Improvements in Domestic Fire Grates.
Year: 1898

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Domestic Fire Grates.
I, CAMILLE RATEL, of 18, Rue Mogador, Paris, France, Engineer, do hereby
declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention relates to an articulated removable fire grate, capable of being
taken to pieces and designed for domestic use. Its object is to entirely dispense
with the necessity of having to stir and rake the fire by hand. To this end, I
provide means whereby such operations can now be effected by the simple move-
ment of a hand lever worked from any suitable part of the fire place, or from the
grate itself, and serving both to actuate the grate bars and the front of the grate.
My improved fire grate is characterised by the combination of fire bars having
lateral extensions or gills intersecting, meshing, or breaking joint one with the
other, and capable of rocking in bearings provided in the front and rear parts of
the frame of the grate, and a movable front adapted to receive, from the hand
lever, an endwise or reciprocating movement combined with the rocking of the fire
bars, and so stir the fuel and cause the dust and cinders, which retard combustion
to fall out.
Means are provided for converting the movement of the hand lever, and com-
municating it simultaneously to all the fire bars, and these means may advan-
tageously consist of a rack or bar provided with pins adapted to act on slotted
cam-shaped pieces at the front ends of the fire bars.
An ash guard is provided to prevent ashes, or the like, falling between the
working parts at the front of the grate, and choking them.
Improvements in Domestic Fire Grates.
I. CAMILLE RATEL, of 18, Rue Mogador, Paris, France, Engineer, do hereby
declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, reference being had to the accompanying drawings and to the letters
and figures marked thereon, that is to say:-
This invention relates to an articulated removable fire grate, capable of being
taken to pieces, and designed for domestic use.

page_text: Its object is to entirely dispense with the necessity of having to stir and rake
the fire by hand.
To this end, I provide means whereby such operations can be effected by the
simple movement of a lever worked from any suitable part of the fire place, or
from the grate itself, and serving to actuate both the fire bars and the front of
the grate, as hereinafter described.
My improved fire grate is characterized by the combination with fire bars having
lateral extensions or gills intersecting, meshing, or breaking-joint with each other,
and capable of rocking in bearings, of a movable front adapted to receive an end-
wise or reciprocating movement combined with a rocking movement of the bars,
and so stir the fuel and cause the dust and cinders, which retard combustion, to
fall out.
And in order that my invention may be readily understood, I will describe the
same fully with reference to the annexed drawings, in which:
Fig. 1 is a front elevation, partly in section, of one form of fire grate constructed
in accordance therewith.
Fig. 2 is a plan of the same, partly in section, but with the front removed.
Fig. 3 is a transverse section on the line 1, 2, of Fig. 2, and
Fig. 4 is a detail view, illustrating the relative displacement of the fire bars and
of the front of the grate.
The same letters of reference indicate like parts throughout the figures.
A and B are respectively the front and the rear portions of a frame or support
on which the fire bars rest. This frame may itself be supported on feet 6 which
may be cast thereon, or it may be held by bolts or hooks driven into the inner wall
of the fire place, but not shewn in the drawings as they form no part of the inven-
tion. In the portion B, constituting the back and sides of the frame, are recesses
or seatings 4 to receive the pivots or trunnions of the fire bars, as will be herein-
after described. The portion A, constituting the front of the frame, may either be
cast in a piece with the back, or it may be connected thereto by bolts, or screws,
serving at the same time to support hollow pieces or bearers 3 cast in one with
brackets 2.
The portion A is provided at each side of the front of the grate, with two
uprights A¹ on which are supports or brackets 1 for receiving, together with the
before-mentioned brackets 2, the front E of the grate. The said hollow bearers 3
support a rack D by means of which a rotary movement is imparted to the fire
bars, as will be explained further on.
The front cross bar of the portion A is provided with recesses or seatings 5
corresponding with the recesses 4 in the rear portion B and serving, concurrently
with these latter, to support the fire bars C.
In short, on the frame A, B thus constructed and constituting the base of the
grate, the fire bars C rest.
These fire bars are of ordinary form in cross section, but in plan are formed as
shewn in the drawings, that is to say they comprise a central axis from which
branch out wings or gills c so arranged as to intersect, break-joint, or, as it were,
mesh with one another, so as to support the fuel, while being rocked or rotated
relatively to each other. The bars C terminate at one end in journals 6, provided
with one or two collars 7, resting on the back B of the frame, in the recesses or
seatings 4. At the other ends, the bars C carry trunnions or pivots 8 located in
the recesses or seatings 5, but these trunnions are, however, unprovided with
collars. in order to allow for the expension of the bars to take place freely on this
side. The outer ends of said bars carry a slotted plate or cam 9, engaging pins 10
on the rack D, by which the movement is given to the whole arrangement.
The front E of the grate is formed by a more or less open cast iron panel or plate
to allow of admission of air. This is supported, as before explained, by the
brackets 1 and 2 on the uprights A¹ of the frame, by means of four arms or longi-

page_text: tudinal extensions e of such a length as to permit of an endwise or reciprocating
movement being imparted to the front of the grate. The lower brackets 2 are
provided at top with a recess 21 forming a seating on which the grate can be
rested when the fire place is being cleared out or cleaned.
As stated, movement is imparted to the fire bars C by means of the rack ])
which rests, at each end, on the hollow bearers 3 of the portion A. Said rack
consists of two cheeks or side bars connected together by pins 10, each of which
co-operates with one of the slotted plates or cams 9 on the ends of the bars. When
an endwise or reciprocating movement is communicated to this rack, it is converted
into a rotary movement of the fire bars C by the action of the plates 9 and pins 10
on their respective journals. Such reciprocating movement may be imparted either
by means of a lever F arranged centrally in front of the grate, or by an outside or
detached lever G pivoted at g and arranged at one side exteriorly to the fire place.
In either case, the reciprocating movement of the rack is com-
bined with that of the front E of the grate, So that this latter
and the bars receive a #simultaneous movement. As shown in the
drawings, the lever F is coupled to a piece F¹ and has its fulcrum on a fixed pin f.
The said lever actuates the rack D by means of a slotted extension H and a pin
or stud h, and also the front of the grate by means of a fork and pin L, 7, the
movement of the two parts being in opposite directions relatively to each other, as
shewn in Fig. 4.
i
Where the movement is communicated by an outside or detached lever, such as
G, the rack and the front of the grate are connected by a rod pivoted to them
and capable of turning about a fixed point situate between such pivots.
To prevent ashes falling through the openings in the front of the grate, and so
obstructing the rack D, this latter is covered or protected by a piece M forming,
as it were, a roof, and called by me an "ash guard." It is fixed at its ends to
the front portion A of the frame by bolts m, and is provided on its rear face with
openings corresponding to the recesses or seatings 5 in the portion A, and between
which openings and recesses pass the pivots or trunnions 8 on the fire bars. On
this ash guard, which is a fixture, is the fulcrum f of the rod F.
The grate thus described, may, when smaller than the fire-place which is to
receive it. be supplemented by a hecking N adapted to take into lugs N¹ on the
portion B of the frame, and by side pieces O, held by lugs P cast on the said
backing, and on the uprights A¹.
The working of the grate is as follows. When it is desired to stir or to rake the
fire, an oscillatory movement is imparted to the lever F, or to G, as the case may
be, and is transmitted either through the fork L and pin 7 to the front E of the
grate, or, in the opposite direction, through the plate H and pin h to the rack D.
and so to the fire bars which then alternately assume the positions indicated in full
lines and in dot and dash lines in Fig. 4, thus stirring the fuel and causing any
ashes which may foul it, to fall out.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same may be performed, I declare that what I
claim is:-
1. An articulated removable fire grate for domestic use, capable of being taken
to pieces, characterized by the combination with intersecting, break-joint, or mesh-
ing gill bars capable of receiving a rotary movement about their pivots, of a mov-
able front adapted to receive an end wise or reciprocating movement simultaneously
with the rotary movement of the bars, and an ash guard for preventing ashes
falling on to the operating rack and obstructing its movement, substantially as
described with reference to the drawings.
2. In a domestic fire grate of the kind referred to, fire bars each having lateral
projections or gills, two supporting journals resting in the frame of the grate,
and a cam-shaped piece adapted to be actuated by a rack imparting to them alter-
nately in one or the other direction a rotary movement about their journals for the

page_text: purpose of stirring the fuel and ridding it of ashes, substantially as described with
reference to the drawings.
3. In a domestic fire grate of the kind referred to, the combination with the
movable front receiving a longitudinal reciprocating movement, of a lever con-
nected to the rack working the fire bars and serving to impart to such movable
front the said longitudinal movement simultaneously with the rotary movement of
the bars, for the purpose of effecting the clearing out of the grate, substantially
as described with reference to the drawings.
4. My improved domestic fire grate, substantially as herein before described and
shewn in the annexed drawings.
ven way of Dece,
ERNEST DE PASS,
Chartered Patent Agent,
78, Fleet Street, London, and 5A, Market Street, Nottingham,
Agent for the Applicant.