US519304A - Hot-air furnace - Google Patents

Description

(No Model.) 2 Sheets- Sheet 1.

W. FRIDRI-CIL- HOT AIR'IIURNAUE- (No Mbdel. l 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

v G. W. FRIDRIOH. 4

HOT AIR FURNAGE.

No. 519,304. Patented May 1, 1894 in. ni

' ATENT Futon.

GEORGE W. FRIDRICH, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

HOT-AIR FURNACE.

SPECIFICATIQN forming part of Letters Patent No. 519,304, dated May'I, 1894.

Application filed July 1'7, 18%.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, GEORGE W. FRIDRICH, of St. Louis, State of Missouri,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Hot- All" Furnaces, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part hereof.

My invention relates to an improved warmair furnace, and consists in the novel construction, combination and arrangement of.

parts hereinafter specified and designated in the claim. i The object of my invention is to provide an unproved furnace of this class which shall have increased area of heating-surface exposed to the fire and to the air to be warmed, brlngmg about a corresponding economy in the consumption of fuel without injuriously interfering with the draft of the furnace, and which shall have an improved automaticregulatlng apparatus for retaining at all times a normal height of water in the air molstening device; and which shallfurther have perfected means for distributing the vapor or steam in the warm-air chamber of the furnace.

In the drawings, Figure l is a sectional side-elevation of a furnace embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a sectional plan view, taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a sectional s1de-elevation of an annular radiating-shell with parts broken away to exhibit its internal construction, and detached from the surrounding parts.

1 indicates the usual foundation of brickwork or stone, upon which the furnace is supported for use, 2 the outer shell surrounding the available heating-surface of the furnace and forming the usual warm-air chamber, to the upper portion of which pipes 3 are con? nected for conveying the warmed and moistened air to the various rooms of a building, while 4. indicates a non-conducting covering located on the top of the said outer shell, to prevent useless radiation of heat from said top into the basement or other location in which the furnace is placed. This covering usually consists of common earth, clay or other well known material. Located within the outer-shell 2is the fire-pot 5 having aliningof fire-brick or fire-clay 6, while above Serial No. 480,716. (No model.)

said fire-pot is the combustion-chamber 7 provided with openings 8 adjacent its upper end for passage of the products of combustion into the parts presently described.

The furnaceis provided with any suitable form of grate, such as that here shown and indicated by the numeral 9. This grate is provided with a shaking or dumping bar 10 to which is connected a hand-lever 11 located exterior of the furnace ata point convenient to the operator, so that the bars composing said grate may be rocked or revolved to dump or shake down the ashes or clinkers into the ash-pit 12 beneath.

13 indicates a fuel-passage formed in the walls of the furnace above the grate and extending from the fire-pot outward through the outer shell and fitted with a fire-door 14. at its outer end, for the usual purpose. Located in vertical alignment with the said fuel-passage, but directly beneathsame is another passage 15 fitted with a door16 at its outer end and communicaling at its inner end with the interior of the ash-pit, for the obvious purpose of removing ash and clinkers from said pit, and for the purpose of admitting and regulating the admittance of air to the fire belowthe said grate. The walls of the combustionchamber 7 are imperforate except at 8, said chamber being fitted with an arched top 17, so that it is not in communication with the warm-air chamber at any point. There is a space between the top 17 of said combustion chamber and the top of the on ter-shel1.

18 indicates an annular radiating-chamber, having walls composed of steel or other metallic-plates, having its upper end closed and located about in horizontal alignment with the top 17 of the combustion-chamber, having its lower end closed and located about in horizontal alignment with the bottom of the fire-pot, and all located in the warm-air chamber surrounding the fire-potandcombustionchamber except at a point in front, leaving a space 19 above the passage 13 to the firedoor and a space 20 beneath the passage 15 to the ash-pit, and leaving a space Zlbetween said combustion-chamber and the inner wall of said annular radiating-chamber.

A smoke-pipe, or smoke-pipe connection 22 passes through the outer shell 2 and communicates with the interior of said annular radiating-chamber at a point adjacent the upper end thereof and at a point diametrically opposite the space 19, which is in front of the furnace, so that said smoke-pipe connection is located in the rearthereof. Short horizontal-pipes 23 connect the interior of said annular radiating-chamber at points adjacent its upper end and adjacent the front space 19, With the interiorof the combustion-chamber at points adjacent the upper end thereof. By thus extending the annular radiatingchamber so low down in the furnace and so near to the top thereof I greatly augment the area of heating-surface thereof over the amount of heating-surface possessed by other annular-radiators of this class, which are not so extended.

A series of'parallel partitions 24 are arranged radially within the annular radiatingchamber 18 with their inner edges securedin contact with the inner wall of said chamber and with their outer edges secured throughout their length in contact with the outer wall of such. chamber, said partitions being located one upon each side of the opening of the smoke-pipe connection 22 at the rear of said chamber and closely adjacent said opening so as to form a pair of partitions in such location, and the upper ends of such pair being in contact with the upper end-wall of said annular-chamber and the lower ends of said pair being separated a distance from the lower end of such chamber so as to form a smoke-passage beneath such ends and between said pair communicating at its upper end with the interior of the smoke-outlet and at its lower end with the spaces on each side of said pair. A partition 24 is located adjacent the front of said annularchamber a distance in the rear of the opening of the short horizontal-pipe 23 which is at one side of the front opening 19, with its upper end separated a distance from the top of said chamber and with its lower end also separated a distance from the bottom of said chamber, and another one of said partitions is similarly located on the opposite side of said front opening, the remaining partitions being located intermediate of the rear andfront pairs of partitions just described a distance apart and forming vertical smoke passages between each and horizontal-passages at top and bottom edges of each partition thus intermediately located and spaced apart. The upper ends of the partitions 24: which are intermediate of the front and rear pairs of such partitions, are arranged 7 to form a passage above them which gradually those at the front being separated the greatest distance and those intermediate of front and rear being separated a less distance decreasing toward the rear, or from front to rear. (See Fig. 3.)

I will now proceed to describe the construction of my improved automatic regulatingapparatus for retaining a normal height of water in the air-moistening device.

25 indicates a small boiler, which is preferably rectangular in contour, having closed bottom and sides, and a portion of its top open and a portion closed. The inner side of the boiler is arranged to be contacted directly by the flame in the combustion-chamber, the same being located in an opening 26 cut in the adjacent wall of said chamber, so that said boiler is located directly above the fuel-passage 13 and preferably has its adjacent side-walls in vertical alignment with the side-walls of said passage, and said boiler extends from said combustion-chamber outward to or closely adjacent the outer-shell of the furnace. Directly above the plane of the upper side of the boiler a dooropening 27 is formed in the outer-shell of the furnace, and is closed by a suitable door or slide 28, by means of which access may be had to the mechanism of the boiler in adjusting, repairing, the. Fixed in the boiler is a transversepartition 29 which extends therein with its lower edge separated a distance from the bottom of the said boiler so as to form a steamchamber 30 next adjacent the inner end of the boiler, the lower portion of which is in communication with the larger chamber of the boiler by way of the passage formed beneath the lower edge of said transverse-partition, and the top of which is closed by a head or cap 31 placed thereon. A normal Water line or leveris maintained in the larger chamber of the boiler by means of a common float 32 mounted therein upon a float-lever 33 pivoted at 34 upon a transverse horizontal rod or bracket 35 mounted in said chamber, in combination with other connections now to be described.

36 indicates a water supply-pipe, the outer end of which is to be properly connected to the waterworks-piping of the building, and which pipe is passed through an opening formed in the outer shell of the furnace and extends to a point beneath the bottom of said larger chamber of said boiler above the top of the fuel-passage 13, and is thereat turned upward and placed in communication with an opening 37 in the bottom of said chamber, and this opening is controlled by a valve 38 mounted upon a valve-rod 39 having its upper end connected to the float-lever 33 on the side of the pivotal-point 34:- of said lever which is opposite the side on which said float is located, so that when said float rises by rise of water in said chamber said valve rod and valve will be moved downward toward the opening in the bottom of said chamber and said valve will thereby more or less close said opening. This float is preferably adjustable upon said float-lever sothat itmay be moved nearer to or farther from the pivotal-point 30 of the boiler, the lower end of said pipe being connected with the head or cap 31 of said chamber so that its interior communicates with the interior of such chamber at the upper end thereof, and said pipe extends vertically to a point in the plane of said steam discharge and then horizontally to such discharge.

43indicates a common valve applied to the steam-pipe 42 and having a'handle 44 mounted upon the outer end of a valve-rod 45, by means of which the passage of steam through said pipe may be controlled and regulated. The said rod 45 extends horizontally outward from said valve through an opening in the outer shell 2 directly above the door or slide 28, and the handle 44 is located thereon at such point. a

The operation is as follows: A fire being started in the fire-pot, the products of combustion rise in said fire-pot and combustionchamber and pass to the annular radiatingchamber 18 by way of the openings 8 and horizontal-pipes 23, and upon entering said chamber they divide into currents which pass in various directions, as indicated by the arrows in Fig. 3, a portion of such currents passing directly rearward through the tapered horizontal passages, formed as previously de-,

scribed above the upper ends of the partition 24, while a portion of such currents pass downward simultaneously in the passages formed between said partitions, and thence into the horizontal passages formed at the lower ends of said partitions, and finally they enter the lower end of the passage formed in the rear of said radiating-chamber, and pass upward therein and make their exit by way of the smoke-pipe connection 22 at the upper end of such passage. If so desired, a common damper may be applied to the smoke-pipe connection. Fresh air enters the warm air chamber at a point adjacent the lower end thereof,

by way of the usual fresh-air duct or passage 46, and by contact with the heating surface of the adjacent parts, rises between the outer shell and the annular radiating-chamber and in the space between said chamber and the combustion-chamber and fire-pot, and enters the'warm air pipes 3 and is by them conducted to the various rooms of the building. Meanwhile, the boiler 25 has been supplied with water by the supply-pipe 36 to such a height that the float 32 has been raised thereby, and the height of water in the float-chamber of said boiler is retained at normalelevation therein, and also in the steam-chamber 30, if the valve 43 be fully opened, the Water in both chambers of the boiler seeking a common level and retaining the same under the above mentioned conditions, and steam being generated in said steam-chamber, and vapor being thrown off bythe water in said float-chamber, steam passes by way of the pipe 42 to the steam-discharge ll and is discharged in the warm-air chamber, and diffuses itself or commingles with the warmed air therein, and the vapor just mentioned commingles with the warmed air, and said vapor and said steam unite to properly moisten said air to the maximum degree'of humidity. If less humidity of the air is desired, a discharge of steam may be limited by closing the valve 43 by means of' its handle 44. It said valve be entirely closed,or nearly closed the steam accumulates under pressure in said steam-chamber, and forces the water therein downward a corresponding distance, thereby drawing the Water from the exposed heating surface of said boiler, and thereby diminishing the generation of steam to a corresponding degree, the higher the water level in said steam-chamber the greater the quantity of steam generated by such surface, and vice versa, so that if said valve is entirely closed, little or no steam will be generated, and vice versa.

I do not herein claim the air moistening apparatus whichI have shown and described, as I have made it the subject matter of a divisional application, filed December 11, 1893, Serial No. 493,439.

What I claim is The improved warm air furnace, having an outer shell and a combustion chamber, an annular radiating-chamber 18, having its upper and lower ends closed, and located in the warm-air-chamber surrounding said combustion-chamber, a smoke-pipe connection 22 passing through the outer shell and communicating with the interior of said radiatingchamber, short horizontal pipes 23 connecting the interior of said radiating-chamber at points adjacent its upper end, and remote from said smoke-pipe connection, with the interior ofthe combustion chamber, a series of parallel vertical partitions 24 arranged radially within said radiating-chamber with their inner edges secured to the inner wall of said chamber, and with their outer edges secured to the outer wall thereof throughout their lengths, said partitions being located one upon each side of. the smoke-pipe opening and closely adjacent the same so as to form a pair of partitions in such location, and like ends of such pairbeing in contact with one end wall of said annular chamber, and the opposite ends of said pair being separated a distance from the opposite end of such chamber and forming a smoke-passage thereat and between said pair communicating with the smoke outlet and with spaces on each side of said pair, a partition 24 located in the annular chamber a distance in the rear of the opening of one short horizontal'pipe 23, and having its upper end separated a distance from the top of said chamber and its lower end separated a distance from the bottom thereof, and another of said partitions similarly located adjacent another short horizontal pipe 23, the remaining partitions of the [0 series being located intermediate the partitions just mentioned a distance apart and forming vertical smoke passages between each and horizontal passages at top and bottom ends of each partition thus intermedi- I 5 ately located and spaced apart, the upper ends of the partitions 24, which are intermediate of the front and rear partitions being arranged to form a passage above, which gradually tapers or widens vertically from rear to front, and which connects with the 20 upper ends of all the vertical passages between said partitions except the one at the rear, and a suitable fire-door and operative connections, substantially as herein specified.

In testimony whereofI affix my signature in 25 presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE WV. FRIDRIOI-I. WVitnesses:

EDWARD EVERETT LONGAN, bro. 0. HIGDON.

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