AN IMPROVED METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR COLLECTING THE GASES GIVEN OFF FROM FURNACES
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edward Thomas Hughes, of the Firm of Hughes and
Son, Patent Agents, 123, Chancery Lane, London, for the Invention of
"AN IMPROVED METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR COLLECTING THE GASES GIVEN
OFF FROM FURNACES."-A communication from abroad by Emil Langen, of
Siegburg, in the Kingdom of Prussia, Engineer.
Sealed the 7th August 1862, and dated the 17th February 1862.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edward Thomas Hughes
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
17th February 1862.
I, EDWARD THOMAS HUGHES, of the Firm of Hughes and Son, Patent Agents,
123, Chancery Lane, London, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inven-
tion for "AN IMPROVED METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR COLLECTING THE GASES
GIVEN OPP FROM FURNACES," a communication to me from abroad by Emil
Langen, of Siegburg, in the Kingdom of Prussia, Engineer, to be as
follows:-
At the top of the furnace, and surrounding its opening, there is a metal
casing, having apertures for allowing the furnace to be fed, and also formed
at the top so as to support the gas pipe or chimney, the bottom of which is at

page_text: such a distance from the top of the furnace as to offer no obstruction to the
feeding of the material. At the edge of the opening of the furnace and at
the bottom of the chimney there aro conical rings, which support a cap or
cover when the space is required to be closed. The said cap or cover is
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vided with a balance weight, so that it can be raised and lowered with facility.
When raised the furnace can be fed, but when lowered the space is
effectually closed by the cover which collects the gases, and allows them to
escape only through the gas pipe or chimney or other legitimate channel. At
the top of the gas pipe there is a safety valve which opens when there is
excess of pressure, but which is much higher than where the operatives are
engaged.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Edward Thomas Hughes in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 15th August 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDWARD
THOMAS HUGHES, of the Firm of Hughes and Son, Patent Agents, 123,
Chancery Lane, London, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-fifth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Edward Thomas Hughes, Her special licence that I, the said Edward
Thomas Hughes, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said Edward Thomas Hughes, 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 "AN
IMPROVED METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR COLLECTING THE GASES GIVEN OFF FROM
FURNACES," a communication to me from abroad by Emil Langen, of Siegburg,
in the Kingdom of Prussia, Engineer, upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Edward Thomas Hughes, 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

page_text: 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 Edward Thomas Hughes, 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 (that is to say):-
At the top of the furnace, and surrounding its opening, there is a metal
casing, having apertures for allowing the furnace to be fed, and also formed
at the top so as to support the gas pipe or chimney, the bottom of which is
at such a distance from the top of the furnace as to offer no obstruction to the
feeding of the material. At the edge of the opening of the furnace and at
the bottom of the chimney there are conical rings, which support a cap or
cover when the space is required to be closed. The said cap or cover is
provided with a balance weight, so that it can be raised and lowered with
facility. When raised the furnace can be fed, but when lowered the space is
effectually closed by the cover which collects the gases, and allows them to
escape only through the gas pipe or chimney or other legitimate channel. At
the top of the gas pipe there is safety valve, which opens when there is excess
of pressure, but which is much higher than when the operatives are engaged.
This Invention will be clearly understood by referring to the figures and
letters on the accompanying Sheet of Drawings, in which Fig. 1 represents a
section of the top part of a furnace having the improvements attached, and
Fig. 2 a modification of the same..
Upon the plate at the top of the furnace, and surrounding its opening, there is.
a conical cast-iron-ring a, a, around which is fixed the metal casing b, b, which
is provided with any required number of openings for allowing the furnace to
be fed by carts, wheelbarrows, or boxes in the usual manner. At a height
sufficient to allow the aforesaid carts or vessels to deliver their contents, there
is a gas receiving pipe c, c, which at the lower part is slightly conical, as in
Fig. 1, or perpendicular, as in Fig. 2, and has at the side of the upper part a
pipe for leading the gases to any part required. Around the bottom of the
gas receiving pipe is rivetted an angle iron ring d, d, which serves as a base
for a conical ring e, e, surrounding the gas pipe, which ring by means of three
or more vertical rods f, f, with screws and nuts, can be brought and main-'
tained in a horizontal position, the tops of the rods f, f, being held by means
of the screws and nuts to a ring h, or brackets fixed to the gas pipe.. The '
space m, m, between the under conical ring a, a, and the casing b, b, and also
the space between the upper conical ring, e, e, and the gas pipe, are tightly

page_text: rammed in with refractory clay in order to fill up the gaps; g, g, represents
a cast-iron ring, cap, or cover, which closes the apparatus by its under edge
fitting into the lower conical ring a, a, and its upper edge into the upper
conical ring e, c. This cap or cover g, 9, can be lifted to the height
required to allow the materials to be entered to the furnace by means of
two levers, one of which is shewn at o. The levers have their fulcra on
the casing b, b, and each is connected at one end by the chains r, r, to the
ring or cover 9, 9, and at the other end provided with a counterbalance
weight p, so that the lifting of the cover g, g, requires but little power. When
the furnace has to be charged the cover g, g, is lifted, and as there is no
obstruction, the charging can be performed as efficiently as if there were no
gas receiver. After the charging the cover is lowered upon the conical rings,
and the gases are conducted away. At the top of the pipe c, c, there is a
valve x, which is opened when required; this valve shuts by its own weight,
and acts as a safety valve if any explosion should take place. To prevent the
cover and conical rings from bursting, each has a vertical cut, which is closed
by rivetting over it a strip of sheet metal. It might be recommended to
smooth the cover and conical rings at their fitting surfaces in a lathe, in order
that they may shut closely together, but this is not necessary, partly because
the cover of itself fits comparatively tight into the conical rings, and partly
because small openings can be easily closed by fine ore or material placed in
the grooves s, 8, s, s, formed at the junction of the cover and cones. The
cover and gas receiving pipe may be made of any desired form, and the conical
rings may be changed for horizontal rings with water closings, but the plan
before described is found efficiently to answer the purpose. When desired,
the under conical ring may be extended upwards, so that the materials for
charging may be heaped up in a groove passing round the mouth, and then
glided at once into the furnace.
The advantages of these improvements consist,-
Firstly, in enabling the furnace to be filled up to the top, so that the work-
man may be able to spread the material equally in all directions.
Secondly, in catching the gases when they have passed the whole melting
charge, and are fully come out of the high furnace, so that the gases may be
used without any injurious effect.
And, thirdly, in the certainty of catching the gases, except for the short
time required for throwing in and spreading the materials.
Having now described the nature and particulars of the said Invention as
communicated to me by my foreign correspondent, I would have it understood

page_text: that I claim the improved method and apparatus for collecting the gases given
off from furnaces, as all such improvements are herein described and illus-
trated in the accompanying Sheet of Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edward Thomas Hughes, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Fifteenth day of August, One thousand eight
hundred and sixty-two.
EDWP. T. HUGHES. (L.S.)