IMPROVEMENTS IN FIRE. PLACES
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joseph Auguste Marie Touët Chambor, of Paris,
in the Empire of France, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN FIRE.
PLACES."
Sealed the 10th October 1856, and dated the 21st April 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joseph Auguste Marie
Touët Chambor, at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
his Petition, on the 21st April 1856.
I, JOSEPH AUGUSTE MARIE TOUET CHAMBOR, of Paris, in the Empire of
France, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for IMPROVEMENTS
IN FIRE-PLACES, to be as follows:-
The apparatus consists of a frame adjusting in the opening of the chimney.
At the back of this frame, & of a piece with it, by an inclined plane, is from
the top to the bottom a metallic partition, dividing the chimney into two por-
tions, one foremost in the room, & a back one communicating with the flue
of the chimney. The grate of the chimney is placed in the front division, &
rests on thepartition plate,in which latter is an aperture to allow the products
of combustion to pass through; this grated opening is made to act more or
less by means of a moveable plate, so adjusted as to close the opening, &
suspended to the back of the partition plate, & which may be raised by
[Price Sd.1

page_text: means of a crank or pinion. Above the grate in the partition plate is another
opening, closed by a door. This opening allows the room to be ventilated,
& to moderate the draught by affording a passage to the whole or a part of
the products of combustion. Beneath is a sliding ash-pan.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Joseph Auguste Marie Touët Chambor in the Great Seal
Patent Office.on the 20th October 1856.
TO ALL TO, WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSEPH
AUGUSTE MARIE TOUET CHAMBOR, of Paris, in the Empire of France,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent,bearing date the Twenty-first day of April,in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the nineteenth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Joseph Auguste Marie Touët Chambor, Her special licence that I, the said
Joseph Auguste Marie Touët Chambor, my executors, administrators and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Joseph Auguste Marie Touët Chambor,
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 FIRE-PLACES,
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Joseph Auguste Marie
Touët Chambor, ny executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly
describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, 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 Joseph Auguste Marie Touët Chambor,
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 bad to the Sheet of
Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon
(that is to say)—
My Invention refers, first, to closing the recess of a fire-place by means of

page_text: a plate of cast iron or other suitable metal, in the manner of a register stove,
but having three openings or air passages in it, two in the upper part and one
in the lower part thereof. These openings are capable of being closed so as
to prevent the passage of external air from the front to the back of the stove.
On being opened these passages exhaust the external air, that is, the air in
the room or other space in which the stove is placed, which on finding an
escape will pass rapidly up into the chimney, whereby a very effective draught
is obtained, which may be regulated at will, as herein-after described. A
more or less active current is produced according to the greater or less
area of the openings established.
Secondly, to the means of controlling the lower and upper currents of air,
that is, the currents passing through the upper and lower openings in the
stove, so that a counterbalance of their action may be obtained, whereby
the combustion of smoke is effected.
This improved stove or fire-place with its apparatus is represented and
illustrated in the annexed Drawings, in which Fig. 1 shows a front view of
the apparatus; Fig. 2, a tranverse vertical section, showing the arrangement
and working of the moveable parts; Fig. 3 is a back view; while Fig. 4:
represents a ventilator, which may be applied in connection with this stove
apparatus. In Figs. 1, 2, and 3 the same letters of reference denote like
parts where they recur.
A is an iron fraine or plate, having its upper and side faces inclined; B, B
air openings formed in the upper part of the frame A, with sliding doors or
valves C,C, each of which are provided with a knob D, by which those valves
are moved. These two rectangular openings are separated by a somewhat
projecting upright wedge-formed bar E, for the purpose of cleaving as it were
the air stream on its passage into the chimney. These openings B, B, are
intended to regulate and moderate the draught when the fire has reached a
thorough state of combustion, and also to afford a passage to smoke and other
gaseous products. F is an opening in the lower part of the frame A, pro-
vided with a grate, the bars of which are so close as to prevent any fragments
of coal or other bodies from passing through and impeding the working of
the moveable parts placed behind; this grated opening F is intended to act as
a blower, whereby to urge the fire. H is a moveable plate, placed on the
back part of the frame A, and made to slide between two grooves fitted or
cast on it. To the said plate a chain I is attached, the links of which gear
into the pinion J, actuated from the front by the crank handle K, or by
other suitable means.
The plate H in its motion up or down, is counter-

page_text: balanced by the weight I, suspended to the opposite end of the chain I, which
keeps it in a state of tension. The draught is rendered more or less active
according to the extent of opening disclosed by its higher or lower positions.
A moveable grate or set of bars L, of any form to contain the fire, is placed
immediately in front of the grated opening F and plate H, or set of bars
is similarly arranged, suitable to the kind of fuel to be used. This grate
may be fitted or fixed in front of the stove by any suitable manner, by hooks
set on or cast with the frame A, or by means of screws or any other con-
trivance. M is a metal fender, constituting the lower part of the apparatus,and
carried beneath the fire-place L; it is grated, to allow the cinders to pass
through it and drop into a sliding ash-box N beneath. By this means the
ashes or cinders are prevented spreading, and sparks from flying out on the
floor. All the external parts which compose this apparatus may be more
or less ornamented without interfering with the principle of the Inventiou.
The whole apparatus is secured by countersunk screws, or by any other
suitable equivalent fixing or setting.
To light the fire, the lower slide valve H that closes the opening F is raised,
whilst the openings B, B, are allowed to remain nearly shut, only a narrow
space being left open on each side for the passage of the gases. As thus
arranged, the external air finding egress through the openings B, B, and F, a
draught is produced that kindles the fuel very quickly. When the fuel is
sufficiently ignited, the slide valve H which closes the opening Fis lowered, the
passages B,B, are at the same time opened more or less by sliding the valves
C, C. All the heat now evolved from the fire is now preserved in the room,
and only the deleterious gases and products of combustion escape through
the holes B, B, into the chimney. With this apparatus, coke, which is
difficult to kindle under ordinary circumstances, will, by the application of
a handful of chips, become white hot in a few minutes.
To render the apparatus smoke-consuming, the draught through the upper
and lower air passages must be so regulated and poised as to quickly ignite the
coal or other fuel, so that the smoke which has a tendency to ascend will
escape through the openings B, B, while the deleterious gases and the oxide
of carbon will pass through the openings F in the form of a bluish flame.
When the fire is properly ignited, I increase the draught at the lower
opening F, by closing the openings B, B, a little more, when the smoke
will then be subject to the influence of a draught or current of air which
is superior to its ascending power, it therefore descends to the incandescent
part of the fire, where it is completely consumed.

page_text: The advantages resulting from the use of this apparatus are, 1stly, pre-
venting smoke by means of a very active draught; 2udly, a saving of fuel,
since all the waste heat is made available, and consequently securing all
the calorific effects produced by the fuel; 3rdly, fitness of the apparatus
for burning any description of fuel; and, 4thly, excluding from the room
any pernicious gases and offensive odours which may be liable to result
from the fuel used, owing to the activity of the draught produced, by
regulating the opening of the air passages B, B, and F.
The ventilating apparatus, represented at Fig. 4, may be applied to my
improved fire-place or chimney apparatus; it is of advantage when the
latter is placed in a small room; it serves also to renew the interior air
without cooling the place. This apparatus is fitted behind the stove. The
external air which is led through the tube A passes under the floor, and
thence circulates in the wormed tube B. The tube B is heated externally
by the products of combustion which pass through openings F, Figs. 1, 2,
and 3, being that bluish flame produced by the combustion of the
oxide of carbon, herein-before mentioned; thus, the air which is heated in
its progress through the wormed tube remains free from any pernicious
infl tence, and escapes into the room through the openings C, C, Fig. 4.
According to this arrangement it will be seen, that though the doors and
windows may be perfectly closed, the pure external air warmed in its pro-
gress through the serpentine tube B will find its way into the room, while
the vitiated air will be carried by the draught into the chimney.
Having thus described the nature and particulars of my Invention, and
the manner in which the same is or may be carried into effect, I wish it to
be distinctly understood that I do not confine myself to the precise details
herein described, nor to the strict figure or form of the apparatus, as such
may be varied without departing from the principle of my Invention; but
what I claim as new and of my Invention, and therefore to be secured to
me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent, is,―
First, producing and arranging pneumatic draughts, which, being
suitably regulated and counterbalanced, will effect the combustion of smoke
and other products evolved in the combustion of fuel by apparatus, as
herein-before described.
Secondly, the application of the system and arrangement of draughts, herein-
before described, to chimneys used for kitchen ranges,steam boilers, forges, and
other iron works and furnaces, and also to the airing of closets, cesspools, and
other situations, where fire-places are used, to produce ventilation or heat.

page_text: Thirdly, the application of the ventilating apparatus, herein-before
described by which external air is brought free from pernicious influences
in the room, as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Auguste Marie Touët Chambor,
have hereunto set my hand and seal, this Fifteenth day of October,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
TOUET CHAMBOR. (L.S.)