An improved apparatus for generating acety- lene gas
Year: 1898

page_text: I, RICHARD JOHN Moss, Manager of the Abingdon Acetylene Illuminating
Company Limited, of 97, Great Hampton Street, Birmingham, in the County
of Warwick, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention is a development on Letters Patent, No. 1254, granted to me
on the 18th of January, 1897, for "An improved apparatus for generating acety-
lene gas" and has particular reference to the carbide cages employed in such
apparatus, and to an arrangement for receiving and holding the spent carbide or
the lime dropping or being emitted from such cages; the invention being 'par-
ticularly applicable to my domestic-sized apparatuses. The object of my inven-
tion is, firstly, to construct carbide cages in such a manner that the spent car-
bide or lime can easily escape therefrom and, secondly, a means whereby the
spent carbide dropping from such cages can be collected and emptied from the
generator without its bulk coming in actual contact with the water contained in
the outer part of the apparatus, thus dispensing with the difficulty of getting
the spent lime effectually out of the bottom of the apparatus along with the
waste water, and also preventing the ultimate clogging of pipes, which would
take place if the waste carbide were left in the water for any length of time.
I construct my carbide cages of, preferably, a circular shape, open-topped,
and having their areas divided into two parts by means of a wall of thin metal,
and having square holes made in their bottoms for the purpose of threading onto
a vertical sleeve or pipe, which forms a part of a cylindrical skeleton framework
for holding the carbide cages in position, and by which they are removed from
the generator; the said framework being supported or suspended from the gas-
holder by means of two hook-like projections taking thereon. The bottoms of
the carbide cages, instead of being perforated, are constructed with thin trans-
verse wires running across them, so as to allow the spent carbide free access to
a vessel or receiver, which will be hereinafter described. These carbide cages
are placed in position upon the central vertical tube, as aforesaid, one above the
other, the wire bottom of the one cage taking against the open top of the other;
the number of carbide cages used depending upon the size of the apparatus.
The means for holding the spent carbide or the lime consists of a cylindrical
open-topped vessel seating itself upon the bottom of the container, the said vessel
or receiver having a vertical sleeve or pipe running throughout its length.
This sleeve or pipe is provided at its bottom end with a directing funnel for the
purpose of taking onto the vertical central pipe of the container which latter is
a well-known feature in my generators. The sides of this vessel or receiver are
slotted in a vertical direction about their middles and for about half their length,
the top and bottom portions of the walls being left intact, the former for strength,

page_text: and the latter for holding the waste carbide. The vertical directed slots, as
aforesaid, are for the purpose of allowing the water to escape when it reaches a
certain height, and so that the spent carbide shall not come away with the water.
The slots are preferably four in number and are about two to three inches in
width.
The spent carbide dropping through the wire bottoms of the cages falls into
the bottom of this receiver and, when sufficient has been deposited therein, the
receiver is lifted out, inverted, (the spent carbide falling out) and replaced
within the generator.
It will be understood that this receiver cannot be removed for purposes of
emptying until the generating chamber, and its carbide cages with enclosing
frame, have been first taken out.
Improvements in Acetylene Gas Generators.
I, RICHARD JOHN Moss, Manager of the Abingdon Acetylene Illuminating
Company Limited, of 97, Great Hampton Street, Birmingham, in the County
of Warwick, do 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:
-
This invention is an enlargement upon the invention for which Letters Patent
No. 1254 was granted to me on the 18th of January, 1897 for "an improved
apparatus for generating acetylene gas" and is particularly applicable to such
an apparatus, but part of it is also of advantage when applied to any kind of
acetylene gas generating apparatus wherein the carbide is contained within a
holder which allows of the residue or lime getting away and mixing with the
body water in the apparatus, and also of depositing on the working parts of the
apparatus.
According to this invention, firstly, a bucket or container to collect the spent
carbide or lime is provided and fitted within the apparatus so as to either enclose
or come adjacent to the holders or cages containing the carbide, and so as to
keep it from mixing with the body water of the apparatus; secondly, special
carbide cages, to be used in connection with the apparatus in the patent cited,
and from which the spent carbide or lime can easily escape, are constructed;
and, thirdly the provision of a carrier for the carbide cages or holders and the
generating chamber, which said carrier rests upon a gas holder of a construction
as in the patent cited, and is capable of being lifted into and out of position with
the parts it carries.
•
In the accompanying sheets of drawings the improvements according to the
present invention are shown as applied to an acetylene gas generating apparatus
of the kind set forth in the specifications of the cited patent; Figs. 1 and 2 being
a longitudinal vertical section and a horizontal section of a complete apparatus,
whilst Figs. 3 and 4 represent respectively a similar section as Fig. 1 but with
certain parts withdrawn, and the bucket or receptacle before referred to for
collecting the spent carbide separately. Fig. 5 shows by three views the par-
ticular construction of the carbide cages, and Fig. 6 by two views the construc-

page_text: tion of carrier for carrying the carbide cages and the generating chamber. In
these figs. a is the water container, having within it vertical standpipes p¹, p², p3,
and underneath it water pockets or chambers w¹³, and 6 is the gasometer or
holder, and c the generating chamber, all of a similar construction and design
to the like parts set forth and described in the cited Letters Patent.
m is a bucket or receptacle for collecting the spent carbide, it being shown in
position within the central part of the gas holder in Figs. 1, 2 & 3, and separate in
Fig. 4. This bucket is of a cylindrical form and is open at its top, m², and
sides m³, but is closed at its bottom m. It has a central tube m³ extending the
whole of its length for supporting it over the central standpipe p³ in the water
container. The said bucket is of such a size as to practically enclose the cages
or holders containing the carbide and ensure the spent carbide being gradually
precipitated into its lower part, and is capable of being bodily removed from the
apparatus for emptying its contents.
d is a carrier for the carbide cages or holders, and comprises, for the most part,
an open framework carrying a central sleeve or tube 2, which is adapted to slip
down over the central tube m³ of the bucket m, the said carrier being supported
over the said tube and within the interior of the bucket by the projecting parts d³
of the suspending strips d resting upon the closed top of the gas holder 6. The
lower part of this carbide cage carrier is formed like an open cylinder or tube, d³,
for constituting a substantial constructional base to the carrier, for forming a
rest for the carbide cages, and to constitute a guide for the putting into position
of the generating chamber.
e are the carbide cages, each consisting of a circular open topped box having a
central passage through it for the threading onto the tube of the carrier d.
Each cage may be divided into a number of compartments by divisional walls of
the full depth of the cage, and each is formed with a reticulated bottom through
which the spent carbide drops gradually to be collected within the bucket m.
These carbide cages fit over the sleeve to rest one on top of the other, and are
completely enclosed by the generating chamber c.
Catches or pivot buttons are carried upon the top of the carbide cage car-
rier d, for the purpose of connecting the generating chamber e to the said carrier
at certain times, such, for example, as when starting or recharging the apparatus,
as it sometimes happens that a momentary pressure of gas is required to be com-
pensated for before the gas holder can accomplish the work of lifting the carbide
cages out of the water; in which event the momentary pressure would cause
the generating chamber c and the carbide cage carrier d to be lifted together as
one part.
It is to be understood that the bucket or receptacle for collecting the spent
carbide is applicable to all kinds of acetylene gas generating apparatus where
the carbide is contained or held in a reticulated or perforated vessel open to the
body water of the container.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is:.
:-
First. In an apparatus for generating acetylene gas, in which the carbide
holders or carbide cages are open bottomed or reticulated, the use of a bucket or
container for collecting the spent carbide, and which is capable of being bodily
withdrawn from the apparatus for being emptied of its contents, substantially
as set forth.
Second. In an acetylene gas generating apparatus, the combination of a water
container a, a gas holder 6 having an open middle part, a generating chamber c,
carbide cages e, and a bucket or receptacle such as m, substantially as described
and set forth.
Third. In an acetylene gas generating apparatus, the combination of a con-
tainer a, a gas holder b, a generating chamber c, carbide cages e and a carrier

page_text: such as d, all arranged and fitted in the manner, substantially as described and
set forth in Figs. 1, 2, 3, 5 and 6.
Fourth. In an acetylene gas generating apparatus, the combination of a con-
tainer a, a gas holder b, a generating chamber e, carbide cages e, carrier d, and
bucket or receptacle m, all arranged and fitting in the manner substantially as
described and set forth in Figs.
to 6.
W. P. THOMPSON & Co.,
11, Burlington Chambers, New Street, Birmingham,
Also of Liverpool, London, and Manchester,
Patent Agents for the Applicant.
W. P. THOMPSON & Co.,
11, Burlington Chambers, New Street, Birmingham,
Also of Liverpool, London, and Manchester,
Patent Agents for the Applicant.