IMPROVEMENTS IN GAS APPARATUS
Year: 1824

page_text: HOBBINS SPECIFICATION.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
HOBBINS, of Walsall, in the County of Stafford, Ironmonger, send greeting.
WHEREAS His most Excellent Majesty King George the Fourth did, by
His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of that part of the United Kingdom
of Great Britain and Ireland called England, bearing date at Westminster,
the Twenty-second day of June, One thousand eight hundred and twenty-four,
in the fifth year of His reign, give and grant unto me, the said John
Hobbins, my exors, admors, and assigns, His especial licence, full power,
sole privilege and authority, that I, the said John Hobbins, my exors,
admors, and assigns, during the term of years therein mentioned, should
and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and
the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN GAS
APPARATUS;" in which said Letters Patent there is contained a proviso that
if I, the said John Hobbins, shall not particularly describe and ascertain
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, and 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 Letters
Patent, that then the said Letters Patent, and all liberties and advantages
whatsoever thereby granted, shall utterly cease, determine, and become void,
as in and by the same, relation being thereunto had, will more fully and at
large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
John Hobbins, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, are particularly described

page_text: and ascertained in and by the Drawings hereunto annexed, and the following
description thereof (that is to say) :-
My said improvements in gas apparatus apply to the retorts and purifiers.
As far as regards the retorts, they consist in giving greater facility to the
charging with and the discharging of the materials used for making gas, to the
distributing of the materials uniformly over the surface of the retort, to the
preserving a greater uniformity of temperature in it, to prevent the necessity
of using lute or cement of any kind to the mouthpieces or covers, and to
diminish the labour of the stoker or fireman; all which said improvements are
particularly described and ascertained by the Drawings and explanations
thereof hereunto annexed, as before said. My improvements in the purifiers
consist in giving the vessel or vessels used for purifying such a construction
as to cause the gas in its passage through them to agitate the purifying
mixture sufficiently to dispense with the usual machinery employed for that
purpose, and also in giving any required pressure to the gas, which may
be done by various forms of vessels, preserving always however the same
principle. Two different constructions for this purpose are particularly
described by the Drawings and explanations thereof herein-after contained.
I do not hereby claim as my Invention any particular form or forms of the
gas apparatus, nor any particular manner of fitting up or manufacturing the
same, or the application of any particular materials thereto. The retorts or
vessels for the production of gas may also be of any of the usual forms and
sizes, and be set up according to the known methods or skill of the engineer.
The purifying vessel or vessels may also be made of any form, size, or material
proper for the purpose, so that they are made capable of receiving my
agitating principle. But my claim is to the effects produced by these improve-
ments, and whether by the same or similar means.
Figure 1 represents a longitudinal section of a gas retort. The body of
it is that part between the two perpendicular dotted lines. The other
parts or ends of the retort, which are exterior of the dotted lines, are to
be outside of the brickwork when set, and to be in such a situation as not
to be injured by the fire, and they are flanged on to the body, so that when
the body of the retort requires to be renewed the ends may be removed
to the new body. The extreme ends of the retort are also flanged on, and
to each end is attached a pipe P, about ten inches long, and of the
internal diameter of one inch, through which said pipes run two rods D, R,
and S, R, passing through the pipes into the retort. On the outer ends
of these rods are cross pieces for handles, and on the inner ends of them
strong plates of iron D and S, the plate D being of the same form, and

page_text: nearly of the same size, as the interior of the retort. Figure 2 represents the
plate S, it being of the form of the top but not reaching to the bottom of the
retort. Fig. 3 represents the plate D. Both these plates may be drawn
backwards and forwards along the retort by the rods, and they are guided by
bars attached longitudinally in the inside on each side of the retort, fitting into
notches made in the plates, and as shown in Figs. 2 and 8. The rods unscrew
at the places marked O, O, so that when drawn out of the retort and
unscrewed a short part of each remains in the pipes, and the longer parts of
the rods may then be removed. F, Fig. 1, is a feeder attached to the upper
part of the retort, and extending outside of the brickwork, with a cover C.
This cover may either open with a hinge or be drawn upwards by a chain
and balance weight, and may be made tight when closed by means of a cross
bar in the usual way. C, B, is a box for receiving the coke when discharged
from the retort. It is flanged on to the body of the retort, outside the brick-
work. M, P, is a mouthpiece which may also be made tight by a cross bar
in the usual way. This being done, and the discharging plate D being
drawn up by the rod D, R, close against the end of the retort, beyond the
feeder F, and the spreading plate S being also pushed inwards by the
spreading rod S, R, until it comes close against the plate D, both plates
will then be in that part of the retort which is between the feeder F and the
extreme end of the retort. The coal or other material for producing gas is
then to be introduced into the feeder F at its mouth, and which may be done
at once from a trough. The cover C is then to be made tight, and the
spreading plate S is to be drawn back until close to the extreme end of the
retort beyond the conduct pipe C, P; and in its passage along it will spread
the coal or other material uniformly over the bottom of the retort, and of
such a thickness as is equal to the distance of the bottom of the plate $ from the
bottom of the retort. The rods D, R, and S, R, may be then unscrewed and
hung out of the way, and short plugs be put into the pipes P, P, to close them.
When the process of extracting gas is finished, and the coke has to be discharged,
the plug-is-to-be taken out of the pipe, the discharging rod D, R, to be intro-
duced and screwed on to the plate D, and by pushing up the rod and plate
the coke will be discharged into the coke box C, B. The rod D, R, is then
to be drawn back to its former position, unscrewed and removed, and the plug
again put into the pipe P. The mouthpiece M, P, is then to be removed
and 'the coke raked out into a box and be wheeled away. The mouthpiece
M, P, is then to be replaced, and the plug of the pipe at the same end be
taken out. The rod S, R, is then to be introduced and screwed to the plate
S; and be slid up to the opposite end against the plate D, as before, when the

page_text: retort is again fit for charging. Figures 4 and 5 represent end views of the
retort, the same letters baving references to the same parts as in Fig. 1.
These operations scarcely occupy ten minutes, are attended with little labour
and inconvenience from the heat, and the temperature of the retort is scarcely
lowered, from the short time that the mouthpieces are kept open. The mouth-
piece M, P, and the cover C are so far removed from the effect of the fire
that they may be coated with sheet lead, and will be gas-tight without any
application of either lute or cement to them. From the circumstance of the
body of the retort being the only part that will want renewing, this kind of
retort will be less expensive to replace than those heretofore in use.
Fig. 6 represents the section of a purifier consisting of a series of upright
and inverted vessels placed inside of each other alternately, the inverted ones
being supported on feet at the distance of about an inch from the bottom of
the upright ones. Numbers 1, 2, 3, and 4, are upright vessels, having one
common bottom. Numbers 11, 12, 18, and 14, are the inverted vessels.
Stops are placed as at S on the inside of the roofs of the inverted vessels,
Numbers, 12, 13, and 14, filling up the spaces between them, so as to prevent
them from rising when at work; and the outside vessel No. 14 is secured to
No. 4 by hasps and staples, as at H, H. The inverted vessels may cach
be lifted out by means of the rings R affixed to them with a windlass and
crane, and be set aside either for the purpose of charging or of cleaning the
vessels 1, 2, and 3. Short pipes are placed at D', D³, and D', for discharging
the purifying mixture when saturated, and which may either be stopped up
with plugs or with metal caps screwed on them, having circular pieces of
leather previously placed in the bottoms of them to make them tight. The
vessels may be filled with the purifying mixture to any height, according to
the pressure required. The inlet I delivers the gas into the inverted vessel
Number 11, which pressing upon the surface of the purifying mixture there
(represented by the dotted line) forces it into the upright vessel Number 1,
until the gas passes underneath the mouth of Number 11 into Number 1, and
the same from Number 12 into Number 2, and again from Number 13 into
Number 3, from whence it passes down the outlet O to the gas holder, and by
the repeated action and reaction produces a great agitation, which in conjunc-
tion with the pressure, delivers the gas in a state of great purity. The vessels
Numbers 14 and 4 are enlarged on one side to admit the outlet O, and the
space between Numbers 3 and 4 (which latter rises to only half the height of
the other vessels) is filled with water only, it being a water joint, to prevent
the improper escape of the gas. Any number of vessels may be used, but
more than the number here represented would probably cause a greater

page_text: pressure than is desirable, and with a lesser number of vessels a greater depth
of purifying mixture may be used. The vessels, Numbers 11, 12, 18, and 14,
may all have one common roof to them, in which case the purifying mixture
may be let in through the roof by feed pipes, similar to those shewn at F 1,
F 2, and F3, in Figure 7. The spaces between the outside of the upright
vessels and the insides of the inverted ones are represented as less than the
other spaces, for instance, between Numbers 1 and 12, for if, the areas of the
spaces were equal, the pressure would be doubled.
Fig. 7 represents the section of another construction of a purifier on the
same principle as Fig. 6. The gas passing along the inlet A forces out the
purifying mixture (the height of which is shewn by the dotted line across the
vessels V1, V2, and V3), and passing under the widened mouth of the inlet A,
agitates the mixture, and bubbles up through it into the vessel V 1; from V 1
the gas passes by the pipe B into V 2 with the same agitation, and passing by
the pipe C into V 3, the agitation is again repeated, as indeed it would be
with every additional vessel. From V 8 the gas passes by the pipe D to the
gas-holder. F 1, F 2, and F 8, are feed pipes through which the vessels are
charged with the purifying mixture, and D 1, D2, and D 8, are pipes for
discharging the same, all of them being closed by metal caps screwed upon
them similarly to those at D 1, D2, and D 8, in Fig. 6, or they may be
stopped up with plugs. In the sides of the vessels V 1, V2, and V 8, a small
perforation may be made (as shewn by dotted lines) to indicate when they
have received a sufficient quantity of the purifying mixture, and they may
afterwards be stopped up with plugs. Should the mixture in these vessels
remain at rest some time before the gas is passed through them, or after it has
ceased to pass through, on letting the mixture run off, a deposition of it may
be found to have taken place, and it will not run off freely; to remedy this, a
bar of iron is extended across each of the vessels, as is shewn in one of them
at R, thin enough to pass under the mouths of the pipes A, B, and C, and
made to act as rakers on being moved backwards and forwards by means of
rods attached thereto working through stuffing boxes made in the sides of the
vessels when they are square, and which said motion will effectually stir up.the
mixture, and either cause it to work well or to run off entirely, as may be
required. If the vessels are made circular, a crank may be attached to a
similar bar passing through the centre of the bottom of each vessel, to give the
bar a circular movement for the same purpose.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Hobbins, have hereunto set my hand
-and-seal, this Fourteenth-day of August,-in-the-year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and twenty-four.
(L.B.) JOHN HOBBINS.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Fourteenth day of August,
in the year of our Lord 1824, the aforesaid John Hobbins 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 Eighteenth day of August, in the year of our Lord Ono
thousand eight hundred and twenty-four.
AL