IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS TO BE USED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SULPHURIC ACID
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Samuel Pudney, of 37, Manor Street, Clapham, in
the County of Surrey, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS
TO BE USED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SULPHURIC ACID."
Sealed the 27th February 1868, and dated the 6th September 1862.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Samuel Pudnoy at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 6th
September 1862.
I, SAMUEL PUDNEY, of 87, Manor Street, Clapham, in the County of Surrey,
do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS
TO BE USED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SULPHURIC ACID," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in apparatus to be used in
the manufacture of sulphuric acid, and consists in improvements in the con-
struction of sulphuric acid chambers. These chambers are now commonly
constructed of sheet lead, the floor, walls, and roof of the chamber being of
this material.
Now, according to my Invention, I employ sheets of glass in the con-
struction of the parts of the chamber. The floor and the lower part of the
walls may be formed of lead as heretofore, so as to have at the bottom of
the chamber a liquid-tight cistern to receive and contain the condensed acid,
or the floor may be composed of sheets of glass, the joints between the sheets
of glass being then made tight, by preference, by the edges of each sheet being

page_text: bent downwards, and caused to dip into grooves formed in the joists or
supports which carry them; the condensed acid collecting in these grooves
will form a tight joint, or the joints may be made tight by luting with a
suitable cement. The sheets of glass to form the walls and roof of the
chamber are carried by uprights and rafters placed at distances apart slightly
less than the width of the sheets of glass employed; the uprights and rafters
are grooved on each side to receive the edges of the sheets, and such portions
of them as come within the chamber are covered with strips of lead, which
serve both to protect the uprights and rafters from the action of the acid, and
also to secure the sheets of glass, the edges of the leaden strips being bent down
outside the chamber over the edges of the glass. The sheets of glass when
they meet end to end are made to lap the one over the other, and the
lappings are so arranged that condensed acid trickling down the surface may
not escape at the joints; these lap joints will be rendered gas-tight when tho
chamber is at work by the condensed liquid accumulating between the plates
of glass where they overlap. Where the upper edge of the leaden cistern at
the bottom of the chamber meets the glass the lead is bent into a U form all
round the top of the cistern, and the lower edges of the glass are made to dip
into the small trough so produced, and as liquid quickly accumulates in this
trough, when the chamber is at work, a gas-tight joint will be formed. Where
luting or cement is required to render the chamber gas-tight and secure the
glass I employ for the purpose oily, fatty, or resinous substances mixed with
pipeclay or other material likely to be little acted on by the acid.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Samuel Pudney in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
6th March 1863.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, SAMUEL
PUDNEY, of 37, Manor Street, Clapham, in the County of Surrey, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Sixth day of September, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-sixth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Samuel Pudney, Der special licence, that I, the said Samuel
Pudney, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Samuel Pudney, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at

page_text: 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
"IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS TO BE USED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SULPHURIC
ACT," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Samuel Pudney,
my execctors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or
their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascer-
tain 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 immediately after the date of the
said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Samuel Pudney, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say :-
This Invention has for its object improvements in apparatus to be used in
the manufacture of sulphuric acid, and consists in improvements in the con-
struction of sulphuric acid chambers. These chambers are now commonly
constructed of sheet lead, the floor, walls, and roof of the chamber being of
this material.
Now, according to my Invention, I employ sheets of glass in the con-
struction of the parts of the chamber. The floor and the lower part of the
walls may be formed of lead, as heretofore, so as to have at the bottom of
the chamber a liquid-tight cistern to receive and contain the condensed acid;
or the floor may be composed of sheets of glass, the joints between the sheets of
glass being then made tight, by preference, by the edges of each sheet being bent
downwards and caused to dip into grooves formed in the joists or supports
which carry them; the condensed acid collecting in these grooves will form a
tight joint. The sheets of glass to form the walls and roof of the chamber
are carried by uprights and rafters placed at distances apart slightly less than
the width of the sheets of glass employed; the uprights and rafters are grooved
on each side to receive the edges of the sheets, and such portions of them as
come within the chamber are covered with strips of lead, which serve both to
protect the uprights and rafters from the action of the acid, and also to secure
the sheets of glass, the edges of the leaden strips being bent down outside the
chamber over the edges of the glass. The sheets of glass when they meet
end to end are made to lap the one over the other, and the lappings are so
arranged that condensed acid' trickling down the surface may not escape at

page_text: the joints; these lap joints will be rendered gas-tight when the chamber is at
work by the condensed liquid accumulating between the plates of glass where
they overlap. When the upper edge of the leaden cistern at the bottom of
the chamber meets the glass the lead is bent into a U-form all round the top
of the cistern, and the lower edges of the glass are made to dip into the small
trough so produced, and as liquid quickly accumulates in this trough when
the chamber is at work a gas-tight joint wil be formed. Where luting or
cement is required to render the chamber gas-tight and secure the glass, I
employ for the purpose oily, fatty, or resinous substances mixed with pipeclay
or other material likely to be little acted on by the acid.
And in order that my Invention may be most fully understood and readily
carried into effect, I will proceed to describe the Drawings hereunto annexed.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 shews a section of a portion of the floor and of one of the sides
of a sulphuric acid chamber constructed according to my Invention; in this
Figure the floor is shown to be composed of plates of glass a, a, the edges of
each plate being bent downwards, as shewn at a', a'; the bent down edges
of the plates of glass are received into leaden troughs b, b; these troughs all
communicate with one another, as is seen in the plan view, Figure 2, and
the acid as it becomes condensed in the chamber collects in these troughs,
and is led off through a pipe or pipes c into a suitable receiver, there will,
however, always be sufficient condensed acid in the trough to form a tight
joint; the troughs are supported on wooden bearers d, which are carried by the
joists e, the ends of which rest on the plate f, which is supported by the brick-
work or other foundation. Figure 3 shows a section of a portion of the bottom
and of one side of a sulphuric acid chamber in which the bottom is formed of
lead, in order that the bottom of the chamber may form a liquid-tight cistern
to contain the condensed acid; this leaden bottom is supported by joists
resting on the plates f, as is shown. 9, 9, are the sheets of glass which form
the walls of the chamber; these sheets are supported at their sides by the
uprights h, a section of two of these uprights is shown at Figure 4, one of
the uprights there shown is a corner upright, and the other an intermediate
one; the uprights are, by preference, placed at a distance of about 1 ft. 6 in.
or 2 feet apart, and they are covered on the parts exposed to the action of the
acid with lead, as is shown at i, i, Figure 4; the edges of this lead, after
the sheets of glass are put in their place, are bent down over the glass, as is
shown by the dotted lines at Figure 4, and the joint between the lead and the
glass is made tight by cement or luting; where the several sheets of glass

page_text: which pass from upright to upright meet end to end they are made to lap
over each other, as is shewn at Figure 3; the bottom corners of each sheet of
glass rest on projections & on the strips of lead with which the uprights are
coated. The bottom edge of the bottom sheets of glass rest in troughs 1 of
sheet lead, as is shown at Figures 1 and 3, the trough 1, Figure 3, being
formed by the upper edge of the lead of the leaden cistern being bent into
a U form, as is shown, and the trough 1, Figure 1, being formed in ono pieco
with the outer troughs 6 of the floor condensed acid collects in the troughs 1,
and thus makes a tight joint, and when the troughs are filled the condensed
acid which continues to run down into them will flow over into the
interior of the chamber. Figure 5 shows a section taken through the roof
of the chamber, the section being taken parallel to the rafters; the rafters
are placed at the same distance apart as the uprights, and tho ends of the
rafters rest on the top plates m, which are carried by the top of the uprights,
the bottoms of the rafters are coated with lead in a similar manner to tho
inner sides of the uprights, and are formed with grooves in them to support
the glass in the same way as the uprights are formed; this is clearly shown
in the section of the rafter shown at Figure 6; the top plates m are also
coated with lead on the parts which are exposed to the acid; this leaden
coating is marked m'. n, are the sheets of glass; these sheets where they
meet end to end overlap each other and thus form a tight joint; the joints
between the edges of the glass and the rafters and top plates m are made
tight by luting. In those cases where the joint is made tight by luting, the
luting I prefer to employ is composed of pipeclay mixed with linseed oil to
the consistency of glaziers' putty.
In witness whereof, I, the said Samuel Pudney, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Sixth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three.
SAMUEL FUDNEY. (LS.)