IMPROVEMENTS IN GAS STOVES
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Robb, of the City of Aberdeen, North Britain,
Merchant, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN GAS STOVES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Robb at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 28th
November 1860.
I, JOHN ROBB, of the City of Aberdeen, North Britain, Merchant, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN GAS STOVES," to
be as follows:-
This Invention consists of certain arrangements whereby a great amount of
beat is obtained and distributed without the objectionable circumstances
frequently attendant upon the contrivances previously in use.
burners is or are fitted to a frame constructed of metal, stoneware, or other
material, on which frame is placed a glass case of a cylindrical or other suit-
able form, the same, being open at the bottom and top thereof for the admission
of a free current of air, which in its passage becomes very hot and heats the
apartment or place in which the apparatus is placed, directly and by radiation,
the current of heated air being kept up so as to prevent any offensive or
deleterious vapour or effluvia. On or above the top of the cylinder or case

page_text: there rests or is suspended a dome constructed of glass, the same being of
greater diameter than the cylinder or case, and a clear space being left between
them, the effect of the dome being to intercept the heated air and diffuse it
through the apartment or place in which the apparatus is situated.
The gas should be mixed with atmospheric air before burning, and any of 5
the burners in common use may be employed, but I prefer those made of the
material termed "adamas," consisting of a plate of a suitable size to fit the top
of the chamber used for mixing the gas with atmospheric air, and perforated
with a suitable number of holes, according to the degree of heat required.
The glass cylinder or case may be protected by a covering of netted wire or 1
perforated metal, and the dome may also be protected in like manner or by a
close covering of brass or other material, or a dome of metal without the glass
may in some cases be used.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Robb in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 28th
May 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
ROBB, of the City of Aberdeen, North Britain, Merchant, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-eighth day of November, in the year of our s
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-fourth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said John Robb, Her special licence that I, the said John Robb, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John
Robb, 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 IN
GAS STOVES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John
Robb, 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 pature 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Robb, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, reference being had to the descriptions herein-after contained, and
the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked thereon,
that is to say:
This Invention consists of certain arrangements in the construction of gas
stoves, whereby a considerable amount of heat is obtained and distributed
through the apartment or place to be heated, without the objectionable circum-
stances frequently attendant upon the contrivances previously in use.
my
The method of construction which I prefer as embodying the principles of
Invention is as follows:-The base or bottom of the stove is composed of
metal, stoneware, or other suitable material, and may be made of any desired
shape, and ornamented and coloured to suit various tastes. Upon this base is
placed a cylindrical vessel or chimney, herein-after termed the "mixing
chamber," and into which the gas is conducted by means of an ordinary pipe
and burner, or pipes and burners, the top of the cylinder being covered with
wire gauze or with a plate of perforated material through which the gas passes
after having been previously mixed with atmospheric air-in its passage through
the mixing chamber, the gas being ignited above the wire gauze or perforated
plate. The material which I prefer for the perforated plate is that called
"adamas," but any other material capable of resisting the action of the heat
evolved from the ignited gas and otherwise suitable for the purpose may be
employed. The atmospheric air is introduced into the mixing chamber for the
purpose of being mixed with the gas by means of a tube formed of iron, brass,
or other suitable material, which tube communicates at one end with the
external air, and after passing over the ignited gas, and thus heating the air
contained therein, enters the mixing chamber at a point below the gas jets,
the gas being thus intermixed with the air before passing through the wire
gauze or perforated material. The tube by which the air is conveyed to the
mixing chamber may be carried in the form of an arch over the gas jets, or
may be arranged above the same in a coil, or any other convenient method
admitting of the proper heating of the air previous to its admission to the
mixing chamber may be employed. The mixing chamber is surrounded by a
glass cylinder open at the top, and so supported as to allow of the free passage
of air beneath its lower edge into. the interior thereof. This may be effected
by raising the cylinder above the base or bottom of the stove, or by perforating
the latter so as to admit the air. The upper end of the cylinder is partially
closed, an opening being left at the top of considerably less diameter than the

page_text: per-
main body of the cylinder, such opening being covered with wire
gauze or
forated material. Above the glass cylinder is a dome-shaped cover of glass or
metal, or other material, the same being of greater diameter than the cylinder
and a clear space being left between them, the effect of the dome being to
intercept the heated air and diffuse it through the apartment or placé in which
the apparatus is situated. The dome may be either suspended over the stove,
or it may be supported by arms attached to the glass cylinder. In order that
the glass cylinder and dome (where the latter is constructed of glass) may be
protected from injury a cover constructed of wird network, or of perforated
metal may be employed, and which exterior cover may also, if preferred, be
employed to support the dome.
Figure I. represents a view, partly in section, of a stove constructed as
Herein-before described. A is the glass cylinder; B is the dome; D is the
mixing chamber; E is the air tube; C is the base or bottom of the stove; F
is the wire or metallic covering. It will be observed that the air enters at the
bell-shaped mouth of the tube E, being heated therein before passing into the
mixing chamber as herein-before mentioned. The gas is ignited above the
wire gauze or perforated plate; the air heated thereby in the interior of the
glass cylinder passing out at the upper end thereof, when it is deflected and
distributed by the operation of the dome.
In some cases it may be desirable to heat the gas before it is used, and this
I effect in the following manner:-In place of the mixing chamber, a similar
receptacle is employed, but without any communication between the interior
thereof and the external air. Around the exterior of this receptacle or
chamber (which is kept full of gas) and supplied thereby, are arranged any
necessary or desirable number of burners, the gas from which being ignited
heats the gas in the chamber, which latter furnishes a constant supply of
heated gas to the burners, thus largely increasing its calorific properties and
securing the complete consumption of the burnt gas, while all unpleasant
odours and injurious effects are avoided and a considerable saving effected in
the quantity of gas consumed.
Figure 2 shows the last-described arrangement, D being the chamber,
G, G, the external gas burners, and H the tube for conveying the gas into the
chamber. The other parts of the stove are not represented in this Drawing,
as they have been previously described and are shewn in Figure I.
Having thus described and explained the nature of my said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, I would wish it to be dis-
tifictly understood that I do not claim the several and distinct parts of the
apparatus berein-before described, or any or either of them, as being novel and

page_text: original, neither do I confine or restrict myself to the precise details or arrange-
ments which I have described or referred to, as variations may perhaps be
made therefrom without departing from the principles or main features of the
said Invention; but what I consider novel and original, and therefore claim as
my Invention is, the combination and arrangement of parts in the construction
of gas stoves, as herein-before set forth, or any mere modifications thereof.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Robb, have hereunto set my hand
and 'seal, this Twenty-seventh day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
Witness,
E. P. II. VAUGHAN,
15, Southampton Buildgs.,
Agent for the Patentee.
JOHN ROBB. (L.S.)