IMPROVEMENTS IN STOVES OR GRATES
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Platt, of Oldham, in the County of Lancaster,
Mechanical Engineer, and William Richardson, of the same Place,
Mechanical Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN STOVES OR
GRATES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Platt and William
Richardson at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their
Petition, on the 26th August 1863.
We, JOHN PLATT, of Oldham, in the County of Lancaster, Mechanical
Engineer, and WILLIAM RICHARDSON, of the same Place, Mechanical Engineer,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
STOVES OR GRATES," to be as follows:-
Our Invention consists in a method of constructing stoves or grates whereby
fuel may be supplied, when desired, to the lower or hotter portion of the fire.
For this purpose we adapt a receptacle for the fuel adjacent to the stove or
grate, from which receptacle the said fuel may be thrust in any desired
quantity so as to be mixed with the live coal. In an arrangement we at
present adopt the receptacle is placed behind the fire and is provided with a
bottom capable of being moved backward or forward by means of levers.
When the former of these motions is effected the fuel falls on to the bottom of

page_text: a chamber situate beneath the receptacle, and constitutes a charge, which is
thrust forward into the live coal by turning the levers in the other direction.
This thrusting forward is effected through the medium of a flange extending
downward from the sliding bottom of the receptacle, and the degree of motion
imparted thereto regulates the quantity of feed.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Platt and William Richardson in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 26th February 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, JOHN
PLATT, of Oldham, in the County of Lancaster, Mechanical Engineer, and
WILLIAM RICHARDSON, of the same Place, Mechanical Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Gracious Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-sixth day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-seventh year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto us, the said John Platt and William Richardson, Her special license
that we, the said John Platt and William Richardsou, our executors, admi-
nistrators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said John Platt and William
Richardson, our 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
STOVES OR GRATES," upon the condition, amongst others, that we, the said John
Platt and William Richardson, by an instrument in writing under our hands
and seals, or under the hand and seal of one of us, 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 William Richardson, do hereby declare
the nature of our said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement and accompanying Drawings (that is to say) :-
:-
In the accompanying Drawing Fig. 1 represents a domestic stove or grate

page_text: constructed according to our Invention, in vertical section; and Fig. 2 is a
plan view in section.
The fire-bars are shewn at a, and the back of the grate at b. The lower
part of this back is provided with an opening c, which is filled up, when the
position of the parts is that shewn in the Drawing, by a plate of metal d, d*.
This plate is connected to a lever e mounted so as to be capable of swinging
upon a centre at f, and it is guided in such swinging motion by resting upon a
curved plate g. Above the plate d* is a box h constituting a receptacle for
fuel, and provided with a door i, which may be opened from the front of the
fire-place so as to place a fresh supply of coals in the receptacle h. To the
lever e is jointed a rod k, its other end being connected to an arm 7 mounted
upon a stud m, and fast with the said arm is a lever n extending forward
beyond the front of the grate. The receptacle h having been supplied with
fuel and the parts being in the positions shewn, the plate d forms a back for
the fire, but when a fresh supply of fuel is required, then the lever n will
be turned in the direction of the arrow. This motion, through the intervention
of the arm and rod k will cause the lever e to swing upon its centre, and the
plate d, d*, will thus be moved backward, allowing the fuel to fall from the
receptacle h on to the plate g; then, by turning the lever n back again, the
plate d, d*, will be restored to the position shewn, thrusting forward the fuel
into the lower part of the fire, and this motion is repeated as often as required,
the extent of backward motion imparted to the plate d, d, determining the
quantity of fuel that shall be added to the fire. In some cases we find it
desirable to raise the fire before adding a fresh supply of fuel, under which
circumstance we employ the following arrangement:-Beneath the fire-bars a
is placed a shaft o, capable of being turned by a lever p; this shaft carries a
series of arms q furnished with projecting parts which are thus thrust
upward between the bars so as to raise the fire, after which they are again
turned downward and the fuel is supplied.as above described. We have, in
the foregoing description alluded to the receptacle has placed behind the fire,
but it may, after the same manner, be adapted at a side thereof if desired.
At the front of the grate we form channels s, t, which receive any ashes that
may be thrust forward when the fuel is supplied and conduct them downward
into the ash-pit. The front u of the latter of these channels serves as a support
for the lever n. The levers n and p are shewn in the Drawing as provided
with sockets at their ends, within which a small poker or other such instru-
ment may be placed when the said levers are required to be turned.
Having thus described and ascertained the nature of our said Invention,
and the manner of carrying the same into effect, I desire it to understood

page_text: that we claim as secured to us under the above in part recited Letters Patent,
the adaptation to stoves or grates of a receptacle for fuel, from which receptacle
the said fuel may be thrust forward after the manner above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Richardson, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-fifth day of February, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
WILLIAM RICHARDSON. (L.S.).j