Year: 1897

page_text: We, EDOUARD PRÉBANDIER, father, and ADOLPHE PRÉBANDIER, son, both of
Neuchatel, Switzerland, Chimney-builders, do hereby declare the nature of this.
invention to be as follows:-
•
The object of the present invention consists of a stopper arranged in such a way as to
prevent the smoke and smell of soot coming from the chimney from entering
the apartments, this stopper may have a safety-apparatus which by hermetically
closing the chimney as soon as it takes fire prevents the spreading of the fire in
the apartments.
The ordinary stoppers consist of a stop-plate and a double bottom simply placed
against the shoulder of the smoke pipe which is fitted in the stone work forming
the opening of the chimney. Our arrangement assures a more perfect-closing
and consists of a cross-piece applied on the double-bottom to hold it; this cross-
piece having sliding ends, fixed into holes made in the sides of the chimney, and
possessing 2 sliding bolts which allow the movable extremities of the cross-piece to
be introduced into, or taken out of these holes in order to remove the said cross-
piece and afterwards to take away the stopper by means of a manoeuvring button.
To this stopper may be joined a safety apparatus for chimney-fires; in this case
the double bottom is composed of two superposed parts, the upper being joined to
the lower by means of hinges and is sufficiently high to completely close the
chimney when this movable part is placed horizontally; this movable part can turn
on the lower part.
The cross-piece which we have applied to our first system possesses, in this case
a loop into which is introduced a vertical bolt which has its other extremity engages
in a hole made in the chimney. The upper movable part is held to this bolt by
means of a small stem on which a nut is screwed, in the inside of the chimney;
this nut is made of metal which is fusible at temperatures varying from 40° to 160°
according to the fire or fires.
Around this holding stem, a spiral spring is fixed, which repels the movable
plate. When a fire breaks out in the chimney, the nut melts, the spring repels
the plate and this which is of on appropriate form to suit the section of the chimney,
completely stops up the latter and prevents fires.
To facilitate the sweeping we might introduce into the holes which receive the
cross-piece, the axle of a small pulley for the sweeper's rope.
Dated this 21st day of July 1897.
L. DUVINAGE,
Agent for Applicants.

page_text: Improvements connected with Cleaning Chimneys.
We, EDOUARD PRÉBANDIER, father, and ADOLPHE PRÉBANDIER, son, both of
Neuchatel, Switzerland, Chimney-builders, do hereby declare the nature of this
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement:-
The present invention concerns a stopper for chimney sweeping which offers a
greater safety against introduction of smoke than the ordinary stoppers, and
which moreover may be fitted with an automatic apparatus for preventing chimney
fires.
In the annexed drawing:
Fig. 1 shows a front elevated view of an ordinary stopper and
Fig. 2 is a vertical section of the front wall of the chimney and of the ordinary
stopper.
Fig. 3 is an elevated view of our stopper fitted with a double bottom, the fore
plate being removed...
Fig. 4 shows a vertical section of the same stopper.
Fig. 5 represents an elevated view of the preceding stopper, fitted with our
safety apparatus for preventing chimney fires.
Fig. 6 is a vertical section of the chimney and stopper shown in elevation in
Fig. 5.
Fig. 7 shows an elevated view of a stopper fitted with a pulley for working the
cleaning cord.
Fig. 8 is a vertical section of the same stopper.
For the clearness of the description of our invention we shall first describe the
stopper generally used until now. In Figs. 1 and 2, A represents the ordinary
stopper applied to the pipe C which is fitted into the front wall of the chimney.
The stopper is composed of a metallic disc A of a circular, oval or any other
suitable shape; to this disc A a ring D) is fixed whose section has the same shape
as the circumference of the disc in such a way that the latter, at its periphery offers
a flange which, when the stopper is placed in its position with the pipe C, fits on
the shoulder E of this pipe; the part D of the stopper is closed towards the interior
of the chimney, by a metallic plate F or double bottom.
The removable handle a is intended for removing the stopper; the two extremi-
ties of this handle for this purpose are introduced into the two holes B made in
the plate A¹.
Our invention consists in substituting the double bottom F by a double
bottom H Figs. 3 and 4 which is applied to the pipe on the inside of the chimney.
The double bottom H is composed of a sheet plate of the same form as the section
of the pipe C. It has a cross-piece I to which are fixed two flat bolts K which can
be horizontally displaced and entering into openings G made in the pipe C. These
flat bolts serving to fix the bottom H.
A knob L serves to facilitate the fixing of the plate and guides M, fixed to the
pipe C and corresponding with the grooves made in the plate, serving to place this
latter in its normal position.
The safety apparatus, which may be applied to the stopper, is shown in Figs. 5
and 6. In case this apparatus is applied, the false bottom H which is in one piece,
is substituted by two superposed plates N and O forming the false-bottom; the
upper plate 0, which is sufficiently high to completely close the chimney when it is
placed horizontally, turns on hinges on the lower plate N, which is fixed, like
the plate H already described by means of a cross-piece I and two flat bolts.

page_text: In case the safety apparatus is employed, the cross-piece I is provided with a
screw P which is introduced in a slit made in the lower end of a long vertical
bolt Q, the upper extremity of which enters a vertical opening made in the upper
part of the pipe C. The bolt Q is fixed on the screw by means of a thumb-nut.
A spiral spring T held by a small rod k threaded at one end, presses on one hand
against the bolt and on the other hand against the part 0 of the bottom, tends to
repel this latter towards the interior of the chimney, but is prevented from doing
so by a small nut R in fusible metal, screwed on the threaded extremity of the
small rod k aforementioned and leaning to the interior of the chimney on the
movable part 0.
The melting of this nut as is clearly seen in the drawing, causes the falling of
the part O in the chimney in the position indicated by the dotted lines in
Figure 6.
The nut R is fusible at a temperature varying between 40 and 160 degrees Centi-
grade, according to the number of fires connected with the chimney; the degree
of fisibility of the nut chosen for a chimney consequently depends on the number
of these fires.
When a fire breaks out in a chimney; the nut melts, the spring acts upon the
part O which falls and completely stops up the chimney S.
When the chimney requires cleaning, the bolt Q is undone and also the flat
bolts K and the whole system is removed; then a small axle bearing a grooved
pulley U upon which the cord of the sweeping brush works, can be placed in the
holes G.
Having now particularly described the nature of our said invention and in what
manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we claim is: -
1) A stopper for chimney sweeping distinguished by a double bottom placed
towards the interior of the foremost wall of the chimney, independent of the out-
side cover and kept in its place by a cross-piece and two flat bolts, which are intro-
duced at each side into holes made in the pipe forming the sweeping holes, substan-
tially as and for the purpose set forth.
2) A stopper for chimney-cleaning distinguished by a safety apparatus
extinguishing eventual fires in chimneys and composed of a false bottom, divided
into two superposed parts, the upper part turning on the other on hinges and can
fall in the interior of the chimney to completely stop it, this falling of the movable
part of the false- bottom being caused by the fusion, under the influence of an
abnormal temperature, of a small fusible nut, the degree of fusibility of which
depend on the number of fires connected with the chimney, the fusion of the said
nut allowing the acting of a spiral-spring, arranged in such a way as to cause
the movable part of the false bottom to tip off, substantially as and for the purpose
specified.
Dated this 19th day of April 1898.
L. DUVINAGE,
Patent Agent, 8, Rue des Princes, Brussels, Belgium.