provements in Apparatus for Supplying Hot Water by Utilizing the Waste Heat of Illuminating Burners or Lamps.
Year: 1895

page_text: Date of Application, 19th Oct., 1895
Complete Specification Left, 4th June, 1896-Accepted, 11th July, 1896
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION
Improvements in Apparatus for Supplying Hot Water by Utilizing
the Waste Heat of Illuminating Burners or Lamps.
I, HUGH MANSFIELD ROBINSON, LL D of 3, Harcourt Buildings, Temple, in the
City of London, Solicitor, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows
My invention relates to apparatus chiefly designed for supplying hot water in
exchange for coins, the said apparatus being especially suited for application to street
lamps the heat produced by the burning of which is utilized for heating the water
In carrying out my invention I arrange around the lamp post (and by preference
around the lamp post known as Webb's Sewer Gas Extractor and Destructor
Patent No. 8193 of 1894) a casing in which are located a cold water supply tank
and a hot water cistern.
In the head of the lamp above the flame is arranged a heating coil of tubing against
which the heat generated by the burning of the gas impinges, the said coil being
enclosed by preference in the pneumatic hood which forms part of the sower gas
extractor and destructor before referred to This coil of tubing is at one end
connected to the cold water tank supplied from a water main by a ball cock and at
the other end to the hot water cistern, its opening into the latter being controlled by
a ball cock or other automatic valvo which will open when water is drawn from the
said hot water cistern
In practice I find it advantageous to arrange the levels of the cold water supply
tank and the hot water ciston in such relation to each other that the water shall
syphon from one to the other.
With this a rangement it will be understood that if water is drawn from the hot
water cistein cold water from the supply tauk flows around the heating coil and down
into the supply cistern in a heated state
In order to prevent the water in the supply cistern from cooling in caso it 18
allowed to remain therein for some time without water being drawn off, I provide the
following arrangement At the top of the heating coil, I connect a steam receiver in
which the steam, due to the excessive heating of the water in the coil during the
time that no water is flowing through it, accumulates, a valve being arranged in the
passage This steam receiver is also connected by a pipe with a coil in the hot water
Cistern, which coil is open at one end whereby the steam from the said chamber when
it enters the coil will be condensed and so maintain the heat of the water in the said
cistern.
As in case of long intervals between the drawing off of water, the water in the
hot water cistern might have no condensing effect upon the steam, 1 provide upon the
steam chamber a safety-valve loaded to a suitable pressuro.
When my invention is applied to the sewer gas extractor and destructor herein-
before roleried to the escaping steam may be used for augmenting the draught up the
ventilating shaft or it may be used for other ventilating purposes. Or this jet of
steain may be utilized for heating the supply witer before it passes to the coil
In practice it might happen that the formation of steam in the heating coil would
desti oy the syphon action, I therefore hind it advantageous to arrange in conjunction
with the up-How leg of the syphon, a steam jet or other injector operated by the
steam from the receiver and which will serve to start the water in its upward flow.
It is of course understood that the lower end of the up-flow pipe is provided with a
1

page_text: check valve to prevent the steam from blowing the water in the up-flow pipe back
into the cold water tank.
The means for obtaining a supply of hot water upon the insertion of a coin of
predetermined value may be arranged in various manners, for instance, a water meter
may be arranged in conjunction with the discharge pipe and a lock adapted to be
operated by a con arranged in conjunction with the said meter in such a manner that
when the coin is inserted the meter will be unlocked and allowed to mako, say, one
complete rotation when the lock will again come into operation.
It is to be understood, however, that I do not necessarily arrange a coin-freeing
attachment in connection with my apparatus and that I do not confine myself to the
application of my apparatus to the particular form of lamp above referred to as it is
obvious that my invention may be applied with advantage to any lamp, the waste heat
of which is to be utilized.
Dated this 19th day of October 1895.
G. F REDFERN & Co.
4, South Street, Finsbury, London, Agents for the Applicant.
-
Improvements in Apparatus for Supplying Hot Water by Utilizing
the Waste Heat of Illuminating Burners or Lamps.
1, HUGH MANSFIELD ROBINSON. LL D., of 3, Harcourt Buildings, Temple, in the
City of London, Solicitor, do hereby declare the nature of thus invention and in what
manner the same is to be performed to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement.
-
My invention relates to apparatus for the efficient utilization of the large quantities
of heat which are wasted in lighting apparatus as at present constructed, by causing
the beat to raise the temperature of water contained in a tank conveniently situated
near the lighting apparatus, and the hot water thus obtained may be drawn off
through a tap, or may be retailed in measured quantities by any suitable coin-freed
mechamsm.
A convenient form of lamp which is well adapted to the requirements of my
inventions that described in Letters Patent No 8193 of 1894 granted to
Joseph Edmund Webb for "Improvements in gas lamps and in the extraction and
destruction of sewer gas "However I do not in any way limit the application of my
apparatus to such a lamp as the invention is applicable to every kind of illuminating
lamp, whether used for street or domestic highing. The type of lamp which buns
within an enclosed hood is clearly more suitable than any other kind.
The essential features of my invention are a tubular heating coil arranged above
the illuminating flame, which for the sake of clearness of description I shall call the
primary coil, one end of which is connected with a supply of water at approximately
constant pressure, such as is convemently obtained by means of a cistern fitted with a
ball cock, and the end of which is in communication with a cistern or tank adapted to
contain the hot water for consumption Between the coil and the hot water tank is
placed a steam receiver of any suitable shape but preferably annular and arranged
above and around the coil. The bottom of this receiver may be connected by a pipe
with the hot water cistern in which case a ball cock is provided within the hot water
cistern to control the flow of water from the coil to the cistein, and the top of the
steam receiver is connected by a pipe with a steam heating coil which I shall call the
secondary heating coil, arranged within the hot water cistern and adapted to heat
the water in the hot water tank by the circulation of steam within the coil The
secondary coil terminates within the hot water tank, that is to say, its end is left open
beneath the level of the water, and any steam which may not be condensed by its

page_text: passage through the coil will collect above the surface of the water in the hot water
tank
The cover of the tank is made steam-tight and a pipe leads from the space above
the level of the water in the tank to the open air or preferably to a tertiary heating
coil contained within the cold water cistern. In any case it is advisable to carry this
pipe up above the level of the water in the cold water cistern unless a valve of the
nature of a safety valve, that is, one which does not open until a definite pressure is
leached, is employed in the tube leading from the steam receiver to the secondary
heating coil as hereinafter described. By this construction when water has been
drawn off from the hot water tank its place is taken by water drawn through the coil,
but in order to prevent the too sudden alterations of temperature in the primary
heating coil I have found it desirable to connect the ball cock within the hot water
cistern directly to the cold water tank thereby short circuiting, as it were the primary
coil.
In any case a check valve must he fitted on the pipe leading from the cold water
cistern to the primary heating coil to prevent any return of water or steam to the cold
water cistern
In order that my invention may be clearly understood I proceed to describe the
same with reference to the accompanying diawings,―
Figures 1 and 2 represent diagrammatically two forms of my apparatus.
Figure 3 represents an application of my invention to a lamp which illuminates and
ventilates one roon and supplies hot water in the adjoining room.
"
Figure 4 represents an application of my apparatus to a street lamp such as is
described in Letters Patent granted to Joseph Edmund Webb for an invention of
"Improvements in gas lamps and for the oxtinction and destruction of sewer gas
dated the 25th day of April 1894 and numbered 8193 of 1894, and designed in
addition to giving light to ventilate a sewer by means of a vertical shaft within the
lamp-post.
Figure 5 represents the application of my apparatus to an external lamp designed
to ventilate a room and illuminate an area external to the room
Like parts are marked with similar letters in these various figures.
A is a bun ner the flame of which is used for illuminating or ventilating purposes or
for both purposes combined and the waste heat from which is by ny invention caused
to heat the water in the hot water tank B is the primary heating coil of metal
tubing which communicates at its lower end with a supply of water and has its upper
end connected to the secondary heating coil G contained in the hot water tank H, a
steam receiver F being interposed as shown in the drawings.
Water is supplied to the primary heating coil B from a cistern Ceither placed
above the level of the primary heating coil, in which case the level of the water is
controlled by a hall cock D or other equivalent device, or the cistern C may be placed
below the level of the primary coil, and water must then be supplied to it from a
water main under a sufficient pressure to carry the supply up to the level of the
primary coil, this pressure being maintained at a constant value by means of a
reducing valve E of any suitable form as shown by Figure 4 In either case a
non etuin valve El must be fitted to prevent the return of water from the primary
coil along the supply pipe.
The hot water tank H is supplied with water either from the primary heating coil
as shewn in Figure 1, or from the cistern C as shewn in Figure 2 and the level of
water in the hot water tank is maintained constant by means of a ball cock P or other
equivalent device.
The hoated products of combustion passing around the primary coil B and the
steam receiver F which is suitably arranged above the coil vaporize the water in the
coil and dry the steam in the steam receiver and the dry steam thus produced passes
through the secondary coil G₁ contained within the hot water tank II and the heat
contained in the steam is then forced to the water in the hot water tank, the steam
being condensed in its passage though the secondary coil, but should the water
becoine so hot as not to exercise any appreciable condensing effect on the steam, the

page_text: г
steam will collect above the level of the water and passing up the tube K and through
the coil in the cold water cistern will warm the water contained in the cistern C
before escaping into the atmosphere
It is clear that unless the pipe K is carried above the level to which the cold
water supply rises some means must be adopted to prevent the supply from
running to waste through the primary and secondary coils when the steam pressure
18 not sufficient to prevent this action and to this end I introduce a valve N in
the pipe leading from the steam receiver to the secondary heating coil which is
so adjusted as to remain closed until the pressure rises above the water pressure,
in which case it opens and allows steam to pass into the secondary heating coil.
Such a valve is of the nature of a safety-valve and is preferably introduced into
all forms of my apparatus because it has the effect of keeping back the steam in
the steam receiver till its pressure and consequently its temperature ao considerably
raised The valve N may be arranged to lift at any desired pressure and the
greater this pressure the more efficient will be the action of the steam in the
secondary coil G. It will be observed that the pressure of the cold water supply
must be adjusted to suit the pressure at which the valve N is arranged to
blow off.
The steam receiver F may be of any suitablo form but I prefer to make it annular
as shown in the drawings
Above and around the steam receiver I fix radiating and reflecting surfaces
consisting of closed air-chambers to retain the heat which operate to concentrate the
heat upon the receiver and coil, and prevent loss by radiation as shewn in
Figures 3, 4 and 5.
It will be understood that the hot water may be diawn off from the hot water
tank II by a tap M or may be delivered in suitable quantities by some suitablo
coin-freed mechanism.
In all cases it will be found desirable to carefully lag the hot water tank and the
pipe which conveys steam from the steam receiver.
It will be evident that the functions of the heating coil and steam receiver are
closely allied and these parts of the apparatus may be combined in one without
departing from my invention.
Having now particularly described and ascertamed the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim 18.
1. The combination and arrangements of parts constituting my apparatus for
heating water by utilizing the waste heat of gas flames, substantially heroin
designated.
2. In apparatus for heating water by the utilization of the waste heat of illuminating
flames, the combination of a primary heating coil and steam receiver arranged above
the burner, a secondary heating coil contained within a hot water tank with a valve
designed to confine the steam within the receiver until a definite pressure is attamed
and means for regulating the supply of water to the primary coil and the tank,
substantially as described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings
3. The apparatus shewn in Figures 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 respectively for the purposes
designated
Dated this 30th day of May 1896
G F REDFERN & Co,
4, South Street, Finsbury, London, Agents for the Applicant.