IMPROVEMENTS IN OPEN FIRE-PLACES
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Frederick Collier Bakewell, of No. 6, Haverstock
Terrace, Hampstead, in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN OPEN FIRE-PLACES."-A communication from abroad
by Calvin Dodge, of Pittsburgh, North America.
Scaled the 29th September 1859, and dated the 5th April 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Frederick Collier Bakewell
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 5th April 1859.
I, FREDERICK COLLIER BAKEWELL, of No. 6, Haverstock Terrace, Hamp-
stead, in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN OPEN FIRE-PLACES," being a communication
from Calvin Dodge, of North America, to be as follows:-
This Invention consists essentially in forming a recess at the back of the,
fire grate for holding the fuel previous to its being brought into active com-
bustion, and in fixing over that recess an arched or horizontal cover, projecting
from the back wall of the fire-place and extending over the fire basket or.
grate to within two or three inches of the entire line of the throat of the.
chimney. This projection or cover is constructed of fire brick or of iron, tho
former being preferred, and it is carried upwards nearly perpendicularly
within a few inches of the front of the fire-place, until it contracts the throat
of the chimney to a width varying from about three-quarters of an inch to
three inches. The perpendicular space of the projection below the throat of

page_text: the chimney and within a few inches of the front of the fire-place, presents a
surface over which the flame must pass on its way to the chimney, and a great
portion of the heat which would otherwise be lost is thus thrown into the
room. The projecting cover must be sufficiently near the top of the fire
basket for the flame to strike against it. An aperture for the admission of
air may be made in the wall at the back of the fire grate, just below the pro-
jecting cover, to aid the combustion of the gases, but it is not essential. Tho
fire bars of the grate should not be extended under the recess for the fuel
when ordinary bitumenous coal is used, as the combustion would in that caso
be too rapid.
·SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Frederick Collier Bakewell in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 4th October 1859.
TO ALL TO, WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, FREDERICK
COLLIER BAKEWELL, of No. 6, Haverstock Terrace, Hampstead, in the County
of Middlesex, send groeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-second year of Iler
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Frederick Collier Bakewell, Her special licence that I, the said Frederick
Collier Bakewell, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Frederick Collier Bakewell, 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 OPEN FIRE-PLACES," being a communication
from abroad by Calvin Dodge, of Pittsburg, North America, upon the con-
dition (amongst others) that I, the said Frederick Collier Bakewell, my
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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Frederick Collier Bakewell do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by tlie
following statement and accompanying Drawings, that is to say:-
This Invention of an arrangement in the structure of open fire-places for
the purpose of economising the heat of the burning fuel, by consuming a
greater proportion of the smoke and gas evolved during combustion than is done
in such fire-places as ordinarily constructed. The nature of the arrangement
will be best explained by reference to the accompanying Drawings.
Figure 1 is a front view of the fire-place, with a fire burning in it; and
Figure 2 is a section of the same. The letter L indicates the basket of the
grate; D is the base of the back wall as usually constructed; and G is the
throat of the chimney. The dotted line A, D, represents the face of the back
wall of a fire-place built on the Rumford principle, as generally in use, only
as the throat G of the chimney is usually narrower, the slope indicated by the
dotted line is rather greater than is generally adopted; but in this Invention,
instead of sloping the wall forward in that manner, it is either sloped back-
ward at D towards C, nearly level with the top bar of the fire basket, or it is
carried back horizontally on a level a little above the bottom of the ordinary
fire basket, making the recess extend from six to eight inches back from the
point D. This recess is not formed by an extension of the bars of the fire-
basket backward, unless the fire-place be designed for the combustion of
anthracite or other hard coal, because with butuminous coals it is better that
no air should enter the recess from below, as it would occasion too rapid a
combustion; but when anthracite coal or other fuel that does not readily
ignite is employed, the fire bars may be extended backward under the recess,
to a point perpendicularly below the point C of the back wall, which in this
case is carried down perpendicularly, or nearly so, to the grate bars and below
them, as shown by the lines C, E. From C to B the back wall is in all cases
perpendicular, or nearly so, and from the point B a covering F, made of fire
brick or iron (the former being preferred), projects forwards over the recess
and fire basket to within two or three inches of the entire line of the
throat of the chimney. This covering is placed so close above the fire basket
(say from four to seven inches above the top bar) that the flames and smoko
of the fire will play against it, and it is made either horizontal or of any shape
that will best deflect the flames and give them à downward tendency. The
wall is then built perpendicularly or slightly inclining outwards, until the
throat of the chimney is confined to a width at G of from three-quarters of
an inch to three inches, as the draft of the chimney may require. This wall

page_text: presents a considerable surface below the throat of the chimney and within a
fow inches of the front of the grate, over which the flames must pass on their
way to the chimney. If desired, a flue for heated air may be placed above
the covering F at I, J, which flue may be conducted either into the same
room wherein the fire-place is, or into an adjoining one,. but this does not form
a necessary part of the Invention. An aperture K may also be made in the
back wall, just below the level of the covering F, to admit a current of atmo-
spheric air to aid the combustion of the smoke and gas, but such an addition
is not necessary to the Invention. In using this fire-place, when it is desired
to add more fuel to the fire, the coal in the recess, which is in a great degree
converted into coke, is drawn forward into the basket of the grate, and fresh
coal is thrown into the recess to supply its place. The gas and smoke emitted
by the fresh coal strike against the covering F, which is very hot, and rever-
berating from it are drawn forward, and are in a great measure consumed by
tho hot fire in front, the flames being carried towards the chimney as near as
possible to the front of the fire-place, so as to throw the greatest portion of
the beat into the room. The construction of the fire-place in the method
described is entirely independent of the shape, size, or kind of grato used in
any open fire-place, and the essential parts of this Invention may. bo applied
to any open fire-place at present constructed.
I wish it to be understood that what is claimed in this Invention is not the
contraction of the throat of the chimney, but the use of a recess or fire
chamber placed at the back of the fire basket of the grate in combination
with a covering, either arched or flat, or nearly so, placed over the recess. and
fire basket, extending below the throat of the chimney, and constructed sub-
stantially, as herein-before described, for better consuming the smoke. and gas
omitted from the fuel, and thereby economising heat in open fire-places.
In witness whercof, I, the said Frederick Collier Bakewell, have hero-
unto set my hand and seal, this Fourth day of October, in the year
of our Lord 1859.
FRED. COLLIER BAKEWELL. (L.S.)