Improvements in Respirators.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 15th Feb., 1896-Accepted, 25th Apr., 1896
Improvements in Respirators.
We, RUDOLF RITTER VON WALCHER-UYSDAL, of No. 7 Kumpfgasse,
Vienna I, Director of Finances to His Imperial Highness The Archduke
Friedrich, Dr. GUSTAV GAERTNER, of No. 1 Schulerstrasse, Vienna I,
Professor at the Imperial Royal University, and GUSTAV BENDA, of
No. 8 Burgring, Vienna I, Merchant, all in the Empire of Austria, do
hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement :-
This invention relates to respirators or apparatus for enabling persons to
breathe in an atmosphere of irrespirable or poisonous gases, and has for its
object.―
To enable persons to breathe for a considerable time when, in the practice of
their profession, they are suddenly and unexpectedly deprived of air under
circumstances in which a rescue appears impossible in the moment of danger.
To rescue persons who are not provided with such apparatus and who are
suddenly deprived of air, by enabling other persons fitted out with such apparatus
to penetrate in the shortest possible time into the poisonous atmosphere and thereby
rescue the persons overcome by the same.
To protect or save property under similar circumstances to those mentioned
above.
The apparatus thus serves as a life-saving and salvage apparatus for immediate
use when necessity arises.
Our apparatus is more particularly designed for use by miners who, after au
explosion arising from fire-damp or coal-dust or on the occasion of a fire or a flood,
find themselves unexpectedly, without being able to communicate directly with the
outer world, in an atmosphere of poisonous gases such as choke damp, in which case
they can breathe for a considerable length of time without any help from outside
or they can save themselves by proceeding to a part of the mine which contains
fresh air. Our apparatus is also useful to enable miners forming a rescuing party
to bring help in the shortest possible time and further it is adapted for use by
firemen at fires to enable them to remain in rooms filled with smoke and for other
similar purposes.
The apparatus consists essentially of a gas-tight sack or bag provided with a
tube having a mouth-piece or a mask, such as is used in dentistry, the said bag
being provided for the purposes of the invention with oxygen or air in such
quantity that when it is blown out the oxygen or air contained therein can be
inhaled by the user.
The main feature of the invention is that the air exhaled by the user passes into
the bag through the same opening as the air or oxygen inhaled from the bag at
normal pressure, and that the carbonic acid gas contained in the air exhaled is
absorbed when entering the sack or bag so that the air or oxygen breathed into the
lungs is not rendered impure by the carbonic acid exhaled..
For this purpose the interior of the bag is provided with a layer of a material
which absorbs liquid, for instance, fustian, flannel or any other suitable porous
material which is then soaked with any known agent for absorbing carbonic acid,
such as solutions of caustic soda or caustic potash, milk of lime, or the like.
This is best carried out by pouring a liquid of the kind above described into the
bag, the rough inner lining of which offers a large surface to the liquid which is
therefore immediately soaked up and forms a large absorbent surface for the

page_text: carbonic acid. Injury to the person employing the apparatus through the liquid
introduced into the bag is not possible because the said liquid is mechanically
retained in the bag.
It will be obvious that such an absorbent surface could be introduced into the bag
in another form, for instance, in the form of wicks, nets, threads or wadding. The
liquid can also be stored in a vessel inside the bag and poured on to the absorbent
surface by opening or breaking the said vessel.
The oxygen can be stored up in a vessel which can be either put into, or cut off
from, communication with the bag, or the oxygen can be obtained by chemical
means and at the moment when it is required can be allowed to stream into the bag.
The vessels for containing the oxygen and the alkaline solution are advantageously
placed in or near the bag.
To enable our invention to be fully understood we will describe the same by
reference to the accompanying drawing, in which :-
Figure 1 is a view of our improved apparatus packed up for wear:
Figure 2 is a view of the said apparatus shewing the same in use:
Figure 3 is a view of the apparatus drawn to an enlarged scale:
Figure 4 is a longitudinal section of the vessel containing the alkaline solution:
Figures 5 and 6 shew respectively modifications of the apparatus and of the
vessel containing the alkaline solution.
A is a metal vessel provided with a cut-off cock, the said vessel being of ordinary
construction and adapted for containing compressed oxygen. B is the bag or sack
for the reception of the oxygen at the proper pressure for inhalation and of the
air exhaled from the lungs, the said bag being connected with the vessel A by a
flexible tube. This bag is lined on the interior with a light material made net-like
and rough so as to present a large surface, the said material being preferably
fustian. A mouth-piece C or a mask is connected to the sack or bag by means of
a single tube which serves as a passage both for the air inhaled and exhaled and is
not provided with a cock or valve or other cut-off device.
Into the bag B we introduce the vessel D containing the alkaline solution (the
said vessel being preferably introduced through a lateral slit adapted to be closed
by the clamp E) which vessel consists of a glass tube d which is first filled with the
alkaline solution and then sealed up. The glass tube d is fitted into the wooden
frame d and can be smashed in order to allow the solution to flow out of the tube
by operating a lever d² (as shewn in Figures 3 and 4) or a screw (as shewn
in Figures 5 and 6) the position of which can be easily ascertained through
the sack.
In some cases we employ the arrangement shewn in Figure 5, in which the
vessel D for the alkaline solution and the oxygen vessel A are both introduced into
the bag or sack and can be brought into operation by operating the valves from the
outside.
When not required for use the apparatus can be folded up so as to occupy a small
space and be placed in a knapsack or satchel adapted to be strapped to the body so
that when an explosion of fire-damp or other accident occurs the bag can be
quickly removed, the glass tube d smashed and the admission of oxygen started
whereby the apparatus is immediately made ready for use.
Our improved apparatus is not only simple and easy to handle but is also easily
carried so that a miner can carry it daily with him during his work without being
hindered in the performance of the same. The apparatus remains in working
condition for many years and fulfils all the requirements necessary to enable a
person to escape from a room which becomes suddenly filled with noxious gases to
enable him to remain for a considerable length of time in such a room.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is :-
1. A respirator consisting of a vossal provided with
living or filling of

page_text: material soaked in a liquid which absorbs carbonic acid gas, the air exhaled
from the lungs being breathed into the said bag through its mouth-piece so that
the carbonic acid gas contained in the air exhaled is absorbed, substantially as
described.
2. In apparatus of the kind described in Claim 1, forming the said vessel of a
sack or bag B adapted to be filled with oxygen from a vessel such as A placed near
the same, the said bag being provided with a tube C having a mouth-piece but no
valve or cock, through which tube the air is both inhaled and exhaled, and also
with a lining which becomes soaked with a fluid which absorbs carbonic acid gas
when a vessel D placed in the bag B and containing an alkaline solution is broken,
substantially as described.
3. A modification of the apparatus described in Claim 2 in which the vessel A
containing the oxygen is placed within the air-container B, substantially as
described.
4. In apparatus of the kind described in Claims 1 to 3, the arrangement of the
parts in such a manner that the complete apparatus can be carried by the person
whilst working so as to be always ready for use, substantially as described.
5. In apparatus of the kind described in Claims 1 to 3, a vessel consisting of a
glass tube held in a frame and filled with an alkaline solution, which tube is.
introduced into the air bag through a slit which can be closed by a clamp, the
said tube being adapted to be broken by means of a lever or a screw, substantially
as described and illustrated in the accompanying drawing.
6. The improved apparatus herein before described and illustrated in the
accompanying drawing.
Dated this 15th day of February 1896
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, Finsbury, London, Agents for the Applicants..