AN APPARATUS. OR MACHINE WHICH I DENOMINATE 'A THERMOPHORE,' OR ▲ PORTABLE MINERAL OR RIVER WATER BATH AND LINEN WARMER, AND ALSO FOR OTHER APPARATUS OR MACHINES CONNECTED THEREWITH FOR FILTERING AND HEATING WATER
Year: 1824

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN'
HILLARY SUWERKROP, of Vine Street, Minories, in the City of London,
Merchant, send greeting.
WHEREAS His present most Excellent Majesty King George the Fourth,
by His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date
at Westminster, the Fourth day of December, in the fifth year of His reign, did,
for Himself, His heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said John
Hillary Suwerkrop, His especial licence that I, the said John Hillary Sawer-
krop, my exors, admors, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John
Hillary Suwerkrop, my exors, admors, and assigns, should at any time agree
with, and no others, from time to time and at all times during the term of years
therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend,
within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, the Invention
of "AN APPARATUS. OR MACHINE WHICH I DENOMINATE 'A THERMOPHORE,' OR
▲ PORTABLE MINERAL OR RIVER WATER BATH AND LINEN WARMER, AND ALSO
FOR OTHER APPARATUS OR MACHINES CONNECTED THEREWITH FOR FILTERING AND
HEATING WATER," Communicated to me by a certain Foreigner residing abroad;
in which said Letters Patent there is contained a proviso obliging me, the
said John Hillary Suwerkrop, by an instrument in writing under my hand and
seal, particularly to describe and ascertain the nature of my said Invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed, and to cause the same
to be inrolled in His Majesty's High Court of Chancery within two calendar
months next and immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters

page_text: Patent (as in and by the same), reference being thereunto had, will more fully
and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
John Hillary Suwerkrop, do hereby declare that the nature of the said Inven-
tion, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are particularly
described and ascertained in and by the Drawing hereunto annexed, and
the following description thereof (that is to say) :-
That part of the denominated a "Thermophore, or a Portable Mineral or River
Water Bath and Linen Warmer," consist of a carriage to be drawn by a horse
or horses, and which may be either a two-wheeled carriage or a four-wheeled
one fitted up with a body hung upon springs, with two cisterns or tanks in the
lower part of it, to hold or contain hot and cold water, and with a floor above
surrounded with a railing to contain one, two, or more portable metallic baths;
it is also provided with a closet or closets to hold the linen warmers in (here-
after to be described), and also a shelf to lodge the water pails or buckets on.
In the annexed Drawing Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a four-wheeled
carriage; Figure 2, an end elevation of it; Fig. 8, a plan of the lower part
of the body of the carriage; and Fig. 4 a plan of the upper floor of it. In
all of these Figures, as well as in the other corresponding parts of the Drawing,
the same letters of reference indicate the similar parts. A, A, &c. are the
perch wheels, springs, &c. of the carriage, which may be constructed in any
of the usual and well-known methods, and need not therefore be described
more particularly here. B, B, &c., the body of the carriage. C, the cistern
or tank for the hot water. D, the cistern for the cold water. E, E, closets
for the linen warmers. F, shelf for the water pails or buckets. G, seat for
the driver and attendant. H, floor or platform to contain the portable baths.
I, I, I, three portable baths, with rollers or castors fitted underneath them,
and which are made of copper or other proper metal tinned inside. J, J, &c.,
their handles. K, K, K, K, &c., four linen warmers; the construction of these
will be described hereafter. L, L, L, cross bars or stays, with screws and
nuts to hold the body of the carriage more firmly together. M, a wooden pipe
or trunk to convey the hot water through the cold water to the cock N. O, the
cock to draw off the cold water. P, P, the rails. Q, wooden partition between
the hot and cold water cisterns. R, R, R, R, the water pails or buckets; one
of these is shewn separately, in section, in Fig, 5; it has a rim or ring sur-
rounding the bottom of it, as shewn at S, S, &c., to catch and retain any water
which might escape in carrying it, and is also furnished with a lid or cover, and
a bail or handle. Fig. 6 is a vertical or upright section of a round conical
linen warmer, and Fig. 7 a top view of it. It consists of a wooden bucket or

page_text: pail T, having an internal metallic vessel U fixed within it, and a hollow metal
cylinder or tube in the centre of the vessel. The space around and beneath
this vessel, as well as the internal cylinder, is to be filled with hot water, and
the linen being coiled around the cylinder will be kept hot also. This vessel
is also furnished with a lid or cover and a hail or handle. V is an aperture in
the cover farnished with a plug or stopper to pour the hot water into the
bucket. At Fig. 8 is a vertical section of a square linen warmer, and Fig. 9
a top view of it. This consists of a square wooden vessel, having a metal one
W fixed within it, and a space around and beneath it to be filled with hot
water. The linen being placed within the metal vessel will, as in the former
one already described, be kept hot by the surrounding hot water. This linen
warmer is also furnished with a lid or cover and a bail or handle, and has
likewise an aperture V, fitted with a plug, to pour the hot water into the
outer vessel at. The apparatus or machine for filtering water consists either
of one or more vessels, or of a vessel with a partition in the middle of it,
dividing it into an upper and a lower vessel; one of these latter is shewn by a
vertical section of it in Fig. 10, and Fig. 11 is an external view or elevation
of it. X, X, is the vessel, and Y the partition in it. Z, Z, are two false
bottoms perforated with holes all over them, one of which is shewn separately
at Fig. 12. Underneath these holes a spiral coil of twisted and plaited horse
hair cord a, a, is placed, and secured by means of nails driven through it with
pieces of thick leather placed under their heads, as shewn separately in Fig. 18.
Upon each of the false bottoms a layer of coarse well-washed gravel, flints, &c.
is put, and over that a layer of finer gravel, &c., and which is succeeded by
layers of others still finer and finer until it reaches near to the
upper part,
when it is covered with a layer of sand six or more inches in thickness, the
whole thickness of the different layers being about two and a half feet.
Fig. 14 shews the formation of part of the plaited horse hair coil in a larger
The water enters from a reservoir placed above the level of the
vessel X, X, through the pipe 6 into the lowest part of the vessel at c. It
then ascends, passing through the horse-hair coil, the gravel and sand, and
passing through the curved piped into the lower part of the upper vessel at e.
It is then again filtered by ascending through a second series of filtering
materials similar to the former, and finally passes off above by the pipe f.
The coils of horse-hair rope a, a, under the false bottoms detain the greater
part of the impurities contained in the water, and when they are become
loaded therewith they may be cleaned by opening the holes g, 9, made in the
vessel and suffering water to flow in and out under the horse-hair coils until
they are washed as required. h, h, are cocks, the uppermost serving to draw
scale.

page_text: off the water when sufficiently purified by passing through one filtre only, as
may occasionally happen, and the lower one to draw off the water at any
time without removing the door of the hole g. In order to clean the sand,
gravel, &c. of the filtres thoroughly, it is only necessary to suffer water to flow
through them from above, and to pass off below, carrying the impurities along
with it. i is another opening and door provided for the purpose of placing
the different layers of gravel and sand upon the lower false bottom of the
filtre.
The apparatus or machine for heating water consists of a wooden conical
vessel or vat shewn in Fig. 15, which is an external view or elevation
of it, and in Fig. 16, which is a vertical section of it. This vessel contains
within it a copper stove or fireplace j, terminating above in a spherical head k,
which is united to the stove by the neck 2, and from which said neck two
copper pipes or flues m, m, pass one on each side of it, and having a descent
on their first proceeding from the neck in order to compel the heat of the
stove to act upon the lower parts of the water with which the vessel is filled.
They afterwards ascend in two opposite spiral curves through the water, and
pass out above at two circular holes m, m, shewn in Fig. 17, which is a plan
of the top of the vessel. The air to support the fire in this stove is supplied
through an opening p, made in the bottom of the vessel for that purpose,
and a door is made in the front of the stove at q, which opens on the outside
of the vessel to supply the stove with fuel. In order to encrease the action
of the heat five hollow copper tubes r, r, &c. are made to pass through the
sides of the air box p, and to allow the water to enter them, and be exposed
to the heat of the stove immediately below the fire in it, there being, however,
a grate of iron s interposed between the fuel and the hollow tubes to preserve
the latter from injury in stirring the fire, &c. The construction of these parts
is better seen in Fig. 18, which is a plan and section of the fireplace, and
Fig. 19, which is an elevation of the air-box p. Their position is also shewn
in Fig. 20, which is a view of the bottom of the vessel, as seen from beneath
it. The stove and flues are firmly secured in their places in the vessel by the
metal stays and supports t, t, &c., and it is secured to the opening 9 in front,
and to that in the bottom at p, by flanches affixed to the vessel by screws,
and made water-tight by means of cement. A cock is affixed at u to draw
off the water at.
Fig. 21 is a back view of the stove. An opening is provided in
the bottom of the vessel, which may be closed by means of a valve, &c.
for the purpose of cleaning it out at any time, but which is not, however,
shewn in the Drawings. A wooden vessel containing a stove and flues within

page_text: it for heating water, may also, if required, be mounted upon a carriage with
wheels, and thus be made portable and capable of accompanying the other
carriage when found necessary. The chief object of this Invention is to
afford the means of taking a warm mineral or river water bath to invalids or
other persons even in their own bedroom, instead of their being obliged, as at
present, to resort to public bagnios or other baths for that purpose.
Having thus described the several parts of the apparatus, I hereby declare
that it is not my intention to claim any part of the same which has already
been known or in use, excepting only their application to the purpose of
forming "a Thermophore, or a Portable Mineral and River Water Bath and
Linen Warmer, and in Heating and Filtering Water for the same," as set
forth in the before-mentioned title of this Patent.
I do, however, claim the exclusive use of the spiral coil or coils of plaited
horse-hair cord, as applied therein to the improvement of the filtre or filtres;
and also the use and employment of the globular or spherical head k of the
stove j, for heating the water.
'I also claim the Invention of the circular and square portable linen warmers,
described herein. And, lastly, the circular rims or rings around the bottoms of
the water pails or buckets to catch and retain any water which might other-
wise be spilled.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Hillary Suwerkrop, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-sixth day of January, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and twenty-five.
JOHN HILLARY (L.s.) SUWERKROP.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Twenty-sixth day of January, in
the year of our Lord 1825, the aforesaid John Hillary Suwerkrop came before
our said Lord the King in His Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification
aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form
above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to
the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Inrolled the Fourth day of February, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and twenty-five.