APPARATUS TO BE APPLIED TO CHIMNEYS TO PREVENT THEIR TAKING FIRE, AND FOR RENDERING SWEEPING OF CHIMNEYS UNNECESSARY
Year: 1842

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EUGENE
DE VARROC, of Bryanston Street, Portman Square, in the County of Mid-
dlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the Twenty-third day of July, in the sixth year of Her reign, did, for
Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said Eugene
de Varroc, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege, and authority, that
I, the said Eugene de Varroc, my exors, admors, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Eugene de Varroc, my exors, admors, or assigns, should. at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times during
the term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use,
exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick upon
Tweed, my Invention of "APPARATUS TO BE APPLIED TO CHIMNEYS TO PREVENT
THEIR TAKING FIRE, AND FOR RENDERING SWEEPING OF CHIMNEYS UNNECESSARY;" in
which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso that I, the said Eugene de
Varroc, shall cause a particular description of the nature of my said Invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be inrolled in Her said
Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and imme-
diately after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by
the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Eugene de Varroc, do hereby declare that the nature of my Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described and

page_text: ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, reference being had to
the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked thereon,
that is to say:-
My Invention relates to the application of reticulated metal surfaces at the
commencement or near the entrance into a chimney, in order to prevent the
passage of flame and to intercept the soot. And in order, that the Invention
may be most fully understood, and readily carried into effect, I will proceed to
explain the Drawing hereunto annexed.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Figure 1 represents a section of a chimney with an ordinary fire-place or
stove, having apparatus applied thereto according to my Invention. Figure 2
shows a plan of the apparatus. Figure 3 shows an end view and a section of
the apparatus, and also a side view partly in section. The apparatus in this
instance is in the form of a cylinder a, which consists of two cylinders of wire
cloth one within the other, but coming close together, the meshes of the woven
wire cloth crossing each other, as is shown in the side view at Figure 3, and
the ends of the cylinder are closed each with two surfaces of wire cloth, similar
to those used in forming the cylinder a. In making this cylinder I use wire
cloth with sixty-four holes in a square inch, though I do not confine myself
thereto; or in place of having wire cloth closely perforated metal plates may
be used, but I have not found them so useful as the woven wire cloth. In
using this apparatus, it is placed on axes b, b, which are slide bolts which enter
into holes at each end of the cylinder a; this arrangement allows of the cylinder
being readily taken out of the opening into the chimney. The cylinder is made
up
of two end frames, which are combined together by a series of rods, and the
wire cloth or perforated plates are affixed thereon, the two surfaces of wire
cloth used touching each other, and the meshes of one cross the meshes of the
other; by this arrangement the flames and soot as they rise will be prevented
passing through the cylinder into the chimney; but there will be sufficient
draft up through the cylinder a for the purpose of the fire in the stove, and it
will be found that the chimney beyond the apparatus will not be liable to
become coated with soot, and will not therefore require to be swept as hereto-
fore. All that will be required will be to remove any soot which may hang
about the apparatus, and this should be done each morning by means of a
brush, and owing to the apparatus being made into the form of a cylinder the
same will be readily turned and brushed, and should a portion of the surface
become considerably coated with soot during the day, it should be turned
partly round to bring a fresh surface towards the fire. I would remark that I
prefer bringing the apparatus as near to the fire as convenience will allow, and

page_text: I close the entrance into the chimney at all parts, so as to cause the whole
draft to be through the apparatus, as will readily be understood on examining
the Drawing. The form of the apparatus a may be varied, and a series of
surfaces one beyond the other used, though I believe the cylindrical form to be
the best, where it can be conveniently applied. Figure 4 shows a section of a
steam-engine boiler with its furnace and chimney; Figure 5 shows a plan of
the chimney and apparatus; Figure 6 shows a plan of each of the surfaces of
wire cloth or perforated plates of metal used in the apparatus; and Figure 7
shows the brush apparatus used for cleaning, which is of wire and of a width
suitable for cleansing the two surfaces at the same time. a, a', a², a³, are four
surfaces of wire cloth, or it might be perforated plates of metal fixed within
the chimney as near as conveniently may be to the fire, as is shown. d, d, are
the apparatus used for cleaning the same, consisting of wire brushes, which are
moved by the handles e from the exterior of the chimney; by this arrangement
it will be found that flame will be prevented passing through the chimney, and
the soot will be arrested. I would remark that the apparatus may be varied,
and different sized holes to those described in the wire cloth may be used,
though so far as my experience goes the particulars above given are the best
for the purpose, and such apparatus may be applied to chimneys of various
sorts where it is desired to prevent the passage of flame or intercept soot.
And I would have it understood that what I claim is, an apparatus composed
of woven wire cloth or perforated plates of metal introduced near to or at the
entrance into the chimney, as above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Eugene de Varroc, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-first day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and forty-three
EUGENE DE VARROC. (L.S.)
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Twenty-first day of January,
in the year of our Lord 1843, the aforesaid Eugene de Varroc came before
our said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specifi-
cation aforesaid, and all and everything therein contained and specified, in
form above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according
to the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Enrolled the Twenty-third day of January, in the year of our Lord One