A CERTAIN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF GAS RETORTS: AND FURNACES, AND IN APPARATUS OR MACHINERY APPLICABLE TO THE SAME
Year: 1850

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
RENNIE, of Gowan Bank, Falkirk, in the County of Stirling, North Britain,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland; bearing date at Westminster, the Fifth day of September, in the
fourteenth year of Her reign, did give and grant unto me, the said James
Rennie, my exors, admors, and assigns, Her especial licence, full power, sole
privilege and authority, that T, the said James Rennie, my exors; admors,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said James Rennie, my exors, adniors,
or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time
and at all times thereafter during the term of years therein' expressed; should'
and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within that part of Her
said Majesty's United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland called England,
Her Doniinion of Wales, the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed," my Invention of
"A CERTAIN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF GAS RETORTS:
AND FURNACES, AND IN APPARATUS OR MACHINERY APPLICABLE TO THE SAME," in
which said Letters Patent there is contained a proviso, requiring that I, the
said Janies Rennie, should particularly describe and' ascertain the nature of
my said Invelition, and in what manner the same is to be performed, by an
instrument in writing under my hand and seal, and cause the same to be

page_text: enrolled in Her said Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar
months next and immediately after the date of the said in part recited
Letters Patent, as reference being thereunto had will more fully and at
large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I," the said
James Rennie, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, are particularly described
and ascertained in and by this present instrument, reference being had to the
accompanying two Sheets of Drawings hereunto belonging, and forming part
hereof, that is to say:-
My Invention consists, firstly, in constructing gas retorts, furnaces, and
apparatus applicable to the same, in such manner that the closing or opening
of the furnace door shall cause the retort or retorts in the furnace, to turn,
or in such manner that the motion of the furnace door upon its hinges shall
be connected with the motion of an apparatus for turning the retort or retorts,
my object being that the retort or retorts may be occasionally turned so as
to expose fresh surfaces of the coal to the more immediate action of the fire
while the furnace is in full work, and without requiring any increase of the
attention of the workmen beyond that necessary to the firing of the furnace,
whereby also the wear and tear of the retorts will become more uniform than
when fixed; secondly, in constructing furnaces for gas retorts, with a lining.
of ashes or some other bad conductor of heat in order to prevent the loss
of heat or rending of the walls by the expansion of the furnace.
And having thus ascertained the nature of my Invention, I will now describe
the manner in which the same is to be performed, and for this purpose will at
once proceed to the description of the Drawings.
In Sheet No. 1, I have represented several views of a furnace with retort
and apparatus, constructed so as to embody the improvements, both firstly and
secondly herein-before set forth. Figures 1, 2, and 3 are side, front, and back
elevations respectively; Figure 4 is a longitudinal vertical section, through the
line Z, Z, in Figure 2; Figure 5 is a transverse vertical section, through the line
Y, Y, in Figure 4; Figures 6 and 7, horizontal sections of the back portion of
the furnace, taken through the lines X, X, and W, W, respectively in Figures 2
and 5; Figure 8, a horizontal section of the front plate, taken through the line
V; V, in Figures 2 and 5, shewing also in plan the apparatus for turning the
retort.
.
In Sheet No. 2, Figure 9 is a front elevation similar to Figure 2, but
shewing the moveable parts of the apparatus in an opposite position to that
represented in the said Figure. a is the brickwork of the furnace; b, a front

page_text: plate connected to the brickwork by bolts and nuts at c, c, the bolts being
built in or passing through the brickwork; this plate is composed of two
pieces (for the convenience of construction), connected together as shewn by
pins on the under edge or flange of the upper piece, fitting into corresponding
holes in the upper edge or flange of the lower piece; d, d, the passages for the
flame and heated air from the fire to the chimney or flue; d*, d*, spaces in the
brickwork and between the plate b and the brickwork, filled with ashes or some
other bad conductor of heat; e is a clay retort formed in one piece,.resting at
the front on rollers f, f, (supported by the plate 6) and terminating at the back
in a metal journal which works in a plummer block g; this plummer block)
slides in a frame built into the back wall, and may be raised or lowered therein
by means of a screw as shewn in Figures 3 and 4. The object of this arrange-
ment is to centre the retort properly to allow of its rotation, and to allow it to
be removed bodily from the furnace whenever it may be found necessary to do
so. h is the iron mouth of the retort, bolted on to the clay portion, and having
a wheel or teeth i, i, cast thereon; k is the lid or cover connected to the mouth
by means of hand screws 1, 1, and formed with a pipe or tube through which
the gas finds its exit from the retort; m is a ball-and-socket joint, connecting
this pipe, with the rising pipe n, (which conducts the gas to the "hydraulic
main,") at the same time allowing a free rotary motion of the retort; o is
another ball-and-socket joint (shewn only in Figures 1 and 2), allowing, the
pipe n to turn in any direction when the lid k is removed for the purpose of
charging or discharging the retort; p is a post or standard.for supporting the
lever g, which works on a fulcrum at *q; to the outer or handle end of this
lever the furnace door r is connected by a rod or rods s, s, (which pass through
a slot or opening in the post p,) and the inner or shorter end carries a pall q**.
t is the ash-pit door, and ua cover over a port hole for inspecting the action of
the furnace.
The operation of the moving parts of the apparatus is as follows:- On the
raising of the handle end of the lever the furnace door will be opened, and the
pall will pass some of the teeth of the wheel i, and when the furnace has
received the necessary attention of the workman the depressing of the handle
end of the lever will close the door, and the pall acting on the teeth of the
wheel.i will cause a turning or partial revolution of the retort, and so effect
the object before ascertained.
In Sheet 2, Figure 10 is a front elevation of a gas oven, constructed
with three retorts and one furnace, shewing the three retorts arranged
so that the spur wheels formed on their mouths may gear so as that a
rotary motion given to one of them may be communicated to the others;
Figure 11 is a back elevation of the furnace represented in Figure 10, shew-

page_text: ing three plummer blocks for supporting the back ends of the several retorts;
Figure 12 is a front elevation of a gas oven with four retorts and one furnace;
and Figure 13, a front elevation of a gas oven with five retorts and two furnaces,
both constructed according to my invention. The two furnace doors in the
latter Figure are connected by a rod z, so that they may open and shut together.
Figure 14 is a sectional view of the back end of an iron rétort, the difference
e tween this and a clay one being, that: the journal instead of being fixed, as
shewn in Figure 4, is cast in one piece with the body of the retort. Figure 15
is a longitudinal section of a gas lighting retort, in which the gas is let off at
the back. In this Figure, zx is a perforated plate which allows the gas to pass
off, and at the same time prevents the neck (at the back) becoming choked in
feeding the retort. The wheel I is at the front end, and in other respects
is the same as before described. Figure 16 is a detached face view of the
plate x.
. Having now both, ascertained the nature of my said Invention, and also
described the manner in which the same is to be performed, I wish it to be
understood that I do not confine myself to the precise mode described of turn-
ing retorts; which I am aware can be done by several mechanical arrangements,
although I consider the method described as the best and cheapest, but I
claim, as of my Invention, firstly, the constructing gas retorts, furnaces, and
apparatus applicable to the same, in the manner herein-before firstly ascer-
tained; and secondly, the constructing furnaces for gas retorts, in the manner
herein-before secondly ascertained.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Rennie, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Thirty-first day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-one.