Improvements in Apparatus for the Generation of Acetylene and other Gases.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 14th Sept., 1897
Complete Specification Left, 13th June, 1898-Accepted, 30th July, 1898
Improvements in Apparatus for the Generation of Acetylene and
other Gases.
HENRY RALPH BEAN, of 6, Plaistow Park Road, Plaistow, in the County of
Essex, Glass Decorator, and HENRY RINGWOOD, of 76, Spey Street, Poplar, in the
County of Middlesex, Pattern Maker, do hereby declare the nature of this inven-
tion to be as follows:-
This invention is a further improvement on our Patent 5756 of 1897. Whereby
the apparatus can be recharged whilst working, and has at the same time one or
more charges or supplies of gas forming material ready to come into operation as
may be desired.
This is acomplished by the following means.
In the head of the rising vessel or gas holder proper two or more chambers are
formed or attached thereto each having its proper cover, fittings, and charging
cock, as shown and described in the aforesaid Patent 5756 of 1897 so that when
one charge of carbide or gas forming material is exhausted, the chamber con-
taining this may be recharged, the other one or series of chambers coming into
operation successively, so that by simply turning off the charging cock the chamber
effected is separated from the gas holder proper.
This chamber may then be opened and dealt with, and as the next chamber
comes into operation a continuous steady supply of gas is maintained.
HENRY RALPH BEAN.
HENRY RINGWOOD.
Improvements in Apparatus for the Generation of Acetylene and
other Gases,
We, HENRY RALPH BEAN, of 6, Plaistow Park Road, Plaistow, in the County
of Essex, Glass Decorator, and HENRY RINGWOOD, of 76, Spey Street, Poplar, in
the County of Middlesex, Pattern Maker, 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:-
-
This invention relates to improvements in apparatus for the generation of
acetylene and other gases, the said invention comprising improvements upon the
invention described in the Specification of our former Letters Patent No. 5756
of 1897 and having for its object to so construct such apparatus that the generation
of the gas can be made continuous.

page_text: In the accompanying drawing,—
Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of apparatus for generating acetylene gas con-
structed according to the invention; and,
Figure 2 is a part plan thereof.
a is the vessel containing the water, which vessel is shewn cylindrical (although
it may be of any other suitable shape) and is provided at its upper end with an
annular space a¹, and bis the bell or sliding gas holder which rises and falls in
the vessel a according as the supply of gas increases and diminishes.
c, c, c are a number (in the drawing three are shewn) of gas generating chambers
or cylinders which are secured to the cover of the sliding gas holder b and depend
into the said chamber and c, c¹ are covers with which the upper ends of the
said generating cylinders are provided; these covers are
re hermetically secured in
position by means of thumb nuts so that they can be easily removed for
recharging the apparatus with carbide and each cylinder c is placed in communica-
tion with the interior of the holder 6 by a pipe controlled by a cock c. d, dare
perforated baskets for containing the calcium carbide from which the acetylene
gas is to be generated, the said baskets being attached to the lower ends of rods d'
which pass up through the generating cylinders c and out through stuffing boxes c
in the covers thereof, the upper ends of the said rods being provided with
knobs or handles to limit the extent to which the baskets can be lowered and to
enable them to be slid in the generating cylinders c, c.
The baskets are arranged at different heights in their respective generating
chambers in such a manner that when the contents of the basket are exhausted,
the next highest basket is brought into operation by the sinking of the sliding
gas holder caused by the consumption of the gas contained therein. It will there-
fore be obvious that a continuous generation of gas is obtained as the exhausted
baskets can be recharged as hereinafter described.
The apparatus operates as follows, that is to say, after the apparatus has been
filled with water, as indicated in Figure 1, and the baskets d, d have been charged
with calcium carbide, one of the baskets is lowered by means of its rod d¹ until
the contents thereof are immersed in the water, the other baskets being also
arranged at the proper heights to ensure continuous operation as above described,
as shewn in Figure 1. The gas generated in the generating chamber c passes
through the cock into the sliding gas holder 6 from which it passes down the
pipe e into the condensing chamber f surrounding the water container a and from
which condensing chamber it can be drawn off as desired for consumption through
the cock g.
When the calcium carbide contained in the first basket d is exhausted the
gradual consumption of gas will cause the gas holder b to drop until the second
basket reaches the water and so on. To recharge a basket whilst the apparatus
is in use the cock c controlling, the connection between the gas holder and the
generating chamber corresponding to the said basket is closed and the cover c¹
removed so that the basket can be removed from the apparatus and refilled.
is the telescopic safety arrangement which is used to allow surplus gas formed
to escape when the sliding gas holder b has become filled so as to expose the holes h¹
above the water level and i is the receptacle for sediment from the baskets d, the
said receptacle being provided with an outlet pipe 'j and draw-off cock k.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is:
1
-
In apparatus for generating acetylene or other gas the combination with a
water container and sliding gas holder of two or more gas generating chambers
suspended in the sliding gas holder or container and having baskets-arranged
at different heights in their respective chambers--for containing the material
from which the gas is to be generated by the water in the container, and of
means for controlling the communication between the interior of each generating

page_text: chamber and the interior of the gas holder so that the generating chambers can be
separately and successively isolated from the gas holder whilst the apparatus is
in use to enable their baskets to be removed and recharged, whereby a continuous
generation of gas is obtained, substantially as described.
n
1011 1
1000
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, Finsbury, London,
Agents for the Applicants.