IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF MINERAL CHARCOAL AND COKE, AND IN ADAPTING OPEN GRATES FOR THE COMBUSTION OF THEM
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Julius Jeffreys, of 37, Carlton Villas, Maida Vale,
in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF MINERAL CHARCOAL AND COKE, AND IN ADAPTING OPEN
GRATES FOR THE COMBUSTION OF THEM."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Julius Jeffreys at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 14th
January 1854.
I, JULIUS JEFFREYS, of 37, Carlton Villas, Maida Vale, in the County of
Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE MANUFACTURE OF MINERAL CHARCOAL AND COKE, AND IN ADAPTING OPEN
GRATES FOR THE COMBUSTION OF THEM," to be as follows:-
First, my first object is so to economise the manufacture of coke as to
render it a more available fuel, especially for domestic use. This I effect by
connecting any kind of ovens, large or small, in which coke is burnt, with
forcing houses, walls, or beds for cultivating fruit and vegetables, and in such
manner, by flues commanded by valves, that the whole or a part of the heated
gaseous products of the coal under coking shall, on their way to a chimney
which gives vent to them and creates the necessary draught, be thus conveyed
to such forcing houses, &c. Where coal is coked by individuals for domestic

page_text: use I also turn to account the waste heat of the gaseous products, by con-
veying them, before they enter the chimney, through stoves and other suitable
apparatus for giving warmth to the air of houses.
Secondly, I improve the manufacture of coke for domestic use by making
it so light and porous as to acquire the name of mineral charcoal. For this
purpose I use low flat arched ovens, oblong or square, in which dust or other
coal is charred in thin layers. The fuel is put in through holes in the top of
the oven, and when converted into charcoal is rapidly discharged by making
the bed it lies on moveable. This I effect by having the bottom itself of the
oven to drop at one end and discharge its contents, and then rise again by a
counterpoise weight, and be locked in situ by catch bolts. The space below
the bottom into which it drops is closed at the outlet side by a large sliding
door, which opens when the bottom drops to let the products slide out. The
heated gases of the combustion I convey away by flues, after using them as
above, to a stalk or chimney. The current passes to the flues by one or more
passages in the oven above the fuel, or it is made to turn down at one end of
the oven and play along under and heat the bottom on which the fuel lies,
and passing through flues below it to enter the main flue at the opposite
end. When the bottom is made to drop the flues descend with it. These
flues prevent the iron framing supporting the bottom from becoming red hot
and yielding to the weight. I use the one or other of these courses, according
to the porosity required in the charcoal. In order to ensure the complete
combustion of the gaseous products, also to preserve the heat of the oven, I
make the roof double.
Metal or stone cylinders passing through the feeding holes in both roofs
guide the entering coal and shut out draught from entering the oven from the
space between the roofs through the feeding holes in the inner or false roof.
This roof is perforated throughout its surface by many small holes or slits,
through which heated air coming from the air reservoir between the roofs,
penetrates the smoke over the fuel in many small streams, and maintains its
complete combustion. The air reservoir is supplied by larger openings, all
commanded by doors or stoppers in the outer roof and in the gable ends of
the oven, and in it the air becomes heated before it penetrates the inner roof
through the small apertures in it.
Thirdly, it is necessary to render ordinary domestic grates qualified for
the combustion of the coke and mineral charcoal, by exciting draughts and
regulating their direction and force. This I do by a partition of metal,
dividing the open way above the fire grate into a front and back space; the
draught up the chimney is confined to the back space, the front space being

page_text: closed above. This metal partition is of one, two, or three plates. When of
one plate, it is made to slide up and down through the register or a horizontal
plate closing the chimney way, and is balanced by a weight and chains over a
pulley fixed above, so that it can be drawn down, and, turning upon its upper
edge as a centre, be tilted back in an inclined position, to show and reflect the
top of the fire, or tilted forwards over the upper front bar of the grate, and
then to act as a powerful blower. When made of two plates, the upper is fixed
and the second slides over it, and can be drawn down and inclined both back-
wards and forward, to act as in the case of the single plate above. When a
third plate is used, it is hinged at its top or middle against the second plate
and becomes the tilted plate, while the second is the sliding plate.
For igniting the coke I convert the grate for the time into a wind furnace,
by placing a moveable cap of sheet metal over the front bars, the top of which
cap meets the above partition, and thus confines the draught to an upward
pressure through the bottom of the grate alone.
Where stoves have hobs, metal cheeks must be placed on either side of the
partition, to close in the back space to the chimney.
In kitchen ranges the fuel, instead of resting against the boiler or back, is
kept off it by a grating, so as to leave a space behind the fire, closed at bottom
between the fuel and the back, for a current of air to pass backwards through
the fuel. The draught up this back space is commanded at top by a plate
which tilts or slides. The range requires a horizontal plate in the chimney,
behind the chimney breast, to close all but the draught aperture, and a fixed
cheek on one side from that plate down to the edge of the hob on the other
side. The fellow cheek is fixed to and moves with the travelling cheek of
the range, so as to regulate the width of the up draught to that of the
fire; these side cheeks of the up draught meet the sliding partition which
regulates its front opening, as in the case of parlor and other domestic grates
described above.
0 SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Julius Jeffreys in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 13th
July 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JULIUS
JEFFREYS, of 37, Carlton Villas, Maida Vale, in the County of Middlesex,
5 send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourteenth day of January, in the year of our Lord

page_text: One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the seventeenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Julius Jeffreys, Her special licence that I, the said Julius Jeffreys,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Julius
Jeffreys, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree
with, and no others, from 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE
OF MINERAL CHARCOAL AND COKE, AND IN ADAPTING OPEN GRATES FOR THE COMBUS-
TION OF THEM," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Julius
Jeffreys, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, should par-
ticularly 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 Julius Jeffreys, 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
thereof (that is to say):-
I cheapen the cost of coke by turning to account the waste heat proceeding
from coal under coking for the purpose of warming hot houses, forcing houses
and pots, conservatories, &c., so as to promote vegetation and the ripening of
fruits. For this purpose the vent flues from the coking ovens must pass
along the surface of the ground, either by sinking the ovens sufficiently or by
making the flues descend to the level of the ground. The flue from each oven,
separately or from several united, may form a main flue (M, F, Figure III.),
which in its course to the chimney C, may be divided into two branches F,
and I, commanded by a valve V, by which the current may be directed
wholly or partially into the chimney at once, or be made to traverse forcing
houses, &c. through the flue H, returning to the chimney through the flue I.
To produce a porous and light fuel for domestic use, which I call mineral
charcoal, I construct ovens of large surface but of moderate height, so that
the coal in coking may not be heaped up, but be enabled to part with its
bitumen readily and to swell up into a porous mass; Figures I. and II. are
such an oven. I make the roof B, b, double, with an air chamber C, C, between
the outer roof B, B, and the inner false roof b, b; into this chamber fresh air
is allowed to enter by openings e, e, at the ends, under the command. of doors
or stoppers, and from this chamber the air penetrates into the burning gases in

page_text: the oven through numerous small holes in the false roof b, b. Where dispatch
is required I make the bottom of the oven to drop at one end, the other being
hinged. This bottom D, D, is shown raised in the end view, Figure I., and
down by dotted lines in the side view, Figure II., and it is an iron frame
overlaid with stone or fire tiles; it is balanced by weights and chains W, W,
passing over pullies P, P. When the bottom drops at one end the coked
fuel slides out through the opening G, G, in the end wall of the under pit; the
weights now overbalance the bottom, and it rises into its horizontal place and
is detained there by the catches I, of a long bolt, which is knocked aside to let
the coke drop when the next charge is ready. The oven is charged with coal
through cylinders of iron F, F, extending through both roofs and the inter-
mediate air chamber, and closed at top with a plate.
My improvements in the adaptation of house grates to the combustion of
mineral charcoal or coke consists in the application of a diaphragm D, D,
Figures VII. and VIII., dividing the chimney way C, C, above the fire into
two spaces; the upper part of this partition E being fixed, and the lower part
D travelling up and down against it before or behind, and balanced by a
weight W, Figure IX., the chain of which passes over two pullies P, P,
Figures VII. and VIII., and over a spindle S, commanded by a winch or key
in front of the stove or mantel. I, R, Figures VII., VIII., IX., an inflecting
plate, hinged across its back to the bottom of the travelling partition with
which it travels up and down; H, H, Figure VII., a moveable cap, with a
handle closing up the top and more or less of the front of the fire; B, B, a
false back made with bars or perforations, and standing someway in front of
the true or chimney back b, b, with a free up draught between them into the
chimney. When the chimney is closed up, as in Figure VII., the grate is
converted for the time into a wind furnace necessary for lighting such fuel as
coke or mineral charcoal; wood being placed partly under and partly in front
of the fuel, a forcible draught is created through it, having the direction of the
arrows, Figure VII. The fire having been lighted, in ten minutes the cap H is
removed, and the inflector I, R, falls into its proper inclined position, as seen in
Figure VIII. The current has now the direction of the arrows in this Figure,
penetrating the front and top of the fire, being forced into that direction by
the inclined inflector; accordingly, as the inflector is raised or depressed does
the fire burn dully or brilliantly. On the front face of the inflector I, R,
I place a plate of burnished metal, or for common purposes I make the inflector
of planished tin; it then becomes a powerful reflector of heat from the top
of the fire, which as an inflector it keeps in a brilliant state. The inflector
being hinged to the partition plate can be inclined at any angle desirable for

page_text: its best effect as an inflector or reflector. In cheap grates the elevating appa-
ratus of weight, chain, and pullies may be dispensed with, and the moving
partition and inflector being made of thin sheet metal may be suspended to the
fixed part E by a pin, shown in dotted lines e, c, Figure VIII., passing through
this plate and through any one of a series of holes in the travelling partition
plate D, which has its height thus adjusted. In order to concentrate the current
against the front and upper surface of the fire it is in general desirable that the
ash pit should be closed up, as at a, Figures VIII., IV., and XII. Instead of
a separate false back, the back of the grate, as in B, b, Figures XII. and XI.,
may be cast with a row of deep upright flanges (or a row of thin upright fire
tiles may be used), the front edges of which support the fuel, while the slits
between the flanges or tiles afford space for the draught passing through the
fire. Since much of the current in this fire
passes downwards upon its upper
surface, which it is desirable to keep in a state of uninterrupted brilliancy, it is
advantageous to feed the fire by introducing the fresh fuel under the ignited.
For this purpose I employ the following arrangement:-The first bar from
the bottom K, Figures VII. to XII., is made moveable upwards towards the
bar above, and in larger grates is divided into a right and left piece, Figures
IX. and X., where the right half is seen raised. Upright sliding rods L, L, L, L,
travelling through the upper and lower bars, and fixed through each portion of
the travelling bar, support and guide this bar. When the fire is to be fed, a
stout flat spade, Figure XIII., having a hook Hat the junction with its
handle, is pushed under the fuel nearly to the back of the fire. The handle is
then raised, raising both the fuel and the travelling bar, and the book of the
spade is rested upon the upper bar of the grate. The handle is then depressed
and the end of the spade rises and rests on a fillet N, Figure XII., on the
back of the grate. The fire from front to back is thus lifted up, and fresh fuel
is lodged under it by means of the scoop, Figure XIV., filled with fuel and
pushed under the spade to the back of the grate. The fuel is discharged from
the scoop by means of a moving back plate M, driven by a rod m, fixed
to it, and passing through the axis of the handle O of the scoop, the rod
being held stationary whilst the scoop is drawn back; the spade is then
withdrawn.
The several parts of my Invention applicable to dwelling room grates stand-
ing within a chimney place will be found equally advantageous for iron stoves
placed in front of or at a distance from a chimney. The currents flowing
backwards below the inflector and through the false back of the grate may,
with much convenience, be made to continue their course backwards through a
horizontal flue into a chimney, to or turn downwards between the false back

page_text: and the back of the stove into a descending flue carried below the floor. Such
a smokeless stove, sending forth most of its heat by direct radiation and reflec-
tion from bright fuel, will be found superior to ordinary stoves giving off their
heat chiefly by conduction through metal, which is so liable to exsiccate and
over-heat the air of a building. Figures IV., V., and VI. represent the adap-
tation of the principle to a kitchen range. Here the diaphragm D, E, must be
placed nearly in a line with the back of the fire, to admit of vessels being set
upon it, and the fixed portion of the diaphragm E, E, has extensions E¹, E',
reaching down to the hobs on either side, the travelling portion D being set in
front of the fixed portion E, and being only as wide as the grate. The move-
able cheek T, Figure V., of the range has an upright plate t, t, fixed to and
moving with it, for closing the space below the travelling portion of the
diaphragm at that part of the grate where there is no fire, and this cheek is
notched at top, T, Figure IV., to allow the inflector and partition to descend
into the grate when the fire is low; a loose plate of iron U, Figure IV., can at
will be tilted down to cover the up draught a behind the false back. Instead
of a separate false back the front face of the boiler of the range, as seen in the
horizontal section, Figure VI., may be cast with indentations inclined or square,
the front edges of which support the fuel, while the grooves or recesses form
an upward passage for the current from the fire, as shown by the arrows,
Figure IV. Two sheets of metal A, A, a, a, Figures IV. and V., hinged toge-
ther, form in their present position, when a, a, is folded back upon A, A, an
enclosure to the ashpit. These sheets, through means of the long wire X, X,
attached to the upper edge of the sheet A, A, are balanced by the weights W, W,
at the ends of chains or cords, and can be slided up before the fire or above it,
so as to hang, a, a, being turned down in the position of the dotted line a', a', a',
Figure IV. When the fire is to be lighted they are in this position, and the
inflector I, R, its supporting chain Q being unhooked, is laid horizontally with
its front edge on a', and the side openings at e, e, Figures IV. and V., are
closed by two flaps of metal, shown by dotted lines round e¹, e, and hinged on
the plate E¹, E; the grate thus becomes a wind furnace for the time, and
the fuel is rapidly kindled. With the plates in this position vessels on the fire
are also rapidly heated.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of per-
forming the same, I would have it understood that I do not confine myself to
the precise details herein described, so long as the peculiar character of my
Invention be retained. But what I claim is,-
First, the manufacture of coke as herein described.

page_text: Secondly, I claim the manufacture of mineral charcoal as herein described.
And, thirdly, I claim the adaptation of open grates for the combustion of
oke and mineral charcoal, as herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Julius Jeffreys, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twelfth day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-four.
Witness,
J. G. TONGUE.
JULIUS JEFFREYS. (L.s.)