IMPROVEMENTS IN APPA- RATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF GAS, PARTS OF WHICH ARE ALSO APPLICABLE FOR COOKING PURPOSES
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Richardson Wigham, of Capel Street, in the
City of Dublin, Ireland, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPA-
RATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF GAS, PARTS OF WHICH ARE ALSO APPLICABLE
FOR COOKING PURPOSES."
Sealed the 16th April 1862, and dated the 7th November 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Richardson Wigham
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
7th November 1861.
I, JOHN RICHARDSON WIGHAM, of Capel Street, in the City of Dublin,
Ireland, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF GAS, PARTS OF WHICH ARE ALSO APPLI-
CABLE FOR COOKING PURPOSES," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists in the peculiar construction or arrangement of a
vertical retort for the manufacture of gas, whereby the waste or surplus heat
produced by such retort is made available for domestic or cooking purposes,
the retort being heated by means of a circular or other shaped stove or
furnace so arranged that the top plate of the same may be used for cooking.
Price 81

page_text: The retort consists of a metal cylinder which passes through and is surrounded
by a furnace enclosed around its sides with fire-brick, and mounted upon a
suitable frame or standards, the top part of such furnace being covered in by a
metal plate, upon which the utensils used in cooking are placed. The cylinder
is supported vertically by means of a hollow ring or collar cast upon or around
the top part of the same, the under side of the ring resting upon the metal
plate or top part of the furnace. The hollow part of the ring or collar is filled
with a metallic solution, into which a light lid or cover is inserted serving to
close and hermetically seal the upper mouth or opening of the cylinder; the
cover is provided with a handle, so that it can be put on or taken off without
danger or inconvenience when it is required to put in a charge. The lower
mouth or opening of the cylinder through which the charge is drawn is
hermetically sealed or closed by dipping it a sufficient depth into a receptacle
containing a liquid lute, such receptacle being held or supported in the ash-
pit beneath. The retort is connected with the ordinary condensing and
purifying apparatus arranged in a compact manner, and connected by a
system of water lutes, hydraulic, or other joints.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Richardson Wigham in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 5th May 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
RICHARDSON WIGHAM, of Capel Street, in the City of Dublin, Ireland, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventh day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fifth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said John Richardson Wigham, Her special licence that 1, the said John
Richardson Wigham, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said John Richardson Wigham, my executors, administrators, 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
"IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF GAS, PARTS OF WHICH

page_text: ARE ALSO APPLICABLE FOR CCCKING FURPOSES," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said John Richardson Wigham, my executors or adminis-
trators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands
and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said
Invention, and in what manner the same was to be 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 John Richardson Wigham, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement;―
The nature of the said Invention, as hath been heretofore intimated in and
by the Provisional Specification left, and recorded on application for the said
Letters Patent, is this, namely,-
My Invention consists in the peculiar construction or arrangement of a
vertical retort for the manufacture of gas, and specially as regards domestic
purposes, whereby the waste or surplus heat produced by such retort is made
available for domestic or cooking purposes, the retort being heated by means
of a circular or other shaped stove or furnace, so arranged that the top plate
of the same may be used for cooking. The retort consists of a metal cylinder
which passes through and is surrounded by a furnace enclosed around its sides
with fire-brick, and mounted upon a suitable frame or standards, the top part
of such furnace being covered in by a metal plate, upon which the utensils
used in cooking are placed. The cylinder is supported vertically by means of
a hollow ring or collar cast upon or around the top, part of the same, the
under side of the ring resting upon the metal plate or top part of the furnace.
The hollow part of the ring or collar is filled with a metallic solution, into
which a light lid or cover is inserted serving to close and hermetically seal the
upper mouth or opening of the cylinder; the cover is provided with a handle,
so that it can be put on or taken off without danger or inconvenience when it
is required to put in a charge. The lower mouth or opening of the cylinder
through which the charge is drawn is hermetically sealed or closed by dipping
it a sufficient depth into a receptacle containing a liquid "lute," such re-
ceptacle being held or supported in the ash-pit beneath. The retort is
connected with the ordinary condensing and purifying apparatus arranged in a
compact manner, and connected by a system of water "lutes," hydraulic, or
other joints.
Having thus far described the nature of the said Invention, I now proceed

page_text: with reference to the accompanying Drawings by the words, figures, and
letters marked thereon, and herein-after mentioned, that is to say:-
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1, elevational view, shewing these improvements as applied for use
in conjunction with the necessary condenser, purifyer, and gas holder arrange-
ments; Figure 2, vertical section of the improved furnace retort and cooking
apparatus; Figure 3, sectional plan of the same; Figure 4, top plan thereof.
In said Drawings, A denotes the gas holder; B, the purifyer; C, con-
denser; D, communication pipes; E, vertical retort for the manufacture of
gas for domestic use, heated, as shewn, by a circular stove, so arranged that
the top plate of the latter shall be available for cooking from the waste or
surplus heat from the retort. This retort consists of a metal cylinder with a
collar Ex to suspend it vertically from the top of the furnace or cooking
stove, the said collar having a circular channel or mouthpiece, which holds a
metallic solution or lute, and receives a light cover F, whereby the upper
mouth of the retort can be sealed at pleasure; the lower one, through which
the charge is drawn, is also sealed to the necessary depth in a liquid lute G
held in the ash-pit beneath, which also quenches the charge when drawn.
The retort is connected by the pipe D with the ordinary condensing and
purifying apparatus (as shewn at Figure 1) made in a compact manner, and
connected by the pipes D, having a system of water lutes, hydraulic er other
joints, which render the assistance of skilled labor unnecessary in putting the
apparatus together for use. H denotes the interior of the furnace, I the
fire-brick casing encompassing same, and K the coke box.
It will be obvious that by the foregoing arrangements the heat passes all
round the retort, and the same may be adopted for cooking purposes, and
that the charge may be easily drawn even by an ordinary domestic, the
operators not being exposed to any unpleasant heat or smoke. The manner
of putting in the charge is also simplified, as the cover can be removed by the
hand at any time without danger or inconvenience to the operator.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention and in what manner
the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim as my Invention, secured
by the aforesaid Letters Patent, is, the construction and use of vertical
retorts and furnaces for the manufacture of gas adapted for domestic or other
use, as described; also, the manner in which the charge of coal or other
gas-making material is sealed in the retort or retorts by liquid lutes, as

page_text: described, and the arrangement shewn and described, when used in com-
bination therewith; but I desire it to be understood that I do not claim.
any of the mechanical arrangements shewn and described, except as above
stated.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Richardson Wigham, have here-
unto set my hand and seal this Twenty-eighth day of April, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.
Witness,
JOSHUA WILLIAM EDMUNDSON,
Foxrock, Co. Dublin.
JOHN RICHARDSON WIGHAM. (L.S.)