IMPROVED APPARATUS POR ECONOMISING FUEL AND UTILIZING THE HEAT PRODUCED IN FIRE-PLACES OR STOVES FOR WARMING AND VENTILATING, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES.”
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Wadsworth, of Medlock Street, Hulme,
in the City of Manchester, for the Invention of "IMPROVED APPARATUS
POR ECONOMISING FUEL AND UTILIZING THE HEAT PRODUCED IN FIRE-PLACES
OR STOVES FOR WARMING AND VENTILATING, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES.”
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Wadsworth
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 29th September 1868.
I, JAMES WADSWORTH, of Medlock Street, Hulme, in the City of
Manchester, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR ECONOMISING FUEL AND UTILIZING THE HEAT PRODUCED
IN FIRE-PLACES OR STOVES FOR WARMING AND VENTILATING, AND FOR OTHER
PURPOSES," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object the more effectual neutralization of
heat produced in fire-places and stoves, and thereby economising fuel
used for warming and ventilating apartments, for cooking, and other
purposes.

page_text: I make a casing or framework of sheet iron or other metal, in the inside
of which I fix a door or shutter near the centre working or swivelling on
pivots supported at each end by the framework or casing. To the upper
edge and at one end of the shutter or door I attach a connecting rod by
means of which such door or shutter can be opened or partially closed at
pleasure. This apparatus I fix in the flue of the chimney above the fire-
place so that when fixed the door or shutter can be opened or partially
closed at pleasure by the connecting rod which hangs down by the side of
the fire-place, and when the fire is kindled the door or shutter can be
partially closed and thus reduce the area of the flue and prevent an
excessive current of air from rushing up the chimney and carrying with
it the heat from the fire. For cooking and other purposes the partial
closing of such door or shutter compels the draught to pass under the
oven, fire-back, or side boiler when the damper appertaining to such
oven or boiler is opened, and thus such oven or boiler can be quickly
heated until the temperature is sufficiently high, when the door in the
flue or the damper can be regulated to maintain a proper heat.
This Invention further consists in applying a hollow or tubular back to
a fire-place which is open to the atmosphere beneath the fire-place and
communicates with the interior of a long tube or casing fixed in any
convenient part of a room or apartment, such tube or casing opening at
its upper end into the flue of the chimney, and being surrounded by an
outer casing of larger diameter reaching from near the bottom almost to
the top of the room or apartment, the action of the apparatus being as
follows: When a fire is lighted in such fire-place a current of air enters
the apparatus at the openings beneath the fire-place, and becomes heated
in its passage to the inner casing and heats the inner casing in its passage
to the flue, and the heat given off causes the air in the lower portion of
the room to enter the outer casing at the bottom and to pass out at the
top, thus establishing a current between the air at the bottom and the
top of the room, by which means all the air in such room becomes heated
to a comfortable temperature. In some cases the heating medium in
the inner casing may be hot water supplied by a boiler at the back of the
fire-place, or one or more gas jets may be lighted inside such inner
casing, and for ventilating the fresh air may be supplied to the outer
casing from the outside of the building or apartment,

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said James Wadsworth in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 29th March 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
WADSWORTH, of Medlock Street, Hulme, in the City of Manchester, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of September, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the
thirty-first year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said James Wadsworth, Her special
licence that I, the said James Wadsworth, my executors, adniinis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said James Wadsworth,
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
"IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR ECONOMISING FUEL AND UTILIZING THE HEAT
PRODUCED IN FIRE-PLACES OR STOVES FOR WARMING AND VENTILATING, AND FOR
OTHER PURPOSES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said James Wadsworth, my executors or administrators, by an instru
ment in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals,
should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Inven-
tion, 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 James Wadsworth, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in
and by the following statement :-
This Invention has for its object the more effectual utilization of heat
produced in fire-places and stoves, and thereby economising fuel used for
warming and ventilating apartments, for cooking, and other purposes.
I make a casing or framework of sheet iron or other metal, in the
inside of which I fix a door or shutter near the centre working or

page_text: swivelling on pivots supported at each end by the framework or casing.
To the upper edge, and at one end of the shutter or door I attach a con-
necting rod by means of which such door or shutter can be opened or
partially closed at pleasure. This apparatus I fix in the flue of the
chimney above the fire-place so that when fixed the door or shutter can be
opened or partially closed by the con-connecting rod which hangs down by
the side of the fire-place, and when the fire is kindled the door or shutter
can be partially closed and thus reduce the area of the flue and prevent
an excessive current of air from rushing up the chimney and carrying
with it the heat from the fire. For cooking and other purposes the
partial closing of such door or shutter compels the draught to pass under
the oven, fire-back, or side boiler, when the damper appertaining to such
oven or boiler is opened, and thus such oven or boiler can be quickly
heated until the temperature is sufficiently high, when the door in the
flue or the damper can be regulated to maintain a proper heat.
This Invention further consists in applying a hollow or tubular back to
a fire-place which is open to the atmosphere beneath the fire-place and
communicates with the interior of a long tube or casing fixed in any
convenient part of a room or apartment, such tube or casing opening at
its upper end into the flue of the chimney, and being surrounded by an
outer casing of larger diameter reaching from near the bottom almost to
the top of the room or apartment, the action of the apparatus being as
follows: When a fire is lighted in such fire-place a current of air enters
the apparatus at the openings beneath the fire-place, and becomes heated
in its passsage to the inner casing and heats the inner casing in its
passage to the flue, and the heat given off causes the air in the lower
portion of the room to enter the outer casing at the bottom and to pass
out at the top, thus establishing a current between the air at the bottom
and the top of the room, by which means all the air in such room
becomes heated to a comfortable temperature. In some cases the heating
medium in the inner casing may be hot water supplied by a boiler at the
back of the fire-place, or one or more gas jets may be lighted inside such
inner casing, and for ventilating the fresh air may be supplied to the
outer casing from the outside of the building or apartment.
In order that this my said Invention may be the more readily seen and
understood I have hereunto annexed a Sheet of Drawings illustrative of
my improved apparatus, similar reference letters being used to denote
similar parts in all the views.

page_text: Fig. 1 is a front external view, Figs. 2 and 3 are end sectional views,
and Fig. 4 is a plan of the casing or framework supporting a swivel door
to be applied to the flues of fire-places for economising fuel and utilizing
the heat produced in such fire-places; Fig. 5 represents a side sectional
elevation of a fire-place shewing the position which the swivel door
occupies when fixed in the flue; Fig. 6 is a front sectional view, and
Fig. 7 is a sectional plan of another part of my apparatus for warming and
ventilating apartments; and Fig. 8 is a front elevation, partly in section,
and Fig. 9 represents a plan of another modification of my improved
apparatus for the same purpose.
In Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, A is a framework or casing made the shape
of the flue to which it is to be applied and supporting the swivel door B,
which is made of less area than the casing A in order that the flue may
be never entirely closed, such swivel door working on pivots in the ends
of the casing or framework A; C is a rod jointed to either end of the
swivel door B, which may have a ratchet formed upon its edge to catch
upon a stud situated in any convenient position on the side of the fire-
place, so that by taking hold of the handle D upon the lower extremity
of such rod the swivel door B may be opened or closed, and be regulated
and held in any position by means of the ratchet taking hold of the
afore-mentioned stud. This casing or framework may be formed of sheet
iron, or of cast-iron, or of any other suitable material, and is fixed in the
flue of the chimney above the fire-place by being nailed between the
courses of brickwork or secured in any other convenient manner, as seen
in Fig. 5, leaving the rod C to hang down, as illustrated, by the side of
the fire-place in order to be conveniently disposed for opening and
closing the swivel door, which is shewn as open in Fig. 3 and closed in
Fig. 2. This apparatus is applicable for every description of fire-place or
flue, and possesses this advantage over the ordinary damper that it is out
of sight, and the swivel door being mounted in the centre of the flue no
lodgment is afforded for soot; it can also be readily taken out without
interfering with or injuring the brickwork of the fire-place or chimney,
and it does not check the draught when fully open. As applied to a
kitchen oven range this apparatus is found to be very advantageous,
as by its use the draught may be compelled to pass under the oven,
fire-back, or side boiler when the damper appertaining to such oven or
boiler is opened, and thus such oven or boiler may be quickly heated
without extra fuel; and for warming apartments this apparatus is bene-

page_text: ficial in preventing an excessive current of air from carrying the heat up
the chimney, and thereby allowing such heat to be diffused in the room
and also obviating cold draughts in such room.
In Figs. 6 and 7, E represents the chimney breast, in which is situated
the fire-place F. Surrounding the back and sides of such fire-place is a
hollow casing G open to the atmosphere at the bottom and provided with
bars H at its back in order that the hot air and gases from the fire may
enter such casing, and thence pass through the inner tube I into the flue
either near the top of or at any convenient height in the apartment, and
thus communicate heat to such inner tube I. K is an outer tube
surrounding the outside of the tube I and reaching from near the bottom
to any convenient height in the apartment. The inner tube I and outer
tube K may be situated in the same apartment as the fire-place, and thus
assist in warming it; or such tubes may be carried into any other room
either on the same floor as the fire-place or to any room on the floors
above, and thus communicate heat to any other part of the house.
The manner in which this apparatus works may be thus described:-
By the action of the hot air and gas from the fire passing through it, the
inner tube I becomes heated and thus causes the air at the bottom of the
apartment in which the tubes I and K are situated to enter the outer
tube K at its lower extremity and to pass out at the top, and thus a
circulation of the whole atmosphere of the room is established through
the outer tube, by which means the apartment is warmed to a comfortable
and equable temperature.
In the modification represented by Figs. 8 and 9, Lis an enclosed casing
at the back of the fire, having a small opening into the atmosphere under
the fire-place to allow for the escape and admission of air, and provided
with a flow pipe M and return pipe N, to connect the casing L with the
hot air cylinder O, which has an air passage P passing through its centre
and an outer casing R surrounding its outside. This modification of my
Invention, as well as that described in connection with Figs. 6 and 7,
may be constructed in part or altogether of sheet or cast metal, or
of fire-brick or any other suitable material, and both arrangements are
applicable to an ordinary stove. The action of this modification is the
same as that illustrated by Figs. 6 and 7, the only difference being that
the heating medium is a circulation of hot air from the casing L through
the cylinder O, and that the air of the apartment circulates through the
centre of the cylinder O besides passing round its outside. It will be

page_text: readily apparent that the heating medium may consist of hot water
passing through the cylinder O, and that the inner casing of my heating
apparatus may be heated by gas, and thus form a gas stove in which any
effluvia arising from its use may be completly carried away. In either of
the foregoing modifications the fresh air may be supplied to the outer
casing from the outside of the building, and thus be warmed before
entering the chamber or apartment.
Having thus particularly described and ascertained the nature of the
said Invention, together with the best means with which I am acquainted
for carrying the same into practical effect, I wish it to be distinctly
understood that I do not confine myself to the precise details, relative
proportions, or dimensions of the several parts or portions of the apparatus
herein-before described and illustrated in the annexed Drawing, as the
same may be considerably varied without departing from the Invention;
but what I claim is, the use and application of a swivel door to the flues
of fire-places as and for the purposes described, and the use and appli-
cation of a casing to the back of fire-places communicating with an inner
and outer tube or cylinder as and for the purposes herein-before
described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawing, or any mere
modification of the same.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Wadsworth, have hereunto
set my hand and affixed my seal, this Twenty-seventh day of
March, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and
sixty-nine.
JAMES WADSWORTH. (L.S.)
Witness,
JOHN G. WILSON,
Patent Agent,
1, Market Place,
Corner of St. Mary's Gate,
Manchester.