A CERTAIN IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR HEATING AND LIGHTING
Year: 1844

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, AUGUSTE
HYPOLITE RICHARD, of the British and Foreign Office for Patents, 1, Skinners
Place, Sise Lane, London, in the County of Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the Fifth day of September, in the eighth year of Her reign, did, for
Herself, Her heirs and successors, give aud grant unto me, the said Auguste
Hypolite Richard, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and autho-
rity, that I, the said Auguste Hypolite Richard, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said Auguste Hypolite Richard, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, no
others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during the term of years
therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend,
within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and in the
Islands of Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Sark, and Man, and also in all Ifer
said Majesty's Colonies and Plantations abroad, the Invention of "A CERTAIN
IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR HEATING AND LIGHTING;" in which said Letters Patent
is contained a proviso that I, the said Auguste Hypolite Richard, should
cause a particular description of the nature of my said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, by an instrument in writing under
my hand and seal, to be enrolled in Her said Majesty's High Court of
Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of
the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being
thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Auguste Hypolite Richard, do hereby declare that the nature of my said In-
vention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully
described and ascertained in and by the following statement, reference being
had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked
thereon (that is to say) :-
My improved apparatus for heating and lighting consists in the construc-
tion of grates, hearths, stoves, &c., in such a manner as to be able by means
of the same fire both to heat and light the buildings, apartments, or other
places in which the said grates, hearths, stoves, &c. shall be erected. And
this, my Invention, can be applied and used, in all situations where warmth
and light are required, either in private houses, factories, public assemblies, or
ships;
that is to say, wherever the two above-mentioned desiderata are wanted,
this, my improved apparatus, will economically supply them. My plan is to
extract the gas from the coal of the fire which heats the apartment, the gas
after purification being conducted to proper burners, placed conveniently for
illuminating with the requisite brilliancy. The apparatus is of simple manu-
facture, and requires no skill or trouble in attending to it more than the
ordinary methods of warming. To ememplify more easily the principal of my
improved mode of heating and lighting I have here adopted the form of a
stove, which may be made of iron plate, cast iron, or other metal, and as well.
as all the places or apparatus to which I adapt my improved mode with any
modification in arrangement or size; but the stove ought to be always of
dimensions proportional to the quantity of gas to be consumed during the
required number of hours.
I will now proceed to describe the Drawing, the same letters being always
marked upon the same parts in the different Figures.
Figure 1 is an elevation of my stove, which is here represented of sufficient
size to supply four large burners for ten hours; Figure 2, a vertical section of
the same; Figure 3, a horizontal view; Figure 4, a horizontal section; and
Figure 5, a modification of the apparatus to be used with a gasometer. A is
the body of the stove, either polished or ornamented, and lined internally with
bricks, in which is made a door G wide enough to show, when open, the front
of a cylindrical retort B, made of cast iron, sheet iron, copper, or other suit-
able material placed therein. The retort is pierced with two apertures, one, B¹,
through which it is charged and emptied, is cut in the end opposite the door
G of a circular form, with a chamfered edge, and equal in diameter to balf
the diameter of the retort; it is closed by a conical cast iron cover fitted to
the aperture air-tight, and retained in its place by the iron clamp B, which is

page_text: held by two flanges projecting from the top and bottom of the retort end. .A
tightening screw H passes through the clamp opposite to the centre of the cover;
in order to force the joint into close contact; any other stopper fulfilling the
same purpose may be also employed. The second aperture C, about one sixth
of the diameter of the hole B', is always perforated in or about the upper part
of the retort. It is designed to receive an iron, cast iron, or copper pipe C';
conveying the gas from the coal which has been put into the said retort into a
refrigerator D, which is placed on or beside the stove, or even at a distance.
It is necessary for this pipe to be placed vertically, in order to prevent the pos-
sibility of its being choked. The refrigerator may be made of copper, zinc, or
iron plate; its capacity should be about twice that of the retort, and it contains
from two to ten cylindrical or triangular purifiers, D', D', D', D'. Those
vessels are of the same metal as the refrigerator, and proportioned to its size
and to the number inserted therein; they are closed at their upper extremities
by plates of the same metal, surmounted by necks and well-fitted caps,
D2, D3, D3, D², so as perfectly to close the vessels. The lower extremity of
each vessel tapers off as a cone or a funnel, in the neck of which is fixed a
straight cock D, of an interior diameter equal to a quarter of that of the
vessel. The head of this cock ought to be long enough to come out
through the refrigerator by a hole D', which is pierced in it opposite
the head of the said cock. Each vessel possesses a little pipe D³, the
diameter of which is equal to one fourth of that of the vessel. The top
of this pipe comes out of the vessel at about an inch below its upper edge,
and passes into the adjacent vessel, thus successively connecting one with
the other, as may be seen in the Drawing; the lower extremity of the pipe
must project towards the bottom of the vessel, ending at the place where
the funeral commences; above the collars of the cocks D³, D³, D³, D', there
should be fixed a zinc plate I, which is soldered round the interior of the refri-
gerator, so that this last may be able to hold the cold water for which it is
intended. The under part of the said cocks is attached to another zinc plate
J, which is also soldered to the internal circumference of the refrigerator, so
as to prevent any disagreeable smell coming out from the holes D', D', D', D';
under this plate is fixed a funnel F, of which the upper diameter must be equal
to the internal diameter of the refrigerator, and ended by a pipe F", of a
diameter about one third of that of the purifying vessels; the fuunel is for the
purpose of receiving the liquid residue of the compositions which have served
to purify the gas, and the pipe will convey them either under the grate, to be
absorbed there by the heat, or to a close reservoir, whence they may be drawn
off for the sake of the tar they contain. When they are to be absorbed by

page_text: the fire, an ash pan Z, constructed peculiarly to receive them, must be placed
under the grate; this receptacle is made either of cast iron, sheet iron, or
copper, and is divided into two compartments; one, Z', at the back, and under
the hottest part of the grate, ought to be sufficiently capacious to receive at
least double the contents of the purifiers, in order that, after having emptied
them, if they should require to be rinsed, the water so used may also be
emptied into the said compartment. The other compartment Z is in front, and
remains vacant, to permit the passage of air to the fire; for this purpose several
regulating openings 23, are made in the front of the ash pan, in order to
moderate or urge the fire as required. In the top of the last vessel D', which
receives the gas, an iron, lead, or copper pipe E is placed to convey the gas to
its destination, either into a gasometer, when it is not used directly, or to the
burners, when it is required immediately. The form and disposition of this
pipe will depend upon circumstances. When used in connection with a gaso-
meter it should be arranged as in Figure 5, or similarly, as I shall hereafter
describe. Should the gasometer be dispensed with, and the gas employed
immediately on its preparation, there must be added to the refrigerator a small
recipient M, of about half its size; this recipicut is of the same metal as the
purifiers, and is so placed that the pipe E, which comes out of the last purifier,
conveys the gas to the bottom of the recipient; the egress pipe N, leading to
the burners, is inserted in the top. It is necessary, also, that the pipe which
conveys the gas to the bottom of the recipient be prolonged to some place as
at O, where any overplus of gas can be discharged (the chimney of the stove,
for example); it must also be provided, first, with a small burner P, which serves
to try the gas; second, with a cock R at the entrance of the recipient (which
must be shut from the time the stove is lighted until, after trial, the gas
is found sufficiently good); third, with another cock S, placed beyond the
branch which leads into the recipient. This cock must always be open when
that which is at the entrance of the recipient is shut, and vice versa. Fourth,
with a metal pipe L, one end of which is placed between S and the trial
burner P; the other end unites again with the main pipe beyond the said cock
S. This pipe L is provided with an internal valve K, opening outward, which
is designed to prevent accident, in case the opening of the cock should be
omitted, and to discharge the superfluous gas. The recipient must be divided
internally into compartments by the sheet zine or galvanised iron plates
U, U, U, U, U, U, U, U, previously pierced with small holes (like strainers).
These plates are placed in the recipient at one or two inches distance, one
above another, and are for the purpose of preventing any flickering of the
flame. If the gas be not consumed as soon as it is made, a gasometer of the

page_text: ordinary kind should be connected with the apparatus (see Figure 5). The
pipe E in this case simply requires to be prolonged as far as the bottom of the
gasometer. The pipes, &c. uniting the burners with the gasometer are fitted
in the usual way, and, therefore, requires no explanation. A cock E' is fixed
on this pipe, in order to cut off communication between the gasometer and the
purifiers at the moment when their residual matters are being emptied; but
for fear of accident, a pipe L, with its valve K, similar to that above described
in Figure 2, must be fitted here also. In order to put the apparatus in operation
I introduce the first day into the retort B a quantity of coal, sufficient to supply
the gas which is wanted, by estimating from the following data that one pound
of coal of average quality produces about three cubit feet of gas, and that with
these three feet an ordinary burner can be fed for an hour; also taking care
to proportion the quantity of coal which is put into the retort so as never to
exceed the two thirds of its capacity; then I close the aperture with the cover
B', and the iron clamp 133, as above described; afterwards I fill the grate
entirely round the retort with coal, and light it; then I pour into cach of the.
purifiers D', D', D', D', through their necks at D3, D3, D3, D³, some lime water
or solution of potash, or any other liquid capable of absorbing the smoke. I
pour in sufficient that the ends of the pipes D', D5, D, D³, which pass into the
vessels, be immersed in inch and a half under the surface. (Lime water being
the least expensive solution, is that which I more usually employ; it is made
by putting into eight or ten pints of water about a pound of lime.) All this
being done, I will with cold water the refrigerator D, in which are placed the
purifying vessels D', D', D', D¹. If the stove be constructed to consume the
gas as soon as it is made, after having lighted the fire, the cock R near the
recipient must be shut, and S, which serves to discharge the gas, must be
opened. After having kept a bright fire for about an hour,. the gas should be
tried at the burner P; if it be found good and clear, the cock R of the recipient
must be opened and S shut, and the burner can then be lighted. If the stove
be connected with a gasometer, as at Figure 5, it is sufficient to open the
cock E, of the pipe E; and after having kept a bright fire for about an hour,
the burner can be lighted. In both cases I keep up the fire as long as any
noise is heard in the purifiers, for when this ceases it is a proof that there is
no more gas in the coal of the retort. On the second and following days I
clear the retort by taking away the coal which was put in it, and which, having
produced its gas, is found reduced to coke. I insert a scraper into the entrance
of the pipe which is at the top of the retort, to free it from any obstructions
which might have entered. I charge again and stop up the retort as on the

page_text: previous day. I mix about one fifth, by volume, of coal with the coke just
taken out of the retort, and supply the grate with the mixture. To employ
the residual liquid in the purifiers which has served to purify the gas on the
previous day, one must open the cocks D³, D3, D3, D3, giving air at the
same time by loosening the caps D, D2, D, D², which are at the top. If the
tar be found to have stopped up the cock of the first purifier which receives
the
gas from the retort (for it is in this first one, that the whole of the tar is
deposited), I pass a small, bottle brush into the interior of the vessel as far as
the cock which should be open. I then pour in a pint of boiling water mixed
with a little turpentine to melt the tar,which sticks to the interior of the vessel.
This stoppage, however, will seldom occur. The cleaning being finished, I put
in the same quantity of lime water as on the day previous, and repeat the
whole process, as above described. My apparatus can also be applied to
furnaces, cooking ovens, &c., &c. Their form and size is of no importance,
provided the interior be capable of receiving a retort for the coal, and also
that the necessary openings in the saine can be reserved in the front and top
of the said retort.
And having now fully described my Invention, and the manner in which the
same is to be performed, I would have it understood that I do not rigidly
confine myself to the details herein described, and that I do not consider as of
my Invention the application of a retort to fireplaces and stoves, to which I
have above referred, for this principle is already in use in the manufacture of
gas. But that I claim,―
First, the construction and combination of the purifier and refrigerator in
so small a compass and so free from effluvia as to fit it for being combined
with a retort or retorts in a stove, grate, &c., in any and all rooms or apartments,
for the purpose of supplying pure gas without inconvenience or trouble, as
above described.
Second, the application of a "recipient," in certain cases, for the prevention
of flickering, as I have before described.
And such my Invention being to the best of my knowledge and belief
entirely new, and never before used within that part of Her said Majesty's
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland called England, Her said
Dominion of Wales, and Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and the Islands of
Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Sark, and Man, and also in all Her said Majesty's
Colonies and Plantations abroad, I do hereby declare this to be my Specification
of the same, and that I do verily believe that this my said Specification doth
comply in all respects fully and without reserve or. disguise with the proviso

page_text: in the said herein-before in part recited Letters Patent contained, where-
fore I hereby claim to maintain exclusive right and privilege to the said
Invention.
In witness whereof, I, the said Auguste Hypolite Richard, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Fifth day of March, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-five.