USRE8840E - Improvement in lumber-driers - Google Patents

Description

2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

J.'J. GURRA-N,

Assignor 0f one-third Interest, to O. WI-LGOX. Lumber-Drier.

No. 8,840. Reissued Aug. 12,1879.

WI E 5555 UNITED STATES PATENT O FIca.

JOHN J. GURRAN. or CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, Assresou or ONE-THIRD INTEREST TO CARLOS WILCOX.

.KlMPROVEMENT IN LUMBER-DREERS.

Specification forming part of Letterslatent Nb. 189,432, dated April it, 1877; Reissue No. Sfii fi, dated. August 12, 1879; application filed-July 2. 1879.

10 an whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JOHN GURRAH, of Chicago, in the county of Cook, and in the State of lllinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Lumber-Briers; and declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, lllak ing a part of this specification. r

The nature of my invention consists in certain improvements upon the lumber-drier for which Letters Patent No. 161,490 were granted to me March 39, 1875, as will be hereinafter more fully set forth.

In order to enable others skilled. in the art to which my invention appertains to make and use the same, I will now proceed to describe its construction and operation, referring to the annexed drawings, in whichl igure l is a perspective view of a lumber drier embodying my Improvements. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal vertical section of the same.

.Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the heatingchamber. Fig. 4: shows the construction of the lumber-cars.-

A represents the shell or body of thekiln, and maybe constructed of brick, lumber, or other materials, and in any suitable and convenient size, shape, and manner desired. The walls should be filled and packed with sawdust, to better retain the heat and resist the cold.

The ground-floor 13, upon which the heating apparatus is placed, is usually made of lumber, with sawdust carefully packed underneath, to better protect the heating-chamber from dampness and cold. It may,however,be made of any other suit-able material, audit should have an inclination-or fall from the rear end to the front of about one foot in forty, to give a down ward flow to the steam and condensation in the heating-pipes, and at the same time an upward tendency to the current of air passin g in the opposite direction as it becomes raretied and heated in aud'incont-act with the steam-pipes G O, which are ariungcd in gate form or like a series of gates or bars across the kiln,as shown in Fig. 3.

The heating apparatus consists of the feedpasnin g through between pipe I), the cross-header E, the sapply;header Gr, usually made of four or five inch steampipe, the exhaustheader H, nsuaiiy made of three or four inch steam-pipe, and the gates or coils of steam-pipe 0, usually made of one inch pipe, nine or eleven pipes high, or any number desired.

The pipes O C may be made up with return bends a. or with cast-iron branch Ts or Us l), to allow expansion and contraction; or they -may be made up straight, with suitable expansion-joints d, the last two forms of coils being connected both with the supply and exhaustheaders by means of right and left nipples.

At the end of the cxhaustheaders H is attached a steam-trap, I, the purpose and operation of which are to hold and save the steam in th pipes when live steam is being used, but which drains off and discharges the water therefrom as fast as the steam is condensed, thereby saving, accumulating, and increasing the heat.

In the crossheader E are inserted a number of steam-jets, e c, and the pipes G, forming the gates or coils, are arranged across the kiln in such a manner as to allow free expansion and contraction of the pipes, and to force the airwhile being heated to pass directly through the series of gates or coils. I

By this peculiar arrangement of the heating apparatus the coldair which enters at the inlet K passes freely through the heatingchamber on an asccndingor rising grade,freely circulating through, between, and in contact with the pipes, becoming more and more heated and rarefied as it advances, and finally rises with considerable velocity and force through the hot-air opening f.

The steam-jets c in the cross-header E are usually about one-half inch in size, provided each with a pet-cock to regulate the flow of steam. The flow of steam at this point insures a strong and steady draft, while the steam mingles rapidlywith the hot air, softening its eiiect upon the lumber, moistening the surface, and preventing a too rapid drying-and sh rinkiug of the same.v

o By this device 1 have eii'ectually overcome the diiiiculty in lumber-seasoning so uuiver: sally complained of-namely, the warping,

checking, case-hardening, and burnin g of the lumber, as well'as also the loosening oi the knots.

The hot air, mingled with the steam flowing from the jets e, is drawn forward evenly and uniformly through the, drying-chamber, pass ing through the lumber, which is piled upon the cars J. with ratlines at both ends; and in the middle, directly over the three trucks, so as to haves firm support and hold the lumber flat,straight, and even in its place, which also tends'to' prevent warping and checking at the ends-a defect so much complained of by lumber merchants. i

The cars J cousistof simpleandindependent l trucks, without'braces or sidesto obstruct'the current ofhhot air, which isallowed to pass freely under the cars of lumber, so that the bottom courses are as thoroughly dried-as the top. L is the sheet-iron floor at the rear end of the kiln, which floor also radiateslieat from below to the under sideof the lumber, thus preventingthe cold an d dam p air from settling and remaining in the. bottom of thekiln.

I also place curtains hh, of canvas or equivalent material, at intervals along the ceiling of.

the drying-chamber, to' hang loosely down about eighteen inche rest upon' the top of the, cars of lumber, thus preventing the hot.

air fromfru'shin g along the ceiling, and forcing it downward *to pass through the lumber and under the same.

At the front end of the kiln, from the inside base of the chimney M, is suspended a strong canvas curtain, N, or a sliding door of thinlnmber may hehsed, clear across the kiln, and

down to within eighteen inches of the floor, which'has the eii'ect of lengthening the'chimney and increasing the draft, and, at the same time, operates to draw out the coldest and dampest portion of the air settling to the bottom'of thekiln.

.ThechimneyM is constructed at the'base the'wholewidthjof the kiln, starting at the front end, from ,the ceiling, and raised about twenty feet,;mo're or less, above the-roof. It is ,then divided'or swallow-tailed at an angle of about forty-five degrees from the center toward cther'onter extremities, and finished out with chimneys M M, in the form of squares or parallelograma'carried up some twenty feet hi'gher, or any distance desired.

ByL this device I insure a strong and even t clear across thekiln, the-depending cur- Ltain iorslidingdoor N serving, in connection "with the chimney, opening higher than its lower; margin,'to deflect and sharply bendthe airxsnrrent, and thus to sprcad' the same into afbroad even stream as it escapes beneath the "curtain, notwithstanding the current-is afterward divided by the chimney above.

The floor. 0 of the drying-chamber is also inclined, and extends" a suitable distance beyondthe ends of the kiln, to form the loading 7 nd unloading platforms, and is provided iwith the sheet-iron part L, as above described,

and. so the hot-air openings or registers f, to

- ient.

cient capacity and dimensions to admit a car of lumber, for the purpose of steaming the same belbreit enters the drying-room, Steam may be introduced into this apartment in any manner found most eccnomical and conven- The iron rails'or tracks 1' i pass through the steaming-apartment, so that, thecals of lumber may be run into it, and from thence into the drying-room. Sliding doors R, suitably counterbalanced, are arranged for the steaming-apartment and dry-chamber, to allow the cars of lumber to pass into and throughthe same.

There are three rails or tracks, 1', used in my kiln, and the cars are simple and independ ent trucks, without sides or braces to obstruct the circulation.

Each truck is provided with two doubleflauged wheels, m, to 'run over a single T-rail, ortwo center-flanged wheels, a, to run on two rails close together, with the center flange running between the rails. Two, three, or more of these trucks may be used to form one car; but in all casessuch trncksshould be entirel y disconnected from each other.

While the lui'nber is being treated in the steam-chamberP the sap is killed, the albumen cooked, and the lumber softened and its pores opened, so that the heat inayreadily penetrate the lumber and first dry out the center, thus improving the quality of the lumber and facilitating the seasoning process.

A dead-air chamber, S, extends from the sheet-iron floor L to the front or cold end of the kiln,and is formed underneath the dryroom floor O by means of a tight ceiling, p, constructed over the heating-pipes, close to them, and parallel to the ground-floor B, thus cutting off the useless space usually found in other kilns of similar construction between the pipes and the dry-room floor at the cold end,

which would remain filled with eddies of coldand foul air, and allow much of the same to pass through into the kiln without coming in contact with the pipes and being properly heated, By this device the cold air entering at K sweeps directly through the heatingchamber, coming in direct contact-with the steampipes, and becoming-thoroughly and uniformly rarefied and heated before it passes through the opening f into the drying-room.

The curtain or sliding door N at the front and out the chimney, and forcing it by a lower draft to pass through and underneath the lumber.

Nearly over the inner edge of the opening 6,

by which the hot air is admitted to the kiln,

ber-pile. Onee given a horizontal direction,

and finding egress only beneath the lowered curtain or door N, with the strong draft that usually prevails through the kiln, the air has much less tendency to riseto the ceiling in its passage to the chimney. Such tendency being, however, still sufficient-for the purpose, the distribution of the air and its action upon the lumber is essentially uniform throughout the height and breadth of the drying-chamber.

Having ,thus described my invention, I claiui- In a kiln for drying lumber, the steampipes C, arranged'upon the inclined groundfioor B, and underneath the inclined floor O of the drying-chamber on which the cars run, as and for the "purpose herein set forth.

. 2. The steam-pipes 0, set up in gate'fornr across the kiln, with free xpansionjoints and headers running across and lengthwise of the kiln substantially as and for the purpose here in set forth.

3. The broad chimney M, extending entirely across the kiln, and provided with the two chimneys M M, separated by inclined deflectrug-boards,- as set forth.

4. In combination with the chimney M,- hav mg a sliding door in front, the steam-box l, arranged forward of'the chimney, and provided with a hinged and a sliding door, as shown, and arranged upon the forward extension of the floor 0, so as to be entirely independent of the kiln proper, substantially as and for purpose herein set forth.

' 5. In combination with a drying-chamber and a chimney which opens therefrom at the top and at one end of said chamber, the curtain or sliding door N, located as shown, and

extending across the chamber to form a down ward extension of thechimneyof the full width of the drying-chamber,- substantially and for the purpose set forth.

6. In combination with the broad chimney M, kiln A, and heating'chamher underneath, the sliding door or curtain N, arranged in the month of the chimney, and leaving an opening at the bottom, whereby the hot air is compelled to descend to the floorof the kiln before passing out through the chimney, asset forth.

7. The combination, with the drying-charm her A, curtain N, forming a downward extension of the chimney, and the opening a, for the admission of the hot air from below, of the curtain in, depending from the ceiling at a point nearly overthe inner edge of the opening 0, and reaching from side to side of the kiln, substantially as and for the purpose set fortlu JOHN J. OURRAN. Witnesses:

M. DAYTON, Jessa Cox, Jr.

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