IMPROVEMENTS IN AND RELATING TO DISTRIBUTING APPARATUS FOR THE FEED-HOPPERS OF FURNACES
Year: 1883

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake of the firm of Haseltine Lake
and C° Patent Agents Southampton Buildings London for an Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN AND RELATING TO DISTRIBUTING APPARATUS FOR THE
FEED-HOPPERS OF FURNACES" communicated to him from abroad by Edwin
Shepard of the United States of America
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Robert Lake at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 6th April 1883.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake and Co Patent
Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, "IMPROVEMENTS IN AND RELATING
TO DISTRIBUTING APPARATUS FOR THE FEED HOPPERS OF FURNACES
"
[a com-
munication to him from abroad by Edwin Shepard of the United States of
America]
This invention relates to a distributing apparatus or bells for use with the feed
hoppers of furnaces.
According to the present invention the said apparatus or bell is arranged to close.
the feed hopper from below and is provided with a safety valve to permit the
escape of gases and prevent explosions.
The bell hitherto used is formed of cast-iron, or of cast and wrought iron
combined, all parts or pieces of which are bolted or riveted together, so as to be
perfectly tight, the bottom of the bell closing tight on the inside with the bottom
of the hopper. Should an explosion of gas take place, it has no outlet at the most
effective point-viz, that directly over the charge in furnace and consequently it
seeks other outlets, causing damage to the structure in so doing.
My invention consists in making the top of the bell act as a large safety or
explosion valve without interfering with its action for the purpose for which it is
intended, at the same time allowing the bell to close tight on the under side of the
hopper from the inside in the usual manner.
Any desirable portion of the top may serve as an explosion or safety valve. The

page_text: bottom part of this top piece, as also its seat on the lower part of the bell, should
preferably be turned or faced, so as to insure its being tight when down.
It can also be weighted, should it not be sufficiently heavy to keep on its seat
under the ordinary pressure of the gases. A spindle or guide is secured in the
centre of arms or rings in the lower part of the bell by any of the ordinary
methods. At the top of the spindle or guide I prefer to place a spring to take up
the shock.
I do not confine myself to any form of guides or guide. I provide lugs at or
near the top of the lower part of the bell, to which lugs adjustable rods hanging
the bell to a vibrating beam above in the usual manner, are attached.
This invention may be applied in different ways to wit, in making the top of
the bell in the form of one or more flat lids working on hinges; this invention may
be used for blast or other furnaces.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said William Robert Lake in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
6th October 1883.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the firm of Haseltine, Lake, and C° Patent
Agents, Southampton Buildings, London "IMPROVEMENTS IN AND RELATING
TO DISTRIBUTING APPARATUS FOR THE FEED-HOPPERS OF FURNACES.
A com-
munication to me from abroad by Edwin Shepard, of the United States of
America.
This invention relates to distributing apparatus or bells for the feed-hoppers of
furnaces
The said invention comprises an improved bell for closing the top and
distributing the stock of a blast or other furnace, and it has for its object to
obviate the effects of gas explosions, which occur in furnaces and often injure the
structures
Bells as heretofore constructed have been made of cast iron, or pieces of wrought
iron bolted together, and, though sometimes provided with inwardly opening
windows or other movable parts through which the furnace could be filled, have
been unyielding to the pressure of the gases collected in the furnaces.
A bell of this class is designed to close the cone-shaped hopper of a furnace from
below, and is provided with suitable attachments for lowering and raising it to
open and close the mouth of the hopper.
With such a bell thus arranged, should an explosion of gas take place, the best
outlet (that is the one directly over the charge in the furnace) is rigidly closed, and
the effect of the explosion is to injure the structure.
.
The present invention consists, therefore, in making the top of the bell yielding,
or in other manner providing it with a large safety or explosion valve, which shall
remain closed under all normal conditions but will yield outwardly and permit the
gases to escape whenever, by reason of an explosion or otherwise, the pressure
within the furnace becomes too great.
In the accompanying drawing
Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of a furnace hopper, provided with a bell for
closing the same, constructed according to this invention. and.
Figure 2 is a plan of the same.
R indicates the hopper, which is cone-shaped as shown; and, C the bell which
closes the mouth of the same from below. The top of the bell is constructed to act
as a safety-valve, being separate from the body of the bell and having a seat
thereon. The bottom of this top piece, as also its seat on the lower part of the
bell, is, preferably, turned or faced, so as to insure a tight joint.
b indicates a spindle or guide-rod, which rises from arms or rings & secured to
the lower part of the bell, and acts as a guide for the upper part to move on; the
said rod is provided with a stop-nut and a spring as shown, which spring serves to
keep the valve in place, and constitutes a means for adjustably governing its action.
The bell is suspended from a vibrating beam by means of the lugs f. f and
rods g, g, in the usual manner.
The invention may be embodied in other constructions than the one shown;
thus one or more flat lids opening outwardly and working on hinges may be used;
so, also, the valve may be weighted instead of working against a spring;
Having thus fully described the said invention as communicated to me by my
foreign Correspondent, and the manner of performing the same, I wish it understood

page_text: I do not confine myself to the precise method and means that are herein shown and
described for applying this invention, but I claim :-
In a blast or other furnace, the combination of a hopper and a distributing-bell
arranged to close the hopper from below, the said bell being provided with a
yielding valve for the escape of gases, substantially as, and for the purpose, set
forth.
In witness whereof I the said William Robert Lake have hereunto set my hand
and seal this Fourth day of October in the year of our Lord One thousand eight
hundred and eighty three.