IMPROVEMENTS APPLICABLE TO FIRE-PLACES FOR HEATING APARTMENTS
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS APPLICABLE TO FIRE-PLACES FOR HEATING
APARTMENTS. A communication from abroad by Frédéric Passy, of Rue
St. Sebastien, Paris, in the Empire of France.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION. left by the said William Edward Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 21st November 1864.
I, WILLIAM EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery
Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS APPLICABLE TO FIRE-PLACES
FOR HEATING APARTMENTS," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object the utilisation of a considerable portion of
the heat which generally escapes into the atmosphere up the chimneys of
stoves employed for heating apartments. This object is effected by the
employment of an apparatus which can be readily applied to any fire-place at

page_text: a moderate cost. The apparatus consists of a set of tubes, which form at their
lower extremities the fire dogs for the reception of the fuel, and which after
passing upwards in one or more convolutions so as to expose a large surface to
the action of the flame and products of combustion lead into the apartment to
be warmed. The lower extremities of the tubes are made to communicate
with openings in the front of the stove, into which the cold air enters, and
passing upwards through the pipes which are exposed to the action of the
burning fuel, flame, and gases of combustion, makes its exit at the upper
extremities of the pipes into the apartment in a heated state, and warms the
air contained therein. The upper extremities of the tubes which pass out
into the apartment may be made ornamental, and may be provided with
brackets or supports for the fire-irons. They may also be furnished with
graduated stoppers, which shall regulate the supply of warm air to the apart-
ment; or vessels containing fluids or other matters to be heated may be
inserted in the upper extremities of these pipes. The interior of the stove is
also furnished with metallic reflectors, which serve to throw the heat out into
the apartment or on to the heating tubes.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Edward Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 20th May 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-eighth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said William Edward Newton, Her special licence that I, the said William
Edward Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said William Edward Newton, 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 APPLICABLE TO FIRE-PLACES FOR HEATING APARTMENTS," being
a communication to him from abroad by Frederic Passy, of Paris, in the

page_text: Empire of France, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
William Edward Newton, my executors or administrators, by an instrument
in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should par-
ticularly 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 William Edward Newton, 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
following statement, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
i
This Invention has for its object the utilization without cost of a con-
siderable quantity of the caloric developed. in the fire-places of apartments,
and which caloric has hitherto been lost.
It has been proved by experience that a very small portion of this caloric
(scarcely from five to fifteen per cent.. in the best constructed fire-places) finds
its way into the apartment to be heated, the remainder (that is to say) from.
eighty to ninety-five per cent. is carried off by the draft in the chimney, and
escapes into the atmosphere without producing any useful result. This waste
of heat is partially remedied by the employment of close stoves, but these
latter are neither so convenient, so. healthy,, nor so pleasant as the open stove
or fire-place..
Various apparatus have been devised to be placed in the interior of open:
fire-places, for the purpose of remedying the above defects, but although they
to a great extent effect the desired object, their employment is attended. with.
so many disadvantages, such as their inconvenient size, high price, and the
difficulties attending their application that their use has been very limited.
The apparatus forming the subject of the present Invention, the efficacy of
which has been proved by experience, possesses none of these defects, but, on
the contrary, fulfils all the conditions required. It is portable, and may be
applied instantly, and without any preparation to any kind of fire-place,
whatever may be its form or arrangement..
The apparatus is complete in itself, and requires absolutely no accessory
expense or special appliances, it also possesses the advantages of not being
detrimental either to the cleanliness or elegance of the apartment in which it
is placed; on the contrary, it may be made both useful and ornamental.
.
These advantages are obtained by making the fire dogs, which ordinarily
serve only to support the fuel, the media for the supply of heated air and, its

page_text: transmission into the apartment. For this purpose these dogs are made
tubular instead of solid, as heretofore, throughout their whole length, and are
open at both ends, the air entering cold at one end, and on becoming heated
during its passage under the fuel issuing in a heated state into the apartment,
and is constantly replaced by a fresh draft of cold air passing through the
tubes to be heated.
The Figures in the accompanying Drawing represent in various views a
fire-place fitted with the improved heating apparatus.
Fig. 1 is a front elevation; Fig. 2 is a horizontal section of the same, one
of the fire dogs being shewn in section in the line 1-2 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a
vertical transverse section of the same. Each fire dog is so formed as to
constitute for a certain extent two parallel passages a and a', which are hori-
zontal, and are connected together by a concave shell or reflector C, which is
divided vertically into two channels c and c¹. The concave section of the
reflector allows of heat reflected from a distance being utilized under the best
possible conditions.
The air from the atmosphere enters the passage a through the orifice b,
which may be concealed by openwork ornaments of any kind; this air passes
through the passage a up through the branch c of the reflector C, and down'
through the branch c into the passage a, and thence through a vertical pillar d'
into the apartment. The upper part of this pillar is made bell-shaped to
allow of its receiving a vessel which may contain perfumed water or other
fluid to be heated by the hot air escaping through the openings at the top of
the pillar. The direction of the air is indicated by the arrows.
I would here remark that the double channel for the circulation of hot air s
is so formed as to occupy the least possible space in the fire-place, and that
all the parts in contact with the fuel are angular to facilitate the fall of the
cinders and other refuse.
It will be remarked, on referring to the Drawing, that the fire dogs there
represented do not differ as regards external appearance from those in
ordinary use, and that they only differ materially in their internal arrange-
ment.
The only part which on an attentive examination distinguishes this
apparatus from the ordinary ones is, the vertical concave projection C, which
forms a kind of back plate to the fire-place. This part (a description of
which was given above in describing the Drawing) is not indispensable, as a
more simple and less expensive apparatus has been constructed without it, but
it will be readily understood that it is of great importance, and possesses great
advantages. By carrying the air to be warmed in the midst and even above

page_text: the hottest part of the flame, it materially aids in the heating of the air; it
forms also an excellent reflector for the heat, and at the same time accelerates
the draught, and prevents the chimney from smoking.
I would here remark, that although I have in the accompanying Drawing
shewn this improved apparatus applied to a fire-place in which wood con-
stitutes the fuel, the modifications necessary for a stove or fire-place for the
consumption of coal are so slight that it has not been deemed necessary
to represent a stove or fire-place adapted for that particular kind of fuel.
Neither is it necessary to enter into long explanations respecting the
manner in which the air in its passage through the tubes is progressively
heated until it enters the apartment. The speed of the current and the
temperature of the air depending upon the intensity of the heat in the stove
or fire-place, will evidently vary, and could only be determined with precision
by means of complicated scientific formulæ. It will be sufficient. to state that
they are considerable, and that on applying a thermometer to the exit orifice
.it will be seen to rise almost immediately to the temperature of boiling water,
and even above it. This rapid production of heat might in certain cases
exceed the limit required and become inconvenient. This is obviated by
applying to the pillars graduated stoppers, for the purpose of regulating the
quantity of heated air admitted into the apartment. The exit opening is in
most cases disposed so as to receive at pleasure a vessel which allows of
having always at hand boiling liquids for domestic purposes, and also to
prevent the drying of the air, which too often accompanies elevation of
temperature, or the apparatus may be made to diffuse aromatic or other
vapors in the apartments by constant and graduated evaporation. These
advantages are, moreover, obtained without reference to form, and the vessel
for containing the liquid may be concealed in the pillar.
In conclusion, I would observe that I do not intend to confine myself
to the form or precise arrangement of parts above shewn and described, nor
to any particular dimensions, as all these admit of infinite variation according
to circumstances without departing from the nature and object of the Inven-
tion; but that which I claim as the Invention secured to me under the above
in part recited Letters Patent is,-
Firstly, the conversion of fire dogs into heating apparatus by making them
hollow, as. herein set forth.
Secondly, the peculiar arrangement of tubular fire dogs in combination with
the hollow back or reflecting surface above shewn and described, or any mere
modification thereof.
Thirdly, the total or partial stoppage of the orifices which serve to regulate
:

page_text: or conduct the draft also to heat substances or to discharge the whole or
a portion of the heated gases or vapors into the apartment or into the
chimney.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twentieth day of May, One thousand eight
hundred and sixty-five.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
W. E. NEWTON. (LS.)