Improvements in Heating and Forging Furnaces.
Year: 1897

page_text: Improvements in Heating and Forging Furnaces.
I, WILLIAM WILSON BARNES of Melbourne House, Harrington R.S.O. in the County
of Cumberland, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:--
This invention has for its object to construct a furnace which will be applicable for
various purposes where high temperature is required, such for example as wheel
bossing, flanging, and for large forgings.
By my invention, I form. the heating chamber of the furnace of a shape which
shall correspond to the shape of the article to be heated whereby the flames are con-
centrated in an enclosed space and all the heat is utilised for the work the furnace has
to perform.
The furnace may be made of circular shape (though it may be made square or of
other form) and constructed with thick walls to resist the heat. It may be built up
of ordinary bricks lined with infusible materials, by preference fire bricks or blocks,
or the blocks may be made to interlock with each other so that they are firmly held in
place by being locked together, as described in the Specification of my prior Patent
No. 3741, dated February 19th, 1896. The furnace comprises an annular hearth on
which the fuel (by preference coke broken small) is placed, an ash pit, & an annular.
heating or reverberatory chamber immediately above the hearth in which the articles
to be raised to the required heat are located. The grate may be of hollow bars or
pipes with spaces between to admit of the blast being introduced from à slot in the
blast pipe below. Through these pipes water circulates, with the object of keeping
the bars from melting and preventing the formation of clinker between the pipes, but
I do not confine myself to hollow bars as solid bars may be used if so desired, and other
forms of blast pipe may be adopted. The air blast may be derived from an air
forcing engine or any other suitable equivalent motive power and the supply pipe
supplied with a valve to regulate the blast. There is a plug at bottom of furnace.
communicating with the ash-pit. To clean out the ash-pit, this plug is withdrawn
and full draught supplied through the blast pipe, thus blowing out the ashes from the
ash-pit through the plug hole. The tyre to be heated is supported in position on
galleries, and there is a cast-iron cover with fireclay blocks fitted in, to confine the
heat and beat back the flames on to the article under operation. Iron bands may
be placed round the structure to strengthen and retain in place the blocks of
which the furnace is constructed. There is a flue leading to the uptake and chains
for lifting the cover off the furnace when required to remove the tyre or other
article therefrom.
The furnace may be made so that an entire wheel with its axle fitted can be
inserted and heated. This comprises an annular grate on which the fuel is placed;
an ash-pit; a heating or reverberatory chamber immediately above the grate; an
annular gallery on which the wheel is supported, within which is a well which is

page_text: adapted to receive the journal of the axle so that the wheel may lie flat on the
gallery which is provided with plates; and a removable cover for the furnace with a
hole in the centre for the axle to pass through, this cover being adapted to confine
the flames in an enclosed space.
The advantages gained by this furnace are that the fire being confined in an
enclosed space, heat of the required intensity is obtained and regulated by controlling
the blast. Furthermore, instead of there being a great waste of heat as in open
hearths, all the heat is utilised for the work of the furnace.
In thus describing my invention, I wish it to be understood that the furnace may
be so arranged that oil may be used as fuel, in which case brick up bottoms may be
substituted for the water circulating bars, and the heating power of the oil, obtained
by the use of vapour burners, preferably of that kind in which there is a vapouriser
so heated by the flame, as to vapourise the liquid hydro-carbon passing through
it.
Dated this 31st day of May 1997.
I, WILLIAM WILSON BARNES of Melbourne House, Harrington, R.S.O., in the County
of Cumberland, 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:-
This invention has for its object to construct a furnace which will be applicable for
various purposes where high temperature is required, such for example as wheel
bossing, flanging, and for large forgings.
By my invention, I form the heating chamber of the furnace of a shape which
shall correspond to the shape of the article to be heated whereby the flames are con-
centrated in an enclosed space and all the heat is utilised for the work the furnace has
to perform.
The invention will be understood from the following description, reference being had
to the accompanying drawings, in which,
Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of a furnace applicable for flanging or for heating
tyres preparatory to shrinking them on to the wheel rim;
Figure 2 is a half plan and half sectional plan thereof;
Figure 3, a sectional elevation of a furnace applicable for heating the tyres when
fitted to the wheels; and
Figure 4, a half plan and half sectional plan thereof.
The general appearance of my flanging or heating furnace is depicted in Figures 1
and 2, in which the furnace is made of circular shape (though it may be made square
or other form) and constructed with thick walls to resist the heat. It may be built
up of ordinary bricks lined with infusible materials by preference firebricks or blocks,
or the blocks inay be made to interlock with each other so that they are firmly held in
place by being locked together, as described in the Specification of my prior Patent,
No. 3741, dated February 19th, 1896. A, designates the annular hearth on which the
fuel (by preference coke broken small) is placed, B ashpit, C an annular heating or

page_text: reverberatory chamber immediately above the hearth in which the articles to be
raised to the required heat are located. The grate A is of hollow bars or pipes with
spaces between to admit of the blast being introduced from the slot e in the blast
pipe E below. Through these pipes D water circulates with the object of keeping the
bars from melting and preventing the formation of clinker between the pipes, but I
do not confine myself to hollow bars, as solid bars may be used if so desired and other
forms of blast pipe may be adopted. The air blast may be derived from an air
forcing engine or other suitable equivalent motive power, and the supply pipe
supplied with a valve to regulate the blast. F is a plug at the bottom of furnace
communicating with the ashpit B. To clean out the ashpit this plug is withdrawn
and a full draught supplied through the blast pipe E, thus blowing out the ashes
from the ashpit through the plug hole. G is the tyre to be heated. H galleries on
which the tyre G is supported in position, I, cast iron cover with fireclay blocks fitted
therein to confine the heat and beat back the flames on to the article under operation.
Iron plates O may be placed round the structure to strengthen and retain in place the
blocks of which the furnace is constructed. J is a flue leading to the uptake. K are
chains for lifting the cover I off the furnace when required to remove the tyre or other
article therefrom.
In Figures 3 and 4, a furnace is shown in which the entire wheel with its axle can
be inserted and heated. In these figures, A is the annular grate on which the fuel
is placed, B the ashpit, C the heating or reverberatory chamber immediately above the
grate. Lan annular gallery on which the wheel is supported, within which is the
well M which is adapted to receive the journal of the axle so that the wheel may lie
flat on the gallery which is provided with plates N. I is a movable cover for the
furnace with a hole in the centre for the axle to pass through, this cover being adapted
to confine the flames in an enclosed space.
The advantages gained by this furnace are that the fire being confined in an
enclosed space, heat of the required intensity is obtained and regulated by controlling
the blast. Furthermore, instead of there being a great waste of heat as in open
hearths, all the heat is utilised for the work of the furnace.
In thus describing my invention I wish it to be understood that the furnaces above
described, also the furnaces set forth in my prior patent aforesaid, may be so arranged
that oil may be used as fuel, in which case brick-up bottoms may be substituted for
the water circulating bars and the heating power of the oil obtained by the use of
vapour burners preferably of that kind in which there is a vapouriser so heated by the
flame as to vapourise the liquid hydro-carbon passing through it.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. The improvement in furnaces for heating wheel tyres and other articles, which
consists in forming immediately over the grate a heating chamber of a shape
corresponding to the shape of the article to be heated, to which the flames and
furnace gases have direct access, and having galleries or ledges on which the tyre or
other article to be heated is supported in the direct path of the flames, in combination
with a cover placed over the top of the heating chamber and adapted to confine the fire
in the heating chamber substantially as described.
2. In furnaces for the purpose described, forming them with heating chambers of a
shape that corresponds to the shape of the article to be heated, whereby the fire is
confined in an enclosed space and there is no waste of heat, all the heat being utilised
for the work of the furnace.
3. A furnace having a closed heating chamber provided with a cover for charging the
grate with fuel and for inserting the article to be heated, in combination with a support
or gallery rising above the furnace bars for the purpose of supporting the article out of
contact with the fire, but in direct contact with the flames, and heat, substantially as
described.

page_text: 4. The general combined arrangement and construction of parts forming my
improved furnaces, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.
Dated this 15th day of July 1897.
WM: P. THOMPSON & Co.,
Of Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham, and London, Patent Agents.