IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR SUPPORTING RESPIRATION AND LIGHT IN SUFFOCATING ATMOSPHERES AND UNDER WATER.
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Denton Abel, of No. 20, Southampton
Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR SUPPORTING RESPIRATION
AND LIGHT IN SUFFOCATING ATMOSPHERES AND UNDER WATER.'
-A com-
munication from abroad by Henri Fayol, of the Coal Mines of
Commentry. Allier. France, Engineer.
"
Sealed the 14th September 1875, and dated the 18th March 1875.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Denton Abel
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 18th March 1875.
I, CHARLES DENTON ABEL, of No. 20, Southampton Buildings,
Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR SUP-
PORTING RESPIRATION AND LIGHT IN SUFFOCATING ATMOSPHERES AND UNDER
WATER," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to improvements in apparatus for supporting
respiration and light in suffocating atmospheres and under water,

page_text: combustion; it is closed at top with fine wire gauze so as to prevent the
flame from being communicated to external inflammable vapour.
The apparatus for a continuous air supply is employed when work
has to be done continuously for a certain length of time. It consists of
an air pump worked by hand by a fly wheel and crank handle. The
crank shaft of the fly wheel communicates a reciprocating motion
to a connecting rod connected to a framing, carrying the piston working
in a pump cylinder which it divides into two compartments of different
diameters. The ends of the pump cylinder are each provided with an inlet
and an outlet valve. The compressed air passes into a recipient below
provided with a branch pipe provided with a cock, to which is connected
the main air supply pipe. On the branch pipe is fixed a safety valve
for preventing the air pressure in the recipient from accumulating to a
degree that would burst the canvas or other material of which the air
supply pipe and distributor is constructed. The said pump may be
made of small dimensions so as to be capable of being carried by one
man by means of slings.
The air conduit pipes are made of caoutchouc in order that they may
be perfectly flexible, and are covered with canvas or other material to
protect the caoutchouc against abrason. They are fixed to the wall of
the gallery or working by means of iron hooks as the pipes are uncoiled.
They are divided in lengths of 50 yards, and are connected together by
unions, consisting of cocks having three branches, one of which serves
to fill periodically the before described portable reservoirs carried
by the workmen, who move about independently of the continuous air
supply.
The distributor is a sort of portable reservoir connected to the air
supply, and having eight branch pipes to which are connected the tubes
of the respirators and of the lamps of workmen who are not provided
with independent air reservoirs. The pipes of the distributor are secured
to the workmen by means of belts, whereby they are always kept in the
same position.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Charles Denton Abel in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 15th September 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
DENTON ABEL, of 20, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the.
County of Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eighteenth day of March, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the thirty-
eighth year of Her reign, did for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Charles Denton Abel, Her special licence
that I, the said Charles Denton Abel, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Charles Denton Abel, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN
APPARATUS FOR SUPPORTING RESPIRATION AND LIGHT IN SUFFOCATING ATMO-
SPHERES AND UNDER WATER," communicated to me from abroad by Henry
Fayol, of the Coal Mines of Commentary, Allier, France, Engineer,
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Charles Denton
Abel, 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 Charles Denton Abel, do hereby
declare the nature of my said 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 improvements the construction of appa-
ratus for supporting respiration, the object of which is the saving of
workmen either from suffocation by bad gases or the carrying on of

page_text: VAS III minnes or other places in which it is necessary to work, in
deleterius or irrespirable mediums, or under water.
The whole of the respiratory apparatus consists of,-
€
1. The apparatus which the workman carries with him, viz., the
respiratory apparatus proper, nose pincers, eye glasses, the portable
reservoir, and the lamp for dark places on the one hand.
2. And on the other hand the accessory apparatus which can be
stationary, and which constitute the continuous current apparatus, viz.,
the feeding pump, the delivery pipes, and the distributing reservoir.
The Invention is illustrated in the accompanying Drawings, to which
reference will herein-after be made in the course of the description of
the several organs and apparatus, stress being more specially laid on
the particulars of the improved parts.
The Respiratory Apparatus, Fig. 1.-This apparatus consists of a
mouth-piece formed with two valve ajutages at right angles,; one to
the other. At the end of one of these ajutages which is horizontal,
the air feed tube ends; the other, which is vertical, opens in the air.
While taking a breath the valve of the first ajutage opens to allow the
good air to pass, the valve of the other remains closed, the reverse takes
place during expiration. The mouth-picce is so formed as to fit between
the teeth and the lips instead of on the lips. In this way a perfect
joint is obtained, for with the old system fitting on the lips moustachios
were prejudicial.
Nose Pincers, Fig. 2.-The nose pincers instead of being separate are
fastened to the mouth-piece, so that in no case can they be lost by the
workman.
Eye Glasses, Fig. 3.-The eye glasses are indispensable to preserve the
evcs from smoke: they consist of lens fitting exactly in the novition

page_text: piece above described, which serves to supply the workman with air.
The third nozzle is also connected with a tube, and provides the air
necessary for the combustion of the lamp. The fourth nozzle is also
provided with a tube specially used for refilling the portable reservoir
by connecting it with the main tube and the continuous current appa-
ratus. The nozzles are closed by india-rubber plugs which are attached
to the apparatus by a tie and a ring fixed to the plugs, thus the latter
cannot be separated from the apparatus by a fall or sudden shock. The
portable reservoir weighs about 16 lbs. (8 kilogrammes); its volume is
about 40 gallons (180 litres); it can supply a man and his lamp with air
from 12 to 15 minutes. This space of time although it may appear
short is nevertheless fully sufficient in many cases to permit continued
works for protection against fires in mines to be carried on without
fatigue by replacing the workmen successively.
;
The Lamp, Fig. 5.-The lamp is provided inside with a wax candle
its casing is made of cristal, the top being covered by a metallic cloth
which prevents the introduction of the bad gases and allows those
proceeding from the combustion to escape.
The Continuous Current Apparatus.-This apparatus is used when
continuous work on a settled point is required, as for example, tho
making of a dividing wall.
The Air Feed Pump, Fig. 6.-The arrangement of this pump is the
same as portable forge bellows; it may be worked by a child of 12
or 13 years old by means of a crank fly wheel shaft. This fly wheel
shaft gives a reciprocating motion to a connecting rod connected to the
pision frame. The piston works in a pump barrel which it divides into
two compartments of different diameters. The bottoms of the pump
barrel are each provided with a sucking and a forcing valve. The com-
pressed air is forced into a lower receptacle provided with a nozzle
having a cock on which the main tube, Fig. 7, is fitted. This nozzle is
provided with a safety valve to show the person working the pump
when the pressure is too great on the distributing reservoir, and thus
the rupture of the cloth forming the said distributor is avoided. This
pump can be constructed of very small volume so as to be portable and
to enable it to be carried on the back of a single man with the aid of
straps.
Conducting Tubes.-These tubes are made of india-rubber, so as to
be perfectly flexible, and that they may be rolled in a coil when all

page_text: their length is not required. They are covered with a texture of cloth
or other material, preserving the india-rubber from rubbing against the
walls of the galleries of the mine and rendering it much more durable.
The air tube is entirely fixed to the walls of the galleries by means of
iron hooks as the tubes are unrolled. The latter are divided into lengths
of about 50 metres, and connected together by three-way cocks, of
which the third serves to supply pure air to the portable reservoirs of the
workmen who pass through the galleries, and are independent of the
continuous current apparatus.
The Distributor, Fig. 8.-This distributor is a sort of portable reser-
voir, but smaller, provided with 8 small nozzles to which are fitted the
lamp feed tubes. The distributing tubes are provided with straps and
girdles which keep them always in the same position. All the joints are
of india-rubber and all the valves are of metal instead of glass to
prevent their breakage.
Having thus described the nature of the said Invention, and the
manner of carrying it into effect, I would have it understood that I do
not confine myself to the precise details above enumerated, as these may
obviously be modified without departing from the principle of the
Invention; but what I claim is, an apparatus for supporting respiration
and light in suffocating atmospheres, or under water, constructed and
arranged as above described, and represented in the accompanying
Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Denton Abel have here-