Im- PROVEMENTS IN FIRE-GRATES OR STOVES
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Warren, Captain Royal Engineers, of
Shoeburyness, in the County of Essex, for the Invention of "Im-
PROVEMENTS IN FIRE-GRATES OR STOVES."
Sealed the 16th January 1874, and dated the 19th November 1873.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Warren at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 19th November 1873.
I, CHARLES WARREN, Captain Royal Engineers, of Shoeburyness, in
the County of Essex, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN FIRE-GRATES OR STOVES," to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is to construct a fire-grate or stove in such
a manner that more perfect combustion of the fuel consumed therein
may be obtained than in ordinary fire-places or stoves. For this purpose
in place of the inlet to the flue or chimney being above the fuel as is
for the most part customary, I form it at the back of the fire-place just
above the fire-bars or surface on which the fuel rests. The supply of
coal for keeping up the fire is thrown on at the top in the ordinary

page_text: manner, and is covered over by a close-fitting plate, which may be used
as a hot plate.
The greater part of the air for supporting combustion is admitted
between the front fire-bars, and passing amongst the burning fuel is
consumed, and escapes at the outlet flue at the back, partly in the state
of carbonic oxide. Near this point a fresh supply of air is by a suitable
passage admitted to it to complete the combustion as it passes away;
thus the production of smoke is entirely avoided. As the fuel at the
lower part of the fire is thus being consumed, the coals above descend and
take its place, and as they descend become gradually coked, the gases
given off being by means of the chimney draft drawn downwards amongst
the ignited fuel and there consumed.
The lower part of the outlet flue or chimney, say for about 2 feet, may
be of fire-brick, and may then open into a chimney or flue of ordinary
construction, and an additional supply of fresh air for completing com-
bustion may also at this point be admitted from the front either through
a register door or other valve.
The back of the lower portion of the outlet flue may form part of an
air chamber or passage, through which a supply of fresh air may be
allowed to pass into a room, whereby a supply of fresh warmed air may
be obtained for the purposes of ventilation, and fuel will at the same
time be economised.
A supply of fresh air may also be conveyed to the fire through pipes,
either leading from below the floor of the lower rooms, or, if the fire-
grate is in an upper storey, from a room below, thus affording ven-
tilation. Taps or valves are placed on the air passages to control
the passage of the air through them, and so regulate the draft; the draft
may also in addition be further controlled by a damper in the outlet
flue.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, 8
filed by the said Charles Warren, in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 19th May 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
WARREN, Captain Royal Engineers, of Shoeburyness, in the County of
Essex, send greeting.
3

page_text: combustion; h, a hot plate forming the top of the stove; k, an oven,
around which the gases are conducted, as shewn by the arrows; 7, a
flue or chimney by which the gases are led away; p, a grating for
catching cinders; and q a tray for the ashes.
At Figure 3 I have shewn a stove adapted to an ordinary fire-place,
and suitable for bed-rooms and other rooms. Figure 3a is a vertical
section of the same; Figure 3b, a horizontal section taken at the
line A, B; Figure 3a and Figure 3c, a vertical section taken on the
line C, D. In these Figures a is the hopper, fitted with a lid o at the
top; b, b, back and front gratings; d, d, fire-brick sides, and ďa fire-
brick back; is the pipe for admitting air in rear of the back grating 6
for completing combustion; r is a metal plate fitting in the front of
the fire-place. In this plate is a door through which fuel may be
introduced into the hopper, also a door for cleaning the flue at the
bottom, and an opening for a sliding ash pan f; n is a damper in the
outlet flue m, by which the draft may be controlled. The direction in
which the products of combustion have to pass is clearly shown by the
arrows in the Drawings.
At Figure 4 I have shewn a vertical section of a stove suitable for
warming schools and for such like purposes; Figure 4a is a horizontal
section of the same, and Figure 4b a front view. In these Figures a is
bottom of the hopper;
the hopper; b, the front and back gratings at the
and e, the grating upon which the fuel rests. This fire-place is within a
metal casing t, which forms the outer casing of the stove; i, is the pipe
for admitting air in rear of the back grating 6 for completing com-
bustion. The products of combustion as they pass through the back
grating are caused to rise up to the top of the stove by means of a
partition u, and to descend on the opposite side of this partition to the
outlet pipe or flue m, in which may be a valve for controlling the draft;
c is a door to allow of fuel being introduced into the top of the
hopper a.
At Figure 5 I have shewn a perspective view of an ordinary
kitchen range adapted to burn fuel in the manner herein-before
described; Figure 5a is a longitudinal vertical section of the same, and
Figure 5b a transverse section on the line O, D, Figure 5. In these
Figures is the box head or hopper, fitted with a lid c at the top;
b, b, are the back and front gratings at the bottom of the hopper; i, the
pipe for admitting air for completing combustion; h, a hot plate,

page_text: forming the top of the range. The products of combustion are, as
shown by the arrows, led away over the top of a hot closet u, and an
oven k, and passing down at the side of the oven are led away below it
and below the hot closet to the bottom of the boiler 7, and pass away at
the back to the chimney.
Figure 6 shows a longitudinal vertical section of a long cooking range,
heated by a fire-grate constructed as herein-before described. The parts
of this grate are marked with the same letters of reference as in the
preceding Figures, and the way in which the products of combustion are
led over and under a roasting oven, baking oven, and hot closet, and
under a boiler to a flue or chimney, is clearly indicated bythe arrows.
At Figures 7 I have shewn various views of a tailor's oven, heated by
a grate constructed to burn fuel as herein-before described. From the
foregoing description, and from the Drawings, the construction of this
oven will be readily understood, so that it is unnecessary to give any
further description of it.
At Figures 8 I have shewn an ironing stove similarly heated.
At Figure 9 I have shewn a stove suitable for heating greenhouses
where the exit flue is employed for heating the house. When hot water
heating apparatus is used, the hot water boiler may similarly be heated a
by a fire-place constructed for burning fuel in the manner herein-before
described. In Figure 9, a is the hopper; b, b, front and back gratings;
c, lid at top of hopper; i, pipe for supplying air for completing com-
bustion; and 8, the warming flue, through which the products of
combustion are led away to a chimney.
1
At Figure 10 I have shewn a vertical section of a cooking stove,
suitable for cooking for about 100 men. The construction of the stove
will be clearly seen from the Drawings. The products of combustion,
passing from the fire-grate through the back grating 6, are supplied with
air for completing combustion through the pipe i, and are conducted to a
and fro in a zig-zag course by plates in the centre of a saddle-shaped
boiler, and are then conducted around an oven before they pass away
through the flue or chimney m.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner
of performing the same, I would have it understood that I do not g
confine myself to the precise construction of fire-grates or stoves shewn
in the Drawings hereunto annexed, as various modifications may be

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth day of November, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in the
thirty-seventh year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said Charles Warren, Her special
license that I, the said Charles Warren, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said Charles Warren, 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
FIRE-GRATES OR STOVES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said Charles Warren, my executors or administrators, by an instrument
in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, 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 Charles Warren, 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 :—
The object of this Invention is to construct a fire-grate or stove in
such a manner that more perfect combustion of the fuel consumed
therein may be obtained than in ordinary fire-places or stoves. For this
purpose, in place of the inlet to the flue or chimney being above the fuel,
as is for the most part customary, I form it at the back of the fire-place
just above the fire-bars or surface on which the fuel rests. The supply
of coal for keeping up the fire is thrown on at the top in the ordinary
manner, and is covered over by a close-fitting plate, which may be used
as a hot plate.
The greater part of the air for supporting combustion is admitted
between the front fire-bars, and passing amongst the burning fuel is
consumed, and escapes at the outlet flue at the back partly in the state
of carbonic oxide. Near this point a fresh supply of air is by a suitable
passage admitted to it to complete its combustion as it passes away; thus

page_text: the production of smoke is entirely avoided. As the fuel at the lower
part of the fire is thus being consumed, the coals above descend and take
its place, and as they descend become gradually coked, the gases given
off being by means of the chimney draft drawn downwards amongst the
ignited fuel and there consumed.
Figure 1 of the Drawings hereunto annexed shews a front view in
perspective of a cooking stove or range constructed for burning fuel in
the manner above described; Figure la is a plan view of the same;
Figure 1b is a horizontal section on the line C, D, Figure 1; Figure le
is a vertical section on the line A, B, Figure la; and Figure 1d, a
vertical section on the line E, F, Figure 1b. In these Figures a is a
box head or hopper for containing the fuel; this box or hopper is cast
or formed with front and back gratings b at the bottom. The air for
supporting combustion passes in through the front grating, whilst the
products of combustion pass away through the back grating. At the
top of the hopper is an opening through which the fuel is introduced.
This opening is provided with a closely fitting lid c; d, d, are fire-lumps,
which form the sides of the fire-grate, and e is a grating upon which the
fuel rests; f is an ash-pit fitted with a sliding pan, which can be drawn
out and emptied when required; g is a firc-lump below the tray; his a
hot plate forming the top of the stove or range. The products of
combustion which escape through the back grating are partly composed
of carbonic oxide, and to effect the combustion of this carbonic oxide a
further supply of air is admitted in rear of this grating by means of the
pipe . The products of combustion are then, as shewn by the arrows
in the several Figures, led away over the top of a wrought-iron oven k,
and down through a flue at its further side, then below the oven and
below a wrought-iron boiler 1, and rising up at the side of this boiler
pass away into the chimney flue m, in which is a damper n, by which
the draft can be controlled. In place of the products of combustion
being led away from the fire-grate or box through a grating b, the back
of the grate may be composed of a fire-lump o, as shewn in the vertical
section, Figure le.
At Figure 2 I have shewn a perspective view of a portable cooking
stove constructed for burning fuel in a similar manner. Figure 2a is a
vertical section of the same, and Figure 2b a plan view. In these
Figures a is the box head or hopper; b, the back and front gratings ;
i, the pipe for admitting air in rear of the back grating for completing