CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN FIRE-GRATES AND IN PARTS CONNECTED THEREWITH FOR FURNACES FOR HEATING FLUIDS
Year: 1841

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ANTHONY
BERNHARD VON RATHEN, of the Borough of Kingston upon Hull, Engineer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS I did by petition represent to Her most Excellent Majesty
Queen Victoria that I had invented "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN FIRE-GRATES AND
IN PARTS CONNECTED THEREWITH FOR FURNACES FOR HEATING FLUIDS," and Her said
Majesty, being willing to encourage all useful inventions, did issue Her Letters
Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ire-
land, bearing date at Westminster, the Twenty-second day of February, in the
fourth year of Her reign, whereby Her said Majesty did, for Herself, Her heirs
and successors, give and grant unto me, the said Anthony Bernhard Von Rathen,
Her especial license that I, the said Anthony Bernhard Von Rathen, my execu-
tors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Anthony Bernhard
Von Rathen, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times during the term
of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and
vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick upon Tweed, my said
Invention in "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN FIRE-GRATES AND IN PARTS CONNECTED
THEREWITH FOR FURNACES FOR HEATING FLUIDS;" in which said Letters Patent
there is contained a proviso obliging me, the said Anthony Bernhard Von
Rathen, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, particularly to

page_text: describe and ascertain the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, and to cause the same to be enrolled in Her
Majesty's High Court of Chancery within four calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said recited Letters Patent, as in and by
the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Anthony Bernhard Von Rathen, do hereby declare that the nature of my said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully
described in and by the following statements thereof, reference being had unto
the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked respec-
tively thereon, that is to say :-
My Invention consists of a construction and arrangement of fire bars, by
which I change the level surface of the common fire-grate in the direction of
the transverse or cross line thereof into depths and elevations, forming, as it
were, hills and valleys, or linear triangles or spheriods, and thus expose an
increased surface of the fire-grate to the action of the air upon the coals or fuel
therein. The parts connected with the said fire-grate, and which are also
fully described in the Drawings hereto annexed, are a close furnace by which
the air is heated before it reaches the fire-grate, and which is accomplished by
means of two subservient fire-grates being placed under the principal fire-grate,
the one immediately under the principal fire-grate being placed there to receive
and consume the small coals and other particles of. combustible matter which
fall through the bars of the upper fire-grate, and the lower grate being to receive
the ignited ashes and small cinders which fall from the middle grate, by which
means the air, by passing over or thro' such lower and middle grates, will
become heated before it reaches the top or principal fire-grate. The air enters
thro' a door in the ash pit under the lowest fire-grate, and which door can be
opened or closed by the engineer for the purpose of regulating the admission
of atmospheric air. Another part connected with the said principal fire-grate
is an inclined plane, and an arch at the inner end of the said fire-grate built
of fire bricks, so that the upper draft of the fire must descend and the lower
draft ascend before the fire-and-heated air passes from the fire-grate into the
flues of a common or into the pipes of a locomotive boiler, thus producing an
increased consumption of the smoke which may not have been previously
consumed. I also connect a coal. feeder to the said fire-grate, for the purpose
of heating and drying the coals before they are thrown on the fire; but I
disclaim the said coal feeder as any part of my said Invention, and only reserve
the right of using a coal feeder of such shape and form as the character or-form

page_text: of the boiler may require and locality demand. I now proceed to the explana-
tions of the Drawings. Figure 1 is a transverse section of a common waggon
or round steam boiler commonly used in manufactories, with a principal and
two subordinate fire-grates attached thereto. Figure 2 is a longitudinal section
of the same boiler and fire-grates. The letters of reference indicate the same
parts in all the Figures. The letters A, Figure 1, indicate the two coal spaces
formed by four inclined surfaces or planes, and which increase in width from
the lowest to the highest point. The elevations in the fire-grate can be
produced either by making the fire bars of different heights, and by placing
them on horizontal supporters, so that the upper edges of the bars will
form an ascending scale, one rising over the other, or the fire bars may be
made each of the same height, and placed upon supporters with ascending
steps, as shewn in Figures 1 and 3. These supporters are hollow, and
are fixed in double iron bars, as shown Figure 4, fixed to the walls
or sides of a boiler, or otherwise, as the locality may require. The fire
bars are made hollow or double, as shewn in Figure 5, and the opening for
the passage of the air thro' them is wider at the lower than the upper
edge of the bar. Figure 6 is a plan view of a fire bar. Figure 7 is an
end 'view of a fire bar. The fire bars of my fire-grate are required to be
deeper than in common fire grates, by reason of the much higher degree of
heat produced by the pile of coals inclosed between the inclined surfaces.
Figure 8 is a longitudinal section of one of the hollow supporters, as shewn in
Figure 3. Figure 9 is a back view of the same supporters. Figure 10 is a
plan view of the fire-grate. Figure 11 is a vertical section of the inner end of
the fire grate, shewing the inclined plane marked letter B, and the arch
marked letter C, built of fire bricks, taken in the line X, Y, marked in Figure 2,
by which the bottom of the boiler is partly protected from the heat or flame,
and the passage into the flues contracted. The letter D in Figures 1 and 2
shew the middle fire-grate, and the letter E in the same Figures shew the
lower grate. The letter F in Figure 2 shews the door of the ash pit. The
second or middle fire-grate, being only designed to burn the small coals
and other fuel falling from the upper fire-grate for the purpose of heating
the air, wants but little strength, and is of the ordinary form. The third or
lowest fire-grate marked E has round fire bars, and is designed to receive the
glowing ashes and bits of cinders falling from the middle fire-grate, and to
cover the entrance of cold air, and prevents its Fushing immediately to the
middle and upper fire-grate. Under the fire-grate E is the ash pit and
door marked F in Figure 2, by which the cold air enters, and which can be

page_text: a wire or chain, as
The arrow's flight
In the longitudinal
regulated, opened, and shut by the engineer by means of
the state of the fire in the upper grate may require.
indicate the passage of the air admitted by door F.
section, Figure 2, is a coal feeder marked G, formed by two hoppers. The
upper hopper is designed to receive the fresh coals, and from thence they pass
by withdrawing a slide in the bottom thereof into the hopper immediately under
it, from whence they pass by the withdrawing of a similar slide to a place before
the fire box marked H, where they become heated, and where the stoker can
thrust them to any part of the fire by means of the shuttle or scraper marked I
passing through the lower part of the door of the upper fire-grate. The form
of the shuttle or scraper is shown in Figure 12 and 13. In the lowest part or
point between the inclined surfaces of the principal fire-grate the opening
between the fire bars is wider than elsewhere, in consequence of there being
the greatest pile of coals upon that particular place, and also for the purpose
of enabling the stoker by means of a crooked iron bar to stir the fire thro'
the bottom of the grate, as shewn in Figure 10. In the middle furnace or
fire-grate marked D there is a frame of pipes (connected with the boiler by
an intermediate pipe) marked K, in Figure 1, and which pipes are perforated
with small holes in the lower parts, and receive a supply of boiling water from
the boiler regulated by a stop-cock, and which water will evaporate, and by
ascending thro' the bars of the upper fire-grate contribute to keep the fire bars
clean. The fire-grate here-inbefore described is applicable to all sorts of
boilers, whether stationary, marine, or locomotive, and the parts herein
described can be either partly or wholly separated therefrom as locality or
circumstances may require.
Having thus described my Invention for certain improvements in fire-
grates, and in parts connected therewith for furnaces for heating fluids, I
remark that I claim as my Invention the construction of the principal or
upper fire-grate, in the form and on the principles stated in the foregoing
description, and in the Drawings annexed hereto, and the arrangement of
the several parts connected therewith, as well when connected with cach
other as separate. And I claim the principle of the upper fire-grate only
when the level of the fire-grate is broken, as it were, into hills and valleys,
whether by straight lines or curves in the transverse line, or the width of the
fire-grate. But I disclaim distinctly any right to the invention of any inclination,
declension, or ascension by the bending or fixing of fire bars in any way in
the direction of the line of their length. This principle of construction can be
applied in numberless shapes, as in forming squares, polygons, or by making,

page_text: as it were, a hill in the centre and a valley round it. And I claim it as my
Invention when so applied; but I have considered the form and shape herein-
before described to be the simplest and most useful.
In witness whereof, I, the said Anthony Bernhard Von Rathen, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, the Eighteenth day of June, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-one.