CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS ON COOKING APPARATUS
Year: 1819

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JonN HEARD:
of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Joiner, send greeting.
WHEREAS His late Majesty King George the Third did, by His Letters
Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ire-
land called England, bearing date at Westminster, the Fourth day of November,
in the sixtieth year of His reign, give and grant unto me, the said John Heard,
my exors, adiñiors, and assigns, His especial licence, full power, sole privilege and
authority, that I, the said John Heard, my exors, adññiors, during the term
of years therein mentioned, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and
vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and
also in all His Majesty's Colonies and Plantations abroad, my Invention of
"CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS ON COOKING APPARATUS;" in which said Letters Patent
there is contained a proviso that if I, the said John Heard, shall not par-
ticularly describe and ascertain the nature of my said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, by an instrument in writing under
my hand and seal, and cause the same to be inrolled in His Majesty's High
Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately after
the date of the said Letters Patent, that then the said Letters Patent, and
all liberties and advantages whatsoever thereby granted, shall utterly cease:
determine, and become void, as in and by the same, relation being thereunto.
had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said.
John Heard, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and the

page_text: manner in which the same is to be performed, are particularly described and
ascertained in the following description thereof (that is to say)
My Invention consists in the construction and formation of a stove or
fireplace adapted for the purposes of baking, boiling, roasting, and other
culinary operations, as well as for heating the room in which it may be placed,
with a very small consumption of coals, and with great cleanliness and effect;
while, from the nature of its construction, as herein-after described, it is equally
well adapted for a ship's stove or a dwelling house. Its external form may be
varied in dimensions, shape, and decoration, so as to suit it to the service and
taste of the party using it; but Fig. A represents a general view of it as I
commonly construct it, the plan of which is shewn at Fig. B; but I sometime
make it square or oblong without cutting the corners off at all, and I occa-
sionally cutt them off to a greater extent than in the Drawing, so as to make
it approach the form of a regular octagon. The external case of my apparatus
I call the frame, and that is made of cast or wrought iron, or other suitable
metal, and is formed of several flat plates, which are to be screwed or rivetted
together at or near the angles in such manner as to make the whole perfectly
firm and steady. The lion's paws or other legs may be omitted or not, as it
may be found necessary; but when the apparatus is to be placed upon a
wooden floor or deck it should be elevated so as to allow air to pass under it.
At the height of the dotted line c, d, Fig. A, there is a fillet or ledge formed
on the inside of the plates of the frame, which must project enough to form a
support for the bottom of the apparatus; this ledge is seen in the Plan
Fig. B, at e, e, e, e. No. 1 is the said bottom; formed of cast iron or other
metal, made to fit the inside of the vessel Fig. B very correctly, and in fixing
the apparatus this bottom is to be lowered into the said frame until it rests
upon the said ledge or ferret e, e, e, e, and it will require no other fixing.
fff, are iron fillets or ledges, cast or fixed edgewise upon the plate No. 1
to strengthen it, and retain the sand herein-after mentioned. 9 is an opening
for the ashes to fall through. h, h, are two sockets of metal, containing the
usual springs to the shanks of the spit-racks, if any are used, and these come
exactly opposite the two spit-rack holes m, m, in Fig. A, in which one of the
spit-racks is shewn as fixed in its proper place; one or more rings may be
fixed to the bottom plates, as at k, for lowering it into the frame, and should
any of the fixing screws or hinges of the oven doors project into the frame
(which should not be the case), they must either be cut off or notches cut in
the plate No. 1, as at i, i, i, i, to permit it to pass. Having lowered the
bottom No. 1 into its plate, moist clay, putty, or some thick material must be
applied round its edges to fill up all openings between it and the frame to

page_text: prevent the escape of the sand, and this done, a bed of sand, powdered ashes,
clay, loam, or some incombustible substance which is a bad conductor of wheat.
must be formed by applying the same upon the bottom plates No. 1 until it
discovered above the projecting ledges f, f,f; and after making the top of the
bed level and smooth the bottom of the oven is next to be lowered into its
place by means of its rings at 1, 1, 1, 1, No. 2, which is a perspective view of
the bottom and sides of the oven. The bottom plate of the oven is quite flat,
and must be similar in shape, and made to fit into the frame, as before
described in speaking of No. 1. The sides of the oven is shewn at n, n, u, n, n,
and o, p, and rise perpendicularly from the bottom, with the exception of the
plate p, which forms the bag of the fireplace, while the plate at o, and another
opposite to it, but which cannot be seen in the Figure, from its sides or cheeks.
The plates or sides marked n are not placed at the extreme edges of the
bottom plate, but extend to it at the six points marked g, in order that they
may then come into contact with the inside of the frame, Fig. B, viz, at cach
side of the fireplace, and at each side of the oven doors, of which I prefer
placing two, and which are part of or are hung by hinges upon the outside of
the frame, as seen at r, r, in Fig. A, and in plan in Fig. B. Each door
should have a regulator in it, as usual in oven doors, to admit air into the
oven when required. After placing the oven bottom in the frame so that it
may rest evenly upon the bed of sand or other materials before-mentioned,.
the joints q, q, q, q, q, q, are to be stopped with clay or other thick materials, as
aforesaid, and then the interstices between the external frame and the backs of
the oven sides n, n, n, n, n, should be filled with clay, loam, or sand, as
aforesaid, to retain the heat. While lowering No. 2 into its place the oven
door or doors should be kept open to sec that it beds properly, and to prevent
their latches or fastenings from being in the way. S, S, is the bottom grate of
the fireplace, which now must be laid in its proper situation; it is supported
upon a ledge formed by part of the bottom of the oven projecting beyond the
back hand sides of the grate p and o. t, t, is a plate of iron rivet behind
the back p of the grate within the oven, and kept hollow or about half an inch
distant from it by the rivets to prevent the heat from being too suddenly
transmitted to the oven. No. 3 is a false back and cheeks, which must be
next put into its place, and which slips from about into the fire plate in front of
the plates o and p; it rests upon the bottom grating 5, 5, and is used to
prevent the real back and cheeks p and o from being burnt away, warped,.or
cracked by the fire. It also serves to regulate the heat of the oven; and
when burnt away may be easily replaced by a new one. No. 4 is the top of
the oven, being a plate similarly shaped to the others, so as to fit the interior

page_text: of the frame Fig. B. It is quite flat on its under side, which rests, when fixed
upon the top edges of the oven side n, n, n, n, n, No. 2, at the height of the
dotted line n, n, in Fig. A; it has an opening v cut out of its front for
expanding in shape with the outside of the upper part of the false back No. 3,
which when fixed should rise so far above it as just to hide the joint. The
fillet shewn upon the upper part of No. 4 at W, W, W, W, are to close the
smoke flues, as herein-after described for conducting the heat and smoke over
the top of the oven. These flues are formed by projecting plates cast upon
or otherwise fixed to the top plate No. 7, which is shewn in an inverted
position, or wrong side upwards, in order that the flues may be seen. The
other side of it, which is upwards when fixed in its proper place, is not wholly
quite flat and smooth, but I likewise grind or otherwise force it up so as to
obtain the most perfect contact between it and the under sides of the kettles,
pots, or other vessels which may be placed upon it. That part of the plate
No. 7 marked lies immediately above the fire, and conducts the smoke into the
opening Z, its further progress being opposed by the plate or partition a, a;
it divides and is reverted back in the directions of the arrows until at length
it reaches the opening 6 leading to the rising flue or chimney c, c, seen in
Fig. A, after having very effectually heated the plate No. 7, as well as the
oven formed as aforesaid underneath it. The use of the fillets W, W, W, W,
shewn in No. 4, will now appear, because when No. 7 is inverted over in
No. 4, the spirits come nearly in contact with the flue partitions a, a, c, c, and
make a joint, which being at the bottom instead of the tops of the flues the
smoak is prevented from escaping. No. 5 and 6, drawn in No. 4, are two
dampers, being the thin plates with extended handles which pass through to:
the front of the frame at 5, 6, in Fig. A; they must be fixed imme-
diately after the plate No. 4 has been lowered into its place, and for
this purpose their handles must be unscrewed to pass them through the
holes in the front of the frame, and then the handles must be screwed on
again. When out of use they lie horizontally upon the plate No. 4, and the
smoak paper over them, but on turning them into an erect position they shut
up the passages y, y, in No. 7, and thus the flue may be compleatly stopped,
or the heat may be directed either to one side or other of the apparatus at
pleasure.
Lastly, the pots, kettles, or saucepans, shewn at the upper part of Fig. A,
may be made of tin, copper, or other fit materials, and of such forms, and
shapes, and dimensions as to fill up the whole of the frame. One boiling vessel
may also be placed within, or may pass through the cover of another as usual,
but I do not consider or claim these vessels as any part of my aforesaid:

page_text: Invention, except so far as they are connected with the general form and.
arrangement of my apparatus. They extend in depth down to the line x, x,
in Fig. A, that being the situation of the top plate No. 7, when fixed, the
fire bars or front of the grate No. 10 in Figure A, may also be detached and
fixed on the buttons or screws as at z, z, or not, as may be desired; and
the ash pan No. 11 may be formed like a draw, and may move in sliders upon
the bottom of the plate No. 1, or it may be detached and simply placed under
the apparatus. I likewise sometimes form a fender in front of the draw
No. 11, and in one piece, which is necessary when the apparatus is placed
upon wooden floor or deck. No. 9, Fig.. A, is a damper or blower which
slides down in front of the upper part of the fireplace to increase the draught
when lighting the fire, and an additional shutter fixes over the front of the
fire to confine it when used on board ship in stormy weather. An iron frame
may be made to pass between the boiling vessels to retain them in their proper
places, and to make them fitting more perfect, and when they are not in use
but are removed, a set of covers are made which close the whole of the top, and
convert it into a heating stove, while the space between them and the
upper plate at a, a, becomes a hot chamber for cooking, heating irons, keeping
victuals hot, or other purposes; and for this purpose proper trivets, tea kettles,
frying pans, and other articles are sold with the apparatus, which I do not
describe, as being articles of common use.
I have before stated, that I do not confine myself to the form or dimensions
of the above apparatus, nor do I mean to confine myself to the form of flues
represented in Numbers 4 and 7, nor to the situation of the chimney which is
here shewn as sliding into a dovetail as at g, g, in Fig. B, because in some
cases it may be more convenient to make the chimney rise from one or other
of the sides, or even from the middle part of the apparatus, when the flues
must be turned and directed accordingly; but the directions I have above
given will enable any skilful workman to construct an apparatus suited to any
case that may arise without difficulty, the essential points of my Invention
being to form a simple apparatus which, though heavy, may be portable from
the number of its parts, any of which may be repaired without delay or
detriment to the others, which can be fixed up in any place without tools or
brickwork, and by any person, and which will confine its heat and turn a small
quantity of fire to the greatest advantage.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Heard, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Second day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and twenty.
JOHN (L.s.) HEARD.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Second day of May, in the
year of our Lord 1820, the aforesaid John Heard came before our said Lord
the King in His Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification aforesaid, and
all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form above written.
And also the Specification aforesaid was stampt according to the tenor of the
Statute made for that purpose.
Inrolled the Third day of May, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and twenty.