TUDATUS TN THE CONSTRUCTION OF FURNACES.
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Hinchcliffe, of Oldham, and Thomas Milnes,
of Chadderton Hall, Manchester, both in the County of Lancaster,
Las the Tassantion of 16 TUDATUS TN THE CONSTRUCTION OF FURNACES.
"
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Hinchcliffe and
Thomas Milnes at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
their Petition, on the 16th November 1871.
-
We, JOHN HINCHOLIFFE, of Oldham, and THOMAS MILNES, of
Chadderton Hall, Manchester, both in the County of Lancaster, .do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE CONSTRUCTION OF FURNACES," to be as follows:-
This Invention is designed to effect the combustion of smoke in
furnaces, and at the same time to dispense with the use of the bridge,

page_text: wall, or midfeather in the flue, and consists principally of a cast-iron
plate level with the fire-bars, or nearly so, and provided with two or
more oval-shaped domes or raised chambers of other suitable form,
slotted or perforated with a suitable number of holes or slots. These
domes or chambers are open beneath, and are placed over openings in
the plates, so that the air from the ash-pit enters freely, and passing
through the holes or perforations in the domes or chambers in a finely
divided current, prevents the great heat of the flames at this part from
destroying the metal of the domes or chambers. The divided current of
air admitted at this point also has the effect of greatly improving the
combustion of fuel, thereby causing a considerable economy in the
amount of fuel required, and prevents the formation of smoke. The
air is admitted into these hollow cast-iron domes or chambers from the
ash-pit through a cavity behind the fire-bars, and its admission may
be regulated to the required extent by means of a damper placed
therein.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Hinchcliffe and Thomas Milnes in the
Great Seal Patent Office on the 16th May 1872.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, JOHN
HINCHCLIFFE, of Oldham, and THOMAS MILNES, of Chadderton Hall,
Manchester, both in the County of Lancaster, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Sixteenth day of November, 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 us, the said John Hinchcliffe and Thomas Milnes,
Her special license that we, the said John Hinchcliffe and Thomas
Milnes, our executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as we,
the said John Hinchcliffe and Thomas Milnes, our executors, adminis-
trators, 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,

page_text: within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel
Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CON-
STRUCTION OF FURNACES," upon the condition (amongst others) that we,
the said John Hinchcliffe and Thomas Milnes, our executors or adminis-
trators, by an instrument in writing under our, or one of our, 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 John Hinchcliffe, 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)
This Invention is designed to effect the combustion of smoke in
furnaces, and at the same time to dispense with the use of the ordinary
bridge, wall, or midfeather in the flue, and consists principally of a
cast-iron plate level with the fire-bars, or nearly so, and provided with
two or more oval-shaped domes or raised chambers of other suitable
form, slotted or perforated with a suitable number of holes or slots.
These domes or chambers are open beneath, and are placed over open-
ings in the plate, so that the air from the ash-pit enters freely, and
passing through the holes or perforations in the domes or chambers in a
finely divided current, prevents the great heat of the flames at this part
from destroying the metal of the domes or chambers. The divided
current of air admitted at this point also has the effect of greatly
improving the combustion of fuel, thereby causing a considerable
economy in the amount of fuel required, and prevents the formation
of smoke. The air is admitted into these hollow cast-iron domes or
chambers from the ash-pit through a cavity behind the fire-bars, and
its admission may be regulated to the required extent by means of a
damper placed therein.

page_text: formed or carried into practical effect, and in order that the same may
be clearly understood, we have annexed hereunto a Sheet of Drawings
illustrative thereof, and have marked the same with figures and letters
of reference corresponding with those in the following explanation
thereof.
In the annexed Drawings Fig. 1 is a longitudinal section of the
furnace end of a single-flued boiler with our improvements shown as
applied thereto; Fig. 2 is a transverse section of the same; and Fig. 3
is a plan or horizontal section of the flue.
a, a, is the shell of the boiler; b, b, the flue; and c, c, the fire-bars;
d, d, is a cast-iron dead plate placed behind the bars and on a level
therewith; and e, e, is a dwarf wall made of two or more blocks of fire
clay, which we substitute for the ordinary bridge wall, and which is
merely required to keep the fuel from passing into the fluc, or choking
the perforations of the domes. The plate d, d, is made with two open-
ings or holes, over each of which is placed an oval perforated dome or
chamber ff. The plate d, d, is supported on brickwork g, g, formed
with a cavity h, so that the air from the ash-pit h³, h¹, can pass freely
through the holes in the plate d, d, into the domes f, f, and thence
through the perforations into the furnace, as above described. In Fig. 3
one of the domes f,f, is shown in section, and the other in full plan
view. The amount of air admitted is regulated by the slotted damper
or slide i, i, worked by the handle k, k, at the front. When fresh coal
or fuel is supplied to the furnace the damper or slide i, i, is to be
fully opened, and it may be partially or totally closed in about two
minutes' time, or as soon as the smoke ceases to be formed in the
flue.
Fig. 4 is a longitudinal section showing how the dwarf wall e, e, may
be dispensed with by raising the level of the dead plate d, d, above that
of the fire bars. In this Fig. also a hinged damper 1, 1, is shown in
place of the sliding damper i, i.
Having now described the nature and object of the said Invention,
together with the manner in which the same is to be or may be
performed or carried into practical effect, we wish it to be understood
that we claim as our Invention the use or employment of a cast-iron
plate having two or more holes, above which are placed perforated

page_text: domes or chambers, substantially in the manner and for the purposes
herein-before set forth and illustrated by the Drawings annexed.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Hinchcliffe, on behalf of
myself and the said Thomas Milnes, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Fourteenth day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two.
Witnessed by
GEORGE DAVIES, C.E.,
Patent Office, .
Manchester.
JOHN HINCHCLIFFE. (L.S.)