AN IMPROVED PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR GENERATING AND PURIFYING OZONE
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the Firm of Haseltine,
Lake, & Co., Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London,
for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR
GENERATING AND PURIFYING OZONE." -A communication from abroad
by Frederick William Bartlett, of Buffalo, New York, United States
of America, Physician.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Robert Lake
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 20th September 1875. .
I, WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co.,
Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED PROCESS AND APPARATUS
FOR GENERATING AND PURIFYING OZONE," a communication, to be as
follows:-

page_text: containing phosphorus sticks; said tubes are formed or arranged inside
a vessel, preferably circular, and of glass; the ozone thus generated
rising up into a chamber constructed with wirework or other open walls,
_and_attached_to the lower vessel; said walls also having chemically
prepared stuffs arranged in connection therewith to purify the ozone as
it passes through, and also admitting air sufficient for the combustion of
the phosphorus sticks in the tubes, there being a separate tube for
each stick, making a complete separation of all, rendering it impossible
for any of the sticks to communicate with or ignite each other. The
tubes will be from one to two inches in diameter, according to the size
of the machine. The size is important, as ozone is found to generate
naturally and completely in tubes of small diameter, having a clear
space or chamber above the oxydizing surfaces.
The construction or form of the phosphorus sticks I use is important;
they are made thin and flat, the width and height varying according to
the size of the machine and tubes, thus giving the best oxydizing point,
and rendering it less liable to melt or "flash," as there is no accumu-
lation of heat centrally in the stick. The tubes are all open at the
bottom to admit the water which is put in the vessel. Inside the circle
or row of tubes is arranged or set a hollow plunger (with a closed
bottom) which is raised or lowered to graduate the height of the water
in the vessel, and consequently in the tube, so as to graduate the com-
bustion of the phosphorus sticks, and keep the generation at a high
or low or even rate. There will be a sufficient quantity of water used
_to_cover_the_phosphorus sticks when the plunger is entirely lowered,
-and-when-raised-the-water-will stand at a lower level, and thus expose
the phosphorus sticks.
The-walls-of-the-ozone_chamber will be composed of an inner and
outer wall of wire or other open work, the inner one of much finer
texture than the outer. Between the two and surrounding the entire
chamber is arranged a porous fabric saturated or treated in an alkali (or
other chemicals) so as to retain it in the fibres of the stuff. This
catches the fumes passing from the oxydizing phosphorus, -the-acids- or
other impurities being retained therein, or neutralized by the chemicals
having an affinity therefor, and the ozone escaping through the walls
into the room. The ozone chamber thus constructed is one of the main
features of my machine; another is, the generating of the ozone in
the individual tubes; another is, controlling the combustion by the

page_text: plunger and water, also making the plunger hollow to regulate the
temperature of the water used by setting therein hot or cold substances
at will. Another feature is in providing a glass dome attached to the
top of the wire and cloth ozone chamber to receive the surplus products
of oxydation, and allow them time to become separated from the ozone.
The prepared porous stuffs are renewed as often as necessary, and the
adjacent parts are made removable for that
purpose.
The said machine will be usually of a portable form for' family use,
but can be made as large as desired. It may be left to run itself for
days, the only attention required being to graduate the water by raising
or lowering the plunger.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Robert Lake in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 18th March 1876.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of September, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the thirty-
ninth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said William Robert Lake, Her special licence
that I, the said William Robert Lake; my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Robert Lake, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with,
and no others, 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
"AN IMPROVED Process and Apparatus for GeneRATING AND PURIFYING OZONE,”
a communication to me from abroad by Frederick William Bartlett, of
Buffalo, New York, United States of America, Physician, upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Robert Lake, my
executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or

page_text: their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe
and ascertaint he 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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Robert Lake, do hereby
declare 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, reference being had to the accompanying
Drawing forming a part of this Specification :-
This Invention relates to the production and purification of ozone by
means of an apparatus or machine wherein it is generated in separate
tubes, and then purified as it passes from the said apparatus or machine
into the atmosphere through chemically prepared stuffs and wire walls,
forming part of the said apparatus as herein-after described.
Figure 6 shews a stick of phosphorus of the proper form to be used
in the said apparatus.
A-is-a-hollow-glass-vessel or base having its inner face or sides formed
into a series of cavities or tubes with a projection upward from the
bottom, upon which projection rests a glass thimble, cleft at the top to
⚫receive the lower end of the phosphoros stick, and thus raise it an inch
or more from the bottom of the vessel; B is an inner cylinder or
plunger, also of glass, from which may project some or all the walls of
the separating tubes; or the same may be formed wholly or partly from

page_text: the inner side of the base or vessel A or independently of either.
When
the plunger is in its proper position it will form and complete the range
of tubes around the interior of the vessel, as more fully shown in
Figures 2 and 4; this vessel A includes the generating chamber D.
The plunger B is made hollow with or without a closed bottom
according to the device preferred for raising and lowering it. There is
a separate tube a formed either wholly or partly in the vessel, or the
plunger for each stick of phosphorus making a complete separation of
each stick from the others, and rendering it impossible for any stick to
be in contact with or ignite another stick. The tubes a, a, will be from
one to two inches in diameter according to the height and size of the
machine. The size is important as ozone is found to generate naturally
and completely in tubes of small diameter, and having a chamber one.
inch or more above the phosphorus. This chamber may be kept of
uniform height by means of apparatus for raising and lowering the
same.
66
In connection with the aforesaid tubes the peculiar form of the
phosphorus sticks b, b, is also important; they are made flat and thin
in the proportion of about onc-eighth to one-quarter of an inch in
thickness, and one to two inches in width according to the size of the
machine. Thus formed they are less liable to melt or flash," as there
is no accumulation of heat centrally in them; their length is graduated
to the height of the generating tubes a, a, or according to the device
used in elevating them above the water; with this shape of the sticks
the combustion is very uniform, and they may be very economically
used.
The object of raising or lowering the plunger or inner cylinder is to
regulate the height of water around the phosphorus, and thus graduate
the combustion. There will always be a sufficient quantity of water
used to cover the phosphorus when the plunger is entirely lowered; and
when raised the water will of course stand at a lower level, and thus
expose the phosphorus for oxidation.
I have also devised an apparatus for raising and lowering the
phosphorus, by which I am enabled to leave the plunger (which in this
case is left open at the bottom) unmoved; this apparatus is shewn in
Figures 1 and 3. It consists of a central or sustaining wire c with
branches c¹, c¹, passing into cach cavity, and curved or bent at the

page_text: extremity to embrace and hold a single tablet or stick of phosphorus b.
The wires may be connected to the central wire c either above or below
the surface of the water as may be most convenient in practice. The
central wire will pass through the ozone-chamber-G,-and-the-expansion-
dome D to a hollow stopper E placed at the extreme top of the
apparatus or machine. Its upper end will have a screw termination &
which will pass into a nut e fixed in the lower end of the hollow stopper,
and the altitude of the phosphorus will thus be regulated by simply
moving the stopper right or left as may be desired.
Above the glass generating chamber or base A is arranged an ozone
chamber C, its walls being formed of two thicknesses of wire cloth or
-perforated material f, f¹, of suitable quality, and having between the
outer and inner walls thus formed and surrounding the entire chamber,
cotton, linen, wool, paper, silk, or other fibrous, porous, or similar
substance g, which is first treated with or saturated in an alkali or other
suitable chemical in such a manner that the latter is retained in the
fibres of the said stuff or stuffs, so that the products of the oxidation of
the phosphorus, except the ozone, may be confined to the generating
chamber or neutralized by the chemicals employed, the ozone on the
contrary passing readily outward to mingle with the atmosphere of the
room. This delivery of the ozone through the walls of the said chamber
is based upon the discovery that the specific gravity of ozone is greater
than the atmosphere, and that when passing from a chamber or space
it will naturally do so from the middle and lower part of the same; all
-the-air necessary for the combustion of the phosphorus will also pass
readily through these walls, and no other means for air ingress 'is

page_text: tubes a, a, all arranged in combination with each other, as above
described and for_the_purpose-specified.
Fifth. In an ozone apparatus or machine the raising and lowering of
the phosphorus by means of a rod extending from the top of the dome
and connected with terminal wires passing into each tube or cavity of
the base or vessel, each wire supporting a tablet of phosphorus; and the
elevation or lowering of the phosphorus to be accomplished by the
hollow stopper at the top of the expansion dome D enclosing a nut,
into which the grooved or screwed upper end of the central rod fits, as
above specified.
Sixth. In an ozone apparatus or machine the use of fibrous or porous
materials chemically propared to intercept all oxidation of phosphorus
other than ozone, whether placed vertically or transversely in the said
machine.
Seventh. The process herein described whereby ozone is produced in
tubes and then purified as it passes away from the apparatus into the
atmosphere through chemically prepared material.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Robert Lake, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Eighteenth day of March, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
six.