IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF COOKING UTENSILS
Year: 1874

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Joseph Theodore Dann at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
11th February 1874.-A communication from abroad by Alexis
Gervais, of 118, Rue de la Roquet, in the Republic of France,
Gentleman.
I, JOSEPH THEODORE DANN, of 43, Cowley Road, North Brixton, in
the County of Surrey, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF COOKING UTENSILS,"
being a communication to me from abroad by Alexis Gervais, of 118,
Rue de la Roquette, Paris, in the Republic of France, Gentleman, to be
as follows:-
==
This Invention has for its object to provide, by means of a compact
and portable appliance, a simple and expeditious method of preparing
and warming food, boiling water, and generally performing culinary
operations, thereby dispensing with stationary stoves or ovens, as well as
overcoming the numerous imperfections and drawbacks inseparable from
the use of any of the various portable contrivances hitherto devised for
culinary purposes. To this end I construct a vessel of cylindrical, oval,

page_text: or other convenient shape, within the lower part of which I enclose a
horizontal casing, closed at the top and on both sides, but open in front,
and communicating with a flue or passage at the back. Within this
casing I provide a fire-grate of suitable proportions, consisting either of
wire or of thin metal bars, and so fitted as to allow sufficient space for
the fuel and for the deposit of the ashes as well as to enable the draft of
air to act thereon. To the front of the casing I fit a door, valve, or
slide suited to the shape of the vessel, and by means of which the access
of the air may either be regulated whilst the culinary operation is going
on, or entirely shut off whilst the apparatus is not at work. I furnish
the top of the vessel with a lid or cover, and in some instances I prefer
to apply the cover to a second vessel of a similar shape to that of the
vessel proper, above which I fit it in such a manner as to be able by
placing some of the substances to be prepared in the vessel proper and
others in the top vessel, to perform the cooking operation upon several
sets of substances simultaneously; for instance to boil water or cook soup
within the vessel proper, and prepare meat or other food within the
second vessel or dish fitted to the top thereof. Instead of one there may
also be several top vessels superposed in the manner in which it is
usually done in the case of fire-pots and saucepans.
By using prepared charcoal, coke, or other fuel from which the
gaseous substance has been previously extracted, I am enabled to obtain
in the apparatus constructed according to my Invention an ample and
intense heat without producing any flame, and by closing up the valve
or slide so as only to allow sufficient draft beneath the fire-grate, prevent
the incandescent fuel from being seen from without.
By a modification in the arrangement of the apparatus constructed
according to my Invention, I adapt the same more particularly for
military, naval, or field purposes. In this case I provide a spring, one or
more set screws or other cognate mechanical appliances for keeping the
lid or cover fastened down, as long as no solid matter is to be placed
within the vessel; and I furnish the vessel with a suitable aperture for
pouring water or other liquids thereinto without removing the lid. I
also prefer in this case to provide a door made of wire tissue, and so fitted
with slanting bent metal plates as to secure the access of sufficient air
whilst the door is closed.

page_text: By giving the vessel an appropriate portable by preference oval shape,
and fitting a shoulder strap thereto in the so-called field glass fashion I
adapt the apparatus to all those cases in which a cooking utensil of
general appliance and great portability is required.