Apparatus for Generating Acetylene.
Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application, 14th Apr., 1899-Accepted, 20th May, 1899
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Apparatus for Generating Acetylene.
I, CARL DEMUTH, of 37, Grottauerstrasse, of Zittau, in Saxony, Owner of Spinning
Mill, 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:
The invention which forms the subject of this application relates to an apparatus
for generating acetylene in which a carbide drum that is divided into several
compartments is not caused to rotate directly by the rising and falling movements
of the gas holder bell, but in which there is interposed between the gas holder bell
and the carbide drum (that is suitably weighted) a ratchet mechanism which
causes the carbide drum to move to a certain extent at each rise and fall of the gas
holder bell. Consequently the movement of the carbide drum is not produced
directly by the gas holder bell, but the latter has merely to do the work of bringing
the ratchet mechanism into the corresponding position. The invention is illustrated
in the accompanying drawings, in which:-
Figure 1 is a side elevation of the apparatus-partly in section. Figure 2 is
a front elevation of the same, and Figures 3-5 show details.
The carbide drum a rests with its axle in the bearings c, and is loaded with a
weight which is made so heavy as to correspond with the weight of the quantity
of carbide contained in one conipartment, so that when the entire drum is filled
with carbide the said weight has the tendency of rotating the drum in the direction
of the arrow. But the drum is normally prevented from so rotating by means of
the pins f f which are situated in the slots e of the vessel a. These pins ff are
adapted to be shifted in the guides g g' and for this purpose they are connected with
a two armed lever by means of the joints hh. Against the lever there rests a
roller which is carried by an arm of the gas holder bell 7. If now the gas
holder bell moves up and down, the two-armed lever i which is suitably bent, will
assume alternately the positions indicated in full lines and dotted lines respectively,
the arrangement being such that the pins ff will enter alternately into the corre-
sponding slot e of the carbide drum. When the lower pin f¹ enters a slot, whilst
the upper pin f is not engaged in the drum, the drum, being acted upon by the
weight, will move to the extent allowed by the length of the slot. In this move-
ment then a pawl will meet the rod k, so that the spring of the corresponding
lid m will be released, and the said lid will be opened. The charge of carbide
which is situated in the corresponding compartment will then fall into the hopper o
of the water-vessel o', and, on leaving the aperture of, is deflected by the stationary
cone towards the side of the vessel in order that the carbide shall not accumulate
in the middle of the vessel. When the weight d has moved to such an extent that
it has come into its lowest position, it is then raised by means of the charged
carbide receptacles m' to the other side. because the carbide receptacles m' which
are situated on that side have previously been emptied. Figure 5 shows
diagrammatically a form of construction in which a chain q or the like is further
provided on the stationary truncated cone, which carries a small conical float r
that normally closes partly the aperture 2 of the feeding hopper. If now small

page_text: pieces of carbide fall through the hopper, they are deflected by the float r
to one side, but if larger pieces fall through the hopper, then the float can yield and
allow them to pass through. In this manner certainty is provided that the carbide
shall in all circumstances be distributed towards the sides of the vessel.
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:
(1) An acetylene generator characterised by a two-armed lever i which is fixed
to a drum for the reception of carbide, and which has arranged on
it stops or pins f f which, by the rising movement of the gas holder
bell, are caused to move alternately into and out of the apertures e of
the carbide drum, with the result that the drum which is loaded with the weight d
is moved step by step, and is enabled to discharge the contents of its compart-
ments m singly into the generator o.
(2) A form of construction of the apparatus specified in Claim 1, characterised
by the fact that the carbide receiving hopper o is partly closed at its lower
opening 2 by means of a conical float r, so that the carbide that falls through the
hopper is distributed with certainty towards the sides of the vessel and the
opening can he uncovered by the yielding of the float r when large pieces fall
down.
Dated this 14th day of April 1899
ROBERT E. PHILLIPS, Assoc. M. Inst. C.E., M.I.Mech. E.,
Chartered Patent Agent,
70, Chancery Lane, London, W.C., Associate Agent.