IMPROVE- MENTS IN APPARATUS FOR THE ManufaCTURE OF PHOSPHORUS
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Jacob Hort Player, of Birmingham, in the
County of Warwick, Manufacturer, for the Invention of “IMPROVE-
MENTS IN APPARATUS FOR THE ManufaCTURE OF PHOSPHORUS."
Sealed the 28th October 1870, and dated the 17th May 1870.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Jacob Hort Player
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 17th May 1870.
I, JACOB HORT PLAYER, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick,
Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF PHOSPHORUS," to be as
follows:-
In manufacturing phosphorus by the ordinary method a mixture of
phosphoric acid, phosphate of lime, and carbonaceous matter is heated
in an earthenware retort, the vapour of phosphorus produced by the
decomposition of the said phosphoric acid is conducted into water by
an iron pipe connected with a copper nozzle. The condensation of the
vapour of phosphorus is however only partially effected by the water,

page_text: and the uncondensed vapour has to be conducted into two or more
vessels to ensure its complete condensation.
My Invention consists in effecting the condensation of the phosphorus
vapour after it passes from the retort by means of a condenser of the
following construction:-I make the said condenser by preference of
blue brick or earthenware, and of about 18 inches high, and 10 inches
in diameter. The vapour of phosphorus is conveyed by an iron pipe
from the retort into the top of the said condenser. The said condenser,
which has no bottom, stands in a shallow vessel of water, and has a
small arch or vent hole cut away in one of its bottom edges. The
vapour of phosphorus as it passes from the upper to the lower part of
the condenser and over the surface of the water is effectually condensed,
any permanent gases formed escaping through the water by the arch or
vent hole described. The greater part of the phosphorus collects in the
vessel containing the water, the portion attached to the sides of the
condenser being melted from time to time by means of a jet of steam,
the melted phosphorus falling into the water.
Although in practice I have found condensers having the size and
made of the materials described, to answer well, yet I do not limit
myself to any particular size or material in making the said condensers.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Jacob Hort Player in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 7th November 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JACOB
HORT PLAYER, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Manufac- 2
turer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of May, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the thirty-third
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and 3
grant unto me, the said Jacob Hort Player, Her special licence that I,
the said Jacob Hort Player, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said Jacob Hort Player, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others,

page_text: 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 APPARATUS
FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF PHOSPHORUS," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Jacob Hort Player, my executors or administrators, by
an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and
scals, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said
Invention, and in what manner the same was to be performed, and
cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six
calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Jacob Hort Player, do hereby declaro
the nature of the 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, that is to say :-
In manufacturing phosphorus by the ordinary method a mixture of
phosphoric acid, phosphate of lime, and carbonaceous matter is heated
in an earthenware retort, the vapour of phosphorus produced by the
decomposition of the said phosphoric acid is conducted into water by an
iron pipe connected with a copper or other nozzle. The condensation of
the vapour of phosphorus is however only partially effected by the
water, and the uncondensed vapour has to be conducted into two or
more vessels to insure its complete condensation.
My Invention consists in effecting the condensation of the phosphorus
vapour after it passes from the retort by means of a condenser of the
following construction:-I make the said condenser by preference of
blue brick or earthenware, and of about 18 inches high and 10 inches
in diameter. The vapour of phosphorus is conveyed by an iron pipe
from the retort into the top of the said condenser. The said condenser,
which has no bottom, stands in a shallow vessel or tray of water, and
has a small arch or vent hole cut away in one of its bottom edges. The
vapour of phosphorus as it passes from the upper to the lower part
of the condenser and over the surface of the water is effectually con-
densed, any permanent gases formed escaping through the water by the
arch or vent hole described. The greater part of the phosphorus collects
in the vessel or tray containing the water, the portion attached to the
sides of the condenser being melted from time to time by means of a jet

page_text: of steam introduced into the water, the melted phosphorus falling into
the water.
Hlaving explained the nature of my Invention I will procèed to
describe with reference to the accompanying Drawing the manner in
which the same is to be performed.
Figure 1 represents in perspective a condenser made according to my
Invention; Figure 2 represents a set of three of the said condensers
arranged for use in a tray or shallow vessel of water, the tray or vessel
and the middle condenser being represented in section, and the outer
condensers being represented in elevation; Figure 3 represents a plan
of Figure 2; and Figure 4 represents a vertical section of Figure 2 taken
through the line a; Figure 5 represents in cross section the tray or
shallow vessel separately; and Figure 6 is a longitudinal section of the
said tray or vessel. The same letters of reference indicate the same parts
in cach of the Figures of the Drawing.
Each of the said condensers is marked b, and consists of a nearly
rectangular vessel open at bottom and closed at top, with the exception
of the hole c for the reception of the pipe & which conveys the vapour of
phosphorus from the retort into the condenser. The pipes d are luted in
the holes c by clay or other lute. e is the arch or vent hole in the front:
lower edge of the condenser by which any permanent gas escapes by
bubbling through the water in the tray or shallow vessel f. The tray f
has an inclined bottom, best seen in Figures 4 and 5, and has at its front
or lowest part a semi-cylindrical channel or well g, the back of the said
fray being supported on fect h. The condenser has its open bottom:
or lower end inclined to make it stand upright on the inclined bottom of
the tray f. The sides of the condenser 6 are also inclined from the
bottoin upwards, but this is only for convenience of manufacture. Tho
said condensers I make by preference of the clay of which blue
bricks are made, the said condensers being made from the said clay by
moulding, and afterwards fired or burned. The said condensers 6 may,
however, be made of carthenware or of other strong material not acted
upon by phosphorus or the vapour of phosphorus. I prefer to make the
tray or shallow vessel of cast iron. The vapour of phosphorus as it
condenses and falls on the inclined bottom of the tray fruns down the
inclined bottom into the channel or well g, where it accumulates and
Forms, at the end of the distillatory process, and on the cooling of the
apparatus, a semi-cylindrical bar of phosphorus. A jet of steam intro-

page_text: duced into the water in the tray f melts any phosphorus which may have
attached itself to the condenser or bottom of the tray and causes it to
run into the well 9. Instead of making the condenser rectangular it
may be made cylindrical with the same effect.
Although in practice I have found condensers having the size and
made of the materials described to answer well, yet I do not limit
myself to any particular size, shape, or material in making the said
condensers.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner
in which the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I
claim as my Invention the improvements in apparatus for condensing
the vapour of phosphorus in the manufacture of phosphorus, herein-
before described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawing, that is
to say, apparatus for effecting the said condensation consisting of con-
densers or vessels open at bottom and standing in a tray containing
water, the said condensers or vessels being provided with an opening at
top for the introduction of the phosphorus vapour and an arch or vent
hole in one of the bottom edges for the escape of any permanent gas,
substantially as described and illustrated.
In witness whereof, I, the said Jacob Hort Player, have hercunto
set my hand and scal, this Fifth day of November, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy.
Witness,
RICHARD SKERRETT,
Clerk to George Shaw,
Birmingham.
JACOB HORT PLAYER. (L.S.)