Improvements in Safety Devices for Gas Producers."
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 27th Oct., 1897-Accepted, 4th Dec., 1897
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
"Improvements in Safety Devices for Gas Producers."
We, ALEXANDER CROMBIE HUMPHREYS, and ARTHUR GRAHAM GLASGOW, Engineers,
trading in partnership as Humphreys and Glasgow, of 9 Victoria Street, Westminster,
in the County of Middlesex, England, and of 31 Nassau Street, in the City and State
of New York, United States of America, 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, :—
Our invention relates to improvements in safety devices for gas producers of the
kind referred to in the specification of our former British Letters Patent No. 23004
dated the 27th October 1896, wherein there is an alternate production of water gas
and fuel gas.
As explained in the said former specification there is danger of forming an
explosive mixture in the apparatus by the air blast mixing with the water gas, and
certain means are described for obviating this danger by interlocking the blast
valves, which control the admission of air to the various parts of the apparatus, with
the valve through which the products of combustion are led away from the apparatus,
usually termed the "take off" or "stack” valve owing to its being situated at the
entrance of the stack.
Now in some cases we find it advantageous to be able to operate the generator
blast valve independently of the stack valve and the object of our present invention
is to provide means whereby this can be done, while at the same time we avoid
liability to explosions by inter-locking the said generator blast valve with the oil
supply valve and with the gas valves controlling the direction of make in the
generator.
We allow the stack valve to remain interlocked with the other blast valves of the
apparatus and we may also interlock the stack valve with the steam or oil supply
valves or both. The steam valve in such case may be arranged in such a manner that
it can if desired be disengaged and operated by hand in the manner subsequently
described, such disengagement however requiring the performance of a series of
deliberate operations which preclude any possibility of its being effected
inadvertently.
In order that our invention may be clearly understood and readily carried into
effect we will proceed to describe the same fully by aid of the accompanying
drawings, in which
Figure 1 is a side elevation of a gas producer of the kind referred to having our
improved safety arrangements applied thereto.
Figure 2 is a sectional elevation on the line x x Figure 1.
Figure 3 is a plan of the gas producer with certain parts omitted showing a portion
of the floor or staging usually erected above such a producer.
Figures 4 and 5 are fragmentary views in elevation at right angles to each other,
of the interlocking apparatus connected with the steam and oil valves.
Figures 6 and 7 are detail views hereinafter referred to.
a, b and c are respectively the generator, carburretter and superheater of a
carburetted water gas plant. a¹, b₁ and o¹ are the blast valves which control the

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admission of air from the blast pipes a² 62 and c² to the parts a, b, and c. The first
of these valves, namely a¹, is operated in the manner hereinafter described. The
other two are operated respectively by means of levers b³, c³, mounted on pillars 64
and c and connected with their valves by rods 65 and c5.
d d' are the gas valves by which the exit of gas from the generator a to the
carburettor b passing through the pipes e is controlled. These valves are arranged
to slide transversely of their pipes e, and the upper valve d is operated by a hand
wheel d², the spindle of which is mounted on pillars d³ and carries a pinion engaging
a rack d connected to the valve d.
The lower valve d¹ is operated by a rack d³ which is engaged by a pinion on the
shaft de of a chain wheel d driven from a corresponding chain wheel d' on the
spindle of the hand wheel d². It will be observed (Figure 2), that the upper rack d
is in front of its pinion whilst the lower rack d³ is behind its pinion and consequently
the valves d d¹ nove simultaneously in opposite directions, one opening while the
other closes, in correspondence with a three-way cock (not shown) directing the
admission of steam to the top or bottom of the generator, the arrangement of the gas
valves and the three way steam cock being similar to that described in the
specification of former British Letters Patent No. 1975392.
f is a stop valve controlling the admission of steam to the generator for the
production of water gas, and worked by a rotary movement of a rod f¹.
g is a valve controlling the admission of oil for enriching the gas. This valve is
operated by turning a rod g¹ (see Figures 1 and 5). h is the stack valve by which
the products of combustion are allowed to escape to the stack (not shown) this valve
being operated by a lever h¹ through the medium of a rod h² connected to an
arm. h³ on the pivot or axle h4 which carries the valve.
The interlocking of the blast valve a¹ and the gas valves d d¹ is effected in the
following manner:-The valve a¹ is connected to a rod a³ which extends upward into
a pillar a, and is operated by a hand-wheel a through the medium of a rack and
pinion arrangement (not shown) similar to that by-which the valve d is operated fiom
the wheel d², the rack however being situated inside the pillar a*.
The rack d³ of the lower valve d¹ is connected by a rod or link i to an arm i¹ fixed
on a rocking shaft 2, and from another arm (Figure 2) on this shaft to a bell-
crank by means of a rod i³. This bell crank has secured to it a sliding locking rod i",
which projects into a block a attached rigidly to the pillar at. The rod a³ of the
valve a passes through this same block approximately at right angles to the rod i.
Interlocking gaps or notches x ax formed in these rods as in Figure 6, allow the
valve a¹ to be operated by up and down movements of the rod a³ so long as the
lower gas valve d¹ is closed and the upper gas valve d consequently open and these
valves cannot be reversed until the rod as has been pushed down to allow the rod i
connected with said valves to move endwise through ax, at which time obviously the
rod u³ is prevented from moving and the blast valve cannot be opened. This same
.arrangement of slotted rods can be applied in the interlocking of blast valves with
stack valve as subsequently described.
In the interlocking of the generator blast valve with the oil valve, a lug a7 on the
rod a³ is connected by a rod k to a bell-crank which in turn is connected to the
sliding rod k working in a guide ³ and adapted to enter a hole or eye g² in the rod
g when the valve a¹ is opened thus preventing the turning of the rod g¹ and the
opening of the oil valve g. In the position shown in Figure 1 the oil valve g is open
and the rod k² cannot enter the hole g² hence the opening of the generator blast valve a¹
⚫is prevented. In Figure 4 however the oil valve has been closed and the rod k²
can therefore enter the hole g² thus allowing the blast valve a¹ to be opened locking
, the said oil valve.
The interlocking of the blast valves b¹ and c¹ with the stack valve h is effected
through the medium of a rod connected with the arm h³ on the stack valve axle.
This rod is connected to a bell crank to which is coupled a rod or bar 12 connected
with a bell crank lever 13 and a three crank lever as seen more clearly in Figure 3.
A pair of rods 15 16 connected respectively with the levers 13 and * are brought into the

page_text: position shown in Figure 3 when the stack valve h is closed. In this position they
enter notches catches or openings in the valve roads 65 c5 thus preventing the latter
rods being moved to open the valves b¹ c¹ as long as the valve h is closed. The
rods are also provided with notches which when these rods are moved by the opening
of the valve h, come opposite the rods 63 c³ and permit the latter to be raised to open
the valves c¹, in which raised position they prevent endwise movement of the
rods and prevent closing of the valve h, as long as either of the valves b¹ or c¹ is
open.
When it is desired to interlock the steam and oil valve with the stack valve this
may be effected through the medium of the three-armed horizontal lever (Figure 3)
to which a locking rod l is connected by a link l. This locking rod works in
guides Figures 4 and 5 and is adapted to pass or be blocked by projecting pieces
or stops f g secured to the valve rods, as indicated more clearly in Figure 7. When
the rod is pushed to the right into the position indicated in dotted lines in this
figure it prevents the tops assuming the position shown in dotted lines and
consequently prevents the valve rods f¹g¹ being turned by their handles f¹ g².
In case however for any special reason it might be desired to open the steam valve
at this time without disturbing the other parts of the apparatus we arrange the valve
rod so that it can be raised sufficiently to allow its stop f to clear the rod l. For
this purpose the upper end of the rod f is provided with a collar fo secured to it by
means of a set screw in such a position that the said collar abuts against the lower side
of a bracket x when the stop is level with the locking rod . As long therefore as
the collar is in this position, it is impossible to raise the valve rod in the manner
referred to. When however the collar is loosened by disengaging its set screw the
valve rod f¹ can be raised without difficulty until the stop f is above and rests upon
the rod as the rod f¹ is turned to open the steam valve. When the steam valve is
closed or the rod withdrawn the rod f¹ drops automatically to its original level and
the two become again interlocked.
Obviously when the stop is in the position shown in dotted lines it will prevent
the movement of the rod to the right and conseqently the stack valve cannot.be
opened. Also the sliding rod l may be shortened so as to omit the steam valve and
interlock only with the rod g¹ of the oil valve. The various parts of the apparatus
not specifically described form no part of the present invention and are common to
gas producing plant of the kind referred to.
Having now particularly described and astertained the nature of our said invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we claim
is:-
1. A gas producer in which the blast valve of the generator is interlocked with gas
valves leading from the generator, or with the oil valve or with both, substantially as
set forth.
r
2. A gas producer in which the stack valve is interlocked with the blast valves of
the carburetter and superheater and the oil or steam valve or both whether or not
the steam valve be arranged so that it can be operated separately, substantially as
described.
3. The means herein described for carrying out the interlocking arrangements
referred to in the preceding claims.
4. The improved safety devices for gas producers substantially as hereinbefore
described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
Dated this 27th day of October 1897.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.
45 Southampton Buildings, London, W.C. Agents for the Applicants.