AN IMPROVED METHOD OF AND MEANS FOR PREPARING MATERIALS TO BE INTRO- DUCED INTO BUILDINGS OR STRUCTURES TO PRODUCE CARBONIC ACID
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Stewart Wallace and Edward Tucker,
both
of Belfast, in the County of Antrim, for the Invention of "AN
IMPROVED METHOD OF AND MEANS FOR PREPARING MATERIALS TO BE INTRO-
DUCED INTO BUILDINGS OR STRUCTURES TO PRODUCE CARBONIC ACID Gas or
Sealed the 16th April 1875, and dated the 29th October 1874.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Stewart Wallace
and Edward Tucker at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,
with their Petition, on the 29th October 1874.
.
We, JOHN STEWART WALLACE and EDWARD TUCKER, both of Belfast,
in the County of Antrim, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "AN IMPROVED METHOD OF AND MEANS FOR PREPARING MATERIALS
TO BE INTRODUced into BuilLDINGS OR STRUCTURES TO PRODUCE CARBONIC ACID GAS
OR OTHER GAS TO AFFORD PROTECTION FROM FIRE IN THE SAME," to be as
Sallows

page_text: carbonic acid and other gases, and the said Invention consists in so
preparing the same that they may be readily introduced into buildings
or structures on the outbreak of fire in any part of the said buildings or
structures, and when exposed to the heated atmosphere in the same will
generate or evolve carbonic acid or other gases in such quantities or
volumes as will very quickly subdue or extinguish the conflagration.
The said Invention is carried into practice as follows:-We make a
compound or mixture of charcoal and nitrate of potash or nitre, in about
equal parts by weight with or without a small quantity of gypsum or
lime. This compound we form into cubes, blocks, or balls of any
desirable or convenient. size. These blocks or balls we tip or cover
entirely or partially with a substance or composition which will ignite
at a low temperature, such as a compound of chlorate of potash and
phosphorous or other substance used in the manufacture of ordinary
friction matches or the like. These blocks or balls may be enclosed in
any thin substance, and on the outbreak of fire in any building or a
portion of the same, or on the suspicion of fire therein any necessary
number of the said blocks or balls may be thrown into the burning or
suspected portion either by hand or by any suitable apparatus or
machine. The ignitable composition or paste will ensure the immediate
combustion of the compound or substance forming the blocks or balls,
and carbonic acid and other gases will be evolved, thereby extinguishing
the fire, or the said blocks may be placed in a building or other place or
receptacle to be protected, so that on an outbreak of fire the rise of
temperature will ignite them, and thus bring them into action without
any attendant immediately putting out the fire.
This method of extinguishing fire is free from the objections attending
the use of liquid substances or compounds, it subdues the fire without
injuring any portion of the walls or fittings. The balls or blocks may
be kept for any length of time without danger, they will be always
ready for immediate use by ordinary domestic servants or other unskilled
persons, with no possibility of being inoperative in any sudden case of
need. They may be kept or prepared in any house or other building or
on board ships, and under all circumstances where they are likely to be.
required.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Stewart Wallace and Edward Tucker in the
Great Scal Patent Office on the 28th April 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, John
STEWART WALLACE and EDWARD TUCKER, both of Belfast, in the County
of Antrim, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of October, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in
the thirty-eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her beirs and
successors, give and grant unto us, the said John Stewart Wallace and
Edward Tucker, Her special licence that we, the said John Stewart
Wallace and Edward Tucker, our exccutors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as we, the said John Stewart Wallace and Edward
Tucker, our executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any
timo 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 "AN IMPROVED METHOD OF AND MEANS FOR PREPARING MATERIALS
TO BE INTRODUCED INTO BUILDINGS OR STRUCTURES TO PRODUCE CARBONIC ACID GAS
OR OTHER GAS TO AFFORD PROTECTION FROM FIRE IN THE SAME," upon the
condition (amongst others) that we, the said John Stewart Wallace
and Edward Tucker, our exccutors or administrators, by an instrument
in writing under our 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 is 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 we, the said John Stewart Wallace and Edward
Tucker, do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following statement :—
Our said Invention relates to a novel and simple method of preparing
materials or compounds, which when ignited and burned will produce
carbonic acid and other gases incapable of supporting combustion, and

page_text: the said Invention consists in so preparing such materials that they may
be placed in buildings, such as houses, warehouses, factories, or the like,
or in ships or other structures, or may be readily introduced into the same
before or on the outbreak of fire, or on suspicion of fire in any part of
the said buildings or structures.
The said Invention is carried into practice as follows, that is to say :-
We make a compound or mixture of charcoal and nitrate of potash or
nitre or nitrate of soda in or about in the proportion of two parts of
charcoal and three parts by weight of nitrate of potash or nitrate of
soda; or we may use a compound consisting of four parts of charcoal,
four parts of nitrate of potash, or nitrate of soda, and one part by
weight chlorate of potash; or a compound of five parts of charcoal,
five parts nitrate of potash, and two parts by weight of cotton gun
powder; or we may use gun cotton, "lithofracteur," or "dynamite," or
any other suitable substance or compound, which on being mixed with
charcoal or other carbonaceous matter will when ignition takes place
insure the burning of the charcoal or carbonaceous matter, and so
produce an evolution of gases that will prevent or extinguish fire. The
mixture of the above specified materials we form into cubes, blocks, or
balls of any desirable or convenient size. These blocks or balls we cover
by dipping or otherwise, entirely or partially, with a substance or com-
position which will iguite at a comparatively low temperature, such as a
compound of chlorate of potash and phosphorous, or other substance
used in the manufacture of ordinary friction matches or the like. In all
the above compounds we may use a small quantity of lime or sulphu rto
assist the effect of the gas generating materials.
It is obvious that instead of the charcoal finely ground coal, coal dust,
or other suitable carbonaceous matter may be used in any of the said
compounds. These blocks or balls may be enclosed in any thin metallic
or other substance, and on the outbreak of fire in any building or a
portion of the same, or on the suspicion of fire therein, any necessary
number of the said blocks or balls may be thrown into the building or
room, either by hand or by any suitable means or apparatus or machine,
The ignitble composition or paste will ensure the immediate combustion
of the compound or substance forming the blocks or balls, and carbonic
acid and other gases will be cvolved as above specified, thereby
extinguishing the fire. Or the said blocks may be placed in a building
or room or other place or receptacle to be protected, so that on the out-

page_text: break of fire the rise of temperature will ignite them, and thus bring
into action the property of producing the gases described, the effect of
this production of gas will be the immediate extinction of the fire. Any
required number of the said cubes or blocks may be employed, and in
some cases two or more may be connected by a fuse that will insuro
their almost simultaneous ignition.
It will be obvious that in some instances the ignition of the compound
or fuse will be caused by the direct action of the fire, instead of by thic
elevation of temperature.
In some instances in addition to being tipped with inflammable
matter the balls or cubes of gas generating substances may be provided
with small hollow glass beads or globules containing sulphuric acid.
These beads or globules are imbedded in a small quantity of a mixture
of chlorate of potash and sugar, which is affixed to the blocks or cubes,
or instead of these beads we may use caps prepared with a fulminating
compound like ordinary gun caps. The object of these modifications of
our Invention is that when the said balls, blocks, or cubes, are thrown
into a building in which a fire is breaking out, the glass beads shall be
broken or the caps exploded by the fall, thereby igniting the gas generating
compound before the temperature has risen sufficiently to cause the
ignition of the tipping, thus ensuring a more immediate discharge of the
gases. Or the ignition of the compound may be effected by friction as
with an ordinary friction match.
Our method of extinguishing fire is free from the objections attending
the use of liquid substances or compounds;. it subdues the fire without
injuring any portion of the walls or fittings. The balls or blocks may
be kept for any length of time without danger; they will be always
ready for immediate use by ordinary domestic servants, or other unskilled
persons with no possibility of being inoperative in any sudden case of
need. They may be kept or placed in any house or other building or on
board ships, and under all circumstances where they are likely to be
required.
If desired an indicator may be used consisting of a weight or other
contrivance arranged outside the building to be protected, and connected
by a cord or wire with one or more of the said blocks or cubes of gas
generating material placed in the said building. When the said blocks
or cubes are ignited the said indicator will be detached and will indicate

page_text: the combustion of the gas generating material. Or we may indicate the
ignition of the said blocks or cubes by means of detonating powder
placed on or in connection with the same, either inside or outside of the
building.
Having thus fully described our said Invention and the manner of
performing the same, we wish it understood that we claim, the pre-
paration as herein described of compounds consisting of charcoal or other
suitable carbonaceous matter, and nitrate of potash or the equivalent
thereof with or without lime or sulphur, and formed into blocks or
pieces and provided with means whereby the same will be ignited by the
elevation of the temperature or otherwise, as herein set forth for the
purpose specified.
In witness whercof, I, the said John Stewart Wallace, for myself
and on behalf of the said Edward Tucker, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-seventh day of April, in the year :
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five.
Witness,
HENRY JAMES NOONE,
8, Southampton Buildings,
London.
JOHN S. WALLACE.
(L.S.)