IMPROVED SMOKE-CONSUMING FIRE-PLACE OR FURNACE
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Gedge, of the Firm of John
Gedge and Son, of No. 11, Wellington Street, Strand, in the
County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, for the Invention of
IMPROVED SMOKE-CONSUMING FIRE-PLACE OR FURNACE." --A communi-
cation from abroad by Ernest Henry, of Lisieux (Calvados),
France.
Sealed the 21st August 1868, and dated the 24th March 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward
Gedge at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 24th March 1868.
I, WILLIAM EDWARD GEDGE of the Firm of John Gedge and Son, of
No. 11, Wellington Street, Strand, in the County of Middlesex, Patent
Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN
IMPROVED SMOKE-CONSUMING FIRE-PLACE OR FURNACE," a communication to me
from abroad by Ernest Henry, of Lisieux (Calvados), France, to be as
follows:-
This smoke-consuming fire-place is based on the well-known prin-
ciple of passing the products of combustion of the black coal through
the layer of red or live coal. The fire-place is fed in the ordinary
manner, that is to say, black coal on red, but the direction of the

page_text: draught is reversed, so that the smoke produced by the black coal drawn
from the top towards the bottom may pass through the incandescent
layer. This reversal of draught is obtained by putting the lower part
of the fire-place in communication with the chimney.
The smoke-consuming fire-place or furnace of this Invention there-
fore consists essentially of a case intended to be filled with coal, and
presenting at its lower part an opening by which escape the gases
drawn by the chimney. In order that the fire-place may be smoke-
consuming it is necessary that this opening be downward of the layer
of constantly live coal.
Smoke-consuming fire-boxes for locomotives will only differ from
ordinary fire-places in being provided with a transverse partition which
retains the fuel while leaving at its lower part the opening necessary
to the disengagement of the gas. This partition is composed of two
parts, of which one forms a boiler tube and may thus bear contact with
the live coal, the other a shifting sheet-iron plate inclined backwards to
be less exposed to the fire. In this arrangement the grate is preserved
either horizontal or inclined towards the boiler to permit the escape of
the ashes. The entire quantity of coal which lies beneath the lower
part of the transverse partition therefore burns in the ordinary manner,
and it is only as regards the layer of fuel situated upwards from this
level that the draught is reversed. The fire must be attended to so that
the incandescent mass always rises above the lower edge of the boiler
tube. The door of the fire-box is so arranged that it may be opened to
a variable extent and thus permit a greater or lesser supply of air. The
boiler tube rises to such a height as not to mask the tubes of the
generator; it is vertical or slightly inclined, and may have one or more
steam pipes.
This system is applicable to fire-places of every description, its
application to a locomotive engine being given air
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Edward Gedge in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 10th September 1868.

page_text: send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of March, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the thirty-
first year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said William Edward Gedge, Her special
licence, that I, the said William Edward Gedge, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Edward
Gedge, 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 "AN IMPROVED SMOKE-CONSUMING FIRE-PLACE OR FURNACE," a commu-
nication to me from abroad by Ernest Henry, of Lisieux (Calvados),
France, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William
Edward Gedge, 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 William Edward Gedge, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement:-
This smoke-consuming fire-place is based on the well-known principle
of passing the products of combustion of the black coal through the
layer of red or live coal. The fire-place is fed in the ordinary manner,
that is to say, black coal on red, but the direction of the draught is
reversed, so that the smoke produced by the black coal drawn from the
top towards the bottom may pass through the incandescent layer. This
reversal of the draught is obtained naturally by putting the lower part of
the fire-place in communication with the chimney.
The smoke-consuming fire-place or furnace of this Invention therefore
consists essentially of a case intended to be filled with coal and

page_text: presenting at its lower part an opening by which escape the gassed
drawn by the chimney. In order that the fire-place may be smoke-
consuming it is necessary that this opening be downward of, that is to
say, lower than, the layer of constantly live or burning coal.
The accompanying Sheet of Drawing forming part of this Specifica-
tion illustrates a smoke-consuming fire-place or fire-box constructed
according to this Invention for a locomotive engine; it only differs from
the ordinary fire-box in being provided with a transverse partition which
retains the fuel while leaving at its lower part the opening necessary to
the disengagement of the gas. This partition is composed of two parts,
one forming a boiler tube and thus capable of supporting contact with
the live coal, the other being a shifting sheet-iron plate inclined back-
wards to be less exposed to the fire.
In the arrangement just described the grate is preserved either
horizontal or inclined towards the boiler to permit the escape of the
ashes. The entire quantity of coal which lies beneath the lower part
of the transverse partition therefore burns in the ordinary manner, and
it is only as regards the layer of fuel situated upward from this level
that the draught is reversed. The fire must be managed in such wise
that the incandescent mass always rises above the lower edge of the
boiler tube. The door of the fire-box is so arranged that it may be
opened to a variable extent and thus give access to a greater or lesser
supply of air. The boiler tube forming part of the partition rises to a
height which masks the tubes of the steam generator or main boiler;.
it may be vertical or slightly inclined, and may have one or more tubes
to facilitate disengagement of steam.
This system is applicable to fire-places of every description; it is only
as an example that the Drawing Felates to a locomotive engine.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Gedge, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Tenth day of September,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-
icht