IMPROVEMENTS IN COOKING STOVES
Year: 1885

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I HOWARD MATRAVERS ASHLEY of Ferrybridge in the County of York, Foundry
Manager do hereby declare the nature of my invention for IMPROVEMENTS IN
COOKING STOVES to be as follows:-
In an ordinary cooking stove of whatever pattern, that has a shelf or continuous
plate-rack above the fire, I attach a metal dish on the under side of the shelf,
leaving a cavity between the inside of the dish and the under side of the shelf,
and I supply the hollow shelf so formed with either boiling water or steam for
cooking purposes, by means of a system of circulating hot water or steam pipes
connected with the fire below the shelf. And in the class of stove commonly
called the "Leamington" or low oven, I regulate the amount of heat that shall
pass over the top of the oven under the hot-plate, and the amount that shall pass
down the side and under the oven by means of a double cheek, made of two plates,
one fixed and the other moveable, and each containing suitable perforations, so
that when the sliding portion is raised by any suitable means, closer to the under
side of the Hot-plate, the aperture through which the heat passes down the side
of the oven will be larger. But when the sliding plate is lowered, it will open the
inlet for heat to the top of the oven, but will proportionately close the aperture
that lets the heat in to the side of the oven, thus producing uniformity of heat in
both the top and the bottom of the oven, or otherwise, at the will of the operator.:
Dated this 11th day of November 1885

page_text: Improvements in Cooking stoves.
I HOWARD MATRAVERS ASHLEY of Ferrybridge in the County of York, Foundry
Manager do hereby declare the nature of my invention for IMPROVEMENTS IN
COOKING STOVES and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be
particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement that
is to say:
My invention refers to improvements in the construction of Cooking Stoves or
ranges the object being to give the Cook greater control over the heating of the
oven, and to increase the heating powers of such stoves.
It consists in one part of an arrangement by which the flame and heat from the
fire can be conducted to the oven or hot hearth as desired, and in the other part it
consists in making the platerack or shelf hollow by adding and fixing to the
underside a dished metal tray, and connecting it with any suitable system of
steam or hotwater apparatus.
And in order that my invention may be clearly understood, I annex a sheet of
explanatory drawings in which the same letters of reference indicate the same
parts in any of the figures in which they occur.
Fig. 1, is a side elevation of the fixed cheek next the fire, on the oven side of
stove.
Fig. 2, is an elevation seen from the back and partly in section, with the movable
cheek in its lowest position.
Fig. 8, ditto with movable cheek raised halfway.
Fig. 4, ditto with movable cheek in its highest position.
Fig. 5, is a front elevation of a cooking range, showing hot water apparatus
applied to convert platerack into a hotplate.
Fig. 6, side view of apparatus.
"
In carrying out my invention so as to improve the heating capabilities and
regulate the current of heat to the oven of Leamington" and similar stoves
having low ovens or to ovens and hot plates of any other descriptions I use a
compound or double cheek, consisting of a fixed plate A with suitable openings B
and C, Fig. 1, and a sliding plate D, also provided with openings for the passage
of the flame and heat.
The sliding plate is held against the inside face of the fixed plate by suitable
clips E in which it may be moved up and down, by means of a lever F, shown in
dotted lines in Fig. 1, provided with a catch G or equivalent means by which
it may be sustained in the positions shown in Figs 3 & 4. The lever F, may
be worked by means of the ordinary poker inserted at H, or by any other
arrangement.
In Fige 1 and 4, the sliding plate is shown raised to its highest position, and
thereby closing the opening O under the hot plate L
On the back of the sliding plate are two long projecting strips J & K, and on
the side of the oven L, is a similar strip M; the stripe J, K, are placed at such a
distance apart that when the plate D is at its highest or its lowest position, one or
1

page_text: the other is opposite the strip M, thus closing the direct vertical passage from the
lower to the upper part of the oven as shown in Figs 2 & 4. the intermediate
position as shown in Fig. 3.
Thus when the bulk of the heat is required to pass down the side and under the
oven, the plate D, is raised as shown in Figs 1 & 4. When rather more heat is to
pass over the top of the oven, the sliding plate is lowered to the position shown
in Fig. 3, or it may be further lowered so as to open the aperture O to the full
extent as in Fig. 2.
I prefer to fill in the opening B, with one or more fire bricks, perforated so as to
allow the flame and heated gases to pass through, which may be renewed from
time to time when required; the sliding plate D, is also made with recesses which
are filled with fireclay or other refractive material.
In carrying into practice the other part of my invention which may be applied
to my cooking stove having a continuous shelf or plate rack above the fire,
marked N, in Fig. 5, I attach to the underside of such plate rack, a metal tray
or dish O, the joint or junction of the two parts being made water or steam tight.
I connect the interior of the hollow shelf with any suitable system of steam or
circulating hot water pipes, in the sheet of drawings Figs 5 & 6, a simple plan of
hot water apparatus is shown. P is a waterheater placed at the back of the fire,
and supplied from a cistern or other source by the pipe Q, the heater and the
hollow plate O, being connected by the pipe R, a safety valve S may be added if
desired. Instead of the heater P, a coil of pipe may be used.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is
1st In "Leamington" and other similar cooking stoves, a sliding plate, having
suitable apertures, placed between the fixed cheek, of iron or firebrick, and the
side of the oven for the purpose specified, and substantially as herein before
described and illustrated:
2nd In Leamington and other similar stoves the combination with the fixed
cheek A, of a sliding plate D, both being provided with suitable openings, the
plate D, also having two dividing strips J & K to act in conjunction with a strip M,
on the side of the oven, and operated by a lever F or equivalent means, sub-
stantially as herein before described and shown.
3rd The method of constructing a hotplate by attaching to the underside of a
shelf or plate rack, a metal tray or dish, so attached as to be available to contain
steam or hot water supplied from any suitable source, substantially as herein
specified.
4th The combination with a plate rack or shelf, of the dished tray, attached
underneath in such a manner that it may be used as a receptacle for steam or
hot water, for the purpose specified, and substantially as herein described and
illustrated.
ROBT F. DRURY,
Agent for the Applicant.