IMPROVEMENTS IN COOKING RANGES
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joseph M. Saunders, of Menloe Rathgar, Dublin,
and 16, Westmorland Street, Dublin, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN COOKING RANGES."
Sealed the 22nd May 1857, and dated the 28th November 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joseph M. Saunders at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
28th November 1856.
I, JOSEPH M. SAUNDERS, of Menloe Rathgar, Dublin, and 16, Westmorland
Street, Dublin, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN COOKING RANGES," to be as follows:-
A range made according to this Invention is to all appearance like a close
fire cooking apparatus, being supplied with fuel from the top like a common
hot hearth. The fuel is put into a small furnace or fire pot; this fire pot is
let down from the hot plate into the centre of the roasting screen. One
side of the fire pot exposes a set of open fire bars with fire quite visible,
so that the meat required to be roasted is thus opposite to an open fire, and
whilst it is enclosed in a roasting screen; this roasting screen is convertible
into an oven.
In the construction of this range, the chief peculiarity is the arrangement
connected with the fire pot or furnace, as the fire pot, after being supplied with
fuel and lighted, receives the air for combustion through a valve, which opens

page_text: in front or in any other part of the range, there being a tube from it to an air
box, which passes to the bottom of the fire pot (or furnace), and gives the
necessary supply of air, and admits of regulation.
The top part of the fire pot forms part of the hot plate, and by the pecu-
liarity of its construction is nearly always at a red-hot heat. The flame from
the fuel in the fire pot passes through a series of holes, which forms a part of
the fire pot, and keeps it red hot, so that the gas which is emitted from the
coals is ignited as it passes through the holes in the red-hot metal, thereby
consuming nearly all its own smoke, and of course the greatest saving of fuel
is effected.
In a range, say of 4 ft. 6 in. long, suitable for general family use, the
arrangement might consist of a hot hearth, which will keep as many vessels
boiling as will stand on it: a roasting screen convertible into an oven, grilling
iron for chops or steaks, and a boiler for hot water; thus a dinner for twelve
or fifteen persons can be cooked with this range at a cost of about three-half-
pence for fuel. The range is intended to combine the principles of open and
close fire cooking, at the same time possessing the advantage of roasting before
an open fire, and the great advantage of being a certain cure for a smokey
chimney.
The arrangement of the positions of the several parts of this range can be
varied to suit the plan for which it is intended, as the firo pot may be made of
various shapes, and can be made of other materials than cast iron.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Joseph M. Saunders in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 28th May 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSEPH
M. SAUNDERS, of Menloo Rathgar, Dublin, and 16, Westmorland Street,
Dublin, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-eighth day of November, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the nineteenth year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Joseph M. Saunders, Her special licence that I, the said Joseph
M. Saunders, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said Joseph M. Saunders, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all

page_text: times thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully
might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, tho Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN COOKING RANGES," upon the condition (amongst others)
that the said Joseph M. Saunders, by an instrument in writing under his,
or their, or one of their hand and seal, should particularly describe and ascer-
tain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to
be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent
Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the
said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Joseph M. Saunders, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement and accompanying Drawing.
The economical use of fuel for culinary purposes is a subject of much
importance, and has received a considerable share of attention from inventors,
and those employed in using and manufacturing ranges and apparatus for
cooking.
The wasteful expenditure of fuel in the ordinary open fire range, and the
impossibility of controlling its economy is so well known, that many attempts
have been made to apply the fuel in an enclosed fire-place or furnace, such
cooking apparatus being known as "close ranges," the economy of which form
of range is admitted, whilst its limited convenience or usefulness has prevented
its general adoption.
In those descriptions of cooking ranges or kitcheners in which the open fire
grate is employed with a top cover or hot plate, and with doors or flaps for
wholly or partially inclosing the front of the fire grate, an economy of the heat
is to an extent effected by the flame, and hot products of combustion being
caused to pass through flucs formed over the boiler and oven, and beneath the
cast-iron top plate or cover, which thus forms a hot plate, but in such a form
of cooking range a considerable portion of the heat is uselessly expended in
front by radiation.
Now, in cooking ranges or apparatus constructed according to my Invention,
I so arrange and dispose the several parts as to combine in the highest degree
economy of fuel with the greatest number of useful and requisite culinary
conveniences without the defects or objections common to either the open or
the close ranges, as heretofore constructed, and at present in use.
I will now proceed to describe a cooking range according to my Invention.
Its appearance is like a close fire cooking apparatus, being supplied with fuel

page_text: screen.
from the top like a common hot hearth. The fuel is put into a small fire pot,
which is let down from the hot plate into a seat or bed formed in the roasting
One side of the fire pot exposes an open bar or fire grate surface to
the roasting screen, so that the meat required to be roasted is exposed to an
open fire, and is not baked as in an oven, being merely enclosed in a roasting
screen; this roasting screen is, however, convertible into an oven by inserting
a sliding plate between it and the fire pot; the other side of the fire pot also
exhibits an open fire in the front part of the range.
The range may either be made to show an open fire in the front, through
which the air for the combustion of the fuel is supplied, or it may be made
with a closed front having an air valve or regulator. The open fire front being
frequently preferred, it is a feature peculiarly belonging to my Invention that
the consumption of fuel is equally small in either case.
The top part (or flange) of the fire pot forms part of the hot plate, and by
the peculiarity of its construction is nearly always at a red-hot heat. Imme
diately under this flange are a series of holes through which the flame of the
fuel must pass; shortly after the fire is lighted these holes and the flange
become red hot, then the gas which is emitted from the coal in the fire pot or
furnace is ignited by passing through those red-hot orifices, thereby consuming
a great portion of its own smoke, giving out the heat due to perfect combustion,
and effecting thereby the greatest economy of fuel.
The door of the roasting screen may, if preferred, be left quite open while
the meat is roasting, and the range can have applied to it a self-acting roasting
jack.
Ranges made according to my Invention effect a perfect combination of the
respective advantages of the open and the close fire systems of cooking
apparatus, whilst the operation of the oven or roasting screen and the boiler
are combined with the means of roasting before an open fire, grilling, frying,
stewing, steaming, and boiling; for the latter purposes the whole surface of the
top plate or half is available, and may be entirely covered with vessels, and
being constructed chiefly of cast iron, framed together and securely fastened, is
complete within itself, and being portable, it may be fixed in any convenient
situation where a flue pipe may be carried into a chimney.
Having first shortly described the features of the various kinds of cooking
apparatus in general use, and having also given a general description of the
peculiarity of my said Invention, and stated wherein it differs from other
ranges in use, I now proceed more fully to describe and illustrate the same by
reference to the accompanying Drawings.
Figure 1 is a perspective view or elevation of a cooking range constructed

page_text: according to my Invention, in which the arrangement consists of a close fire,
with an air tube and regulator for the admission of air, a roasting chamber
which is convertible into an oven, being on one side of the fire pot or furnace,
with a boiler on the other side thereof, the top being a hot plate or hearth
upon which frying, stewing, steaming, and boiling can be performed, the top
plate or hearth being fitted with several moveable cast-iron cover plates.
Figure 2 is a longitudinal section of Figure 1, and exhibits the fire pot A
with the fuel therein. B, the air tube for conveying the air from the regulatör
C to the bottom of the fire pot; G is a close fitting ash-pan or ash drawer;
D is the roasting screen, which may be converted into an oven by the intro-
duction of a vertical sliding plate or division between it and the fire pot;
moveable shelves, grid or grilling bars may be introduced, and dripping dishes
or fat pans may be inserted below. E is the boiler, which receives the
secondary action of the flame and heat from the fire pot or furnace, and round
which it passes before they escape up the flue; F is the top hot plate or
hearth, as before described; H is an inner division, of cast or wrought plate
iron, forming the roasting screen, oven, and fire pot chamber within, and the
flue space or channel for the flame and products of, combustion without or
around it. The flue pipe or escape for the products of combustion may be
inserted behind or at the side of the boiler in such a manner as to properly
distribute the heat.
I
Figure 3 is a transverse section of Figures 1 and 2, taken on the line A, B,
of Figure 2, and exhibits another view of the fire pot, ash-pan, and part of
roasting screen. In these views I have shewn the iron work only, the more
clearly to convey the details of the arrangement of parts, but fire-brick linings
may be introduced at the bottom, sides, and ends, instead of fire bricks,
fire lumps, or other lining. I also employ a double lining or water casing for.
the back end and front plates, or either of them, and am thus enabled to either.
dispense with the boiler E, shewn in Figures 1 and 2, or use the said water
spaces in addition thereto. When these water spaces are formed in the front
plate, I so form the pattern from which it is cast that the oven door and other
openings are cast therein, the other parts surrounding them being suitably
moulded or cored out.
Figure 4 is a longitudinal section of a range similar to that shewn by
Figures 1, 2, and 3, except that instead of the fire being entirely close, and air.
being admitted by a regulator through a tube or flue, a suitable opening is left
in the front plate for the purpose of exhibiting the fire and for roasting.in
front thereof. With this object, the fire pot, instead of being taper on the four.
sides, as shewn in Figures 2 and 3, may have one flat side formed at a right

page_text: angle with its top, and parallel with the front plate of range, so as to radiate
the heat more directly, the said front of the fire pot having openings therein
similar to the side opposite the roasting screen or oven. The sectional view,
Figure 4, exhibits the range in action, roasting ribs of beef and heating water
in the boiler.
Figure 5 is a transverse sectional view of Figure 4, taken on the line A, B,
and shews more clearly the shape of the fire pot and opening thereto formed
in the front plato of range.
Figure 6 is an enlarged view of the cast-iron fire pot or furnace suited for
the last-mentioned range, and shews the fire bars upon which the fuel rests, as
also the two faces with openings, the front A' being that which is presented
to the opening in the front plate, B' being the taper side presented to the
oasting screen or oven; C', the flanch, which fits into a suitably recessed
opening in the top or hot plate of the range; D', the parallel or nearly
parallel portion of the fire pot under the flanch, which fits into the top flue
space of range, and effects a close joint therein. It is this portion of the fire
pot in which one or more rows of holes are formed, through which the flame
and products of combustion pass into the flue, and during which passage the
gases, &c. become ignited and give off their heat.
In the Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 I have shewn views of cooking ranges
which are in form parallelograms on the plan, but I do not confine myself
thereto, as they may be made of various forms and proportions, and the
disposition of the boiler, baking oven, or roasting screen, &c. may be varied to
suit any desired position, situation, application, or purpose, and I have shewn
n Figures 3 and 5 the entire depth of the range from back to front, as
occupied by the roasting screen or oven, and other internal conveniences; but,
as I have already stated, I do not confine myself thereto, as I may introduce a
double-cored back and front plate for the purpose of containing water, or for
generating steam for steaming, or for heating a bath, or for other useful
purposes; or I may so form the front only, or the front and the ends, and by
introducing a vertical divisional plate longitudinally at the back of the boiler,
fire pot, and roasting screen or oven, thus form a return passage for the heated
products of combustion, and thus carry them a greater distance, and permit of
their parting with the remainder of their heat before entering the chimney; the
range may be made to contain an additional oven, hot closet, &c. &c.
In every caso I employ a fire pot having three distinct sets or scries of
openings of suitable shape therein, two of which sets or series of openings are
in the lower part thereof, and the third in the upper part or portion thereof;
the first or lowest of the said openings being those upon which the fuel is

page_text: supported, and through which air is admitted for its combustion; the second,
which may be made in one or more of the sides of the lower part of the said
fire pot; and the third series or rows of openings, which when the fire pot is in
its place being entirely separated from the first and second sets or series of
openings, communicate with and open into the hot chamber passage or flue
under the top plate, hot plate, or hearth aforesaid, and through which the flame
and products of combustion escape; and in consequence of the metal or fire-
resisting material of which the fire pot is cast or constructed becoming shortly
after the fire has been lighted heated to redness, the said products as they pass
through such third set or series of openings (which may be of any suitable
shape) are more perfectly consumed, and the heat therefrom is made availablo
and usefully employed.
Having described my Invention, and the manner in which the same may be
employed, I wish it to be understood that I am aware open and closed fire
grates, or partially open fire cooking ranges have been constructed in various
ways, and close fires, fed or supplied from the top like the hot hearth, have been
used alone, and in conjunction with divisional plates and screens. But what I
claim as my Invention is,-
1st, the fire pot or furnace, cast, formed, or constructed as described, when
applied to cooking apparatus, kitcheners, or ranges for culinary purposes.
2nd, the construction and arrangement of cooking apparatus, kitcheners, or
ranges for culinary purposes in manner herein described, whether the wholo
as described or only part thereof be used where a fire pot or more than one
fire pots, made, cast, or constructed according to this Invention, or substantially
as herein described, is fitted to, or used in, or employed therewith.
In witness whercof, I, tho said Joseph M. Saunders, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-seventh day of May, One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-seven.
Witness,
WILLIAM EFFORD.
JOSEPH M. SAUNDERS. (L.S.)