IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR ECONOMIZING FUEL USED FOR DOMESTIC PURPOSES
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Isaac Summers, of Birmingham, in the County
of Warwick, Builder, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS
FOR ECONOMIZING FUEL USED FOR DOMESTIC PURPOSES."
Sealed the 24th February 1874, and dated the 27th August 1873.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Isaac Summers at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
27th August 1878.
I, ISAAC SUMMERS, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Builder,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
APPARATUS FOR ECONOMIZING FUEL USED FOR DOMESTIC PURPOSES," to be as follows,
that is to say :-
My improvements relate to apparatus to be applied to ordinary kitchen
grates and ranges and to other descriptions of grates for open fires, and
the object of my Invention is to effect a saving of coal or other fuel used
in such grates.
The apparatus as applied to kitchen grates and ranges consists of an
inclined back plate, perforated with holes and formed in cross section,

page_text: with a bent top part also perforated, so that when fitted to the back of
the fire-place there may be a cavity between the plate and the back, and
this cavity I prefer to close at the bottom to exclude the air..
By the use of a perforated back plate and cavity as described the air
is drawn through the fire and passes up the cavity in a warmed state, 5
and ascending through the upper perforations of the bent part of the
back plate assists the draught in conducting the smoke and dust into
the chimney flue. The back plate also contracts the fire from front to
back...
·
I also form one or a pair of hollow side cheeks, perforated with holes 1
at the side and on the top, and these cheeks are either fitted into the
grate, or are removable therefrom when desired, and are placed side by
side in the case of using two, and on the opposite side to the oven of the
grate.
The object of the hollow and perforated side cheeks is to gain a 1
heating surface, and also to contract the bulk of fire, the heat
passing from the fire through the holes into the hollow cheeks, so that a
saucepan, flat iron, or other utensil may be placed upon the top of the
cheeks for boiling or heating.
.
My Invention further consists in the use of one fixed and two 2
removable bottoms to the grate, either made as solid plates or as bar
gratings. The removable bottoms rest upon the front bars and against
the inclined back, the fixed bottom being the lowest. The removable
bottoms are dispensed with for a large fire, as for roasting, and are used
for smaller fires as required.
2
In applying my Invention to other descriptions of grates I modify the
form of the perforated back plate and side cheeks, or make them in one'
piece of suitable outline, such as half of an inverted perforated cone, and
curved or angular as desired, the cavity going all round, and the front
ends or edges of the sides being perforated to discharge the heated air 8
into the apartment.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent
filed by the said Isaac Summers in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 27th February 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ISAAC
SUMMERS, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Builder, send
greeting:
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of August, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in the thirty-
seventh year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Isaac Summers; Her special license, that
I, the said Isaac Summers, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said Isaac Summers, my executors, adminis-
trators, 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 APPARATUS
FOR ECONOMIZING FUEL USED FOR DOMESTIC PURPOSES," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Isaac Summers, 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
5 within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the
said Letters Patent.
7
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Isaac Summers, 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
O following statement, that is to say :
5
-
My improvements relate to apparatus to be applied to ordinary kitchen
grates and ranges, and to other descriptions of grates employed for open
fires, and the object of my Invention is to effect a saving of coal or other
'fuel used in such grates.
The nature of my said Invention will be more readily understood by
referring to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters and

page_text: .
figures marked thereon, my improved apparatus being shewn as applied
to a kitchen grate.
Fig. 1 is a front elevation; Figures 2 and 3 are vertical cross sections
through the grate; and Fig. 4 is a plan, as seen from above.
The apparatus consists of an inclined back plate (a), perforated with
holes (6), and formed in cross section, as seen in Figures 2 and 3, with a
bent top part (6¹) also perforated, so that when fitted to the back (c) of
the fire-place there may be a cavity (d), which I prefer to close at the
bottom to exclude the air.
By the use of a perforated back plate (a) and cavity. (d), as described,
the air is drawn through the fire and passes up the cavity (d) in a warmed
state, and ascending through the upper perforations of the bent part of
the back plate (a) assists tho draught in conducting the smoke and dust
into the chimney flue. The back plate (a) also contracts the fire from
front to back. .
I also form one or a pair of hollow side checks (e, e¹,) perforated with
holes (f) at the side and on the top, as at (9) Fig. (4), and these chceks
are either fitted into the grate or are removable therefrom when desired,
and they are placed side by side in the case of using two, as shewn, and
on the opposite side to the oven of the grate.
The object of the hollow and perforated side cheeks (e, e¹,) is to
gain a heating surface, and also to contract the bulk of fire, the heat
passing from the fire through the holes (fand g) into the hollow cheeks,
so that a saucepan, flat iron, or other utensil may be placed upon the top
of the checks (e, e¹,) for boiling or heating.
My Invention further consists in the use of one fixed bottom (h), and
two or more removable bottoms (i) to the grate, as seen in the sections,
and either made as solid plates or as bar gratings. The removable
bottom's (i) are dispensed with for a large fire, as for roasting, and are
used for smaller fires as required.
The oven side of the grate I prefer to make with a perforated or slotted
vertical side cheek (7), Fig. 3, and I secure the oven in such manner
that a jacket or hot air space surrounds it, the heat passing into the hot
air space from the slotted side cheek (1).
In applying my Invention to other descriptions of grates I modify the
form of the perforated back plate and side cheeks, or make them in one

page_text: piece of suitable outline, such as half of an inverted perforated cone, and
curved or angular as desired, the cavity going all round, and the front
ends or edges of the sides being perforated to discharge the heated air
into the apartment.
Having thus described the object and nature of my said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be carried into effect, I claim,
without limiting myself to these precise details, the several improve-
ments in apparatus for economizing fuel used for domestic purposes,
substantially in manner as herein more fully set forth and specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said Isaac Summers, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-fifth day of February, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four.