Year: 1888

page_text: Date of Application (in United Kingdom), 7th Dec., 1888
Complete Specification Left, 7th Dec., 1888
Complete Specification Accepted, 5th Feb., 1889
I, MARTIN ESHLEMAN HERSHEY of Harrisburg in the County of Dauphin and
State of Pennsylvania, United States of America, Gentleman, do hereby declare
the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed
to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement
The present invention has for its object to so construct a boiler-setting as that
complete combustion is secured without the necessity of a forced draft, the parts
being rendered much more durable than the ordinary setting, not liable to be
clogged with dirt or broken while in use, and withal so constructed as that ready
access may be had to all parts of the boiler for inspection or repair without destroying
the setting.
To these ends the invention consists in certain novel features of. construction and
combinations and arrangements of parts to be hereinafter described, and pointed
out particularly in the claims at the end of this specification.
In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a longitudinal vertical section through
a boiler-setting constructed in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 is a section on
the line xx, Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a section taken horizontally through the bridge-wall.
Fig. 4 is a longitudinal vertical section of the bridge-wall. Fig. 5 is a view of a
modification.
Similar letters of reference in the several figures indicate the same parts.
The boiler-setting to which my invention is particularly applicable is that commonly
known as the "Weitmeyer setting" in which the larger part of the air for supporting
combustion is taken in at the rear end and caused to impinge on a flame-bed, A,
underlying the rear end of the boiler, before reaching the ash-pit, from whence it
is distributed to the grate-surface. The flame-bed A referred to, extends rearwardly

page_text: from the bridge-wall, and I preferably construct it of rectangular blocks of fire-
brick, a, supported on the flanges of inverted T-shaped girders B, passing from
side to side of the setting, the ends of the girders being supported on ledges b, formed
by building a thin wall to the required height inside the regular solid setting-walls C,
or else by making bracket-ledges on said walls, as will readily understood. The
flanges of the T-shaped girders are located at the bottom, thus insuring the proper
positioning of the refractory blocks but more particularly to prevent the exposure of
much if any of the iron surface to the action of the flame, and at the same time
present a relatively largo radiating surface for heating the air passing through the flue
beneath.
To supply air to the top of the bridge-wall D and cause the complete combustion of
the
gases passing of from from the fire, I form flues d, extending diagonally upward from
the ash-pit, and over the upper ends of these flues locate suitable hollow fire-bricks
with small perforations therein the interior cavities in such bricks being of consider-
ably greater area than the cross-sectional area of the supply-flues, thus forming
expansion-chambers in which the air is highly heated before passing out to commingle
with the products of combustion.
The expansion-chamber may be continuous from one end of the bridge-wall to the
other and formed of a single fire-brick of inverted-V shape or semicircular; or it may
be divided into a number of separate chambers formed by independent bricks of sub-
stantially the same shape, as shown.
The flues are formed by a series of castings, E; having the broad flat or flanged
bases C, which rest on the inclined face of the bridge-wall, and the narrow flat or
flanged top E. connected to the base by the webs e, forming the divisions between
the flues. The tops E' support the rectangular fire-bricks F, constituting the outside
of the Blues. The end bar G, for supporting the rear ends of the grate-bars also
serves as a support for the castings and fire-brick forming the flues d, being con-
structed for the purpose with the two rails g', the former serving to support the
ends of the grate-bars and the latter the bases of the castings E, the webs o², con-
necting the two rails, being preferably so located as to fall in line with the division
between the flues, air of course, being admitted to the flues through the opening in
the end bar.
•
In order that no dirt or soot shall lodge in the flues d, the top and bottom of the
castings E converge as they near the top, forming tapering flues opening out into the
expansion-chambers, as before explained. Thus any dirt or, soot will, when it enters
said flues, at once fall clear through into the ash-pit.
As before explained, the ash-pit is supplied with air taken in from the rear end and
carried through the bridge-wall, a suitable steam supply being located in the ash-pit,
if desired, and an additional air supply at the forward end, the air entering through
the latter being heated by being passed around through the casing of the fire-door,
which for this purpose is made hollow, as shown, either by being cast in such a form
or by making the casing of the two concentric rings, one smaller than the other, the
whole being imbedded in the wall of the setting independent of the boiler and readily
removable for repair or removal. The hollow casing may be thick enough to extend
below the end bar, H, and have the exit-apertures open directly into the ash-pit,
although I prefer to form apertures in the dead-plate and run air-passages I. down
into the ash-pit, as shown, the air-inlet passages K being always located at the top
of the casing on the outside, thus keeping up a constant circulation of air around in
the casing from top to bottom, keeping it at all times cool and at the same time
effectually beating the air entering the ash-pit from the front.
It is obvious that the castings the flue d may be made in a single piece, if desired
or as shown in Fig. 5, and that the form of the same may be varied considerably
without departing from the spirit of my invention.
The advantages will now be readily comprehended. The flame-bed being easily
removed and replaced by taking up the fire-bricks and supporting girders, the boiler
may be easily inspected and repaired, and the flame-bed being very thin-a feature
rendered possible by this construction-causes the air to be highly heated before its

page_text: entrance to the ash-pit, where it is distributed to the grate-surface and allowed to pass
up the flues & into the expansion-chambers, the parts by having a constant circulation
of air around them being rendered practically indestructible, and the air supplied to
the front of the ash-pit being also heated to a high degree while circulating through
the fire door casing.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be particularly performed, I declare
that what I claim is:
1. In a steam boiler setting, the combination, with the bridge wall and the air
passages for supplying air to the top thereof, formed by the metal bottom plates having
the upwardly extending webs or flanges, and the refractory blocks lying on the top
of such webs, of hollow perforated fire bricks located over the mouths of such passages
for distributing the air, substantially as described.
2. In a steam boiler furnace, the combination, with the bridge wall, of air
passages for supplying air to the top thereof, formed by the bottom plate having the
upwardly extending webs, and the refractory blocks lying on the tops of such web,
substantially as described.
3. In a steam boiler furnace, the combination, with the bridge wall, of the passages
for supplying air to the top of the same, formed by the plates having the upwardly
extending webs, with the flanged tops and the refractory blocks resting on such tops,
substantially as described.
4. In a steam boiler furnace, the combination with the grate bar, end bar and
bridge wall, of the plates having the upwardly extending webs with the refractory
blocks on such webs, forming the air passages for supplying air to the top of the
bridge wall and supported in position by the end bar, substantially as described.
5. In a steam boiler furnace, the combination with the grate, end bar, and bridge
wall, of the bottom plates having the upwardly extending webs with the flanged tops
and the refractory blocks resting on such tops, the bottom plates and refractory blocks
resting upon and supported by the end bar, substantially as described.
6. In a steam-boiler furnace, the combination with the grate-bars, the bridge-wall,
and plates forming the air-passages, of an end bar having the two rails for supporting the
grate-bars and plates forming the air-passages, respectively, the connecting webs, and
the apertures through which the air passes to the top of the bridge-wall, substantially
as described.
7. In a steam-boiler setting, the combination, with the boiler, the setting walls and
the supplemental walls or ledges on each side at the bottom, of the removable flame-
bed underlying and in proximity to the boiler, formed of the girders lying loosely on
said supplemental walls or ledges, and the refractory blocks removably supported on
said girders, substantially as described.
8. In a steam-boiler furnace, the combination with the grate, rear air supply,
and the setting walls having the projections or ledges, of a flame-bed overlying
said air-passage for heating the air therein, formed of the T-shaped girders removably
supported on the projections or ledges, with the flanges down and exposed to the
air beneath, and the refractory blocks removably supported on said flanges, substan-
tially as described.
A