IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR CARBURETTING AIR SO AS TO RENDER IT COMBUSTIBLE PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION AS GAS FOR LIGHTING AND HEATING PURPOSES
Year: 1880

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Westinghouse, junior, of No. 28, Southampton
Buildings, in the County of Middlesex, for an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN APPARATUS FOR CARBURETTING AIR SO AS TO RENDER IT COMBUSTIBLE
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Westinghouse at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 4th August 1880.
GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE, junior, of No. 28, Southampton Buildings, in the
County of Middlesex. "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR CARBURETTING
AIR SO AS TO RENDER IT COMBUSTIBLE AS GAS FOR LIGHTING AND HEATING
PURPOSES."
When air is transmitted through gasoline or other somewhat volatile hydrocarbon
liquid, or through porous matter saturated therewith, it takes up vapour of the
hydrocarbon so that it can be burned as gas for lighting or heating purposes. This
mode of lighting has been employed in railway trains, the brakes of which are
worked by compressed air, a portion of the air being carburetted in order to provide
the illuminant for the carriages, and apparatus for this purpose has been described
in the Specification of a Patent granted to me on the 17th May 1877, No. 1764. My
present Invention relates to the construction and arrangement of apparatus for
carburetting air for the purpose referred to above, this apparatus being applicable
not only in railway trains, but also in other situations where air can be obtained
under a moderate pressure. My chief object in constructing and arranging the
apparatus which I am about to describe is to provide facilities for charging the
carburetting vessels, for connecting them to the pipes, and disconnecting them
therefrom, and for making an exchange of vessels without interfering with the
supply of the combustible to such lamps or heaters as it may be led to. For this
purpose I make the carburetting vessel preferably of cylindrical form, having
through its middle a tube through which passes a bolt for fixing it to the carriage
or other place where it is to be used. Within the vessel there are two tubular
passages each having in it a check valve opening inwards. At the place where the
vessel is to be fixed I provide a central bolt and two tubular nozzles at such a
Pies C77

page_text: distance apart as to fit into the two tubular passages of the carburetting vessel, the
one of these nozzles being connected to the pipe supplying air, and the other being
connected to the pipe by which the carburetted air is led to the burners. The
nozzles are placed at unequal distances from the central bolt, or they may be made
of unequal diameters so that the carburetting vessel can be fixed in its place only
in one attitude, each nozzle entering its appropriate passage in the vessel. The
valves in these passages have projecting stems which bear against the nozzles when
the vessel is fixed in its place, the valves being thus lifted from their seats so as to
put the nozzles in free communication with the interior of the vessel. The passage
by which the air enters the vessel is surrounded by a tubular casing extending
nearly down to the bottom of the vessel. Each of the nozzles has at its base a ring
or washer of leather, caoutchouc, or other packing material. For the purpose of
charging the vessel it is inverted, and the hydrocarbon is poured in at one of the
passages, the other passage allowing escape of the displaced air. The vessel is then
placed upon its seat and screwed firmly down by a nut on its central bolt. The
washers thus compressed at the bases of the nozzles prevent leakage, whilst the
valves are opened by their stems bearing against the nozzles. Air thereupon being
supplied by the one nozzle descends the annular space surrounding the one passage
and bubbling up through the liquid hydrocarbon, or passing upwards through
porous material saturated therewith issues at the other nozzle, carrying with it
hydrocarbon vapour, which renders it fit for combustion. It is of advantage to
provide also within the nozzles themselves check valves having stems which meet
the stems of the valves in the passages of the carburetting vessel, the valves in the
nozzles closing when the vessel is removed, so as to prevent escape from the pipes
with which the nozzles are connected. Having two sets of such nozzles connected
to the same set of pipes, I can thus put a charged vessel on the one set of nozzles
and remove a partially emptied vessel from the other set of nozzles without
interfering with the carburetting operation. It is of advantage to connect the
branch pipes to or from the two sets of nozzles to the main pipe in each case
through a regulating cock, by which the quantity of air passing through either of
two vessels may be adjusted as desired, or may be entirely cut off. By arranging
the vessel and the means of fixing it as I have described, the vessel can with the
greatest readiness be removed from its seat, taken away if necessary to a distance
to be charged in a situation where no danger attends the retention of a store of the
hydrocarbon, and replaced in its seat ready for use. The vessels being strongly
made, and being closed by self acting valves completely protected within the vessel,
can be treated roughly without sustaining damage. It is convenient to make the
vessels and their fittings of known and equal weight, so that when any one is
charged the weight of the charge can be readily ascertained by a spring or other
balance, and in like manner the amount of material consumed can be ascertained 4
by weighing the vessel after a portion of its contents has been exhausted.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said George Westinghouse in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
31st January 1881.
GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE, junior, of No. 28, Southampton Buildings, in the
County of Middlesex. "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR CARBURETTING
AIR SO AS TO RENDER IT COMBUSTIBLE AS GAS EOR LIGHTING AND HEATING
PURPOSES."
When air is transmitted through gasoline or other somewhat volatile hydrocarbon
liquid, or through porous matter saturated therewith, it takes up vapour of the
hydrocarbon so that it can be burned as gas for lighting or heating purposes. This
mode of lighting has been employed in railway trains, the brakes of which are
worked by compressed air, a portion of the air being carburetted in order to
provide the illuminant for the carriages, and apparatus for this purpose has been
described in the Specification of a Patent granted to me on the 17th May 1877,
No. 1764. My present Invention relates to the construction and arrangement of
apparatus for carburetting air for the purpose referred to above, this apparatus
being applicable not only in railway trains but also in other situations where air
can be obtained under a moderate pressure. My chief object in constructing and
arranging the apparatus which I am about to describe is to provide facilities for
charging the carburetting vessels, for connecting them to the pipes and disconnecting
them therefrom, and for making an exchange of vessels without interfering with
the supply of the combustible to such lamps or heaters as it may be led to. For
this purpose I make the carburetting vessel preferably of cylindrical form, as shewn
in vertical section at Fig. 1 of the accompanying Drawings, and fix it when in use
on a base, of which Fig. 2 is a plan. A is the vessel with a central tube through
which passes a bolt B for holding the vessel down on its base, it being screwed
firmly down thereon by turning the hand nut C. Within the vessel A are two
tubular passages D and E, both open at the bottom to the exterior, and both open
at the top to the interior of the vessel. The one tube D, which is the inlet tube, is
enclosed within a tubular casing F closed at the top but open at the bottom at a
little distance above the bottom of A. The other tube E, which is the outlet, is
covered at the top by a cap G containing porous material, beneath which are orifices
opening into the upper part of E. In each of the tubes D and E there is a valve H
and I pressed down by a light spring acting along with the weight of the valve to
close the tube unless the valve be forced up from its seat. The base K has attached
to it the bolt B, and it has two nozzles L and M projecting up from it, cach nozzle
being connected, the one to an air supply pipe l, and the other to the pipe m leading to
the burners. The nozzles L, M, project upwards respectively into the tubes D and E,
and bear against the stems of the valves H and I so as to raise the valves off their
seats. Around each nozzle there is a ring or washer N of caoutchouc, leather, or
other suitable packing material, so as to make air tight joints when the vessel A
is pressed firmly down. The nozzles L, M, and the tubes D, E, are not equally
distant from the central bolt B, this inequality of position preventing the vessel
from being placed on its base except in the one attitude in which the nozzle L
enters the tube D, and the nozzle M enters E. On closing by a stop cock the air
supply pipe l, and on unscrewing the nut C, the vessel A can be lifted by a handle a
off its base and conveyed to the oil store to be charged. It is charged by inverting
it and pouring the liquid hydrocarbon into the tube E, the air displaced from the
vessel escaping by the annular passage round D, past the valve H (which in its
inverted position is kept open by its weight), and out by the tube D. The vessel A
having received its charge is re-inverted and placed upon the base K, on which it
is secured by screwing the nut C, the jointing to the nozzles L and M being made
tight by the compression of the washers N, and the valves H and I being unseated

page_text: by the nozzles L, M, bearing against their stems. The stop cock of the pipe now
being opened, compressed air passes through the nozzle L, up the tube D, and down
the annular passage around D. It bubbles up through the hydrocarbon taking up
vapour thereof, then passes down the tube E and nozzle M, and by the pipes m to
the burners. The vessel A may contain porous or fibrous material soaked with the
hydrocarbon liquid, but this is not necessary except in cases where the liquid
contents might be subjected to excessive agitation. Even in such cases the
splashing of the liquid does not materially interfere with the action of the
apparatus, as the cap G prevents any of the liquid from finding its way into
the tube E. When the vessel A is removed from the base K, the valves H and I
close, and thus prevent escape of the hydrocarbon or its vapour. A check valve H'
is arranged in the supply passage D, so as to prevent back flow of the fluid contents
of the vessel A if the pressure therein should exceed that in the supply pipe . It
is convenient, when a number of the carburetting apparatus are employed, as by a
railway, that all the vessels A with their tubes should be made of uniform size and
weight, so that by balancing and weighing them it can at once be ascertained what
weight of charge they contain, or what quantity has been consumed in a given
time. The carburetting vessel instead of being placed on a base immediately below
it, may be placed on a seating at its side, the construction being modified as shewn
in Fig. 1a, which is a vertical longitudinal section through the carburetting vessel
and one of the air passages and its valves, in Fig. 1b, which is a transverse vertical
section through the two air passages and their valves, and Fig. 20, which is a plan.
In these Figures the parts corresponding to those described with reference to
Figs. 1 and 2, are marked by similar letters. The air entering by the passage
in the base K passes the valves H, and is led by a branch h down a tube F to
the bottom of the carburetting vessel A, whence it bubbles up through the hydro-
carbon becoming impregnated with its vapour. The carburetted air flows by
branch i, which opens from the top of the vessel, past the valves I to the passage m,
and thence to the burners. The bolt B in this case projects from the casting K, in
which are formed the passages and m, and the junction of the carburetting vessel
thereto is made tight by its nozzles D and E being pressed on yielding washers N.
The valve H' is in this case arranged below the valve H in the casting K. The
air enters the passage l, and issues from the passage m through the lateral pipes
shewn in Fig. 1b. Near the top of the carburetting vessel there is a perforated
partition G, the space above which is charged with porous absorbing material to
prevent passage of liquid hydrocarbon to the pipes leading to the burners.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, I would have it understood that I make no general claim
to the carburation of air in order to render its mixture with bydrocarbon vapour
combustible as gas, nor do I claim generally the carburation of compressed air
employed for working breaks on railway trains so as to provide illuminant for the
carriages of the train, but I claim,-
The construction of air carburetting vessel with inlet and outlet passages which
have their junctions with the air supply and discharge pipes simultaneously rendered
tight, and their check valves simultaneously opened by screwing a single nut on
the bolt which secures the vessel to a base provided with nozzles and packing rings,
substantially as herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Westinghouse, junior, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Fifteenth day of January, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and eighty one.
GEO. WESTINGHOUSE, JR. (L.S.)