIAM BAKER, of Wigan, in the County of Lancaster, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "CERTAIN IMPROVE-
MENTS IN FURNACES AND FIRE-BARS," to be as follows:-
My Invention relates, firstly, to the peculiar construction of the
furnaces and fire-bars; and, secondly, to the adaptation of the same to
single or double flue boilers without cutting, drilling, or otherwise
weakening the boiler or flues. The furnace which I propose to employ
is of the endless travelling fire-bar class, but instead of employing endless

page_text: chains carrying transverse fire-bars, as hitherto used, I have a series of
endless jointed fire-bars placed side by side and forming an endless chain
running longitudinally through the furnace and passing round octagonal
or other suitably formed rollers, one placed in front of the fire-door and
driven by a worm and wheel or other suitable slow movement, and the
other forming a carrier only and being placed inside the flue in front
of the bridge. The endless jointed fire-bars are placed over the two
rollers side by side having air spaces between them, and are jointed
together by transverse rods, into which stud wheels fixed to the diagonal
rollers gear, so as to ensure the steady and regular movement of the
whole series. The frame which carries the whole system is self-contained,
so that the entire arrangement can be placed in the flue and fixed there
without cutting, drilling, bolting, or rivetting. The frame is fixed inside
the flue by means of right and left hand screwed rods having a box in
the centre, by turning which the rods are screwed outwards at both
sides and take a firm hold of the inside of the flue; by turning the box
in the opposite direction the screwed rods are drawn inwards, and the
whole system can then be readily withdrawn from the fluc. The bridge
may be made of hollow cast iron and the feed water be caused to circulate
through it, so as to protect the bridge from injury by the great heat and
at the same time heat the feed water; or the bridge may be made solid
and be protected by a serpentine tube placed in front thereof and through
which the feed water also circulates.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Baker in the Great Seal Patent Office on 5
the 6th May 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
BAKER, of Wigan, in the County of Lancaster, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Sixth day of November, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the thirty-
second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said William Baker, Her special license
that I, the said William Baker, my exccutors, administrators, and

page_text: assigns, or such others, as I, the said William Baker, 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 "CERTAIN IMPROVE-
MENTS IN FURNACES AND FIRE-BARS," upon the condition (amongst others) that
I, the said William Baker, my executors or administrators, by an instru-
ment 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 Scal Patent Office within six
calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Baker, 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 relates, firstly, to the peculiar construction of the
furnaces and fire-bars; and, secondly, to the adaptation of the same to
single or double flue boilers without cutting, drilling, or otherwise
weakening the boiler or flues. The furnace which I propose to employ is
of the endless travelling fire-bar class, and instead of employing endless
chains carrying transverse fire-bars, as hitherto frequently. used, I have a
series of endless jointed fire-bars constructed as herein-after described and
placed side by side, so as to form an endless chain running longitudinally
through the furnace and passing round octagonal or other suitably formed
rollers, one placed in front of the fire-door and driven by a worm and
wheel or other suitable slow movement, and the other forming a carrier
only and being placed inside the flue in front of the bridge. The endless
jointed fire-bars are placed over the two rollers side by side, having air
spaces between them, and are jointed together by transverse rods, into
which stud wheels or studs or teeth fixed to the octagonal or other rollers
gear, so as to ensure the steady and regular movement of the whole
series. The frame which carries the whole system is self-contained, so
that the entire arrangement can be placed in the flue and fixed there

page_text: without cutting, drilling, bolting, or rivetting. The frame is fixed inside
the flue by means of right and left hand screwed rods having a box or
screwed uut in the centre, by turning which the rods are screwed
outwards at both sides and take a firm hold of the inside of the fluc
By turning the box in the opposite direction the screwed rods are drawn
inwards, and the whole system can then be readily withdrawn from the
flue. The bridge may be made of hollow cast iron and the feed water be
caused to circulate through it, so as to protect the bridge from injury
by the great heat and at the same time heat the feed water; or the
bridge may be made solid and be protected by a serpentine tube placed
in front thereof and through which the feed water also circulates.
Such being the nature and object of my said Invention for "Certain
Improvements in Furnaces and Fire-bars," I will now proceed to describe
more in detail, the manner in which the same is to be or may be carried
into practical effect; and in order that the same may be clearly under-
stood I have annexed hereunto a Sheet of Drawings illustrative thereof,
and have marked the same with figures and letters of reference corre-
sponding with those in the following explanation thereof (that is to
say):
Fig. 1 in the annexed Drawings is a longitudinal section through the
furnace end of a single-flued steam boiler showing the application of my
Invention thereto, and Fig. 2 is a front view of the same; Fig. 3 is a
side clevation, and Fig. 4 a transverse section through the furnace.
a, a, is an endless chain of travelling fire-bars, the constructive details
of which are seen more clearly in the detached views Fig. 5 (which are
drawn half size); these fire-bars are jointed together by means of
transverse rods b, b, and kept certain distances apart by means of short
tubes or ferrules c, c. The chain of fire-bars may be all made in one
width, but in order to allow of a plentiful supply of air beneath the
furnace I prefer to divide it longitudinally into three sections, so that
whilst the whole width of the chain of fire-bárs passes round the driving
roller d, d, at the front of the furnace and the carrier roller e, e, inside
the flue, the chain is divided into three parts at the front on its passage
back to the driving roller, and the central section carried under the
roller. The driving roller d, d, (which is shown in the Drawing as
having ten sides) is furnished with projecting studs g, g, which take hold

page_text: of the transverse rods b, b, and thus ensure the steady and regular
movement of the whole series. This roller is driven slowly by means of
the spur gearing 'h, h, and worm wheel i, i, actuated by a worm k, k, on
the driving shaft 7, 1, which receives its motion from a strap passing round
the driving pulley m, m. n, n, is the bridge, which I prefer to make
hollow of cast-iron and to allow the feed water to circulate through it;
but it may, if preferred, be made of solid fire-brick as before stated, and
be shielded by a serpentine coil of pipe on the side nearest the furnace
to protect it from the intense heat thereof, the feed water being caused
to pass through the said coil and thus become heated on its passage to
the boiler; o, o, is the door or slide which regulates the amount or
thickness of the stratum of fuel carried into the furnace by the chain of
fire-bars, and is raised or lowered by the racks and pinions p, p, and
retained by the ratchet wheel and pawl q, q; q*, q*, is an arch of fire-clay
over the mouth-piece of the furnace, and the door or slide o, o, is also
lined with the same. The whole of this system or arrangenient is carried
by one frame r, r, which is self-contained, and is supported on a wheel
8, 8, running on the bottom of the fluc, and upon two larger wheels t, t,
running upon a tramway u, u, laid in front of the furnace, so that the
entire system or arrangement can be placed in the fluc of any boiler and
fixed there without any cutting, drilling, bolting, or, rivetting, and
withdrawn at any time for inspection or repairs with the greatest
facility. In order to afford the frame r, r, a hold inside the flue I
sometimes employ two screwed rods v, v, (see Fig. 4), one having a
right-handed and the other a left-handed thread, in connection with a
box or long nut to, wc, tapped also with right and left handed threads, so
that by turning the nut wo, 10, in one direction the end of the frame is
expanded and takes a firm hold of the fluc, whilst on turning it in the
reverse direction the frame is contracted and may then be readily
removed from the same.
Having now described the nature and object of the said Invention,
together with the manner in which the same is to be carried into
practical effect, I wish it to be distinctly understood that I claim,-
Firstly. The peculiar construction and adaptation of the endless chain
of fire-bars and their adjuncts, as herein-before described and represented
in the Drawings annexed.
And, secondly. The construction of the self-contained frame, whereby I
am enabled to apply this system to and fix it in the flue of any single or

page_text: double flued boiler without cutting, drilling, or otherwise weakening the
flue itself, and without the use of bolts, rivets, or other similar means of
fastening.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Baker, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Fourth day of May, in the year of our
Lord One thousand cight hundred and sixty-nine.
Witnessed by
GEORGE DAVIES, C.E.
Patent Agent,
Manchester.
WILLIAM BAKER. (L.S.)