Improvements in Gas Producers.
Year: 1886

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Gas Producers.
I FRANCIS RADCLIFFE of 233 Burrage Road Plumstead in the county of Kent
Forge Manager do hereby declare the nature of my invention for IMPROVEMENTS
IN GAS PRODUCERS and in what mauner the same is to be performed, to be
particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement:-
My invention relates to Gas Producers in which the gases are generated by
the aid of air either naturally drawn in by the chimney draught or forced in by
mechanical blowers or steam jet.
The ordinary method of supplying Gas Producers with fuel is by admitting it
from above or at the sides-In either case the fuel is placed on the fire,

page_text: My invention has for its object the supply of fuel from below or underneath the
fire The fuel is fed into a chamber or box underneath the Gas Producer and
forced upwards by means of a ram or other suitable mechanical contrivance
specially designed and arranged so as to raise the fuel slowly and capable of
being regulated and controlled by the attendant Fig. 1 in the drawing shows &
sectional elevation of the Gas Producer with a fixed box A and hydraulic ram B-
The chamber C is fitted with air pipes D, D, D, D, connected together and fitted
with cocks or valves for regulating the supply-E is the outlet for gas-F F are
doors for access and cleaning out G is a large cover and H, H, two or more holes
for poking and examining the fire-I is a spout or hopper for filling the box A
J is a slide to close when the box is full K is a loose plate laid on the ram or table
before filling the box-When the ram has forced up all the fuel and arrived at the
end of its stroke, the bars L, L, are passed through holes M, M, and support the
plate while the ram is lowered and the box refilled-The ram is slightly raised
and the bars withdrawn and the plate hooked out through the slot N in the box.
I sometimes prefer to use levers with stops passing through the sides of the box
see Fig. 3-the levers O, O, and stops P, P, serve to hold the plate while the table
is lowered, the plate is afterwards pulled out through the slot N.
In some cases I use a moveable box, see Fig. 2 The box A¹ is fitted either with
plane or flanged wheels Q, Q, so as to be filled away from the Producer and then
wheeled back to its place.. The box has a ledge inside the bottom upon which the
loose plate rests-The ram or table B¹ is slightly raised so as to enter the box
when the top plate (which supports the fuel above) may be withdrawn and the
fresh fuel gradually forced upwards-Where a ram is not convenient I use a
screw R. Fig. 2 working through a nut and worm wheel S, with a worm T on a
cross shaft having strap pulleys or winch handle for steam power or hand as the
case may be.
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) Supplying and feeding the fuel from below and underneath the fire in Gas
Producers substantially as described.
(2) The apparatus and method of supplying and feeding the fuel by means of a
fixed or moveable box and forcing it upwards by mechanical means substantially
as described.
Dated this eighteenth day of October 1886.