Patent GB-190707970-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in or relating to the Artificial Incubation of Eggs.
Inventor: DAME WILHELM
Filed: 1907-04-05
Granted: 1907-12-12
Abstract: 7970. Dame, W. April 6, 1906, [date applied for under PatentsAct, 1901]. Head-storing apparatus; heating by chemical action; thermostats &c.-In an incubator, a substance the melting or boiling point of which is at the temperature of incubation is used as a heat carrying and regulating medium, so that the latent heat of the substance is supplied to the eggs and the temperature maintained constant. A mixture of certain proportions of hard and soft paraffin is suitable. The substance may be utilized in many ways. A tank, capsules of "formal gelatine," or balls of glass, may be filled with it, heated, and laid with the eggs in a box of straw or other non-conductor and covered with cotton-wool. Metal wool may be placed within the balls to distribute the heat, and an inner ball containing a substance with a higher melting-point may also be used. If a tank is used, it may be partly supported by spring or friction devices, and may have windows or be of glass to allow the contents to be seen. Instead of the substance being previously heated, the heat may be supplied in various other ways. A vessel may be placed on the tank and filled with hot water, a body with a higher melting-point, dilute sulphuric acid to which iron filings are added periodically, or caustic soda or lime to which acid is slowly added. Or water in the vessel may be heated by steam supplied from a boiler. The boiler may be arranged with a balance weight so that when empty it is removed from the flame, and the vacuum formed causes the water to return. As shown in Fig. 7, the tank e contains the heat-regulating medium within the box a, the eggs being placed in a drawer beneath it, It is heated by means of water circulating in the pipes x and heated by a spirit lamp. In the tank e is arranged a vane z<3> mounted on a vertical spindle z<2>, which carries at the top a block z<1>. On the block is an arm z to which is attached the spring z<4>, which is not strong enough to overcome the friction between the block z' and the spindle z<2>; if the substance in the tank e melts, the vane is released and the spring pulls the arm z from engagement with the extinguisher y, which partly or wholly extinguishes the lamp, thus preventing overheating. A liquid, such as methylal, methylene chloride, or carbon bisulphide, that boils at the required temperature may be used by passing its vapour through a coiled tube to a condenser, from which the liquid is returned to the boiler. Other liquids, for example ether, may be used if the pressure in the boiler is regulated to adjust the boiling-point. The pressure may be varied to raise the temperature as the process of incubation proceeds. When the double hollow ball is used, the heat may be supplied from the inner space by means of hot water, caustic potash and sulphuric acid, water and lime, heated sodium acetate or bees-wax, or short-circuited galvanic elements. For use as a fostermother, the apparatus may be provided with doorways, and in some cases the insulating-box may be simply inverted.