Improvements in Gas Producing Lamps.
Year: 1895

page_text: Improvements in Gas Producing Lamps.
We, THOMAS THORP of Whitefield in the County of Lancaster, Engineer and
THOMAS GARDINER MARSH of 41 Corporation Street Manchester in the County
of Lancaster, Gas Engineer do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be
as follows:
This invention relates to gas lamps in which the gas is produced in a chamber of
the lamp by the chemical action of a liquid in contact with a solid substance, such
as of water and calcic carbide, and consists in a novel and improved construction of
Buch lamps, the object of the invention being to make such lamps automatic, or
self-regulating, so that they may produce gas for consumption by the burner in
proportion as it is consumed thereby.
According to our invention the improved lamp contains two chambers, one in
which the gas is evolved and which we call the producer chamber, and one in which
the liquor used in the production of the gas is contained and called the reservoir.
The lamp is provided with a suitable burner for consuming the gas generated
in the producer chamber, a tap or valve being interposed between this chamber and
the burner. In one arrangement of the lamp a dip pipe is led from the producer
chamber to the bottom of the reservoir. In the producer chamber is fixed an
inverted syphon.or tube with upper end closed, or other small container is formed
therein and open at the bottom end. In the bottom of each chamber is'fixed' a
charging hole fitted in each case with a suitable gas and liquid tight cover.
In a modified form of lamp the producer chamber may have a false bottom which
is preferably made concave inside and provided with a small central aperture,
through which the two chambers may communicate. At a suitable distance above
the false bottom.is fixed a perforated shelf or grid. To the reservoir is preferably
fitted an air pump of any suitable construction. In this case the lamp is preferably
filled from the top and suitable filling holes and covers are provided one to each
chamber.
'
The pipe leading to the burner may in both cases pass from the lamp or
producing chamber thereof, from either the top or bottom according to the manner
in which such a lamp is to be used.
In order to charge the lamp and to produce gas, in the first case, the lamp is
turned upside down and the charging holes uncovered. Into the producer chamber
is charged the solid substance, say calcic carbide, and the syphon tube or small
The
container filled with the liquid used in the production of the gas, say water.
reservoir is partly filled with the liquid or water and the charging holes sealed by
the covers thereof. Upon upsetting the lamp to bring it into its normal position the
liquid runs out of the syphon, tube or small container and coming in contact with
the solid charge or calcic carbide causes it to effervesce and evolve gas. If the
passage to the burner be closed by the tap aforesaid, the gas will pass down the dip
pipe and bubble up into the space above the liquor reservoir, where it will be
confined and will press upon the liquid contained therein. Upon opening the tap
to the burner, the gas in the producer chamber will pass through the burner and
the pressure of the confined gas in the reservoir will force the liquid up the dip
pipe whence it will drip upon the solid charge and cause the production of more
gas. This will continue until all the solid charge has been converted, when the
lamp will require the residue removing and re-charging. If the gas is produced

page_text: more rapidly than it is consumed, the pressure in the producer chamber will rise
till it balances that in the reservoir and the further flow of liquid into the producer
will be stopped till the pressure has decreased again.
In the modified form of lamp the charge of solid substance is passed on to the
perforated shelf or grid through the charging hole in the producer chamber. The
reservoir is then filled through its charging hole to the desired extent with
the liquid not reaching to the perforated plate, and in cases where each reservoir is
fitted with an air pump, the space in the reservoir not occupied by the liquid is
charged with air above atmospheric pressure, the hole for filling with liquid being
previously sealed. This pressure upon the liquid forces it into the producer
chamber where it comes in contact with the solid charge causing the production of
gas. If the producer chamber be sealed so that the gas produced does not pass
away to the burner, the tap being closed, and there being no leakage, when the
pressure of the gas being produced in the producer chamber has risen above the
pressure of the air upon the liquid in the reservoir, the liquid will be forced back
again into the reservoir thereby to a large extent stopping the production of gas.
If the tap to the burner be opened the gas will escape and the pressure in the
producer chamber momentarily falling, the liquid will be again forced into contact
with the solid charge, and thus gas will be evolved as long as it is being consumed
and until the charge is all spent.
The air pump may in some cases be dispensed with, in place of which a reservoir
having greater depth and containing a larger column of water open to the
atmosphere would be used.
The aperture in the concave bottom of the producer chamber being small prevents
to a large extent the production of gas when it is not being consumed, as evaporation
only proceeds from the small surface of the liquid exposed to the producer
chamber.
In place of the concave bottom to the producer chamber a convex or conical
float or fixture may be so disposed that when the liquid is forced back by the
pressure of the gas there is only a narrow annular surface of water at the base of
the conical float or fixture exposed to the influence of évaporation.
Dated this 25th day of June 1895
R. J. URQUHART,
57, Barton Arcade, Manchester, and 5, Clayton Square, Liverpool,
Consulting Engineer and Patent Agent.
Improvements in Gas Producing Lamps.
We, THOMAS THORP of Whitefield near Manchester in the County of
Lancaster, Engineer, and THOMAS GARDINER MARSH of 41 Corporation Street,
Manchester in the County of Lancaster, Mechanical Engineer, do hereby declare
the nature of our invention and in what manner the same is to be performed,
to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
This invention relates to gas lamps in which the gas is produced in a chamber
in the lamp by the chemical action of a liquid in contact with a solid substance,
such as of water and calcic carbide, and consists in a novel and improved
construction of such lamps, the object of the invention being to make such lamps
automatic or self regulating so that they may produce gas for consumption by the
burner in proportion as it is consumed. For this purpose we arrange separate
closed chambers or cisterns for the calcic carbide and water communicating through
a small pipe or opening in such a manner that when the pressure in the gas chamber
rises, the water supply through said small pipe or opening is stopped and the air
or gas above the water in the water cistern is compressed, and when the pressure in

page_text: the gas chamber falls, the compressed air or gas above the water in the water
cistern forces water into the gas chamber and into contact with the carbide.
On the sheet of drawings appended hereunto
Figs. 1 and 2 represent one form of our improved lamp in vertical section and
plan.
Figs. 3 and 4 are similar views of a.modified form of lamp and Figs. 5 and 6 of
another shape of the latter.
According to our invention the improved lamp contains two chambers a and b,
one (a) in which the gas is evolved and which we call the producer and one (6) in
which the liquor used in the production of the gas is contained and which we call the
reservoir. The lamp is provided with a nozzle c to which the burner, which is
omitted on the drawings, is screwed, a cock d being interposed between the
producer b and the burner.
In the arrangement of lamp shewn by Figs. 1 and 2, a dip or inverted syphon
pipe e leads from the producer a to the bottom of the reservoir b. In the producer
a small inverted receptacle for its equivalent is preferably fixed, closed at the top
end and open at the bottom. In the bottom of the producer a is a large charging
hole closed by means of a suitable gus and liquid tight cover g, and in the bottom
of the reservoir is another charging hole closed by a liquid tight cover h. In order
to charge the lamp and produce gas, the lamp is turned upside down and the
charging holes are opened. Into the producer is charged the solid substance, say
calcic carbide, and the small receptacle filled with the liquid used in the
production of the gas, say water. The reservoir is partly filled with the liquid or
water and the charging holes are sealed by their covers. Upon turning the lamp
over to bring it into its normal position the liquid in the small receptacle f runs out
and coming into contact with the solid charge or calcic carbide causes it to
effervesce and evolve gas. If the passage to the burner be closed by the cock d,
the gas will force the water back out of the dip pipe and pass down it and bubble up
into the space above the liquid in the reservoir b, where it will be confined and
press upon the liquid contained therein. Upon opening the tap to the burner, the
gas in the producer a will pass through the burner and the pressure of the confined
gas in the reservoir b will force the liquid up the dip pipe e, whence it will drip upon
the solid charge and cause the production of more gas. If the gas is produced
more rapidly than it is consumed, the pressure in the producer will rise till it
balances that in the reservoir and the further flow of liquid into the producer will
be stopped till the pressure has decreased again, when a further quantity of liquid
again will be forced upon the solid charge. This action will continue until all the
solid charge has been converted, when the residue must be removed and the lamp
re-charged.
Instead of arranging a receptacle ƒ for a small quantity of liquid to start the
generation of gas with, a small air compressing pump p which may be of any
suitable construction, for instance similar to an inflater for pneumatic cycle tyres,
may be arranged at the upper part of the reservoir, by means of which the air
contained therein is slightly compressed so that some liquid is forced through the
dip pipe e upon the solid substance in the producer, and the production of gas
started thereby. With this arrangement the charging holes may be on the top of
the producer and reservoir.
In the modified lamp shewn by Figs. 3 and 4, the producer a and reservoir 6 are
charged from the top. The producer is fitted with a perforated shelf or grid i, upon
which the solid substance is charged, and with a false bottom which is preferably
made concave or conical as shewn and provided with a small central aperture o
through which and holes in the producer shell the two chambers a and b
communicate. The reservoir is filled through its charging hole m with the liquid,
so that the latter does not reach the perforated plate. If filled so as nearly
to touch the plate, by shaking the lamp a little liquid may be brought into contact
with the solid substance and the action started, or a small air compressing pump as
described with reference to Fig. 1 may be used for slightly compressing the air in

page_text: the reservoir and thereby forcing the liquid through the aperture o into contact
with the solid. As an equivalent for the air pump an india rubber bulb screwed to
a seating containing a valve may be used, the bulb afterwards being removed and
the seating covered by a cap.
The pressure of the gas generated in the producer while the cock d is closed will
force the liquid back through the aperture o and holes when the pressure of the
gas becomes greater than that of the air contained in the reservoir, thereby
stopping to a large extent the production of gas, as the aperture o is small and
little evaporation will take place. When the cock to the burner is opened, the gas
will issue through the burner and the pressure in the producer a will fall. The
liquid will then be again forced by the air under pressure in the upper part in the
reservoir into contact with the solid charge, and thus gas will be evolved again.
If the generation of gas exceeds the consumption the pressure in the producer will
increase again and force the liquid back. If the pressure exceeds that of the air
and column of water contained in the reservoir, some gas will pass through the
aperture and holes into the top of the reservoir till equilibrium is established, and
on the pressure in the producer falling, liquid will be forced into contact with the
solid charge; and thus gas will be evolved as long as it is being consumed and until
the charge is exhausted.
Instead of the bottom being concave, it may be made convex with an annular
aperture round it, or a conical float may be so arranged that when the liquid is
forced back by the pressure of the gas there is only a narrow annular surface of the
water at the base of the conical float exposed to evaporation.
The lamp shown by Figs. 5 and 6 differs from that described with reference to
Figs. 3 and 4 only by its shape, the reservoir b being placed at the side of the
producer a instead of surrounding it, and the conical false bottom k of Fig. 3
replaced by an inclined false bottom q. The producer a and reservoir communicate
through the openings r and s. The action is the same as described with reference
to Fig. 3.
Obviously it is immaterial whether the two chambers are arranged inside each
other, or beside each other, or formed of entirely separate vessels connected only
by pipes in place of the apertures described. When arranged inside each other
they may be formed with separate walls leaving a space between them filled with
a nonconductive substance to prevent the transmission of heat from the producer to
the reservoir.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our eaid
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what
we claim is,
1. The construction of a lamp producing gas by the action of a liquid in contact
with a solid substance having separate chambers for the liquid and the solid
substance communicating through a small pipe or orifice in such a manner that upon
an increase of pressure in the gas producer containing the solid substance the
supply of liquid to the producer is stopped, and when the pressure falls in the
producer is re-started by the pressure of the air or gas contained in the upper part
of the reservoir for the liquid substantially as herein before described and for the
purpose set forth.
2. The construction of a lamp producing its gas by the action of a liquid in
contact with a solid substance with a chamber for each of them and a dip pipe
descending into the liquid through which the latter is supplied to the producer
containing the solid substance by means of the pressure of the air or gas above the
liquid when the pressure in the producer decreases, substantially as hereinbefore
described and illustrated by Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings.
3. The construction of an acetylene gas producing lamp substantially as
herein before described with reference to Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings.
4. In an acetylene gas producing lamp the arrangement of a small receptacle for
the water inside the producer chamber containing the carbide for the purpose of

page_text: starting the production of gas by turning the chamber upside down, substantially as
hereinbefore described.
5. The construction of a lamp producing its gas by the action of a liquid in
contact with a solid substance on a perforated tray or its equivalent above a
preferably concave or conical false bottom having a small orifice through which
the producer chamber communicates with the reservoir containing the liquid in such
a manner that when the pressure in the producer increases, the liquid is expelled
therefrom through the said orifice, and when the pressure decreases, is forced
through it into contact with the solid substance by the pressure of the air or
gas confined in the reservoir above the liquid, substantially as herein before
described and illustrated by Figs. 3 to 6 of the drawings.
6. The construction of an acetylene gas producing lamp substantially as
hereinbefore described with reference to Figs. 3 and 4 of the drawing.
7. The construction of an acetylene gas producing lamp substantially as
herein before described with reference to Figs. 5 and 6 of the drawings.
8. In acetylene gas producing lamps of the kind herein before described the use
of an air compressor or its equivalent for starting the gas production, substantially
as hereinbefore described.
R. J. URQUHART,
57, Barton Arcade, Manchester, and 5, Clayton Square, Liverpool,
Consulting Engineer and Patent Agent.