Year: 1888

page_text: I, CHARLES DENTON ABEL, of No. 28 Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, in
the County of Middlesex, Consulting Engineer, and Patent Agent, 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 :-
•
According to my invention I construct an inclined or curved reciprocating furnace
grate, receiving a to-and-fro motion from a suitable motor or driving gear and
supplied with fuel from a feed hopper at the outer or upper end, so that as the furnace
grate moves outwards and upwards, the layer of fuel lying upon it is prevented from
receding with it, or becomes more or less pushed together thereon by the fuel in the
hopper, while during the inward motion the fire-grate carries a portion of the fuel
forward with it out of the hopper, and thus effects a gradual step-by-step forward
foed of the fuel in a thin layer over the grate, the ashes and clinkers being made to
escape over the open lower end of the fire grate into the ashpit below.
On the accompanying drawing is shewn the application of one arrangement of my
above described furnace grate to a steam boiler. Fig. 1 shews a longitudinal section,
and Fig. 2 a cross section.
A is the furnace grate, B the combustion chamber, C the feed hopper, D the motor
for actuating the furnace grate, and F is the ashpit. The furnace grate A consists of
a frame, the front and back portions of which are covered with solid iron plates, while
the middle part contains fire bars E. At the outer end of the framing is an angle
plate G to which is connected the piston rod of the motor D, which may be a hydraulic
or other suitable motor cylinder.
The fuel is charged into the feed hopper C, from which it is delivered at bottom
in the above described manner on to the furnace grate, the thickness of the layer of fuel
on the latter being regulated according to its nature, by the regulating slide H.

page_text: In the arrangement shewn, the grate-frame rests with two lateral ribs Jon
rollers K K fixed on axles M and running on fixed rails L. The two axles M may
be connected together by a truck-like framing.
Instead of carrying the furnace grate upon rollers, it may be connected to the one
end of arms or links, the other ends of which are connected to pivots arranged either
above or below the grate, so that on receiving its to and fro motion, this will swing
upon the said arms as radii, in which case, as its path will be somewhat curved, its
surface may be formed with a curvature corresponding to that of its path.
The furnace grate is more particularly suited for finely granulated or pulverulent
fuel, which can only be burnt with difficulty upon fixed furnace grates.
When used for such fuel, I prefer to construct the fire bars with alternately
varying cross sections, so formed that the side edges of the larger bars overhang those
of the contiguous smaller bars, whereby the falling through of the fuel will be
prevented, while sufficient space is left for the passage of air between the bars.
Such a construction of grate is shewn by way of example at Fig. 3 of the
drawings.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. The construction of furnace grates wherein the automatic feed of the fuel is
effected by forming the grate with an inclined or curved surface and imparting
thereto a to-and-fro or oscillating motion, in the direction of the incline or curve,
beneath a feed hopper, so that on the upward and outward motion of the grate the
fuel is more or less heaped up on the same, while on the downward and inward motion
a portion of the fuel is carried forward from the hopper by the grate, substantially as
herein described.
2. Constructing the furnace grate with fire bars having alternately larger and
smaller cross sections and so formed that the side edges of the larger bars project over
the sides of the smaller bars and thus while leaving sufficient space for the passage of
air, prevent granular or pulverulent fuel from falling through between them, sub-
stantially as herein described.
3. Constructing furnace grates of a framing with fire bars arranged on an incline
or with a curvature, which furnace grate rests upon rollers running on inclined or
curved rails, and has a to and fro motion imparted to it in the direction of its incline
or curvature, the upper outer end of the furnace grate being made to move under-
neath a fuel hopper so that at each forward or inward motion of the fire grate a
portion of the fuel is conveyed thereby from the hopper into the furnace, substantially
as herein described.
11-
1000