Improved Fire Revivers and Fire Lighters for Domestic and other Fire Places, Stoves, or Furnaces.
Year: 1889

page_text: Date of Application, 17th June, 1889
Complete Specification Left, 20th Feb., 1890-Accepted, 19th Apr., 1890
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improved Fire Revivers and Fire Lighters for Domestic and other
Fire Places, Stoves, or Furnaces.
ROBERT SCOTT BURN Consulting Engineer and Member of "The Institution of
Mechanical Engineers," Oak Lea Edgeley Road in Stockport, Cheshire, do hereby
declare the nature of this invention to be as follows
An Improvement in Fire Revivers and Fire Lighters having for its object the
employment of inflammable substances the product of petroleum or of the mineral
oils distilled artificially from bituminous shales and which substances are at normal
temperatures of the atmosphere solid but are capable at certain other and com-
paratively low temperatures of being pressed or moulded into various forms or shapes,
and at certain other and higher but still comparatively low temperatures of being
easily melted or fused, and capable of giving off or evolving a gas or gases which
flash into flame on the application of heat. The solid bodies or forms of such inflam-
mable substances are easily and readily applicable to the reviving of domestic and
other fires which have become partially extinguished but the fuel or part of the fuel
of which still retains a considerable temperature and are applicable also in con-
junction with ordinary combustible material as paper, wood &c. to the kindling of fresh
fires.
The tendency of mineral oils such as that known popularly as paraffine,
kerosene, or refined petroleum, to spread out or diffuse in thin films over the
surfaces of objects or bodies on which a quantity has been poured or placed is well
known to many. This property or characteristic of the mineral oils has been taken
advantage of in various ways and for sundry practical purposes. Amongst others
it has been, and is occasionally availed of in assisting the kindling of domestic fires,
or in reviving the combustion of fuel in fire places where combustion has become
languid and the fire nearly or on the point of becoming rapidly extinguished. And
this use of mineral oils such as the paraffine so largely employed for domestic and
other lamps, consists in simply pouring a greater or less quantity of the oil over and
amongst the combustible materials in the fire place or stove. This practice is efficient
enough so far as the mere kindling or reviving of the fire is concerned and this from
the readiness with which the oil flashes into flame at low temperatures and from
the extended surfaces which the films of oil cover in virtue of the tendency to spread
out or diffuse itself as already described. But although efficient the practice above
described is not only uncleanly in use, but it is very dangerous, and provocative of
painful and disastrous accidents.
But the same advantages in the kindling and the reviving of fires in domestic and
other fire places can be obtained and with greater cleanliness and convenience and
with a much readier adaptability to the work to be done and with an absolute
freedom from all danger by the employment of a solid inflammable substance or of
solid inflammable substances which have the property of being easily fused or melted
at low temperatures and by the rapid evolution of gases or of gas of being on the
application of heat or light readily and easily flashed into flame at low temperatures,
and which have the property moreover of being at low temperatures capable of being
easily kneaded pressed or moulded into various forms or shapes which on cooling the
material or substance will be retained under the normal temperature of the atmo-
sphere. These inflammable substances or materials which are solid at normal
temperatures of the atmosphere are the products of petroleum or of the mineral oils
distilled artificially from the bituminous shales met with in various districts of the
kingdom and in various parts of the globe. When heated to certain low temperatures
they can be pressed or moulded into various forms, or when fused or melted ran

page_text: into moulds of given or definite shapes which shapes or forms when of appropriate
dimensions can be employed in the manner hereafter described for the reviving and
the kindling of fires in domestic and other fire places, and this without possessing the
disadvantages or incurring the risk of dangerous accidents presented by liquid
mineral oils already alluded to. While being cleanly convenient and safe in use, the 5
bodies or forms of such inflammable solid substances possess also the great advantages
of being conveniently packed and stored away, of being very portable easily handled
and readily used.
The mere form or shape or size of the solid inflammable substances I employ for
the purposes above named, is quite immaterial their successful employment not being 1
dependent upon the form, or the size or weight of any definite kind. The forms
prefer are as follows circular discs varying from three quarters of an inch to one inch
in diameter with a thickness of one fourth of an inch or thereabouts. The discs
may either be solid or have holes from three eighths of an inch to half an inch in
diameter passing through and through-thus forming small rings. Or the edges
may be scalloped or with star-like projectures. Or the form may be elliptical or
hexagonal the greatest dimensions not exceeding one inch across. I prefer for
economical use and for rapid action to use a number of pieces of small dimension
and weight or cubical bulk rather than one piece or a number of pieces of large
size and weight. A better distribution of the inflammable substances being obtained
by using small pieces than by employing large ones. Those forms or solid bodies of
the inflammable substances herein before named I propose for the purposes of this
Specification if not as a name for commercial or trade purposes to designate as
" buttons."
As an example of the utility of such "buttons" in the reviving of partially extin-
guished or low burning fuel in domestic fire places I may state that a single button
of the form and dimensions already stated namely of three quarters of an inch in
diameter and about one fourth of an inch in thickness has proved quite sufficient to
revive a fire in which active combustion had ceased, causing it very quickly to flare
up into activity.. In such cases while there was no active combustion going the fire
being apparently "out" and under ordinary treatment being past reviving, still there
was some "red" in the grate, and the fuel was pretty hot too hot to handle with ease.
And it is in fires in this condition in which the great advantages of the "buttons
are displayed. Much of course depends upon the quality of the coals present in the
fire place. While a single button as above named would rapidly revive a fire under
favourable conditions where the fuel was of the soft bituminous coal met with in
large districts of England; it might take two or more of the same sized "buttons"
to revive a fire in which the fuel was the hard non-bituminous coal met with so
frequently in districts in Scotland.
"
All that is necessary or essential to the proper and desirable action of the "button"
or "buttons" employed in the reviving of a fire the combustion of the fuel of which
has reached a low point of activity, is that this combustion has so far continued that
at the time of application of the button or buttons the fuel will be at a considerably
high temperature sufficiently high as to melt the button quickly when thrown on or
placed on the fuel and to cause the quick evolution or formation of the inflammable
gases or gas the product of submitting the button or buttons to a high or com-
paratively high temperature or degree of heat. As the substance or material of the
button or buttons melts under the influence of the heat, it in virtue of the property
herein before named as the characteristic of the mineral oils such as paraffine, spreads
quickly amongst and over the surface of the fuel-and the gas is evolved. Should
there be any,
"red" part remaining in the fuel in the fire place, or should the tem-
perature of the fuel be exceptionally or very high the gases so evolved will flash into
Hame or if these conditions be not present but the heat of the fuel sufficiently high
to melt the button or buttons quickly the application of a lighted match or taper at
or near to the point where the button or buttons were applied will cause the gases or
gas to flash into flame which will run so to say quickly through and amongst the
heated coal or fuel and its combustion will go actively on.

page_text: "
In regard to the kindling of fresh fires, in using the "buttons" in conjunction
with the combustible substances or materials usually employed for this purpose such
as wood, cork shavings paper &c. &c. more than one method is open for adoption.
The method I prefer is as follows after careful placing or laying of the combustible
materials generally employed for fire kindling purposes, I place here and there on
the upper surface of the kindling material, two three or more of the "buttons"
according to circumstances I then place the coals or coke used for the fire as lightly and
regularly as possible on the top of all and finally in one or two of the cavities left between
the coals I place a button or buttons but this extra supply I give only when I
require a fire to be kindled more rapidly than usual. As I prefer the "buttons" when
melted to be distributed as equally as possible over the surfaces of the combustibles
I find it the better plan in place of depositing the "buttons" amongst the com-
bustibles in a free or in their normal state to wrap each button in a piece of paper
placing it amongst the combustibles in the manner above described. This wrapping
up of the buttons delays their melting until the kindling materials have got so far
ignited as to create a temperature high enough to melt the buttons-which will then
begin to show their kindling powers.
I make no claim for any particular form or of dimensions or weight of the
"buttons" such forms and dimensions being dictated by convenience or economy in
manufacturing in ease of handling and commercial considerations connected with
packing and of sale &c. &c. But 1 prefer that the buttons shall be made com-
paratively small for reasons herein before named-useful forms and dimensions being
already indicated.
As with my hand this Difteenth day of Tune 1880
As witness my hand this Fifteenth day
of June 1880
-
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improved Fire Revivers and Fire Lighters for Domestic and other
Fire Places, Stoves, or Furnaces.
ROBERT SCOTT BURN Member of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Oak Lea,
Edgeley Road near Stockport Cheshire, do hereby declare the nature of this inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
―
This improvement in Fire Revivers and Fire Lighters has for its object the
employment of certain inflammable substances the product of petroleum or of the
mineral oils distilled from bituminous shales which substances are solid at normal or
natural temperatures and at other temperatures are capable of being pressed or
moulded into various forms or shapes and at certain other and higher but still
comparatively low temperatures are capable of being fused or melted and of giving
off of a gas or gases which on the application of heat are readily and easily flashed
into flame the solid bodies forms or shapes of such inflammable substances are readily
applicable to the reviving of domestic and other fires which are partially extinguished
or of which the combustion is inactive and low; or for the kindling of fires in con-
junction with other combustible substances such as wood paper &c.
The tendency of mineral oils such as that known popularly as paraffine, kerosene
or refined petroleum, to spread out or diffuse in thin films over the surfaces of objects
or bodies on which a quantity has been poured or placed is well known to many.
This property or characteristic of the mineral oils has been taken advantage of in
various ways and for sundry practical purposes. Amongst others it has been, and is
occasionally availed of in assisting the kindling of domestic fires, or in reviving the
combustion of fuel in fire places where combustion has become lauguid and the fire
nearly or on the point of becoming rapidly extinguished. And this use of mineral
oils such as the paraffine so largely employed for domestic and other lamps, consists
in simply pouring a greater or less quantity of the oil over and amongst the com-
bustible materials in the fire place or stove. This practice is efficient enough so far
as the mere kindling or reviving of the fire is concerned and this from the readiness

page_text: with which the oil flashes into flame at low temperatures and from the extended
surfaces which the films of oil cover in virtue of the tendency to spread out or diffuse
itself as already described. But although efficient the practice above described is not
only inconvenient and also uncleanly in use, but it is very dangerous and is apt to
give rise to painful and disastrous accidents.
But the same advantages in the kindling and the reviving of fires in domestic and
other fire places can be obtained and with greater cleanliness and convenience and
with a much readier adaptability to the work to be done and with an absolute freedom
from all danger by the employment of a solid inflammable substance or of solid inflam-
mable substances which have the property of being easily fused or melted at low
temperatures and by the rapid evolution of gases or of gas of being on the application
of heat or light readily and easily flashed into flame at low temperatures and which
have the property moreover of being at low temperatures capable of being easily
kneaded pressed or moulded into various forms or shapes which on cooling the material
or substance will be retained under the normal temperatures of the atmosphere. These
inflammable substances or materials which are solid at normal temperatures of the
atmosphere are the products of petroleum or of the mineral oils distilled artificially
from the bituminous shales met with in various districts of the kingdom and in various
part of the globe. When heated to certain low temperatures they can be pressed or
moulded into various forms, or when fused or melted ran into moulds of given or
definite shapes which shapes or forms when of appropriate dimensions can be employed
in the manner hereafter described for the reviving and the kindling of fires in domestic
and other fire places, and this without possessing the disadvantages or incurring the
risk of dangerous accidents presented by liquid mineral oils already alluded to.
While being cleanly, convenient and safe in use, the bodies or forms of such inflam-
mable solid substances possess also the great advantage of being conveniently packed
and stored away, of being very portable easily handled and readily used.
The forms or shapes of the bodies of inflammable substances I employ for the
purposes above named are in one sense immaterial, their successful employment not
being dependent upon any definite form or shape or size of the bodies of inflammable
substances. But as I find it important that the fusing or melting of the bodies of
inflammable substances employed be effected as quickly as possible so that when fused
and melted the substance shall be able quickly to run between and over the pieces of
the fuel so that gas shall flash quickly into flame; I deem it requisite to give the
bodies of the inflammable substances such as forms shapes or configurations as will
facilitate the action of heat in fusing and melting them for the purposes already
named.
For economical use and for rapid action I find it in practice best to have at
command a number of pieces of small dimensions and weight or cubical bulk rather
than one piece or a smaller number of pieces of large size and weight. A better
distribution of the inflammable substances being obtained by using small pieces than
by employing large ones. The forms with their dimensions I propose to use are
illustrated in the Sheet I of Drawings accompanying this Specification in figs. 1 to 4
inclusive. The object in view in having such forms being to present a number of
points upon which the heat when used may act so as to make the fusion or melting of
the inflammable substance as rapid as possible. The thickness being on an average
about one fourth of an inch as shown in fig. 4 which is a side or edge view of fig. 1.
The scale to which the Drawings in the Sheet aforesaid are drawn is twelve inches to
the foot or "full size." The form shown in fig. 3 is that which I prefer to use,
inasmuch as while presenting a number of points for the action of the heat it is the
form best adapted for being made with the minimum amount of waste. Those forms
or solid bodies of the inflammable substances, herein before named I propose for the
purposes of this Specification if not as a name for commercial or trade purposes to
designate as "buttons." Although the material of which these buttons is in its natural
condition of an agreeable colour; still the "buttons" may be made more attractive in
appearance by being coloured much in the same way as certain kinds of candles are
coloured the colouring matter being added to the material when in a state of fusion

page_text: As an example of the utility of such "buttons in the reviving of partially
extinguished or low burning fuel in domestic fire places, I may state that a single
button of three quarters of an inch in diameter and about one fourth of an inch in
thickness has proved quite sufficient to revive a fire in which active combustion has
almost ceased causing it very quickly to flame up into activity. In such cases while
there was no active combustion going on, the fire being apparently nearly "out" or
extinguished, or in such a condition that if left to itself it would not have revived to
active combustion, still although there was not much if any visible "red in it, the
fuel was too hot to be handled with ease, the revival to active combustion was almost
instantaneous after the "buttons" had been applied.
And it is in fires in this
condition in which the great advantages of the "buttons" are displayed. Much of
course depends upon the quality of the coals present in the fire place. While a single
button as above named would. rapidly revive a fire-under favourable conditions where
the fuel was of the soft bituminous coal met with in large districts of England; it
might take two or more of the same sized "buttons" to revive a fire in which the
fuel was the hard non-bituminous coal met with so frequently in districts as in
Scotland.
"
"
All that is necessary or essential to the proper and desirable action of the "button
or buttons" employed in the reviving of a fire the combustion of the fuel of which
has reached a low point of activity, is that at the time of application of the button
or buttons the fuel will be at a considerably high temperature sufficiently high to
melt the buttons quickly when thrown in or placed on the fuel and to cause the quick
evolution or formation of the inflammable gases or gas the product of submitting the
button or buttons to a high or comparatively high temperature or degree of heat.
As the substance or material of the button or buttons melt under the influence of the
heat it in virtue of the property herein before named as the characteristic of the mineral
oils such as paraffine, spreads quickly amongst and over the surface of the fuel and
the gas is evolved. Should there be any "red" part remaining in the fuel in the
fire place, or should the temperature of the fuel be exceptionally or very high the
gases so evolved will of themselves flash into flame; or if these conditions be not
present, but the heat of the fuel sufficiently high to melt the button or buttons
quickly, the application of a lighted match or taper at or near to the point where the
button or buttons were applied and have been melted will cause the gases or gas to
flash into flame which will run so to say quickly through and amongst the heated
coal or fuel and its combustion will go actively on.
In regard to the kindling of fresh fires, in using the "buttons" in conjunction
with the combustible substances or materials usually employed for this purpose such
as wood, cork, shavings, paper &c. &c. more than one method is open for adoption.
The method I prefer is as follows. After careful placing or laying of the combustible
materials generally employed for fire kindling purposes, I place here & there on the
upper surface of the kindling material, two, three, or more of the "buttons"
according to circumstances. I then place the coals or coke used for the fire as
lightly and regularly as possible on the top of all and finally in one or two of the
cavities left between the coals I place a button or buttons but this extra supply I give
only when I require a fire to be kindled more rapidly than usual. As I prefer the
"buttons" when melted to be distributed as equally as possible over the surfaces of
the combustibles I find it the better plan in place of depositing the "buttons" amongst
the combustibles in a fire or in their normal state to wrap each button in a piece of
paper placing it amongst the combustibles in the manner above described. This
wrapping up of the buttons delays their melting until the kindling materials have
got so far ignited as to create a temperature high enough to melt the buttons which
will then begin to show their kindling powers.
What I claim in connection with my invention is as follows.
(1) The application of certain inflammable substances or materials hereinbefore
named or indicated which are easily melted at low temperatures and which readily
flash into flame on the application of heat which are easily melted and moulded or

page_text: pressed into various forms for the purpose hereinbefore named the reviving and
kindling of fires in domestic fire places stoves and furnaces and which forms or
shapes of solid bodies are for the purposes of this Specification designated as
"
buttons and which name may also be employed for trade and commercial
"
purposes.
(2) The particular forms, shapes, or configurations shown in figs. 1 to 4 inclusive
in accompanying Sheet of Drawings and which forms have for their object the
presenting of numerous points in which the heat can act so as to fuse or melt the
inflammable substances hereinbefore named as quickly as possible.
As witness my hand this Nineteenth day of February 1890.