IMPROVEMENTS IN STOVES AND FIRE BASKETS."
Year: 1878

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Franco Hill, of Saint Pancras, in the County of
Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN STOVES AND FIRE
BASKETS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James France Hill at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 8th April 1878.
JAMES FRANCE HILL, of Saint Pancras, in the County of Middlesex.
MENTS IN STOVES AND FIRE BASKETS."
"IMPROVE
My Invention has for its object to prevent the loss of the heat which is absorbed
by the brick and cheek framework and back setting of ordinary register stoves, and
which is consequently wasted.
My Invention consists in a fire basket of cylindrical form, constructed with
horizontal rings, with vertical bars set upright, and mounted to rotate on a vertical
axis at a short distance from the stove back or case, the basket being constructed
with open gratings on all its sides so as to radiate the heat equally in every
direction, there being no cheeks or back to the fire basket to absorb any of the
heat.
Behind the fire basket there is fixed to the stove back a curved reflector of
polished metal, by which the heat radiated backwards is reflected forwards into the
room or place to be heated, and another similar reflector may be placed on the
hearth beneath the fire basket.
The fire basket is provided with an ordinary grating at bottom to support the
fuel and admit air to support combustion, and beneath this grating there is a
moveable perforated plate to regulate or cut off the admission of air through the
grating and check the rate of combustion. The fire basket, which is supported on a
vertical axis or pivot, as before mentioned, is carried by a bracket or arm standing
out from the back or case of an ordinary so-called register stove, the said arm or
bracket being held by and fitted to slide in a dovetailed groove, and the pivot on

page_text: which the fire basket revolves being fitted to slide along the arm to enable the
height and position of the fire basket to be varied as desired.
The fire baskets of different stoves are made interchangeable, and may whilst the
fire is burning in them be moved from room to room, and when not required for
use may be altogether removed, and a flower vase or other ornamental object cou-
structed for the purpose fitted on the same pivot.
The fire basket is not necessarily attached to the stove case, but may be
constructed to stand on a base or on feet, and be altogether independent of the stove
case or frame, and it may either be made to rotate or be rigidly fixed.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said James France Hill in the Great Seal Patent Office on the Sth
October 1878.
JAMES FRANCE HILL, of Saint Pancras, in the County of Middlesex.
MENTS IN STOVES AND FIRE BASKETS."
"IMPROVE-
My Invention has for its object to prevent the loss of the heat which in an
ordinary so-called "register stove" is absorbed by the back and cheek framework
and the brick setting, and which is consequently wasted.
My Invention consists in a cylindrical or polygonal fire basket, constructed of
horizontal rings and vertical bars or otherwise, set upright, and which may or may
not be mounted to rotate on a vertical axis at a short distance from the stove back
or case, the basket being open on all its sides so as to radiate the heat equally in
every direction, there being no cheeks or back to the fire basket to absorb any of
the heat. There is thus a free space all round the fire basket, which is quite dis-
connected from the brickwork setting and from the metal case or shell or the tiled
lining of the chimney back, as the case may be, so that little or no heat can be
absorbed and wasted, almost the whole heat from the fire being thrown into the
room.
Behind the fire basket there is fixed to the stove back a curved reflector of
polished metal, by which the heat radiated backwards is reflected forwards into the
room or place to be heated. Another similar reflector may be placed on the hearth
beneath the fire basket. The fire basket when made to rotate on a vertical axis
can be readily freed from ashes without disturbing the burning fuel, whereby
economy and uniform combustion are alike ensured and the fire kept burning
brightly on all sides.
The fire basket is provided with a fixed grate at bottom to support the fuel and
admit air to support combustion, and beneath this grate there is a movable grating
with apertures corresponding to those of the fixed grate, and serving to regulate
or cut off the admission of air through the bottom of the fire basket and check the
rate of combustion. The vertical axis or pivot of the fire basket is carried by a

page_text: bracket or arm permanently or removably attached in a socket on the back or case
or on the cheeks of an ordinary so-called "rogister stove." The pivot on which
the fire basket revolves may be fitted to slide along the arm, to enable the position
of the fire basket to be varied if desired.
By this Invention the fire baskets of different stoves are interchangeable, and
may, whilst the fire is burning in them, be moved from room to room, and when
not required for use may be altogether removed and replaced by a flower vase or
other ornamental object constructed for the purpose and fixed on the same pivot.
The fire baskot is not necessarily mounted on a bracket arm attached to the
stove case, but may be constructed to stand on a base or on feet and be altogether
independent of the stove case or frame, and it may either be made to rotate or be
rigidly fixed.
DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 is a face view of a stove front with the fire basket and reflector in
position; Figure 2 is a horizontal section of same on line 1-1, Figure 1, showing
the bracket arm and pivot to carry the firo basket, the firo basket itself not being
shown in this Figure; Figure 3 is a similar section with the fire basket in place.
Figure 4 is a contral vertical section of the stove.
Figure 5 is a horizontal section showing another form of support for the fire
basket, a transverse arm being in this case fixed by both ends received in sockets
in the cheeks of the back or case of the stove.
Figure 6 shows a face view of the stove front as in summer time, the fire basket
being replaced by a flower vase.
Figure 7 is a vertical section, and Figure 8 a bottom view, drawn to a larger
scale, of the fire basket and its regulator valve or grating at bottom.
Figure 9 is a side clovation of a fire basket mounted on a stand and separate
from the stove case or frame, this Figure also showing the fire basket stationary
instead of rotary.
A is any ordinary stove case, which may be plain or lined with tiles, or otherwise
ornamented according to taste; B is the fire basket, of circular, square, oblong,
oval, or polygonal form, constructed of vertical and horizontal or of diagonal bars;
C is the bracket arm carrying the fire basket, said arm being fixed to a plate c,
which is fitted into a socket a on the stove back, or the arm C may be rigidly
fixed to the stove back; D is the pivot upon which the fire basket rotates. It
rises from a clip D', embracing the arm Cand free to slide back and forth thereon if
desired. This pivot D is formed with an enlargement or shoulder d, for a purposo
to be explained presently. The grating B₁ at bottom of the fire basket has fan-
shaped apertures radiating from the centre, and beneath said grating there is a
draught regulator E, consisting of a plate perforated with correspondingly shaped
apertures, and fitted to allow the fire basket to rotate independently of it to an
extent limited by studs e in the bottom of the fire basket passing through curved
slots e' in the plate E, so that by turning the fire basket, say to the right, the
apertures in the grating and in the regulator will be made to coincide, and vice
versa, when turned in the opposite direction, so that the draught may be regulated
at will. The pivot D fits into a corresponding hole at the centre of the grating B',
and the shoulder & fits into a hole in the regulator plate E tight enough to prevent
plate E from turning with the fire basket until the pins e strike the ends of tho
slots e¹.
The fire basket may also be partly supported on cross arms C¹ at the end, and on
the sides of the bracket. F is a semicircular reflector of polished metal placed behind
the fire basket to reflect into the room the heat radiated from the back of the fire.
This reflector is fixed in position by a slot in its lower edge fitting on the bracket C
and sliding in grooves f therein, or the reflector may be otherwise fixed.
In Figure 9 the fire basket is pivoted on a stand G. The fire basket itself inay
have feet resting directly on the hearth, or it may have a short arm C cast in one

page_text: with it, which arm will be received in a socket a on the stove back, as in the other
Figures, so that the fire basket may still be removable although not rotary.
Having described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of performing the
same, I declare that what I claim as my Invention to be protected by the herein-
before in part recited Letters Patent is,―
1st. The combination with an ordinary domestic fire-place or stove case of a
circular or polygonal fire basket placed or mounted at a distance from the back and
cheeks of the stove case, substantially as specified.
2nd. The combination with an ordinary domestic fire-place or stove case of n
fire basket, mounted to rotate on a vertical axis at a distance from the back and
cheeks of the stove case, substantially as and for the purpose shown and described.
3rd. Supporting the fire basket on a bracket arin or cross bar attached to the
stove case, and carrying a pivot for the fire basket to rotate upon, as shown and
described, whereby the fire basket is held free of contact with the stove case, and
absorption and waste of heat is prevented.
4th. The employment in combination with a fire basket, supported. or placed at
a distance from the back and cheeks of the stove case, of a reflector arranged behind
said fire basket, between it and the stove case, substantially as and for the purpose
specified.
5th. In a fire basket, mounted to rotate on a vertical axis, the combination withi
the bottom grating of a draught regulator, arranged and applied substantially as
shown and described.
In witness whereof, I, the said James France. Hill, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Seventh day of October, in the year of our Lord Onc
thousand eight hundred and soventy-eight.