Improvements in the Method of Vapourizing Carbolic Acid and other Disinfectants, and in Apparatus therefor.
Year: 1891

page_text: Date of Application, 29th May, 1891
Complete Specification Left, 2nd Dec., 1891-Accepted, 2nd Jan., 1892
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Method of Vapourizing Carbolic Acid and
other Disinfectants, and in Apparatus therefor.
I CONWAY SCOTT of Annavale, Windsor Avenue, in the City of Belfast
and County of Antrim in Ireland, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of
this invention to be as follows:-
My invention relates to the process of disinfecting clothes, bedding and other
articles employed in connection with persons suffering from infectious diseases
or brought in contact with or proximity to such persons or to rooms or other
places occupied or visited by such persons or their nurses or attendants and to
destroy disease organisms on or in such persons, rooms or other places.
For these purposes I subject carbolic acid or other disinfectant to the action of
heat in a vessel having a large surface internally and a small bell-shaped mouth or
aperture to admit the disinfectant and let the vapour thereof escape and by which
means am enabled to vapourize large quantities of the acid or other disinfectant
within a moderate time.
The apparatus which I employ is composed of iron, bronze or other metallic
substance and I secure a large surface internally by having the bottom raised in
the centre and the side contracted or thickened so as to form a kind of neck in the
middle of the vessel. 1 place this vessel in the fire and when red hot I remove it
into the room or chamber in which the articles or persons are to be disinfected and
from which the access of external air is excluded as far as possible. I then pour
the disinfectant into the heated vessel.
Dated this 27th day of May 1891
HYNDMAN & DICKSON,
6, Chichester Street, Belfast, Agents for Applicant.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Method of Vapourizing Carbolic Acid and
other Disinfectants, and in Apparatus therefor.
I CONWAY SCOTT of Annavale, Windsor Avenue in the City of Belfast and
County of Antrim in Ireland, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
My invention relates to the process of disinfecting persons or animals suffering
from infectious or contagious diseases their nurses, friends or attendants and the
clothes, bedding and other articles employed in connection or in any way brought
into contact with or proximity to such persons or animals; also rooms or other
places occupied or visited by such persons or animals and the articles therein; and
to the destruction of disease germs or organisms on or in such persons, animals,
rooms or other places.
For these purposes I subject carbolic acid or other disinfectant to the action of
heat, in a vessel having a large surface internally and a small, bell-shaped mouth
or aperture to admit the disinfectant and let the vapour thereof escape, by which
means I am enabled to vapourize large quantities of the acid or other disinfectant
within a moderate space of time.
The apparatus which I employ is composed of iron, bronze or other metallic
substance and 1 secure a large surface internally by having the bottom raised in
the centre and the side contracted or thickened so as to forin a kind of neck in the

page_text: middle of the vessel. I find that the mouth or aperture to admit the disinfectant
and let the vapour thereof escape should be somewhat proportioned to the internal
surface, so that the vapour generated by the heating of the disinfectant may not
escape quickly nor the disinfectant, by reason of its rapid expansion by the heat
and the narrowness of the aperture, be driven out in intermittent jets of spray
without being vapourized. In other words, if the internal surface is more or
less extended the mouth or aperture of the vessel should be more or less wide,
correspondingly.
I do not confine myself to the form of vessel I have described, inasmuch as I may
enlarge its internal surface by forming it of grooves, waves or furrows and making
these either vertical, horizontal or diagonal and straight or curved, as well as of
other forms.
I place this vessel in the fire and when it has become red hot I remove it into
the room or chamber in which the persons, animals or articles are to be disinfected
and from which the access of external air has been excluded, as far as possible,
and set it on a stand which I provide for the purpose. I then pour the disinfectant
into the heated vessel.
And in order that the said invention may be more fully understood I shall now
refer to the drawings on the sheet hereunto annexed, the same letters of reference
indicating the same or corresponding parts of my improved apparatus or vessel
throughout all the figures.
Fig. 1. is a transverse sectional elevation of my apparatus, shewing the bottom
raised at the centre, the sides contracted by an internal horizontal ridge forming a
kind of neck and the small bell shaped mouth, through which it is filled with the
disinfectant and the vapour escapes, and
Fig. 11. is a transverse horizontal section of an apparatus in which the increased
external surface is obtained by vertical grooves, waves or furrows.
a is the iron, bronze or other vessel having the bottom, b, raised internally in
the centre and the side contracted or thickened (as shewn in Fig. I.) by an
internal horizontal ridge, c, forming a kind of neck inidway between the bottom, b,
and the small bell shaped mouth, d, by which the disinfectant is admitted and
vapour thereof escapes or (as shewn in Fig. II.) by internal, vertical grooves, waves
or furrows, e, e, e, ef, is a handle to be used in lifting the vessel and y is a stand
on which to set it down when heated.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is
1. The use, in cases of infectious or contagious disease, of carbolic acid or
other disinfectant vapourized substantially in the manner and for the purposes
hereinbefore described; and
2. The use, in connection with infectious or contagious diseases, of a vessel
or apparatus constructed, heated and employed substantially in the manner and
for the purposes hereinbefore described and shown in the drawings hereunto
annexed.
Dated this 1st day of December 1891.
HYNDMAN & DICKSON,
6, Chichester Street, Belfast, Agent. for. Applicant.