A CONE, PREVENTING SMOKE, AND EXTINGUISHING FIRES IN CHIMNEYS
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Augusto Louis César de Montagu, of 2, Rue St.
Appoline, Paris, (France,) and of 4, South Street, Finsbury, London,
for the Invention of "A CONE, PREVENTING SMOKE, AND EXTINGUISHING
FIRES IN CHIMNEYS."
Sealed the 5th November 1861, and dated the 10th June 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Auguste Louis César de
Montagu at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 10th June 1861.
I, AUGUSTE LOUIS CÉSAR DE MONTAGU, of 2, Rue Ste. Appoline, Paris,
(France,) and of 4, South Street, Finsbury, London, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention of "A CONE, PREVENTING SMOKE, AND EXTINGUISHING.
FIRES IN CHIMNEYS," to be as follows, that is to say:—
My Invention consists in the construction of a conical chimney cover or pot
for preventing smoky chimneys, and facilitating the extinguishing of fires
therein. This conical chimney may be made of iron, brick, earth, or other
suitable material, and is placed on the ordinary chimney opening on the house
top. The diameter of the lower part or base of the conical pot should be
about as large as the chimney opening which it covers, and its height about
double the diameter of its base. The upper part of this pot has a hole in it,
the diameter of which is about one-fifth that of the base, and the upper part
is perforated with several rows of small holes. To extinguish fire in the.
chimney when such takes place, I employ a, conical cap or pot of nearly the

page_text: same dimensions as the perforated pot, and placed at the extremity of a long
handle, by which the second cap or pot may be placed over the first, and
whereby the current of air is interrupted between the interior and exterior of
the chimney. Any other suitable cover or interrupter of the air may be
employed in its place.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Auguste Louis Cesar de Montagu in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 9th December 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, AUGUSTE
LOUIS CESAR DE MONTAGU, of 2, Rue Sainte Appoline, Paris, (France,) and of
4, South Street, Finsbury, London, send greeting..
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Tenth day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fourth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Auguste-Louis-Cesar de Montagu, Her special licence that I, tho
said Auguste Louis Cesar de Montagu, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Auguste Louis Cesar de Montagu, 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 of "A CONE, PREVENTING SMOKE, AND EXTINGUISHING
FIRES IN CHIMNEYS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Auguste Louis Cesar de Montagu, 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 Auguste Louis Cesar de Montagu, 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 Drawing hereto annexed,
and to the figures and letters marked thereon, that is to say:
My Invention consists in the peculiar construction and application of a

page_text: conical chimney cover or pot for preventing in any weather chimneys from
smoking in the interior, and for facilitating the extinguishing of fires therein.
This conical cover may be made of strong sheet iron, baked earth, or other
suitable material, and is fitted to the upper opening of the chimney duct. The
diameter of the base of the cover is equal to that of the orifice which it covers,
and its height about double the diameter of its base; the top of the cover is
truncated by a section perpendicular to its axis, and is of a diameter equal to
one-fifth of the diameter of the base for fuel giving off little smoke; the upper
half of the cover or cone is perforated with holes of a diameter equal to a
twentieth of the diameter of the base, with an interval between each of them
equal to double their diameter, as shewn at Figure 1. For chimneys giving
off a great deal of smoke, the base of the cover or cone may be of the same
diameter, and the upper opening a third of the diameter of the base, the
number of lateral holes also should be increased, they may be one-eighth the
diameter of the base, and made at the same distance apart, as shown at
Figure 2. For fuel making a great deal of smoke, a cone may be employed,.
of a height varying from double to triple the diameter of the base, and the
diameter of the upper opening varying from one-third to one-fourth the
diameter of the base; the diameter of the lateral holes may be from one-tenth
to one-fifteenth of the diameter of the base, as shown at Figure 3. In case
the fuel making much smoke be replaced by fuel giving little, either the cone
may be changed for another, or the cylinder b, Figure 4, may be placed on
the top, and the cylinder c, Fig. 5, on the lower part of the said cone, to
close a part of the lateral openings. The above stated proportions are those
which I prefer, it will bo understood, however, that they may be modified,
provided the principle of construction be observed.
The advantages arising from the employment of this improved conical pot
or cover are as follows:-It effects a relative draught in the chimney duct
over which it is applied, by preventing the wind from entering it through a
large orifice, as is the case with the apparatuses now in use; by means of this
cone the smoke is caused to rise rapidly in the chimney, and enter the
apparatus, where its ascending motion is still further increased by the angular
form of the cone, and its expulsion to the exterior is facilitated by the great
number of small lateral outlets at the upper part of the cone or cover, and by
the section of the top. The passage of the smoke from the fire-place until its
external emission is so effected, that even a violent agitation of the external
air cannot disturb it, which arises from the smallness of the openings, from
these openings being always in great number, and also by reason of the form
of the cone, which shelters it from the action of the wind. Besides the above

page_text: stated advantages, the cone or cover possesses that of affording a prompt and
certain means of instantaneously extinguishing fires in chimneys (which have
caught fire) in all well constructed chimneys, by placing on the perforated
cone by means of a long handle and a small skylight suitably arranged on the
roof of the house or other edifice a conical sheet-iron cover or pot of the same
or nearly the same dimensions as the fixed cone, as shown at Figure 6, whichi
stops the circulation of air in the chimney above the fire-place, and thus
extinguishes the fire. This cone may be replaced by any other cover capable
of intercepting the passage of air through the perforated conc. By the
adoption of this cone all edifices, great and small, will be relieved from those
absurd and monstrous constructions so various in form which disgrace
architecture, never work usefully or regularly, and which by their frequent
falls cause serious accidents. The improved cone or cover on the contrary by
its slight elevation. (16 or 20 inches for chimneys of apartments), and the
smallness of its top, cannot disfigure an edifice, and does not offer any hold
to the action of the wind, however agitated it may be. To these advantages
is added the low price of the cone.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and the manner of
carrying the same into effect, I would have-it-understood that I do not
confine myself to the precise proportions of the cone herein laid down, as the
same may be varied according to circumstances; what I claim is, the con-
struction and application of a cone or conical cover for preventing chimneys
from smoking internally, and facilitating the extinguishing of fires in chimneys,
as herein-before described and represented in the accompanying Drawing.
In witness whereof, I, the said Auguste Louis Cesar de Montagu, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Fourth day of December, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
A. DE MONTAGU. (L.S.)