IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR GENERATING INFLAMMABLE GAS BY THE CARBURIZATION OF ATMOSPHERIC AIR
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edward Primerose Howard Vaughan, F.C.S., of
54, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agent,
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR GENERATING
INFLAMMABLE GAS BY THE CARBURIZATION OF ATMOSPHERIC AIR."-A com-
munication from abroad by Eugène Albert Dubois, residing at
Paris, in the Republic of France.
Sealed the 22nd May 1874, and dated the 19th January 1874.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edward Primerose
Howard Vaughan at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,
with his Petition, on the 19th January 1874.
I, EDWARD PRIMEROSE HOWARD VAUGHAN, F.C.S., of 54, Chancery
Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR
GENERATING INFLAMMABLE GAS BY THE CARBURIZATION OF ATMOSPHERIC AIR,"
being a communication to me from abroad by Eugène Albert Dubois,
residing at Paris, in the Republic of France, to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to improvements in the construction of those
types of carburetting apparatus in which atmospheric air is forced

page_text: On the axle of the wheel j is fixed a pinion m which forms part of
the spring mechanism in the compartment y.
The spring barrels are wound up by keys adapting to the squares n, n,
n, n, on which are set ratchet wheels o, o, o, o.
A glass plate or tube inserted in one end of the cylinder a indicates
the level of the hydrocarbon which should as a rule be maintained at
about the height of the central shaft.
In the volute carburetter of 1872 the gas produced in the generating
chamber is supersaturated by its passage through a hair cylinder set on
the prolongation of the tubular shaft.
.
It is found in practice that the advantage resulting from the super-
saturation thus obtained is more than counterbalanced by the extra
expenditure of motive power, to avoid which I replace in the improved
apparatus the hair cylinder by a simple tray of woollen or other capillary
fabric stretched across the compartment above the level of the cup d
so as to be moistened by the overflow of the latter.
p is a regulating gasometer provided with a rod p¹ which follows the
inner cylinder p" in its upward movement. On reaching its highest
point this rod presses by means of the friction disc t at the end of the
swinging lever q on a similar disc & adjusted to the spindle of a small 2
fly wheels rotated by the clockwork. The pressure thus exerted
becomes stronger and stronger with the upward progression of the
gasometer cylinder, and by moderating or checking the action of the
spring motor maintains the expenditure of driving power, and con-
scquently the production of the gas in equilibrium with the consumption a
of the latter.
w is the orifice by which atmospheric air is admitted to the chamber x,
and w¹ is a regulating valve by which this orifice is more or less closed,
according to the position of the swinging lever q. As in ordinary
apparatus of this type the air admitted at the top of the cylinder is a
carried by the mixer through the liquid hydrocarbon, and thus
carburetted is forced through the tubular shaft into the secondary com-
partment from whence it passes to the gasometer and burners.
It is scarcely necessary to remark that the spring motor above
described is only intended for carburatters of comparatively small a

page_text: dimensions (feeding from twenty to thirty burners for instance,) and
that for apparatus of large size it should be replaced by weights, water
engines, or other convenient driving power.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Edward Primerose Howard Vaughan in the Great
Seal Patent Office on the 4th June 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDWARD
PRIMEROSE HOWARD VAUGHAN, F.C.S., of 54, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth day of January, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in the thirty-
seventh year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Edward Primerose Howard Vaughan,
Her special licence that I, the said Edward Primerose Howard Vaughan,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Edward Primerose Howard Vaughan, 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 GENERATING
INFLAMMABLE GAS BY THE CARBURIZATION OF ATMOSPHERIC AIR," a com-
munication to me from abroad by Eugène Albert Dubois, residing at
Paris, in the Republic of France, upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Edward Primerose Howard Vaughan, my executors or
administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one
of their hands and scals, 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 Edward Primerose Howard Vaughan,
do hereby declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner

page_text: the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement, reference being had to the
accompanying Drawings, and to the figures and letters marked thereon,
that is to say: :―
This Invention relates to improvements in the construction of those
types of carburetting apparatus in which atmospheric air is forced
through a liquid hydrocarbon, by means of volutes, turbines, or other
analogous mixers fixed on a revolving shaft, and being thus converted
into inflammable gas passes into a separate compartment from whence it
is distributed to the burners.
Among the carburetters of this description recently invented, one of
the least defective in certain respects is that for which Letters Patent
were granted to me under date of 28th October 1872, No. 3192, and in
which the air taken up by a volute or helicoidal shell mounted on a
tubular shaft is carburetted by its passage through the hydrocarbon
known as "gasoline." The gaseous saturation obtained by this apparatus
is generally sufficient, but the resistance opposed to the rotation of the
shaft and other moving parts as at present arranged necessitates an
excess of driving power, of which it is often difficult to maintain the
expenditure in equilibrium with the consumption of the gas produced.
This at normal resistance is mainly due to the friction of the triple
bearings of the central shaft, which friction cannot well be reduced with-
out giving rise to escapes of gas or liquid. From this arises the necessity
of employing a heavy driving weight, which adjusted at the outset for a
given amount of work is liable to be stopped by clogging of the gear or 2
other accident. Independent of this the weight requires to be suspended
at a considerable height, which if reduced necessitates frequent rewinding
during a few hours' work.

page_text: the compartment while doing away with the packings, which in the
original apparatus increase considerably the difficulty of rotation. At the
same time the axle of the wheel j being independent and situated above
the level of the liquid, the chamber x is rendered moro thoroughly
staunch in all its parts.
On the axle of the wheel j is fixed a pinion m, which forms part of
the spring mechanism in the compartment y.
The spring barrels are wound up by keys adapting to the squares n, n,
n, n, on which are set ratchet wheels o, o, o, o.
A glass plate or tube inserted in one end of the cylinder a indicates
the level of the hydrocarbon, which should, as a rule, be maintained at
about the height of the central shaft.
In the volute carburetter of 1872 the gas produced in the generating
chamber is supersaturated by its passing through a hair cylinder set on
the prolongation of the tubular shaft.
It is found in practice that the advantage resulting from the super-
saturation thus obtained is more than counterbalanced by the extra
expenditure of motive power, to avoid which I replace in the improved
apparatus the hair cylinder by a simple tray of woollen or other capillary
fabric stretched across the compartment z above the level of the cup d³,
so as to be moistened by the overflow of the latter.
p is a regulating gasometer provided with a rod p¹, which follows tho
inner cylinder 2" in its upward movement. On reaching its highest
point this rod presses by means of the friction disc t at the end of the
swinging lever q on a similar disc & adjusted to the spindle of a small
fly wheels rotated by the clockwork. The pressure thus oxerted
becomes stronger and stronger with the upward progression of the
gasometer cylinder, and by moderating or checking the action of the
spring motor maintains the expenditure of driving power, and con-
sequently the production of the gas in equilibrium with the consumption
of the latter.
wo is the orifice by which atmospheric air is admitted to the
chamber; and w' is a regulating valve by which this orifice is more
or less closed, according to the position of the swinging lever q. As in
ordinary apparatus of this type the air admitted at the top of the
cylinder is carried by the mixer through the liquid hydrocarbon, and

page_text: thus carburetted is forced through the tubular shaft into the secondary
compartment, from whence it passes to the gasometer and burners.
It is scarcely necessary to remark that the spring motor above
described is only intended for carburetters of comparatively small
dimensions (feeding from twenty to thirty burners for instance), and that
for apparatus of large size it should be replaced by weights, water
engines, or other convenient driving power.
Having thus described the nature of the said Invention, and the
manner of carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that
I lay no claim to any particular mechanism for forcing air through the
hydrocarbon, and that in the preceding Specification I have only
adopted the known volute mixer to illustrate the manner in which the
present improvements may be applied to all carburetters of the type to
which it belongs; but what I claim and desire to secure by Letters
Patent is,―
Firstly. The reduction of the tubular shaft, on which is mounted the
volute or other analogous mixer of such carburetters to the length of
the generating chamber x, and the mounting thereof on bearings
constructed and arranged substantially as and for the purpose herein
set forth and shewn in d, e, h, i, Figure 1 of the accompanying
Drawings.
Secondly. The immersion of the free end of the said tubular shaft in
the hydrocarbon, carried over in the rotation thereof so as to form a liquid
packing, substantially as herein set forth and shewn in ', Figure 1, of
the Drawings.
Thirdly. The substitution to the hair cylinder of the ordinary volute
carburetter of a tray formed of woollen or other capillary fabric, so
arranged as to be constantly moistened by the overflow of the reservoir a³,
substantially as and for the purpose herein set forth and shewn in
Fig. 1 of the Drawings.
Fourthly. The application to small sized carburetters provided with
rotatory mixers of a spring motor constructed and arranged substantially
as herein set forth and shown in i, j, k, l, m, Figure 1, of the annexed
Drawings.
Fifthly.. The application to the gasometers of such carburetters of a
regulating apparatus constructed and arranged in manner and for the

page_text: purpose substantially as herein set forth and shewn in p¹, p¹, q, r, s, t,
t¹, w, w¹, Figure 1, of the accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edward Primerose Howard Vaughan,
have hereto set my hand and seal, this Fourth day of June,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and 5
seventy-four.
E. P. H. VAUGHAN. (L.s.)