IMPROVEMENTS IN GRATES FOR GAS FIRES
Year: 1884

page_text: I WILLIAM THOMAS SUGG of Vincent Works, Vincent Street in the City of
Westminster Gas Engineer do hereby declare the nature of my invention for
IMPROVEMENTS IN GRATES FOR GAS FIRES to be as follows:-
This invention relates to Improvements in Grates to be used in combination
with a gas fire of the nature described in the specification of a Patent granted to
me on the 22nd December 1882 N° 6122.
In the specification of this Patent, the gas fire is described as being adaptable to
ordinary grates. It is however almost impossible to find two grates exactly alike,
and it is therefore useless to carry away, when quitting a house, gas fittings for one
grate which it is more than probable will not suit another grate. If left behind,
these fittings will not perhaps be appreciated by the next tenant, and will conse-
quently realise nothing; thus the original expense of adapting the gas fire to the
ordinary grate will be entirely lost.
For this reason many persons hesitate who would otherwise be glad to adopt
gas fires, and it is with a view to remove these objections, that I have devised the
grate which forms the subject of the present application, and which I apply to the
fire-place in front of the ordinary grate.
This grate, which may be of any size and of various shapes, will be entirely self
contained, and can therefore be readily moved from place to place as required, and
will serve in almost any fireplace, the connection between it and the service pipes
being made in the ordinary manner.
In carrying out my invention, I form preferably of cast iron a semicircular or
other suitably shaped base of an ornamental character, and in which the gas fittings
are placed. Onto this base I secure a casting which will represent the front of the
grate with the fire recess, and which may be of any ornamental character. The
fire basket I form of tire clay or other suitable material with cheeks, bottom, and
back all in one piece.-The bottom is made sloping as and for the purpose described
in the specification before referred to, but the back is formed with a bulge or
projecting portion at its upper part, which serves to throw the heat of the fire
outwards, whereas otherwise it would creep up the fiat back and pass away up the
chimney.
The front of the fire basket is formed preferably of a grill of vertical bars,
which is secured to the front of the grate by screws or in any other convenient
manner

page_text: The burners which I use are of the Bunsen type. The nozzles are curved and
fit into sockets screwed into the base, and provided on their undersides with bell
mouths.
.
The gas pipe is arranged to take the form of the front of the base, and it is
secured on the underside thereof by straps, or in any other convenient manner.
Into this pipe are fitted a number of cocks corresponding to the number of
burners employed, and the tap of each cock projects through or beyond the front of
the base, so that each burner may be turned off or lighted separately. To each
cock is fitted a regulator of any suitable construction, and from the regulator a
small pipe projects into the bell mouth socket.
In this form of grate the fire will project considerably beyond the front, and I
therefore provide a blower or hood, which will arrest the products of combustion
and direct them to an opening in the back of the grate, in connection with which
is a pipe which is passed through the register of the ordinary grate.
By the use of my improved grate both the heating and ventilating of the
apartment will be moreadily effected than with the ordinary grate, as the heat of
the fire will be radiate ore evenly and the currents of cold air which in ordinary
grates are drawn withush up the chimney will become warmed and ascend and
spread in the room.
The products of comb ition passing off by the pipe will induce an up draught
in the chimney which wl draw in the currents of air which have become vitiated
and cooled by contact with the ceiling and walls and thus the ventilation of the
apartment will be effected.
When the ordinary grate is too small to properly heat the room in which it is
placed my improved grate will be found extremely useful as a grate say twice the
size may be adapted with facility to the fire place.
Dated 10th days of Fahruary 1881

page_text: I WILLIAM THOMAS SUGG of Vincent Works Vincent Street in the City of
Westminster Gas Engineer do hereby declare the nature of my invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN GRATES FOR GAS FIRES" and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:-
This Invention relates to improvements in Grates for placing in front of any
ordinary fire place without removing the existing grate and to be used in.
combination with a Gas fire of the nature described in the Specification of a
Patent granted to me on the 22nd December 1882 N° 6122, whereby persons
taking or leasing a house may use a gas fire without going to the expense of
altering existing fire grate arrangements.
In the Specification of the Patent referred to the gas fire is described as being,
adaptable to ordinary grates-It is however almost impossible to find two grates
in two different houses exactly alike and it is therefore useless to carry away
when quitting a house gas fittings for one grate which it is more than probable
will not suit another grate-If left behind these fittings will not perhaps be
appreciated by the next tenant and will consequently realize nothing thus the
original expense of adapting the gas fire to the ordinary grate will be entirely lost.
For this reason many persons hesitate who would otherwise be glad to adopt
gas fires and it is with a view to remove these objections that I have devised the
grate which forms the subject of the present application and which I apply to the
fire place in front of the ordinary grate as above mentioned.
My improved grate which may be of any size and of various shapes will be
entirely self contained and can be readily moved from place to place as required
and will serve in any fire place or it may if desired stand out in the room without
inconvenience, the connection between it and the service pipes being made in the
ordinary manner.
In the accompanying drawing I have shown at Fig: 1 a front elevation of my
improved grate Fig: 2 being a sectional elevation taken on the centre line Fig: 1
and Fig: 3 a plan view.
Fig 4 is a partial plan view of the bottom of the fire basket, and Fig: 5 is a.
sectional elevation on an enlarged scale of the base of the grate showing the
arrangement of gas burners.
A is the base of the grate of semicircular or other suitable shape and of an
ornamental character. This base I secure to a casting or I cast it with the part B
which will represent the front of the grate with the fire recess and which may be
of any ornamental character...
The fire basket C I form of fireclay or other suitable material with cheeks
bottom and back all in one piece. The bottom of the basket C is made sloping as
described in the Specification before referred to and the back which may be
concave as shown at Fig: 2 is formed with a bulge or projecting portion c at its
upper part which serves to throw the heat of the fire outwards whereas otherwise
it would creep up the back and pass away up the chimney The position of this
projecting portion c must not be above the top of the grating or bars of the grate
and above the part e the back should incline upwards and backwards and against
this part of the back asbestos or other lumps are arranged to arrest any heat
which may not be absorbed by the lower part of the fire.
The front of the fire basket I form preferably of a grating C¹ of vertical bars
which is secured to the front of the grate by screws or in any other convenient
manner At the bottom of the fire basket I arrange slabs of steatite D D¹ on edge

page_text: as shown in the plan view Fig: 4 to form a support on which the asbestos or other
lumps to form the incandescent mass are placed and also to form a mixing chamber
for the gas flames and air-The slabs D are placed in front at equal distances apart
and the slabs D¹ at the back and between the front slabs.-Near their front edges
the slabs D¹ are pierced with holes in which asbestos fibres are threaded.
These fibres become white hot from contact with the gas and light up the gas
flame chambers thereby giving a cheerful appearance to the lower part of the fire.
The burners which I use are of the Bunsen type-The nozzles or burners
proper a are curved as shown and fit loosely into sockets formed in the base A and
are provided at their lower ends with bell mouths b in which wire gauze b' is
placed to prevent the burners lighting back.
The burners a project between the slabs D as shown at Figures 3 and 4 by
which means perfect combustion of the gas.is obtained before the flame strikes the
edges of the slabs D¹ and thus the disagreeable smell usual with gas fires. is
avoided.
The burners also being loose in their sockets can be turned outwards for lighting
whereby all risk of explosion is avoided.
The gas pipe d is arranged to take the form of the front of the base and it is
secured on the underside thereof by straps e or in any other convenient manner.
Into this pipe is fitted a number of cocks f corresponding to the number of
burners employed and the tap of each cock projects through or beyond the front
of the base so that each burner may be turned off or lighted separately-To each
cock is fitted a regulator or governor 7 of any suitable construction and from the
regulator a small pipe h projects into the bell mouth 6 of the nozzle a.
This arrangement of burner and governor allows a proper proportion of gas to
pass for the quantity of air which can enter the nozzles no matter how the pressure
in the service from the strect main may vary.
The base A is formed with an opening which is closed by the front plate A¹-
This opening will extend as far as the gas burners extend so that by removing the
front plate the attendant can readily get at the burners and other parts for repair
without disturbing the fire, a considerable advantage, and one which adds to the
general effectiveness of my improved grate-Openings are made in this plate for
the taps of the cocks f to pass through-E is a fender which is secured to the front
of the base A and serves to prevent any of the asbestos lumps, which may fall
from the grate, rolling on the floor.
In this form of grate, the fire will project considerably beyond the front and
I therefore provide a blower or hood F which will project over the fire and arrest
the products of combustion and direct them to an opening in the back of the
grate, in connection with which is a pipe which may pass through the register of
the ordinary grate, thus the form of the back ensures all the heat from the burning
gas being radiated into the room and the blower or hood prevents the products of
combustion passing into the room.
As I have before mentioned, the grate is filled with lumps of asbestos or other
suitable material which become red hot by the action of the gas.
1. By the use of my improved grate both the heating and ventilating of the
apartment will be more perfectly effected than with the ordinary grate as the heat
of the fire will be radiated more evenly over the room and the currents of cold air,
which in ordinary grates are drawn in by the rush of products of combustion up
the chimney thereby causing draughts-in the apartment will be avoided and the
air in the apartment will therefore be more quickly warmed than heretofore.-At
the same time the products of combustion (of which there will be comparatively
few) passing off by the pipe i will induce a sufficient up-draught in the chimney to
quietly draw in the vitiated air from the apartment and thus the ventilation of the
apartment will be effected.
When the ordinary grate is too small to properly heat the room in which it is
placed iny improved grate will be found extremely useful as a portable grate, say
of twice the size may be adapted with facility to the fire place.

page_text: 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 A portable grate for gas fires constructed as above described having all the
appearance of an ordinary grate and suitable for placing in front of any ordinary
grate, as and for the purpose set forth.
2nd In a grate, for gas fires, the combination of an inclined or sloping bottom
with an overhanging or projecting portion as c substantially as and for the purpose
set forth.
3rd In a grate for gas fires, the combination of an inclined bottom and over-
hanging portion as c with the slabs D D¹ arranged in the manner described and
for the purpose set forth.
4th In a grate for gas fires the arrangement of gas burners substantially as
described, whereby the proper relative proportions of gas and air are always
maintained, each burner is rendered independent of the other and the risk of
explosion when lighting is avoided.
5th In a grate for gas fire, the combination of the overhanging or projecting
part c of the back which ensures the radiation of heat, with the blower or hood F
which prevents the products of combustion passing to the room, and directs them
by the pipe i to the chimney substantially as described.
Dated the 28th day of November 1884
NEWTON & SON,
Agents for the Applicant.