IMPROVEMENTS IN FIRE GUARDS."
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Beeten Herbert, of 8, Newman Street, in
the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN FIRE
GUARDS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Beeten Herbert
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on.
the 27th July 1861.
I, JAMES BEETEN HERBERT, of 8, Newman Street, in the County of Mid-
dlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
FIRE GUARDS," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in fire guards. For this
purpose I employ a guard or screen of flexible wirework, which is attached at
its upper end to a roller, on which, when out of use, it can be rolled up. The
roller is enclosed in a suitable case, having a handle attached to it; the roller
is furnished with a spring, causing it, when it is left free to do so, to wind up
around itself the guard or screen of flexible wirework. To the lower end of
the wirework a bar is connected, which serves to prevent the end of the wire-
work being lost within the case when the spring winds it up. When the fire-
guard, so constructed, is required for use, the handle on the case is hung upon
a suitable hook on the front of the stove, immediately over the fire (or the
guard is otherwise secured in this position) and then by drawing down the bar
at its end, the flexible wirework is unwound from its roller so as to descend in

page_text: front of the fire, and it is there secured by passing the bar under a hook or
projection in the fender, or otherwise conveniently placed. Usually I interpose
short chains between the bottom of the flexible wirework and the bar, as
ordinarily it is not required that the guard should extend down to the fender,
besides which, the use of these chains renders it more easy to take hold of the
bar to draw down the wirework and to pass the bar under the hook or pro-
jection at the bottom.
Chains may also be applied between the top of the flexible wirework and the
roller. It is necessary that the wirework employed should be perfectly flexible.
I prefer to employ that produced by interlacing a series of spirals, as is well
understood by wire workers. The chains also should be capable of rolling up
flat on the roller.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said James Beeten Herbert in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 27th January 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
BEETEN HERBERT, of 8, Newman Street, in the County of Middlesex, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fifth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said James Beeten Herbert, Her special licence that I, the said James Beeten
Herbert, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said James Beeten Herbert, 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 FIRE GUARDS," upon the condition (amongst others) that
I, the said James Beeten Herbert, 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said James Beeten Herbert, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the fol-
lowing statement thereof, that is to say:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in fire guards. For this
purpose I employ a guard or screen of flexible wirework, which is attached at
its upper end to a roller, on which, when out of use, it can be rolled up; the
roller is enclosed in a suitable case, having a handle attached to it; the roller
is furnished with a spring, causing it, when it is left free to do so, to wind up
around itself the guard or screen of flexible wirework. To the lower end of
the wirework a bar is connected, which serves to prevent the end of the wire-
work being lost within the case when the spring winds it up. When the fire
guard so constructed is required for use, the handle on the case is hung upon a
suitable hook on the front of the stove, immediately over the fire (or the guard
is otherwise secured in this position) and then by drawing down the bar at its
end, the flexible wirework is unwound from its rollers so as to descend in
front of the fire, and it is there secured by passing the bar under a hook or
projection in the fender, or otherwise conveniently placed. Usually I interpose
short chains between the bottom of the flexible wirework and the bar, as
ordinarily it is not required that the guard should extend down to the fender,
besides which, the use of these chains renders it more easy to take hold of the
bar to draw down the wirework and to pass the bar under the hook or pro-
jection at the bottom.
Chains may also be applied between the top of the flexible wirework and the
roller. It is necessary that the wirework employed should be perfectly flexible.
I prefer to employ that produced by interlacing a series of spirals, as is well
understood by wire workers. The chains also should be capable of rolling up
flat on the roller.
Having thus stated the nature of my said Invention, I will proceed more
fully to describe the manner of performing the same.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 shews a fire guard constructed according to my Invention, when
extended for use, and Figure 2 shews the same when wound up and out of
use. The guard a, a, is of wirework, which is most conveniently made of
spirally bent wires, which are interlaced in a horizontal direction, one into each
other, as is well understood by wire workers, though flexible weavings or
interlacings of wire may be otherwise made suitable for carrying out my
Invention. The wirework a, a, is at its upper end made fast to a roller or

page_text: spindle, the axes at the ends of which turn in proper bearings at the ends of
the cylinder or outer casing b. In the under side of the cylinder or outer
cover b, there is a slit or passage for the wirework. Near the ends of the
roller or spindle on which the wirework a, a, is wound, there are guards or
shields, fixed one near each edge of the wirework. These shields or guards con-
sist of two discs of metal, which are dished or bent outwards at their edges, which
rotating with the spindle or roller ensure the wirework being wound correctly
on the roller or spindle. Near one end of the outer casing is fixed à partition
through which that end of the roller passes, and a coiled spring is applied, one
end of which is attached to the roller or spindle, and the other end is attached
to the outer case b, so that as the wirework a, a, is drawn out of the case or
cover b, the spring will be more and more put into a state of tension, and will,
when the wirework is released, be more capable of winding it up on to the
roller or spindle. At the other end of the roller or spindle to that at which
the spring is applied is applied a ratchet wheel and a spring catch, which is
released by a pull d; this ratchet wheel and catch retain the roller or spindle
from being put into motion by the spring till the catch is moved by its pull.
At the lower end of the flexible wirework a, a, is attached a rod e by means of
flat chains ff; or if desired, the rod e may be attached direct to the wire-
work a, a.
In some cases, in place-of attaching the wirework a, a, directly to
the roller or spindle on which it is wound, it may be attached by short chains,
such as those shewn at f. The outer case or cylinder 6 has a handle or
handles, or suitable means of attaching or suspending it near the upper part of
a fire-place, and the fender is to have suitable books or catches applied to it to
hold the rode when it is drawn down.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of
performing the same, I would have it understood that I make no claim to any
of the parts separately, nor do I confine myself to the details herein shewn and
described; but what I claim is, the combined arrangement herein explained.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Beeten Herbert, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-fourth day of January, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.
J. B. HERBERT. (L.S.)