CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR HEATING APARTMENTS, AND IN APPARATUS FOR COOKING
Year: 1840

page_text: AUL
WC, RICHARD
PROSSER, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Civil Engineer, and
JOHN JAMES RIPTON, of Wells Street, in the County of Middlesex,,Ironmonger,
send greeting.
WHEREAS we did, by Petition, humbly represent unto Her present most
Excellent, Majesty Queen Victoria, that, after considerable application and
expence, we had invented "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR HEATING
APARTMENTS, AND IN APPARATUS FOR COOKING," and Her said Majesty, being
willing to give encouragements to all arts and inventions which may be for
the public good, was graciously pleased, by Her Royal Letters Patent under
the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,.
bearing date at Westminster, the Seventeenth day of June, One thousand
cight hundred and forty, in the third year of Her reign, for Herself, Her
heirs and successors, to give and grant unto us, the said Richard Prosser and
John James Rippon, our exors, adñiors, and assigns, Her especial licence,
full power, sole privilege and authority, that we, by ourselves, or by our
deputies, servants or agents, or such others as we should agree with (and no
others), during the term of fourteen years from the date of the said Letters
Patent, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend our said
Invention within that part of Her said Majesty's Dominions called England,
Her Dominion of Wales, and Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and also in
all Her Majesty's Colonies and Plantations abroad, in such manner as to
us, our exors, admors, and assigns shall seem meet, and as that we or they

page_text: shall enjoy the whole profit and advantage arising by reason of the said
Invention during the said term of fourteen years; and for that end Her said
Majesty requires and strictly commands all Her subjects whatsoever, within
England, Wales, and Berwick-upon-Tweed, and also in the Colonies and
Plantations aforesaid, that they shall not, neither directly or indirectly, make,
use, or put in practice our said Invention or any part thereof, nor in anywise
counterfeit, imitate, or resemble the same; nor make any addition thereto or
subtraction therefrom, whereby to pretend himself or themselves to be the
inventor or inventors thereof; and whereas the said Letters Patent also contain
a proviso obliging us, the said Richard Prosser and John James Rippon,
particularly to describe and ascertain the nature of our said Invention, and
in what manner the same is to be performed, by an instrument in writing
under our hands and seals, and to cause the same to be enrolled in Her
Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as
in and by the same (reference being thereunto had) will more fully and at
large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, we, the. said
Richard Prosser and John James Rippon, do hereby declare that our said
Invention is described and ascertained in manner following, and by the aid
of the Fourteen Sheets of Drawings hereunto annexed, (that is to say):-
Sheet 1, Figures 1 and 2, shews one of our improved stoves called the
Patent Vesta Stove, Figure 1 being a front elevation, and Figure 2 a side
elevation of the same.
Sheet 2, Figures 1 and 2, shew's the internal construction of the stove on
Sheet 1..
Sheet-3,-Figures 1 to 6,-shews the-niethods of constructing-the-firepot, and-
the arrangement for the admission of fuel into it without allowing dust or
smoke to enter the apartment in which the stove is situated. The method of
accomplishing this will be seen wlien we 'come to describe our improved fuel
hod, shewn on Sheet 13, Figures 1 to 4.
Sheet 4, Figures 1 to 6, contains delineation of part of stove; Figure 1
being an elevation of the moveable top of the stove (shewn on Sheet 1);.
Figure 2a section through the same; Figure 3 a plan of the moveable top
inverted; Figures 4, 5, and 6, different views of the drawer for containing
the ashes which are produced by combustion when the stove is in use.
Sheet 5, Figures 1 to 4, are delineations of parts the more clearly to show
the construction and principle; Figure 1 being a plan; Figure 2, a sectional
plan through the line a, a (on Sheet 2); Figure 3, a sectional plan through

page_text: the line b; b (on Sheet 2); and Figure 4 a plan through the line c, c, on
Drawing Figure 1, Sheet 2
Sheet 6, Figures 1 to 4, are delineations in plans and elevations of the
sliding plate and rakers...
Sheets 1 to 6 relate to one method of constructing our improved apparatus
for heating apartments, which will be best understood by examining Sheet 2
and the explanations thereon. The firepot which contains the fuel is provided
on its top with a slide or valve, shewn on Sheets 2. and 3. The fuel is
admitted to the firepot through an aperture formed by opening this slide, and
the smoke is prevented from passing directly out of the firepot by closing the
slide; it then passes into the smoke pipe, and thence to a chimney, as indicated
by the arrows,. no smoke or fire being in contact with the external surface of
the stove. The fuel is supported on a grate near the bottom of the firepot,
Figures 1 and 2, Sheet 2. Between the bars of the grate rakers are introduced
for the purpose of agitating the fuel, and causing the ashes to fall into a
receiver. The,rakers are rivetted to a sliding plate, which forms the bottom of
the receiver for ashes. The sliding plate, and rakers are moved simultaneously
by pulling the handle A, Sheet 2. When the handle A is drawn out the ashes
and. cinders which reposed on it fall into the drawer beneath, and may then be
carried away. If the sliding plate is not pushed back by the handle A, the
atmospheric air would enter through the opening thus formed (in the bottom of
the receiver for ashes), and the fire would burn too briskly and waste the fuel.
This sliding plate should therefore be pushed in so as to close the aperture,
and the air required to support combustion admitted through a regulated
The sliding
aperture, shewn Figure 2, Sheet 1, and Figure 3, Sheet 5.
plate has another use besides those of moving the rakers, and allowing the
ashes to fall into the drawer beneath. When the fire requires lighting the
sliding plate is drawn out, and the conbustibles on the top of the grate are
lighted through this opening, which admits a light to the under side of the
fire grate; the sliding plate is left open until the fire is burned up; the sliding
plate is then pushed in and air admitted above the sliding plate and below the
line b, b, Figure 1, Sheet 2, through the regulated aperture before described.
The sand between the lines a, a, and b, b, Figure 1, Sheet 2, is for the purpose
of preventing atmospheric air, finding its way into the chimney except through
the fire grate, and the sand rim near the top prevents the emission of smoke
into the apartment:
Sheet 7, Figures 1 and 2, are sections of a stove on the same principle as
the one before described. In this stove the smoke is allowed to come in contact
with the external case before it gets into the chimney (but the fuel is not

page_text: allowed to touch the external case, and plays round the firepot in a space
between the lines a, a, and b, b, Figures 1 and 2, Sheet 7.. Sand is placed
upon the diaphragms a, a, and b, b, and for a similar purpose, as before:
described when treating of the stove, shewn on Sheets 1 to 6. The rakes, the
sliding valve or plate, and the ash drawer are similar in their use to those
before described.
..
Sheet 8, Figure 1, is an elevation of a stove having two smoke pipes; Figure 2,
a sectional plan through the line a, a, Figure 1; and Figure 3 a section
through the upper part of Figure 1 shewing the sliding valve covering. the top
of the firepot to prevent the emission of smoke, and serving also as a bottom
to the reservoir for fuel. When the valve is drawn out, the fuel above it falls
into the firepot, and the moveable top being on the stove when the valve is
drawn prevents the emission of smoke into the apartment.
Sheet 9, Figure 1, shews a section of a stove with two smoke pipes, the
upper one being used in those situations where chimneys have a bad draught
and the lower one where chimneys have a good draught. The stove here
referred to has no damper or sliding plate to cover the top of: the firepot or
the bottom of the fuel reservoir; it will, therefore, be apparent, that, during
the time of feeding the stove with fuel,- smoke or vapour will be admitted-into
the apartment, as is the case in stoves now in use. The construction of this
stove will be apparent from an examination of the Drawings on Sheet 9, and
comparison with. Sheets 1 to 8.
Sheet 10 shews the method of constructing a stove suitable for forcing-
houses. It consists of a stove similar to that shewn on Sheet 7, with
the addition of an external case which surrounds the stove, and leaves a
space or interval between the two. This space is supplied with air from the
outside of the house-through..the pipe a, Figures 1 and 5. The air becomes.
heated by contact with the case of the stove, and ascends to the-upper-part
of the external case, when it branches off to the parts requiring warmth. In
the stoves shown on Sheet 10 two pipes are used, but the number of pipes
will vary with the requirements of the stove. The warm air is conveyed by
the tubes or pipes to its required destination; and to prevent the air-being too
hot, which passes from the pipe into the apartment, the pipes pass through reser-
voirs containing water which surrounds the pipe. These reservoirs for. water.
are placed at intervals along the pipes, and holes are bored in the pipe,between
the reservoirs for the emission of warm air into the apartments. The holes may
be so regulated as to emit any quantity of the air contained in the pipes, into
the apartment or by closing the holes in the pipes the air will be compelled to
find its exit at the fur end of such pipe, or through those holes which are left

page_text: open. The passage of the hot air contained in the pipes through the reser-
voirs containing water will evaporate some of the water; and while the heated
air is reduced in temperature, so as to prevent injury to vegetation, any
degree of moisture is communicated to the air of the house, which in some
horticultural operations seems not only desirable, but necessary. for their
existence.
"
Sheet 11 shews the construction of firepot used in the stove, Figures 4 and
5, Sheet 12, where the construction of the stove is shewn. Figure 4 is a
sectional elevation of a stove where the envelope or case must be removed in
order to supply the fire with fuel. Figure 5 is a plan of the same stove
through the line a, a, Figure 4, Sheet 12. On an examination of these
Figures 4 and 5, it will be seen that the smoke does not come in contact with
the outside case of the stove, but is conducted from the firepot into the
chimney, as indicated by the arrows. In this construction of stove the rakers
are moved independently of the valve or sliding plate which closes the hole
through which the fire is lighted. Upon the end of the rod which moves tho
rakers, and at right angles to it, a plate of iron is fixed; and when the rod. is
pushed in this plate stops the orifice leading to the chimney. The use of
this orifice is to allow the dust caused by the rakers to pass into the chimney,
instead of being allowed to enter the apartment. The rod which moves the
rakers passes down the centre of the air pipe, and the rakers are situated..
between the firebars of the grate, as before described, for the purpose of
clearing the bars or fuel of ashes. Any dust arising from the use of the raker
or the valve under the rakers will pass through the hole 6 into the chimney,
provided the air regulator is placed open to allow a current of air to enter
through the same, and pass through the hole b into the chimney. The firepot
of the stove, Figures 4 and 5, Sheet 12, is furnished with a cover fitting
smoke-tight into a sand rim for the purpose of forcing the smoke to descend,
as shewn by arrows in Figure 4:
Sheet 12, Figures 1, 2, and 3, shews our improvements in apparatus for
cooking, which apparatus consists of a rectangular iron box, in the inside of
which is a portable firepot or firepots. The construction of the firepot is
shewn at Figure 3, a and b, Sheet 12, b, b, being apertures to allow of the
ashes being removed; air is supplied to the fuel at c, and the smoke or other
vapours of combustion escape at d into a chimney. The top of the box
becomes heated by the internal fires, and forms a hot plate, upon which the
operation of cookery may. be carried on. c, Figure 1, is a cubical or other
formed cover, under which roasting may be performed. This cover has no
bottom, it merely serves to keep in the heat and surround on all sides (except
.

page_text: the lower) the article which requires roasting. The ring shewn, Figure 2,
a, b, serves to support any vessel used in cooking. which has a round or
concave form of bottom, so as to retain the same firmly on the hot plate
formed by the top of the box before described:
Sheet 13 shews the coal or fuel hod, the constitution of which will be under-
stood by examining Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4, and the references thereon. It is
used in the following 'manner :-The hod or feeder is charged with fuel through
the aperture formed in the top by drawing out the slide; when it is filled with
fuel the slide is pushed in, and the hod is inverted and carried by the handle;
a, the slide, now forming the bottom of the hod-upon which the fuel rests.
There are two holes in the slide,' one for the insertion of the fingers in order
to move the slide, and another a rectangular slit 6 which fits on to the pro-
jecting piece of the sliding valve on the top of the firepot, Figure 1.
Sheet 7; Figure 2, Sheet 2, and Figures 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6, Sheet 3. The
fuel hod or holder is placed on the top of the firepot, the projecting piece
fitting into the rectangular slit in the valve or slide. On drawing the slide of
the fuel hod or holder, the slide on the top of the firepot is drawn with it, and
the fuel falls into the firepot. On pushing the handle back both slides move
again together, and the holes in the top of the firepot and in the bottom of the
fuel hod become closed. The fuel hod is removed from the top of the firepot,
and the moveable top is placed in its proper situation on the stove. In this
operation any smoke or dust which arises passes into the fuel hod or feeder,
and is carried away; none passes into the apartment, because the slide on the
top of the firepot is never opened except when the fuel hod is in its proper
position.
To avoid claiming or appearing to claim any portion of the Invention of a
peculiarly constructed stove or apparatus for heating apartments for which
Letters Patent were granted unto Mr. Richard Prosser,-of-Birmingham, Civil
Engineer, on or about the Seventeenth day of February, One thousand eight hun-
dred and thirty-nine, we cominence this part of our Specification by craving
reference to said-Letters Patent, and we call attention particularly to three essen-
tial parts of the Invention for, which he has obtained Letters Patent, namely,
The base or stand of his stove.
Secondly, the moveable envelope or case with a moveable top, in order (as
his stove has no door) to replenish the fire and remove dust and ashes; and,.
Thirdly, the furnace or firepot so constructed as to prevent any part of the
fuel from being in contact with the envelope, which is. placed at such a
distance from the fuel as to prevent its being over-heated.
We refer to the said Letters Patent, that we may more clearly point out in this

page_text: our Specification what we claim as our Invention in contradistinction to what
has been already claimed and patented by Mr. Prosser. The base of his stove
is a circular plate of cast iron standing on three feet, with three concentric rings
on its upper surface, having an aperture in the centre with a valve adjusted to
such aperture to regulate the admission of the external air, and a tube or flue
for the escape of the gases of combustion.
The improvements which we claim in this construction of the base or stand
are the following:-We make our stand (of which a Drawing marked Z is
annexed) the top or cover of a hollow box of any convenient size or shape, and
when we wish to make the gases of combustion descend, we divide the internal
part of the box by a partition, so as to cause the air which supports combus-
tion to enter on one side of the partition Y, and the gases of combustion to
pass out on the other 2 into the flue 3, through which they escape into the
atmosphere.
Drawings, marked Y, of circular, square, and hexagonal hollow boxes
are annexed, to shew not only how they are divided, but. also that they
may be made of any size or shape that it may be thought desirable to
give to the stand or base of the stove. We controul the admission of
the external air which supports combustion in our stove by two or more
regulators or dampers, one of which we place over the fire bars, and the
other under them. Either or both of our dampers may be used.at pleasure,
so that, while the under one is employed in regulating the proper supply of
atmospheric air under the fire bars, the upper one may be used for moving the
fuel, and freeing it and the fire bars from dust and ashes. . Both of our
régulators 'should be opened when it is desirable to expose the fuel to a full and
free draft of air from below, and both should be shut when it is wished to
cut off all communication with the air below the fire bars more effectually than
could be done by closing only one of the regulators. Our fire bars are not
fastened to the vessel which holds the fuel, but are inserted (see Figure Z, 4,)
in the stand which forms the top of the hollow box already described, and
which box may be made of metal, or of well-prepared porcelain or plastic clay.
A drawer of metal may be placed in that portion of the box 1 which is under
the fire bars 4, but it will be found that a neatly-fitted earthen or porcelain pan
will answer equally well in our stoves if the top of the pan be placed lower
than either of the dampers which regulate the supply of external air to the
fuel. That part of our stove-which contains the fuel may be made of metal,
or of refractory stone or fire clay. The form of the lower part of it may be
varied at pleasure to suit different tastes and fancies; so that care be taken
to adjust it accurately to the stand-which supports it; but as we consider the
cylindrical form one of the most easily understood, and most convenient and

page_text: beautiful, we proceed to describe our improvements in stoves of that shape,
from which description stoves which have any other shape may, mutatis
mutandis, be readily be manufactured.
Figure X is a vertical section through the centre of the cylinder containing
the fuel, and having a pipe 5 in its top to carry off the gases of combustion;
the bottom of the cylinder is operi, and must be adjusted on the stand over the
fire bars. In the side of the cylinder we leave an aperture or apertures, vary-
ing in size and shape according to the greater or less surface of fuel that we
may wish to expose. occasionally to the open air, and to see during its combus-
tion. Around the cylinder and under the aperture there is a ring or segments
forming brackets fastened, in which ring or brackets there is a groove of any
required width and depth. Upon the inner cylinder we place a covering having
any suitable plane or curve surface, or forming, if preferred, a section or seg-
ment of any suitable plane or curve surface, which covering, in order to avoid
useless repetitions, we shall in this our Specification describe as another
cylinder, open at the bottom, whose lower edge rests in this groove, and whose
top may be of any desired shape, and pierced so as to pass over the pipe 5
which is in the. top of the inner. cylinder X, or be adjusted to the inner
cylinder in any other convenient manner; in the side of this outer cylinder we
leave an aperture suitable in size and shape to the aperture in the side of the
inner cylinder, and so that it may be placed, when wanted, exactly opposite to
it. The aperture in the side-of the outer cylinder may be ornamented by vary-
ing its outline in any way, or by covering portions of it with open fancy
work. The side of the outer cylinder may, if desired, have two or more
apertures, one of which may be laticed, and the other open, but the side
of-the inner cylinder need have but one aperture, through which the fire
may be seen and replenished, unless it may be used for warming two or more
contiguous rooms, and divided for that purpose. Figure W is a vertical
section of the outer cylinder, having, half the height of the inner cylinder X.
Figure V is a vertical section of the outer cylinder having three fourths of
the height or length of the inner cylinder ✗. Figure T is a vertical section
of the outer cylinder of such height as to cover the inner cylinder X entirely,
and consequently to require no grooved belt or brackets for its support,
which, in this last case, it derives from the stand upon which the inner cylin-
der itself is placed. In this last construction the flue for the escape of the
gases of combustion may be carried under the lower edge of the outer cylin-
der, as shewn in Figures Y, 2 and 3, unless it be taken through its top; and
in all constructions of the stove where the flue of the gases of combustion is
carried from the side of the inner cylinder X, it may be made to pass under
the lower edge of the outer cylinder.

page_text: From inspection of Figures W, V, and T, S, R; and Q, it will be at once
obvious that the length or height of the outer cylinder, as well as the form
and size of the aperture, may be made like its external appearance, to vary
according to the taste of those who may construct the stove; and as the dis-
tance between the outer and inner cylinder may be modified at pleasure, the
outer one may, if wanted, be inade of metallic and other substances in various
colours. The outer cylinders should have of course knobs or handles for
turning it, and when only one aperture is wanted in it for seeing the fire,
another may be cut of twice the diameter of the smoke pipe should it
be required to place the smoke pipe in the side of the inner cylinder,
without passing it under the bottom edge of the outer one. Although for
ordinary purposes the side of the inner cylinder need have only one aper-
ture, yet it may have, if wanted, two or more apertures of equal or different
heights from the base. When apertures are not made near the base of the
cylinder for removing the ashes, a hollow tube may form the centre of the
moveable fire bars; the tube serves as a handle for removing the fire
bars, and allowing the ashes to fall through the top of the stand into
the pan or drawer placed below it. In Figure S the external and internal
apertures are entirely open. In R, the external hexagonal aperture partly
covers the internal one, and in Q a higher inner aperture of another form is
also represented as partly closed. A third or fourth partial or entire covering,
or any greater number, may be inter or super posed, and may be passed or
not over the pipe 5, at the top of the internal cylinder X, with or without a
grooved belt or brackets to support its bottom edge; but for ordinary purposes
we find one inner and one outer cylinder quite sufficient, without interposing a
third plane or curved surface.
We claim the above or any similar mode of constructing stoves as answering
a twofold purpose. First, that of kindling and replenishing the fire without
taking the case from off the base, or taking off the top, or any portion of the
top of the case, as already done under Mr. Prosser's Letters Patent; and
secondly, enabling persons to see an open fire whenever they wish it to shut
off as much or as little of the open fire as they like, and to cause the outer
case, whether made of metallic or other substances, to act either as a blower
or as a close or open screen.
We sometimes make that part of our stove which holds the fuel of stentite
and refractory fire clay. The employment of these and similar substances is
well known and commonly practised; but we claim an improvement in the
use of them which prevents any mischief from arising by reason of their crack-
ing, and which we effect by interposing the steatite, fire clay, or other refractory
substance between trellis-work of wire or perforated sheets of metal.

page_text: :
Having by the foregoing description, and the aid of the Fourteen Sheets of
Drawings hereunto annexed, and the writing thereon, described our "Im-
provements in Apparatus for Heating Apartments, and in Apparatus for Cook-
ing," we now proceed to claim as of our Invention the construction of apparatus
for. heating apartments, where a sliding valve is placed over the fire, either for
the purpose of admitting fuel or preventing the emission of smoke into the
apartment.
"
We also claim as of our Invention the employinent of a valve or damper
moving on the top of the fire bars as before described, for the purpose of
encreasing or diminishing the effective area of the fire grate, and removing
ashes or cinders therefrom. :
.
We also claim the construction of apparatus for heating apartments, wherein
rakers are employed as a part of such apparatus; either separate as shewn on
Sheet 12 at Figure 4, or in combination with a sliding plate or damper, as
shewn on Sheets 2, 6, and 7.
We also claim, as shewn on Sheets 1, 2, 7, 8, 9, & 12; the construction of
apparatus for heating apartments where a sliding plate is employed under the
fire bars to allow of a light being readily introduced under the fire bars for the
purpose of igniting the combustibles placed thereon.
We claim the use of this sliding plate or valve for the above purpose sepa-
rately or in combination with the rakers..
We claim the construction of apparatus for heating apartments shewn by
Figures Z, Y, X, &c., on Sheet 14.
We claim also the apparatus for cooking shewn on Sheet 12, Figures 1, 2,
and 3.
:
We also claim the feeding apparatus or fuel hod or holder shewn on Sheet 13,
as part of our improved apparatus for heating apartments.
Having now described our improvements in apparatus for heating apart-
ments, and apparatus for cooking, we claim the exclusive use of such improve-
ments as are shewn in. Sheets 1 to 14 of the Drawings hereunto annexed,
and also to such variations of construction as may be made in apparatus for
heating apartments, and in apparatus for cooking, without departing from
the principle of our Invention; as described 'and ascertained by this our
Specification.
In witness whereof, we, the said Richard Prosser and John James
Rippon, have hereunto set' our hands and seals, this Seventeenth day
of December, One thousand eight hundred and forty.
.
RICHARD (L.S.) PROSSER.
JOHN JAMES. (L.S.) RIPPON.
1

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Seventeenth day of December,
in the year of our Lord 1840, the aforesaid Richard Prosser and John
James Rippon came before our said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and
acknowledged the Specification aforesaid, and all and every thing therein
contained and specified, in form above written. And also the Specification
aforesaid was stamped according to the tenor of the Statute made for that
purpose.
Inrolled the Seventeenth day of December, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and forty.