IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR HEATING AND DRYING
Year: 1852

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Oxley, of Manchester, in the County
of Lancaster, Merchant and Mill Furnishing Manufacturer, for
the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR HEATING AND
DRYING."
Sealed the 18th December 1852, and dated the 1st October 1852.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Oxley at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 1st October 1852.
I, WILLIAM OXLEY, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR HEATING AND DRYING " to be
as follows:-
A sheet metal cylindrical casing, furnished with two ends, is made to
enclose three or other convenient number of cylinders, the ends of which
are made to project a little beyond the ends of the outer casing. Each of
the smaller cylinders is provided with twenty or other convenient number
of metal tubes, extending longitudinally through them, and made tight at
each end. The space between the tubes and the small cylinders is filled

page_text: with steam or hot water, and the air to be heated is impelled by a fan,
and conducted first through the tubes in one of the smaller cylinders,
then it is guided by an elbow piece into the tubes in another of the smaller
cylinders, and then by a second elbow piece into the tubes of the third
small cylinder, from whence it is conducted into the space between the
three small cylinders and the outer casing of the apparatus, which
space forms a reservoir for the heated air, which is drawn off and
disposed of according to the nature of the heating or drying process
for which the heated air is required. It is evident that the size of
the apparatus must depend on the quantity of heated air required.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Oxley in the Great Seal Patent Office,
on the 30th March 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
WILLIAM OXLEY, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Mer-
chant and Mill Furnishing Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria,, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the First day of October, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-two, in the sixteenth
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said William Oxley, Her special license that I, the
said William Oxley, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said William Oxley, 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 of years therein expressed,
should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands,
and the Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS
FOR HEATING AND DRYING," upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said William Oxley, by an instrument in writing under my hand
and seal, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the
said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be performed, and

page_text: 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 Oxley, do hereby de-
clare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement (that is to say):
My Invention consists in causing currents of air to be heated in
passing through series of tubes contained in a cylindrical or other
shaped box, and in collecting the said heated air in a chamber, in
which it becomes mixed to a uniform heat, Previous to entering
another series of tubes; the air may be passed through three or other
suitable number of series of tubes, heated by steam or other medium;
connected by mixing chambers. And in order that my Invention
may be fully understood, and readily carried into effect, I will proceed.
to describe the means pursued by me, reference being had to the two
Sheets of Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures
marked thereon.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Fig. 1, is a side elevation of my improved apparatus; Fig. 2, is an
end elevation; Fig. 3, a transverse section; and-Fig. 4, a plan view
partly in section of the same. a, is the exterior casing; b, c, and d,
are three cylindrical boxes placed within the casing a.. The lower
boxes c, and d, are secured at both ends to the end plates of the casing,
but the box.b, is somewhat shorter than the others, the object of which
will be explained hereafter. b, c, and d¹, are tubes in the boxes b, c,
and d; c, is a fan for forcing the air to be heated through the tubes
b, c, and d¹; f, is the mixing chamber, in which the air, after. passing
through the tubes d', and being partially heated, is mixed to a uniform
temperature before it enters the tubes c¹; g, is another mixing chamber
connecting the tubes c', to the tubes b₁. The steam or other medium
by which the apparatus is heated is admitted into the box b, by the
pipe h, and after circulating among the tubes b', it is conducted to the
boxes c, and d, by the pipes h', seen in Fig. 3. The steam or other

page_text: heating medium may be admitted from below, or in any other way, as
may be found most convenient. i, i, are pipes furnished with dampers,
by which the heated air is conveyed to the drying frames, or. to be
disposed of as may be required; the operation is as follows: steam
or other heating medium having been admitted to the boxes b, c, and
d, motion is given to the fan e; the air to be heated enters into the
casing of the fan through the openings e', and is forced through the
tubes d', in the chainber d, then through the mixing chamber f, into
the tubes c', in the box c, from whence it passes through the mixing
chamber 9. to the tubes 4, in the box b. The air, on leaving the
tubes b', which are fastened into the end plate 2, enters the space
between the interior of the outer casing a, and the exterior of the
boxes b, c, and d, from whence it is drawn off through the pipes i. In
some cases the outer casing a, may be dispensed with, and the heated
air conveyed direct from the tubes 6', to the object or room to be dried
or heated.
On Sheet 2, I have shewn another modification of my
improved apparatus for heating and drying. Fig. 5, represents an
clevation; Fig. 6, a transverse section; and Fig. 7, a sectional plan
view of the same. The principal difference between this apparatus
and the one above described is, that in the present instance the series
of tubes and the mixing chambers are all in the same line; k, is the
outer casing; l, m, and n, are three series of tubes separated from
each other by the mixing chambers o, and p; q, is a fan for causing
the current of air; 2, is the pipe for conveying the steam to the tubes
through which the air passes; and t, the pipe which conveys the
heated air to the object or apartment to be dried or heated.
I prefer
to place the pipe 2, in communication with the tubes n, in order
to give the greatest heat to the air as it leaves the apparatus, and to
connect the series of tubes n, m, and 1, by the double branch pipes
s, s, but this arrangement may be varied according to circumstances.
It will be necessary to place taps near the bottom of all the boxes
containing the tubes to let off the condensed steam. These taps are
not shewn in the Drawing, as they are well understood by persons
conversant with apparatus for heating and drying. I wish to observe,
that in some cases it may be preferable to produce the current of air

page_text: to be heated by placing the fan in the off pipe, and thereby drawing it.
through the tubes. It may also be desirable to increase or diminish the
number of boxes containing the tubes in order to adapt the apparatus
to particular purposes.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the best
means with which I am acquainted for carrying it into effect, I declare
that I claim, as of my Invention, heating air by causing it to pass
through series of tubes connected with each other by mixing chambers,
as herein-before shewn and described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Oxley, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-eighth day of March, One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-three.
WILLIAM OXLEY. (L.S.)