IMPROVE- MENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF CHIMNEY OR OTHER FLUES AND IN THE MATERIALS EMPLOYED THEREFOR
Year: 1883

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Greenwood Hudson of Manchester in the
County of Lancaster Brick Makers Assistant for an Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF CHIMNEY OR OTHER FLUES AND IN THE
MATERIALS EMPLOYED THEREFOR
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Greenwood
Hudson at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 6th March
1883.
WILLIAM GREENWOOD HUDSON of Manchester in the County of Lancaster
Brickmaker's Assistant IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF CHIMNEY
"
OR OTHER FLUES AND IN THE MATERIALS EMPLOYED THEREFOR
"
My Invention has for its object improvements in the construction of flues or
chimneys by which they can be constructed more expeditiously and economically
than heretofore in the manner and by means of the materials hereinafter described.
For this purpose I construct in the first place a brick having three sides rect-
angular, but with the fourth side having a curve formed in a portion of its length
and-forming the segment of a circle according to the size of the flue or chimney
required, such bricks being moulded in a mould and baked in a kiln as required.
On placing four of such bricks, the ends of two opposite each other being to the
sides of the others, a complete circular hole is formed in the centre between them;
and in laying the next course of bricks upon the first as described (the position of
the bricks being reversed) the solid parts of the upper course of bricks cover the
joints of the lower course. Where two or more circular flues or chimneys are to
be erected in one stack I mould bricks about twice the width of the bricks above
referred to but being curved on two sides for a portion of their length so as to
form segments of a circle and use them in conjunction with single bricks in the
following manner: Where two flues or chimneys are required to be built in one
stack by the use of a "double" brick (as I call those last described) in the centre
of one side and six "single" bricks (i.e. those first described) placed in proper
Price Bdr

page_text: position, two complete circular holes are formed the joints in each course being
broken by reversing the position of each succeeding layer of bricks as above
described.
Where a square stack is to be erected containing four flues or chimneys
I use four of the "double" bricks and eight of the "single" bricks for each layer
which placed in proper contact with each other form four circular flues or
chimneys as required, and by continuing in the same manner any number of
circular flues or chimneys may be formed in one stack.
Flues or chimneys may be built at an angle if required by bevelling the sides
of the bricks to correspond with the angle desired and proceeding in the manner
above described.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said William Greenwood Hudson in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
6th September 1883.
WILLIAM GREENWOOD HUDSON of Manchester in the County of Lancaster,
Brickmaker's Assistant "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF CHIMNEY OR
OTHER FLUES AND IN THE MATERIALS EMPLOYED THEREFOR
"
This invention is best described by aid of the following drawings in which;
Fig. 1 is a vertical section of chimney_stack.
Fig. 2 horizontal section through X. Y.
Fig. 3 horizontal section of another chimney showing blocks.
Fig. 4
Fig. 5—
ditto
of another section with ornamental bricks.
ditto through same chimney as Fig. 3 but built on the
skew. In the description which follows Figs. 3 and 5 will be only referred to.
In the ordinary plan of building chimneys the rectangular bricks are used which
form rectangular flues. This plan has many disadvantages. The angles of the
flues afford facilities for the accumulation of soot, which gradually increases until
it ultimately chokes up the flue. The flue has then to be swept but on account
of its shape this cannot be effectually done as the apparatus at present used
cannot get into the corners. The result is that a quantity always remains in them
and this speedily gathers more and the choking up process begins again
immediately.
Besides this there are in ordinary flues a large number of joints, and in order to
ensure each flue being air-tight and prevent it drawing air from the flues contiguous
to it, it is customary to plaster the sides with mortar or as it is technically termed
to parge them.
Again it is no uncommon thing for flues to collapse or fall into one another at
the gatherings or places where they are built at an inclination.
Now my invention is designed to avoid these disadvantages by forming the
bricks and building them up in the manner described.
By this means I build the flues cylindrically in the first place, use a less number
of bricks in each course, save the expense of parging, form an exceedingly strong
bond, occupy less space, build quicker, and make a much neater and smoother
interior of the flue and so leave less points for the lodginent of soot and afford less
impediment to the draught.
In fact my plan has all the advantages of earthenware tubes encased in brick-
work without their expense and numerous drawbacks.
My plan consists in forming the bricks in the manner set forth in Fig. 3 for
vertical flues or flues built with their direction at right angles to their joints, and
in Fig. 5 for flues at any other angle. It will be seen by reference to Fig. 3 that
there are only two varieties of shapes and only two sizes of each variety. These
are shown by the letters A B C and D respectively, and that if a trifling thickness
were cut off at the square end, the B bricks would become of the same dimensions
as the A bricks, and the D bricks as the C bricks; also that by making the C bricks
so that the space between the flue side and the outside of the chimney is only half
the thickness of the space between the two flues in the A and B bricks, the entire
chimney stack could be built with A and C bricks only. This arrangement forms
a very strong chimney, as by breaking joint in the manner described a very strong
bond is obtained, the dotted lines showing the joints in the course beneath.
Fig. 5 shows a similar set of blocks for those parts of chimneys built on the skew.
It will be seen in this case that there are a greater variety of shapes, as though
the plan of cross section is the same as with a vertically built chimney, the cant of

page_text: the bricks is sometimes sideways, and sometimes endways sometimes backward
and sometimes forward, A¹ A' A³, B¹ B² B³, C¹ C2 C3 C4, and D'D' D' D', it therefore
requires four kinds of the C and D and three kinds of the A and B blocks.
Now although it is almost foreign to my patent to describe the method of
manufacture of these bricks, I think it best just to show that they can be made
in the ordinary wet clay brick machines, where a continuous stream of clay is
cut by wires. All that is required with a continuous stream, of the section similar
to any brick of Fig. 3, is to pass the vertical cutting wires in a slanting direction
through the stream to make bricks of the A, B, C, D, shapes, and to pass wires
slanting obliquely to the direction of the stream through said stream at right angles
to make the bricks A¹ B C D A B C D blocks would be formed by passing
vertical wires through the stream at right angles to the line of the stream, so that
with a wet clay machine only a trifling alteration in the arrangement of the wire
cut-offs is required to cut A, A', or A bricks with the same mouth-piece of same
machine. These bricks can also all be made either by hand or by the semi-dry
machines at present in use-special moulds of course being used.
Having now described my invention and the best mode known to me of
carrying it into effect I wish it to be understood that what I believe to be new
and desire to protect under the Letters Patent is :—
1st The manufacture or construction of chimney or other flues in which the
curve of the interior contour of the flue is moulded out of part of the side or sides
of the bricks themselves, substantially as described.
2nd The bricks for chimney or flue construction moulded or formed with a
circular or other indentation on one or more of their sides, to form the inside contour
of the flue, substantially as described.
In witness whereof I the said William Greenwood Hudson have hereunto set
my hand and seal this fourth day of September in the year of our Lord one
thousand eight hundred and eighty three.
WILLIAM GREENWOOD HUDSON (L.S.)