A NEW APPARATUS OR APPA- RATUSES APPLICABLE TO FIRE-PLACES TO. FACILITATE THE LIGHTING, BURNING, & ECONOMISING OF FUEL.”
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edward Tomlinson, of 206, Old St., City
Road, St. Luke's, for the Invention of "A NEW APPARATUS OR APPA-
RATUSES APPLICABLE TO FIRE-PLACES TO. FACILITATE THE LIGHTING, BURNING,
& ECONOMISING OF FUEL.”
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edward Tomlinson
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 20th August 1875.
I, EDWARD TOMLINSON, of 206, Old St., City Road, St. Luke's, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "A New APPARATUS
OR APPARATUSES APPLICABLE TO FIRE-PLACES TO FACILITATE THE LIGHTING,
BURNING, AND ECONOMISING OF FUEL," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object the arrangement and application of
apparatus for holding the wood or other easily combustible fuel or
inflammable material in a suitable position to promote combustion in a

page_text: grate or fire-place in order to facilitate the ignition of the coal or other
fuel when the fire is lighted therein. Or in some cases the apparatus
may be used to facilitate the burning of coal or other fuel for the
purpose of keeping the fire in or up after lighting.
For this purpose according to one method of carrying out my Inven-
tion a metal clip, receptacle, or holder is arranged in which the wood or
other inflammable fuel is required for lighting a fire can be placed and
held securely by means of a sliding band or otherwise.
The clip or
holder is formed with a handle advantageously bent so as to embrace and
secure it to one or more of the bars of the grate upon which it rests
when the apparatus is placed therein, to support the wood or fuel in the
most advantageous position for igniting the coal or fuel when the fire is
lighted. By this means the wood or other fire-lighter is prevented from
collapsing or falling into a dense mass, which so frequently happens by
the ordinary method, thus causing the fire to go out or preventing the
fuel from igniting so readily as when supported as previously described
until combustion of the coal or fuel is thoroughly effected.
The holder or apparatus may be removed from the grate when the fire
is thoroughly lighted ready to be recharged with wood or other inflam-
mable material, or in some cases may remain in the fire-place or grate,
and can be made a fixture or otherwise.
The form, arrangement, and construction of the holder or apparatus
may be greatly varied without departing from the nature of my Inven-
tion, which consists of apparatus for the purposes of arranging, adjusting,
holding, or fixing upon or within or in connection with apparatus of
wood, coal, or any kind of fuel, either separate or in combination, used
for the purpose of fires, and can be placed, fixed, or otherwise in a.
suitable position in a fire-place or grate so as to effect more certain
combustion and economize fuel than by the ordinary method of placing
or arranging such fuel thercin.]

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Edward Tomlinson in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 19th February 1876.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDWARD
TOMLINSON, of 206, Old Street, City. Road, St. Luke's, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of August, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the
thirty-ninth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said Edward Tomlinson, Her
special license, that I, the said Edward Tomlinson, my executors, admi-
nistrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Edward Tom-
linson, 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 "A NEW APPARATUS OR APPARATUSES APPLICABLE TO FIRE-
PLACES TO FACILITATE THE LIGHTING, BURNING, AND ECONOMIZING OF FUEL," upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Edward Tomlinson, 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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Edward Tomlinson, 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 the following statement thereof, that is to
say:
This Invention has for its object the arrangement and application of
apparatus for holding the wood or other easily combustible fuel or
imflammable material in a suitable position to promote combustion in a
grate or fire-place in order to facilitate the ignition of the coal or other

page_text: fuel when the fire is lighted therein. In some cases the apparatus may
be used to facilitate the burning of coal or other fuel for the purpose of
keeping the fire in or up after lighting.
Or in some cases according to one method of carrying out my Inven-
tion a metal clip, receptacle, or holder is arranged in which the wood or
othér imflammable fuel required for lighting a fire can be placed and
held securely by means of a sliding band or otherwise. The clip or
holder is formed with a handle advantageously bent so as to embrace and
secure it to one or more of the bars of the grate, upon which it rests
when the apparatus is placed therein, to support the wood or fuel in the
most advantageous position for igniting the coals or fuel when the fire
is lighted. By this means the wood or other fire-lighter is prevented
from collapsing or falling into a dense mass, which so frequently
happens by the ordinary method, thus causing the fire to go out or
preventing the fuel from igniting so readily as when supported as
previously described until combustion of the coal or fuel is thoroughly
effected.
The holder or apparatus may be removed from the grate when the fire
is thoroughly lighted ready to be recharged with wood or other inflam-
mable material, or in some cases may remain in the fire-place or grate,
and can be made a fixture or otherwise.
-
The form, arrangement, and construction of the holder or apparatus
may be greatly varied without departing from the nature of my Inven-
tion, which consists of apparatus for the purpose of arranging, adjusting,
holding, or fixing upon or within the apparatus of wood, coal, or any
kind of fuel, either separate or in combination, used for the purposes of
fires, and which can be placed, fixed, or otherwise in a suitable position
in a fire-place or grate so as to effect more certain combustion and
economy of fuel than by the ordinary method of placing or arranging
such fuel therein.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention I will proceed to
describe the Drawings hereunto annexed, which show two different
forms of apparatus, holders, or instruments suitably constructed and
arranged for holding wood or other fuel to facilitate the lighting of fires
in fire-places or to promote and support the combustion of the coal or
other fuel therein in accordance with my Invention.

page_text: Figure 1 shows a plan and side view of a clip or holder for clamping
and holding a wheel-shaped fire-lighter. The bent or folded ends a¹ of the
bar of metal a of which the holder is made serve as a handle to the
holder, and also to act as a clip to secure the apparatus to the bar of
the grate when the fire-lighter is placed therein, the sliding collar a
acting to bind the holder a firmly around the wheel fire-lighter or other
suitable igniting fuel, as clearly shown in the Drawing.
Figure 2 shows another form of holder or apparatus for holding
ordinary pieces of fire-wood for facilitating the lighting of fires in
accordance with my Invention. This holder or apparatus is formed of
angle iron in two separate parts a, a, which are held together by
means of the sliding colla a², which serves to clamp the two parts a, a*,
together to hold the pieces of fire-wood placed between them, as indi-
cated by dotted lines.
When the fire is well alight the sliding collar a² may be drawn back,
and the lower part of the holder should be first withdrawn from between
the bars of the grate, the pins a³, a³, in the upper half of the holder
acting to clear out any pieces of wood or fuel remaining between
the two parts a, a*, which if desired may be connected or jointed
together.
It will be obvious to any one that the arrangement, construction, and
method of applying apparatus of this description for the purpose of
facilitating the lighting of fires and for promoting, maintaining, and
supporting the combustion of fuel may be greatly varied without
departing from the true character and principle of my Invention;
it is therefore unnecessary to give any further examples of the manner
of performing or carrying my Invention into practice, and I would have
it clearly understood that I do not limit my claim to the two examples
herein-before shown and described; but what I claim is,-
-
The use of and application to fire-places of apparatus or instruments
suitable for holding wood or other inflammable fluel more advan-
tageously than heretofore, in order to facilitate the lighting of fires,
and thus economize and promote the burning of the fuel, substantially

page_text: in the manner herein-before described and represented in the Drawings
hereunto annexed.
I also claim the use of and application of apparatus such as or similar
to that herein-before described for the purpose of arranging, adjusting,
and holding fuel so as to promote, maintain, and support the combustion
thereof after it is lighted.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edward Tomlinson, have here-
unto set my hand and scal, this Nineteenth day of February,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and
seventy-six.
EDWARD TOMLINSON. (L.S.)