IMPROVEMENTS IN STOVE GRATES AND KITCHEN RANGES
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Crichley, of Birmingham, in the County of
Warwick, Manufacturer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN STOVE
GRATES AND KITCHEN RANGES."
Sealed the 4th March 1864, and dated the 11th September 1863.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Crichley at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 11th
September 1863.
I, HENRY CRICHLEY, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Manu-
facturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN STOVE GRATES AND KITCHEN RANGES," to be as follows, that is to say:-
The object of my improvements is the construction of stove grates and
ranges in such manner that the cheeks or sides, and also the back, may be
moveable, so that the fire may be contracted or extended at will. This I
effect in the following manner:-The cheeks are pinned to the back moulding
and back strap, a pin or stud upon the bottom grate engages in a slot in the
bottom of each cheek, and regulates the distance and direction in which the
cheek will move; a similar stud upon the back strap engages in a similar
slot in the bottom grate, and another stud upon the bottom bar of the range

page_text: works in a slot formed between the bars of the bottom grate. By applying a
slight force, either pulling or pushing, as the case may be, to a small knob
upon the front bar of the bottom grate, the cheeks and back can be simul-
taneously drawn in or pushed out. I thus cause not only the cheeks to move,
but the back also to advance or recede.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Henry Crichley in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
11th March 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
CRICHLEY, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Manufacturer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eleventh day of September, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-seventh year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Henry Crichley, Her special license that I, the said Henry Crichley,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as Ì, the said
Henry Crichley, 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
STOVE GRATES AND KITCHEN RANGES," upon the condition (amongst others) that
I, the said Henry Crichley, by an instrument in writing under my hand and
seal, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Inven-
tion, 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 Henry Crichley, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained. in and by the following
statement, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the
letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say :-
:
The object of my improvements is the construction of stove grates-and

page_text: ranges in such manner that the cheeks or sides, and also the back, may be
moveable, so that the fire may be contracted or extended at will. This I
effect in the following manner :-The cheeks are pinned to the back moulding
and back strap, a pin or stud upon the bottom grate engages in a slot in the
bottom of each cheek, and regulates the distance and direction in which the
cheek will move; a similar stud upon the back strap engages.in a similar
slot in the bottom grate, and another stud upon the bottom bar of the range
works in a slot formed between the bars of the bottom grate. By applying a
slight force, either pulling or pushing, as the case may be, to a small knob
upon the front bar of the bottom grate, the cheeks and back can be simul-
taneously drawn in or pushed out. I thus cause not only the cheeks to move;
but the back also to advance or recede.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 is a front elevation of one of my improved stove grates; Figure 2,
a plan of the under side of the bottom of the grate when the fire-place is
contracted; Figure 3, a sectional plan of the grate on the line A, B, with the
fire-place expanded; Figure 4, a back elevation of that portion of the grate
shewn in sectional plan, Figure 3; Figure 5, a sectional plan similar to
Figure 3, but shewing another mode of attaching the cheeks to the back
plate; Figure 6 represents a side elevation of the cheek binge or joint shewir
in plan Figure 5.
(a), Figures 1, 3, 4, and 5, represents the cheeks pinned as at (6), Figures 2:
and 4, by means of a long pin passing through projections formed on the
cheeks at top and bottom to the back moulding (c) at the top, and to the back
strap (d) at the bottom. The distance to and direction in which these cheeks
shall move is governed by pins or studs (e) upon the bottom grate (f),
Figure 5, engaging in slots on the under side of cach cheek. With respect
to the back (9) a similar stud upon the back strap (d) engages in a similar
slot (h) in a plate formed upon the back of the bottom grate. So far these
cheeks and back are all capable of being moved to contract or expand the
fire-place; the means by which they are to be worked, and also to be-retained
in any desired position (without which last-named provision they would be.
liable to be shifted by every renewal of fuel, and would consequently be
useless), are as follows:-The lever rod (k) is fitted with a quadrant slot (!)
working on a stud (m) secured to the under side of the bottom grate imme--
diately behind a slot between the bars of the bottom grate, into which slot a
projecting tongue piece (n) formed on the under side of the lowest bar. of the

page_text: range enters, and this tongue piece and slot together keep the motion of the
bottom grate and also of the back (9), with which the bottom grate and the
cheeks move, always uniform. The lever rod (k) is secured at the one end by
the stud upon the back strap which passes through the slot (h) in the bottom
grate, passing through an eye in the lever rod, thence through the slot (h) in
the bottom grate, and at its front end the rod (k) is bent up, as at (o), in
front of the lowest bar of the range, thus furnishing the means of working the
grate and of fixing it in position, the stud (m) and slot (7) retaining the
capacity of the fire-place when once adjusted.
In Figure 5 is shewn another mode of connecting the cheeks to the back,
and thus working all the parts simultaneously, and this is by means of the
slots (p) cut in the parts (9) cast upon the back part (r) of the bottom grate,
in which slots (p) studs formed upon lugs or projections (s) on the cheeks will
work, the action of the parts in the desired line is obtained by confining the
lugs or projections which carry the studs in a groove (t) on the back strap, so
that they cannot work out at the back. This describes the connection of the
lower sides of the cheeks with the back; the connection of the upper sides will
be in every respect similar, but attached to the back moulding, or rather to a
plate projecting from its rear, instead of to the back strap.
The preceding description refers to the carrying out of my Invention upon
stove grates only; for kitchen ranges it can also be adapted by slightly altering
the forms of the several parts to meet the requirements of a range, and as all
the details would be similar to these, further explanation is unnecessary, any
experienced workman could apply them.
Having thus described the nature of my said Invention, and the manner in
which the same is to be performed, I would remark that I am well aware
that grates with moveable cheeks capable of being pushed out or drawn in by
the application of a poker or other instrument have before been used, but such
grates possess little or no practical value for the reason that they have no
means of retaining the capacity of the grate at any fixed size, but are liable to
shift whenever fresh fuel is put on, and, moreover, as the cheeks; only are
moved, the capacity of the fire-grate is not lessened from back to front, and
consequently there is no real economy, the result being merely a narrow deep
fire with the greater portion of the heat escaping up the flue, whilst the
geometrical proportions of the fire-grate are lost, and I therefore claim, the
improvements in the manufacture of stove grates. and kitchen. ranges by
making the cheeks or sides and backs of such grates or ranges moveable
simultaneously, as herein described, and the apparatus or appliance by which

page_text: such movement may be effected and regulated, substantially as herein more
fully set forth and specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Crichley, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Ninth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
HENRY CRICHLEY. (L.s.)