An Improved Apparatus for Generating Acetylene Gas either for Table or other Lamps or for Larger Installations.
Year: 1898

page_text: TROY
An Improved Apparatus for Generating Acetylene Gas either for
Table or other Lamps or for Larger Installations.
EBENEZER BARNARD, Stour Cottage, Christchurch, Hants,
hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
no occupation, do
In this apparatus the gas is produced, by distributing automatically the carbide
of calcium in portions or small quantities at a time to the water thus keeping the
main portion of the charge of carbide in the generator dry, & quite out of contact
with the water until it is automatically in portions as required, distributed from
time to time, to the carbide basket container or receiver & then allowed to dip
into & to be withdrawn again from the water, or it may be distributed directly into
the water.
This is accomplished by means of a mechanical device such as an inclined plane,
a cone or part of one an endless screw or cylinder under a hopper, revolving or
rotating receptacle, actuated by weights & chains, clockwork, the rising & falling
of a float on the top of the water, or by the rising & falling of the gas container,
in combination, with any or all of the foregoing or other devices. One simple
way of bringing this result about would be, in connection with an up & down gas-
ometer (consisting of an inverted cylinder rising & falling over another cylinder,
with its open end uppermost, & the rising & falling one working in a seal of water
contained in an outer & larger one) in the top portion of it, (or it may be quite
outside in any convenient position or supported above it) to have a carbide chamber
consisting of a round, square, or any convenient shaped receptacle; about half
way up in this chamber going across it, may be a balanced see-saw lateral shutter,
or a box, or trough, possibly in the shape of a circle, quadrant or segment of a
circle possibly divided into portions or divisions to contain the carbide; at the
lower part of this said chamber, another lateral see-saw door, shutter, or division,
on the under side of one half of which, is fixed a rod or post, or a chain, long
enough to reach the bottom, or any obstruction purposely arranged below, so that
as the gas chamber descends, this rod, coming in contact, with the bottom of the
cylinder or obstruction arranged, makes one half of the door to rise & causes the
other half to correspondingly descend, and as this door, or shutter, is connected
by rod, or rods, chains or anything suitable, with the see-saw arrangement above
it, the two will act in unison & thus the carbide will fall or be distributed from
the upper chamber, on to a shelf. inclined, plane, or receptacle, or on to the lower
shutter & from thence into the carbide basket or receiver below, or directly into the
water. This might also be arranged by making the post a fixture, at the bottom

page_text: or anywhere below the shutter or the shutter may be opened, by any other fixed
projection either to itself or any where from whence it could be actuated.
Combined with this I might also have a cylindrical or other shaped shoot for
the carbide to pass through on its way down to the carbide basket below, & this
shoot should have a gas tight door, with a kind of spur at the back of it, this door
would open or be opened to allow the carbide to pass into the basket, gas would
be generated causing the gas container to rise, lifting the carbide basket out of
the water, & also allowing room for the descent of the rod which might be weighted
if necessary, in its descent, the rod also, having a spur attached to it would come
in contact with the spur at the back of the door of the carbide shoot, & shut it up,
thus keeping steam & moisture away from the stock of carbide in chamber above.
In order to recharge the generator while the lights may be burning, by a lever,
or mechanical contrivance I fix the rod, preferably gas tight in its position, & when
it has closed the door as described above, by a hole or slot cut through it, into which
I insert a plug from the outside or by a plug screw or crank fixing it from the top
or any other such contrivance. Another way of distributing the carbide to the
carbide basket, or to the water direct, would be by means of a rod or piston, actuated
in the aforesaid way, driving out or toppling over the carbide from the charge
above.
These modes of distributing the carbide to the carbide basket or receiver form-
ing a combination which could be applied to a generator quite outside the rising
& falling gasometer, using the up & down action of the water to operate the device.
I lead the gas away in the usual way.
This distribution of the carbide to the carbide basket or receiver, or to the water
direct, & the combination of this distribution with the carbide receiver, and also
this combination with the shoot door closing arrangement I claim as a double or
triple control of the carbide & consequently of the amount of gas produced, first
by the automatic distribution of the carbide in such quantities as may be necessary,
or as there is consumption of the gas produced, secondly by allowing it to fall into
a basket, or receiver, or container, which with the gasometer would rise & fall out
of, & again into, the water, & thirdly by the action of the falling of the rod, with
the spur attached, would close the door of the shoot of the carbide chamber &
thus these combinations enable an improved & safe position always to be main-
tained. The gas may be passed through purifiers & driers as desirable.
Dated this Sixth day of January 1898.
An Improved Apparatus for Generating Acetylene Gas either for
Table or other Lamps or for Larger Installations.
.
EBENEZER BARNARD, Stour Cottage, Christchurch, Hants, no occupation, do 40
hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:—
In this apparatus the gas is produced by automatically distributing the carbide
of calcium to the water in portions or small quantities at a time thus keeping the 45
main portion of the charges of carbide in the generator, dry & quite out of contact
with the water, until it is automatically in portions as required, distributed from

page_text: time to time to the carbide basket or receiver & then allowed to dip into & be
withdrawn again by the rising of the bell, from the water or it may be distributed
directly into the water.
It will be obvious that this is an absolutely safe way of dealing with calcium
carbide & acetylene gas, the distribution of the carbide to the water depending
entirely on the room for gas in the holder & this also depending on the amount
required for consumption & being used from the gas holder, this for small self con-
tained table & other lamps & small generators, generally is of immense value while
for large installations it is equally available, & is carried out in the manner
described & also shewn in the drawings herewith.
In Fig. 1 is shewn the exterior in the top compartment A the carbide box or
supply chamber is contained, this compartment is fixed on the rising & falling
bell or gasometer, sealed by water in the outer cylinder and as the bell rises & falls
a portion of carbide is automatically discharged & gas is generated more fully
shewn & described by reference to Fig. 2 where inside the outer cylinder B is a
cylinder C open end uppermost & outside this latter cylinder, the rising & falling
bell D operates. Fixed on the top of this bell is chamber A containing the carbide
receptacle or supply box D1 this chamber has but one communication to the gas-
ometer or bell D which is, by means of the shoot E; attached or suspended from
the shoot E or it may be from anywhere underneath chamber A is a basket or car-
bide receiver K just above the water in cylinder C. which water is supplied by a
ball cock F from the outside water seal in cylinder B, as the bell D sinks, a piston
or post G fixed to a false bottom H (an inclined plane by preference) of the carbide
receptacle D 1, also sinks with it, which piston or post coming in contact with an
obstruction J, or the bottom of the cylinder itself, pushes the carbide out of the
supply box D1, & topples it over the edge, & it passes down the shoot E & finally
into the carbide bucket K, being thus caught in the bucket, the pressure on the gas
is approximately the same as at starting when all the carbide was in the recep-
tacle D1, above; the weight of the whole. being borne by the rising & falling
hell D, when the bucket has reached the water, gas is generated & the
bell rises, (the exit of the gas being through a tube as shewn in Fig. 6 at Z) in this
situation the piston sinks with its false bottom (inclined plane) to the bottom of
the carbide receptacle; combined with this piston device is a tripping action which
cuts off communication between the upper chamber & the rising bell, for a spur L
is fixed or screwed on to the post or piston G which coming in contact in its descent
(by its own gravity on the rising of the bell) with a corresponding spur M on the
door N of the shoot E closes the unner chamber gas tight, while again on the descent
of the bell, the piston end touches the bottom or the obstruction J, spur I is thus
lifted off spur M, the door opens of its own weight & carbide is again allowed to
pass through, in Fig. 2 it has just commenced to open, in Fig. 3 it is shewn shut,
while on the rising of the bell & the shoot door being closed as described above,
the action of the generator may be stopped, & if not wanted, may be put away, &
be found again practically intact & in the same condition as when left, by means
of an arrangement described more fully in Fig. 3. In the post G are several holes.
& outside the rising gas bell is a nut 0, which fixed to a circular piece (enlarged
sketch Fig. 4) with a hole in it at P, acts on a pin attached to a bolt Q, which by
these means is thrust through the hole in the post at R, this stops effectually the
turning out of the carbide & also bolts the door of the shoot at S this bolt of course,
must be withdrawn to set the apparatus again in motion. After charging this
apparatus in the first instance & letting out the air in the bell by means of the
cock T the bell would sink so rapidly that possibly three parts of the carbide would
he discharged at once, to prevent this, I fix a spur U on the outside of the bell
which would only allow a certain portion to be discharged & the spur would rest
on a projecting piece V, there it would remain till sufficient time had been given
to generate gas enough to carry up the bell, which on its ascent would bring into
action a spur W below, which would trip over & put out of further action the pro-
jecting piece V.

page_text: Fig. 5 shews a reversed position of the arrangement very suitable for table &
other lamps, having a very sensitive way of discharging the carbide, the post in
this instance being a fixture with a conical head X to it, attached to the sides of
the rising bell D is a cylinder Y open at both ends moving freely up & down the
cone shaped head of post, on the sinking of the bell carrying this
cylinder with it the carbide falls over the edge into the carbide basket
or receiver below, and action goes on as described previously. Fig. 6
is on the same principle as described by Fig. 5 excepting that it is connected
with an independent rising bell or gasometer D having an arm A 1 fixed to it
which carries up & down a rod A2 passing through a gas tight hole in the lid of
generator at A3, & operating the cylinder as described in Fig. 5. The rod A 2 is
used as a scale or indicator by means of the index or pointer A 4 which every time
the rod descends is pushed up & thus shows how far the discharge of carbide has
gone on & consequently when a new charge of carbide is required, which may be
done while a supply of gas is contained in the bell, by shutting off cocks at A 5
& A 6 detaching the arm A1 unscrew the top of generating box A 7, draw up the
rod A 2 & fill up cylinder with carbide, if this should have been left till gas is
exhausted & bell down, after screwing up generator & opening cocks, a gentle push
downwards of the rod would turn out some carbide, generate gas, carry up bell
into position when attachment to arm can again be made, this of course can be
avoided by charging generator when bell is up for the last time, indicated by the
position of the index A 4.
Fig. 7 shows a form of carbide receptacle which may be used instead of the
cylinder as in Fig. 5 and shewn at Y; composed of horizontal bands, each band,
being large enough to slide down over the one next succeeding it; attached to the
sides of the bell D) by screws or otherwise, at the top band, in the same position as
cylinder Y Fig. 5, as the bell descends, it causes the first band to slide down teles-
copically, over the next one, & so on till the receptacle shewn in Fig. 7 takes the
shape of a short shut up telescope or like one of those pocket drinking cups & thus,
discharging the carbide.
Having now particularly described & ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion & in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is-
(1) An apparatus for producing acetylene gas containing water, a
rising & fall-
ing gas holder, a carbide reservoir provided with a feeding device actuated by the
downward movement of the gas holder, & so arranged as to discharge a given
quantity of carbide at each such movement, a perforated bucket adapted to receive
such charge of carbide suspended from a moving part of the gas holder in such a
manner that in the raised position thereof the bucket will be clear of the water,
the parts being so timed that as the bell or moving part of the gas holder descends,
a charge of carbide will be delivered to the bucket before it reaches the water sub-
stantially as herein shewn & described & for the purpose stated.
(2) Combined with the above, the post or piston toppling over the carbide out of
the receiver & into a perforated bucket, in such manner that in the raised position
the bucket will be clear of the water & then dip into the water as described.
(3) In combination with all these the rising & falling piston shuts the door of the
carbide shoot & has a device so that by means of a bolt from the outside, the whole
device both door & distributing arrangement may be rigidly fixed, operation ceased
& carbide chamber shut off completely from gas chamber.
(4) In an apparatus as described a cylindrical or other shaped vessel used as a
carbide receptacle telescopic, or in one piece, sliding down away from the carbide,
allowing it to discharge into a carbide bucket or receptacle or receiver or into the
water direct, also in such a combination a locking & tripping arrangement to pre-
vent all or a considerable part of the carbide being discharged at once.
(5) An apparatus as described, in which the carbide & its receptacle, constitute
a certain amount of pressure, on the gas holder, & consequently on the gas itself,

page_text: but the carbide being gradually precipitated or turned out from above, the pressure
would gradually be diminished, but a perforated bucket being provided which is
suspended from the rising & falling bell or from the shoot, which is for this purpose
practically the same thing, this bucket catches the carbide & thus an approximately
constant pressure is maintained throughout substantially as herein shewn &
described for the purpose stated.
Dated thin th
1000