IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR WORKING THE DAMPER OF STEAM ENGINE FURNACES
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Robert Barrett, of Stepney, in the County of
Middlesex, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS
FOR WORKING THE DAMPER OF STEAM ENGINE FURNACES."
Sealed the 16th January 1863, and dated the 19th July 1862.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Robert Barrett, at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
19th July 1862.
I, ROBERT BARRETT, of Stepney, in the County of Middlesex, Engineer,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS, IN
APPARATUS FOR WORKING THE DAMPER OF STEAM ENGINE FURNACES," to be as
follows:-
My Invention is for improvements upon an Invention for which Letters
Patent were granted to Philip Marcus, dated 14th March 1856, No. 618,
and consists in the employment of a double or compound lever, to the long arm.
of which the rod or attachment to the damper is connected in lieu of the
simple lever described in the Specification of the said Letters Patent.
My Invention further consists in placing the uprights in which the bearings.
for the spindle of the damper are formed at an angle, and in bringing the
base of the slot in which the spindle works into a horizontal plane or nearly.

page_text: And in order to render the working of the damper as easy as may be, I
bring the bearing or edge of the slots on which the spindle works to a knife
edge.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Robert Barrett in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
19th January 1863.
.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ROBERT
BARRETT, of Stepney, in the County of Middlesex, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-sixth year of Her
reign, did for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Robert Barrett, Her special licence, that I, the said Robert Barrett,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Robert
Barrett, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time.
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter
diiring the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, usc, exer-
cise, 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 WORKING THE DAMPER OF STEAM ENGINE FURNACES," upon the con-
dition (amongst others), that I, the said Robert Barrett, 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 Robert Barrett, do hereby declare-the-
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement theroof, reference being had to the. Drawings hereunto aunexed,
that is to say:
My Invention is: for improvements upon an Invention for which Letters
Patent were granted to Philip Marcus, dated 14th March-1856, No. 618,
and consists in the employment of a double or compound lever, to-the long
arm of which the rod or attachment to the damper is connected in lieu of the
simple lever described in the Specification of the said Letters Patent.
.
..

page_text: My Invention further consists in placing the frame in which the bearings
for the spindle of the damper are formed at an angle, and in bringing the
base of the slot in which the spindle works into a horizontal plane or nearly
so. And in order to render the working of the damper as easy as inay be,. I
bring the bearing or edge of the slots on which the spindle works or the spindle
itself to a knife edge.
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawings is a side elevation, and Figure 2
a plan of an apparatus constructed according to my Invention for working the
damper of steam engine furnaces. Figure 8 is a vertical- section through the
line x, y, of the same; Figure 4 is a perspective view of the damper as it appears
when applied to the chimney of a furnace. a'is, the box. or caso into which
steam is led from the boiler by the pipe b beneath the diaphragmn. c, and
plunger d; e, e, are hooks made in a piece with the plate t, which secures the
edges of the diaphragm c; the lever f passes between the hooks e, e, and carries
a cross bar f¹ with knife edges which bar bears against the under side of the
hooks as shewn at Figure 1. The plunger rod d¹ terminates at top in a knife
edge on which the lever frests; g is another lever linked to the box a, and
united to the lever f by a connecting rod h; the levers ƒ and g form a com-
pound lever; is a weight free to slide along the lever g, it is fixed at any
desired point by the screw & according to the pressure at which the steam is to
be maintained; is a link united at one end to the lever f, and terminating at
its other end in a socket in which a rod m is inserted and fixed by a screw.
This rod m is connected to the damper lever n; 0, 0, are the damper blades
secured to a spindle p supported in oblong bearings 7, which are brought to a
knife edge and set in a horizontal plano; r is one of the frames placed at an
angle in which the bearings are formed. From this position of the frames
and the bearings the distance the damper blades have to travel is materially
diminished. Instead of the bearings being brought to a knife edge, I some-
times bring the spindle to a knife edge. Steam which enters by the pipe from
the boiler presses against the under side of the diaphragm, raises the plunger &
and the outer end of the lever f, and with it the lever g and damper rod,
thereby partially closing the damper. In working, the spindle of the damper
rolls horizontally along the bearing 2, and thus very materially decreases
friction. The damper continues thus to close up until the required pressure
of steam is obtained, when it remains stationary, but should the pressure de-
crease the plunger and diaphragm descend, the lamper opens, and the draught
in the furnace is increased. The damper may be placed in the chimney flues
or front of the ash-pit.

page_text: And having now described the nature of my said Invention and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim,-
First, the employment of.a double. or compound lever for working the
damper of steam engine furnaces as herein-before described and illustrated in
the accompanying Drawings.
Second, placing the frame for the damper shaft at an angle, bringing the
base of the slot in which the spindle works into a horizontal plane, and forming
the same with a knife edge, all as herein-before described and illustrated in
the accompanying Drawings..
In witness whereof, I, the said Robert Barrett, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Nineteenth day of February, One thousand eight
hundred and sixty-two.