IMPROVEMENTS IN COOKING APPARATUS
Year: 1879

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by John Albert Reinhold Hildebrandt at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 2nd October 1879. A com-
munication from abroad by Johannes Fleischor, of Cologne, in Germany.
JOHN ALBERT REINHOLD HILDEBRANDT, Civil Engineer, of the Firm of A. Hilde-
brandt, 43 Market Street, in the City of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster,
Patent Agent.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN COOKING APPARATUS." [A communication
from abroad by Johannes Fleischer, of Cologne, in Germany.]
The improvements relate to so called cooking stoves, and for the sake of simplicity
I will proceed to describe a complete apparatus which is heated by gas and then
describe the modifications which may be adopted.
The bottom part or base of the apparatus consists of a vessel open at the top and
provided with feet, draw-off tap, and a central tube or funnel which is fixed to the
bottom for the admission of air, so that the vessel forms an annular space which
may be filled with water; the gas supply pipe with suitable burner is placed near
the top. The top edge of the vessel is rebated so that another vessel may be
placed upon it, or the latter may rest on the edge by a projection or rim. The
second vessel also open at the top which I will term the boiler has a concave bottom
with a dome projecting inwards, and is also filled with water, and these two parts
constitute the stove proper, the remaining parts, although forming part of the stove
itself, being the cooking pans. The first pan consists of a vessel slightly less in
diameter than the boiler, and its sides are prolonged beyond the bottom and when
put upon and in the boiler this prolongation reaches into the water lower down
than the top of the aforesaid domeshaped part of the boiler bottom, and forms a
hydraulic joint or water seal in the fashion of gasholders. On one side of the
bottom is fixed a circulating tube or funnel allowing a free passage through the
vessel, the top of the tube being fitted with a valve seat the pan resting upon the
rim of the boiler by projections or a rim. On the top of that pan is put another
having a double bottom, the lower one sloping towards the circulating tube in the
pan below, and an opening there is fitted with a valve seat to fit the circulating
tube in the pan below, so that this second pan rests upon the valve, and in addition
it is also supported at the rim, adjustment being obtained by inserting small globular
bodies. On the inner bottom a circulating tube similar to the last one is fixed
which also allows a free passage through it, but it is placed on the opposite side of
the pan, so as to avoid a straight passage through both. Another vessel is placed

page_text: on the top of the last named, the valve seat in the bottom of which is raised a little
above the latter, so that it forms a receptacle for condense water; in this vessel one
or more pans fitted to the space available may be placed, so that a little rooin is left
between the outlet of the tube in the previous one and the bottom of the last named
pans or in some cases pans may here be entirely dispensed with. The pans are
provided with rims or projections in proper places, on which they may rest on the
edges of the vessel or pan on and in which they are placed, and they are also
furnished with suitable handles.
The action of the apparatus is as follows:-On the gas being lit steam is produced
from the water in the boiler which passes through the circulating tube of the first
pan and crosses over the top through the hollow space between the bottoms in the
next pan, and then passes through the circulating tube of that one in the top vessel
and under the bottom and along the sides of the pan or pans therein, the condense
water being collected on the bottom of that vessel as before described, while water
condensed in the hollow space of the second pan may flow back in the boiler.
The water in the bottom vessel or base also becomes heated and may be drawn off
by the tap.
The shape of the various vessels may be of any desired section other than cylin-
drical. Instead of one circulating tube or funnel in each pan there may be two or
more in which case the valve seats support the vessels above, and the pans may also
be constructed with double sides to increase the heating surface. The number of
pans may also be increased or reduced. Pans for steaming may also be constructed
and used by adopting a wire mesh or perforated bottom. The apparatus may
further be heated by petroleum or other liquid fuel instead of gas, or it may be
arranged for coal or other solid fuel, in which latter case the bottom vessel or base
becomes superfluous. Sheet iron, cast iron, copper, brass, and other materials may
be employed in its construction.