CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MAKING RETORTS FOR GENERATING GAS FOR ILLUMINATION
Year: 1844

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSEPH.
COWEN, of Blaydon Burn, near Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Merchant, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date
at Westminster, the Fourth day of June, in the seventh year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Joseph Cowen, Her especial license, full power, sole priviledge and
authority, that I, the said Joseph Cowen, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, and such others as I, the said Joseph Cowen, my executors, adminis-
trators, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time
to time and at all times during the term of years therein mentioned, should
and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and
the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and in all Her Majesty's Colonies and
Plantations abroad, and in the Islands of Guernsey, Jersey, Alderney, Sark,
and Man, my Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MAKING RETORTS
FOR GENERATING GAS FOR ILLUMINATION;" in which said Letters Patent is
contained a proviso obliging me, the said Joseph Cowen, by an instrument
in writing under my hand and seal, particularly to describe and ascertain the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, and to cause the same to be inrolled in Her Majesty's High Court of
Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of

page_text: the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference
being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Joseph Cowen, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, is particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following description thereof, reference being
had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked
thereon (that is to say):-
My Improvements in Making Retorts for Generating Gas may be con-
sidered under two heads,-
Firstly, the new combination of earthy and other materials of which the
retorts are to be constructed; and,
Secondly, the novel kind of moulds and machinery by which the retorts
are to be shaped or manufactured.
My object is to make clay retorts for generating illuminating gas which
shall be capable of withstanding the effects of the various changes of tempera-
ture to which they are required to be exposed, and consequently less liable to
'crack. To accomplish this I propose to mix with Newcastle fire clay, Stour-
bridge fire clay, or any other kind of clay suitable for the purpose, sawdust,
pulverized wood, charcoal, coke, carbon obtained from the interior of gas
retorts, and other carbonaceous materials, in such proportions as the quality of
the clay may require. The more aluminous the quality of the clay, the larger
will be the quantity of carbonaceous matter required to be combined with it.
I generally combine from about one twentieth to about one fourth, by measure,
of carbonaceous matter, compared to the whole mass of earthy materials
employed, this variation of quantity depending, as I before said, upon the
aluminous condition of the clay, a feature that would be well understood by
potters and the makers of clay retorts. By these means I render the clay
partially porous, and consequently less liable to crack by the changes of
temperature. Clay retorts for the generating of illuminating gas of all forms
and structures may be made of these combinations of earthy and carbonaceous
materials.
The second part of my Invention applies to the, peculiar kinds of moulds,
and the machinery which I employ for manufacturing gas retorts from earthy
materials, which will be seen by reference to the Drawings hereto annexed.
Fig. 1 represents the external appearance, as seen from above, of, my
improved machine for forming retorts of clay by compression. Fig. 2 is an
end view of the same; and Fig. 3 shews the internal parts of the machine by
means of a longitudinal section taken vertically. a, a, is a cylindrical box or

page_text: chamber into which the plastic clay and other materials are to be introduced
through a manhole or aperture at the top. c, d, is a core made toward the
end c to the figure of the required internal form of the retort, the other part
of the core d being cylindrical, and I propose that it shall be hollow for the
sake of lightness. This coro is placed concentrically within the cylindrical
box or chamber a, and is made fast therein by a stud and key e to the end
plate, f, of the cylinder. A circular plate g acts as a piston within the
cylinder, sliding over the core d, for the purpose of compressing the plastic
clay and other earthy materials contained therein, which piston has several
rods h, h, h, affixed to it, whereby any actuating power or mechanical forco
may be applied to drive the piston forward. To the front end of the cylinder
there is attached a nose-piece i, i, with a plate k, which together I call tho
mould; for on the piston being forced up the plastic clay is made to fill up
the nose-piece, and to mould or form the end of the intended retort, which,
when the machine is in operation, will be known by small portions of the clay
oozing through the hole or holes in the front plate k. It will be seen by tho
Drawing that the retort I am about to make by this machine will be nearly
of the transverse sectional figure of the letter D, but to this figure I do not
intend to confine myself, as any other form of retort may be made by means of
the same machinery, by altering the shape of the nose-piece i, i, and the end
part of the core c, both of which are made moveable for that purpose. Tho
end of the intended clay retort being thus formed in the nose part of the
machine, the plate k must be removed from the nose, when, on forcing the piston
g forward, the plastic clay will be projected out at the end of the nose, in the
shape and as a continuation of the retort (the end of which had been formed
as described), to any length required, in the manner shewn by the sectional
Fig. 4, where it may be received and supported by an endless travelling cloth,
or a board and rollers, and the length of moulded clay may then be cut off by.
a wire in the ordinary way, and sent to the drying place.
Another form or modification of my machine is shewn in longitudinal
section at Fig. 5, in which, instead of the nose-piece above described, I
introduce a D-formed hoop l, l, or of any other required figure, as a die, which,
in commencing the operation of making the end of the clay retort, must be
kept in its place, and the front of the cylindrical box closed by a plate k, as
before. The core c, formed to the desired internal figure of the retort, is in
this instance made fast to the piston g, and advances with it. When the
end of the retort has been made as before described, the plate k must be
removed, and on now projecting the clay forward it will assume the moulded

page_text: form shewn in the longitudinal section, Fig. 6, and in the front view at Fig. 7,
in which the plate is removed. Under some circumstances I find it
convenient to form clay retorts without the use of the machinery above
described, by incans of peculiarly constructed hand moulds, one of which is
shewn in perspective at Fig. 8. I propose to make these moulds either of
wood, metal, or plaster, in two or more parts, according to the size and figure
required.
Fig. 9 shews a top view of one of the moulds of a D form, which is the
shape most commonly used. The mould is curved at a, a, the part which is to
constitute the roof or top; the bottom 6 is a flat plate, capable of being
detached, which is best suited to this form, and to ordinarily sized retorts.
The two, or it may be more, parts of the mould, when combined, are to be
made fast by external bracings of iron hoops c, c, with a bar d keyed or
screwed thereto; or if the mould is made of plaster, rope bracings will suffice.
In commencing the operation of moulding a clay retort by means of this
apparatus, I take the single mould shewn at Figs. 8 and 9, and by hand work
the whole of its interior over uniformly with a substantial coating of the clay,
and then beat down the clay to any required uniform thickness, which may be
from about two to four inches; but I do not confine myself to any particular
thickness. When this first mould has been thus coated, and so much of the
clay retort shaped and finished, I place another similar mould upon the top of
the former, their edges perfectly coinciding, and then bolt them together; and
when that is done I coat the interior of the second mould with clay in like
manner to the first, taking care that the plastic clay of the second operation
shall be perfectly united with the edges of that produced in the former mould.
In this way the retort may be continued to be forined by hand, by erecting
one mould upon another, and carefully joining them, as shewn in Figs. 10
and 11. In some cases I have found it desirable to line the internal parts
of the moulds with flannel or cloth, which prevents adhesion. It may be
necessary for the moulds to remain upon the moulded retort for some hours,
in order that the clay may become perfectly stiff before they are removed;
but of this I can give no precise instructions, as it will vary, and must depend
upon the consistency or stiffness of the material used.
i
Lastly, I desire it to be observed that the novelties which I claim under the
above in part recited Letters Patent are,―
First, the introduction or mixing of carbonaceous matters with the clay
previously to its being moulded into retorts for generating illuminating gas.
Secondly, the novel kinds of moulds and machinery for forming retorts

page_text: Inrolled the Fourth day of December, in the year above written.