IMPROVEMENTS IN LIGHTING RAILWAY CARRIAGES WITH GAS AND IN THE APPARATUS TO BE USED THEREWITH
Year: 1879

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by George Gore at the Office of the
Commissioners of Patents on the 16th October 1879.
GEORGE GORE, of Balsall Heath, in the County of Worcester. "IMPROVEMENTS
IN LIGHTING RAILWAY CARRIAGES WITH GAS AND IN THE APPARATUS TO BE USED
THEREWITH."
For the production of the gas I intend to use for the purpose specified in the title
I require a certain quantity of compressed air, and to obtain this I make use of the
motive power obtainable from the revolution of the wheel or wheels of the guard's
van or other carriage of which the train may be made up, as hereinafter described.
On a convenient part of the axle I affix a small wheel with a plain turned rim,
which will revolve at the same speed as the carriage wheels. Within the fork of a
lever of suitable construction I mount a second wheel of larger diameter than the
first named wheel, and on the side of this second wheel is cast a small pulley wheel,
over which a band or strap may run; this pulley may be of any convenient size,
but is by preference about 6 inches in diameter. On the top of the framework of
the apparatus I place a short piece of shafting running on suitable bearings, and in
the centre of this shaft I fix a second pulley wheel for the said band or strap to run
over, and which pulley is about three times the diameter of the small one.
On one
end of the shaft I fix a crank, to which I attach the connecting rod of an air pump
of such dimension and construction as may be suitable to compress air into a vessel
of sufficient strength and capacity for my purpose; the object of this air vessel
being to hold in reserve a sufficient quantity of air for use when the train is
stationary and not in motion, so that the manufacture of gas can still be carried on
until the train starts on its journey again.
I will now describe the action of the apparatus. When the train is in motion
the wheel on the carriage axle is of course caused to revolve; the lever carrying the
large wheel is then pressed over by means of which the large wheel is brought in
contact with the small wheel on the axle, and the motion is thus transmitted to the
large wheel; this gives motion to the small pulley wheel, and the strap or belt gives
motion to the crank shaft. In order to make this part of the apparatus automatic
in its working I attach to the lever above named a strong spiral or other spring, to
hold over the lever and to keep the large wheel in contact with the wheel on the axle.
By this means the air pump will be kept working until the proper pressure is obtained
in the air vessel, but to prevent any excess of pressure I provide a small cylinder with

page_text: .
a piston, the top of this piston rod being connected to the top of the lever. I connect
a small pipe from the air vessel to the back of the cylinder so that when the pressure
is up to a certain point it will act upon the piston with such force as to overcome the
action of the spring and pressure of the lever, and thus break the contact of the
wheels till the pressure is reduced, when the spring will again act and bring
the wheels into contact.
Having explained the manner in which I propose to compress air to a great
pressure for the purpose before mentioned, it is now necessary to explain how I
reduce it (without waste) to a suitable pressure for the purpose of manufacturing
the gas required.
For this purpose I employ a cylinder of suitable diameter and fitted with a piston
that will not allow air to pass it either upwards or downwards. The end of the
piston rod furthest from the piston is reduced in size on this part of the rod, and a
piece of soft brass is fitted and turned in the shape of a long cone, above the cone
and about 1/, inches below the mouth of the cylinder. A valve scat is also fixed
of such diameter that the thick part of the cone will stop the passage of the air
through the valve. The piston being of much greater area than the valve, it follows
that if the air from the air vessel is admitted between the top of the valve seat and
the bottom of the piston the piston will rise in the cylinder, and bring up the cone
into the seat of the valve, but as the rising of the piston will cause the air above it
to be compressed it will prevent the valve from becoming quite closed, and when
the pressure of air below the piston is gradually reduced (which will be when the
train is standing) the air above the piston will expand and press down the piston
and open gradually the conical valve.
The pressure of the air being reduced I pas it into the carburators to convert it
into gas. The carburator I use for the purpose of my Invention will bo a cylinder
of suitable dimension with circular ends and placed in a vertical position; into the
cylindrical part I fit a number of metal rings which are fitted with wired edges, to
give additional strength and to hold the flannel (or other material) in position, as
hereinafter described, at the top and bottom, these rings being about 1/, inches in
depth and / of an inch less than the internal diameter of the cylinder. Over one
end of each of these rings I stretch a piece of coarse flannel (or other material)
which will hold in suspension the spirit I may use for carburating. The pieces of
flannel are then tied over the wired edge and pressed tightly into the cylinder, so
that the air cannot pass except through the flannel; the first ring will rest upon a
flange to receive it, the second ring will rest upon the first ring, and so on. I propose
to use one or more carburators, and I do not desire to confine myself to any
particular shape for them.
Over the carburators I fix a tank or cistern which is to contain gasoline or other
suitable spirit I may use, and between the cistern and carburators taps are placed
to regulate the flow of the liquid; and inside the top of the carburator I fix a rose
to spread the spirit over the whole surface of the flannels, so that they may be
perfectly saturated. The liquid then drops from one to the other until all are in a
state of saturation, and the spirit not held in suspension fulls into a cistern provided
at the bottom of the apparatus, similar in form to the supply cistern. To the
bottom of this cistern I fix the suction pipe of a small pump which I work from a
crank (or by other suitable means) fixed on the end of the shaft before mentioned.
In order to prevent the wash of the liquid in the cisterns by the oscillation of the
train I provide a suitable number of partitions extending nearly to the bottom of
the cisterns.
The air is admitted at the bottom of the carburators and passes upwards through
the saturated flannels, and out at the top. If necessary 1 then pass the gas
through an ordinary gas regulator to the main pipes fixed on the tops of the
carriages.
To enable me to meet the requirements of some of the railway companies I
propose to fix in or under a passenger carriage a flexible gusholder of suitable

page_text: construction, which will fill at a less pressure than I propose to use in lighting the
lamps.
These gasholders could be filled from a pipe connected with the main pipe on the
top of the carriages, and the filling could be done in the day time when the train
was running, or at night when the lamps wore burning. The object I have in viow
is this-If (as might happen) in some cases it was found necessary to detach one
of the carriages from the train in which it had been running to connect it to another
line, the breaking of the connection with the gas making apparatus would in the
ordinary course of things cause the gas to go out, but by my improved arrangement
the gas contained in this axilliary gas holder would keep up a sufficient supply to
the lamps until the carriage was again connected.