Improvements in Spark Arresters.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 9th May, 1892
'Complete Specification Left, 27th May, 1892-Accepted, 23rd July, 1892
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Spark Arresters.
We LANGFORD CHARLES MABIE of 430, South Pine Street, Richmond,
Virginia, United States of America, Locomotive Engineer, and EZEKIEL JACOB
LEVY, of 1113 E. Clay Street, Richmond, Virginia, United States of America,
Insurance Agent, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
This invention consists of a spark catcher which will arrest sparks and cin lers
and also carry off thick smoke and give time for its particles being deposited, the
object being not only to provide a means of separating the sparks and cinders from
the blast by centrifugal action, but one which is so sensitive as to revolve con-
tinuously by convection currents alone so that it will operate when the engine is
stationary so as not to choke the draught, and will also effect the double separation.
of sparks and cinders at two different points.
The invention consists essentially of a freely revolving wheel having a conical
peripheral rim and two sets of radial blades set at an inclination to the plane of
the wheel, the blades of the one series being opposite the spaces between those of
the other series, the wheel being mounted to rotate on conical pivots in suitable
bearings in the smoke stack.
The invention further consists in the combination, in the same smoke stack, of
two such wheels having their blades oppositely inclined so as to revolve in opposite
directions, the wheels being arranged the one above the other, the upper one being
of greater diameter than the lower one so as to catch the diverging or centrifugally-
flying sparks and cinders which escape the lower wheel. The lower wheel is larger
than and is mounted directly over the top of the smoke stack proper within an
intermediate cylinder casing of larger diameter than said stack, the top of which its
open lower end surrounds. The upper wheel is of larger diameter than said inter-
mediate casing, is mounted above the same, within the outer casing which encloses
the intermediate casing and stack, the three being held in fixed relation by bracket
arms to which are bolted crossbars carrying the yoke brackets in which the wheels
are pivoted. The wheels are closely surrounded by their respective casings and
éach has an inverted cone-shaped hub at the under side, the coned rim being of
opposite inclination to the hub. The inclined radial blades have their upper edges
curled over for about half their length to obstruct the passage of sparks through
the wheel. By the use of two series of alternating blades the escape of sparks and
cinders without impact is rendered almost impossible, the velocity of the wheel, and
consequently its concussive action and tendency to throw sparks and cinders down-
wards greatly increased. The lower pivotal bearing of each wheel is made detach-
able so as to be easily reversed when worn. It is made of hardened steel and runs
on an agate or other hard bearing. Beneath the bearing of the lower wheel is fixed
an inverted cone which projects into the smoke stack to deflect the smoke, etc.,
outwardly before meeting the lower wheel. The particles struck by this wheel are
driven down between the stack and the intermediate casing, whilst the finer
particles which pass through the wheel receive a whirling motion and on meeting
the oppositely revolving upper wheel are driven down between the intermediate and
outer casings. The particles are conducted into a pipe passing down through the
smoke box and closed at its lower end by a discharge valve operated from the
driver's foot plate. From this pipe a relief pipe rises in front of the chimney, to
permit air to escape from the cinder pipe and avoid impeding the down draught set
up in the spark-arrester casings by the revolving wheel or wheels. With this relief

page_text: pipe, the down draught is continuous and the cinders and fine particles-deposit and
the escape of thick black smoke is prevented.
3
The invention also comprises a short blast-nozzle made with a bore flaring
upwards and downwards from the middle of the nozzle, to avoid contraction of the
exhaust steam pipe and permit the steam to expand quickly on escaping from the
nozzle. Above and in line with the blast nozzle is a draught pipe having a flaring
'skirt at its lower edge that extends down to the upper end of the nozzle.
Dated this 9th day of May 1892.
By A. M. & Wm. Clark,
L. C. MAÐIE;
E. J. LEVY,.
53, Chancery Lane, London, Chartered Patent Agents.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Spark Arresters.
We, LANGFORD CHARLES MABIE of 430, South Pine Street, Richmond,
Virginia, United States of America, Locomotive Engineer, and EZEKIEL JACOB
LEVY of 1113, E. Clay Street, Richmond aforesaid, Insurance Agent, 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 :-
The object of this invention is to provide a spark arrester for locomotive and
other high pressure engines which shall entirely eliminate from the products of
combustion all sparks and cinders and shall carry them off to a place of temporary
deposit so as to relieve the train of this nuisance and also avoid the danger of
accidental fires along the track and which device shall also be so sensitive and
effective in action as to carry off the thick black smoke and give time for its fine
particles to be deposited before being discharged into the air.
To these ends the invention consists in the construction and arrangement of the
various parts of the device which will be first described with reference to the
accompanying drawings, forming part of this Specification, and then specifically
pointed out in the claims.
Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal section through the front part of a locomotive
engine.
Figure 2 is a front view in vertical section of the locomotive smoke stack.
Figures 3 and 4 are front views of the smoke box, the partition plate being shewn
on in Figure 3 and removed in Figure 4.
Figure 5 is an enlarged sectional view, and Figure 6 is a plan of one of the
revolving wheels and
Figure 7 is an enlarged sectional view of the upper part of the smoke stack.
One of the principal features of the invention is to be found in the novel con-
struction and arrangement of two freely-revolving wheels having radial blades set
at an inclination to the plane of the wheel like a windmill-wheel, the inclination of
the blades of the two wheels being reversed so as to give them revolution in opposite.
directions.
Such a general construction of reversely-revolving wheels rotating from the
impact of the blast in the smoke pipe has heretofore been patented.
The invention contemplates such a construction and arrangement of these parts
as will not only separate by centrifugal action the sparks and cinders from the blast
but will be so sensitive and effective in operation as to revolve continuously from
convection alone, thus allowing the device to be operative on this basis, even when
the locomotive is standing still, without choking the draught, and also effecting the
double separation of sparks and cinders at two different points.
In the drawings, A B C represent three concentric shells of which the outer shell
or main stack A is about five feet high above the boiler, twenty inches diameter at

page_text: the base, and thirty inches at the top. The innermost shell or stack C is about two
feet long, thirteen inches at the base, and fifteen inches at the top. The inter-
mediate shell B is only about seventeen inches long and occupies a position about
half way between the outer and innermost stacks, extending slightly down over and
past the upper edge of said innermost stack. These three shells or stacks are held
in fixed relation to each other by bracket arms a and b (see Figure 7) the arms a
serving to connect the outer stack to the top of the intermediate shell and the
arms serving to connect the intermediate shell to the top of the innermost stack C
which latter at its lower end is sustained upon the saddle, as hereinafter described.
Bolted to the bracket arms a and b are three horizontal transverse bars a'b' c¹
which carry the pivotal supports of the two reversely-revolving wheels D and D'.
These wheels are of different diameters, the upper one D being much the larger of
the two and nearly filling the cross-section of the outer stack while the lower one D'
is of much smaller diameter and revolves within the intermediate shell B. These
wheels are constructed substantially alike with a central cone-shaped hub d (see
Figures 5 and 6) an inclined marginal rim d', a conical upper pivot d', a conical
lower pivot d, and two sets of blades d' d'. These blades are substantially radial
in position and their planes are inclined to the true plane of the wheel, so that a
blast passing through, the wheel in the direction of its axis will cause it to rotate
like a windmill wheel. The two series of blades have their upper edges bent or
curled over through a part of their length to form flanges that furnish an
obstruction to the passage of sparks through the wheel. The two series of
blades d d of each wheel are not placed in vertical coincidence, but are alternated,
i.e. the blade of any one of the two series is immediately below or above the opening
between the blades of the other series.
The two series of blades thus arranged form an important feature of this
invention as by it two results are attained. In the first place the accidental escape
of sparks or cinders through the wheel without impact against the wheel is made
practically impossible.and in the second place the wheel is made to run with greater
power and sensitiveness and its speed is correspondingly increased so that its
concussive effect against the sparks and tendency to throw them outwardly and
downwardly is very greatly increased.
The upper pivot d of the wheel D passes through the cross-bar a' and enters a
delicate cone-bearing in a yoke a². The lower pivot d is made detachable and
removable so as to be replaced when worn and it has a screw-threaded end adapted
to be turned into the cone-shaped hub and is squared at one point to receive a
wrench. These pivot-bearings are made of the hardest steel. The lower pivot
passes through a yoke mounted upon a subjacent yoke which in turn is
fastened to and carried upon the cross-bar bl. At the foot of the pivot d' and
mounted upon the yoke 6 there is a step-bearing.d of hardened steel, glass, agate,
or any other similar substance adapted to form a durable and delicate pivot-
bearing.
By this construction of wheel and arrangement of the bearings it is rendered so
free from friction and sensitive to motive effect that the wheels continue to revolve
from convection when the engine is standing still-i.e. the mere natural draught of
the fires, unaided by the steam blast of the exhaust, is sufficient to rotate. the wheels
when the engine is standing still, thus effecting the clearance of the gases from the
stack and avoiding the choking of the stack and the throwing back into the driver's
face of the gases and flame of the fire-box, which would otherwise result by the
choking of the smoke stack by wheels otherwise constructed.
When the two wheels are in action either from convection when the engine is
still or by blast and convection when the engine is in motion, the following action
takes place-The smoke, cinders, and blast coming up through the inner shell
or stack C are parted centrally or deflected outwardly by the cone c which
extends some distance down into the middle stack: The larger particles of sparks
and cinders are struck by the first or lower wheel D' and are driven downwardly
between the inner stack C and the intermediate 'shell B, as shewn by the

page_text: acrows. The finer particles, with the products of combustion which pass through
the lower wheel, are given by the latter a whirling or centrifugal action and
the larger wheel D above is adapted to this condition of things by reaching
out to a larger diameter to catch the centrifugally-flying particles and revolving
in the opposite direction strikes them full with an impact that drives them
downward between the outer stack A and the intermediate shell B, as shewn
by the arrows, which particles join below those sent down inside the shell B and
are conducted by an inclined chute-board D between the two stacks A and C to
a discharge hole e in a saddle E whence they are carried off as will be presently
<described.
When the two wheels are in full rotation the lift of the ascending blast serves
to raise the wheels slightly or counteract their gravity and cause them to be
rotated in condition of almost perfect suspension in the gases, so that their
bearings are relieved of the friction of their weight and the wheels rendered
very sensitive. For this purpose the pivots of the wheels should have a slight
vertical play in their bearings.
The saddle E, Figure 1, is made of cast-iron with a skirt which is bolted to
the boiler shell at the top of the smoke-box and is formed with two flanges―
an upper flange e¹ which projects above the boiler shell and forms a point of attach-
ment for the main or outer smoke stack A and an inner flange which projects
below the boiler shell and into the smoke box and forms a point of attachment for
the inner stack C.. This protrusion of the inner flange downwardly or in an opposite
direction to the outer flange serves this advantage that it enables the lower end of
the inner stack C to be extended into the smoke-box, and thus, for a given length
of inner stack, to use a shorter outer stack and thereby reduce the height of the
smoke stack.
F is the cinder pipe which receives the cinders and sparks and holds them until
discharged from time to time. This cinder pipe has a relatively small neck section f
that extends up to and connects with the opening'e in the saddle inside the outer
stack where it involves no unsightly appearance nor liability to accidental derange-
ment. At a point below the neck the pipe widens out with a shoulder from which
rises a relief pipe F' that ascends just in front of the smoke stack nearly to the
level of the latter. The function of this relief pipe is to prevent packing the cinder
pipe with air, which in reacting would interfere with and choke the down draught
between the main stack and inner stack as set up by the wheels. With this-relief
pipe there is a continuous downward draught between the inner and outer stack,
which carries the sparks and cinders along with it down into the cinder pipe F where
the cinders gravitate to the bottom, while the air regurgitates upwardly through
the pipe F¹.
This is an important feature of the invention since it renders it possible to take
out of the main smoke stack the fine cinders and smoke particles which are so
difficult to eliminate. By these means the escape of thick black smoke is prevented
and the atmosphere enveloping the train is substantially relieved of all objectionable
impurities. Just here it will be seen that there is a co-active effect between the
revolving wheels and the relief pipe since the wheels set up the down draught
while the relief pipe permits it to take place in an effective manner.
As the cinders accumulate in the pipe F they are discharged from time to time
and for this purpose a hinged valve F2 is held up and closed against the bottom of
pipe For is dropped down and opened by an elbow-lever G G whose arm G₁ is
attached to an operating rod G³ which extends back towards the cab to convenient
reach for operation by the driver or fireman.
In the bottom of the smoke box is arranged the exhaust steam-nozzle H and
immediately above it is the draught pipe I having a flaring mouth that extends
down to the upper end of the nozzle which latter is short and does not extend up
into the draught pipe and is constructed with a flange g bolted to the end of the
steam pipe that brings the exhaust steam. The internal shape of this nozzle is
flaring or divergent, both at the top and bottom, so as to leave it of less transverse

page_text: dimension at a median line than it is at the top and bottom. The object of flaring
said nozzle at the bottom is to prevent the sudden contraction of the dimensions of
the steam pipe while the flaring of the upper end is to give clearance to the escaping
steam allowing it to expand quickly as it issues from the nozzle and securing a
strong draught upon the products of combustion from the smoke box to the pipe I
and avoiding the deposition of a crust upon the nozzle due to the burned or
volatilized oil carried by the steam.
In the front part of the smoke box separating the cinder pipe from the draught.
pipe is an inclined partition consisting of a detachable plate K fastened to a
stationary flange or ring i (see Figures 3 and 4). This detachable partition permits
ready access to the forward ends of the tubes for inspection or repairs and serves to
so limit the area of the smoke box as to cause the suction of the exhaust to be
positively exerted therein, drawing the hot currents from the firebox, uniformly
and energetically through the flues.
In the type of locomotive shewn, this partition might be dispensed with but in:
the class of engines known as "extension-fronts" (having a considerable extension
in front of the smoke stack) this partition will be found very beneficial in securing:
the results described,
To hold the detachable plate K in place, bolts k are secured in the flange i by
threaded nuts and have rectangular yoke-shaped slots projecting forward which.
receive split keys outside the plate K.
Some of the advantages of this invention are these:-It will and does shew a
It will not
saving of at least one ton of fuel to every one hundred miles run.
destroy property by fire, nor fill the trains with sparks, gas, dust, ashes, nor heavy
black smoke, as has been proved by actual service on both freight and passenger
trains. The short bell-mouth nozzle H terminating at the lower edge of draught
pipe I gives a free and equal draught through all the flues, the result being no
leaking or stopping-up of Hues. Then, too, the short nozzle does not clog with oils
used in cylinders as do the long (three feet one inch) nozzles generally used in
extension-fronts. One of these short nozzles in use shewed as free and clear
at the end of five months as it was when put in, whereas the long ones are.
generally two-thirds clogged up in that time; also, the long nozzles shew a much.
stronger draught through the top flues than it does through the lower ones,
the result being that about five rows of flues at the bottom are continually
stopped-up with cinders and the great difference of draught and heat through the:
top and bottom flues causes an unequal expansion and contraction of the flues and
sheets, the result being leaking flues and cracked sheets, and nothing shortens the
life of a set of flues so fast as continual boring out and calking of the same every
three or four trips as is now done. There is no netting in the front end or stack to
become clogged by dampness or sweating and thereby closing draught; neither are
there any deflector-plates in the front end to get loose and fall down in front of the
flues thereby shutting off all draught, all of which is a source of trouble and expense
and very often delays important trains. There is no fire drawn through the flues
This device
and deposited in and burning out front ends which is so often done.
has proved that the extension-front can be abolished with profit to railway companies.
as they cost in construction alone one or two hundred dollars and are an immense.
weight on engine truck causing considerable trouble and frequent delays by hot
journals, especially to fast trains and then, too, the area in extension-fronts is so-
large as to be almost impossible to get a perfect vacuum, thereby causing an
irregular draught which leads many engineers to bridge or reduce the nozzle which
is a serious detriment to the whole engine as it splits the exhaust and causes back-
'pressure in cylinders. The short bell-nozzle creates a draught in the draught-pipe
that fills the whole stack. No water or condensed steam can be thrown out of the
stack. It passes down and out of the spark-channel and there is a strong and
unobstructed draught through the stack at all times. There is no stopping on the
road, to "spark" the engine, and, owing to the downward draught caused by the

page_text: intermediate shell and the relief-pipe, the stack is self-cleaning and requires no
attention.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is-
1. The combination, with an engine smoke-stack, of a freely-revolving wheel
having a peripheral rim and two sets or series of inclined radial blades, the blades
of one series alternating with the spaces between the blades of the other series,
substantially as shewn and described.
2: The combination, with an engine smoke-stack, of a freely-revolving wheel
having a peripheral rim and two series of inclined blades alternating with each
other, with conical pivots above and below the same and bearings for the same,
substantially as shewn and described.
3. The combination, with an engine smoke-stack, of two freely-revolving wheels
having radial blades inclined in opposite directions for opposite revolution, the
upper one of said wheels being of larger diameter than the lower one to reach out
and catch the diverging or centrifugally-flying cinders and sparks that escape the
lower wheel, substantially as shewn and described.
4. The combination, with an engine smoke-stack and a freely-revolving wheel
located therein, of a detachable conical pivot d screwed into the hub of the wheel
and provided below with a step-bearing, substantially as described.
5. The combination of the inner and outer smoke-stack, the intermediate shell B,
and the two freely-revolving wheels of different diameters, the smaller one being
located in and substantially filling the intermediate shell and the larger one being
located above it and substantially filling the outer stack, substantially as shewn and
described.
h
6. The combination of the stacks A, C, and intermediate shell B, the supporting
bracket-arms a, b, cross-bars a, b, c, the yoke-bearings a, b, b, c, and the two
reversely-revolving wheels D, D¹, of different diameters having pivotal bearings
above and below, substantially as shewn and described.
7. The combination, with the cross-bar sustaining the pivot of one of the
wheels and the inner stack C, of the cone c having its base connected to the cross-
bar and its apex extending down into the inner stack C, substantially as shewn
and described.
8. The combination, with a smoke-stack having inner and outer walls with space
for down-draught between, of a revolving wheel or wheels for creating said down-
draught and a spark-pipe or receptacle communicating with said space and having
a relief pipe opening into the outer air, substantially as shewn and described.
9. The combination, with the saddle E having opening e between the two stacks,
of the shouldered spark-pipe F having a discharge-valve at its lower end and a
relief-pipe F rising from its shoulder in front of the smoke-stack, substantially as
shewn and described.
10. The combination, with the smoke-box in an engine, of the draught-pipe I
and the short nozzle H located in the bottom of the smoke-box and made flaring at
the top and terminating at the lower edge of the said pipe I, substantially as shewn
and described and for the purpose set forth.
Dated this 27th day of May 1802.
By A. M. & Wm. Clark,
L. C. MABIE,
E. J. LEVY,
53, Chancery Lane, London, Chartered Patent Agents.