AN IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR COOKING BY GAS OR VAPOUR
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Henry Hall, of Liverpool, in the County
of Lancaster, Cook, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR
COOKING BY GAS OR VAPOUR."
Sealed the 27th April 1853, and dated the 2d March 1853.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Henry Hall at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 2d March 1853.
I, CHARLES HENRY HALL, of Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster,
Cook, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED
APPARATUS FOR COOKING BY GAS OR VAPOUR" to be as follows:-
My Invention cousists in the general construction and arrangement of
the parts of the apparatus, whereby it is adapted to be used for the pur-
poses of cooking by means of a flame issuing from the gas or vapour
arising either from alcohol or other suitable fluid or spirit, or from the
ordinary coal gas.
When intended to be used with gas or vapour arising from alcohol
or other suitable fluid or spirit, it has combined with it a vessel or
fountain furnished with a stop-cock to regulate the admission of the
[Price 8d.]

page_text: fluid or spirit into the apparatus through a pipe or pipes, flexible or
otherwise.
In the lower part of the apparatus is a neck or passage, filled with
cotton or other absorbent material, which takes up the spirit as it is
supplied into the apparatus.
In this neck or passage there are holes for the admission of air; it is
also surrounded by a casing of perforated metal. The neck or passage is
extended upwards in the form of a hollow close vessel, surrounded by a
casing of perforated metal; and there is a saucer so placed as to be
capable of receiving the alcohol or other fluid as it is discharged from the
cotton or other absorbent material through the holes or perforations formed
in the said neck or passage, and the casing surrounding it.
Then, on the alcohol or other fluid or spirit in the saucer being
inflamed, it communicates sufficient heat to the close vessel above the
neck to convert the alcohol or spirit into a gas or vapour, as it is
supplied to the cotton or other absorbent material, and in this manner to
produce a constant flame within the perforated casing surrounding the
close vessel.
A tripod or trivot is screwed into the upper part of the close vessel, on
which may be placed the vessel or vessels in which the cooking is to be
carried on.
When this apparatus is intended to be used with the ordinary coal gas,
the pipe at the lower part is made to communicate with the gas-supply
pipe instead of with the pipe leading from a fountain, and the cotton in
the neck or passage is removed.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Charles Henry Hall, in the Great Seal Patent Office,
on the 21 September 1853.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
HENRY HALL, of Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster, Cook, send
greeting.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Second day of March, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, in the sixteenth year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said Charles Henry Hall, Her special licence that I,
the said Charles Henry Hall, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said Charles Henry Hall, my executors, ad-
ministrators, 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 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 APPARATUS FOR
COOKING BY GAS OR VAPOUR," upon the condition (amongst others) that
I, the said Charles Henry Hall, by an instrument in writing under
my hand and seal, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature
the same was to be
of my said Invention, and in what manner
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 Charles Henry Hall, 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 Drawings hereunto
annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):
My Invention of "an improved apparatus for cooking by gas or
or vapour" has for its object the construction and arrangement of the
parts of the apparatus in such a manner as to cause a certain decom-
position and conversion of the gas or vapour used therein, by which the
carbon of common coal gas becomes changed into carbonic oxide,
which, with the hydrogen contained in such gas, produces a compound
applicable for the purpose. I effect this conversion of the carbon in
the gas by two methods, either separately or in combination. First,
by its admixture with air during its ascent within a perforated
cylinder and, secondly, by passing it through an open disc, and
senting to it, while in a state of combustion, a flat surface of metal.
pre-

page_text: My Invention may be carried into effect in various forms of
apparatus, and 1 shall describe some forms in which the broad feature
or principle of my Invention, as above stated, is embodied, whether
as intended for the use of ordinary coal gas, or the gas or vapour
arising from alcohol or other suitable fluid or spirit, but without
confining myself thereto. Inasmuch, however, as the former application
is likely to be the more generally used. I will describe that first,
a, is
I proceed now to describe the apparatus for cooking by the ordinary
coal gas. It is represented in Figures 1, to 12, of the accompanying
drawings. Fig. 1, is an elevation, and Fig. 2, is a vertical section of
such apparatus. which is so constructed as to combine the two methods
above referred to of producing the required conversion of the gas.
the pipe by which the gas enters the apparatus. This pipe is inserted in
the chamber or passage b, forming part of the base or stand c, of the
apparatus. This chamber or passage is extended upwards into the
hollow close vessel d, which is screwed thereto on to a sent at e, and
which is employed to narrow or confine the space between the said
chamber or passage and the inside of the perforated cylinder f, which
is secured to the vessel d. by screws g.
The action of this apparatus is as follows: The gas from the pipe a,
having filled the chamber or passage b, finds egress at the holes, formed
round it, and passes in a lighted state into the lower part of the perfo-.
rated cylinder f, and is thereby made to pass upward, amid streams of
cool air entering through the perforations in the side of the cylinder f.
The oxygen of the air is thus made to combine with the carbon of the
gas, and to form an oxide of carbon. This, with the hydrogen of the
gas in a state of combustion, ascends through the disc, with openings
in it, which disc attaining a red heat tends to consume those particles
of gas which may have been separated, and oxydises any portion of the
which may
gas
have escaped undecomposed.
Over the disc i, is screwed the triform trivet k, (shewn in plan at
Fig. 3.) on which may be placed the vessel or vessels in which the
cooking is to be carried on.
The disc i, with the trivet k, may be detached from the apparatus, and
screwed to the bottom of any vessel prepared to receive it. And this

page_text: may be done by means of the channelled stud shewn at Figures 4, and 5,
united to the vessel by screws, as at 1, 1. This channelled stud has a
screwed stein rising from its centre, on which the trivet and disc are
screwed.
When gas is introduced into the channel or space m, of the stud, by
means of the gas pipe a, and inflamed, the disc with openings in it will
tend to retard the combustion of the gas, and allow the air to mix with the
carbon to form an oxide of carbon, as before described.
The apparatus, it will be observed, is supported on feet, and it is sup-
plied with gas by means of a flexible or other tube, with a cock to regulato
the supply.
,"
'
Another form of apparatus is shewn at Figures 6, and 7. Fig. 6, being
an elevation, and Fig. 7, a vertical section of the same. It consists of an
open cylinder f, at the bottom of which is a stem b, screwed on the inside
to receive a gas tube for its supply. The gas in this case passes up into
the hollow vessel d, which at the lower part fits the chamber loosely, thereby
leaving certain spaces, through which the gas entering from the stem b,.
passes into the open cylinder f. The size of these spaces is regulated by
the size of the radial supports e, for the lower end of the vessel d. The
gas being inflamed, thus becomes oxydized and burnt, as before described.
Fig. 8, is a section of this apparatus in the line A, B, of Fig. 7. At Fig. 9,
is shewn a combination of two or more burners, with the method of
supplying then with gas.
I would here remark, that as the central closed vessel is required in the
apparatus above described for the purpose of keeping the gas in contact
with the open cylinder, for the purpose of mixing it with air, the same
result cannot be produced without it, unless it approaches to a burner
whose diameter is so small as not to admit of the same hollow vessel.
This hollow vessel may be open at both ends when the gas is applied out-
side, as Fig. 10. Fig. 11, shews a variation consisting of a small cylinder,
fitted with the open disc.
I proceed now to describe the apparatus as applicable to the burning of
alcohol and wood naphtha in a state of vapour, either supplied to the
apparatus itself, or communicated to it froin a separate vessel.

page_text: Fig. 12, is a section of the lower part of such apparatus. On the
screw A being withdrawn, the receptacle B, may be supplied with
spirit at the cup C, which spirit will pass through the holes D, into the
receptacle B, by the tube E; the air that is displaced being expelied at
the screw aperture F. On the screw A, being replaced, but not
screwed home, a space is left between the receptacle for the spirit and
the burner, or heating apparatus, which latter is not shown in this
Figure. The spirit which remains in the cup C, on being inflamed,
heats the adjacent metal, thereby producing vapour; which, passing or
returning through the pipe E, becomes ignited at the orifice of the
holes D: the inflamed gas or vapour may thus pass into the perforated
cylinder of the apparatus, become mixed with the air, and burnt, as
before described. The construction of the upper part of the apparatus,
in this case, is the same as that represented in Fig. 1. and described
above, except that it is provided with a screw adjustment at A, for the
egress of air from the vessel during the act of filling it, and is con-
nected with the shell or base G, by the screwed portion at H, and thus
forms the receptacle for the spirit and vapour. The admission of the
vapour to the apparatus may be regulated by means of the screw, and
the flame of gas extinguished by screwing it so far as to close the end
of the tube E.
Figures 13, 14, and 15, represent a fountain, or spirit vessel, separate
from the heating apparatus, (which may be such as is represented in
Figures 1, and 2,) but to be connected with it by means of a flexible tube
filled with cotton, or other suitable absorbent material, to equalize the flow
of spirit from the fountain to the apparatus, and attached by having one
end stretched over the tube of the apparatus, and the other over the
nozzle of the cock H, which is screwed into the vessel I, by the collar
at K.
;
The vessel I, may be filled with spirit on removing the cock
the cock may then be replaced, and the knob L, at the top of the
vessel I, unscrewed to its full extent, thereby allowing the compressed
air to escape, and a sufficient quantity of fresh air to enter, in order to
replace the corresponding decrease of spirit during the combustion in

page_text: the heating apparatus. When there exists any difference of density
between the air within the vessel and that which is external to it, the
required balance is restored by means of an elongation of the knob L
screwed part of its length into the collar M, which carries a metal
washer N, and terminates in a button O. This elongated portion of
the button is drilled in a vertical direction from the button O, and
communicates with the external air by means of a small hole P,
beneath the flange Q. Another similar hole is made at R, through
which any excess of air discharges itself during the operation of un-
screwing the knob L. The drilled vertical passage in the knob and
button is continued down to the lower part of the spirit vessel I, in the
shape of a pipe S, by which means there is a passage for the external
air entering at the hole P, to balance the passage of spirit through the
cock H, to the heating apparatus, thus keeping the supply thereinto
at the same level with that at the bottom of the vessel I. When the
spirit has risen in the apparatus it is to be inflamed at the cup x, (as
at Fig. 2,) and vapour is produced from the flowing liquid or spirit
being in contact with the heated metal through which it has to pass,
and at the same time becoming mixed with air, as before described. The
Bupply of spirit to the apparatus may be regulated by the cock H, by which
means also the flame of gas may be extinguished.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I would have it understood that
I do not mean or intend to confiue myself to the precise forms and
arrangements of apparatus shewn and described. I would also here
remark that I do not confine myself to the materials used in the con-
struction of such apparatus, although I prefer brass as the material for
the perforated cylinder in the portable apparatus, shewn at Figures 1,
and 2, and cast-iron for the open cylinder for stationary apparatus, as
that shewn at Figures 6, and 7. Neither do 1 confine myself to the
number of heating apparatus or burners, as I employ them either singly
or in clusters, as occasion may require.
appa-
But what I claim as of my Invention is the construction of
ratus by which the ordinary coal gas, or other gas or vapour from

page_text: In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Henry. Hall, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Thirtieth day of August, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-threo.
Witness to the signature,
THOMAS WRIGHT.
CHARLES HENRY HALL. (L.S.)