IMPROVEMENTS IN STOVES, GRATES, FIRE-BASKETS, AND RANGES
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joseph Russell, of Dorset Street, in the City of
London, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN STOVES, GRATES,
FIRE-BASKETS, AND RANGES."
Sealed the 17th December 1872, and dated the 23rd October 1872.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joseph Russell at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition on the
23rd October 1872.
I, JOSEPH RUSSELL, of Dorset Street, in the City of London, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
STOVES, GRATES, FIRE-BASKETS, AND RANGES," to be as follows:-
1
My Invention relates to improvements in the construction of stoves
and other fire-places, which improvements have for their object to
facilitate the supplying of fuel to the fire when burnt downwards, and
at same time to obtain a more perfect combustion, to prevent loss of heat,
and to enable the fire, as in the case of cooking ranges, to be applied
directly to the purpose for which it is required.

page_text: According to my Invention I mount a fire-basket to turn on pivots or
otherwise so that it may be reversed. The basket consists of an open
grating on all or some of its sides, and is provided with a removable
grating or cover suitably secured. The fuel is placed in the basket in
the ordinary manner, and lighted at the bottom, and the cover or grating.
applied and secured. When the fuel has kindled sufficiently the basket
is reversed or turned bottom upwards so that the fire will burn
downwards. It is simply necessary to turn the basket and bring the
removable grating upwards in order to add fresh fuel, after which the
grating is replaced and the basket reversed as before; or I may
provide a movable grating at both top and bottom. The basket may
also be reversed from time to time if desired.
In open fire-places I make the pivot bearings slide in guides, so
that the basket may be drawn out more or less from the fire-place into
the room, or I mount the basket ou pivots as before in a frame carried
on castors to move backwards and forwards on the hearth, or the frame
may be carried on the end of an arm pivoted near the front of the
hearth for the same purpose. In cooking ranges I prefer the latter
arrangement. The arm is mounted on a vertical pivot at the front, and
the range is so constructed that the fire may be placed directly beneath
the oven or the hot plate according to the purpose to which the heat is
to be applied; or it may be swung round completely in front of the range
so that the heat from all four sides of the fire may be used for roasting
or other purposes, a suitable flue being placed above to carry off the
products of combustion.
SPECIFICATION.in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Joseph Russell in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 23rd April 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSEPH
RUSSELL, of Dorset Street, in the City of London, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-third day of October, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the
thirty-sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
3

page_text: cessors, give and grant unto me, the said Joseph Russell, Her special
licence that I, the said Joseph Russell, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said Joseph Russell, 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 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
STOVES, GRATES, FIRE-BASKETS, AND RANGES," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Joseph Russell, 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 Joseph Russell, 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, reference being had to the Sheet of Drawings
hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that
is to say) :-
It is well known that imperfect combustion is the principal cause of
waste in the ordinary fire-grate, and many attempts have been made to
obtain a more perfect combustion of the coal and to prevent the
formation of smoke. With this end in view the grate has been made
reversible to admit of the fresh fuel being introduced beneath instead of
being laid upon the top of the burning fuel, but the means for accom-
plishing this object have not hitherto been such as to admit of their
being brought into general use for domestic purposes on account of the
inconvenience attending their use and unsightly appearance.
My Invention relates to an improved construction of stove in which
a reversible fire-grate is employed, without in any way detracting from
or altering the appearance of the ordinary domestic stove. It also
relates to means of facilitating the introduction of fresh fuel in a rever-
sible grate.

page_text: My Invention also relates to further improvements by which the heat
of the fire in cooking ranges may be applied directly to the purpose for
which it is required, without being partially wasted in heating the portion
of the range which is not in use.
In carrying out my Invention the grate or basket in which the
fire is contained is not fixed to the cheeks and back of the stove
although so fitted therein as to apparently form a part thereof as usual.
It is mounted to turn on a horizontal axis so as to be reversible, and may
consist of a frame provided with the usual open bars in front, a
fire-clay back and sides, or it may be an open grating at the back, and
• also at the sides in some cases.
To support the fuel in whichever position the fire-basket may be it is
fitted not only with a bottom grating but also with one at top, so
constructed that whichever grating is uppermost can be turned up as
on a hinge or removed altogether, or the one grating may be permanently
fixed and the other one made removable, in which case the latter may
be a solid plate instead of an open grating, if desired, but I prefer
to make both gratings removable for greater convenience in supplying
fuel.
In first making the fire the fuel is placed in the basket in the ordinary
manner and lighted at the bottom, and the cover or grating applied and
secured. When the fuel has kindled sufficiently the basket is reversed
or turned upside down, so that the fire will burn downwards.
In order to add fresh fuel it is simply necessary to lift the top grating
(or if only one grating is made movable, to bring the movable grating
uppermost and remove it), the fuel being thrown on the top of the fire
in the usual manner, after which the grating is replaced and the basket
reversed as before, thus bringing the incandescent fuel to the top, and
the fresh fuel underneath, which operation may be repeated as often
as the fire requires to be replenished. The smoke and gas evolved from
the new coal in the bottom of the grate having to ascend through the
incandescent fuel become ignited and more perfectly consumed.

page_text: Figure 3 shows in front elevation, and Figure 4 in horizontal section
a similar stove, the fire-basket being carried on a single pivot at the
back only, and supported at the front on a curved frame or rail, as shown
more clearly in the detail view Figure 5.
Figure 6 shows in front elevation a fire-basket not fitted in a stove
front, but mounted in a separate frame intended to be placed within an
open fire-place, as shown, the fire-basket being hung on pivots at front
and back, and Figure 7 is a view of a similar arrangement, but hung on
pivots at the sides between two side frames or dogs. The grate shown
in Figures 1 and 2 may also be pivoted at the sides, if desired, and
mounted between the hobs or cheeks of the stove front, the gratings
being in this case secured as hereafter described in reference to Figure 8,
which shows one of the gratings, and an inside view of one of the
standards or dogs which support the fire-basket in Figure 7.
The same letters of reference indicate like parts in all the Figures.
wherever they recur.
a is the stove front, and a' the back part thereof; b is the fire-grate
or basket, which in Figures 1 to 5 is so fitted as to present the
appearance of an ordinary open stove, the cheeks of the back part a¹
being suitably constructed or recessed to receive the fire-basket, and
permit of its being rotated.
In Figures 1 and 2 the fire-basket is hung on central pivots c, c,
the one at back is supported in a bearing in the back a' of the stove,
and the other at front in a cross bar d secured to the front a of the
stove, or in a standard rising from the hearth.
In Figures 3 and 4 the back pivot only is employed, the fire-basket
being supported at the front by grooved friction rollers e mounted one
at either side of the fire-basket, and running on a fixed rail or frame f
curved to the circle described from the centre or pivot c, on which the
fire-basket turns. In both these arrangements the back or sides of the
fire-basket are shown as of fire-clay fitted in a frame of metal plates
bolted together with open bars in front, and a sliding grating gat both
top and bottom. The upper grating is not however shown in these
Figures, as it may be removed when the fire is burning. h, h, are the
slides formed on the sides of. the fire-basket in which the gratings y are
fitted, so as to be readily inserted and withdrawn as desired, or instead

page_text: of being made to slide the gratings may be hinged to the fire-basket at
back, and secured by a catch in front or otherwise applied, so as to be
removable when required.
In Figures 1 and 2 the front pivot c is made to project through its
bearing, and squared at the end to receive a winch handle or key by
which the grate is reversed when required.. In both arrangements the
fire-basket is secured in whichever position it may be placed by a spring
bolt or catch (not shown) on the stove front taking into a recess in the
frame of the fire-basket.
In Figure 6 the fire-basket 6 is mounted in a frame composed of two
side standards i and a cross bar j at front and back, in which the pivots
of the fire-basket are supported, the gratings g at top and bottom being
similarly secured to those in Figure 1. The standards i are mounted on
castors so as to draw out more or less from the recess or chimney in
which the fire is placed.
In Figure 7 the fire-basket is pivoted at the sides between standards i.
In this case the gratings g, one of which is shown separately in Figure 8,
are formed with projecting pins k at the corners, which are received
and move in a circular groove / cast on the inner side of each of the
standards (one of which is seen detached in Figure 8), so that the
bottom grating is securely held in place, whilst openings at in the
groove allow the pins of the uppermost grating to be withdrawn from
the groove in order to raise the grating or remove it altogether. mare
notched wheels keyed on the fire-basket pivots c, with which catches
engage to retain the fire-basket in position.
Figure 9 shows a front elevation of a cooking range provided with a
reversible fire-basket mounted according to the second part of my
Invention.
Figure 10 is a sectional plan of the same, and Figure 11 is a detail
elevation similar to Figure 9, the fire-basket being pivoted at front and
back instead of at the sides. The fire-basket is made reversible and
provided with sliding gratings g, g, at top and bottom as above described
in reference to Figures 1 and 2, and is mounted in a bracket or arm o
pivoted at p to the front of the range so that it can be readily swung
round into any position according to the partionlar nurna fon which

page_text: the fire is required. With this object the range is constructed, as shown;
q being the hot plate and the oven, the latter being placed at a higher
level than usual to allow the fires to be applied directly beneath it. Thus
arranged the fire may either be placed beneath the hot plate or the oven,
or brought out at the front for roasting, for which purpose the heat
radiated at two or three sides is available at one time, which is a great
advantage. All three positions are shown in Figure 10, and suitable
flues (not shown) are provided for carrying off the products of combus-
tion. Instead of mounting the fire-basket on a swinging arm or
bracket the basket pivots may be mounted in a frame, which shall be
fitted to slide in guides beneath the hot plate and oven, so that the fire
may be applied under either or brought out at the front as before.
Having described the nature of my Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim as my Inven-
tion to be protected by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent
is,-
1st. A reversible fire-grate or basket when provided with removable
gratings at top and bottom, or with one removable grating or plate and
one fixed grating, substantially as herein shown and described.
2ndly. Adapting a reversible fire-basket to rotate in an ordinary open
or register stove front, substantially as herein described and shown in
Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, so as to obtain the advantages of a reversible grate
without altering the appearance of the stove.
3rdly. Supporting the reversible fire-basket on a single pivot at back
and a curved frame or rail at front, substantially as shown and described
in Figures 3, 4, 5.
4thly. In a fire-basket pivoted at the sides between two side frames or
between the cheeks of a stove, the method of securing the top and
bottom loose gratings described and shown in Figure 8.
5thly. Mounting the fire-basket in an arm or bracket pivoted at or
near the front of the range or stove to admit of the entire heat of the
fire being utilized for any purpose required, substantially as shown and
described.
6thly. The general arrangement of cooking range described and
shown in Figures 9, 10, and 11.

page_text: 7thly. Mounting the fire-basket in a frame sliding in guides in the
range, substantially as and for the purpose specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Russell, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-second day of April, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-threc.