IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR PREVENTING THE ESCAPE OF SPARKS, CINDERS, OR OTHER SOLID SUBSTANCES FROM CHIMNEYS OR FLUES
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the Firm of Haseltine,
Lake, & Co., Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, for
the Invention of "IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR PREVENTING THE ESCAPE
OF SPARKS, CINDERS, OR OTHER SOLID SUBSTANCES FROM CHIMNEYS OR
FLUES." A communication from abroad by William Brindle, of,
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America.
Sealed the 22nd November 1872, and dated the 1st June 1872.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Robert Lake
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 1st June 1872.
I, WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co.,
Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR PREVENTING
THE ESCAPE OF SPARKS, CINDERS, OR OTHER SOLID SUBSTANCES FROM CHIMNEYS OR
FLUES," a communication, to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to an improved apparatus for retaining sparks
and other solid substances, and preventing their passing through
chimneys, smoke stacks, or flues with the draught, and is more especially

page_text: designed for the chimneys or smoke stacks of steam generators and
furnaces.
In constructing the chimneys or stacks I use for the outside case
sheet metal of any suitable kind, iron being well adapted for the
purpose. This case is to be of any length and diameter required for the
capacity of the generator or furnace to which it is applied. At the upper
end of this pipe or case there is placed a chamber consisting of two
frustums of cones joined together at their bases, one of them being
inverted. This chamber is intended to receive the steam and gases from
the pipe or case through a series of apertures formed in a short section
of pipe which extends upward into the gas chamber formed by the two
frustums. The said short section has its upper end covered by a cap,
the outer and inner surfaces of which are both conical, the inner or
lower surface for the purpose of deflecting the sparks and solid products
of the fuel downward, and the upper surface for the purpose of forming
a passage for the steam and gaseous products of combustion between it
and the outer portion of the chamber. This interior cone and the short
section of pipe to which it is attached may be made of sheet or cast
metal, the latter being preferred, especially in cases where steam is
admitted to the stack, and it is less liable to deterioration from corrosion.
Within the said pipe or case there is placed a smaller pipe whose upper
end is provided with a funnel-shaped enlargement, the upper end of
which should be about level with the lower point of the cone upon
the said short section of the pipe. As the sparks and other solid portions
of matter are carried by the blast or draught up through the pipe and
into the short section against the conical surface upon its inner or lower
side they will be by such surface deflected downward into the funnel,
and thence conducted down through the pipe into a dust box, which is
arranged upon the under side of the generator. The diameter of the
small or inner pipe should always be such as to leave between its outer
surface and the inner surface of the outer pipe ample room for the
ascending column of sparks, dust, and gases. The dust box has an
opening in its rear part for withdrawing sparks therefrom; or such
opening may be upon one side if found more convenient; or the pipe
may be so formed as to cause its lower end to pass out through the
smoke box at some other point.
-
In a modification of my Invention I place at the upper end of the
smoke stack, chimney, or flue a spark and dust chamber formed by

page_text: fastening with bolts or rivets or by any suitable means to the top of the
smoke stack, chimney, or flue a truncated cone, and I place around its
base on the outside a bowl or basin extending slightly above the said
truncated cone. On the top of the said bowl or basin there is closely
fitted and securely clamped, bolted, rivetted, or fastened by any suitable
means, a conical cap or covering having a peak in the centre on its
under or concave side; the said peak extends down into the spark and
dust chamber so as to separate the cinders and sparks coming up through
the truncated cone, and direet them to the sides of the said spark and
dust chamber. The spark and dust chamber thus formed must have two
or more holes or apertures in the bottom of the bowl or basin at its
intersection with the truncated cone. Pipes of any desired size are to be
cast, bolted, or rivetted around the said holes or apertures. These pipes
may pass down on the outside of the smoke stack, and around the boiler
of an engine into a receptacle placed on the under side of the boiler or
into any proper receptacle for the sparks, cinders, and dust; or the pipes
may be passed down on the inside of the smoke stack and boiler. Below
the base of the truncated cone in the top of the smoke stack I form a
series of holes or apertures to permit the escape of smoke, steam, and
gas, and the entrance of air. Below these holes or apertures in the
smoke stack I construct an air or draught chamber by joining the bases
of two frustums of cones, one of them being inverted. The said air or
draught chamber terminates in a straight or flaring flue. At the lower
end of this flue, and slightly within the air or draught chamber, I
place a wire screen made in the form of an inverted truncated cone; its
base is placed against the under side of the upper frustum of the air
or draught chamber, and the smaller end rests on the upper or convex
side of the cap which forms the top or covering of the spark and dust
chamber.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co., Patent Agents,
35 Southampton Buildings, London, send greeting.

page_text: :
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the First day of June, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the
thirty-fifth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said William Robert Lake, Her
special licence that I, the said William Robert Lake, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William
Robert Lake, 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 "IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR PREVENTING THE ESCAPE OF SPARKS,
CINDERS, OR OTHER SOLID SUBSTANCES FROM CHIMNEYS OR FLUES," a com-
munication to me from abroad by William Brindle, of Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania, United States of America, upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said William Robert Lake, my executors or admi-
nistrators, 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 Robert Lake, 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, reference being had to the accompanying
Drawing forming a part of this Specification:-
This Invention relates to an improved apparatus for retaining sparks
and other solid substances, and preventing their passing through
chimneys, smoke stacks, or flues with the draught, and is more especially
designed for the chimneys or smoke stacks of steam generators and
furnaces.

page_text: said apparatus. Like letters indicate the same parts throughout the
Drawing.
:
In constructing chimneys or stacks I use for the outside case A sheet
metal of any desirable kind, iron being well adapted for the purpose.
This case is to be of any length and diameter required for the capacity
of the generator or furnace to which it is applied. At the upper end
of this pipe or case A there is placed a chamber consisting of two
frustums of cones C, C, joined together at their bases, one of them being
inverted as shewn in the Drawing. This chamber is intended to receive
the steam and gases from the pipe or case A through a series of aper-
tures D formed in a short section of pipe B which extends upward into
the gas
chamber formed by the two frustums C, C; the said short section
has its upper end covered by a cap, the outer and inner surfaces of which
are both conical, the inner or lower surface for the purpose of deflecting
the sparks and solid products of the fuel downward, and the upper
surface for the purpose of forming a passage for the steam and gaseous
products of combustion between it and the outer portion of the chamber.
This interior cone and the short section of pipe to which it is attached
may be made of sheet or cast metal, the latter being preferred, especially
in cases where steam is admitted to the stack, as it is less liable to
deterioration consequent upon corrosion. Within the pipe or case A
there is placed a smaller pipe E whose upper end is provided with a
funnel-shaped enlargement E', the upper end of which should be about
level with the lower point of the cone upon the section B of the pipe.
As the sparks and other solid portions of matter, such as ashes and dust
from the burning fuel, and small pieces of such fuel are carried by the
blast or draught up through the pipe A and into the short section B
against the conical surface upon its inner or lower side, they will be
by such surface deflected downward into the funnel E', and will be thence
conducted down through the pipe E into the dust box F which is
arranged upon the under side of the generator, as shewn in Figure 1.
The diameter of the pipe E should always be such as to leave between
its outer surface and the inner surface of the outer pipe ample room
for the ascending column of sparks, dust, and gases. The dust box F
upon the under side of the generator is for the reception of the sparks
and dust which have passed down through the pipe E, there being an
opening in its rear side for withdrawing such sparks therefrom, or such

page_text: opening may be upon one side if found more convenient, or the pipe E
may be so formed as to cause its lower end to pass out through the
smoke box at some other point.
Figure 2 shows a modification of my stack as far as relates to the
cone upon the short pipe B; it is constructed with a passage for the steam
and gases through the upper portion thereof and between the corru-
gated division plate; this construction has a tendency to separate from
such gases any fine dust that may not have been deflected into the
central pipe.
The operation of this stack is as follows:-A fire having been kindled
in the generator or furnace the draught or blast causes the gases to
pass through the flues or tubes of the generator more or less of the
solid portions of the products of combustion, such as sparks, dust, and
small portions of coal or wood, being mingled with the gases pass up
within the outer pipe, and into the short pipe or section B and strike
the conical surface; here the separation takes place, the solid portions
or particles being deflected downward into the pipe E, while the gaseous
portions mingled with the steam that may have been admitted into
the pipe down to the perforations D and out through them into the
chamber C, and thence out into the atmosphere through the opening C¹
at the top of the stack.
In the modification of this Invention illustrated in Figure 4, at the
upper end of the smoke stack, chimney, or flue, there is a spark and
dust chamber G formed by fastening with bolts or rivets, or by any
suitable means to the top of the smoke stack, chimney, or flue a truncated
cone H, and placing around its base on the outside a bowl or basin H'
extending slightly above the said truncated cone H. On the top of the
said bowl or basin H' there is closely fitted and securely clamped,
bolted, rivetted, or fastened by any suitable means a conical cap I or
covering having a peak I¹ in the centre of said cap on its under or
concave side, and the said peak extends downs into the spark and dust
chamber, so as to separate the cinders and sparks coming up through
the truncated cone, and direct them to the sides of the spark and
dust chamber. The parts are all made of cast or wrought iron or
other metal capable of resisting heat. The spark and dust chamber
thus formed must have two or more rectangular or round holes or
apertures K cast, cut, or punched in the bottom of the bowl or basin
at its intersection with the truncated cone. Rectangular or round

page_text: pipes K' of any desired size are to be cast, bolted, or riveted around said
holes or apertures. The pipes may pass down on the outside of the
smoke stack and around the boiler of an engine into the receptacle K*
placed on the under side of the boiler as shewn, or into any proper recep-
tacle for the sparks, cinders, and dust, or the pipes may be passed down
on the inside of the smoke stack and boiler. Below the base of the
truncated cone in the top of the smoke stack I form a series of rect-
angular or round holes or apertures L to permit the escape of smoke,
steam, and gas and the entrance of air into the smoke stack. Below
the holes or apertures L in the smoke stack I construct an air or draught
chamber M by joining the bases of two frustums of cones N and N',
one of them being inverted as shewn. The said air or draught
chamber M terminates in a straight or flaring flue N° at the lower end
of the flue N2, and slightly within the air or draught chamber M I
place a wire screen O made in the form of an inverted truncated cone;
its base is placed against the under side of the upper frustum N of the
air or draught chamber M, and the smaller end rests on the upper or
comex side of the cap I which forms the top or covering of the spark
and dust chamber. The air or draught chamber M communicates with
the smoke stack, and also with the spark and dust chamber G, and is
intended not merely to allow of the escape of the steam, smoke, and
gas by means of the holes or apertures L, but also to provide for
a free passage of air into the smoke stack to aid in producing com-
bustion. The solid portions or particles together with the sparks and
dust are thrown into the spark and dust chamber G and are carried down
by the pipes K', while the smoke, steam, and gases that do not pass
down through the pipes K¹ pass through the holes L into the air or
draught chamber M; and thence out of it through the flue N° on the top

page_text: Second. The combination in a smoke stack of a short section, the
central pipe, and the dust or spark box, the parts being constructed and
arranged as described and for the purpose set forth.
Third. In combination with a smoke stack or spark and dust chamber
consisting of a truncated cone, a bowl or basin, a cap, a peak, holes
and pipes for passing off the sparks, cinders, and dust constructed and
arranged as described and for the purposes set forth.
Fourth. The combination of the smoke stack and air or draught
chamber with the apertures, wire screen, and flue constructed and
arranged as described and for the purposes set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Robert Lake, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Thirtieth day of November, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
two.
Witness,
W. J. LOWE.
W*. ROBT. LAKE. (L.S.)