IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR LIGHTING FIRES
Year: 1883

page_text: A com-
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Gerard Wenzeslaus von Nawrocki at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 12th May 1883.
munication from Carl Poekel of Berlin Germany
GERARD WENZESLAUS VON NAWROCKI Proprietor of the firm of J Brandt &
G. W. v Nawrocki Patent Solicitor and Civil Engineer of 124 Leipzigerstrasse
Berlin Germany "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR LIGHTING FIRES (A
Communication from Carl Poekel of Berlin Germany)
35
Apparatus constructed according to this invention serve for directly lighting
fires laid of any fuel-and especially of peat, lignite, coals and cokes. It may be
made of any suitable metal but best of cast iron.. Its outer form may vary and
depend also upon the kind of fuel it may be used for. The apparatus may be
made transportable or cast on to the grate underneath. It consists mainly of a
reservoir which contains ashes soaked in petroleum or oil or spirits which
reservoir when portable is covered with a lid, or is cast on to the under part of
the grate.
In an apparatus which is particularly suitable for lighting artificially compressed
fuel (briquettes) the lid covers the reservoir in such a manner that on the front
side a slit is left under the cover for the in-passage of the air and on the other side
a slit for the exit of the flame. The lid in this case is movably connected to the
reservoir for instance by a hinge. When the reservoir is filled, with ashes and the
latter have been moistened with petroleum, the lid is shut down and the ashes set
alight and the apparatus is put into the fireplace. The flames shoot out with
great heat through the slit and in a very few minutes set light to the fuel heaped
on the top of the apparatus.
In apparatus most suitable for lighting cokes the lid is laid loosely on and rests
on the props cast on to the reservoir. The reservoir is annular. It is filled with
ashes moistened with petroleum which on being lighted burn readily and the
flames strike round the reservoir from under the lid and out and light the coke
above, certainly in four to six minutes, at the most. A hole in a lug serves to
place the lighted apparatus in the fireplace and to remove it therefrom which is
done when the coke is wholly alight. Then the apparatus is laid in the ash pit.
The apparatus may be adapted for hooking on to the inside of the fire door.
According to another arrangement the reservoir is under the fire grate and the

page_text: lid forms part of the fire-grate. The lid is provided with a number of moderately
sized openings through which the flames can strike out from the reservoir
In another form the reservoir is placed in a conical box which is cast on to the
underside of the grate, the latter has one or more openings for the flame to rise
through and for pouring in the petroleum.
.
The reservoir may also be cast on to the underside of the grate so that neither
a removal of the reservoir-nor of the lid is necessary.
It only remains to be said that in all the constructions described it is only
necessary to fill the reservoir with ashes once, but the petroleum must be poured
in every time of lighting. The advantages in using this apparatus are that no
wood is needed for lighting and the certainty of lighting.