IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Bower, of St. Neots, in the County of
Huntingdon, Gas Engineer, and William Hollinshead, of the same
Place, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR
Sealed the 10th August 1868, and dated the 24th February 1863.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Bower and
William Hollinshead at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
their Petition, on the 24th February 1863.
We, GEORGE BOWER, of St. Neots, in the County of Huntingdon, Gas
Engineer, and WILLIAM HOLLINSHEAD, of the same Place, Engineer, do
hereby declare the nature of our said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
APPARATUS FOR THE PRODUCTION AND TRANSMISSION OF GAS OR OTHER FLUIDS,"
to be as follows:-
The Invention consists in so constructing dry centre valves used for the
transmission of fluids, gaseous and liquid, through a series of four or more
separate vessels in such a manner as to enable the gas or liquid to be con-
ducted through any one, two, three, four, or more of such vessels, but more
particularly the construction and application of such valves' to the changing of
a current of gas in any direction, so as to make it pass through any desired

page_text: number of a series of four or more purifiers, and in combining with one or
more of the various parts of apparatus required for the cooling, cleansing,
and purifying of gas, embracing such as are technically called the hydraulic
main scrubber, washer, and purifiers, with a dry centre valve, or a dry centre
valve and by-pass valve or valves, so that the combination, in whatever form
it may exist, shall enable, as desired, one, two, three, or more purifiers to
be in operation at one time, with power also to pass or shut off the gas from
any part which may require the gas to be excluded from it, the whole being
within the limits of a single base.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said George Bower and William Hollinshead in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 24th August 1863.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, GEORGE
BOWER, of St. Neots, in the County of Huntingdon, Gas Engineer, and
WILLIAM HOLLINSHEAD, of the same Place, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-sixth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the
said George Bower and William Hollinshead, Her special license that we, the
said George Bower and William Hollinshead, our executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as we, the said George Bower and William Hollinshead,
our executors, administrators, or 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 THE
PRODUCTION AND TRANSMISSION OF GAS AND OTHER FLUIDS," upon the condition
(amongst others) that we, the said George Bower and William Hollinshead,
our executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under our hands
and seals, or under the hand and seal of one of us, 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said George Bower and William Hollinshead,
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, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say :-
Our Invention consists in so constructing dry centre valves used for the
transmission of fluid, gaseous and liquid, through a series of four or more
separate vessels in such a manner as to enable the gas or liquid to be con-
ducted through any one, two, three, four, or more of such vessels, but more
particularly the application of such valves to the changing of a current of gas
in any direction, so as to cause it to pass through any desired number of a
series of four or more purifiers; also, in combining with one or more of the
various parts of apparatus required for the cooling, cleansing, and purifying of
gas, embracing such as are technically called the hydraulic main scrubber,
washer, and purifiers, with a dry centre valve, or a dry centre valve and bye-pass
valve or valves, so that the combination, in whatever form it may exist, shall
enable, as desired, one, two, three, or more purifiers to be in operation at one
time, with power also to pass or shut off the gas from any part which may
require the gas to be excluded from it, the whole being within the limits of a
single base.
And in order that our said Invention may be fully understood, we shall now
proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose we shall
refer to the several Figures on the Sheets of Drawings hereunto annexed,
the same letters of reference indicating corresponding parts throughout all the
corresponding Figures.
Figure 1 on Sheet 1 of our Drawings is a front elevation of one form of
the combined apparatus; Figure 2 is a longitudinal vertical section of the
same taken through the centre thereof; and Figure 3 is a sectional plan of
the entire apparatus.
A is the inlet pipe conveying the crude gas from the hydraulic main to the
bye-pass valve B; C, is the condenser consisting of semicircular or arched
passages formed on the exterior of the apparatus, and supporting the lute; the
gas is caused to pass through the whole of these passages in succession by
means of suitable divisions D; E is the scrubber, which is divided into two
equal parts by the partition F, the gas passing up on one side and down on
the other side; G is the centre valve formed in a square box, which .also
contains the necessary passages H, I, for conducting the gas into and out of
the purifiers; the arrangement of centre valve shown enables any three of the

page_text: four purifiers K, K, to be in use at one time, the fourth being shut off for
the renewal of the purifying material. L is the gearing on the centre valve
for changing the position of the valve plug; M, M, are the lids of the purifiers
and scrubber; N, N, are plugs for admitting air within the vessels previous
to the lids being removed; O is the centre pipe of the bye-pass valve whence
the gas is conducted into and out of the condenser through the passages P, P,
and into and out of the scrubber through the passages Q, Q. The bye-pass
valve is so arranged that the gas may be conducted through the condenser C
only, or through the scrubber only, before passing on to the centre change
valve, or through both of them in succession; it is provided with gearing R
on the top for changing the position of the valve. S is the outlet from the
bye-pass valve; T is the communication between the bye-pass and centre
valves;
U is a spreader or perforated pipe for distributing water over the
coke in the scrubber; V, V, are the lutes or seals for the lids; W, W, are
T-bars for supporting the sieves of the purifiers; ✗ is the outlet from the
centre valve; Y is the syphon pipe from the condenser; and Z, Z, are the
syphon pipes from the scrubber to the syphon box a; b represents the pipe
from the syphon box leading to the tar well. Figure 1 is shown provided
with a small travelling crane c, arranged to run along the outer ledge of the
Jute so as to command any of the lids it is desired to remove.
It will be seen that the apparatus above described consists of a condenser,
coke scrubber, and four purifiers combined with a duplex bye-pass valve and
centre valves and connections to each. In the case of many small works,
however, a bye-pass valve is unnecessary, and is therefore omitted, the appa-
ratus in such cases consisting of a condenser, a wash vessel (which is formed
in the inlet box, and through which the gas is passed after having traversed
the condenser), two or more purifiers, and a centre valve with connections.
The centre valve box is attached to the centre of the side of the purifiers; the
centre valve is arranged horizontally in the box, the gearing for changing the
position of the plug projecting from the front of the apparatus.
Figure 1 on Sheet 2 of our Drawings is a vertical section of our improved
centre change valve; Figure 2 is a sectional plan of the same; Figure 8 is a
plan of the lid and top gearing; Figure 4 is a plan of the movable bottom plate
of the plug; and Figure 5 is a plan of the plate for indicating the position of
the valve and the direction of the current of gas.
A is the inlet; B is the plug; C, C, the top and bottom plates attached to
the shifting partition D; E is a hollow spindle attached to the top plate of
the shifting partition; F is the centre spindle attached to the plug; G is the

page_text: stuffing box; H and I are a spur wheel and pinion, the wheel H being keyed on
the hollow spindle E; K, L, are pillars and cross piece to support the top
gearing; M is a hollow screw for lifting the plug off its seat previous to its
position being altered; N is a hand wheel keyed on to the lifting screw; O is
a similar hand wheel keyed or pinned on to the centre spindle F; P, Figure 5,
is the indicating plate; Q, a pointer fixed on the hand wheel N; R, is the
lid; S, the syphon box; T, the outlet from the syphon box; V, the first inlet
to the purifiers; W, the outlet in the plug; and X, the outlet leading to the
station meter or gasholder.
When it is intended to work the whole four purifiers, the partition D is
moved to the position shown by the dotted lines by means of a handle fixed on
the spindle of the pinion J, the plug B being first lifted slightly from its seat
by the hand wheel O, but when it is required to shut off the gas from any one
of the purifiers, the plug is slightly eased by the wheel O, and then turned
round by the wheel N until the pointer Q is brought to the number of
purifier on the indicating plate P, which it is desired to shut off; the position
of the partition D is then changed from the place shown in dotted lines to the
other position shown in full lines, and the plug is tightened down again on to
its seat by the wheel O; when the plug is being turned in changing its
position, the partition D is prevented from moving by means of a pin passing
through both spindles. The plug B is made in two parts, the centre pieco
being made separate for the purpose of turning and fitting it, in order that the
inner vertical edge of the partition D may move on it and be perfectly gas-
tight. The external part of the plug is provided with the necessary fixed
partitions, and is made to fit the centre piece to which it is pinned; in the
plate forming the top of the plug a hole is formed of the size shown by the
outer edges of the partition D in its two positions, and in the bottom plate two
holes are formed corresponding with those in the movable bottom plate, as
shown in Figure 4.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of our said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried
into effect, we would observe, in conclusion, that what we consider to be novel
and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to us by the herein-
before in part recited Letters Patent, is,-
First, the combination in one apparatus or vessel of the various parts of
apparatus used in the processes of cooling, cleansing, and purifying gas with
a dry centre change valve, and one or more bye-pass valves and connections,
or with a dry centre change valve alone, substantially as herein-beforo
described.

page_text: Second, the construction of a dry centre change valve, in the manner and
for the purposes berein-before-set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Bower, on behalf of myself and
the said William Hollinshead, have hereunto set my hand and seal,
this Twenty-first day of August, One thousand eight hundred and
sixty-three
GEO. BOWER. (L.S.)