IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM BOILER AND OTHER FURNACES
Year: 1879

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Fortescue Flannery, Consulting Engineer, of 9,
Fenchurch Street, in the City of London, in the County of Middlesex,
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM BOILER AND OTHER
FURNACES."
Sealed the 11th June 1880, and dated the 22nd December 1879.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Fortescue Flannery at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 22nd December 1879.
JAMES FORTESCUE FLANNERY, Consulting Engineer, of 9, Fenchurch Street, in
the City of London, in the County of Middlesex. "IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM
BOILER AND OTHER FURNACES."
My Invention of improvements in steam boiler & other furnaces has referenco
chiefly to the use of anthracite coal. In the case of hollow furnace bars combined
with blast I form the bar so that the joint or surfaces forming the contact between
the bar itself and the air reservoirs shall be horizontal, or nearly so, that is, in a
line parallel, or nearly so, with the bottoin of the furnace bar, so that the bar itself
may freely expand or contract by the action of the heat without disturbing the
tightness of the blast joints or exercising undue pressure upon the bridge or upon
the dead plate in front. I also form shoulders upon the end or ends of the burs,
which shall protect the vertical space left to allow of the bar's free expansion from
the deposit of ashes. I also form the air chamber or reservoir at the inner end of
the furnace in such a manner that a door may be opened while the fire is lit, & the
deposit of ashes cleared away. I also form the furnace in such a manner that the
blast may be conveyed to the inner reservoir or chamber, or to the outer reservoir,
for ultimate conveyance to the hollow bars, through tubes passing through the
water space at the back or sides of the combustion chamber or chambers of the
boiler, and I convey the blast from the fan or other blower through pipes passing
behind the boiler & leading to the reservoir as above described, so as to avoid
apparatus in the neighbourhood of the fire-door that would interfere with the free
action of the stoker, & so as to conveniently find room for the large blast pipes
necessary in full powered ocean steamships. Where the arrangements of other
parts are convenient I also form the tube for conveying the blast, or a portion of
it, to the inner reservoir of a shape corresponding to the outline of the bottom of
the furnace, or 1 use the bottom of the furnace itself in combination with a
diaphragm placed at some convenient height to form the tube for the conveyance
of the blast, thus reducing the interferences with the work of the stoker to a
minimum.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said James Fortescue Flannery in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
22nd June 1880.
JAMES FORTESCUE FLANNERY, Consulting Engineer, of 9, Fenchurch Street, in
the City of London, in the County of Middlesex. "IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM
BOILER AND OTHER FURNACES."
My Invention of improvements in steam boiler & other furnaces has reference
chiefly to the use of anthracite coal. In the case of hollow furnace bars combined
with blast I form the bar so that the joint or surfaces forming the contact between
the bar itself and the air reservoirs shall be horizontal, or nearly so, that is, in a line
parallel, or nearly so, with the bottom of the furnace bar, so that the bar itself may
freely expand or contract by the action of the heat without disturbing the tightness
of the blast joints, or exercising undue pressure upon the bridge or upon the dead
plate in front This arrangement is shewn in Fig. 1 of the accompanying Drawings
at a. I also form shoulders upon the end or ends b, b, Fig. 1, of the bars, which
shall protect the vertical space left to allow of the bar's free expansion from the
deposit of ashes. I also form the air chambor o, Fig. 1, or reservoir at the inner
end of the furnace, in such a manner that a door d may be opened while the fire
is lit, and the deposit of ashes cleared away. I also form the furnaces in such a
manner that the blast may be conveyed to the inner reservoir a, Fig. 2, or chamber,
or to the outer reservoir for ultimate conveyance to the hollow bars b, Fig. 2, through
a tube or tubes d passing through the water space at the back or sides of the
combustion chamber or chambers of the boiler, and I convey the blast from the
fan or other blower through pipes passing behind the boiler and leading to the
reservoir, as above described, so as to avoid apparatus in the neighbourhood of
the fire door that would interfere with the free action of the stoker, and so as to
conveniently find room for the large blast pipes necessary in full powered ocean
steamships. Where the arrangements of other parts are convenient I also form the
tube for conveying the blast, or a portion of it, to the inner reservoir of a shape
corresponding to the outline of the bottom of the furnace; Figs. 3 & 4 show this
arrangement; or I use the bottom of the furnace itself, in combination with a
diaphragm a, Figs. 3 & 4, placed at some convenient height, thus forming the tube
for the conveyance of the blast, and reducing the interferences with the work of
the stoker to a minimum. The accompanying Drawings in detail represent several
modes of carrying out my Invention. I will now proceed to describe one mode. Fig. 1
is à longitudinal section of the furnace shewing the hollow dead plate & hollow
bridge behind, with the perforated bars, supported by them at either end. A is
the main blast pipe for supplying air to the hollow dead plate B; A² is a branch
blast pipe leading to the hollow bridge C; D, the hollow perforated bar, which is
supplied with blast at both ends from the hollow dead plate B & bridge C
respectively; D, D³, D³, D³, Dª, D³, Dº, D³, 1º, Dº, are the perforations in the bar
communicating with the spaces between the bars so as to allow the air to pass out
freely to quicken the combustion. a, expansion joint; b, shoulder covering ends of
bars; F, hollow fire door.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, I declare that I claim as my improvements in steam boiler
& other furnaces to be as follows:-First. The construction of hollow fire bars
worked by blast passing through them in such a manner that the joints formning
the connection with the blast reservoir or reservoirs shall lie horizontally, or
nearly so, thus rendering them sliding points, substantially as above described.
Second. The formation of the air chamber or reservoir, in combination with
hollow fire bars, using blast at the inner end of the furnace, substantially as above
described, that a door may be opened while the fire is lit, and the deposit of ashes

page_text: cleared away. Third. The construction of furnaces in such a manner that the blast to
be used in connection with hollow fire bars is conveyed through pipes passing through
the water space or spaces at the back or sides of combustion chamber or chambers.
Fourth. The construction of furnaces in such a manner that the blast to be used
in connexion with hollow fire bars is conveyed through pipes formed by the intro-
duction of a diaphragm at a convenient height above the furnace bottom, or
formed by such diaphragm & an inner lining partaking of the shape of the furnace
bottom.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Fortescue Flannery, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty first day of June, One thousand eight
hundred and eighty.
J. FORTESCUE FLANNERY. (L.S.)