IMPROVE- MENTS IN BLOWERS AND IN PORTABLE AND OTHER FORGES
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Richard Russell Gubbins, of Kennington Road,
in the County of Surrey, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN BLOWERS AND IN PORTABLE AND OTHER FORGES "
Sealed the 2nd July 1875, and dated the 4th May 1875.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Richard Russell Gubbins
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 4th May 1875.
I, RICHARD RUSSELL GUBBINS, of Kennington Road, in the County of
Surrey, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN BLOWERS AND IN PORTABLE AND OTHER FORGES," to be as
follows:-
:-
The first part of my Invention relates to an improved form of fan
blade, and consists in forming two flanges upon the sides of each blade.
These flanges are turned upwards in the same direction as the fan runs,
and take the place of and are equivalent to the discs between which the
blades of fans hitherto in use have usually been made to work. For
economy of construction the blades, arms, and boss, are all cast in
ร

page_text: one piece. For small fans two blades will be sufficient and can be
easily cast in one piece, but for larger fans four or more blades will be
required. When four blades are used they are cast in pairs, and the boss
is made in halves with offsets right or left on the respective halves, so
that when the two halves are brought together to form the complete boss
the arms will all be in the same vertical plane.
The second part of my Invention relates to the construction of the.
frame or base which carries the driving gear and supports the casing of
the fan itself. The foundation or foot of the framing, the vertical
standard which carries the fan casing, one half of the casing itself, and
also a bracket for carrying the large driving pulley, are all cast in one
piece. The other half of the fan casing is cast in another picce, and the
two parts being provided with 'flanges are connected together by means
of screw bolts and nuts. A portion of the wind channel and the twyere
box may also be cast with the framing if desired. By constructing the
fixed parts in this manner the blower can be made very cheaply and
strong, and can be easily adapted to any portable or other forge.
The third part of my Invention relates to the construction of the
frame and supports of a blacksmith's hearth to which my improved fan
or blower may be adapted. In this case the fire pan, made of iron or
other suitable material, is supported by legs made of angle iron bolted
to lugs cast on the fire pan and connected together by transverse pieces
or bars of wrought iron of star section, or iron pipe or tubes may be
used. In conjunction with these sections of wrought iron, tie rods or
traces are used, and either pass through the tubes or lie snugly in the
angles of the star iron stretchers, so that when the nuts of the rods are
screwed up the several parts will be held securely together. The
structure or framing may be further stiffened by means of diagonal
braces. The fan casing is fixed to the under side of the pan, and the
gearing used for driving the fan of the portable forge is attached to the
fire pan either rigidly or by a spring connection to give it a slight
degree of elasticity, in order that the jarring against the legs of the
framing caused by moving it about or upsetting it accidentally may
have no damaging effect on the gearing.
The twyere which conducts the blast from the blower or fan to the
hearth of the forge is of peculiar construction. It consists of a cylinder
or roller open at both ends and having openings on opposite sides. This

page_text: box to which the blast is conveyed from the fan or blower. The air box is
provided with a cover in which is made a funnel shaped opening which
fits against the twyere cylinder, so that when air is driven into the box
it passes into the cylinder and from thence out of one of the side
openings and through the exit opening in the cover. Upon turning the
cylinder round until the plain part is brought opposite to the exit
opening, the blast will be prevented from issuing to the hearth. At the
bottom of the air box is made a large opening which is provided with a
movable slide for temporarily closing the same, and through this
opening any cinders that may fall into the box may be removed from
time to time.
Another form of twyere consists in making three openings in the lid
or cover of the wind box and employing a movable segmental stop for
closing the twyere holes instead of the hollow cylinder just described.
The air box is supplied with the blast from the blower or fan in the
same manner as in the former instance, but instead of the air passing
into and through the cylinder in order to obtain access to the twyere
holes it passes direct to such of the twyere holes as are open and
unstopped. In this form of twyere the central hole always remains open
and the air issues therefrom in a vertical direction, but the two side holes
are placed in an inclined position, so that the air will issue at an angle of
from 40° to 48° cither to the right or to the left, or in both directions if
both holes are open.
The movable segmental stop which is mounted in bearings in the air
box (precisely as the open ended cylinder in the other instance) consists
merely of a segmental or curved piece at the end of an arm extending
from a boss on a shaft, which being mounted in bearings can be turned
therein to the right or left as may be required.
The ends of the segmental stop are made to coincide with the two
side twyere opening in the cover of the air box, and the stop is so
arranged that by turning it in cither direction it may be made to stop or
close one or other of these side openings. It will now be understood
that by this means, in addition to the vertical blast from the central hole,
a diagonal or inclined blast, either to the right or to the left, or both,
may be employed if desired. This segmental stop also serves to clear the
twyere holes of clinkers or cinders should they become stopped thereby,

page_text: as by forcing the stop into either of the holes any cinders or clinkers
that may be sticking there will be pushed out. A large opening is made.
in the bottom of the air box, as in the former instance, for the pur-
pose of removing cinders from the interior and is closed by a horizontal
slide.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Richard Russell Gubbins in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 4th November 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, RICHARD
RUSSELL GUBBINS, of Kennington Road, in the County of Surrey,
Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fourth day of May, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the thirty-eighth
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said Richard Russell Gubbins, Her special licence that
I, the said Richard Russell Gubbins, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Richard Russell Gubbins, 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
"IMPROVEMENTS IN BLOWERS AND IN PORTABLE AND OTHER FORGES," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Richard Russell Gubbins, 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 six calendar months next and immediately after
the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Richard Russell Gubbins, 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

page_text: annexed and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to
say) :-
My Invention of "Improvements in Blowers and in Portable and
other Forges," consists in improvements in the construction of the fans
or blades of rotary blowers, and also in a novel mode of constructing the
frame or standard which supports the fan casc and the gearing for
driving the fan:
The Invention further comprises improvements in the construction
and arrangement of the twyeres or wind passages for supplying air
to the fuel in fixed or portable forges; and also a novel mode of
arranging and adapting the driving gear to portable forges.
same.
The first part of my Invention relates to an improved form of fan
blade for rotary fans or blowers, and consists in forming two vertical
flanges upon the side or edge of each blade; Fig. 1 is a side view of a
pair of blades constructed in this manner; Fig. 2 is a front view of the
The flanges a, a, are turned upwards in the same direction as the.
fan runs, and take the place of and are equivalent to the discs between
which the blades of fans hitherto in use have usually been made to work.
For economy of construction the blades, arms, and boss, are all cast in
one piece, as shown in the Figures. For small fans two blades, as shown
in the Drawing, will be sufficient, and can be easily cast in one piece;
but for large fans four or more blades may be used if required. When
four blades are used they are cast in pairs, and the boss is made in halves
with offsets right or left on the respective halves, so that when the two
halves are brought together to form the complete boss the arms will all
be in the same vertical plane. The arrows in Fig. 1 indicate the direction
in which the blades run when in action.
The second part of my Invention relates to the construction of the
frame or base, which carries the driving gear and supports the casing.
of the fan itself, and is illustrated at Figures 3, 4, and 5; Fig. 3 being
a side elevation of one of my improved fan blowers adapted to a fixed
forge or hearth; Fig. 4 is an end view of the same. The vertical standard
or framing which carries the fan casing, together with the foot or
foundation of the frame, and also one half of the casing itself, and a
bracket for carrying the large driving pulley, are all cast in one piece,
as shewn at b, b, in Fig. 5. The other half of the fan casing is cast in

page_text: another piece, as shown in the Figure, and the two parts being provided
with flanges are connected together by means of screw bolts and nuts,
as shown at Fig. 3. A portion of the wind channel and the twyere box
may also be cast with the framing if desired. By constructing the fixed
parts in this manner the blower can be made very cheaply and strong,
and can be easily adapted to any stationary or other forge.
The large driving wheel c is mounted in bearings in a bracket at the
top of the standard b, and is actuated by means of a winch handle d,
which may be turned by hand, or it may be rotated by pulling the corde,
which is attached by one end to the crank or winch d. The other end
of the cord e passes over a pulley f mounted in a swinging bracket f¹,
which is capable of turning round on the vertical pin f fixed to a beam
above. The pendant end of the cord e is provided with a handle,
whereby it may be worked up and down by the workman. It will be
evident that as the pulley f is capable of moving round the vertical pin f**
in either direction this mode of actuating the fan blower will allow the
workman (while driving the fan with one hand) to move about and
attend to his fire or other duties, which he could not conveniently do if
he were obliged to turn the winch handle d.
The mode of transmitting motion from the large driving wheel to the
fan by, means of the bands and pullies c', c², c³, c, will be so clearly
understood by a simple inspection of the Drawings that no further
explanation will be required on this point. I may however remark that
the spindle a¹ on which the fan blades a are keyed is made with conical
ends, as shown in the detached sectional view, Fig. 4ª. On fitting up
the fan the spindle a¹ is passed through the bearings in the brackets 6³
of the standard b and through the boss of the fan blades. When the
latter have been properly secured on the shaft a¹ the conical ends of the
latter, which project through the bearings 62, 62, are covered up or
enclosed by hemispherical caps a, a, which are filled with wool and
supplied with oil or other lubricant, which as the fan rotates will find
its way along the shaft to the bearings and other rubbing parts, and will
thus lubricate the same.
For permanent hearths where great strength is required, and there is
no objection to great weight, the hearth with its standards or legs, and
troughs, and fire-pan are all cast in one piece, By this means a very
cheap and substantial structure is obtained. A hearth of this kind is
shewn in perspective at Fig. 4.

page_text: The third part of my Invention relates to the construction of the
frame and supports of a blacksmith's portable hearth or forge to
which my improved fan or blower may be adapted.
Fig, 6 is a side elevation of a portable hearth or forge constructed
according to my Invention; Fig. 7 is an end view of the same; and
Fig. 8, a plan view. In this case the fire-pang is made of iron or
other suitable material, and is supported by legs h, h, made of angle iron
and bolted to the corners of the fire-pan and connected together by
transverse pieces or bars i, i, of wrought iron of double T or star section,
as shewn in the detached views, Figures 9 and 10, which are drawn on
an enlarged scale. If preferred wrought-iron pipes or tubes may be used
for these braces in place of angle iron. In combination with these
sections of wrought-iron bars or stretchers tic rods or braces i', ', are
used, and either pass through the tubes or lic snugly in the angles of
the star-iron or angle-iron stretchers i, so that when the nuts of the
rods are screwed up the several parts will be held securely together.
This structure or framing may be further stiffened by means of diagonal
braces if desired. The fan casing 6 is fixed to the under side of the
pang, and the gearing c, c¹, c², c³, c', used for driving the fan of the
portable forge is attached to the fire-pan g by a spring connection to
give it a slight degree of elasticity in order that the jarring against the
legs of the framing caused by moving it about or upsetting it
accidentally may have no damaging effect on the gearing.
The driving gear, instead of being attached directly to any part of the
fixed framing, is mounted in bearings in a pendent arm p, Figures 6
and 7, which is connected to the under side of the pang at three points
by bolts p', p', p', (Fig. S.) Helical springs are placed on the bolts
p, p, p, between the bottom of the pan and the top flange of the
pendent arm p, as seen best in Figures 6 and 7. The driving gear
c, c¹, c³, c³, c³, for rotating the fan is actuated by means of a hand lever
on one end of a shaft which turns in bearings fixed on the under sido
of the pan g. At the opposite end of the shaft l' is a lever l which is
connected by means of a link to the crank c* of the large pulley c.
By arranging and adapting the driving gear in this manner no amount
of jarring of the legs or fixed framing will injuriously affect or put out
of order the driving gear of the apparatus. The air or blast from the
fan will be supplied to the twyere t, which in this instance is of the
ordinary construction.

page_text: The twyere shown at Fig. 3 and which conducts the blast from the
blower or fan to the hearth of the forge is of peculiar construction.
This form of twyere consists in making three openings in the lid or
cover of the wind box w and employing a movable segmental stop f
for closing the twyere holes. The air box w is supplied with the blast
from the blower or fan along the funnel-shaped channel o, from whence
it passes direct to such of the twyere holes in the cover q as are open
and unstopped. In this form of twyere the central hole always remains
open and the air issues therefrom in a vertical direction, but the two
side holes are placed in an inclined position so that the air will issue
at an angle of from forty degrees to forty-eight degrees either to the
right or to the left, or in both directions, as indicated by the arrows, if
both holes are open.
The movable segmental stop s which is mounted in bearings on the
air box w consists merely of a segmental or curved piece at the end
of an arm, extending from a boss on the shaft &¹ shown by dotted lincs
in Fig. 3ª, and which being mounted in bearings can be turned therein
to the right or left as may be required.
The ends of the segmental stops & are made to coincide with the two side
twyere openings in the cover q of the air box, and the stop is so arranged
that by turning it in either direction it may be made to stop or closc
onc or other of these side openings. It will now be understood that by
this means, in addition to the vertical blast from the central holc, a
diagonal or inclined blast either to the right or to the left, or both, may
be employed if desired. This segmental stop also serves to clear the
twyere holes of clinkers or cinders (should they become stopped thereby),
as by forcing the stop s'into cither of the holes any cinders or clinkers
that may be sticking there will be pushed out. A large opening w¹ is
made in the bottom of the air box w for the purpose of removing
cinders from the interior of the box into an ash-pit below. This a
opening w¹ is to be closed by a horizontal slide when the forge or
hearth is being used.
Fig. 11 is a vertical section of another form of twyere adapted to the
hearth of a fixed forge. In this instance the cover q of the twyere is
made with a single circular hole or opening, and a movable twyere ta
made conical at the upper end, and with a central hole is connected to
the end of a lever u in the air channel o. This lever may be worked

page_text: by means of a rod connected to its other end and extending up through
the brickwork of the hearth, as indicated in Fig. 11, or in any other con-
venient manner. By means of this lever u the cylindrical twyere may be
raised or lowered, and the passage for the air through the circular
opening in the lid 2 of the twyere increased or diminished at pleasure.
If the cylindrical twyere t is lowered, as indicated by dots in Fig. 11,
then the air may pass round the twyere and up through an annular space
between the conical end of the twyere and the edge of the circular
hole, and also through the central opening in the twyere itself, so that
there will be one permanent vertical jet or blast of air, and also an
inclined blast produced by the inclined sides of the circular opening
and conical end of the twyere as in the former instance. If on the
contrary the cylindrical twyere is raised up, as shewn in the Figure, the
annular space in the opening in the lid q will be closed, but the central
vertical jet will remain open,
The blast may be still further modified by means of a fixed plug v
which projects up inside the twyere and acts as a guide for the same,
and when the twyere is drawn down to its fullest extent the plug v will
enter the central hole and completely close the same, leaving only the
conical annular opening for the passage of the air. The plug v also
serves to clear out from the central hole of the twyere any cinders or
clinkers that may fall in or adhere thereto.
t
Fig. 12 is a horizontal section, and Fig. 13 a side elevation of a hori-
zontal twyere constructed upon the same principle as the vertical twyere
Fig. 11. In this instance the plug is straight instead of being curved,
and passes through the end of the cylindrical twyeret instead of through
the side as in Fig. 11. With this exception the several parts are con-
structed and act in precisely the same manner as is shown and described
in reference to Fig. 11.
Having now described my "Improvements in Blowers and in Portable
and other Forges," and having explained the manner of carrying the
same into effect, I claim as the Invention secured to me by Letters Patent
as aforesaid,―
First. Constructing the blades of fan blowers with vertical side
flanges, as and for the purpose herein set forth.
Second. Constructing the framing or base which carries the driving