IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MEANS OP AND APPARATUS FOR PREVENTING OR CURING SMOKEY CHIMNEYS
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Peck Taylor, of Camberwell, in the
County of Surrey, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MEANS
OP AND APPARATUS FOR PREVENTING OR CURING SMOKEY CHIMNEYS."
Sealed the 20th June 1871, and dated the 21st December 1870.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Peck Taylor
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 21st December 1870.
I, WILLIAM PECK TAYLOR, of Camberwell, in the County of Surrey,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE MEANS OF AND APPARATUS FOR PREVENTING OR CURING SMOKEY CHIMNEYS,"
to be as follows:―
This Invention relates to certain improvements in the means and
apparatus for preventing or curing smokey chimneys, and consists in
supplying the fire-places or grates with a current or currents of air direct
from the external atmosphere in such manner that an upward and con-
tinuous draught shall be caused, whereby the smoke and other gaseous
products of combustion are effectually carried off.

page_text: The Invention also consists of means and apparatus applicable to the
construction of the flues or chimneys, and to the cleansing of the same.
In order to effect these objects I propose to arrange a series of pipes
or channels between the floors and walls of the building, such pipes,
channels, or passages having suitable branches to the under part or base
of the fire-place, and also to the chimney or flue, at a short distance
above the fire-place. For example, an inlet may be made from the outer
wall of the building, and carried below a ground floor or basement fire-
place, then a vertical branch may extend to communicate with the
chimney above the fire, such vertical branch passing through and being
enclosed in the vertical wall or front of the fire-grate, then the com-
munication be continued to the next floor in a similar manner; or,
may
according to the height of the building, a further series of direct channels
may be made through the outer wall communicating with the fire-places
and branching upwards to the various flues. Thus the several walls of
the building may serve to carry these air conduits, some of which may
be made to converge into one main channel passing under the side of
the hearth, an elbow junction being then made to carry the air in rear
and in front, but below the fire, or the conduits may be arranged in
various portions of the floor beneath the boards. By these means a
series of air currents may be brought to bear upon the fire directly from
the external atmosphere, and consequently the draught of air from the
room will not be required, the result being a more equable and higher
temperature, avoiding the ordinary draught from the door of the room
to the fire, because the draught being derived from the external air
directly to the grate no other current of air can be required. So also
the inlet of pure cold air to the fire containing more oxygen than the
air of the room will necessarily cause a more free combustion of fuel,
affording greater heat; this heat will be retained in the room instead of
being returned by the ordinary draught to the chimney. The result will
therefore be economy in fuel in addition to a greater degree of warmth
and freedom from draught.
In order to facilitate the free current of air throughout the flues o
chimneys I also propose to form the passage of the chimney of ar
octagonal section, or of some similar polygonal section, instead of a
square section, because in the latter form of flue, or even the oblong
square section, the soot is liable to accumulate in the angles or corner
of the brickwork, and this results in retarding the free current o

page_text: draught; but by forming the passage as an octagon or similar section
the angles are all obtuse, and prevent the lodgment of any quantity of
soot. I also use a broom for cleansing such flues, made of a similar
octagonal or polygonal form, whereby the chimneys may be kept clean
and free from dirt. The ordinary circular broom will not reach the
angles or corners of a square chimney, but a circular brush would
cleanse the octagonal flue when it would not free the square flue.
By this Invention no improved chimney top or zinc pots would be
required, but the smoke would be carried off from the fire by the direct
action of the external draught, the cold air becoming rarified by imme-
diate contact with the products of combustion, and ascending through
the flues, carrying away the smoke and gases with the greatest certainty;
and, moreover, this effect is increased in regard to the flues of the lower
room fires by reason of the upper floors supplying an increase of draught
when they contain fires, but in case they do not have fires the inlets
may be closed by suitable valves or sliding air bricks, which are also
applied to every inlet, so that the supply of air may be regulated to the
required degree to suit every fire. The pipes may be of cast iron or other
metal, or of pottery, or if channels or conduits are used they may be
built in the walls, or formed of tiles or fire-bricks as the situation may
require.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Peck Taylor in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 21st June 1871.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
PECK TAYLOR, of Camberwell, in the County of Surrey, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of December, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the thirty-
fourth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said William Peck Taylor, Her special
licence that I, the said William Peck Taylor, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Peck Taylor,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with,
and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during the

page_text: term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise,
and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain, and Ireland,
the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE MEANS OF AND APPARATUS FOR PREVENTING OR CURING SMOKEY CHIMNEYS,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Peck
Taylor, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly
describe and ascertain 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 William Peck Taylor, 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 :-
My Invention relates to certain improvements in the means and
apparatus for preventing or curing smokey chimneys, and consists in
supplying the fire-places or grates with a current or currents of air direct
from the external atmosphere in such manner that the upward and con-
tinuous draught shall be caused, whereby the smoke and other gaseous
products of combustion are effectually carried off.
The Invention also consists of means and apparatus applicable to the
construction of the flues or chimneys, and to the cleansing of the same.
In order to effect these objects I propose to arrange a series of pipes
or channels between the floors and walls of the building, such pipes,
channels, or passages having suitable branches to the under part or base
of the fire-place, and also to the chimney or flue, at a short distance
above the fire-place. For example, an inlet may be made from the outer
wall of the building, and carried below a ground floor or basement fire-
place; then a vertical branch may extend to communicate with the
chimney above the fire, such vertical branch passing through and being
enclosed in the vertical wall or front of the fire-grate; then the com-
munication may be continued to the next floor in a similar manner; or,
according to the height of the building, a further series of direct channels
may be made through the outer wall communicating with the fire-places
and branching upwards to the various flues. Thus the several walls of
the building may serve to carry these air conduits, some of which may
be made to converge into one main channel passing under the side of

page_text: the hearth, an elbow junction being then made to carry the air in rear
and in front, but below the fire; or the conduits may be arranged in
various portions of the floor beneath the boards. By these means a
series of air currents may be brought to bear upon the fire directly from
the external atmosphere, and consequently the draught of air from the
room will not be required, the result being a more equable and higher
temperature, avoiding the ordinary draught from the door of the room
to the fire, because the draught being derived from the external air
directly to the grate no other current of air can be required. So also
the inlet of pure cold air to the fire containing more oxygen than the
air of the room will necessarily cause a more free combustion of fuel,
affording greater heat; this heat will be retained in the room instead of
being returned by the by the ordinary draught of the chimney. The
result will therefore be economy in fuel in addition to a greater degree
of warmth and freedom from draught.
In order to facilitate the free current of air throughout the flues or
chimneys I also propose to form the passage of the chimney of an
octagonal section, or of some similar polygonal section, instead of a
square section, because in the latter form of flue, or even the oblong
square section, the soot is liable to accumulate in the angles or corners
of the brickwork, and this results in retarding the free current or
draught; but by forming the passage as an octagon or similar section
the angles are all obtuse, and prevent the lodgment of any quantity of
soot. I also use a broom for cleansing such flues, made of a similar
octagonal or polygonal form, whereby the chimneys may be kept clean
and free from dirt. The ordinary circular will not reach the angles
or corners of a square chimney, but a circular brush would cleanse
the octagonal flue when it would not free the square flue.
By this Invention no improved chimney top or zinc pots would be
required, but the smoke would be carried off from the fire by the direct
action of the external draught, the cold air becoming rarified by imme-
diate contact with the products of combustion, and ascending through
the flues, carrying away the smoke and gases with the greatest certainty;
and, moreover, this effect is increased in regard to the flues of the lower
room fires by reason of the upper floors supplying an increase of draught
when they contain fires; but in case they do not have fires the inlets
may be closed by suitable valves or sliding air bricks, which are also
applied to every inlet, so that the supply of air may be regulated to the

page_text: required degree to suit every fire. The pipes may be of cast iron or
other metal, or of pottery, or if channels or conduits are used they may
be built in the walls, or formed of tiles or fire-bricks as the situation
may require.
In order that my said Invention may be completely understood I
annex the accompanying Drawings, in which Fig. 1, Sheet 1, represents
a plan view of an arrangement of pipes, tubes, or air channels as applied
to a semi-detached house, Fig. 2 being a transverse vertical section of
the building shewing the vertical tubes and branches. In these views
the inlets or air bricks are indicated by the letters a, and the horizontal
tubes or channels by b; c, c, shew branches from one tube or channel
to another; d, d, are junctions from the main tubes to the fire-grate,
and a* shew the air bricks through which the current is directed below
and in front of the fire-place and through the hearth (and fender if
necessary) as hereafter described; e, e, are the oblique or bent junctions
leading from the vertical tubes or channels f, f, and conducting the
draught into the chimney above the-fire, similar letters denoting the
same parts in each Figure.
Fig. 3 shews a section of the chimney flue, which made octagonal in
order to prevent an excessive lodgment of soot, but the section may be
varied to any other polygonal form so as to avoid any sharp corners or
angles. Fig. 4 shews a brush made of a corresponding form to suit the
chimney; and Fig. 5 is an upright view of the same..
In Sheet 2 the details of the air bricks, tubes, junctions, fender opening,
circular air brick, and key are shewn on an enlarged scale. Fig. 1 shews
an elevation of the air brick for outer walls. 9 is the outer frame, g¹ the
openings, and g² the slides which regulate the admission of air. These
are actuated by the handle and moving plate g³ traversing a slot in a
larger fixed plate g'; h, h, shew wings cast with the frame g, which
wings are set in mortar or cement between the bricks; and i, i, are bars
traversing the slides and dividing them into two sets. Fig. 2 shews a
plan view of this air brick; Fig. 3 shews an elevation of the mouth of
the air flue; Fig. 4, an elevation of the junction connecting the hori-
zontal air flues to the air bricks; Fig. 5 shews a plan of air brick in
hearth, which may also be divided by transverse bars, but each of these
air bricks may be made with slides extending vertically the full length
of the apertures and without any division. Fig. 6 shews a vertical
section of the air brick set in the junction d ascending to the hearth;

page_text: and Fig. 7 shews the entire junction from external air brick to hearth
brick with ash-pitj; Fig. 7* shews a section of horizontal air flue with
external air brick and junction from outer wall. These sections may be
made in suitable lengths according to the distance of the fire-place from
the wall. Fig. 8 is a plan view of the same junction; Fig. 9 is an
elevation of a circular air brick with radial openings and slides; and
Fig. 10 is a section of the same; and Fig. 11 is a key for turning the
slides; Fig. 12 is a plan view of a fender with regulator for the current
of air to pass through from the hearth. The air brick in the hearth is
let in flush by means of the flange k, a space for which is cut or formed
in the stone of the hearth. Fig. 13 is a horizontal section of the vertical
air flue at the side of fire-place; Fig. 14 is a section of the curved or
oblique junction leading from vertical air flue to the smoke from above
the fire; Fig. 15 is a section of the vertical air flue at the side of fire-
place; and Figs. 16 and 17 shew sections of bent or segmental junctions
of the air flues.
In Sheet 1, Fig. 2, at 1, 1, 1, three air bricks are shewn let in the
chimney about four feet below the top for the purpose of admitting air
to aid the escape of smoke. These bricks may be placed or inserted on
both sides of the chimney, and do not require any regulating slides.
The methods shewn in the Drawings are intended as an example of
the application of my Invention during the building of a house, where
the tubes may be built in the walls, but instead of tubes channels or
conduits may be left in the masonry without setting tubes in the spaces,
the result being the same. For example, in Fig. 1, at the side vertical
flues m, m, m, the channels may be formed entirely of brickwork. So
also, in applying the Invention to buildings already constructed the
horizontal and vertical tubes may be carried clear of the walls, but
between the joists of the floors and within the chimney work. Or, in
some cases, no horizontal tubes or conduits will be required, as the
spaces between the joists will serve alone to conduct the air from the
external brick to the hearth. The sliding ventilators may be plain
without slides in the hearth. The air bricks or sliding ventilators on the
hearth may be faced with brass or steel, or brass and steel, if required.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and the
manner in which the same is to be performed, I would remark in con-
clusion that I do not limit myself to the precise details and configuration
of parts which I have expressed and shewn, as the same may obviously

page_text: be varied or modified as experience may suggest in accordance with the
nature and dimensions of the building and the positions of the chimney
flues; but what I claim and desire to be secured to me by the herein in
part recited Letters Patent are, the general arrangement, construction,
and combination of parts described for the purpose of preventing or
curing smokey chimneys by means of the admission of external air
through suitable pipes, conduits, passages, or channels to the hearth of
the fire-place and to the chimney above the fire, all substantially as
herein specified and shewn.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Peck Taylor, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Thirteenth day of June, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one.
Witness,
ALEX. PRINCE,
Office for Patents,
4, Trafalgar Square,
Charing Cross.
W. P. TAYLOR. (L.S.)