IMPROVEMENTS IN HEATING ROOMS OR APARTMENTS
Year: 1847

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
BROCKEDON, of Devonshire Street, Queen's Square, in the County of Middlesex,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Ninth day of September,
One thousand eight hundred and forty seven, in the eleventh year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said William Brockedon, my exors, admors, and assigns, Her especial licence,
full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said William Brockedon,
my exors, admors, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Brockedon,
my exors, admors, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others,
from time to time and at all times during the term of years therein expressed,
should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England,
Wales, and the Town of Berwick upon Tweed, my Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN HEATING ROOMS OR APARTMENTS;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a
proviso that I, the said William Brockedon, should cause a particular descrip-
tion of the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, and cause the
same to be inrolled 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
William Brockedon, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described and
ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, that is to say :-
My Invention consists of a means of heating rooms or apartments by
employing gas. And in order that the improvements may be most fully
understood, and readily carried into effect, I will proceed to describe the means
pursued by me. I would state, that I am aware that gas has heretofore been
employed in heating rooms and apartments in closed apparatus, the surfaces of
which becoming heated by burning gas on the interior, give off heat to the
room or apartment in which such apparatus is placed; and the simple act of
burning gas in rooms in order to light them necessarily heats the same. I do
not therefore claim the heating of rooms and apartments generally by gas, but
only the mode herein-after described. The object. of the Invention is as much
as possible to retain the character of the old English fire side, and yet to
employ gas in place of coal or wood; and the Invention consists in so construct-
ing stoves or fire-places which are open in front that gas may be burned therein,
and the decomposed air and products of combustion pass into chimnies or flues
in like manner to what the products of combustion pass into the chimnies or
flues from open fire-places or stoves when burning coal. In carrying out my
Invention, the stove or fire-place may be constructed as nearly as may be like
those now used with open fire bars, and may have a bottom grate similar to
what are used for burning coal, and they may be made to fit the recesses or
fire-places as at present constructed, or the stoves and fire-places may be
greatly varied in design, so long as the stoves or fire-places are capable of con-
suming gas in an open fire-place communicating with a chimney or flue. As
the apparatus or fire-place according to my Invention may be greatly diversi-
fied in pattern or design, it will only be necessary to point out such simple
forms as will direct the workman's attention to the peculiarity of: my Invention,
and then he will be enabled to adapt the same in conjunction with any design
may make. In order to give a gas stove or fire-place constructed according
to my Invention as much as possible the character of the present open fire-
places used for consuming coal, I can make them with a front grating or bars,
against which I can place lumps of pumice stone or other substances which
will allow of being heated by the flame of gas, and yet not consume. The
front bars should be made nearer to the back of the stove than when for
burning coal, and so that there shall be but small space between the back of
the stove and the front bars; or such substance may be placed in a wire or other
frame suspended near to or amidst the flames of gas, where the form of the
he

page_text: stove or fire-place is not otherwise adapted to receive such substance; and I
in some cases have the front bars of the stove or grate hollow, so as to allow
gas to pass from a gas supply pipe into them, and thence to pass out through
numerous small perforations, so as to produce numerous small flames, which
may be partly inward towards the pumice stone, so as to heat the same,
and other flames may be outwards through between the front bars of the
stove or grate; and the front bars, in place of being simply across the
fire-place, may be made into any fanciful form, such as basket work or
otherwise, to hold the pumice stone or other substances; or in place of
having the front bars or open grating hollow and perforated to produce nume-
rous jets of gas, the jets of gas may be wholly or partially from the bottom or
the back or sides of the open fire-place or stove. And it should be
understood, that it is essential to this my Invention, that the appara-
tus should be open to view, and also be open to a chimney or flue, so
that the gas in burning may give heat to the room or apartment without
the decomposed air and products of combustion caused thereby coming into
the room or apartment; and at the backs and sides of such stoves or fire-
places, bright steel, glass, china, or other reflectors may with advantage be
placed. It is not essential to my Invention that the open gas fire-place made
according to my. Invention should have a convenient frame or receptacle for
receiving pumice stone or incombustible substances, as the same may be dis-
pensed with; but I prefer to have a suitable arrangement for receiving such
substances, as I am thereby more able to retain the cheerful character of the
old English fire side. And I believe that the most elegant result may be
obtained by using jets of gas from front bars or grates, combined with jets of gas
from bars or apparatus at bottom, so arranged that air may (as is now the case
when burning coal) pass up between the bottom, the lower bars in such case
supporting the pumice stone or other substance, for by such means, by a com-
parative small consumption of gas, the appearance of a large flaming fire may
be produced. By thus constructing and employing open fire-places or stoves
in rooms or apartments suitable for the employment of gas in place of fuel, not
only may the heat be regulated with great exactness, but the dust and blackness
consequent on burning fuel in open fire-places or stoves will be avoided, and
yet the ventilation of the room-or apartment, now obtained up the chimney or
flue, will still be retained together with the cheerfulness of an open fire; and
what is also of great importance, the production of dense smoke will be avoided,
and such will also be the case with respect to the consequent nuisance, and
what are called smokey chimneys will be got rid of.

page_text: Having thus explained the nature of my Invention, and the manner in which
I perform the same, I would have it understood, that I do not confine myself
to the details as herein described. But what I claim is the mode of heating
rooms or apartments, by constructing open fire-places or stoves suitable for
burning gas, as herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Brockedon, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Ninth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and forty-eight.