IMPROVEMENTS APPLICABLE TO STEAM BOILERS, IRON, STEEL, RETORT, AND OTHER FURNACES."
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joshua Fisher, of Liverpool, in the County of
Lancaster, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS APPLICABLE TO STEAM
BOILERS, IRON, STEEL, RETORT, AND OTHER FURNACES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joshua Fisher at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 26th
December 1865.
I, JOSHUA FISHER, of Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster, do hereby
"IMPROVEMENTS APPLICABLE TO
declare the nature of the said Invention for
STEAM BOILERS IRON, STEEL, RETORT, AND OTHER FURNACES," to be as follows
(that is to say):-
This Invention for improvements applicable to steam boilers, iron, steel,
retort, and other analogous furnaces has for its object the obtaining of a more
complete combustion of the fuel, and by which means the ordinary horizontal
platform of grate-bars and ash-pit are or may be dispensed with.
In applying this Invention to, say, a marine steam boiler, the furnace
chambers are constructed so as to have a water space of, say, about six inches
between the furnace chambers and the bottom of the boiler, and which furnace

page_text: chambers are surrounded on the sides and top by water spaces, and on each
side of every furnace, except those on the flank or between each pair of
furnaces, is formed an air chamber which runs parallel between the said
furnace chambers, and each air chamber has on one or both sides a series of
lateral port openings through the water spaces of, say, about nine inches high
by twelve inches long which communicate with the furnace chamber or
chambers; the bottom of the port openings are immediately or nearly in line
with the bed of the furnaces. Each of these series of port openings are fitted
with a vertical grating having vertical or horizontal bars or a combination
thereof, but, by preference, with vertical bars for retaining the incandescent
fuel within the furnace chambers and for allowing the admission of air for the
combustion of the fuel. The two flank or outer furnaces of the boiler have
or may have port openings through the sides of the boiler, the bottoms of
which are immediately or nearly in line with the bottom of the furnace
chambers in the same way as the openings from the air chambers to the
furnaces on each side of them, and which port openings are also fitted with
gratings for the admission of air to the fuel, retaining the fuel within the furnace,
and exactly or nearly coinciding with the port openings on the opposite sides
of the furnace chambers which open into the air chambers. The bottom of
the furnace chambers it is preferred to line with fire-clay tiles or half bricks,
upon which the fuel rests between the vertical water spaces and the gratings
fitted within the lateral port openings. The fronts of the furnaces and air
chambers are severally fitted with doors, or half or portions of doors for the
purpose of regulating the furnace draughts. Each port opening may be fitted
with dampers as an additional means of controlling the draught. The upper
portion of the boiler may be of any ordinary description, but it is preferred to
use a boiler in which the fuel chambers extend pretty well through it, and
using horizontal tubes for conveying the products of combustion over the
crowns of the furnaces and air chambers into the uptake immediately above
the furnace doors, which uptake is so curved as to pass through the steam
space and out through the crown of the boiler, as is well understood. In some
cases it may be found advisable to apply gratings to the fronts of the several
furnaces similar to those fitted to the lateral port openings, which can be
removed at pleasure, and to fit the furnace mouths with a pair or two pairs of
doors, the lower one or lower pair (when two are used) being so arranged
that they will reach about to the top of the fuel, and which doors may be
fitted with solid or perforated fire-tiles, or behind the doors a solid or per-
forated tile which is moveable may be placed at the mouth of each furnace

page_text: to retain the fuel therein. In some instances it may be found of advantage
to have an opening or openings formed through the vertical water space at the
back of the several air chambers for the admission of air to the rear of the
bridges.
In applying this Invention to, say, reverberatory furnaces it is sometimes
preferred to construct the bottom of the furnace upon a platform of horizontal
iron girders in part covered with fire-tiles to support the fuel, or upon brick-
work, or a combination of both, so that air chambers may be formed open
from the front to the back below the bed of the furnace to allow of a greater
supply of air to pass from below with facility through the vertical gratings,
which are placed in position with the fuel as herein-before described, com-
municating between the upper part of the air chambers and the furnaces, and
thus to the fuel.
a
In constructing the several furnaces or sections of the furnaces of rever-
beratory furnaces the upper part of the air chambers is formed at the sides
of vertical gratings in one or more lengths, or combination of vertical
gratings and solid supports for this grating; and it is preferred to form the
tops of the upper portion of the air chambers, which are or may be below the
crown of the furnace, with an iron plate or plates, or fire-clay tiles, or a com-
bination of the grating. In some cases, if preferred, in place of having a
water space at the bottom of the air chambers of steam boilers as herein-
before described, they may be formed open below and of a continuous line of
grating, in the same way as those herein-before described when the Invention
is applied to reverberatory furnaces.
It will be readily seen that in the case of, say, a marine boiler of the
ordinary construction, the Invention can be readily applied thereto by forming
a horizontal platform at or near where the present platform of fire bars is now
placed, and also by dividing the fire into two or more parts, by means of an
air chamber or air chambers passing from front to back, thus dividing the
fuel into two or more parts, as herein-before described as applied to rever-
beratory furnaces.
Now it will be observed from the foregoing description that the furnaces
consist simply of long narrow chambers, and that with the exception of those
on the flank on each side of every furnace, or between each pair of furnaces,
or within the furnaces, or both, there is or are constructed an air chamber or
chambers running parallel therewith, and having in some instances one or
The said air chambers may be made
more air openings through the back.
the whole length of the furnaces open to the front or back, or both, each

page_text: furnace chamber being provided with a series of vertical grated openings on
one or both sides, the bottom of which gratings are on or near the line of the
bed of the fuel, and of about the depth of the fuel for the admission of air for
the combustion of the fuel, and the ordinary furnace-bars and ash-pit are or
may be dispensed with.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Joshua Fisher in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 26th
June 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSHUA
FISHER, of Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-sixth day of December, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-ninth
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said Joshut Fisher, Her special licence that I, the
said Joshua Fisher, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Joshua Fisher, 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 terin 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 APPLICABLE TO STEAM BOILERS, IRON, STREL, RETORT, AND OTHER
FURNACES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Joshua
Fisher, 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 Joshua Fisher, 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 (that is to say):-
This my said Invention for improvements applicable to steam boilers, iron,
steel, retort, and other analogous furnaces has for its object the obtaining
of a more complete combustion of the fuel, and by which means the

page_text: ordinary horizontal platform of grate-bars and ash-pit are or may be dispensed
with.
In applying this my said Invention to, say, a marine steam boiler I so
construct the furnace chambers as to have a water space of, say, about six
inches between the furnace chamber and the bottom of the boiler, and which
furnace chambers are surrounded on the sides and top by water spaces, and
on each side of every furnace, except those on the flank or between each pair
of furnaces, is formed an air chamber which runs paralle! between the said
furnace chambers, and each air chamber has on one or both sides a series of
lateral port openings through the water spaces of, say, about nine inches high
by twelve inches long which communicate with the furnace chamber or
chambers; the bottom of the port openings are immediately or nearly in line
with the bed of the furnaces. Each of these series of port openings I fit with
a vertical grating having vertical or horizontal bars or a combination thereof,
but I prefer to use hollow vertical bars, through which the water circulates
for retaining the incandescent fuel within the furnace chambers and for
allowing the admission of air for the combustion of the fuel. The two flank
or outer furnaces of the boiler have or may have port openings through the
sides of the boiler, the bottoms of which are immediately or nearly in line
with the bottom of the furnace chambers in the same way as the openings from
the air chambers to the furnaces on each side of them, and which port openings
are also fitted with gratings or hollow bars for the admission of air to the fuel,
retaining the fuel within the furnace, and exactly or nearly coinciding with
the port openings on the opposite side of the furnace chambers which open
into the air chambers. The bottom of the furnace chambers I prefer to line
with fire-clay tiles or half bricks, upon which the fuel rests between the
vertical water spaces and the gratings fitted within the lateral port openings.
The fronts of the furnaces and air chambers are severally fitted with doors, or
half or portions of doors for the purpose of regulating the furnace draughts.
Each port opening may be fitted with dampers as an additional means of
controlling the draught. The upper portion of the boiler may be of any
ordinary approved description, but I prefer to use a boiler in which the fuel
chambers extend pretty well through it, and to use horizontal tubes for con-
veying the products of combustion over the crowns of the furnaces and air
chambers into the uptake immediately above the furnace doors, which uptake
is so curved as to pass through the steam space and out through the crown
of the boiler, as is well understood. In some cases I find it advisable to apply
gratings to the fronts of the several furnaces similar to those fitted to the

page_text: lateral port openings, which can be removed at pleasure, and to fit the furnace
mouths with a pair or two pairs of doors, the lower one or lower pair (when
two are used) being so arranged that they will reach about to the top of the
fuel, and which doors may be fitted with solid or perforated fire-tiles, or
behind the doors a solid or perforated tile which is moveable may be placed
at the mouth of each furnace to retain the fuel therein. In some instances
I find it of advantage to have an opening or openings formed through the
vertical water space at the back of the several air chambers for the admission
of air to the rear of the bridges.
In applying this my said Invention to, say, reverberatory furnaces it is
sometimes preferred to construct the bottom of the furnace upon a platform
of horizontal iron girders in part covered with fire-tiles to support the fuel,
or upon brickwork, or a combination of both, so that air chambers may be
formed open from the front to the back below the bed of the furnace to
allow of a greater supply of air to pass from below with facility through the
vertical gratings, which are placed in position with the fuel as herein-before
described, communicating between the upper part of the air chambers and the
furnaces, and thus to the fuel.
In constructing the several furnaces or sections of the furnaces of reverbe-
ratory furnaces the upper part of the air chambers I form at the sides of
vertical gratings in one or more lengths, or a combination of vertical gratings
and solid supports for this grating, in which case hollow bars may be used,
through which water circulates, which said water may be used for feed water
for steam boilers or other purposes, and I prefer to form the tops of the upper
portion of the air chambers which are or may be below the crown of the
furnace with an iron plate or plates, or fire-clay tiles or brickwork, or a
continuation of the grating or of the water space. In some cases, if preferred,
in place of having a water space at the bottom of the air chambers of steam
boilers as herein-before described, they may be formed open below and of
a continuous line of grating in the same way as those herein-before described
when the Invention is applied to reverberatory furnaces.
It will be readily seen that in case of, say, a marine boiler of the ordinary
construction, this my said Invention can be readily applied thereto by forming
a horizontal platform at or near where the present platform of fire-bars is
now placed, and also by dividing the fire into two or more parts by means
of an air chamber or air chambers passing from front to back, thus dividing
the fuel into two or more parts, as herein-before described as applied to
reverberatory furnaces.

page_text: Now it will be observed from the foregoing description that the furnaces
consist simply of long narrow chambers, and that with the exception of those
on the flank on each side of every furnace, or between each pair of furnaces.
or within the furnaces, or both, there is or are constructed an air chamber or
chambers running parallel therewith, and having in some instances one or
more air openings through the back. The said air chambers may be made
the whole length of the furnaces open to the front or back, or both, each
furnace chamber being provided with a series of vertical grated openings on
one or both sides, the bottom of which gratings are on or near the line of the
bed of the fuel and of about the depth of the fuel for the admission of air for
the combustion of the fuel, and the ordinary furnace, bars and ash-pit are or
may be dispensed with. In some cases, to insure the move perfect combus-
tion of the gases, I introduce a number of tubes or lateral openings through
the water spaces for the admission of air from the air chambers over the
furnace at a line above the fuel.
That this my said Invention may be the more readily seen and understood
I have hereunto annexed Drawings in illustration of the same; like letters of
reference marked thereon are used to denote similar parts.
Figure 1 (Sheet 1) is a sectional plan of a marine steam boiler constructed
with air chambers between each pair of furnaces and an air space on each
side, taken in section from a to b, Figure 2; Figure 2 (Sheet 1) is a sectional
elevation of the same showing the air chambers C and the openings for the
air to the fuel on (B) tiles, which form the bottom of the furnaces; Figure 3
(Sheet 1) is a perspective view on an enlarged scale, showing one of the side
gratings, which may be cast in one piece of steel, copper, brass, or other suitable
metal, and which forms the hollow bars or side gratings of the furnaces, and
is rivetted in with the other portion of the boiler by the flanges; the bottom
of the air opening may be made to slant downwards into the air chamber;
Figure 4 (Sheet 1) represents an enlarged section of one of the hollow bars
seen in perspective in Figure 3; and Figure 5 (Sheet 1) is an outline Drawing
of the same shewing the relative position of the bars to each other, the laper
end being towards the air spaces.
Figure 6 (Sheet 1) is a sectional elevation of a boiler of the ordinary con-
struction, showing how the hollow bar grating for the admission of air to the
fuel on tile B may be applied; the air in this case coming from below the
bed of the furnace B, as indicated by the arrows, and the bed B being sup-
ported on triangular or other formed metal bars. Figure 7 (Sheet. 1) is an
horizontal section of the same taken from A to B, Figure 6, shewing the

page_text: water bar grating on each side of B; and Figure 6 (Sheet 1) is an enlarged
isometrical view of a portion of the same boiler, shewing the internal con-
struction of the same; Figure 9 (Sheet 2) shews the tile B placed below
the water grating, thus admitting an additional supply of air through the
opening thus formed from front to back of furnace. In some cases with
suitable fuel the overhanging projections P may be formed without the water
bar grating, and for some furnaces the sides of this overhanging projection
may be formed of fire-brick.
Figure 10 (Sheet 2) is a sectional elevation of the reverberatory furnace,
shewing my improvements applied thereto, which are similar to those shewn
in Figure 6 and 7 (Sheet 1), and the dotted lines on the water spaces E
indicate the back and top of the air channels, the direction of the current of
air being indicated by the arrows.
A, external shell of the boiler; B, the furnace bed; C, the air chamber
spaces between the furnaces; D, air spaces at the side of the boiler: E, the
water spaces; F, hollow bar grating, shewn enlarged in Figures 3, 4, and 5.
The object I have in sloping the tiles forming the bed of the furnace and
forming the vertical grate bars of a tuncated pyrimidal form in horizontal
section is to allow the ash or residium of the fuel to readily find its way
through the bars into the air chambers between the furnaces or into the
ash-pit below the fuel bed B.
From the foregoing description it will be readily seen by those acquainted
with the art that these my improvements are applicable to all description of
furnaces except the cupola furnaces.
Having now fully described and ascertained the nature of this my said
Invention, and the best means I am acquainted with for carrying the same
into practical effect, I wish it to be understood that I do not confine myself
to the relative proportions or dimensions of the several parts of the apparatus
herein described, illustrated, and set forth, as it will be readily seen that the
same may be considerably varied without departing from the Invention; but
what I claim as new and my Invention is,-
First, the solid platform or furnace bed arranged as herein-before described
and set forth.
Secondly, the lateral grated or barred port openings through which air to
insure the combustion of the fuel is supplied through the sides of the furnace,
as herein-before described and set forth.
Thirdly, the construction and use of the air chambers or passages between
the furnaces herein-before described and set forth,

page_text: And, lastly, the construction of boiler and other furnaces with a solid bottom
or platform in combination with the side openings and air chambers substantially
in the manner and for the purposes herein-before described, and set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joshua Fisher, have hereunto set my
hand and affixed my seal, this Twenty-third day of June, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred.and sixty-six.
Signed, sealed, and delivered by the
said Joshua Fisher, in the pre-
sence of
WILLIAM WALKER,
of 44, Castle Street,
Liverpool.
JOSHUA (L.S.) FISHER.