IMPROVEMENTS APPLICABLE TO STOVES STOVE-GRATES OR FIRE PLACES FOR DOMESTIC USE
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Rawe the younger, of Haverstock Hill, in the
County of Middlesex, Gentleman, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
APPLICABLE TO STOVES STOVE-GRATES OR FIRE PLACES FOR DOMESTIC USE"
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Rawe at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 17th June
1854.
I, JOHN RAWE the younger, of Haverstock Hill, in the County of Middlesex,
Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS APPLICABLE TO STOVES, STOVE-GRATES, OR FIRE-PLACES FOR DOMESTIC USE,"
to be as follows:-
My Invention of improvements applicable to stoves, stove-grates, or fire-
places for domestic use, has for its object the economy of fuel, the prevention
of the emission of dense masses of smoke from the burning fuel, and the
supply of the combustible or fuel at the under side of the fire, instead of on the
top or surface, as is usual. In the space which is available in the common
stove, between the side of the stoves or grate, and the brickwork or masonry
of the fire-place, or in any other convenient part, is placed a chamber or
receptacle for containing a quantity of coal. Access to this chamber for the
purpose of replenishing it is provided for, by so constructing a portion of the
front of the stove that it may be made to turn out on hinges or otherwise,
according to the judgment or discretion of the maker. A metal tube or channel

page_text: proceeds from the bottom of the coal chamber to the bottom of the fire-place
of the stove or grate, and is inserted up through the grating or otherwise into
the bottom of the fire. A plunger or piston is made to work in this channel
by means of a lever or winch and suitable mechanism.
The action of this apparatus resembles that of a pump, and at each stroke
of the plunger or piston a small portion of coal is taken from the chamber and
forced into the bottom of the fire, and by this means it accomplishes what is
believed to be the most advantageous method of feeding a fire, namely, the
introduction of the fresh fuel in small quantities at the bottom of the fire and
into the centre of the burning fuel.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Rawe in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 13th
December 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN RAWE
the younger, of Haverstock Hill, in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the seventeenth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said John Rawe the younger, Her special licence that I, the said
John Rawe the younger, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said John Rawe the younger, 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 APPLICABLE TO STOVES, STOVE-GRATES, OR FIRE-
PLACES FOR DOMESTIC USE," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
John Rawe the younger, 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 John Rawe the younger, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to

page_text: be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement:-
My Invention has for its object the economy of fuel used in stoves, stove-
grates, or fire-places for domestic use, the prevention of the emission of dense
smoke from the burning fuel of the same, and the supplying of the fresh fuel
in an advantageous manner at the lower part of the fire, instead of on the top
or surface, as is usual. It is well known that in the common method of
feeding fires, by putting fresh fuel on the top, a considerable waste of fuel takes
place, from its passing off as gas without being ignited and giving out heat.
Smoke and soot result from this imperfect combustion. Attempts have been
made to remedy this defect, by constructing fire-places to contain a consider-
able perpendicular depth of coal, which is ignited at the upper part and
burns downward, provision being made either by raising the mass or by
lowering the fire bars and front of the grate, to admitt air and regulate the
combustion. In stoves of this description the lower part of the fire-box
requires to be air-tight, and there can be no grating either for the discharge
of ashes or the admission of air to pass up through the body of the fire; the
ashes accumulate on the surface of the fire, and the combustion is dull.
Having stated some of the defects of common and other stoves, with a view of
making my improvements more clearly understood, I will now proceed to
describe the nature of my Invention and the manner of performing the same.
In the space which is available between the sides of the fire-box and the
brick work or masonry of the fire-place, or in any other convenient part at a
higher level than the bottom of the fire, I place a chamber or receptacle for
containing a quantity of coal. Access to this chamber for the purpose of
replenishing is provided for, by so constructing a portion of the external part
of the stove or fire-place that it may be made to turn out on hinges or other-
wise, according to the judgement or discretion of the maker. To provide for
the object of transfering, when required, a portion of coal from the chamber
or receptacle into the lower part of the fire, a metal tube or channel is made
to proceed from the bottom of the coal chamber to the bottom of the fire-box
of the stove or grate, and is inserted up through the grating or otherwise into
the bottom of the fire. A plunger or piston is made to fit in this channel, and
has motion given to it either by a lever and toothed quadrant acting on a rack
attached to the plunger, or by a winch and pinion, or any other convenient
mechanical contrivance, but I prefer the lever and quadrant. It will be readily
seen that this apparatus is of the character of a force pump acting on the coal,
in a manner similar to that which the feed pump of a steam engine does on
the water for the boiler. In the Drawings, Figure 1 is a front elevation of a

page_text: stove, in which the position and outline of the feeding apparatus is shown by
dotted lines; Fig. 2 is a plan; Fig. 3 shows the upper surface of the plunger
or feeder; Fig. 4 is a side view of the same; and Fig. 5 is a front elevation
of the feeding apparatus detached from the stove. The Drawings are made
on the scale of one inch to the foot, and represent a fire-place, three feet
square in front, but of course the dimensions of the several parts must vary to
suit different fire-places. Similar letters are applied to corresponding parts in
all the Figures. The coal chamber A, I make of sheet iron, in preference to
cast, and it is contracted or sloped in at the bottom to correspond with an
aperture at b, in the cast-iron channel or feed pipe c. In some kitchen or
chamber at a greater
other fire-places it may be necessary to have the coal
distance from the fire, in which case it must be put at a sufficiently high level
for the coal to fall through a connecting pipe to the feed pipe c. The aperture
bis of the full width of the inside of the channel, and in length should not be
less than 3 inches, in order to allow sufficient passage for the coal to fall
through. The channel & should be cast smooth and true on the inside or bore
to ensure the correct working of the plunger, and its width or cavity from side
to side not less than three inches; in large kitchen or office fire-places it may
be as wide as four inches; the depth of the cavity or 'feed channel may vary
from two to four inches. The fire grating D can be advantageously cast in
one piece with the channel C. The plunger E is of cast iron, having a rack or
cog-work on the under part; F is a cast-iron support, bolted on the hearth
plate G, and supporting the feed channel and coal chamber; it also serves for a
bearing for the inner end of the axle, on which the toothed quadrant H is fixed.
This axle has its other bearing in the front of the stove at i, and has the
socket K securely fixed on its outer end. To feed the fire, the poker or any
other convenient lever is inserted in an aperture, made for that purpose in the
socket at 7, and moved to the position shown in Fig. 1; some coal then falls
through the aperture b, and on the lever being moved in the opposite direction,
this portion of coal is forced on through the channel and into the bottom of the
fire. The poker must be made of sufficient strength for the purpose. When
it is desiered to have a good deal of flame from the coal in the front of the
fire, the aperture of the feed pipe at m may be brought to within two inches
of the fire bars n. The coal, previously to being put in the coal chamber,
must have its lumps broken down sufficiently small to fall freely through
the aperture 6. A friction roller is placed at o, to bear on the plunger and
diminish its friction. The advantages of my Invention are, that the fresh
fuel is introduced in such a manner that the gases and smoke arising from it
are more fully ignited than in the common fire-places, whereby fuel is

page_text: economised and smoke prevented. A bright and regular fire is produced, and
the draught of the chimney improved, and small coal or screenings is rendered
available as fuel for domestic fires.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of
carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that I claim the
application to stoves, stove-grates, or fire-places for domestic use, for the
purpose of feeding the same, of an apparatus or mechanical arrangement of
the nature of a force pump, constructed to remove a small portion at a time
of coal from a reservoir of coal provided for the purpose, and force it into the
lower part of the fire or burning mass of fuel; and I claim the use in the
above-named fire-places of a chamber or receptacle for coal fixed at a higher
level than the grating or bottom of the fires, so that the coal contained in it
will fall into a feed pipe or feed channel by its weight or gravity; and I also
claim the arrangement, as described, of a lever with socket and cog-work for
giving motion to the plunger or feeder.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Rawe, the younger, have heretofore
set my hand and seal, this Thirteenth day of December, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four.
JOHN KAWE. (L.S.)