IMPROVEMENTS IN SMOKE- CONSUMING APPARATUS APPLICABLE TO BOILER AND OTHER FURNACES."
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Buchanan, of Liverpool, in the County of
Lancaster, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN SMOKE-
CONSUMING APPARATUS APPLICABLE TO BOILER AND OTHER FURNACES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Buchanan at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 4th
December 1857.
I, JAMES BUCHANAN, of Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster, Engineer,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
SMOKE-CONSUMING APPARATUS APPLICABLE TO BOILER AND OTHER FURNACES," to be
as follows:-
My Invention consists in an arrangement of machinery by which I obtain
a self-acting apparatus and perfect combustion or consumption of the gases
or smoke. The action of these my said improvements will be clearly under-
stood by reference to the accompanying two Sheets of Drawinge, in which
similar letters of reference are used to represent the same parts in the
different views.
Fig. 1, Sheet 1, is a front or elevation view of a furnace door with my
improvements; Fig. 2 is a section of a', part of Fig. 1. a represents the
furnace door frame; b, the slides or shutters, shewn shut; c, shews (broken
[Price 8d.]

page_text: off) the perforated boxes attached to the back of the furnace doors d. When
tho furnace doors are opened for adding fuel they move the lever c, which is
attached to one of them. This lever opens a cock, which allows water to
run into the cistern a¹. When sufficient water has run in to raise the float
g, Fig. 2, to the top, the small arm / will shut the cock f', the float g and
spindle i being raised to the top, the balance lever',', will be raised at the
end marked, and lowered at the other end, and as the slides or shutters b
are connected to the lever i, j, by the chains, links, or rods h, k, so the one
will be raised and the other lowered in the same proportion as the lever, and
the space for admission of air (viz', the furnace door box) will be opened.
These slides or shutters move on a spindle working in the furnace door's
hinges, and at the other end inside of catches 2. When the doors are closed
after firing, the shutters or slides will begin to close (that is, the one will bo
raised and the other lowered) over the furnace door box in consequence of the
water in the cistern a' being reduced by running constantly off through the
tap m. On this tap is a dial for regulating the quantity of water to be
allowed to run from the cistern; this quantity may be regulated according to
the state or pressure of the atmosphere. When a large quantity of air is
required to cause a proper combustion of the gases, a smaller quantity of
water is allowed to run off, the float g therefore falls slower, and the slides b
do not shut in so short a time as when a large quantity of water is allowed
to flow through the tap m.
Fig. 3, Sheet 2, is a plan view of a furnace bottom with my improved
reciprocating bars; and Fig. 4 is a side elevation of my improved barsn,
which are short and fitted on cross bars o, and are made to oscillate by
moving the lever ? up and down, a few turns of which will serve to keop the
furnace bottom clean, and will allow air to pass up from beneath into or
through the fire. By these my improvements the stationary bars 7 will last
much longer from the support received from the cross bars o; the stoker can
clean the furnace bars very easily, and he does not require to open the
furnace doors to allow air to rush in to cool the flues, the regulation of the
air giving sufficient time to ignite the whole of the gases arising from the fuel,
and then when the smoke is perfectly ignited or lighted the air is shut off; by
this means complete combustion is obtained and the flues cau never get over-
heated. A saving in fuel is obtained by the gases being perfectly consumed,
and also in labour by the apparatus being completely self-acting, as described.
All these my improvements can be applied to furnaces with one or more
doors and to those at present in use.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said James Buchanan in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
4th June 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
BUCHANAN, of Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourth day of December, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight bundred and fifty-seven, in the twenty-first year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said James Buchanan, Her special licence that I, the said James
Buchanan, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said James Buchanan,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
SMOKE CONSUMING APPARATUS APPLICABLE TO BOILER AND OTHER FURNACES," upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said James Buchanan, by an
instrument in writing under my hand and seal, 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 James Buchanan, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
Statement (that is to say) :-
The object of this Invention is to cause the gases arising from fucl in
boiler and other furnaces to ignite, so that the smoke may be lessened and
a saving in fuel obtained. This I effect by an arrangement of machinery
which allows a quantity of air to enter the furnace and come in contact with
the gases arising from the fuel. I regulate this quantity according to the
quality of the fuel and state of the atmosphere.
The machinery by which I accomplish my object consists of two parts, the
one attached to the furnace doois may be called self-acting, as the action is
obtained by the opening and shutting of the doors; the other is a new and
novel arrangement of the furnace bars; the former allows a larger or smaller
quantity of atmosphere to pass into the furnace, a larger quantity imme-

page_text: diately after firing, which is gradually diminished or lessened as the fuel is
consumed, the latter allows air to pass freely at all times into the furnace;
it prevents the bars from "clinkering," cousequently the doors do not require
to be opened for "slicing," which wastes fuel, and they can be so arranged
that the fires in ocean-going steamers' furnaces need not be burned down
when sponging or cleaning the flues at sea.
But these my snid improvements will be more clearly understood by
reference to the accompanying Sheet of Drawings and the letters of reference
theroon, in which Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a furnaca door with iny
improvements attached; Fig. 2 is a section of a', part of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a
section of an arrangement to do the same work as Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a top
view of Fig. 8; Fig. 5 is a plan view of a furnace bottom with my arrange-
ment of bars; and Fig. 6 is a side elevation of my improved reciprocating or
undulating bars.
In Figs. 1 and 2 the same letters of reference are used to represent the
same parts in both views. a represents the furnace door frame; b, the slidos,
shewn shut; c, shews (broken off) the perforated plates or boxes for dis-
tributing air, attached to the back of the furnace doors d. When the furnaco
doors are opened for adding fuel they move the lever e, which is attached to
one of them. This lever opens a cock supplied with water, and allows it
to flow into the cylinder or cistern a'; when sufliciont water has run in to
raise the float g to the top, the small arm h will shut the cock /1, the float g
and spindle i being raised to the top, the balance leverj, j, will be raised at
the end marked and lowered at the other end; and as the slides bare
connected to the lover j,j, by the chains, links, or rods h, k, so the one will
be raised and the other lowered in the same proportion as the lever, and the
space for the admission of air (namely, the furnace door apertures or boxes)
will be opened. These slides work on the furnace doors' hingo pins, and at
the other end (or where necessary) on friction wheels. When the doors are
shut after firing, the slides will begin to close (that is, the one will be raised
and the other lowered) over the furnace door apertures or boxes in con-
sequence of the water in the cylinder a' being reduced by running constantly
off through the tap m; on this tap is a dial for regulating the quantity of
water to be run from the cylinder, which is adjusted according to the state or
pressure of the atmosphere and the quality of the fuel. If a large quantity
of air is required to cause proper combustion of the gases, a smaller qquantity
of water is allowed to run off; the float g therefore falls slower, and the slides
do not shut in so short a time as when a large quantity of water is allowed
to flow through the tap m. The foregoing arrangement is intended for land

page_text: or stationary furnaces, and they can be applied to furnaces with one or more
doors.
In Figs. 3 and 4 the same letters of reference are used to represent the
same parts in both views. I attach the lever or connecting rod a (shown
broken off in Fig. 4) to the furnace door, the other end is jointed to a beam
or double crank b, to which is attached the wedge c; this wedge when the
door is opened for adding fuel raises the piston and rod d by the stud e, and
as the slides are attached to the piston rod the apertures in the furnace door
are opened, it also opens the spring valve fby causing it to press on the pin g
and allows the water in the cylinder to flow under the piston; when the door
is again closed the wedge c is withdrawn, and the helical spring placed
betwixt the cylinder cover and the piston, (which, when the door was open
was contracted,) is now forcing the water through the tube i into the cylinder
above the piston, and as the piston descends in the cylinder the slides are
closing over the apertures in the furnace door. The quantity of atmospheric
air required is regulated (as in Figs. 1 and 2) by allowing a larger or smaller
quantity of water to pass the tap j. The arrangement last described is
intended for marine and locomotive furnaces where there is one door, but it
can be used where there are two doors and also for stationary furnaces.
Other fluids than water may be used.
In Figs. 5 and 6 the same letters of reference also represent the same parts
in the different views. a, a, represent the stationary bars; b, b, my recipro-
cating or undulating bars, which are shewn placed alternately with the
stationary bars fixed on cross bearers c; to the lower part or bottom of the
bars is affixed the lever d; a few up-and-down movements of the handle or
lever e which is attached to them will serve to keep the furnace bottom clean,
and allow air to pass freely into or through the fuel. Where large furnaces
are used the bottom may be divided into two or more parts by the arrange-
ment of the levers d and handles e. In the case of ocean-going steamers'
furnaces already mentioned, when "sponging of tubes" is necessary at sea, it
may be necessary to have the back or two back rows of my bars separately
connected, that is, on a lever by themselves. All these my improvements can
be applied to furnaces at present in use.
Although I have described my Invention under certain forms and arrange-
ments of the different parts as exhibited in the Drawings, still I do not
confine myself thereto, as such may be varied or modified without departing
from the principle of the same; but I claim as my Invention, and which to
the best of my knowledge and belief has not been hitherto used within the

page_text: Firstly, the general arrangement of the furnace door apparatus, consisting
of the cylinder and fluid regulating tap acting on the slides, the movements
being received by the opening and shutting of the furnace doors.
And, secondly, the reciprocating bars fitted on cross bearers, and arranged
so that the whole or part of them can be moved at once, as all such improve-
ments are herein described, and illustrated in the accompanying Sheet of
Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Buchanan, have hereunto set my
hand and soal, this Third day of June, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.
JAMES BUCHANAN. (L.s.)
Signed, scaled, and delivered by the within-
named James Buchanan, in the presence of
GEORGE SMITH, Patent Agent,
4, Clayton Square, Liverpool.