IMPROVE- MENTS IN MEANS OR APPARATUS FOR ECONOMIZING AND INDUCING MORE PERFECT COMBUSTION OF FUEL IN FURNACES
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Lancaster, of Bootle, near Liverpool, in
the County of Lancaster, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN MEANS OR APPARATUS FOR ECONOMIZING AND INDUCING MORE
PERFECT COMBUSTION OF FUEL IN FURNACES."
Sealed the 25th May 1866, and dated the 29th November 1865.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Lancaster at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 29th November 1865.
I, THOMAS LANCASTER, of Bootle, near Liverpool, in the County of
Lancaster, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MEANS OR APPARATUS FOR ECONOMIZING AND INDUCING
MORE PERFECT COMBUSTION OF FUEL IN FURNACES," to be as follows:-
In boiler and other furnaces with fire-grates, doors, and ash-pits of any
of the ordinary kinds or arranged in any usual way, the combustion of
the fuel therein is not at all satisfactorily accomplished, for not only does a
considerable proportion of the sensible heat evolved pass up the chimney,
but large quantities of black smoke, capable of giving out under proper
treatment much heat, are conveyed away and discharged into the air to
the annoyance and it may be damage to the health of the public.
The objects of my improvements are to economize fuel, and at the same
time to prevent the emission of black smoke, and these I accomplish by
causing or inducing atmospheric air to enter the furnace by the means or

page_text: apparatus herein-after mentioned. Over the door of the furnace and above
the level of the fuel in the fire-grate there is a curvilinear pipe or deflector,
which conveys air from the outside of the furnace into and over the fuel
therein, preferably in a downward and towards the back direction. At the
back of the furnace near or in the bridge there is a chamber or there are
chambers fed by pipes with air from the outside; this chamber or thesc
chambers are provided with a curvilinear pipe or pipes, or deflector or
deflectors, which convey and deliver the air over the fuel, preferably in a
downward and towards the door direction. In conjunction with the
means or apparatus just described I sometimes convey air into the furnace
by openings at the sides of the door, and distribute it by perforated pipes
or by small openings.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Thomas Lancaster in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 29th May 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
LANCASTER, of Bootle, near Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster,
send greeting.
such
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters.
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of November, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-ninth
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said Thomas Lancaster, Her special licence that I, the said
Thomas Lancaster, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
others as I, the said Thomas Lancaster, 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, with the United Kingdom
of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MEANS OR APPARATUS FOR ECONOMIZING AND
INDUCING MORE PERFECT COMBUSTION OF FUEL IN FURNACES," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Thomas Lancaster, 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

page_text: six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YB, that I, the said Thomas Lancaster, do hereby declare
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:-
brick or other
My Invention consists of improvements in the means and apparatus for
economising and inducing more perfect combustion of fuel in furnaces.
For this purpose I admit air on to the top of the furnace or other fire by
means of air pipes and other passages inserted under the grate and com-
municating with an air chamber or chambers, up which the air rises by the
side of the fire, and is deflected thereon by means of a
deflector or deflectors against which it comes in contact.
door, or inserted therein, I also form an opening and deflector for the
admission and conduction of air, and the quantity thereof in both cases
can be regulated to the greatest nicety by dampers or other similar means.
I will now proceed to describe the details more fully, reference being made
to the accompanying Drawing.
EXPLANATION OF THE DRAWING.
Over the fire-
Fig. 1 is a sectional side view, and Fig. 2 a front view of a marine or
other boiler; Fig. 3 shews my principle applied to an ordinary puddling
furnace; and Fig. 4 is a sectional side view of an ordinary locomotive
boiler. In Figs. 1, 2, and 3, like letters in each Fig. apply to similar
parts; a is the deflector over or in the fire-door, with damper a' for feeding
the fire alternately or wholly, and for regulating the quantity of air to be
admitted, especially when putting on fresh fuel; b, air pipes inserted under
the fire-grate in communication with the air chamber c; d, the air chamber
deflector; and d¹, a counter arch. The air passes through the pipes b, along
chamber c, and comes in contact with the deflector d, by which it is
directed on to the fire, thus inducing more perfect combustion and pre-
venting smoke. In Fig. 4, a is the fire-brick deflector for engines, and
made of copper, with a water space for new engines specially constructed
on this plan; b, an open passage for admitting air; this passage can also
be closed at the mouth by a regulating damper; c, the fire-door deflector
inserted above or in the door, with regulator c attached, which is opened
or closed as more or less air is desired to be admitted.
Without restricting myself to the precise details of construction I claim,-
1st, the inductive or air pipes or other passages conveying air into a

page_text: THOMAS LANCASTER. (L.S.)