IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR SWEEPING CHIMNEYS
Year: 1868

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Henry Benjamin Wright at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 3rd February 1868.
I, HENRY BENJAMIN WRIGHT, of Albany Street, Regent's Park, in
the County of Middlesex, Dressing Case Maker, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR
SWEEPING CHIMNEYS," to be as follows:-
My improvements relate to an apparatus which may be conveniently
applied to the chimneys of dwelling houses and other buildings, and
which may be easily used at any time by an ordinary domestic servant
who without danger of injuring or soiling the rooms or furniture can
thus prevent the accumulation of soot in such chimneys, entirely
obviating the inconvenience and annoyance occasioned by the present
system of sweeping chimneys and performing the work in a far more
efficient manner than has hitherto been praticable.
The said improvements consist chiefly in the combination of a brush
or scraper with a frame extended above the chimney top or pot, and
with a box or receptacle for receiving the soot preferably placed at
the back of the fire-place and provided with means for conveniently

page_text: removing the soot when necessary. The brush is operated by a chain
or rope passing over two pulleys, one of which is supported in the top
of the box and the other in the iron frame over the chimney top.
The said Invention also partly consists in the peculiar construction
of the brush or scraper which is formed in two or more parts, each
part having metal wires or strips properly fixed to act on the surfaces
to be swept, and the parts being connected in such a manner as to
allow the brush to adapt itself to the form of the chimney.
The said Invention also consists in connecting the brush to the main
chain in such a manner as to keep the said brush always in the centre
of the chimney. In ordinary dwelling houses and similar buildings
the box or receptacle for receiving the soot removed by the brush or
scraper is fixed at the back of the grate or stove. The said box or
receptacle is preferably formed of cast iron and is supported upon brick
or stone level with the hearth from which it extends upward about
to the top of the mantel piece. The top of the said box is open, and
may be inclined or widened outward to prevent the possibility of the
soot falling on one side of the same. In some cases the box may be
provided with a top or extension of sheet iron or other suitable material
which is carried upward to a convenient point of the chimney or flue to
receive the soot as it falls from the brush and convey it into the box.
The said box is formed with an aperture below the grate to allow the
soot to be removed. A door or cover for this aperture may be hinged
or jointed to the box, or a drawer or slide may be used instead of a
door. The box or receptacle may also be made in two parts, the upper
end being fixed in the flue and the lower end made portable so that it
can be readily placed below the upper part when the apparatus is used,
and removed therefrom when the chimney has been cleaned. The
lower wheel or pulley which operates the chain is carried in suitable
bearings in the upper part of the box. The end of its spindle or axis 3
is made of the proper length to project through the front of the box,
and an aperture is formed through the back of the stove or fire-place
or through the front of the chimney below the mantel piece to allow
a handle to be fitted upon the end of the spindle when the apparatus
is to be used. At other times this handle is removed and the aperture 3
may then be closed with an ornamental cover or stopper. The upper
chain pulley is carried in bearings fixed to the metal frame which
extends above the chimney top or pot, or the said pulley may be

page_text: suspended by a shackle from the top of the frame, or otherwise supported
to turn freely with the chain passing over its periphery. The brush
can therefore be drawn up and down quite through the pot, which is
thus as thoroughly freed from soot as any other portion of the chimney.
The frame also allows the brush when not in use to be drawn up above
the pot, leaving a clear space or opening for the draught above the same.
The said frame is covered with a cap or cowl of any ordinary con-
struction. The blocks or cores of the brush are of metal and are
preferably made in the form of a double cone. The wires or strips
are of the proper length to suit the size of the chimney, and are passed
through holes formed in the metal blocks, each bundle of wires or
strips being arranged crosswise to the others. The blocks are secured
together at their ends by links or connections which allow them to
adapt themselves readily to the form of the chimney or flue. The
brush is connected at its upper and lower ends to short pieces of chain
which are attached to the main chain. By means of these short chains
the brush is kept always in the centre of the chimney or flue while
being drawn up or down in the same. Stops are provided in proper
positions upon the chain to keep the brush from moving too far in
either direction.