IMPROVEMENTS IN BARD IN BUT MANUFACTURE OF GAB." PRO APPARATUS
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Robert Morton,--of Bridge House, Nine Elms,
in the County of Surrey, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
BARD IN BUT MANUFACTURE OF GAB."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Robert Morton at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
24th February 1869.
I, ROBERT MORTON, of Bridge House, Nine Elms, in the County of
Surrey, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS USED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF GAS," to be as
follows:-
This Invention has for its object the securing of the lids to the mouth
pieces of retorts of whatever shape they may be and effecting a gas-
tight joint without the intervention of any luting, and consists in
casting the mouth piece somewhat thicker than usual at its outer ex-
tremity so as to form a surface about an inch wide all round. The
face of the mouth piece is then turned, planed, and scraped or otherwise

page_text: surfaced. The lid is made of wrought-iron plate, stamped or fashioned
into a concavo-convex form, with its edge bent up all around its peri-
phery. This edge is also turned or planed, true, and by preference of a
semicircular section, so that upon its being brought to bear upon the
turned face of the mouth piece by means of the ordinary screw a
perfectly gas-tight joint is the result, and the use of any kind of luting
rendered unnecessary. The upper part of the lid is furnished with a
piece of metal fastened thereto, one end of which has a hole to allow of
its slipping over a pin attached to the top of the mouth piece or socket
of the rising pipe, whereon the lid hangs in its proper position, while
the other projects and forms a handle whereby the lid is taken off and
put on.
The arrangement for securing the lid in its place may be the
common one of cross bar, ears; cotters, and screw, but it is preferred to
form the cross bar with a hinge at one end, which may be jointed on to
one side of the mouth piece, while the other end is made into a catch
so as to admit of its taking hold of a projection or stud cast on the
opposite side of the mouth piece. By these means much time and labour
are economised, and the use and expense of luting materials entirely
superseded.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Robert Morton in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 23rd August 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ROBERT
MORTON, of Bridge House, Nine Elms, in the County of Surrey, 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-nine, in the thirty-
second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Robert Morton, Her special licence that
I, the said Robert Morton, my executors, administrators, and assigns; or
such others as I, the said Robert Morton, 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

page_text: and lawfully might make, use, excrcise, and vend, within the United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle
of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS USED IN THE MANU-
FACTURE OF GAS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Robert Morton, my exccutors or administrators, by an instrument in-
writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should par-
ticularly 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 Robert Morton, do hereby declare.
the nature of my 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 accompaning Drawings,.
and to the letters marked thereon, that is to say :-
This Invention has for its object the securing of the lids to the mouth
pieces of retorts of whatever shape they may be and effecting a gas-tight
joint without the intervention of any luting, and cousists in casting the
mouth piece somewhat thicker than usual at its outer extremity so as to
form a surface about an inch wide all round. The face of the mouth
piece is then turned, planed, and scraped, or otherwise surfaced. The
lid may be made of cast malleable iron or steel, or other suitable metal,
but it is preferred to make it of wrought-iron plate stamped, shaped, or
fashioned into a concavo-convex form, with its edge bent up all around
its periphery. This edge is also turned or planed true, and is by pre-
ference semicircular in section, but it may be made of an acute or
rounded V shape, in order that the amount of surface brought to bear
against the faced front of the mouth piece may be reduced to a minimuni'
or a mere circumferential line of contact.
I also reserve to myself the right to use any other form of edge which
does not depart from the specific object of my Invention, viz., that of
ensuring a sound joint by means of bringing a minimum amount of
bearing surface of the lid into actual contact with the mouth piece of the
retort. The reason for forming the edge in this manner is to avoid the
necessity of bringing two flat surfaces together, such as the flat-surfaced
mouth piece and a flat-surfaced lid, as it is found from experience to be
impracticable to maintain a sound joint by reason of pieces of coal,
hardened pitch, or other foreign matter getting between them, and thus

page_text: preventing the joint from being made sound and gas-tight without great
difficulty, waste of gas, and loss of time.
I may here note the fact that I am aware that Letters Patent,
No. 142, dated January 17, 1865, were granted to Messrs. Best and
Holden for " Charging and Drawing Gas Retorts, and for other
Purposes," and subsequently other Letters Patent, No. 2827, bearing
date October 31, 1866, were granted to the same persons for "Improve-
ments in the Doors and Closures of Gas Retorts."
The only reason for reciting these Patents is to show that the object
sought by the Inventors was the securing a sound joint by means of
two flat surfaces, whereas by my Invention I attain this most
desirable end by the reverse and intentional avoidance of their.
method...
In order that the foregoing may be more clearly understood, and some
of the modifications more readily comprehended, Drawings are attached
hereto, of which the following is a description :-
Fig. 1 shows a lid provided with lugs A, B, rivetted on for resting on
the ears of the mouth piece in the usual way, and is meant to be secured
with the ordinary cross bar and screw; Fig. 2 is a section of the same;
Figure 3 shows a method of suspending the lid from a central stud C in
a hinged cross bar D, which obviates the necessity of entirely removing
the lid each time the retort is charged, and prevents any damage which
might arise from its being carelessly thrown down; Fig. 4 is a section
of the same arrangement, and shows the mode of pressing the lid closely
to the mouth piece by drawing forward the staple E (which is hinged
on the side of the mouth piece) on the tapered end of the cross bar F;
Fig. 5 exhibits another mode of attaching the lid, which consists in
hanging the lid on to a stud G on the top of the mouth piece, and
securing it by a hinged cross bar and screw; Fig. 6 is a section, and
Fig. 7 a side elevation of the same; in Fig. 8 the lid is shown sus-
pended by two round studs H, H, which are rivetted to it and pass
through holes in a hinged cross bar, the pressure in this case being
obtained by an ordinary screw in the centre of the cross bar; Fig. 9 is
a section of the same; Fig. 10 shows an arrangement similar to
Fig. 3, but in this instance the pressure is produced by turning an
eccentric pin I against the knee end of the cross bar J, shown also in
TA: 11

page_text: In all the illustrations the edge of the lid K, K, Fig. 2, is shown
as semicircular in section, but it may be varied in form, as before
stated.
By the adoption of this Invention much time and labour are
economised, and the use and expense of luting materials entirely
superseded.
Having now described and particularly set forth the nature of this
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or
carried into effect, I would observe in conclusion that I do not confine
or restrict myself to the precise details or arrangements which I have
described or referred to, as variations may be made therefrom without
deviating from the principles or main features of this Invention; but
what I consider to be novel and original, and therefore claim as the
Invention secured to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters
Patent is,
Firstly. The construction and application of retort lids, as herein
described.
And, secondly. The construction of mouth pieces, as herein described
and illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4 and 10 and 11.
In witness whereof, I, the said Robert Morton, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-third day of August, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine.
PORERT MORTON
Gal