AN IMPROVED METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR HEATING WATER AND OTHER LIQUIDS, APPLICABLE ALSO TO THE EVAPORATION OF LIQUIDS
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Brooks Pettit, of New Oxford Street, in the
County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED METHOD OF
AND APPARATUS FOR HEATING WATER AND OTHER LIQUIDS, APPLICABLE ALSO
TO THE EVAPORATION OF LIQUIDS."
Sealed the 12th September 1862, and dated the 15th March 1862.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Brooks Pettit at
tlie Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
15th March 1862.
I, GEORGE BROOKS PETTIT, of New Oxford Street, in the County of Mid-
dlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED
METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR HEATING WATER AND OTHER LIQUIDS, APPLICABLE
ALSO TO THE EVAPORATION OF LIQUIDS," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists in heating water for baths and other purposes, and
in evaporating liquids by means of what I term a "floating fire."
The apparatus consists of a double bowl or cup of sheet metal, with a space
between the two cups, with tubes establishing communication between the
inside of the inner cup and the water in which the apparatus floats, and with
a central pipe rising from the bottom of the inner cup above the line of
floatation. I insert a pipe connected to a gas supply by flexible tube, or
otherwise, and fitted at its lower end with a burner with radial jets into this
1: 1

page_text: central pipe, and fix it so that the jets shall not touch the outer cup. I place
a cover of mica or other transparent material on the central pipe, and light
the gas jets prior to inserting the burner. Air channels for supplying air for
supporting combustion are carried down the outer cup. In some cases I
dispense with the central tube, and form the burner on or attached to one or 5
other of the cups. According to the size and purpose to which the apparatus
is to be applied, so must the number of gas jets be varied.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said George Brooks Pettit in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 15th September 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
BROOKS PETTIT, of New Oxford Street, in the County of Middlesex, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifteenth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-fifth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said George Brooks Pettit, Her special licence that I, the said George Brooks
Pettit, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said George Brooks Pettit, 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 "AN IMPROVED METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR HEATING WATER
AND OTHER LIQUIDS, APPLICABLE ALSO TO THE EVAPORATION OF LIQUIDS," upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said George Brooks Pettit,
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 George Brooks Pettit, 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

page_text: statement thereof, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed,
that is to say:-
My Invention consists in heating water for baths and other purposes, and
in evaporating liquids by means of what I term a "floating fire."
The apparatus consists of a double bowl or cup of sheet metal, with a space
between the two cups, with tubes establishing communication between the
inside of the inner cup and the water in which the apparatus floats, and with
a central pipe rising from the bottom of the inner cup above the line of
floatation. I insert a pipe connected to a gas supply by flexible tube or
otherwise, and fitted at its lower end with a burner with radial jets into this
central pipe, and fix it so that the jets shall not touch the outer cup. I place
a cover of mica or other transparent material on the central pipe, and light
the gas jets prior to inserting the burner. Air channels for supplying air for
supporting combustion are carried down the outer cup. In some cases I
dispense with the central tube, and form the burner on or attached to one or
other of the cups. According to the size and purpose to which the apparatus
is to be applied, so must the number of gas jets be varied.
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawings is a longitudinal section of an
apparatus made according to my Invention; Figure 2 is a plan of the same
with the cover removed. The apparatus is shown circular, but it may be of
any other desired form.
a is the inner, and 6 is the outer bowl; c, c, are tubes or passages
establishing communication between the inside of the inner bowl and the
water outside the apparatus; d is the space between the inner and outer
bowls, in which the flame and air heated by the gas circulate; e is the central
pipe, in which there is a gas tube f steadied by a ring 9, and carrying a ring
burner or jets h; i is a cock outside the tube for turning the gas on and off.
Gas is supplied to the tube through a flexible tube not shewn; k is a cover
made of mica or other suitable material placed over the mouth of the pipe e;
1, 1, are passages leading down to below the gas jets, by which air is supplied
to support combustion; m is à circular wooden frame surrounding the
apparatus, for aiding in supporting it on the surface of the water, but this
frame is not necessary; n is a cover for the inner bowl.
To use the apparatus, place it in the bath or other water to be heated, or
material to be evaporated, on the surface of which it floats, water enters the
inner bowl through the tubes c, c, until it finds its own level, light the gas and
insert the tube f in the pipe e; the lighted gas heats the water, and when the
required temperature has been attained the gas is put out. The bottom of

page_text: the central pipe forms a foot, on which the apparatus stands when not
in use.
As a modification of the foregoing arrangement, the bowls and water
passages may be dispensed with, and a series of vertical tubes may be con-
nected to the central pipe; air passages and a circular frame are fitted as
before. The tubes or passages are smaller at their lower than at their upper
end, and are adapted to the shape or contour of the apparatus to which they
are applied.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim the method of
and apparatus for heating water and other liquids, and for evaporating liquids,
herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Brooks Pettit, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twelfth day of September, One thousand
eight hundred and sixty-two.
GEORGE BROOKS PETTIT. (L.S.)
GEORGE BROOKS PETTIT. (L.S.)