AN IMPROVEMENT IN AND IN APPARATUS FOR SAVING THE HYDROGEN GAS GENERATED IN CLEANING WIRE AND OTHER ARTICLES OF IRON
Year: 1880

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alexander Melville Clark, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, for an Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT
IN AND IN APPARATUS FOR SAVING THE HYDROGEN GAS GENERATED IN
CLEANING WIRE AND OTHER ARTICLES OF IRON." A communication from
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alexander Melville Clark
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 4th October 1880.
"
ALEXANDER MELVILLE CLARK, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex,
Patent Agent. AN IMPROVEMENT IN AND IN APPARATUS FOR SAVING THE
HYDROGEN GAS GENERATED IN CLEANING WIRE AND OTHER ARTICLES OF IRON."
[A communication from abroad by Richard Nafis Rhodes Phelps, of the City,
County, and State of New York, United States of America.]
This Invention relates to an improved process and apparatus for saving hydrogen
gas generated in cleaning wire and other articles of iron in a sulphuric and
muriatic acid bath, and the Invention consists in placing a loose fitting cover over
the tub containing the bath, the said cover dipping therein and being provided
with a pipe carrying away the accumulating gas for use.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Alexander Melville Clark in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
4th April 1881.
ALEXANDER MELVILLE CLARK, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex,
Patent Agent.
"AN IMPROVEMENT IN AND IN APPARATUS FOR SAVING THE
HYDROGEN GAS GENERATED IN CLEANING WIRE AND OTHER ARTICLES OF IRON."
A communication from abroad by Richard Nafis Rhodes Phelps, of the City,
County, and State of New York, United States of America.
When in the manufacture of iron wire the wire is put through the forming
rollers in a heated condition a scaly envelope is formed around it. To remove this
envelope and present the wire in marketable condition, the same is plunged into a
bath of diluted sulphuric or muriatic acid, which acid removes said envelope and
leaves the surface of the wire bright; but the action of the acid upon the wire
generates hydrogen, which in all wire works as at present constituted is allowed to
escape into the room in which the bath is placed. This hydrogen is highly
injurious to health and seriously affects the workmen, whose duty it is to attend to
the bath. Moreover, this hydrogen is a valuable substance, and its escape into the
air is an unnecessary waste.
This Invention has for its object, 1st, to prevent the hydrogen generated in the
bath from entering the air, and from vitiating it in the manner stated; and 2nd, to
collect such hydrogen for use in the arts, such, for example, as admixture with
carbon in the making of illuminating gas, or for combustion for generating heat.
The Invention consists in supplying the vat which contains the bath with a loosely
fitting cover adapted to dip into the diluted sulphuric or muriatic acid, and
provided with a pipe or pipes for carrying away the hydrogen gas generated to
places where it can be utilised, all as hereinafter more fully described.
The accompanying Drawing represents a sectional elevation of the improved
apparatus. A is a wooden tub or vat of usual or suitable size or form adapted to
receive a wooden post or frame B that is embraced by the coil C of a scaly wire.
The frame B has a ring or hook a at the upper part, so that by attaching thereto
the tackle of a crane or hoisting apparatus, it may be lifted together with the coil
of wire out of or placed into the tub or vat as occasion requires. The coil C rests
on the sidewardly projecting feet b of the frame B, so that it will follow said frame
when the same is hoisted out. The vat is to be filled nearly to its upper edge with
a mixture of water and sulphuric or muriatic acid in the usual proportions, which
mixture is to remove the scale from the surface of the wire by chemical action,
such action generating hydrogen gas as is well known. To prevent the waste of
this gas I place over the coil C a cover D, which loosely enters the vat and dips
into the liquid therein contained, as shewn, said cover being preferably of truncated
conical form. This cover is provided also with a ring or hook d at its upper part,
so that it can be readily lifted out and replaced by suitable hoisting tackle.
Through the cover passes and from it extends outwardly a pipe E which carries a
suitable cock e, and which leads into a suitable gas purifier not shewn, and thence
into a carburetting or mixing apparatus not shown, where the hydrogen gas may
be mixed with evaporating gasoline or other hydrocarbon in the making of
illuminating gas. Another pipe F having a cock projects likewise from the
cover D, and is open at its outer and inner ends.
When the operation commences the hydrogen gas generated within the vat and
beneath the cover first expels the atmospheric air, which fills the space between
the cover and the surface of the liquid, and allows this air to escape through the
pipe F, the cock of which is kept open for the purpose. But as soon as the air has

page_text: been expelled which the attendant will readily perceive, the cock is closed and
the cock e opened, so that the hydrogen gas generated during the continuation of
the process may pass up into the pipe E and be conducted into the purifier, and
thence into the carburetter or reservoir where the gas can be collected for use in the
arts. The cover D during the operation rests either on top of the frame B, as
shown in the Drawing, or on other suitable support which may be provided for it.
The pipe F instead of projecting directly from the cover D may be a branch of the
pipe E, in which case a three way cock in the pipe E, or an equivalent construction
of cock may be used to operate, so that when the branch F is open to permit the
air to escape the pipe E will be closed, and vice versa.
By the arrangement of the loosely fitting cover D with its gas discharge pipe E,
the escape of the hydrogen gas into the air is prevented, the health of the operator
is preserved, and the valuable gas collected for use in the arts. The frame B is not
an essential element of this apparatus, as the coil of wire may be thrown into the
vat without first placing it upon such a frame; but the frame is preferable, as it
serves to centralize the position of the coil, and keep it upright beneath the most
elevated part of the cover, so that the hydrogen gas will all be centrally discharged
upward towards the pipe E.
The apparatus is also available in cleaning iron plates, bars, rods, screws, and
other articles of iron.
Having described the nature of the said Invention, and the manner of performing
the same, I declare that what I claim as the Invention to be protected by the
bereinbefore in part recited Letters Patent is,-
1st. The vat A adapted to receive the iron C to be cleaned and the mixture of
water and sulphuric or muriatic acid, in combination with the loosely fitting
cover D having a gas conducting pipe E for operation, substantially as described.
2nd. The combination of the vat A with the loosely fitting cover D, gas
conducting pipe E, and discharge pipe F, substantially as specified.
3rd. The process herein described of saving the hydrogen gas generated in the
cleaning of iron by diluted acid, substantially as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alexander Melville Clark, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this First day of April, A.D. 1881.