IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR HEATING BY PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Boggett, of Saint Martin's Lane, in
the City of Westminster, Gentleman, and George Brooks Pettit,
of Lisle Street, also in the City of Westminster, Gas Engineer,
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR HEATING BY
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Boggett
and George Brooks Pettit at the Office of the Commissioners of
Patents, with their Petition, on the 7th May 1858.
We, WILLIAM BOGGETT, of Saint Martin's Lane, in the City of
Westminster, Gentleman, and GEORGE BROOKS PETTIT, of Lisle Street,
also in the City of Westminster, Gas Engineer, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR
HEATING BY GAS" to be as follows:-
The object of our Invention is to obviate many inconveniences
hitherto experienced in burning a mixture of gas and atmospheric air.
The apparatus usually employed for that purpose is a cylinder (having
a gas supply inserted in it) covered on the top with wire gauze, where

page_text: the mixture is ignited. Only a limited quantity, however, can be
consumed in this way, as, upon any increase beyond a given amount in
the gas supply, it descends and escapes at the bottom of the cylinder.
To obtain the power of increasing the supply at will, without the risk of
escape, we use two or more cylinders or compartments (which may be
much shorter than usual), all of which arc level on the top and covered
with gauze wire, but unequal in depth. The gas is then admitted into
the shallowest compartment, and will burn with a very small supply;
but the quantity can now be increased to almost any extent, as, when it
exceeds the capacity of the shallowest, it passes into the next chamber,
and so on to the others in succession, without the possibility of escap-
ing, as the quantity that can be thus consumed in a small space far
exceeds all ordinary requirements.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Boggett and George Brooks Pettit
in the Great Seal Patent Office, on the 7th November 1853.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we,
WILLIAM BOGGETT, of Saint Martin's Lane, in the City of Westminster,
Gentleman, and GEORGE BROOKS PETTIT, of Lisle Street, also in the
City of Westminster, Gas Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Seventh day of May, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, in the sixteenth
year of Her reigu, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto us, the said William Boggett and George Brooks Pettit,
Her special licence that we, the said William Boggett and George
Brooks Pettit, our executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as we, the said William Boggett and George Brooks Pettit,
our executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agrec
with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter
during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully night make,
use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain

page_text: and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR HEATING BY GAS," upon the con-
dition (amongst others) that we, the said William Boggett and George
Brooks Pettit, by an instrument in writing under our hands and seals,
or under the hand and seal of one of us, should particularly describe
and ascertain the 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 we, the said William Boggett and George
Brooks Pettit, do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement thereof,
reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, that is to say:
This Invention has for its object the construction of apparatus for
burning gas in combination with atmospheric air in a more efficacious
manner than heretofore.
These apparatuses are covered on the top with fine wire gauze or
perforated metal, &c., in the manner generally adopted for burning air
and gas. When made of a cylindrical shape we employ several cylin-
ders, (in place of one, as formerly,) arranged concentrically, and consti-
tuting separate chambers, which, being of unequal depth, allow the gas
to flow from one into the other.
Figure 1, is an elevation, and Figure 1ª, a vertical section of a
cylinder, which may be made of metal, carthenware, or other suitable
material, and of any required size; it is open at bottom with indenta-
tions for the admission of air. A, is the gas pipe, terminating in the
shallow chamber B, with a small supply; the gas burns on the top
of that chamber only; on a further increase, however, it flows into
the next, and so on to the others in succession, as indicated by the
arrows. The escape of gas downwards is by this means prevented, as
an immense quantity must be consumed before the outer cylinder
becomes overcharged, for the heat generated at the top of the shallow
chambers creates a powerful draught in the deeper ones, causing the
combustion to be more complete, and consuming a much greater
quantity of gas than could be effected in a single cylinder of equal

page_text: dimensions. The top surface of these burners is usually flat, but in
some cases they may be advantageously curved, either upwards or
downwards, as indicated by the dotted lines in Figure 1". A further
advantage resulting from the above method of construction is, that the
apparatus may be reduced to about one third the usual height.
Although these arrangements greatly facilitate the combustion of the
gas, it may be still further inproved by throwing an additional supply
of air from below into the midst of the flame in the manner shown in
Figure 2, which is a vertical section, and Figure 2ª, a top view, of an
apparatus consisting of several concentric annular air tubes a, a, open
at top and bottom, and surrounded by an outer cylinder A. The air
tubes a, a, have lateral tubes passing through them at b, b, through
which the gas flows, thus forming chambers of unequal depth, as in
Figure 1, the top being covered with wire gauze, as before described;
a supply of air is kept up through a, a, to all parts of the flame.
Figure 3, is composed of a bottom frame A, having rectangular-
shaped sockets projecting upwards, upon which flat tubes of different
lengths are tightly fitted, the tops being covered with gauze wire; by
this means a supply of air feeds the flame through the intermediate
spaces b, b. Figure 4, is an elevation of an apparatus similar in con-
struction to Figure 1, with the addition of four external chambers
communicating with the inner ones; the outer chambers, being deeper
than the others, serve as receivers of any excess in the supply of gas.
Figure 4, is a vertical section of the above.
Figure 5, is a top view of another arrangement; the centre chamber A,
being perforated with slots communicating with the upper part of the
radial chambers B, B, and the latter being divided by partitions into
chambers of different depths; the inner ones being shallowest, as in
Figure 1; an outer cylinder, reaching half way down the apparatus,
causes a strong current of air to rush up the openings c, c.
Figure 6, is another modification of Figure 1, showing how an un-
limited quantity of gas can be burned upon the same principle. In this
case the gas is first admitted into the shallow chamber at the front of
a rectangular-shaped burner, and flows from thence into the others, as
indicated by the arrows, and before described.
Figure 7, is an arrangement for obtaining a strong draught of air

page_text: and corresponding intensity of heat at the point A. The division of
the cone into chambers is similar to Figure 1°.
It is obvious that burners constructed on the foregoing principles
admit of great diversity of their configuration and other details. We
therefore do not confine ourselves to those now described, but reserve
the right to vary them at pleasure, so long as the chief feature of our
Invention is adhered to.
And having now described the nature of our said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is, the construction of burners for air and gas, having chambers of
unequal depth, so arranged that the gas shall flow from the shallow
chambers into those adjoining, in the manner herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Boggett, for myself, and
on behalf of the said George Brooks Pettit, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Fifth day of November, One thousand
eight hundred and fifty-three.
WILLIAM BOGGETT. (L.S.)