IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF GAS FOR LIGHTING AND HEATING, AND IN APPA- RATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Clinton Edgcumbe Brooman, of the Firm of
Robertson, Brooman, and Company, of 166, Fleet Street, in the
City of London, Patent Agents, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE MANUFACTURE OF GAS FOR LIGHTING AND HEATING, AND IN APPA-
RATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN."-A communication from abroad by Jules
François Lafrogne, of 23, Boulevard de Strasbourg, Paris, France.
Sealed the 14th May 1869, and dated the 21st November 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Clinton Edgcumbe
Brooman at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 21st November 1868.
I, CLINTON EDGCUMBE BROOMAN, of the Firm of Robertson,
Brooman, and Company, of 166, Fleet Street, in the City of London,
Patent Agents, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF GAS FOR LIGHTING AND HEATING,
AND IN APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to the production of gas for lighting and

page_text: heating purposes by the carburation of atmospheric air. The character-
istic features of the Invention are the following:-
1st. The apparatus is combined with a motor which obtains its power
from a portion of the gas produced, and which directly feeds the car-
burator or hydrocarbon reservoir with the atmospheric air necessary for
the generation of the gaseous vapor.
2ndly. The motor allows of establishing a circulation of water in
a jacket or casing around the carburator for the purpose of absorbing
the cold resulting from the evaporation of the essence or hydrocarbon,
the cooled water is sent into the motor, in which it is reheated by serving
for the condensation, and it returns into the jacket, restoring the lost
heat to the essence, so that the essence being constantly reheated by
the water in proportion as it is cooled, there is no interruption or
diminution in the production of the gas.
3rdly. The air is drawn by bellows worked by the motor, then sent
into regulating bellows in which it accumulates under a constant
pressure.
4thly. The air becomes saturated with carburetted
vapors in
traversing a layer of flannel, which is soaked with the essence by
capillary attraction, and which besides is always damped therewith by
means of a pneumatic injector worked by the motor. The saturated air
rises through a series of alternate layers of flannel and iron filings,
which deprive it of the excess vapors and non-volatilized globules; it
afterwards issues in a suitable degree of saturation by a pipe from
which it is distributed for consumption.
Having stated the characteristic features of the Invention, I proceed
to describe the manner in which it is carried into effect.
The carburator properly so-called is formed of a cylinder divided by a
transverse partition into two compartments, communicating with each
other by a tube. The upper compartment serves as a reservoir for the
essence or volatile oil, which is supplied by a pipe at the side; this pipe
is partly of glass and serves as a gauge. The liquid flows from the
reservoir through the communicating tube into the lower compartment,
and the flow stops when the level of the liquid reaches the lower end
of the tube. A constant level of the liquid in the lower compartment
is thus maintained. On the bottom of this compartment and on the
edges only a cap of metal cloth rests which supports a layer of flannel,

page_text: the top of which is exactly over the mouth of a pipe leading through
the bottom of the compartment and supplying the air to be saturated
from. the regulating bellows. The side of the lower compartment is
formed with two holes, one by which the liquid enters an injector, while
the other gives passage to the nozzle of the injector, which nozzle
extends over the flannel. The carburator is surrounded by a jacket or
eylinder which contains water intended to reheat the essence. In the
centre of the upper compartment is a vertical tube filled with layers
of flannel and filings for purifying the saturated gas. From this tube
the gas enters the pipe, which leads it away for distribution or con-
sumption.
The motor employed is preferably one worked by hot air and cold
air, and constructed as follows:-It is composed of a cylinder provided
with a piston, and of a cold-air chamber enclosing a hollow piston or
movable pan, and surrounded with a cold-water receiver. The move-
ments of the two pistons are effected so that when the dilated' air lias
raised the first-named piston the other piston rises suddenly to draw
hot air into the cold part of the chamber, which aids the descent of the
first piston. The lower part of the chamber forms a combustion
chamber, which is provided with a chimney, and which is heated by a
burner supplied by a branch from the outlet pipe of the carburator..
The piston rod of the motor is connected by a crank to a shaft, which
by a cam and rod works the hollow piston. The shaft carries a fly
wheel, to which is jointed the rod of a pump which draws cold water.
from the carburator jacket, and sends it into the receiver of the cold.
chamber. The water serves therein for cooling the air from the motor,.
and it returns to the jacket by a pipe. The rod which works the hollow
piston actuates the bellows either directly or through a lever. The
bellows becomes charged with air from the atmosphere, and drives it
through a pipe to the regulating bellows. The latter is charged with a.
determined weight and provided with a spring valve regulated according:
to the desired pressure. The pipe from the injector fits at its upper
end into a caoutchouc vessel, which is compressed at regular intervals.
by an arm fitted to the rod which works the hollow piston. Thus the
essence at the bottom of the injector is at each movement of this rod
driven out by the column of compressed air in the nozzle which ejects.
the essence in a divided state over the flannel in the lower compartment..
This flannel may be replaced by any other suitable spongy or porous
material, and especially by an artificial stone composed of potter's carth,

page_text: cow dung, and saw dust, in about equal proportions. These materials
are triturated, moulded into the desired form, and baked in a kiln;
the heat burns the dung and saw dust so that interstices are formed.
In applying the Invention for heating purposes a serpentine pipe may
be arranged in the combustion chamber, through which a part of the
air from the bellows is caused to circulate.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Clinton Edgcumbe Brooman in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 21st May 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CLINTON
EDGCUMBE BROOMAN, of the Firm of Robertson, Brooman, and Com-
pany, of 166, Fleet Street, in the City of London, Patent Agents, send
.greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of November, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the
thirty-second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said Clinton Edgcumbe
Brooman, Her special licence that I, the said Clinton Edgcumbe Broo-
man, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said Clinton Edgcumbe Brooman, 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 MANUFACTURE
OF GAS FOR LIGHTING AND HEATING, AND IN APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN," (com-
municated to me from abroad by Jules François Lafrogne, of 23, Boule-
vard de Strasbourg, Paris, France,) upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Clinton Edgcumbe Brooman, my executors or adminis-
trators, 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 per-
formed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office

page_text: within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the
said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Clinton Edgcumbe Brooman, 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 thereof, reference being had to the
Drawings hereunto annexed, that is to say :-
This Invention relates to the production of gas for lighting and
heating purposes by the carburation of atmospheric air. The character-
istic features of the Invention are the following:-
First. The apparatus is combined with a motor which obtains its
power from a portion of the gas produced, and which directly feeds the
carburator or hydrocarbon reservoir with the atmospheric air necessary
for the generation of the gascous vapour.
Secondly. The motor allows of establishing a circulation of water in
a jacket or casing around the carburator for the purpose of absorbing
the cold resulting from the evaporation of the essence or hydrocarbon.
The cooled water is sent into the motor in which it is reheated by serving
for the condensation, and it returns into the jacket, restoring the lost
heat to the essence, so that the essence being constantly reheated by the
water in proportion as it is cooled there is no interruption or diminution
in the production of the gas.
Thirdly. The air is drawn by bellows worked by the motor heated in
an annular space surrounding the motor, and then sent into regulating
bellows in which it accumulates under a nearly constant pressure.
Fourthly. The air becomes saturated with carburated vapors in tra:
versing a series of layers of flannel and wood shavings and saw dust, whichi
are soaked with the essence by capillary attraction, and which besides
is always damped therewith by means of a pneumatic injector worked
by the motor. The saturated air rises through a series of alternate layers
of flannel, wood shavings, and iron filings, which deprive it of the
excess of vapours and non-volatilized globules; it afterwards issues in
a suitable degree of saturation by a pipe from which it is distributed for
consumption.
Having stated the characteristic features of the Invention, I proceed

page_text: Figures 1 and 2 are front and side views of the apparatus in sectional
elevation; Figure 3 is a longitudinal section of part of the pipe which
conducts the air to the carburator.
The motor employed is preferably one worked by hot air and cold air, and
constructed as follows:-It is composed of a cylinder 1, provided with
a piston 2, and of a cold-air chamber 3, enclosing a hollow piston or
movable pan 4, and surrounded with a cold-water receiver. The
movements of the two pistons 2 and 4 are effected so that when the
dilated air has raised the first-named piston 2 the other piston 4 riscs
suddenly to draw hot air into the cold part of the chamber 3, which
aids the descent of the first piston 2. The lower part of the chamber 3
forms a combustion chamber 5, which is provided with a chimney and
which is heated by a burner E supplied by a branch c from the outlet
pipe H of the carburator. The piston rod of the motor is connected by
a crank to a shaft p, which by a cam q and rod r is worked by the rod r
of the hollow piston of the chamber 3. The rod which works the hollow
piston actuates the bellows either directly or through a lever or con-
necting rod, as I proceed to describe. The motor gives motion to the
rod a by means of the crank b, and the motion of the rod a causes the
oscillation of the beam c upon its centre of suspension d; the oscillating
movement of the beam c causes the alternate ascent and descent of the
two piston rods f, f¹, and consequently the successive compression and
dilatation of the four bellows g, g', and h, h'. The former of these g, g',
cause the continuous aspiration and repulsion of the air within the
cylinder; the two latter h, h', are for another purpose, which I will
presently state. The air repulsed continually through the pipe flows
into the upper partition B of the cylinder, and thus forms a regulating
reservoir; from whence the air escapes by the pipe C and enters the annular
space D which surrounds the burner E. The air receives an elevation
of temperature while within this annular space which forms the carbura-
tion and its combustion afterwards; then it proceeds in a heated state
through the pipe F to the lower partition of the carburator. This
pipe F, of which a portion is shewn separately in longitudinal section
in Figure 3, is double; the interior pipe serves for the circulation of the
hot air while the space left between the two pipes is filled with sawdust
or other substance isolating heat. This arrangement of the tube F has
the effect of preventing the cooling of the air in its passage from the
annular reservoir D to the carburator. On proceeding from the pipe F
the hot air traverses the little wad of flannel i, then circulates between

page_text: the plates j, k, and 1, following the course indicated by the arrows. The
combination of these plates alternately arranged forces the air to divide
itself while hindering its progress, and to become saturated with the
volatile properties of the hydrocarbon. Above the last plate the-air
completely traverses the body or layers of wool and wood shavings.
impregnated with hydrocarbon or volatile oil; then after having under-.
gone the further carburation from the layers of saturated flannel and
filings within the pipe G, it escapes in a fit state to be used for lighting.
purposes through the tube H, which distributes it as required. The
hydrocarbon is contained by the reservoir J, from which it flows through
the tube n, to bathe the plates j, k, l, and the lower part of the body
of wool. This mass in addition always receives an injection of the
hydrocarbon at its upper part from the little pump k actuated by the
bellows h above referred to. The second bellows h¹ draws cold water
from the lower part of the exterior reservoir .X, by means of the
pump L to force it to the upper part of the motor, and thus.assist the
cooling of the latter. A branch pipe o feeds the burner E.
The preceding explanations render it unnecessary to enter at any length
into the action of the apparatus. After having filled the reservoir J
with the carburating liquid (essence of schist, petroleum, or other hydro-
carbon) the apparatus must be put in action by the hand, and when in
this manner a small quantity of gas is produced the burner E is to be
lighted. In a few minutes the motor will commence to work, and the
apparatus will act of itself.
In applying the Invention for heating purposes a serpentine pipe
may be arranged in the combustion chamber through which a part of
the air from the bellows is caused to circulate. I am able of course to
vary the details of the apparatus with regard to the forms, materials,
and dimensions of its parts, according to the purposes to which it may
be applied.
And having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim all
substantially as described and shewn in the accompanying Drawings.
First. The general combination and arrangement of apparatus for
the manufacture of gas for lighting and heating purposes.
Secondly. The application to the carburating apparatus of a motor
actuated by a calorific source borrowed from the gas produced.

page_text: Thirdly. The reheating of the carburating essence or liquid by the
employment of a jacket or casing for the circulation of water attached
to the motor.
Fourthly. The employment of a system of bellows with continuous
action commanded by the motor in order to aspire or repulse the air
and of a reservoir for the air in order to regulate its outflow.
Fifthly. The means employed for raising the temperature of the air
before its entrance into the carburator.
And, sixthly. The employment of a body or layers of wool and wood
shavings, moistened by the action of the cappillary attraction combined
with an injection commanded by the motor.
In witness whereof, I, the said Clinton Edgcumbe Brooman, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of May,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-
nine.