IMPROVEMENTS IN GAS STOVES
Year: 1877

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Walter Marsh Jackson, of the City and County of
Providence, State of Rhode Island, United States of America, for the Inven-
tion of "IMPROVEMENTS IN GAS STOVES."
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said Walter Marsh Jackson at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 21st February 1877.
WALTER MARSH JACKSON, of the City and County of Providence, State of Rhode
Island, United States of America. "IMPROVEMENTS IN GAS STOVES."
Figure 1 is an elevation of my improved gas stove, and Figure 2 a vertical central
section of the same.
My Invention consists in the new method for burning hydrocarbon gas or the
ordinary gas supplied in cities by first heating the gas and then mixing the heated
gas with air, thus supplying the proper quantity of oxygen required for the perfect
combustion of the gas throughout the whole mass, and not, as is usually. the case, in
streams or layers without the required atomic mixture.
The Invention further consists in the peculiar construction of a stove or burner
in which a closed retort or heating chamber is provided, which being surrounded
by the burning flame and connected with the gas inlet and also with the outlet,
heats and expands the gas before the air is mixed with the same.
In the Drawings A represents an upright tubular body supported on its lower
end on legs a, a, and provided at its upper end with a skeleton plate b arranged
to sustain the vessel or other object to be heated. The lower end of the
body A is closed by a plug c, and the said plug within the body is arranged to
receive the concentric vertical tubes d and e. The inner tube d communicates with
the gas inlet f at its lower end, and at its upper end opens into a closed retort or
[Price 6d1

page_text: g
chamber screwed fast to the upper end of the tube c above the upper end of this
tube A, as shown. The lower end of the tube e is enlarged as shown, and provided
with a series of outlet openings h, h, to direct the gas into the foot of the body A,
which latter is provided with a series of openings i, i, to admit atmospheric air.
Between the upper end of the body A and the under side of the retort g a perforated
metal or gauze cylinder k is secured as shown in both Figures.
The operation of this improved gas burner is as follows:-The gas entering at f
ascends within the central tube d into the retort g. This retort being surrounded
by the flame is maintained at a sufficiently high temperature to heat the gas so that its
volume will expand to about three times the original volume, and in this heated and
expanded condition it passes down through the annular space between the pipes or
tubes d and e, and escapes through the openings h, h, into the annular space between
the cylinder A and the tube e. This heated and expanded gas is now in divided
streams made to enter the current of air in the annular space, and being expanded
and heated readily mixes with a much larger quantity of air than would be possible
with cold gas.
As by the mixture with the air the gas will be reduced in
temperature, the mechanical union will be more nearly uniform, so that each atom
of gas will have more nearly its required quantity of air than when both are mixed
at a uniform temperature and much more nearly than when mixed with cold gas
and warm air. As the gas is thus highly heated before it is mixed with the air,
its capacity to absorb moisture from the atmospheric air is increased, and the product
resulting from the mixture is both richer in hydrogen and oxygen than when mixed
cold, and a more intense heat is produced with a smaller quantity of gas. The
upper portion of the cylinder A, and also the tube e, are, when in use, heated to a high
temperature; the gas and air mixed therefore reach the perforated metal or gauze
ring at a high temperature and burn freely on the outside of the flame orifices.
The combustion of the gas is so perfect in this burner that no unconsumed gas can
be detected by the usual tests; it may therefore be arranged and used for heating
rooms and for other purposes for which the ordinary burner cannot be used on
account of the unwholesome effect produced by the unconsumed gas.
For all purposes where intense heat is to be produced, this method of burning gas
can be readily adapted, as the retort may be of any desired shape, provided it is
arranged so as to be heated by the burning gas, and the gas compelled to pass through
the retort before the same is mixed with the atmospheric air.
Having thus described my Invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by
Letters Patent-
First. The gas stove provided with the closed retort g arranged to heat the gas
and expand its volume before the same is mixed with the air, as and for the purpose
described.
Second. The combination in a gas burner with the retort g of an inlet and outlet
aperture below its top, a gas and air mixing chamber and flame orifices arranged
so that the flame will heat the retort, substantially as and for the purpose
specified.
Third. The method herein described wherein the gas is heated in a retort which
is heated by the flame, and the heated and expanded gas is mixed with atmospheric
air after it leaves the retort and before it reaches the flame orifices, as and for the
purpose set forth.
Fourth. In a gas stove the combination with a closed retort surrounded with
flame orifices of the inlet pipe d and outlet pipe e and cylinder A provided with
openings at or near its bottom, the whole arranged so that the gas will be delivered
to the retort, and from the same will pass down the pipe e and again ascend, whilst
mixing with the air, to the flame orifices, as and for the purpose described.
Fifth. The gas stove, consisting of the body A, the concentric tubes d and e, the
latter provided with the openings h, h, the retort g, and the gauze k, combined and
arranged as shown.
Sixth. In combination with the retort g supported on the gauze k, seated on the

page_text: body A, the tube e, arranged as shown, serving both to conduct the gas to the retort
and to secure the retort in place as shown.
In witness whereof, I, the said Walter Marsh Jackson, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this 6th day of February, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and seventy-seven.
In presence of,
JOSEPH A. MILLER.
WALTER MARSH JACKSON. (L.S.)