Specification of William Brunton : steam engines and furnaces.

  • Brunton, William.
Date:
1854
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Specification of William Brunton : steam engines and furnaces. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    jBruntoris Improvements in Steam Engines, Furnaces, <Sfc. NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said William Brunton, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are particularly de¬ scribed and ascertained in the following description thereof, that is to say :— My said improvements relate, first, to the furnace or fire-place of the engine 5 boiler, which fire-place or furnace I make of a circular form, with the grate revolving horizontally, and having the fuel supplied from above; and, secondly, to the piston in the working cylinder, which piston I so form as to have an upper and lower packing, with a reservoir in its interior to contain oil, tallow, or any fit liquid, or any fluid metal or mixture of metals fusible in the tempe- 10 rature maintained by the steam, the said reservoir having a*'free communication with the working cylinder all round between the upper and lower packing. By making my fire grate to revolve in its own plane, I am enabled to supply the fuel from a box (or boxes) above through a hole (or holes) in the roof of the furnace in continued succession, or in small quantities at regular intervals, 15 and thus to distribute the fuel equally and uniformly over the surface of the fire. And by the construction of my said piston, in which the tallow or other fit liquid or fluid metal contained in the said reservoir is brought into free and intimate contact with the working cylinder all round the said piston, the said oil, tallow, or other liquid or fluid becomes virtually a part of the said piston, gq and I am thus enabled to prevent any passage of steam (from the one side of the piston to the other) between the piston and the working cylinder. My said improved furnace or fire-place, with its appendages, and my said improved piston, with its appendages, are constructed and made to operate in manner following, that is to say:— 25 The fire grate is ultimately supported by a vertical shaft (which I call the grate shaft), moveable round its axis, the lower end of which shaft stands in the ash-pit, and the upper end whereof is supported by a strong bar built into the brickwork of the ash-pit; from the upper end of the said grate shaft (above the said supporting bar) are extended two or more arms, carrying 30 a strong cast iron ring (which I call the grate ring) concentric with the said grate shaft, and having its plane at right angles thereto ; upon this grate ring I lay the grate bars, which are similar to those in common use, but of different lengths, suited to the places which they respectively occupy on the plane of the said ring, when placed parallel to its diameter, and to each other. To the 35 exterior edge of the said grate ring, and about two inches below its upper surface, is attached another ring of cast iron (which I call the brick ring); the plane of this ring (which is also at right angles to the said grate shaft, and about six inches broad) terminates at its exterior diameter in a vertical rim,