IMPROVEMENTS IN GRIDIRONS, FRYING PANS, AND OTHER COOKING UTENSILS AND HEATING APPARATUS
Year: 1844

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ROBERT.
RETTIE, of Gourock, near Greenock, in the County of Renfrew, in the
Kingdom of Scotland, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Twenty-fourth day of February, One thousand eight hundred
and forty-four, in the seventh year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs
and successors, give and grant unto me, the said Robert Rettie, my exors,
admors, and assigns, Her especial license, full power, sole privilege and
authority, that I, the said Robert Rettie, my exors, admors, and assigns, and
such others as I, the said Robert Rettie, 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 mentioned, should and lawfully might
make, use, exercise, and vend, within that part of Her said Majesty's United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland called England, the Dominion of
Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, the Islands of Jersey, Guernsey,
Alderney, Sark and Man, and also in all Her. said Majesty's Colonies and
Plantations abroad, my Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN GRIDIRONS, FRYING
PANS, AND OTHER COOKING UTENSILS AND HEATING APPARATUS;" in which said
Letters Patent there is contained a proviso, obliging me, the said Robert
Rettie, particularly to describe and ascertain the nature of my said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, by an instrument in

page_text: writing under my hand and seal, and to cause the same to be inrolled in Her
said Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next
and immediately 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
Robert Rettie, do hereby declare the nature of my said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, is particularly described and
ascertained in, and by the following description thereof, reference being had
to the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked
thereon, that is to say:-
My Invention consists in or has reference to the principles of construction,
and the modes of arrangement of the mechanical parts, and the several
combinations thereof, herein-after described, that is to say, as regards my use
of and application of the same to the objects set forth in and by the title of
the Letters Patent granted to me, as herein-before recited.
The particular nature and intention of my said Invention consists in the
arrangement and construction of machines and apparatus for the purpose of
heating or warming the interior of dwelling-houses, warehouses, and public
buildings, of whatsoever description, and in the arrangement and construction
of certain vessels and utensils used in the operations and processes of domestic
cookery, and I declare the same to be fully set forth and described in and by
the following statement and Specification thereof, reference being had to the
accompanying Drawings (which I declare to be and to form part of this my
statement and Specification), by the letters and numeral figures marked thereon
for the purpose of such reference, that is to say
::
In the Drawing, Figure 1 represents an external elevation of an economic
stove for the usual purposes of stoves, and I apply its ascending or descending.
flue to all such general purposes. It affects, by its arrangement and con-
struction and its action, a great economy in fuel or the combustible used in it,.
and a more equable and perfect distribution of heat, and to a far greater
distance from its source than stoves of ordinary construction and present use."
It also effects a complete correction and removal of the noxious effluvia produced
by combustion in stoves of ordinary form and construction. The peculiarity
of arrangement and construction consists in the mode of admission for the air
(required to be heated for distribution, and the arrangement of the pipes by
which such distribution is performed, by which all the heat is taken from the.
main body before discharging the same into the chimney. It is applicable
to the operations both of heating and of cooking.
E

page_text: .
The Figure 2 is a vertical section of the outer portion of the Figure 1,
taken through its centre perpendicularly, showing its. double internal con-
struction.
!
The Figure 3 represents an external view of a stove formed on the same
principles of construction as the economic stove, shewn in the Figures 1 and 2:
This construction is applied to the processes and operations of domestic
cooking, and to the purposes of heating or warming the house or building in
which it is placed, at one and the same time; this construction I also apply.
to the purposes of a laundry or cooking stove. It is provided with a hot table
and its usual appurtenances, and is applicable to the particular processes of
stoving, steaming, and other purposes of that character, whilst at the same
time it operates to distribute heat through the different apartments of the
house or building in which it is placed.
The Figure 4 represents a hot table or portable oven, which is placed on
the stove when the steamer or boiler is removed, for the operations of cooking,
or of keeping dishes, &c. warm. The part made of earthenware (marked A)
is used in common upon any cooking or heating. vessel used in the operations
of the arts or for domestic purposes.
+
The Figure 5 is a vertical section of the outer portion of the lower part of
the Figure 3, shewn together with the external view of its upper part. The
portion marked A in the Figures 3 and 5 are constructed in earthenware.
The Figure 6 represents an external view of a modification of my economic
stove, adapted to the general purposes of heating required in vineries, hot and
green houses, and all regular and scientific arrangement of buildings for:
horticultural purposes. This construction is equally applicable to the warming.
and ventilating of the cabins, and the different parts of the interior of ships and
maritime vessels, where stoves of the ordinary construction cannot effectively:
or commodiously be applied. In this Figure the heat generated within the
stove in the portion B is carried thence by the side tubes C, C, to the hollow
box or table D, D. Upon the top of D, D, may be placed any of the ordinary.
culinary vessels; from this it may be led by the tubes E, E, to a vessel F,
which is a cistern of suitable size, according to the extent of the building in:
which it is situated, and containing water. It is (open at the top), and one
tube C, see Figure 7, discharging the hot water, while the other returns the:
cold water into the boiler K, thus making a continued circulation. The tubes.
pass horizontally from the side of the box or table D, D, and go along to the
cistern F, Figure 6, which contains a supply of water for the boiler K

page_text: The Figure 7 shew's a vertical section of the outer portion of the Figure 6,
the inner part thereof being shewn in external appearance; the corresponding
part of the Figures 6 and 7 are respectively marked with the same letters of
reference. The inner view of this stove represents the body K, or boiler, for
water; L, the furnace door, and which may be at the top or bottom as cón-
venience may require; M and N being the flue, which may be taken directly
up, or at an angle of inclination; O shews that any cooking utensils may be
applied thereto, or baths be heated therefrom; or the top may be left open, to
be closed by a simple cover. Glass guage tubes may be fitted on, as shewn in
the Figure, to shew the actual depth of water contained in the cistern and
boiler K and F.
.
The Figures, marked 8, are perspective front and back views of a block
of the form therein shewn, which I term the smoke preventer, and
which being cast in iron, or formed of fire brick, clay, or other incombustible
and refractory substance; its application is to the purpose of curtailing or
reducing the area or capacity of open fire grates, and so to effect à reduction
in the quantity of fuel consumed, and, by consequence, in the volume of smoke
produced thereby. The small apertures shewn in the curved front of the block
are for the purpose of admitting a free circulation of air to or behind, and from
the sides and bottom bars especially, and allowing the access of more oxygen
to the burning fuel. The oblong openings A and B at the two sides allow the
heated air to issue into the apartment, and as a draught into the back of the
grate. These blocks I form of various dimensions, sizes, and proportions, to
suit the varieties of fire grates in which it may be desired to apply them.
X, X, shews a hinder or back view of the same block.
The Figure 9 represents in side elevation a utensil which I denominaté a
metallic scrubber, being for the purpose of cleansing, by the process of scouring,
of culinary utensils and apparatus, or any other. It is formed or composed of
metallic wire, of thickness properly suited to the required size of the utensil
itself, and the nature and material of the apparatus which it is intended to
cleanse with it. In its construction, I intermix hemp, or other materials, as
bristles, or any vegetable or fibrous material of suitable character, with the
wires, and bind the assemblage or compound so formed firmly together, in the
manner shewn in the Figures, or placed, like bristles, in all the various forms
of brushes or scrubbers of common use, as X, Y, Z.
The Figure 10 represents, in two perspective views, a new cinder box or
coal box, and a cinder shovel, to effect by a simple construction a prevention
of waste in the consumption of fuel.

page_text: Figures 11 and 12 represent, in perspective views, my applications of
earthenware as moveable linings for culinary or other vessels formed of cast or
wrought iron, or any of the metals.
Figure 13 represents a perspective view of a sheet-iron gridiron, which is
constructed by striking it at one operation out of the metal plate by dies, or
any of the well-known methods of effecting such operations, giving it the
required form; this I form either with plane or raised edges, as the Figure 14.
Figure 14 represents a perspective view of a gridiron formed of cast iron,
and having fluted convex bars and grooves or channels, with interstitial
openings, and also projecting vertical ridges or bars, on which the substance
to be exposed to the action of the fire is to be placed.
Figure 15 represents a cooking pan of the ordinary form, which may be
used with the gridiron and with the stove at Figure 5; and also the top Z,
for the sad irons Y and Z*. Figure 5 simply represents a pan of the common
construction.
I now declare that I claim as of my Invention the constructions, arrange-
ments, and combinations of the apparatus, machines, and utensils severally, as
they are respectively herein described and specified, and the applications and
uses of such apparatus, machines, and utensils severally, as such applications
and uses are respectively set forth in each case in this my. Specification
thereof.
In witness whereof, I, the said Robert Rettie, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Nineteenth day of August, in the year of our
Land One thousand sight handed and farter four