A NEW METHOD OF CONSTRUCTING GASOMETERS OR MACHINES OR APPARATUS FOR HOLDING AND DISTRIBUTING GAS FOR THE PURPOSE OF ILLUMINATION
Year: 1827

page_text: TO ALL PERSONS TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we,
WILLIAM, NICHOLSON, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Civil Engi-
neer, and CHARLES BARNWELL COLES, late of Duke Street, Manchester Square,
in the County of Middlesex, Esquire, send greeting.
WHEREAS His most Excellent Majesty King George the Fourth, by
His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Twentieth day of February, in the eighth year of His reign,
did, for Himself, His heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the said
William Nicholson and Charles Barnwell Coles, special licence, full
power, and sole privilege and authority, that we, the said William Nicholson
and Charles Barnwell Coles, our exors, admors, and assigns, and every of
them, or, such others as we, the said William Nicholson and Charles Barn-
well Coles, our exors, admors, and assigns, should at any time agree with,
and no others, from time to time and at all times during the term of
fourteen years, to be computed from the date of the now reciting Letters
Patent, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within that
part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland called England,
the Dominion of Wales, and Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, the Invention
of "A NEW METHOD OF CONSTRUCTING GASOMETERS OR MACHINES OR APPARATUS
FOR HOLDING AND DISTRIBUTING GAS FOR THE PURPOSE OF ILLUMINATION;" in
which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso obliging us, the said William
Nicholson and Charles, Barnwell Coles, by an instrument in writing under
our hands and seals, or under the hand and seal of one of us, to be inrolled
ALL

page_text: in His Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next
and immediately ensuing the date of the now reciting Letters Patent, to cause
a particular and exact description of the said Invention, and the manner of
making and using the same; in default whereof, the said Letters Patent, and
all liberties and privileges. thereby granted, were to cease, determine, and
become void.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, we, the said
Charles Barnwell Coles and William Nicholson, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, by the following description thereof, and the
manner in which the same is to be performed and carried into effect, by
the Drawings hereto annexed; reference being thereunto had, and to the
figures and letters marked thereon, as follows:-
.
Plan 1, Figure 1, represents a section of a gas holder of the said construc-
tion formed to contain about one thousand one hundred cubic feet of gas.
Plan 2, Figure 1, another section of the same in a plane at right angles to
the former. Plan 3, Figure 1, a top view; and Plan 3, Figure 2, a hori-
zontal section, in all of which designs the same letters denote the same parts.
a, a, a, a, Figure 1, Plan 1, is a cubical case of sheet iron, wood, or any other
inaterial capable of being rendered gas tight, and in the said case a, a, a, a, are
formed at the bottom the circular hole e, e, and in one side the hole i. b, b,
is a diaphragm formed of wood or light sheet iron, or any other convenient
material; around the edges of the diaphragm, as seen at c¹, c', is attached
cloth, leather, or other similar flexible material rendered impervious to
gas by
any of the well-known varnishes, or a solution of caoutchouk, vulgarly called
'india rubber, such cloth or other material being represented' at c¹, c¹, & c, c;
the said cloth with the said diaphragm form a bag inverted, the lower edges of
which at c. c, Figure 1, Plan 1 and 2, are turned up and attached to the
case a, a, a, i, in a 'manner to be gas-tight at 4, 4; on the outer side of the
said bag thus formed, is placed a square ring reprented at d, d, and from
the diaphragm is also attached, by means of a cord, the hanging valve g 1.
Now, supposing the diaphragm to be in the position as represented at 62, 62,
and the ring at , d, Plan 2, Figure 1, and gas to be forced in at the aper-
ture e, e, through the tube h, h, by such operation the pressure will gradually
raise the diaphragm to the position at 61, 61, with the ring to that of d', dand
thence to the position at b, b, with the ring to its situation, represented at 'd,d,
'and the capacity of the case a, a, a, a, will be almost entirely filled with gas,
'the air being expelled at the aperture i; and also when the diaphragm has
arrived at the situation, b, it' will have raised the suspended valve g', which
has been in the position j to'the position g', and close the hole e, e, so as to

page_text: prevent any inore gas from being forced into the gas holder, thereby to injure
the same. Again, supposing the gas holder to be filled, and from any part of
the case a, a, a, a, below 4, 4, where the cloth is attached to the sides, and a
tube to be adapted for the supply of burners, the weight of the diaphragm, the
cloth, and the ring pressing upon the gas, will expel it gradually through such
tube for the supply of burners; and the diaphragm gradually descending with
the ring into the several positions similar to 0, 0, d', d', Figure 1, Plan 2,
ultimately arrives at the bottom, as represented at 2,,, d, when, the
valve g' will be found in the position as represented at g, having the aper-
ture e, e, open to receive another supply; the required pressure for supplying
consumption is therefore to be regulated by forming the ring d, d, of the
necessary weight; the supply tube h is conducted to the street or open air,
where the supplier can have access to it, and the exit or escape tube i is also
led either into a chimney or to the open air, in some position above the level
of the top of the gasometer; by which means, should the cloth be injured by any
accident, and any escape of gas occur, the gas thus escaping is conducted to the
open air insuring the absence of all danger. It may be in some cases neces-
sary to form the ring d, d, of greater depth, as represented by the dotted lines
at k, k, Plan 2, Figure 1, so as to encircle the whole surface of the cloth, and
prevent the cloth from bulging when in the act of inflating, and thereby hinder
the ring d from rising regularly and easily. At Plan 3, Figure 2, it will be
seen how the ring d lays in the cloth c, c, and the diaphragm b, b, b, b, descends
and rises within it. Figures 3 and 4 in the same plan represent side and top
views of a corner formed different from those in the design of the gas holder,
Figures 3 and 4 being formed with an angle, and having a groove, and, if
necessary, a pulley for a small rope to run in, to which the cloth is attached.
The weight of the ring being thus sustained by the rope the cloth will not be
so much worn. Figures 5 and 6 represent another form of corner with two
angles, and Figure 7 a manner of placing two rollers to act as a substitute
for the ring. In this manner it will be seen that a gas holder is obtained
which receives and discharges nearly the whole cubical contents which it
occupies, whereas in the usual form with tanks, less than one half of the
contents of the space occupied, including the tank, is only discharged.
Plan 4 represents a variation of construction of gas holder. Figures 1 being
a section perpendicular, Figure 2 a top view, and Figure 3 a horizontal
section of the same; the parts in this gas holder, which are in every way
similar to that already described, except that the gas is received above the
diaphragm at h and e, e, and the escape tube i is placed beneath the
diaphragm b, b, and when it is to be expelled for the purpose of consumption

page_text: it is forced out by means of the counter weights v, v, which raise the diaphragm
upwards by means of the cords over the pullies r, r, as seen at 61, 61, until
it has arrived to the upper side of the case a, a, a, a; the weights then
coming in contact with the stand or bottom x, these weights u, v, are inclosed
in cases z, z, z, z, which have only. communication with the part of the
case a, a, above the diaphragm, by a small hole through which the cord s
passes, and which cases z, z, &c. consequently become filled with gas. In the
top view, Figure 2, they are shewn open to see the manner in which the
weights u, v, and pullies r, r, are disposed, and the same parts colored with
the same tints. Plan 5 represents another variation in the construction of a
gas holder.
In this construction the cloth c, c, attached to the diaphragm b, b;
is caused to pass under the rollers r², r, at o, o, and is raised by means of cords
or bands at equal distances passing under the rollers, as seen in the Plan,
Figure 2, at d, d, d, d, &c. ; the inner red line in the two sections, Figures 1
and 3, and the top view Figure 2, represents the cloth, and the other red line
represents the bands or cords which draw it up under the rollers 2, 3, ato, o,
which rollers are tinted blue throughout). The standards or arms which sup-
port those rollers are attached to the 'upper side of the case a, a, a, a.
c, the
stand or base, is formed of a material impervious to gas, and has a groove
entirely round the edges represented at 0, 0, (tinted dark in Section, Figure 1)
in which lay the cylinder or rollers with the cloth passing under them, and
which groove, being about four inches deep and filled with mercury, hinders
any gas from passing, whilst it no way impedes the movement of the cloth.
The black marks at 10, 10, Figures 1 and 2, represent places to which weights
any sort may be attached to counterbalance if required the weight of the
diaphragm. The gas is permitted to enter into gasometers of this construction
through the hole e, e, from h, and the hole permits the escape of the air
which fills the space above the diaphragm. Figure 3 is a section of the same
gas holder in a plane dividing the square of its base by a plane passing
diagonally across it. In this design will be seen a method for insuring the
regular or levil descent of the diaphragm; in the base x is placed at each corner
two pullies s, s. A cord t is attached from the diaphragm passing under the
pulleys to the right, and from thence also under the pulleys to the left (one
of which is made larger than the other in the Drawing merely for distinction),
whence it passes, and is attached to the bands represented by the outer red
lines which, passing over the pullies r, r, are attached to the upper side of the
diaphragm, this arrangement is exactly similar from left to right. By this
attachment reciprocally of the upper side of the diaphragm at the one corner
to the under side of the diaphragm at the opposite corner, it will be seen that
of

page_text: .
one corner cannot descend faster than the other, for should. the corner to the
right augment its speed of descent, that augmentation of speed of descent will.
be communicated instantly to the corner to the left, because the upper surface
of each corner being attached to the lower surface of the opposite corner, the
motion is instantly communicated to the same. Figure 4, 5, 6, and 7, are
parts at large of the same apparatus as are seen in the two perpendicular:
sections'd, d, representing the frames for holding the rollers r, &c. The
pullies s, s', Figure 3, are let into the wood, and there being a communication
from the groove to them by the passage where the line passes. under them.
(The action of this 'forin of recipient may be changed by anaking the filling
hole for receiving the supply of gas at i, and the escape tube for the exit of the
atmosphere at ). Under these circumstances the spaces between the cloth and
the case a is always full of gas, but none passes the mercury groove. .,Plan 6,
Figure 1, represents another manner of constructing a gas holder. a, a, a, a,
is a recipient formed of wood, iron, or other material capable of being
rendered gas tight, the inner face of which is coated by a plaster or varnish,
ör other material capable of receiving a polish. b, b, is a diaphragm made to
fit the recipient internally, round the edges of which diaphragm is placed a
stuffing formed by means of a tube of leather or elastic material, which tube is
filled with mercury, as represented at large in section at Figure 3, the red tint
shews the mercury, and the yellow the leather or other flexible material which
forms the continuous packing at d. Figure 4 shews a top view of the saine
joint. Figures 5 and 6 on the same plan represent a section and top view of
another way of forming a gas-tight joint round the diaphragm, by means of a
continuous tube of leather stuffed with wool, and pressed into the joint by
means of springs c, c, c, c; the same method is resorted to to make. this
'diaphragm descend level, as has been represented in. Figure 3, Plan 5, and
the pullies below, under which the cord passes at s, s, are in the small boxes
filled with mercury so as to prevent the gas following the cord. Plan 7,
Figure 1 represents a side, Figure 2 a front elevation, and Figure 3 a
top view, with the upper part taken off, of a gas holder, on the principle first
described, placed upon wheels for the purpose of transporting gas. a, a, a,.u
Figures 1 and 2, are that part which is formed of flexible matter; and
b, b, b, b, that which is formed of matter comparatively inflexible. The two
upper letters a, a, in the top of the flexible, part represent that part which
would take the place of the diaphragm were it enclosed. This apparatus,
being attached to a distillery apparatus by means of the cock G and tube c³ is
inflated with gas, and, when transported by means of men or horses to the
place of destination, the stationary gas holder may be fitted therefrom by the
gas being drawn forth by means of the exhauster C, which exhausts the gas

page_text: from the interior of the moving gas holder at e, and forces it through h to the,
stationary gas holder to which it communicates by means of a flexible or other
tube attached to the mouth h. Figures 4, 5, and 6 shew three sections of ther
box o, o, at the bottom of the exhauster, representing one disposition of valves,
which may be adapted to this object. The aperture at c, cl,e,a, having,
communication with exhauster c, when the exhauster's stroke is, made, draws.
the gas through the aperture g lifting the valve 2, and when the forcing stroke.
is made ejects the same through the aperture by lifting the valve 3, from
whence it passes by h to its destination, as, before described. The pipe el, e';
which has apertures throughout, runs along the bottom of this gas holder, so
that should the top a, a, be entirely formed of flexible material it may not rest
upon and stop up the exhauster hole e. It is moreover clearly to be under-
stood that in the construction of these apparatus the proportions of the parts
must be varied according to the dimensions of the apparatus to be constructed,
and that various minor particulars as to the size of bands, joints, &c., are
considered perfectly attainable by any workmen reasonably acquainted with
mechanical operations; and for the clearly comprehending the novelty of the
object for which this Patent has been obtained, we consider such to consist in
the construction of a recipient for gas, first, of materials of an elastic nature,
so constructed that the elastic parts shall, by their turning inside outwards,
expel almost entirely the gas contained in the cubical contents of the recipient,
which, upon examination of the Plans 1, 2, 3, and 4, will be apparent.
Second, the construction of gas holders, which expel their contents by means
of a diaphragm passing along their overture in à manner similar to a piston,
and which diaphragms are rendered gas tight around their edges by the means
by us particularized in Plan 6.
Third, the construction of moveable recipients, as shewn in Plan 7, which
have these three particularities :-Firstly, the elastic parts particulazed under
No. 1. Secondly, wheels for their transportation. Thirdly, an apparatus
requisite for the eduction and induction of the gas, forming in their combined
state a commodious and advantageous vehicle for the transporting of gas for
the purposes herein-before stated.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Nicholson, have hereunto put
my hand and seal, this Twenty-third day of April, One thousand eight
hundred and twenty-seven, and I, the said Charles Barnewell Coles,
have hereunto put my hand and seal the
thousand eight hundred and twenty-seven.
1
day of
One
WILLIAM. (L.S.) NICHOLSON.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Twenty-third day of April, in the
year of our Lord 1827, the aforesaid William Nicholson came before our said
Lord the King in His Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification aforesaid.
and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form above written.
And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the tenor
of the Statute made for that purpose.
Inrolled the Twelfth day of May, in the year of our Lord One thou-
sand eight hundred and twenty-seven.