IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PRODUCTION AND PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Cronin Jeffcott, of Anglesea Street, Cork,
Ireland, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PRODUCTION AND
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Cronin Jeffcott
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 14th February 1863.
I, JOHN CRONIN JEFFCOTT, of Anglesea Street, Cork, Ireland, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PRODUCTION
AND GENERATION OF GASES, AND ALSO IN APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH," to be
as follows:-
-
The object sought to be obtained in the production and generation of gases
by my Invention consists chiefly of utilizing the heat not used or which escapes
without being used in steam or other furnaces and fire-places of every
description.
The means to do this consists of introducing into or placing within the
furnaces or fire-places vessels of various forms, according to the construction
of said furnaces or fire-places, so as that the said heat may be used; these
vessels, retorts, or chambers must be formed and placed and correspond with
the form of the furnaces or fire-places now in use, or to be used for this or
other purposes. The form to be generally used will consist of a retort or retorts

page_text: to be placed lengthways or at the sides, or as may best suit the fire-bars of
the different fire-places; these retorts or other vessels will have mouth-pieces
or other close covers, so as to be air-tight, and through these mouth-pieces or
covers are to be introduced the animal, vegetable, or mineral substances from
which the different gases are to be obtained by their cohesiveness being
destroyed by the heat before referred to and not hitherto used for this purpose.
The gases after being set free in the retorts, chambers, or other such vessels
are then conducted by pipes in the way usually done, and applied to and for
the different purposes for which they are now used.
I likewise claim to be the Inventor of a new description of furnace for these
purposes to be entirely composed of wrought or cast metal, and this consists,
of, first, a fire-place, with fire-bars on which the combustibles or heating
substances is to be placed, the chamber, retorts, or vessels for holding the
different materials rich in the different gases; these chambers, retorts, or other
vessels to have the mouth-pieces for introducing the substances to be used, and
then another casing to be placed over the entire, so that the heat may be
prevented from escaping when the gases are disengaged to be conducted by
pipes in the usual manner.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Cronin Jeffcott in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 14th August 1863.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
CRONIN JEFFCOTT, of No. 1, Anglesça Street, in the City of Cork, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourteenth day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-sixth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said John Cronin Jeffcott, Her special licence that I, the said John
Cronin Jeffcott, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said John Cronin Jeffcott, 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 THE PRODUCTION AND GENERATION OF GASES, AND IN APPARATUS

page_text: CONNECTED THEREWITH," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
John Cronin Jeffcott, my executors or administrators, 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 Cronin Jeffcott, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement (that is to say):-
The object sought to be obtained in the production of gasse for lighting and
heating purposes consists chiefly of utilizing the heat now not used in steam
or other furnaces and open or closed fire-places of every description.
The means to do this consists of introducing into the furnaces or fire-places
vessels of various forms, composed of cast iron, clay, or other metallic
substances, and placed according to the construction of the said furnaces or
fire-places, and made to correspond with the furnaces or fire-places now in use,
or to be used hereafter for these or other purposes, so as that the said heat
may be used. The vessels to be generally used will consist of a retort or
retorts to be placed lengthways or otherwise over or at the sides, or as may
best suit the fire-bars of the different fire-places, and in these retorts will be
placed the various substances, animal, vegetable, or mineral, from which the
different gases are to be obtained by distillation for lighting and heating
purposes, and by the heat before referred to and not now using for these
purposes. The gases after being set free are conducted by pipes to the
condenser, which consists of two cylinders, one placed in the other, the outer
one holding water; the gas on entering goes to the inner cylinder, which it fills,
and is then driven by the hydraulic power to the gasholder in its tank filled
with water, saturated with lime, and holding the salts of soda in solution,
through which it passes, and by this means is perfectly purified and ready to
be used.
I likewise claim to be the Inventor of a new system of lighting and heating
railway carriages, and the different railway stations along the different lines;
and I effect this by an apparatus first composed of a cast-iron or clay retort
placed in the furnace of the locomotive, and the gas obtained from coals and
distilled in the retort by the heat of the fire then being used for generating
steam is conveyed by pipes or tubes composed of metallic substances, or of
india-rubber, gutta percha, or other flexible materials, to the tank and

page_text: gasholder containing the purifying water, as aforesaid, attached, annexed, or
placed near the engine; it is then conveyed by tubes or piping to the
carriages, and by the action of the gas when ignited on metallic plates, or the
agency of a gas stove, the compartments of the carriages are heated and
lighted. On the arrival of the engines at the stations along the line, the gas
already distilled and placed in the gasholder attached to the engine, as afore-
said, is conveyed by pipes to a gasholder erected at the station, when it is
ready for use.
I likewise claim to be the Inventor of a new description of furnace for these
purposes, to be constructed of wrought or cast iron, and this consists of, first,
an inner casing, with the fire-bars and retort for distilling the coals, and
outside another casing to be placed over the entire, so that the heat may be
prevented from escaping, and the gases be more freely disengaged.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Cronin Jeffcott, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Tenth day of August, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three.
JOHN CRONIN JEFFCOTT. (L.S.)