US9230A - Improvement in kilns for pottery - Google Patents

Description

72- sheets-Sheet R. BOOTH. P'ottery Kiln. y'

Patented Aug'. 31, v17852..

UNITED STATES i ATENT Fries;

GEORGE ROBINS BOOTH, OF HANLEY. ENGLAND.

iMPRovEMENT iN KlLN-s FOR'POTTERY.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 9,230, dated August 31, `1852.

provements in the Mode offApplying ileat to the Burning of Pottery, Bricks, Tiles, Pipes, and other Articles of Earthenware, Clay, or

other Similar Plastic Materials, and for Ilardening on of Printed vvare and I'do hereby declare that the following is a fulland exact description of my said invention-that is to say:

My improved mode of applying ,heat from various combustibles relates to the drying and burning of pottery of all kinds, bricks, tiles, pipes, and other articles of clay or similar plastic materials; and it consists, principally, in the construction and arrangement of the hearth or fire-places, lues, chambers, dsc., in which the combustibles arc employed for the purposes of generating heat and the application thereof to the aforesaid manufactures.

The object of my invention is by an improved mode Of applying heat froinvarious combustibles to the above-named purposes, first, to elect a saving otfuel; secondly, a

diminution of the losses sustained in the articles While being burned, thirdly, to lessen the ordinary wear and tear of the kiln;

fourthly, to insure greater regular-it;` in the heat.

, This improved mode consists in the peculiar construction of the parts constituting the hearth or fire-place which contains the fuel; in the construction of the ovens, chambers, or kilns for coniining the heat when evol.\ ed from the hearth or fire-place; in the construe-m tion of the apertures, llues, and tubes for the passage of the heat from the hearths to the said oven, chamber, or kiln, and, lastly, in the construction of the apertures` lues, and vents for the iinal exit ot the hot air, smoke, and gases.

Such being the nature and object of the invention, I will proceed to describe the means ot carrying the same into practical effect,`and

for this. purpose'l'have attached to these pres-l ents drawings. exhibiting the entire arrange# ments and. construction of the apparatus constituting thisimproved mode of applying heat and showing its particular application, in the first place,`to=firing ovens for pottery, bricks, tiles, dac., and, secondly, for hardening on, enameling, and drying.

The combustibles I use are coke, charcoal, coal, cannel, peat, or Wood, either separatel y, all together, or variously combined. The hearth is to be built of fire-bricks or of fire-clay only, or of a mixture of lire-proof clay with tireproof substances, which inA this mixed state I call pisa The fuel 'is to be supplied to the hearth at the top or sides. The chambers,

ovens, or kilns are constructed of Various forms-square, round,'oblong, or polygonal. When a single Ihearth is used,`I prefer placing itin the cen-terof the floor of the chamber, oven, or kiln belou1 the same; but when many hearths are required they will have to bc `placed at proportionate distances fromeaeh other. The heat in the chamber, oven, or kiln is not-permitted in its ascent to escape through the chimney or other opening', but is drawn downward by the apertures and fines, which are placed in the sides'of the chambers and at the bottom thereof. I irst direct the honi tif Ward the top of the chamber and then io Le scend, so that in its course 'the fiume and heat may become applied to all objects 'within their range.v The apertures through u hich the heat escapes into the vents are placed at or nea:` the floorofthe chamberorbelor,v it, 'l'hennrnber and size of the apertures leading into the lines for the exil of the heated nir, &i-..de pend upon the heat required, the d iepaich that is wanted, `the size of the hearth, dwf., and especially upon the quantity of t'uel which is used. The vertical fiues are placed on the exterior or within the interior of the walls of the. chamber or Within the chamber, as may be *Ln-eferred. They are only required to be of such a height above the top of the chamber as will place them a few feet (on thc out side) above the crown of the oven with-nbut tlrcy may be carried and collected into one chimney in any direction or be lett open.

In the drawings hereto annexed I show the application of this invention to the purposes of firing or burning and 'dryingchina and earthenware, coarse ware, brieks,.tiles, the., in

their various stages of manufacture.

Similarletters ot reference are marked upon corresixnnling parts in each ot the figures.

,Figure l .is a sectional'elevation of apotters oven or a brick, tile, and coarse ware kiln. A is the ehmnberoroven, wh ich may be cit-herround, square,-'0blong, or polygonal; B, the hearth; C, the fire-bars; D, the ash-pit; E, the position ot the feeding-door, which is made air-tight; ll, the door ot the oven; l, apertures leadin from the chamber A to the vertical dues .l J, the vertical. fli'les'leading to the vents K; U, a tube in thecenter of the cha-mber to carry up the bulk ot heat into theupper region, the holes in the sides of which may be closed when seggars f or cases are not used; N, the gas-tube above the oven or chamber. This tube is kept open until the tube )l becomes red-hot, whereby any light gases collected pass through it; 0,1;he wall ot' the chamber, built of pise or of brick; P, the arch or covering of the chamber ha\4` i ing no aperture through it, except the small tube R, the tube leading` from the hearth into the chamber. S are tubes or fines placed at the iront, back, or sides, with openings left on the outside of the oven. These are opened and closed, as required, by small doors at T,

through which the air passesin to the chamber U," which, being extended all around the hearth and connected therewith by the openin Y Y, supply air to theI hearth. W lV are fines for the admission of aporiion of the heat from the hearth to bring up the heat at the lower part of the kiln.

Fig. 2 is a horizontal section of the same oven. showing the position and size of the fines, apertures, hearths, ovens, the.

'The method of tiring and using the said oven for pottery or for bricks, tiles, &c., is as follows: The seggars, containing the china and earthenware, are placed in the usuall manner and the door ot' the chamber is made close by building it up or otherwise closing it. The hearth is then charged with coke or charcoal, coal, or wood, or any ot them combined, and this fuel is ignited at' the top or bottom. Then itis burned down the hearth is parftlially refilled and thecontents of the hearth. again allowed to burn down. As the heat of the oven increases, the fire-chamber is found more capable of consuming the'smoke and more coal may be advantageously em ployed, but if the chamber is tnll of steam a sutiieientl supply of coal has been already used. lVhenever the flame ceases a further' supply of fuel must be added, and thus the process be continued until a sutlicient heat is obtained. Furthermore,I whenever a fresh supply of fuel is added, air must be admitted into the space above the hearth through V V to mix with and ,ignite the smoke till the quantity admitted .is sufficient to cause conf plete combustionA If' a v large quantity of coal be used,'then a much larger ingress 'of air m ust be admitted over and into the hearth.

The samedgnres and drawings will serve steam to escapo.

to represen-t the application ofY my invention;

'to the process of hardening on, as it 'is termed in potteryA manufactures, vwhich consists in dissipating the oil which is used in the process of printing the ware, whereby itv is prepared for` the subsequent processes `of dipping and of glost or glazed firing. l

The follow' ig is the manner in which my improvedv mode of direeting'the heatA to such purposes is applied. 'lhe chamberA (but of less dimensions than in drawingssayga cube. of seven feet) or any other chamber or kiln ot' a more convenient form or size may be employed, and as a low heat only is req'uiredfor this purpose (say the te'mperatureat which. lead melts) either coke, cinders, charcoal, or peat, or any other such combustible sub stances as do not emit smoke in combustion are used. The brick tube M, above the top of the hearth seen in the drawings, Eig-1, may therefore be dispensed with, so as .to allow` more available room in the chamber or kiln, and instead thereof a round or square box made of eartln-nware, about two or three feet in heightiand square, with a perforated top to the same, maybe substituted', ,on-V which also may be placed some .broken pitchers to collect an)` dust that may pass through thev holes at the'top of the ease. I j To regulate the hardening-on chamber-,1I make use of what I-terma vt-hermo-lm-"erI toregister the requisite hea-t. This i`nstru-f ment, which is well known in the'artsand j not necessary to be represented, is tlg-us "corrv str ncted: A lever is placed on the top lot' the chamber, having at one end a rodyor Wirev descending into the chamber. To /ths a ladle'` is attached, perforated with holes'. The other end of the lever is balanced with a weight on the ontsideof the kiln. Two flues placed in the side walls of the kiln on the.; right hand, and on the left with apertures about three inches in diameter and eighteen., inches from the top of the chamber. At the vtop of these vent-s dampers may be a'ixed. These vents'. are to permit the steam which rises from the ware to be carried off more Y readily rlhe chamber or kiln is fitted-'up with iron shelves, or .with iron baskets or boxes, to contain the ware, and an iron' door closes up the chamber; or the doorway may be bricked up and coated overin the usual way. A The mode of using the kiln is as follows: Having filled the kiln with ware,` (except over y the lire-box. t'or about one foot high and at. the

door,) a ,pound of lead is placed in thev ladle of the thermo-lever" and balanced at the other end.- Then about eight bushels of coke or cinders are placed in the heartlrand igniteth The front ol the kiln is now set' in and the door partially closed. Afterward, when the steam has disappeared l'rom the ware, the door is fully closed and the two side vents also, (except within an inch,) leaving the vent (marked N) open toallon any remaining Simulianeoi'sly with the sgae a fall ot' the arm of the thermo-lever on the outside of the chamber (owing to the lead being molten) the process of hardening on is completed. The dampers on the two side vents are then closed and the ware is allowed to cool, which when done the door ma be opened and the ware removed.

Further', I employ this improved inode of applying heat to firing enameled ware. which consist-s in burnin g ortiring the colors or gold which have been painted or printed on the glaze, and enabling the latter to admit of bein g burnished. For this purpose I proceed to adjust the kiln Fig. l in the following manner, or I take a kiln of some other shape, but after the same mode of construction as Fig. l, and iii it up with an enameling box or case, as described below, which is placed within it, resting it upon a brick frame-work that is made to encircle the top of the hearth, and thus forms an inclosed space round the top'of the hearth. The size of the case is adapted to the qintntity of ware to be tired thereon and is made of iron,'flirebrick, orquarrics after the manner of making the linings for the common enamcling-kilns. The tube in Fig. l is raised up to and passes through the top ofthe case; or,instead ot' one tube, a number of tubes, less in size than the center one, are

placed in a similar manner in different parts,

of thecase. The heat, when supplied, will thus have a direct course through the tubes, and, passing over the top ofthe case, will dcscend down the outside thereof, and will thus heat the whole kiln. ri`he width of the passage of the heat between the case and the outer walls of the kiln Fig. l is regulated bythe size of the case itself, which thc experienced workman will knowhow to regulate. `Finally, after the heat has descended to the bottom of the case or framezwork upon which it stands it will. pass into the ventsl in the saine manner as it does in the plan Fig. 1 for firing pottcry. the tiresl are also the same as those given under v the direction of ti ring pottery, the heat being adjusted to the degree requisite for the process. In all other respects the same plan of burning is pursued which is followed in endrying of the clay for marketable purposesat the pits. for drying simple or compoundv bodies, and for drying other materials and articles used in and required for the pitting trade and general drying purposes. l'hi.`

portion of in) invention may therefore properly be termed a part of the processof firing 'and most economic principle.

'lhe fuel-hearth and mode of feeding p or burning, being only tempered by the dii'- ferent amount of heat required either in indu'ration or desiccation. It maybe expedient, therefore,l in many cases as a matter of economy to separate the drying processes from the burning."

Drying-stoves then become an appendage to-such operation. My invention therefore would be incomplete without a suitable plan foi-drying was given, particularly so since the invention itself aifords all requisite facilities for erecting and constructing dryingstoves, which I now proceed to describe. The improved and economic drying-stove may be formed after the manner of a large kiln or chamber like Figi; or a chamber of any other shape or size, upon the same principle, may be fitted up with iron doors to the entrance and with iron shelves against the walls if much heat is required, upon which pottery bricks, tiles, pipes, or any other goods can be dried. A hearth of small dimensions will only be required. Another modification upon these principles will be th us: By placing au apparat-us like the ire-box described, for the hardening -kiln in the eenier of a room, erected upon the mode last described, and like Fig. l in principle, all `kinds of pottery and goods may be dried thereon with economy and effect, this plan being simply the lnlrdeniugkiln applied to drying purposes. having a large chamber instead of a small one, and rcquiringalcss degree of heat.

Lastly, if a kiln or stove like Fig. l were made of iron plates about seven feet size cube, with a hearth within it like l and placed in a large room or chamber of one thousand cubic feet or more and fitted up with shelves, trellis, tbc., as before named or as otherwise suitable for th-e purpose in hand, there would be constructcd another drying-stove upon a useful In 'this last case the vents or chimneys attached to the iron stove, and marked K in Fig. must be continued until they-pass through the roof of the drying-chamber, for they must be carricd to and through orfint'o thc walls of the said chamber in some 'convenient direction. Thus in the firsttwo cxampcs of these drying-stoves the heat would be applied directly to the goods tor the piirpose of desiccation as in the plan of 'firing, and in the lat-terl cases the drying process will be conducted by 'the radiation of heat alone. Thus these different plans constitute a variety of modes of drying apparatus suitable to the quality, 11ature, and state of every article that may require such processes and treatment.

Having thus described the nature and objects of my saidimprovements, together with the manner of carrying the same into effect,

I have to add that what l claim as myinvention, and desire to secure by Letters Iatcnt,

ism v The arrangement of. the lire-hearth below the oven-bottom and provided with suitable apertures for the admission ol' air to regulate Ithe combustion, substantially as described, at or nem' Jthe top for the discharge of gases when @his is combined with the oven or heatorsteam, all substantially as herein described, ing-chamber, providedwith L tube or the and for the purpose specified.

equivalent thereof, :1s-specified, for discharg- 1 n s x ing the heat above the bottom of the oven GEORLR IO'bmb bOOrl H' and diffusing it in the oven, and also provided with outlet flues or apertures at or near the bottom, and with apertures or tubes lVitnesses: t

JOHN DAVIS MANCHESTER, JOHN RIDGWAY CALLDENPLACE.

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