CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN FIRE PLAC " PROVISIONAL SPFICATION
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to François Arsène Vasnier, of Paris, in the Empire
of France, and of 32, Essex Street,. Strand, London, for the Invention of
"CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN FIRE PLAC
"
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said François Arsène Vasnier
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
22nd January 1855.
I, FRANÇOIS ARSENE VASNIER, of Paris, in the Empire of France, and
of 32, Essex Street, Strand, London, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN FIRE-PLACES" to be as follows, viz. :-
These improvements consist of an arrangement in fire-places for regulating
the draught of the chimney, and preventing the unnecessary escape or waste
of heat through the chimney: I obtain this result by means of a four-sided
or other frame, which is put at the back of the fire-place in a direction which
is more or less slanting or diagonal from back to front, so as to obstruct the
passage into the chimney. Into this frame, which is made so as to suit each
particular chimney, I fit a plate, consisting of two parts, the lower part being
fixed or stationary in the frame, and the upper one being hinged to the lower
part. At the extremities of the upper or hinged parts I fix two circular racks,
which work through the frame, and are centred loose in the hinged plate, so

page_text: that by drawing said hinged plate farther outwards, the passage of the heat to
the chimney is diminished, and vice versa, the racks hooking on an edge
in the frame, and maintaining the hinged plate at the inclination given to it.
In this manner it will be seen that the draught and heat-reflecting power of
the chimney or fire-place may be regulated at will.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said François Arsène Vasnier in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 20th July 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, FRANÇOIS
ARSENE VASNIER, of Paris, in the Empire of France, and of 32, Essex
Street, Strand, London, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the eighteentli year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the. said
François Arsène. Vasnier, Her special licence that I, the said François Arsène
Vasnier, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said François Arsène Vasnier, 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 "CERTAIN
IMPROVEMENTS IN FIRE-PLACES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said François Arsène Vasnier, by an instrument in writing under my
hand and seal, 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 François Arsène Vasnier, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement:-
These improvements consist of an arrangement in fire-places for regulating
the draught of the chimney, and preventing the unnecessary escape or waste
of heat through the chimney. I obtain this result by means of a four-sided

page_text: or other frame, which is put at the back of the fire-place in a direction which
is more or less slanting or diagonal from back to front, so as to obstruct the
passage into the chimney. Into this frame, which is made so as to suit each
particular chimney, I fit a plate, consisting of two parts, the lower part being
fixed or stationary in the frame, and the upper one being hinged to the lower
part. At the extremities of the upper or hinged part I fix two circular racks,
which work through the frame, and are centered loose in the hinged plate, so
that by drawing said hinged plate farther outwards, the passage of the heat to
the chimney is diminished, and vice versa, the racks hooking on an edge
in the frame, and maintaining the hinged plate at the inclination given to it.
In this manner it will be seen that the draft and heat-reflecting power of the
chimney or fire-place may be regulated at will.
Having thus briefly set forth the nature of my Invention, I will now shew
the manner in which the same is or may be carried into effect, and for this
purpose I have on the annexed Sheet of Drawings represented the way in
which the same may most suitably be applied to fire-places for rooms, so as to
obtain a greater amount of heat from a given quantity of fuel consumed than
with the ordinary chimneys.
Fig. 1 is a front view of the additional apparatus for producing the proper
draught and reflection of heat in ordinary chimneys; Fig. 2 is a back view of
the same; Fig. 3, a vertical section through the line x, x, Fig. 2. The
same letters of reference stand for like parts in these Figures.
This apparatus consists of three parts, which are constructed of wrought or
cast iron, brass, or any other suitable material. The first of these parts is a
frame A, A, of any suitable shape, fixed in the chimney in a slanting over-
hanging position, so as to obstruct the smoke way. B is a plate, which is
fixed into the lower part of said frame, so as to form the back of the chimney,
against which the fuel is heaped. C is a plate fitting into the upper part of
the frame A, and hinged to the lower plate B. The plate C may be opened
more or less by means of one or two curved racks D, which are hinged, or
otherwise moveably attached to them, and pass through slots in the frame sides
A, A. The plates B, C, are fixed in the frame A by tenons, in such manner
that they may easily be taken out without moving the frame when the
chimney requires sweeping, &c. This apparatus, besides being very easily
taken in and out, as has been shewn, has also the advantage of reflecting
the heat better by its inclined plates than the vertical sides of ordinary
chimneys. The trap-door C is intended to give to the current of air a more or
less energetic action upon the incandescent fuel, and also to force the smoke
to rise into the chimney in case the fire-place is otherwise liable to smoke;

page_text: also, when the chimney is not used, the trap-door allows closing the same, and
shutting out the cold air, soot, &c.
I claim the smoke-preventing and draught and heat-creating apparatus,
above described, the essential features of which are, a fixed heat-reflecting
plate B, and a trap-plate C hinged to it, for the purpose of regulating and
guiding the draught, as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said François Arsène Vasnier, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Eighteenth day of July, in the year One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.
F. A. VASNIER. (L.S.)