IMPROVEMENTS IN ORNAMENTAL SCREENS FOR FIRE-PLACES
Year: 1881

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Crowther, of Manchester, in the County
of Lancaster, for an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN ORNAMENTAL SCREENS
FOR FIRE-PLACES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward Crowther
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 29th March 1881.
WILLIAM EDWARD CROWTHER, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN ORNAMENTAL SCREENS FOR FIRE-PLACES."
The object of this Invention is to construct an ornamental screen for a fire place
of a material which can be readily bent, twisted, plaited, or woven to the desired
pattern and external configuration, and also of sufficient elasticity to yield and
allow itself to be bent to the shape of or introduced into the opening or other part
of the grate requiring to be screened.
In carrying out my Invention I employ whole or split canes or other suitable
flexible reeds, and I so arrange the same in an open ornamental pattern or open
fret-work that ventilation is not interfered with, and yet an ornameneal appearance
is produced, which can be further improved by painting, staining, varnishing,
gilding, or otherwise ornamenting the same.
15 SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said William Edward Crowther in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 24th September 1881.
WILLIAM EDWARD CROWTHER, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN ORNAMENTAL SCREENS FOR FIRE PLACES."
20 The object of this Invention is to construct an ornamental fire-grate screen of a
material which can be readily bent, plaited, interwoven, and joined together into a
Dmins 231

page_text: suitable shape and pattern, and which shall posses sufficient flexibility and
elasticity to allow itself to be introduced into or bent to the shape of the fire place
to be screened.
In carrying out my Invention I employ whole or split cane or other elastic and
flexible reeds, and I bend, plait, interweave, or otherwise work the same into a
variety of open ornamental patterns, somewhat similar in appearance to fretwork,
so that a free passage of air will be allowed for the purpose of ventilation, and an
ornamental effect produced, which can be enhanced by staining, painting, varnishing,
gilding, or otherwise ornamenting the material.
In making a fire-grate screen of the open ornamental character I have described
I do not confine myself to any particular mode of utilizing the material, but I
employ any of the various methods of working it already known and used for the
construction of cane furniture and domestic utensils of various kinds, more especially
of window guards or blinds, nor do I confine myself to any particular shape, but
only to that class of shapes which are suitable for fire-grate screens.
I prefer for the purpose of this Invention to take lengths of whole or split cane,
or both materials, and bend, plait, interweave, or otherwise form them into a screen
of ornamental design, and about equal in bheight to the distance between the
bottom of the grate and the top of the grate opening, and of such a shape that the
width of the lower portions is a little greater than the width of the grate opening
at a corresponding height. The screen so formed can, by means of the flexibility
of the material, can be introduced into the grate opening, its lower portion passing
down behind the bars, whilst the upper part fills the space above; at the same
time the excess width which has been given to the lower portion of the screen will
cause it to become rounded to the curve of or adapted to the conformation of the
bars, and to fit the fire place in a more or less close and effective manner, whilst
the elasticity of the material causes it to retain its position.
For the greater facility of introducing the screen into its place the upper and
lower portions may be made separate, and afterwards hinged together; or they
may be quite unconnected, and fitted into their places separately. If the screen be
made in a plaited manner, and without a frame or border round the upper portion,
it will be possible to modify its shape in some degree by pulling the cane, so as to
adjust it to the form of the particular grate it is intended for.
The screen may be made in a more rigid fashion, and of such a shape and
curvature as will cover the grate exteriorly, being supported in its place by
suitable hooks or other attachments.
I
Having fully described the nature of my Invention, and the modes in which
carry
it into effect, I now claim that it consists in the manufacture of ornamental
fire-grate screens of cane or other elastic and flexible reeds, and in the means taken,
as herein before described, to ensure its easy introduction into the fire place, its
retention therein, and its adaptability to the conformation thereof.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Crowther, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty fourth day of September, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and eighty-one.
WILLIAM EDWARD CROWTHER. (L.S.)