IMPROVEMENTS IN FIRE-PLACES, GRates, Ranges, anD STOVES
Year: 1859

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by James Maxwell Adams, David
Law, and John Inglis at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,
with their Petition, on the 2nd March 1859.
We, JAMES MAXWELL ADAMS, Gentleman, and DAVID LAW, and JOHN
INGLIS, Ironfounders, all of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North Britain,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
FIRE-PLACES, GRates, Ranges, anD STOVES," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to improvements in fire-places, grates, ranges, and
stoves, and has for object the more effectual carrying out in such domestic
heating apparatus of the system according to which the coal is burned or con-
sumed from above downwards, together with convenience of arrangement and
other advantages.
In a fire-place embodying one modification of the improvements, a box,
closed on all its vertical sides, is provided beneath the fire-grate for the
reception of the coal; this box, being fitted with a false bottom or piston by
which the coal in the box is gradually lifted up into the fire-grate. It has
hitherto been the practice to lift up the piston by means of a vertical rod or
bar projecting down from its under side, and requiring the formation of a
recess in the hearth to receive it. According to the present Invention, there
is substituted for this very inconvenient arrangement a lifting bar placed
behind the box or casing of the grate, and this bar is connected at its lower
end to the piston by a projection or bracket passing through a slot in the back
of the box.

page_text: The lifting bar is formed with ratchet teeth and with holes for lifting it by,
and extends up above the top of the fire-grate, so that a poker inserted
through an aperture in the fire-grate casing, a little above that level, may be
made to lift the bar, and with it the piston. A suitable catch is provided to
retain the lifting bar after each lift; a plate or slip is attached to the lifting
bar to cover the slot in the back of the box, and thereby prevent the ingress
of air and egress of ashes or coal dust at the opening, or the lifting bar may
itself be made to cover the slot.
The details of the arrangements may be modified in various ways, so long
as the space between the fire-grate and the hearth is availed of for the
reception of coal without any parts projecting downwards, and requiring the
formation of a recess in the hearth. Thus the lifting bar, placed as already
described, may be screwed and tapped into a bevil wheel arranged in gear with
another bevil wheel or pinion fast on a horizontal spindle projecting in front
above the fire, and carrying an external handle by which the piston may be
raised or lowered. Or, again, the lifting operation may be effected by means
of an endless chain and catch, or by means of a simple rack and pinion
movement.
Another improvement in grates of the kind to which this Invention refers,
consists in making the grate with vertical front bars, bulged outwards at their
lower parts, to allow the coals to fall slightly forward, and receive the air more
freely in front, whereby a brisker combustion is maintained in front.
The arrangements are modified to suit various forms of fire-places, grates,
ranges, and stoves, and the lifting apparatus may be applied at the back, front,
sides, or top, as may be preferred in each case.