IMPROVED MEANS OF GATHERING CINDERS AND DEPOSITING ASHES UNDER FIRE-
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Chambers, of Russia Row Cheapside,
in the City of London, Merchant, for the, Invention of "IMPROVED
MEANS OF GATHERING CINDERS AND DEPOSITING ASHES UNDER FIRE-
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Chambers
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 9th March 1853.
I, GEORGE CHAMBERS, do hereby declare the nature of, the said
Invention for "IMPROVED MEANS OF GATHERING CINDERS AND DEPOSITING
ASHES, UNDER FIRE-GRATES, SECURING ECONOMY IN FUEL AND CLEANLINESS OF
"APPEARANCE," to be as follows:-
I propose, in some instances, to dispense altogether.with the article
termed a fender, which is used in front of fire-grates for, the twofold
purposes. of preventing cinders, et cetera, falling about the room, and
as a support to fire-irons. In others, and generally, I only propose to
affix an apparatus something like an inverted wire fire-guard under
the grate, and partly on and fitting the fender. Under this apparatus,

page_text: which will be usually made of wire or thin metal bars, may or may
not be placed an ash-pan. It will be easily understood that my
apparatus, being placed under the grate above the ash-hole or ash-pan,
and rising in a gentle curve or slope towards the fender (when a
fender is used), will catch all the coal or cinders which may fall from
the grate either by process of combustion or by poking the fire. The
ashes will fall through said apparatus, but the cole and cinders will be
retained, which can at once be replaced on the fire, either by the use
of the shovel or by lifting the apparatus by means of the handle or
handles at its back, and throwing them upon the fire. As aforesaid,
the apparatus may be so made as to be in itself both the fender
and receptacle for cinders, and furnished with the usual means of
supporting or holding the fire-irons. It may be made to rest on
small countersunk or other wheels, or stand on ornamented supports;
or, when used alone, and not as a fender, it may be made to fit into
its place under the grate by grooves or other supports.
I consider the foregoing particulars will be sufficient to give a good
general idea of my Invention, which will be more fully explained and
illustrated by various diagrams in my Final Specification.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent
filed by the said George Chambers, in the Great Seal Patent
Office, on the 9th September 1853.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
GEORGE CHAMBERS, of Russia Row, Cheapside, in the City of London,
Merchant, send greeting..
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Ninth day of March, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, in the sixteenth
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said George Chambers, Her special licence that I,
the said George Chambers, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said George Chambers, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, should a any time agree with, and no others, from

page_text: 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 "IMPROVED MEANS OF GATHERING CINDERS
AND DEPOSITING ASHES UNDER FIRE-GRATES, SECURING ECONOMY IN FUEL AND
CLEANLINESS OF APPEARANCE," upon the condition (amongst others) that
I, the said George Chambers, by an instrument in writing under my
hand and seal, 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said George Chambers, 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 sheet of drawings
hereunto annexed, and forming part of this my Specification, on
which are drawn diagrams or figures, with letters of reference, denoting
in each the same parts, where such parts appear or can be seen in
each of the figures respectively.
The nature of the Invention, as the title of the Letters Patent
imports, is, certain means or apparatus for economizing fuel, preventing
the unsightly accumulation of cinders and ashes under fire-grates, and
in many cases dispensing altogether with the use of fenders before
fire-grates. And before referring to the drawing, I would state that
such drawing is filed to illustrate one form of my apparatus, but I do
not in anywise confine myself thereto, inasmuch as variously formed
fronts of grates or bars will require variously formed cinder holders;
and such holders may be made of any metal, and bronzed, or otherwise
ornamented, as may be desirable; also the back (shewn in the drawing
as a scroll back) may be of any ornamental form, or plain, as taste or
economy may rule. My object is, by my apparatus, to catch the
cinders falling from the fire-grate, or the coals which may fall over
when the fire is supplied from the skuttle, or otherwise, allowing the
ash to fall through, and to enable those using such apparatus to return
the cinders to the fire without the use of shovel or tongs..

page_text: In the drawing, Figure 1, represents an elevation of the back or
interior of the guard, and Figure 2, a vertical section of the same
through the line A, B, Figure 1, both of which are drawn to a
geometrical scale. The vertical section of the grating is curved at its
lower extremity a, b, c, and presents a vertical plane with curved
ends c, d, and e, f, and a curved contour of an entire or fractional
portion of a circle round its upper edge g, h, i, k; the object of these
curves being to strengthen the horizontal as well as the vertical section
on which pressure is likely to be borne. The grating is formed of
vertical wires 1, 1, 1, 1, held in their respective positions by means of
horizontal ribs m, m, m, m, to which they are fastened in the usual
manner by means of finer wire at each of the cross joints or otherwise.
The curve a, bc, is used to form the lower part of the guard of a
convenient shape, for the purpose of using it, when detached from the
fire-place, as a cinder holder, the ashes being allowed to escape
between the interstices of the wires, and collected, if deemed necessary,
into a box or ash-pan, dotted at n, n. o, o, shews a brush, fastened
to the lower edge of the grating, used for the purpose of sweeping the
ashes of the hearth if desired. I do not confine the details of the
section and elevation of my Invention to the proportions shewn in the
example given in the drawing, as the radie of the curves of the wires,
and the proportions of the horizontal ribs to the lengths of the vertical
wires, have to be altered according to the strength of the several
divisions in which the whole is divided; neither do I confine myself to
the segmental section of the lower part of the grating, which may be
made with other curves, or portions of segments or other curves in
combination. When the ash-pan is used, the fender of the grate may
be dispensed with, and the guard-pan can be provided with a brush, or
not, at pleasure.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner
in which the same is to be carried into practical effect, I would merely
repeat that in the description and the drawing only one form or shape of
my apparatus is shewn, which I deem sufficient to enable all persons
fully to understand the Invention, and its mode of application. To
shew more would, I consider, be needless, as the variety of form must
of necessity be almost endless.

page_text: But I claim as of my Invention the means or apparatus for gathering
or retaining cinders or coals, allowing the ash thereof to escape; such
means or apparatus being hung on or otherwise affixed to the bars,
fronts, or sides of fire-grates, of whatever form or shape such cinder
holders may be made.
But I claim as of my Invention the means or apparatus for gathering
or retaining cinders or coals, allowing the ash thereof to escape; such
means or apparatus being hung on or otherwise affixed to the bars,
fronts, or sides of fire-grates, of whatever form or shape such cinder
holders may be made.
In witness whereof, 1, the said George Chambers, have herein-
before affixed my hand and seal, this Eighth day of September,
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three.
GEORGE CHAMBERS. (L.S.)
0 Witness, JAMES MUNDY, 40, Charlwood Street, Pimlico.

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