IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR MECHANICALLY CHARGING FURNACES WITH FUEL
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Wye Williams, of Liverpool, in the County
Palatine of Lancaster, Gentleman, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
Sealed the 27th February 1857, and dated the 31st December 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Wye Williams
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 31st December 1856.
I, CHARLES WYE WILLIAMS, of Liverpool, in the County Palatine of Lan-
caster, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR MECHANICALLY CHARGING FURNACES WITH
FUEL," to be as follows:-
My said Invention consists in a peculiar mechanical arrangement, by means
of which coal may be introduced into a furnace, and distributed therein with
rapidity and uniformity.
One form of my improved apparatus is a drawer-like shape, the bottom con-
sisting of a number of parallel flat metal plates of the required width, and
stretching either way across or from end to end of the furnace, arranged to
move like the laths of a venetian blind.
When laying horizontally and outside the furnace, the box or drawer is
filled with the requisite quantity of coal, and on the door being opened is run

page_text: into the furnace, and the plates are then made to fall suddenly, cach taking a
vertical position, by which action the coal can be instantaneously dropped over
the entire surface of the previous charge; the drawer is then rapidly withdrawn,
and the door closed.
The spaces between the plates, while hanging vertically, may be of any
required width. Various forms may be given to the apparatus for regulating
the charge at either ends or at the sides of furnaces, as may be desired.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Charles Wye Williams in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 15th June 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
WYE WILLIAMS, of Liverpool, in the County Palatine of Lancaster, Gentleman,
send greeting,
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirty-first day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the twentieth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Charles Wye Williams, Her special licence that I, the said Charles
Wye Williams, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said Charles Wye Williams, 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
"IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR MECHANICALLY CHARGING FURNACES WITH
FUEL," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Charles Wye
Williams, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under
my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly 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 Charles Wye Williams, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement:-

page_text: My said Invention consists in a peculiar mechanical arrangement, by means
of which coal or other fuel may be introduced into a furnace, and distributed
therein with rapidity and uniformity.
And for the better understanding of my said improvements, 'I will now pro-
ceed to detail the particulars thereof, reference being had to the Drawings
hereunto annexed, in which 'the same letters refer to corresponding parts
throughout
at secu
Figure 1 is a plan, and rigure is a longitudma
apparatus, prepared ready to receive a charge of fuel; and Figure 3 is a longi-
tudinal section of the apparatus after the discharge of the fuel through the
bottom.
A, B, C, D, are the four sides of the box or drawer-like apparatus, being
open at top to receive the charge of 'fuél; a, a, a, a, are a series of narrow
metal plates, forming the bottom, each moving on pivots b, b, b, b; c, c, c, c, are
chains, having one end attached to the horizontal rod or shaft C, D, and the
other end secured to the falling edge of each plate, as shown in Figure 3;
D, a winch handle, to rotate the shaft; and E, E, two handles.
It will be thus observed that one form of my improved apparatus is of a
drawer-like shape, entirely open at top, the bottom consisting of a scries of
parallel flat metal plates of any required width, and placed either across from
side to side or lengthways from front to back end of the furnace, and are so
arranged and attached that they may move somewhat like the laths of a
venetian blind. On the shaft C, D, being wound up by the winch handle, the
plates forming the bottom are raised and held in their horizontal position by a
latch or other suitable catch retaining the winch handle in its place, and on
its being removed the shaft is suddenly liberated, when the plates and their
respective chains take the position shown in Figure 3. The catch should be
so placed that it may be quickly disengaged, and the charging of the furnace
completed in a few seconds of time. Before its being charged with fuel, the
box or drawer laying outside the furnace, resting on one or more supports or
on the ground, is filled, and on the door being opened, it is run or pushed into
the furnace by the handles E, E; and on releasing the winch catch the hori-
zontal plates fall suddenly by the weight of the charge of coal or other fuel,
cach taking a hanging vertical position. By this action, the coal falling
through the several spaces thus produced is dispersed over the entire surface
of the remains of the previous charge, then in an incandescent state, and the
box is rapidly withdrawn, and the door again closed. The width of the plates,

page_text: and that of the spaces between them while hanging vertically, may be made of
any required size, according to the nature and size of the fuel for charging
wide furnaces; the side plates A, B, may also be hung on pivots, to deliver the
fuel laterally and outwards. For the convenience of using the apparatus, it is
furnished with the two handles or bars E, projecting like the handles of a
wheelbarrow on each side, and of any convenient length, so that the stoker
standing between them may have full command of the box and the operation
of charging with it; its weight being, when pushed in, supported by a cross
bar or like means within the furnace while in the act of being pushed in and
drawn out.
Having thus fully described one mode of carrying out practically my said
Invention, I would here remark, that I do not restrict myself to dimensions or
materials; and I do declare that what I claim as my Invention is, namely,
the peculiarly constructed drawer-like apparatus for mechanically stoking or
charging furnaces with fuel, as described.
In witness whereof, I, tho said Charles Wye Williams, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twelfth day of June, in the year of our
CHAS WYE WILLIAMS. (L.S.)