Improvements in Arrangements for Heating Water at the Back of Fire Grates and in Ranges and for more Effective Regulation and Control thereof
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 9th Feb., 1897"
Complete Specification Left, 6th Nov., 1897-Accepted, 11th Dec., 1897
Improvements in Arrangements for Heating Water at the Back of
Fire Grates and in Ranges and for more Effective Regulation
and Control thereof,
I, ARTEMAS YATES Grasmere Cottage Palatine Road Northenden in the County
of Chester Commercial Clerk & Builder do hereby declare the nature of this
invention to be as follows:-
Whereas there is want of a more convenient form of Boiler capable of being
optionally used either separately from or in conjunction with the fire as ordinarily
used in a domestic fire grate or range and utilising to a greater degree than at
present obtains the heat as ordinarily generated in such and also capable of being
readily isolated to a great extent from the heat of the ordinary grate fire whenever
desired, as in case of frost in connection with hot water circulating pipes or other
accidents, and for the prevention of accidents without discomfort, I have devised and
invented the following arrangement, That is to say
I take a damper and fix it behind the setting of the bars at the bottom of a range
or other fire place and at a level slightly as may be convenient below the level of
such bars, the draw plate of the said damper being gridded or grated or otherwise
perforated in order to allow a draught or current of air to ascend through the same.
Over this damper plate is a space across which is placed a coil of tubing now referred
to, That is to say :-
I take a pipe or tube of copper or other suitable metal and lay it in gradually
rising coils of a circular or oval form or of a form approaching such and with
convolutions diminishing in regular gradation to a diameter of suitable size. This
coiled tube is hereinafter spoken of and designated as the bottom coil. The inlet
to such coil is at the bottom and the outlet is at the top and each is suitably
connected to its own proper connection in the system of hot water circulation as
ordinarily established.
Immediately above this bottom coil and resting partly upon the same, I place a
metal pipe, as of iron, to form a flue for heat and smoke to ascend therein,
hereinafter spoken of and designated as the flue pipe.
In such flue pipe at the lower end thereof I place a pipe or tube of copper or other
suitable metal in circular or oval coils of such diameter as may be easily contained
within the flue pipe, which at the least should be of such diameter as to readily
admit of such coil contained therein being of not less internal diameter than from
four to six inches. Such coiled pipe or tube is hereinafter spoken of and designated
as the upper coil and may be of the forin known as spiral or preferably of the form
known as parallel or as circumstances in each case may decide. If required a
duplicate of this or such and so many as may be deemed requisite to furnish ample
supplies of hot water for all purposes and demands may be similarly placed in the
flue pipe, all of which are hereinafter spoken of and designated as the upper coils.

page_text: .
The flue pipe must of necessity be made of sufficient length to contain all such coils
therein and may be of one piece or of two or more pieces jointed, and it may be
straight or curved or bent as circumstances in each individual case may require, or it
may be branched, that is, joined with connections of similar flue pipes relating to
oven or hot hearth or other flue and each containing one or more such coils as are
here described. This upper coil is or these upper coils are each suitably connected
with the same system of circulation or with such other circulation as may be desired
in like manner at the bottom coil 'above mentioned, but in cases where several of such
upper coils are contained in a flue pipe it is possible that some one or more of them
may be so far removed from close contact with fire as to attain to only a moderate
heat and in that case such coils may be suitably connected with an arrangement
for heating feed water before such is allowed to enter the hot water container
proper, or with any other body of water requiring to be heated to only a moderate
degree.
In the flue pipe and at a convenient distance above the fire in the range or other
fire place above mentioned I construct a closable opening through which suitable fuel
as coke in pieces or lumps of appropriate size may when required be supplied to drop
down within the interior of the flue pipe and within the internal space or diameter
of the coils above mentioned as is commonly done with a slow combustion stove or
boiler as ordinarily fixed, or alternatively the upper end of such flue pipe may in
some cases be arranged to serve as such-closable opening by the use of a drop
damper. In any case a suitable damper for partly or wholly closing the flue pipe
against the upward draught when desired is to be attached to such flue pipe or
inserted therein.
I have thus the interior portion of a slow combustion coil boiler situated at the
rear of an ordinary fire place or range and capable of working as such when properly
contained, which I now proceed to do, That is to say :--
Having provided a suitable fire back of iron, preferably in two parts, the lower part
baving appropriate perforations therein, I fix the same to rest on appropriate brick-
work or other support in such manner that it is adapted to act both as a backing to
the fire place or grate in range and as suitably containing the above mentioned зlow
combustion coil boiler.
At an appropriate level in the upper portion of such iron fire back I attach an iron
plate, which plate is perforated to a slight extent and is capable of being held up
against the flue pipe or let down when desired as an enclosing top to the fire grate
and so intensifying the draught in and along the flue pipe or pipes as well as serving
the purpose of improving the grate fire draught and so causing a better result as to
heat generally for cooking and other purposes. Held up against the flue pipe this
plate serves the purpose of isolating to some extent the upper portion of the coils in
such pipe from the heat of the ordinary fire when such isolation is desirable as in
cases mentioned in preamble hereto. In such cases a covering, as an oven shelf or
other iron plate without perforations is to be placed against the perforated lower back
plate and the flue pipe damper being closed thus shutting off the draught therein a
fire may be kept going in the grate without risk of boiler or other explosion, the
quantity of heat then gaining access to the coils being so small as to be within the
margin of safety in almost all cases, to which end the bottom coil is placed
sufficiently to the rear of the fire place to be away from the iron fire back to the
extent of about three inches clear space for so great a portion of its height as may be
found to be practicable in each individual case and for the more effective isolation
from heat in the circumstances mentioned it might be advisable to pack such space
with a suitable material, as asbestos fibre, and in order that this may be the more
readily done when required for this as well as for any other purpose it is intended
that the lower part of the iron fire back he fixed to so hang upon the upper part as
to be readily removable.
Fixed in such manner as described the said slow combustion coil boiler is adapted
to work as such independently of the ordinary range fire if required or in connection

page_text: therewith as may be in all probability more commonly desirable, and it may also be
greatly isolated from the heat of the ordinary grate fire whenever risks of accident or
other circumstances render this desirable.
Improvements in Arrangements for Heating Water at the Backs of
Fire Grates and in Ranges and for more Effective Regulation
and Control thereof.
I, ARTEMAS YATES Grasmere Cottage Palatine Road Northenden in the County of
Chester Commercial Clerk & Builder do hereby declare the nature of this inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
Whereas there is want of a more convenient form of Boiler capable of being
optionally used either separately from or in conjunction with the fire as ordinarily
used in a domestic fire grate or range, and utilising to a greater degree than at
present obtains the heat as ordinarily generated in such and also capable of being
readily isolated to a great extent from the heat of the ordinary grate fire whenever
desired, as in case of frost in connection with hot water circulating pipes or other
accidents and for the prevention of accidents without discomfort I have devised and
invented the following arrangement;-That is to say,
I take a damper, shown at "A," in Drawings hereunto attached and fix it behind
the setting of the bottom bars of a range or other fire place and at a level slightly as
may be convenient below the level of such bars, the drawplate of the said damper
being gridded or grated or otherwise perforated in order to allow a draught or current
of air to ascend through the same. Over this damper plate is a space across which is
placed a coil of tubing now referred to. That is to say:-I take an iron plate of
suitable size and thickness and having in, its rear edge an opening or indentation, as
shown at "B" and I place such iron plate to rest on brickwork at about the level of
the bottom bars above mentioned, or very slightly higher. On this plate I place a
fire brick of ordinary size towards the right hand end and another in similar position
towards the left hand end preferably on their edges. The positions of such fire
bricks are shown by dotted lines on the plate as shown in Fig 2 on second sheet of
drawings, where also other dotted lines show approximately the lay of the bottom coil
on such bricks which are to form a suitable support for such coil and if they are not
of sufficient length in themselves additional pieces may be placed to supplement
them. I now take a pipe or tube of copper or other suitable metal and lay it in
gradually rising coils of a circular or preferably oval form or of a form approaching
such and with convolutions very slightly diminishing in regular gradation to a
diameter of suitable size as shown at "C" in Fig 1 and at Fig 3 on second sheet of
drawings This coiled tube is hereinbefore and hereinafter spoken of and designated
as the bottom coil. The inlet to such coil is at the bottom and the outlet is at the
top and each is suitably connected to its own proper connection in the system of hot
water circulation as ordinarily established and especially is this contrivance well
adapted to be used in connection with such an apparatus for heating water as forms
the subject of a patent dated 28 Decr 1896 and numbered 29759.
Immediately above this bottom coil 1 place a metal pipe, as of iron, to form a flue
for heat and smoke to ascend therein, as shown at "D" in Fig 1 and at Fig 4
on second sheet of drawings, and hereinafter spoken of and designated as the flue
pipe.

page_text: In such flue pipe at the lower end thereof I place a pipe or tube of copper or other
suitable metal in oval or preferably in circular coils of such diameter as may be easily
contained within the flue pipe which at the least should be of such diameter as to
readily admit of such coil contained therein being of not less internal diameter than
about four inches as shown at "E" in Fig 1 and at Fig 5 on second sheet of drawings.
Such coiled pipe or tube is hereinafter spoken of and designated as the upper coil and
may be of the form known as spiral or preferably of the form known as parallel or as
circumstances in each case may render advisable. If required a duplicate of this or
such and so many as may be deemed requisite to furnish ample supplies of hot water
for all purposes and demands may be similarly placed in the flue pipe all of which are
hereinafter spoken of and designated as the upper coils. The flue pipe must of
necessity be made of sufficient length to contain all such coils therein and may be
of one piece or of two or more pieces jointed and it may be straight or curved or bent as
circumstances in each individual case may require, or it may be branched, that is,
joined with connections of similar flue pipes relating to oven or hot hearth or other
flue and each containing one or more such coils as are here described. This upper
coil is or these upper coils are each suitably connected with the same system of
circulation as the bottom coil above mentioned or with such other circulation as may
be desired, but in cases where several of such upper coils are contained in a
flue pipe it is possible that some one or more of them may be so far removed from close
contact with fire as to attain to only a moderate heat and in that case such coils may
be suitably connected with an arrangement for heating feed water before such is
allowed to enter the hot water container proper, or with any other body of water
requiring to be heated to only a moderate degree.
In the flue pipe and at a convenient distance above the fire in the range or other
fire place above mentioned I construct a closable opening, as shown at "F in Fig 1
This closable opening is not reproduced on the second sheet of Drawings as it is
intended that such may vary in forin and character with varying requirements as to
position and other circumstances, but in all cases it is intended that such opening
should serve as a means whereby suitable fuel as coke in piece's or lumps of
appropriate size may when required be supplied to drop down within the interior of
the flue pipe and within the internal space or diameter of the coils above mentioned,
as is commonly done with a slow combustion stove or boiler as ordinarily fixed. In
some cases the upper end of the flue pipe may be arranged to serve as such closable
opening by the use of a drop-damper or a turn-over damper. In any case a suitable
damper for partly or wholly closing the flue pipe against the upward draught when
desired is to be attached to such flue pipe or inserted therein.
I have thus the interior portion of a slow combustion coil boiler situated at the
rear of an ordinary fire place or range and capable of working as such when properly
contained, which I now proceed to do. That is to say :-
Having provided a suitable fire back of iron, preferably in two parts, as shown
at "G" and "H," the lower part having appropriate perforations therein as shown at
Fig 6 in second sheet of Drawings I fix the same to rest on appropriate brickwork or
other support in such manner that it is adapted to serve both as a backing to the fire
place or grate in range and as suitably containing the above mentioned slow
combustion coil boiler.
At an appropriate level in the upper portion of such iron fire back I attach an iron
plate as shown at "I," which plate is perforated to a slight extent as shown at Fig 11
in second sheet of Drawings, and is capable of being held up against the flue pipe or
let down when desired as an enclosing top to the fire grate and so intensifying the
draught in and along the flue pipe as well as serving the purpose of improving the
grate fire draught and so causing a better result as to heat generally for cooking and
other purposes especially as regards front heat for broiling before the bars.
Held up against the flue pipe this plate serves the purpose of isolating to some
extent the coils in such pipe from the heat of the ordinary fire when 'such isolation is
desirable as in cases mentioned in preamble hereto.
In such cases a covering, as an oven shelf or other iron plate without perforations

page_text: is to be placed against the perforated lower portion of the iron fire back and the flue
damper being closed, thus shutting off the draught, therein, a fire may be kept going
in the grate without risk of boiler or other explosion, the amount of heat thus
gaining access to the coils being so small as to be within the margin of safety in
almost all cases, to which end and aim the bottom coil is placed sufficiently to the
rear of the fire place to be away from the iron fire back to the extent of about two to
three inches clear space for so great a portion of its height as may be found to be
practicable in each individual case, and for the more effective isolation from heat in
the circumstances mentioned it might be advisable to pack such space with a suitable
material, as asbestos or slag wool, and in order that this may be the more readily
done when required as well as for inspection and for any other purpose it is intended
that the lower part of the iron fire back be fixed to so hang upon the upper part as to
be readily removable. Also the flue pipe should be stayed in position in such
manner that the iron strap which may well be used for such purpose, encircling the
flue pipe, should be halved and so bolted together at the lugs or ears of the halves
as to enable the flue pipe to be freed from the encircling strap and drawn up clear of
the upper coil for the purpose of cleaning, inspection, repair, or other purpose as
required.
Fixed in such manner as described the said slow combustion coil boiler is adapted
to work as such independently of the ordinary range fire if required or in connection
therewith as may be in all probability more commonly desirable and it may also be
greatly isolated from the beat of the ordinary grate fire whenever risk of accident or
other circumstance may render this desirable.
The above arrangement in the aggregate result and in simple form is shown partly
as side view and partly in section in the Drawing hereunto attached (Fig 1) but
modifications and amplifications of the same are readily devisable, as for instance, the
bottom coil may be improved in effectiveness, by having the convolutions laid in
more than single fold, or a smaller coil of similar or somewhat similar form may be
enclosed within the folds of the bottom coil as described; or, further, and especially
in such cases where it is required to have as much coil as possible placed in contact
with fire in a limited amount of space, the upper coil may be partly let down within
the folds of the bottom coil, only the upper portion thereof being in that case
contained within the flue pipe. Also two or more flue pipes may be used severally as
well as jointly, wherever sufficient room for such may be found to be available, and
further modifications may be frequently found to be practicable and desirable without
departing from the main features of the arrangement, the essential characteristics of
which I have set forth being well aware that coils have been commonly used as
boilers for a long period of time, being set or laid in varying form and manner, and I
lay no claim to the invention of the coil used simply as a boiler.
In building or setting the coils herein referred to, and more especially does this
apply to the bottom coil, it is advisable to place such bearers or carriers of iron or
other suitable metal resting on brickwork or other support as may in each appear
needful to give such coils the necessary strength and stability to retain their form
and position as desired.
In order that this Invention may be the more clearly understood Drawings are
attached hereunto to show approximately the forms and sizes of the various
component parts as they might commonly be found to be adapted for use with what
is known as an open range of Four feet width and Four and a half feet height, but
it is to be well understood that varying sizes and forms of ranges and other fireplaces
will require modifications of the various component parts of this arrangement in
order that this may be adapted for use with each of such widely varying dimensions
and forms of such fire places as are well known to exist.
Fig 1 has been already referred to above and will. be readily understood as showing
the general operation of this Invention when being used to heat water by the
utilisation of the ordinary grate fire only, that is, without any additional fuel being
dropped down through the closable opening referred to. Dotted lines show how the
oven shelf or similar iron plate would shut off a great amount of heat from gaining

page_text: 65
access to the coils whenever desired as herein mentioned. At "A," as a separate
drawing, is shown plan, or full view, of proposed gridded damper plate.
At "a" and 6" are iron bars carrying iron plate as Fig 10. On the second sheet-
of Drawings are shown various component parts in more detail than can be shown
in Fig 1, namely
Fig 2. Iron plate about inch thick cast with suitable indentation to go above
damper plate.
Fig 3. Bottom coil, front view.
Fig 4. Flue pipe, front view.
Fig 5. Flue pipe in horizontal section showing by dotted lines the lay of the upper
coil contained therein.
Fig 6. Lower portion of iron fire back showing perforations and indentation to
allow heat to pass to coils.
Fig 7. Upper portion of iron fire back (front view) showing proposed carriers or
gudgeons on which to hinge iron top plate shown at Fig 11.
Fig 8. Upper portion of iron fire back (side view).
Fig 9. Upper portion of iron fire back (viewed from above) showing bolt holes in
flanges to admit bolts used to secure iron plate as Fig 10 in position.
Fig 10 Iron plates, about inch in thickness enclosing flue pipe and serving to
carry such brickwork as may be necessary to neatly finish the fireplace back.
Fig 11 Top plate intended to enclose ordinary grate fire at the top thereof when
required as herein mentioned.
Fig 12 The same in section on line x-y.
Fig 13 A suitable build of coil made out of one long length of tube to form bottom
coil and upper coil without having more joints or unions than are necessary and
specially suitable for ranges and other fire places of small dimensions.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
Invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what
I claim is:
1st. The Combination of parts herein enumerated to form a Composite Coil boiler
in connection with an ordinary fire grate, but practically independent thereof if
required; that is to say
(a) A bottom damper with gridded or grated or perforated draw plate.
(b) Convolutions of pipes or tubes in gradually rising coils.
(c) Metal tube or pipe to form a flue in or above or around slow' combustion boiler
with opening therein for coke or other fuel to be passed to coils as herein set forth,
the flue itself being closable partially or wholly, as may be desired, against
upward draught therein by the use of a damper or other contrivance to the same
effect.
(d) Iron or other metal fire back forming also protector to coils of pipe or tubing
and enclosing same on one side or on two or more sides with plate attached thereto
capable of being let down when required to enclose top of fire in range or
grate.
(2nd) Any slow combustion coil boiler in or attached to an ordinary fire grate or
range, and capable of working in connection therewith or independent thereof, so
composed of elements in the combination herein set forth as to practically amount to
an adaptation of the arrangement herein described.
Dated this Fifth day of November 1897