· MEANS OF ADDARATITS FOR MELTING SNOW
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Farrand Clarke, of Moorgate Street, in
the City of London, Gas Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVED ·
MEANS OF ADDARATITS FOR MELTING SNOW "
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Farrand Clarke
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 16th January 1871.
I, JOHN FARRAND CLARKE, of Moorgate St., in the City of London,
Gas Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
'IMPROVED MEANS OR APPARATUS FOR MELTING SNOW," to be as follows:
My Invention relates to improved means or apparatus for melting
snow collected from streets and ways, and consists in the-employment
for this purpose of a series of metal slabs or plates heated by gas jets
and enclosed in a chamber or vault in connection with a sewer or drain.
On these heated plates the snow is deposited and so melted, the resulting
water being run thence direct to the sewer.
In carrying out my Invention I place my apparatus in a vault
beneath the ground in convenient proximity to a sewer. The entrance
to this vault is obtained through a vertical shaft, which may also form

page_text: sewers.
one of the "side openings" at present in use in towns for access to the
I employ a series of metal plates placed in an inclined position
one above another directly beneath the shaft, so that the snow deposited
therein will fall directly on the plates. Beneath each plate I dispose a
row of gas jets, by which the plates and the air space beneath them
are kept, constantly heated, the jets being supplied with gas from an
adjacent main or other source; an air shaft communicating with the
outer atmosphere being also provided. One or more flues or chimneys.
communicating with the heated space beneath the plates rise up the
sides of the vault to allow a portion of the heat to escape from bencath
the plates and act on the surface of the snow placed thereon.
Instead of being placed in a vault the plates and gas jets may be
enclosed in a portable casing in the form of a vehicle to be transported
from place to place, where required. When in use it would be placed
over a gully or other entrance to a sewer to carry off the water, the
snow being placed on the plates in the casing to be melted, as before.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Farrand Clarke in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 15th July 1871.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
FARRAND CLARKE, of Moorgate Street, in the City of London, Gas
Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Sixteenth day of January, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the
thirty-fourth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give ant grant unto me, the said John Farrand Olarke, Her special
licence, that I, the said John Farrand Clarke, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John Farrand Clarke,
my exccutors, 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
"IMPROVED MEANS OR APPARATUS FOR MELTING SNOW," upon the condition

page_text: (amongst others) that I, the said John Farrand Clarke, my executors or
administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one
of their hands and scals, 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 immediately after the date
of the said Letters Patent..
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Farrand Clarke, do hereby
declare the nature of my 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 Sheet of Drawings
hereunto annexed. and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is
to say) :-
My Invention relates to improved means or apparatus for melting
snow collected from streets and places, and consists in the employment
for this purpose of one or more metal slabs or plates heated by gas jets
and enclosed in a chamber or vault in connection with a sewer or drain.
On these heated plates the snow is deposited and so melted, the resulting
water being run thence direct to. the sewer.
In carrying out my Invention I place my apparatus in a vault
beneath the ground in convenient proximity to a sewer. The entrance
to this vault is obtained through a vertical shaft which may also form
one of the side openings at present in use in towns for access to the
sewers. I employ one or a series of metal plates placed in an inclined
position one above another directly beneath the shaft, so that the snow
deposited therein will fall on the plate. Beneath each plate or plates
I dispose a series of gas jets by which the plate and the air space beneath
them are kept constantly heated, the jets being supplied with gas from
an adjacent main or other source, an air shaft communicating with the
outer atmosphere being also provided. One or more flues or chimneys
communicating with the heated space beneath the plate or plates rise
up the sides of the vault to allow a portion of the heat to escape and act
on the surface of the snow placed thereon.
:
Instead of being placed in a vault the plates and gas jets may be
enclosed in a portable casing in the form of a vehicle to be transported
from place to place where required. When in use it would be placed
over a gulley or other cutrance to a sewer to carry off the water,

page_text: the snow being placed on the plates in the casing to be melted as
before.
In the accompanying Drawings I have shown by way of example a
snow melting apparatus fitted in a vault or side opening communicating
with a sewer in two directions, of which Figure 1 is a vertical section of
the apparatus on line 1-1, Figure 2; Figure 2 is a horizontal section
on line 2-2, Figure 1; Figure 3 is a vertical section on line 3-3,
Figure 2; and Figure 4 a horizontal section on line 4-4, Figure 1,
whilst Figure 5 is a detail sectional view of part of the gas burner on
an enlarged scale to show its construction.
A is the surface of the street or ground line and B is the usual "side
opening" leading to a vault C which communicates with the sewer D
in one direction, and with another sewer (not shown) in the direction
of E. This vault would however generally be in connection with
one sewer, and I will therefore describe the apparatus in reference to
one sewer only. . The snow is shot down through the opening B and
falls on a sheet-iron plate F, supported on angle iron frames or brackets.
fixed to the walls of the vault, or a series of plates may be employed,
arranged as shown by red lines in Figure 3. The plate or plates are
inclined downward towards the sewer to run off the water as fast as
the snow is melted, to which effect the plates are made preferably with
corrugations running in the direction of their slope to permit the escape
of the water from beneath the mass of snow. G is an apparatus
consisting of a series of gas tubes carrying rows of gas burners dis-
posed beneath the plate or plates as shown for the purpose of heating
the same, and which are supplied with gas by pipes H from a gas main I.
K is a gas meter.
The gas apparatus is constructed to burn a mixture of gas and air,
and consists of a number of horizontal gas tubes a fixed parallel by one
end to tubes H disposed as shown'; b, Figure 5, are short vertical tubes
rising from tubes a, and supporting perforated horizontal tubes c, to
which a mixture of gas and air is supplied by tubes 6 and burnt in jets
at the perforations of tubes c, 'which are situate immediately beneath
the plate F; d are apertures in tubes 6 through which air is admitted
to mix in the said tube with the gas supplied from tubes a through
the nozzle e, the parts being arranged on the principle of the so called
"Bunsen "burner, whereby the consumption of gas is reduced while the
heat is increased and the formation of soot avoided; L is an air shaft

page_text: with an extension L' (fitted thereon by means of a socket when the
apparatus is in use), opening above the ground line to convey a supply
of air to the gas burners, and M are hot air flues rising from the plate
or plates, F and open at top, terminating if necessary in a fixed cap or
guard to prevent the entrance of the snow. These flues are carried
up a short distance only and serve to diffuse the heat throughout the
vault.
Figure 6 is a longitudinal section; Figure 7 a horizontal section on
line 5, 5, Figure 6; Figure 8 a plan; and Figure 9 an end view of the
snow melting apparatus arranged in a portable form; N is a box of plate
iron mounted on wheels and having openings or shoots in the the top
side, through which the snow is deposited on inclined plates F supported |
on angle irons bolted to the side of box N. and heated by burners G
constructed as before described, and the whole arranged as shown in
the Figures; the resulting water being run out at a hole g in the bottom
of the cart; are holes for admitting a supply of fresh air to the
burners; and i are exit passages to carry off the products of combustion;
k, is a door at the front of the shafts for clearing out the box N. The
burners are supplied with gas from a main or other convenient source by
suitable' tubes or connections.
Having described the nature of my Invention and the manner of
performing the same I declare that what I claim as my Invention to be
protected by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,
1st. A snow melting apparatus consisting of a metal plate or plates.
heated by gas consumed at burners disposed beneath, the whole being
arranged and applied substantially as herein-before described and
shown in Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, of the Drawings for the purpose
specified.
2ndly. I claim arranging the said apparatus in a portable form as set
forth and shown in the Figures 6, 7, and 8, of the Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Farrand Clarke, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of July, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
one.