IMPROVEMENTS IN KILNS FOR DRYING AND BURNING BRICKS, TILES, POTTERY, AND OTHER ARTICLES OR MATERIALS
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Shann Derham, of Leeds, in the County
of York, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN KILNS FOR DRYING
AND BURNING BRICKS, TILES, POTTERY, AND OTHER ARTICLES OR MATERIALS."
-
-A communication from abroad by Augustus Morand, of Brooklyn,
New York, United States of America, Gentleman.
Scaled the 1st August 1873, and dated the 4th February 1873.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Shann Derham
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 4th February 1873.
I, THOMAS SHANN DERHAM, of Leeds, in the County of York, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
KILNS FOR DRYING AND BURNING BRICKS, TILES, POTTERY, AND OTHER ARTICLES
OR MATERIALS," a communication, to be as follows:-
The said Invention relates to kilns consisting of a series of chambers
or compartments which may be isolated or made to communicate with
each other as desired through flues or passages controlled by dampers.
In practising my said Invention I provide cach of the said chambers,
or as many of them as may be desirable, with a permanent, separate, or

page_text: independent chimuoy, or two or more of such chimneys, the same being
constructed to open into the rear part of the chamber through or imme-
diately in front of its rear wall.
I also provide a hot air and steam collecting space in or near the rear
end of each of the chambers or compartments of the kiln. For this
purpose I build a temporary perforated wall in front of the solid rear
wall, a space being left between the two walls, so that draft openings in
the said solid wall are not obstructed. Communication is established
between the said space and the external atmosphere by means of the
aforesaid chimney or chimneys.
By this peculiar construction of the kiln I facilitate the removal of
the superabundant moisture of the green bricks or other articles in the
same without interfering with the free passage of the surplus heat from
one chamber into another at the proper time.
In a kiln thus constructed, to facilitate the removal of the moisture
from its contents I provide longitudinal flues extending from end to end
of the series of chambers both at the top and bottom of the same.
Dampers are so arranged in the said flues that any chamber of the series
can be put in communication with any other chamber and isolated from
the remaining chambers. If required, dampers may be provided for
permitting or preventing communication between the said flues and tho
aforesaid independent chimneys.
In other respects my improved kiln is constructed in a similar manner
to that described in the Specification of Letters Patent granted to the
said Augustus Morand, dated April 23rd, A.D. 1870, No. 1190, except:
that my improved kiln is not constructed with the air chamber or pro-
vided with the pipes and apparatus connected therewith, as described in
the said Specification.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Thomas Shann Derham in the Great Seal 30
Patent Office on the 4th August 1873.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fourth day of February, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in the
thirty-sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Thomas Shann Derham, Her special
licence that I, the said Thomas Shann Derham, my executors, admi-
nistrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Thomas Shann
Derham, 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 term 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 "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN KILNS FOR DRYING AND BURNING BRICKS, TILES, POTTERY, AND
OTHER ARTICLES OR MATERIALS," a communication to me from abroad by
Augustus Morand, of Brooklyn, New York, United States of America,
Gentleman, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Thomas
Shanu Derham, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should par-
ticularly 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 Thomas Shann Derham, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in
and by the following statement, reference being had to the accom-
panying Drawing forming a part of this Specification :-
The said Invention relates to kilns consisting of a series of chambers
or compartments which may be isolated or made to communicate with
cach other, as desired, through flues or passages controlled by dampers.
I provide each of the said compartments, or as many of them as may
be desirable, with a permanent separate or independent chimney, or two
or more of such chimneys, the same being constructed to open into the
rear part of the chamber through or immediately in front of its rear
wall.

page_text: said chambers are enclosed by strong well-built outer walls, and are arched
cither longitudinally with the kiln, as illustrated in Figure 3, or trans-
versely thereto, as in Figure 4. They are lined with suitable bricks,
and separated from each other by partition walls B of the same material.
Draft holes c are made in the bottom of the said partition walls to bo
left open or closed at pleasure in the working of the kiln. Each chamber
is also provided with outer doorways d and e, which may be in either
side of the kiln as found most convenient for the reception of
unburned bricks in the chambers and the delivery of the finished bricks
therefrom. Doorways are closed in the usual manner by temporary
walls of brick.
Fire-places are constructed at one end and in both sides of cach
chamber, preferably in the corners, as shown in Figure 1, except in the
front chamber A', where they are preferably made in the front end, as
shown in the same Figure. Stoke holes 9 are formed systematically
through the arched roof of each chamber to supply fuel thereto at the
proper times.
Perforated walls are constructed either permanently of fire-brick or
temporarily of green brick immediately in front of the rear wall of cach
chamber, yet far enough removed therefrom to leave a space or com-
partment C between the two. These perforated walls are built entirely
across the chamber, and are closed against the roof thereof. They may
be built up from the floor of the kiln, but by preference the division
walls B are constructed cach with a wide base i extending out upon the
inner or front side to form an off-set or ledge, which serves as a
foundation sufficiently broad for the crection thereon of the said
perforated wall above the draft openings c, c, of the division wall, as
shown.
D, D, are independent chimneys built by preference upon cach
division wall B, so as to project above the roof of the kiln; they com-
municate directly with the upper portion of the hot air and steam
space C constructed in or against the said wall. When the chambers A',
its length, as shown in
A, A³, of the kiln are arched transversely to
Figures 4 and 5, I contemplate providing branch flues & to open through
the rear division wall of each chamber into its appropriate chimney,
and thus establish direct communication therewith from the said
chamber at different points above and below in its rear end. The flues
serve to a greater or less extent as an equivalent for the perforated

page_text: wall hand hollow space C above described; or I may form a space or
chamber perforated on one side, as in the division walls of the kiln,
constructed with the tunnel in a right line with the kiln with chimucys
communicating with the same.
Suitable dampers D' are provided for closing at pleasure each or all a
the chimneys, these dampers being made to slide within the walls, or
else fitted as valves upon the top of the chimneys, as illustrated in
Figure 2. E, E, arc horizontal flues formed longitudinally on either
side of the kiln to extend from end to end thereof over the arch forming
the roof of the chambers. Branch flucs or passages E' are formed on
cach side of the kiln to extend from side longitudinal flues to openings F³
formed in the corner of each chamber (except the last) at or near the
bottom thereof in that end in which the Gre-places are made, as illus-
trated in Figures 2 and 3. In the last chamber the branch flues open
through the top of the chamber at the end farthest from the fire-places
in the said chamber. Horizontal dampers are arranged to close these
branch flues E, and dampers are provided to close tho upper longitudinal
flues E in the rear of the said branch flues.
The longitudinal flues E may be formed under the bottom of the kiln,
as shewn in Figures 4 and 5, instead of over the top flues thereof, the
branch flues being made to extend to openings in the chambers arranged
as above described, except in the last chamber, in which they extend to
openings in the lower rear corner of the same.
F is a large stack or chimney which may be built at the extreme end
of the kiln as a substitute for smaller chimneys for the last chamber ?
thereof, and which may be made useful as an auxilliary meaus for
increasing the draft in any part of the kiln, by the upper longitudinal
flucs or by the draft openings G in the bottom of the rear wall of the
said rear chamber where such chimney is employed. The upper
horizontal flucs E are made to open into the same so as to afford 3
communication between them and the upper rear end of the last
chamber; openings E³ controlled by dampers are also formed to com-
municate with the longitudinal flues E from the rear end of cach
chamber, so that the said flues may assist the operation or serve as an
auxilliary to the independent chimneys of each chamber. The openings 3
or flues G in the bottom of the rear wall of the rear chamber A³ of tho
kiln and forming the communication with the main chimney F

page_text: permit a direct draft from said chamber into the chimney when
desired.
The operation of this improved kiln is as follows:-The chambers
A', A, A, being filled with green bricks or other articles for drying
and burning, and the doorways and stoke holes being closed, fires aro
built in the fire-places of the first chamber A', and the dampers in
the chimneys D opening into the said chamber are opened; as the
bricks gradually become heated the steam or vapor thrown off by them
in drying is at once carried off with the gases of combustion through
the said chimneys. And from the position and peculiar construction
and arrangement of the perforated wall and hot air space at the rear end
of the chamber, the moisture is carried off from all parts of the
chamber uniformly, commencing at the bottom and front ends thereof;
therefore the bricks at any one point will not become unduly moist or
remain so when the others are dry, the lower tiers which are subjected
to the greatest pressure being the first to dry and harden.
When the bricks in the first chamber are dry and the moisture is
expelled therefrom, the dampers of the chimneys opening into that
chamber are closed and the stoking from the top commences as soon as
there is heat enough from the fires below to ignite the fuel thus
supplied. The fires are in the meantime lighted in the second
chamber A, and the dampers in the chimneys connecting with this
chamber are opened and the operations above described, with reference
to the first chamber A', are repeated in this second chamber A². Thus
the entire scries of drying and burning chambers in the kiln are
successively filled and burned. When however thic bricks or other
articles in the first chamber A¹ are sufficiently dried, instead of wasting
the heat in the said chamber by continuing the draft directly to the
chimneys, the chimney dampers are closed and the openings c, c, in the
division walls between the chambers A' and the next chamber A² are
opened, and the surplus heat necessarily obtained in finishing the
burning is utilized in drying and heating the fresh charge of bricks in
the adjacent chamber A²; thus the surplus heat from one chamber in
the series is utilized in the operation of the next, until the last
chamber A is reached; when the bricks or other articles in this
chamber A³ are sufficiently dried, the dampers in the passage leading
therefrom to the chimneys are closed and the dampers in the passages
from the same to the longitudinal flues are opened, the communication

page_text: of the said flues with the main chimney and with all intermediate
chambers being then closed; the surplus heat may be conveyed back
to the first chamber A' to be there utilized in drying a fresh charge
of bricks or other articles in the said chamber; or by a proper adjust-
ment of the dampers the heat may be conveyed to any other of the
drying and burning chambers that may be charged with brick ready for
drying and burning.
It will be observed that in the use of the longitudinal flucs E and
their branches E' communicating with the several drying and burning
chambers for conveying the surplus heat from one chamber to 1
another, the necessary draft in and through each chamber to produce
a draft or current thereinto from the said longitudinal flues is obtained
by means of the chimneys opening into the upper part of cach chamber
as set forth.
In the modifications of my Invention illustrated in Figures 6 to 10, I 1
combine with the aforesaid independent chimneys and hot air and steam
collecting spaces, longitudinal heat and steam flues extending from
end to end of the series of chambers both at the top and bottom of the
same. Dampers are so arranged in these flues that any chamber of the
series may be put in communication with any other chamber or 2
chambers of the said series and isolated from the remaining chambers.
Figure 6 is a horizontal section of a kiln constructed according to this
part of my said Invention; Figure 7 is a longitudinal vertical section of
the same; Figure 8 is a transverse section on the lino y, y, Figure 7;
Figure 9 is a longitudinal vertical section of a kiln illustrating various 2
modifications of this part of my Invention; Figure 10 is a transversc
section on the line, z, Figure 9.
E', E, are the heat flues, and O, O, are the steam lucs. The flues O
and the chimneys D are not connected with each other, they may
therefore be used separately by adjusting the dampers L and L' or D'. 3
The heat flues E' communicate with the chambers A', A³, A³, through
the short flues E', which are provided with dampers E. By adjusting
these dampers the heat may be conducted from any one to any other of
the said chambers. In the kilus shown in Figures 6, 7, 8, the chambers
are arched transversely, but in Figures 9 and 10 I have shown them 3
arched longitudinally.
By means of the above described construction and arrangement of the
in of the bil the din lummig
CL
. 1

page_text: articles in cach successive chamber of the kiln may be conducted
continuously, regularly, and expeditiously, with great economy of fuel.
Having thus fully described the said Invention as communicated to
me by my foreign correspondent, and the manner of performing tho
same, I wish it understood that I claim,―
First. A kiln for burning bricks, pottery, and the like, constructed
with chambers separated by permanent division walls, and with one or
more of the said chambers provided with the separate and permanent
chimney or chimneys constructed independently for each chamber to
communicate with the upper rear end thereof, through or immediately
in front of the rear wall, substantially as herein set forth, and for tho
purpose specified.
Second. A hot air and steam space formed in front of either of the
several inner partitions or division walls of a divided kiln to com-
municate by a series of openings with that chamber of the kiln next
in front thereof, and with the outer air by one or more permanent
independent chambers, substantially as herein set forth and for the
purpose specified.
Third. The combination of longitudinal heat and steam flues extending
from end to end of the kiln with the aforesaid independent chimney's
and hot air and steam collecting spaces, as herein set forth, and for the
purpose specified.
In witness whercof, I, the said Thomas Shann Derham, have
hercunto set my hand and scal, this First day of August, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three.
THOMAN N DEDHAMT
'S SVROHL
S.
DERHAM (L.S.)