IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR GENERATING ILLUMINATING GAS
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Vincent Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughts-
man, for the Invention of. "IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR GENERATING
ILLUMINATING GAS."-A communication from abroad by John Irwin, of
Chicago, in the State of Illinois, United States of America.
Sealed the 13th February 1866, and dated the 23rd September 1865.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Vincent Newton
at. the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 23rd September 1865..
I ALFRED VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane;
in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR GENERATING
ILLUMINATING GAS," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to that class of gas generating apparatus in which
the illuminating gas is produced by the passage of currents of atmospheric air
over and in contact with naphtha or other similar hydro-carbon oils, whereby
the air becomes carburetted or surcharged with the volatile portions of the
naphtha, and may then be used for illuminating or heating purposes sub-
stantially in the same manner that ordinary gas is used. All apparatus of

page_text: this class have heretofore been constructed and arranged upon this erroneous
theory, that the inflammable carburetted air produced in the manner above
described is of a less specific gravity than the atmospheric air.
But this Invention is founded upon the theory and discovery that the
specific gravity of the carburetted air is greater than that of ordinary
atmospheric air, and consists in so arranging or placing the carburetting
apparatus above the point of combustion that the carburetted air falls down
to such point by its own weight, creating a vacuum in the apparatus and
inducing the air into the same producing the requisite current automatically
without the aid of any mechanical appliances for that purpose. The car-
buretting apparatus consists of a close metallic pan or vessel provided with
a series of vertical partitions which extend from the bottom to the top of the
vessel, and are arranged so as to form a zig-zag passage for the current of air
through the carburetter. The air enters the carburetter through a covered
perforated plate, and passing through the zig-zag passage rises as carburetted
air into a dome, whence it flows down into a pipe leading to the burners. The
apparatus should be filled about two-thirds full with naphtha. To put the
apparatus into operation at first a current of air must be propelled through
the same by some mechanical means until the carburetted air thus produced
fills the dome, and rises and flows down in the carburetted air supply pipe,
after which the operation, is automatic, the only attention required being to
keep the apparatus supplied with naphtha or its equivalent. The automatic
downward flow of the gas creates a vacuum in the carburetter which is
supplied by a rush of external air into the carburetter. If the supply pipe
is extended upward, no light can be obtained above the apparatus. In
extending the pipe directly downward care must be taken to have the upper
end thereof above the level of the naphtha so that it cannot enter and flow
down the same. Instead of the zig-zag arrangement of partitions the air may
pass by a serpentine arrangement of straight or curved partitions to the centre
of the carburetter, whence it may be taken off by a pipe entering a dome in
the carburetting vessel.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALFRED 3
VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, send greeting.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-third day of September, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-ninth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Alfred Vincent Newton, Her special licence that I, the said Alfred
Vincent Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, 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
"IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR GENERATING ILLUMINATING GAS," being a com-
munication from abroad, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said Alfred Vincent Newton, 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
immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say) :-
This Invention, as communicated to me from abroad, relates to that class
of gas generating apparatus in which the illuminating gas is produced by the
passage of currents of atmospheric air over and in contact with naphtha or
other similar bydrocarbon oils, whereby the air becomes carburetted or
surcharged with the volatile portions of the naphtha, and may then be used
for illuminating or heating purposes, substantially in the same manner that
ordinary gas is used. All apparatus of this class have heretofore been con-
structed and arranged upon the erroneous theory that the inflammable
carburetted air produced in the manner above described is of a less specific
gravity than the atmospheric air. But this Invention is founded upon the
theory and discovery that the specific gravity of the carburetted air is greater
than that of ordinary atmospheric air, and consists in so arranging or placing
the carburetting apparatus above the point of combustion that the carburetted
air falls down to such point by its own weight, creating a vacuum in the
apparatus, and thereby inducing the air into the same, and producing, the

page_text: requisite current automatically, without the aid of any mechanical appliances
for that purpose...
To enable those skilled in the art to understand how to construct and make
use, of the Invention, I will proceed to describe the same with particularity,
making reference in so doing to the accompanying Drawings, in which;
Fig. 1 represents, a plan or top view of the carburetting apparatus;. Fig. 2 is
a side view of the same; Fig. 3 shows the manner in which the Invention
is applied in practice; Fig. 4 shews another form of applying the same; and:
Fig. 5 is a top view of the carburetting apparatus. in Fig. 4. The: same:
letters of reference, in the several Figures denote the same parts of the;
apparatus.
6
:
2.1
The apparatus for carburetting the air consists of a close metallic.pan
or, vessel A, air-tight, except as hereafter mentioned, and provided with a
series of vertical partitions marked a. These partitions extend from the
bottom to the top of the vessel, and are arranged as shewn, being attached.
alternately to the opposite sides of the vessel so as to cause the aforesaid
current of air to pass back and forth across the carburetting fluid contained in
the vessel A in traversing the passages formed by the partitions as indicated
by the arrows. B represents a cover extending across the top of the closed.
vessel A at one end, and covering or enclosing the aperture C,.through, which
the air is admitted into the .carburetter.. The cover. B. is perforated with
numerous small holes marked b, b, through which air is, admitted into the
space enclosed by the cover B. The air passing along this space enters the
carburetter at the opening C and passes in the serpentine course indicated by
the arrows to the opposite side of the apparatus, where the carburetted air
rises into the dome E and flows down the pipe. F to be distributed to the
various burners below marked G. The above-described apparatus should be filled
about two-thirds full with naphtha, which is admitted through an opening
closed by the removable stopper D. To put the apparatus into operation at
first, a current of air must be propelled through the saune by some mechanical
means until the carburetted air thus produced fills the dome E, and rises and
flows down, the pipe F, after which the operation is automatic, the only
attention required being to keep the apparatus supplied with naphtha or its
equivalent. The pipe F. being once filled with the carburetted air, whenever
the same is ignited and consumed at the burners, it by its own specific gravity
flows down to supply the flame, its weight in the pipe giving the adequate
pressure, provided the fall of the gas is about three feet or more, that is,
provided the point of combustion is that distance below the carburetter.. The
automatic downward flow of the gas, during consumption, creates a vacuum in

page_text: the carburetter, which is supplied by the external air rushing into the
carburetter at the opening C, and thus a continuous current of air is produced'
through the apparatus. The air being in this manner carburetted affords a
continuous supply of gas to the burners. The pipe F may extend upward
above the apparatus A to any distance before returning.downward as shown,"
provided that it remains closed until it descends below the said apparatus, as
the operation in this form will be upon the principle of the syphon, and all the
burners must be placed below the carburetter in order that the apparatus may
operate. There is no necessity, however, to extend the pipe F above the
carburetting apparatus at all, for if it is extended upward no light can be
obtained above the apparatus, and the same results are obtained below it by
extending the pipe F directly downward, care being taken to have the upper
end thereof above the level of the naphtha, so that it cannot enter and flow
down the same.
The Invention is shown in this form in Fig. 4, H representing the carburet-
ting apparatus in vertical section, which is also shewn in plan view at Fig. 5.
In this arrangement the air passage terminates at the centre near the upper
end of the pipe F. The apparatus is shown as placed between the ceiling of
the apartment to be lighted, and the floor of the room above c is a pipe,
through which the air enters the apparatus; d is a pipe for introducing the
naphtha, and F is the gas pipe leading to the burners G. The end of the pipe
F in the reservoir H is curved down as shown simply for the purpose of pre-
venting the naphtha from being thrown into the pipe by any agitation. The
object of the enclosure B with its numerous small perforations, through which
the air is admitted to the apparatus, is to guard against explosion should a
lighted lamp be held near the same when any gas is escaping through the
aperture C. as the flame could not pass through the small perforations b, b,
while it might enter into the larger opening C, and ignite the naphtha and
explode the apparatus. A stop-cock may be placed at the opening C so as to
close the same, and thus prevent the escape of gas when the burners below are
not in use.
I do not limit myself to the use of a carburetting apparatus of any specific
form or principle, but any apparatus which admits the air into the same and
holds it in contact with the naphtha or its equivalent until it is sufficiently im-
pregnated to render the carburetted air of greater specific gravity than the
atmospheric air may be used. The essential principle of the Invention is that
in whatever direction the pipes leading from the carburetting apparatus may
extend all burners connected with and supplied from said apparatus must be
located below the apparatus.

page_text: Having now set forth the nature of the Invention of "Improved Apparatus
for Generating Illuminating Gas," and explained the manner of carrying the
same into effect, I wish it to be understood that under the above in part
recited Letters Patent, I claim arranging a carburetting apparatus, provided
with an inlet for air and an outlet for gas above the point of combustion, sub-
stantially as and for the purpose herein set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Twenty-third day of March, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
A. V. NEWTON. (L.S.)