IMPROVE- MENTS IN FIRE GRATES
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Marsh, of Burnt Tree, near Dudley, in the
County of Worcester, Manufacturer, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN FIRE GRATES."
Sealed the 26th September 1856, and dated the 18th April 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Marsh at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 18th April
1856.
I, JOHN MARSH, of Burnt Tree, near Dudley, in the County of Worcester,
Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN FIRE GRATES," to be as follows:-
The improvements which constitute my Invention have for their object the
more effectual prevention or combustion of smoke, and more complete control
over the draught, than can be effected by grates of the ordinary construc-
tion. A vertical flue, situated at the back of the grate, opens at top into.
the chimney and at bottom into the ash-pit. A plate sliding horizontally under
the bottom of the grate may be made to close the said flue more or less. The
open arch situated over the fire, and through which the heated air and pro-
ducts of combustion pass to the chimney, is furnished with a valve or door,
by which the opening to the chimney may be closed at pleasure. The back of
the grate opens into the before-mentioned flue, the communication being
effected by openings in the said back. I make the back of the grate of a
series of flat bars, inclined to each other, after the manner of a louvre, or with

page_text: fire brick, having an opening or openings therein. By closing the before-
mentioned door or valve, the air is made to descend through the fire and pass
through the said louvre into the chimney. By means of the slide underneath
the grate, the flue at the back of the grate may be more or less closed, and
the draught thereby regulated. The ashes accumulating in the said flue as
well as the soot in the chimney may be removed by the withdrawal of the
said slide.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Marsh in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 15th
October 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
MARSH, of Burnt Tree, near Dudley, in the County of Worcester, Manu-
facturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eighteenth day of April, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the nineteenth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said John Marsh, Her special licence that I, the said John Marsh, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John
Marsh, 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," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John
Marsh, 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 John Marsh, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say :—
The improvements which constitute my said Invention have for their object

page_text: the more effectual prevention or combustion of smoke, and more complete
control over the draft, than can be obtained by fire grates of the ordinary con-
struction.
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawing represents, in front view, a fire
grate constructed according to my Invention, and Figure 2 represents a
vertical section of the same. The same letters indicate the same parts in both
Figures. A vertical flue a, situated at the back of the grate, opens into the
chimney at the top, and into the ash-pit b at its bottom. The horizontal
sliding plate c under the bottom of the grate may be made to close the flue a
to a greater or less extent. The open arch, situated over the fire, and through
which the heated air and products of combustion pass to the chimney, is
furnished with a valve or door d, turning upon a joint e. When the valve or
door d is in the position represented in Figure 2, the opening over the fire
into the flue is closed; but when the valve or door d is thrown back, as repre-
sented by dotted lines in Figure 2, the said opening is free, and the heated air
and products of combustion can pass upwards into the flue. ff, are openings
in the back of the grate, the said openings communicating between the grate
and the flue a. The said openings may either be made in the metal back of
the grate, or tho said openings may be made in fire clay, or fire bricks inserted
in the back of the grate. I sometimes add a spring or springs, in the manner
illustrated in Figure 3, for the purpose of holding the valve or door in any
position in which it may be placed. The said Figure 3 is a plan of the fire-
place. d is the top of the door or valve; and g, h, are two springs on the sides
of the fire-place, which springs press against the ends of the said door or valve,
and retain it in whatever position it may be placed. The spring g is shown in
Figure 2. By the use of the springs g, h, the relative quantities of air passing
directly upwards and through the openings f, f, may be adjusted at pleasure.
In lighting a fire in my improved grate, the valve or door d is thrown back
into the position represented by dotted lines in Figure 2, when the flame and
smoke ascend into the chimney. When the fire is thoroughly lighted, the
valve or door d is closed or partially closed, and the air descending through
the fire passes out at the back of the grate by the holes f, f, into the flue a.
The descent of the current of air through the fire prevents the formation of
or consumes the smoke. By means of the slide c the draft up the flue a may
be regulated, and the ashes accumulating on the said slide, as well as the soot
condensed in the flue a, may be removed by the withdrawal of the said
slide c.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and the manner of
carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that I do not limit

page_text: myself to the precise details herein described and represented, as the same
may be varied without departing from the nature of my said Invention; but I
claim as my Invention the improvements in fire grates, herein-before described,
and illustrated in the accompanying Drawing, that is to say, the combination
of openings at the back of the grate with a valve or door over the fire, the
said valve or door and the said openings communicating with the chimney.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Marsh, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Fourteenth day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
-Witness,
GEORGE SHAW.
JOHN MARSH. (L.S.)