IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF KITCHEN RANGES HAVING THEIR FIRE-PLACES ENCLOSED
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Frederick Thomas, of No. 72, Bishopsgate Street
Within, in the City of London, Cooking Apparatus Manufacturer, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF KITCHEN RANGES
HAVING THEIR FIRE-PLACES ENCLOSED."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Frederick Thomas at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 28th
March 1865.
I, FREDERICK THOMAS, of 72, Bishopsgate Street Within, in the City of
London, Cooking Apparatus Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF KITCHEN RANGES
HAVING THEIR FIRE-PLACES ENCLOSED," to be as follows, that is to say:-
This Invention has for its objects, first, the greater utilisation of the heat
bitherto absorbed, and the space hitherto occupied by the fire-backs of
metal or brick, or of metal and brick combined, in all kitchen ranges hitherto
constructed with enclosed fire-places, and having such fire-backs to the said
fire-places.
Secondly, the heating of a boiler or boilers placed at the back, side or sides,
or at the back and side or back and sides of the fire-place of a kitchen range

page_text: having its fire-place enclosed without the employment of any flue underneath
such boiler or boilers direct from the bottom of the fire into the chimney in a
more efficient manner than has hitherto been done without the employment of
such a flue, and also the utilisation of the heat which is saved by thus avoiding
the employment of such a flue.
Thirdly, the more convenient construction and arrangement of a sliding
plate or plates over the fire-places of kitchen ranges having their fire-places
enclosed, and having a hot plate or hot plates extending over the upper part
of the range, or over a portion thereof.
The first object is attained by constructing the fire-back of the fire-place
of a kitchen range having its fire-place enclosed (which said fire-back may be
constructed either of metal or brick or of metal and brick combined, and
which said fire-back I prefer to construct with a hollow or hollows behind it
or contained in it or under it) in such a manner as that the heat passing from
the fire into the said fire-back, and into the hollow or hollows, which I prefer
to construct in or behind or under the said fire-back, is, to a greater extent
than has hitherto been the case with the heat, absorbed by the fire-backs of
kitchen ranges having their fire-places enclosed, utilised, by being made to
more efficiently aid in heating the oven or ovens, and the boiler or boilers at
the sides of the fire, or at the sides and back of the fire, and is also made to
be more available for use at the top of the range, either for grilling, boiling,
or stewing, over that portion of the upper part of the range which is behind
the fire, or for assisting to heat a hot plate or hot plates, either extending
only over that part, or over that and other parts of the range also.
For the further carrying out of the first-named object of this Invention, I
prefer to place in, over, or behind the fire-back of the kitchen range, or in,
over, or behind the hollow or hollows, which I prefer to construct in or behind
or under the fire-back of the kitchen range, either a fire-tile or fire-tiles, or
a plate or plates, or a grating or gratings of metal, or a combination of these,
which may be either made in one piece with the fire-back of the kitchen range,
or in one piece with some portion or portions of the part or parts of the kitchen
range surrounding or enclosing the hollow or hollows which I prefer to con-
struct in or behind or under the fire-back of the kitchen range, or otherwise
may be brought more or less into contact or: connection with the said fire-
back, or with the said part or parts of the range surrounding or enclosing
the said hollow or hollows in or behind the said fire-back, and which being
heated by the heat passing from the fire into the said fire-back, and into the
said hollow, assists or assist in throwing up heat to the upper part of the
range for the purpose of aiding in grilling, boiling, and stewing on or over

page_text: the said upper part of the range, with or without the employment of a hot
plate or hot plates, and which also forms or form in conjunction with other
parts of the range an additional grilling stove or fire-place in the upper part
of the range, and behind the front fire of the range, wherein an independent
or supplementary fire may be lighted, to assist in boiling, grilling, or stewing,
on or over the upper part of the range, with or without the employment of a
hot plate over it.
The second object of this Invention is attained by so constructing the boiler
or boilers placed at the back, or back and side, or back and sides of the fire
of a kitchen range having its fire-place enclosed, as that the fire-back or back
of the fire of the said range is formed partly of a portion or portions of the
front part or parts of such a boiler or boilers, and partly of a fire-back or fire
backs formed of metal or brick, or of metal and brick combined, and con-
structed in the manner already described, and which back or backs I prefer
to construct with a hollow or hollows contained in or formed behind or under
them, as herein-before stated, and by so arranging or constructing the said
boiler or boilers, and fire-back or fire-backs, as that heat is made to pass from
the fire to a hollow space or spaces underneath the said boiler or boilers, and
afterwards, instead of that portion of this heat which is unabsorbed by the said
boiler or boilers being allowed to pass away through a flue underneath the
said boiler or boilers direct into the chimney, it is made to assist in heating
the oven or ovens, and to aid in grilling, boiling, or stewing on or over the
upper part of the range, with or without the employment of a hot plate or hot
plates, extending over the whole or any part of the said upper part of the range,
and with or without the employment, in the manner and for the purposes
previously described, of a fire-tile or fire-tiles, or of a plate or plates, or of a
grating or gratings of metal, or of a combination of these, placed in, over, or
behind the fire-back of the kitchen range, or in, over, or behind the hollow
or hollows, which I prefer to construct in or behind or under the said fire-
back.
The third object of this Invention is attained by so constructing the sliding
plate or plates covering the front fire, and covering that portion of the upper
part of the range which is behind the front fire of kitchen ranges having their
fire-places enclosed, and having a hot plate or hot plates extending over the
upper part of the range or over a portion thereof, as that the top surface of
such sliding plate or sliding plates is on a level with the other portions of the
said hot plate or hot plates, whilst one portion of such sliding plate or sliding
plates is capable of being pulled forward on brackets or supports, so as to
uncover the top of the front fire of the range, and to form a hob in front of

page_text: the top of the range; and the other portion of the said sliding plate or sliding
plates is capable of being pushed back on brackets or supports over or beyond
the back edge of the said hot plate or hot plates of the range, so as to uncover
that portion of the upper part of the range which is behind the front fire, and
thus, in ranges constructed in accordance with my improvements, when the
said sliding plates are respectively pushed forward and backward, an open
space is afforded for grilling, boiling, or stewing both over the top of the front
fire and over that portion of the upper part of the range which is behind the
front fire, and which said portion of the upper part of the range is made more
available than heretofore for the said purposes of grilling, boiling, or stewing
by means of the other improvements herein-before referred to; whilst when
the said sliding plates are in their places over the front fire, and over that
portion of the upper part of the range which is behind the front fire, a hot
plate or a succession of hot plates is or are formed over the whole, or over a
portion of the upper part of the range, of one level throughout, instead of, as
has hitherto been the case, there either being a portion of the said hot plate
or hot plates much below the level of the remainder of the said hot plate or
hot plates, or else the plate or plates over the fire and over that portion of
the upper part of the range which is behind the fire having to be lifted off
or on instead of being slided off or on from over the fire and from over that
portion of the upper part of the range which is behind the fire.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Frederick Thomas in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 28th
September 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, FREDERICK
THOMAS, of No. 72, Bishopsgate Street Within, in the City of London,
Cooking Apparatus Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-eigth day of March, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-eighth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Frederick Thomas, Her special licence that I, the said Frederick
Thomas, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Frederick Thomas, 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,

page_text: exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,
the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE CONSTRUCTION OF KITCHEN RANGES HAVING THEIR FIRE-PLACES ENCLOSED,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Frederick Thomas, 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 Frederick Thomas, 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:-
My Invention relates to improvements in the construction of kitchen ranges
having their fire-places enclosed, and consists in effecting a greater utilization
and a better application of heat than has hitherto been the case, so that the
oven and boiler and hot plate are respectively rendered more serviceable than
in the ordinary ranges having their fireplaces enclosed, and their use is
accompanied by less inconvenience from close heat or smell in the kitchen
and other parts of the house.
In order to render my said Invention completely understood, I proceed to
describe the same with reference to the accompanying Sheet of Drawings, in
which Fig. 1 represents an elevation of the range; Fig. 2 a horizontal section
of the same through the line A, B, of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 being a transverse
vertical section through C, D, of Fig. 1, and Fig. 4 being a longitudinal
vertical section through E, F, of Fig. 1; similar letters denote corresponding
parts where such occur in each Figure respectively. a, a, shew the front fire
bars; b, b, the grate bars; and c, the fire back, which consists of a cast-iron
plate perforated with slots as shewn at 6', 6', or with other openings, so as to
permit of heated air passing through the fire-back into a hollow space or
chamber in the rear of the range as shewn at d. The fire-back c, may
however be made of other material than iron, and without perforations, but
heat will still pass through it or under it into the chamber d; e, represents
the boiler having a neck f extending to the hot plate g, thus leaving a
space, g', between the top of the boiler and the hot plate; h is the oven, and a
similar space h¹ is left between the top of the same and the hot plate; i, i, are
the flues; k, k, the regulators of the draught; and I, 1, openings or doors for

page_text: cleaning the flues; m, m, are sliding plates over the fire. The front plate
slides forwards on to brackets which support it, and the rear plate slides
backwards behind the range on similar brackets, or these plates may be
rebated into adjoining parts of the range or otherwise supported, so that
when both plates are in contact as shewn, a level surface is presented instead
of, as hitherto has been the case where there is only one sliding plate, working
backwards in a recess cut in the hot plate, whereby an unequal or uneven
surface is the consequence. Underneath the fire-place and below the grate
bars I form a chambern, in communication with the hollow or chamber d in
the rear of the fire-back, and with the spaces o, o, below and around the
boiler and oven, such spaces being more or less terminated at p, p, Fig. 4,
by the brickwork or ironwork of the range so as to more or less intercept
their junction with the spaces g' and h¹, above or over the surfaces of the
oven and boiler on the top of the cast-iron fire-back. I set a fire-brick d',
of Stourbridge fire-clay or other suitable material, or an iron plate or grating
on or in which a second supplementary grilling fire may be lighted, if desired,
and on each side of the fire-place I apply a fire-brick to protect the oven and
boiler from too intense a heat. Below the fire-place, the chamber n, is
provided with a door n¹, for the purpose of removing the ashes, which door
may or may not contain a regulator to admit cold air to the spaces o, o, when
the heat is required to be moderated, and on each side of the chamber n, I may
apply plates or bricks made either to slide or otherwise so as to more or
less cut off the communication between the chamber and the spaces 0, 0,
when desired, for the purpose of regulating the heat if needful.
Now, the action of the apparatus is as follows, it being perfectly under-
stood that I employ no plates of iron in conjunction with fire-brick set at
the bottom of the fire and passing upwards therein, whereby the oven is heated
by conduction by means of the bottom of the oven consisting of a slab of metal
extending to and into the fire and in conjunction with a fire-brick, this
plan being already in use. But my range is heated by a current or currents
of hot air, or by heated air without a current or flow, such heated air being
produced or generated by the passage of cold air over the fire and through
the fire, and through the perforated fire-back, or by the passage of heat under or
through the fire-back without its being perforated. The passage of the heated
air or heat over the fire therefore takes place by the course of the chambers or
spaces g¹ and h¹, over the oven and boiler respectively, and thence to the
flues i, i, the passage of the heat or heated air through the fire-back is
caused by the chamber n, the spaces o, o, underneath and up the side and

page_text: back of the oven and boiler, and thence more or less to the flues i, i, and
also more or less through or around the plate or brick d', to aid in heating the
hot plate g. Now, by these means I effect a draught of hot air or a passage
of heat from the fire of the range to the aforesaid chambers and flues and
thus to the oven boiler and hot plate, without shutting in or enclosing the
mouth of the chimney opening as shewn at r, r, in Fig. 3, and by these means
I utilize the heat hitherto absorbed and wasted by the fire-backs of kitchen
ranges, and make a better application of the heat of the fire, so that the
sulphureous fumes from the fuel and the close heat and smell of cooking are
removed, neither of which are at present removed by the ordinary ranges
having their fire-places enclosed, which said last-named ranges thus cause
considerable inconvenience to the attendant, and pervade the kitchen and
other rooms with the smell of the cooking. It will be evident, by the fore-
going description of my Invention, that ranges constructed on my principle
are very easily managed, there being every opportunity of regulating the heat,
which is not the case where heat is employed by conduction and radiation of
metal plates and fire-bricks, since fuel differs in quality in various localities,
and the plates and fire-bricks when once arranged cannot be altered to suit
the varying qualities of the fuel, neither is there so much liability of my
improved range getting out of order or requiring repair and there is less
deposit of soot in the chambers or spaces d, n, o, o, as but little smoke
traverses therein, but principally heated air alone.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention and the manner in
which the same is to be performed, I would remark in conclusion that I do
not limit myself to the precise details or configuration of parts or the materials
which I have expressed and shewn, as the same may obviously be varied or
modified without in any way departing from the principles of the Invention;
for example, the form and material and construction of the fire-back may be
varied, or a boiler may be introduced at the back of the fire instead of the
fire-back or in conjunction therewith, and the method of effecting the current
of air or passage of heat through the fire-back and under and around the
oven and boiler may also be modified. But what I claim as my Invention and
desire to be secured to me by the herein in part recited Letters Patent are
the general arrangement and construction of parts substantially as herein
specified, whereby I am enabled to heat the boilers, ovens, and hot plates of
kitchen ranges by means of heated air or of currents of heated air produced
as described, and passing over, under, and around such ovens and boilers in the
manner herein set forth, thus accomplishing a considerable utilization of heat

page_text: hitherto wasted, avoiding the necessity of shutting or enclosing the mouth
of the chimney, and obtaining the other advantages herein recited.
In witness whereof, I, the said Frederick Thomas, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-fifth day of September, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.
Witness,
ALEX. PRINCE,
Office for Patents,
4, Trafalgar Square,
Charing Cross.
FRED. THOMAS.
(L.8.)