Year: 1888

page_text: Bohemia, Land-Owner.
1, WILLIAM PHILLIPS THOMPSON F.C.S. M.I.M.E. of the Agency for Foreign
Patent Solicitors of 6, Lord Street, Liverpool and 6 Bank Street Manchester, both
in the County of Lancaster, and 323 High Holborn in the County of Middlesox,
Civil Engineer 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 want is generally felt of rendering harmless the sparks which are carried
away with the smoke discharged with force from the chimneys of engines, etcetera,
more especially portable and locomotive engines. It is desirable that such sparks
should be prevented from escaping with the smoke, as they have hitherto caused an
innumerable number of fires.
The smaller sparks, which are extinguished almost immediately on leaving the
chimney, are less dangerous than the glowing, more compact parts of soot, which often
fly a considerable distance in the air before they are extinguished, and are frequently
the cause of conflagrations.
Almost the only remedy hitherto known for preventing the escapo of sparks,
consists in the application of wire coverings over the top of chimneys. These devices
answer their purpose only imperfectly, inasmuch as the sparks very often find thei-
way through the meshes."
The present invention has for its object a spark arrestor or consumer for chimneys
or funnels to be placed in or on the chimney, and which renders the escape of
sparks impossible.
The accompanying drawing represents a spark arrester of this kind, in which,
Figure 1 is an elevation of the spark arrester.
Figure 2 a vertical section.
Figure 3 a horizontal section through -.
Figure 4 a diagrammatical illustration of the arrangement.
In these, K is the chimney or funnel, on the top opening of which is placed a
ovlindrical holder or reservoir B its lower part terminating in the shape of a truncated

page_text: .cone. This reservoir made generally of thick plate is connected with the body of the
chimney by means of bolts or rivets s.
In this reservoir B, is a hollow cylinder W closed at its upper end by the cover or
deflector D, and suspended by means of knee pieces p so that it hangs downwards
and its lower edge is a little below the top n, n, of the chimney. The diameter of
the lid D may be about larger than that of the chimney K. The reservoir B, the
diameter of which may be about larger than that of D, is provided with a covering
or plate deflector P in which a circular hole is cut, the diameter m, m, of which is
somewhat smaller than the diameter of the lid D.
Lastly a roof T is placed above the covering plate P, and is supported by three
rods t, its diameter is larger than that of m, m.
Referring to the diagrammatical illustration of the spark arrester as shown on
Figure 4, it is clearly seen that the smoke must follow the path shown by the arrows.
As the section of the opening for the escape for the smoke increases, being (first)
equal to that of the diameter of the lid or deflector D, and then on passing into the
outer casing or reservoir B reaches the diameter of the latter, the issuing smoke will
meet very little resistance, but tlie hot sparks cannot escape; they first strike against
the deflector D of the inverted hollow cylinder W, rebound, and fall back partly into
the chimney, and partly into the conical bottom of the reservoir B. Those sparks
which, in spite of this, are still carried away by the smoke, strike against the plate P,
or against the roof T and fall back into the reservoir B, at the bottom of which they
collect.
It is hardly possible that a large spark should escape with the smoke,
however, if that should occur, the spark could not possibly be carried away a long
distance, as by striking against the deflector D, the plate P and the roof T, it
has lost so much of its kynetic energy that it must fall to the ground in close
proximity to the chimney.
A means is provided, whereby the soot accumulating at the bottom of the
reservoir B can be easily and quickly removed. This end is attained by the following
contrivance :
A small bridge or cross piece S is laid across the top of the chimnoy K. This
cross piece is provided with a central hole b, through which passes the rod F which
extends through the centre of the whole length of the chimney, that is from below,
to the place where the products of combustion leave the smoke box. A cross bar f
passing through the rod F above the cross pieco S, carries two plates or wings H, H,
which hang downwards in the reservoir B on both sides. These two plates radiato
from the centre line of the reservoir and are provided with slits h, h, into which the
walls of the inverted cylinder W enter.
The wings H, made of strong sheet metal and cut out to the form shown on
Figuro, 2, are of such a width that their outer edges come almost in contact with
the inside of the walls of the reservoir B, whilst their inner edges come almost in
close contact with the outside surface of the chimney K. The slits are a little
wider than the thickness of the sides of the hollow cylinder W. Thus the vertical
edges of the slits h revolve close to the inner and outer sides of the hollow
cylinder W. The conical bottom of the reservoir B is provided with a hole O
to which is attached a funnel J terminating at its lower part in a pipo R, which
is of suitable length, and opens at its lower extremity in a receptacle filled with
water.
If the rod F is rotated on its vertical axis (for instance by means of a crank L
moved by a lever L', which projects from the stack at an accessible part, or by
toothed gearing), the wings H inside the reservoir B rotate, and their edges
scrape all the soot, which has collected on the inner walls of tho reservoir B, on
the inside and outside walls of the cylinder W, and on the outside of the
chimney K. The wings transport in their rotation all the soot accumulated at
the bottom of reservoir B, to the hole O, from which it is removed through the
funnel J and pipe R. If whilst the engine is at work, the wings H are rotated

page_text: several times daily by turning the rod F, all soot will be removed, and the spark
arrester cannot get choked.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, as communicated to me by my
foreign correspondent, I declare that what I claim is :-
1. A spark arrester placed over the opening of chimneys, (more especially those
for locomotives and portable engines), which consists of a cylindrical reservoir B, the
bottom of which has the shape of a truncated cone, and in which a hollow inverted
cylinder W closed at its upper end D is so hung over the top opening of the
chimney, that the sparks issuing therefrom strike against the deflector D, and fall
back partly into the chimney, and partly to the bottom of the reservoir B, the
reservoir B being also covered with a plate P provided with a central circular opening,
the diameter of which is smaller than the diameter of the cylinder W, substantially
as described.
2. In a spark arrester such as set forth in claim 1 the arrangement of metal sheet
wings H, H, within the reservoir B, whose vertical edges come very close to the
inner surface of the reservoir B, and the outer and inner surfaces of the
cylinder W, so that when the wings are rotated, either when the engine is in
motion or at rest, they scrape and remove the soot deposited on the said walls, and
discharge it through the funnel J communicating with the reservoir B, substantially
as described.
3. For the purpose of communicating motion to the wings H, H, inside the spark
arrester, the combination with the wings H, H, of a vertical rod F passing through
the chimney, and connected with said wings by means of the cross piece f, the whole
rotated by a crank or toothed gearing, which can be actuated either by hand or by
the engine or motor, substantially as described.
DL: N: th JL 1000