US560405A - fuller - Google Patents

Description

(No Model.)

H. F. FULLER. AGETYLBNE GAS GENERATOR.

No. 560,405. f Patented May 19, 1896.

ANDREW EGIANAM. PHOTD-UIHDWASHINGIOMfDL. Y

UNITE STATES I PATENT Fries,

HENRY FULLER, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO THE \VALMSLEY, FULLER & COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

ACETYLEN E-GAS 'e EN ERATOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 560,405, dated May 19, 1896.

Application filed December 17, 1895. Serial No. 572,396. (No model.)

To (0% whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY F. FULLER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of .Cook and State .of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Gas-Generators, of which thefollowing is a specification.

My invention relates to that class of generators in which theLgas is produced by causing materials whichhave a chemical affinity to contact and by such contact effect the desired chemical combination; and while my invention may be employed in the manufacture of gases of various kinds and for various purposes it is intended more especially as a generator for use in the production 7 of acetylene gas by causing calcium carbide in the solid state to contact with water.

My object is to provide a generator of a construction adapting it for the production more especially of acetylene gas, and which will operate automatically to supply the gas as fast as but no faster than required and at an approximate predetermined pressure.

A generator constructed in accordance with my invention may be employed as a supplying means for a number of gas-burners, or may be of a size rendering it readily portable and provided with a burner to operate as a hand-lamp, as illustrated in the accompanying drawing, which shows a vertical central section of such a construction.

A is a preferably cylindrical vessel or lampbody open at the top, provided with abase i and having a handle t. Fitting into the top of the vessel A is a structure comprising a top plate 3, annular receptacle or chamber 1', and central downward-extending part q, all in rigid relation. The part q consistsof a cylindrical neck g, which forms the inner annular wall of the chamber 0' and is fastened to the top plate 5 around a central preferably threaded opening 8 in the latter. Below the chamber 1" the neckportion q is expanded and forms the shell or annular wall (1 of a chamber g which wall extends nearly to the base If and at its lower end portion is close to but out of contact with the wall of the vessel A. The construction'of the part q is such that between its;lower end portion and the wall of the vessel A is a narrow annular chanforms an annular receptacle m above the plate a and an annular space or inverted receptacle m below the said plate. Fitting and sliding vertically in the guide-cylinder n is a cup or receptacle Z, having a cylindricaT Wall Z of thin sheet material and a base Z either perforated or formed of mesh-wire to afford a sieve. The cup Z is fastened upon and supported by a .rod 7c,'which extends downward therefrom around the base of the part q and thence upward through a tube r,which passes through the chamber 1" and through an opening s in the top 5. The upper end portion of the rod is provided with teeth forming a rack 70', engaging the top plate at one edge of the opening s and held normally in such engagement by a finger-spring 5 Pressure of the rod at its upper end portion against the resistance of the spring .9 will free the rack from engagement with the top plate and permit it to be raised and lowered to raise and lower the cup Z in the guide-cylinder a.

Extending vertically through the chamber r is a tube 13?, provided toward its lower end portion Withbpenings r into the said chamher. In the tube r is a piston-plug r. The top portion of the tube 7- which" extends above the plate 8, is cut away to form a cam r and on the plug r is a pin 7-, which rests upon the cam-surface r and supports the plug. Turning of theplug 7' will cause its pin 0" to descend upon the cam, whereby the lower endportion of the plug will descend across the openings 1 3 and close the latter. Turning of the plug iii'the opposite direction will cause it to rise upon the cam-surface and clear the openings r When the device is to be employed as a lamp, as shown, a tube 2', having a valve i, may be secured at its lower end in theopening s and provided at its upper end with a burner 2' The entire structure, consisting of the top plate 3, annular chamber r, and part q, maybe lifted out of the vessel A, and the outer annular surface of the chamber 0 fits closely against the wall of the vessel A, the whole structure being supported by the top plate.

In operation the said structure is lifted out of the vessel A and the rod pushed downward to free the receptacle l from the guidecylinder at. The said receptacle is filled with calcium carbide, preferably in lumpy or granular form, and the cup then adjusted in the guide-cylinder and raised according to a scale m on the rod 7t until the sieve Z is at a desired height above the lower end of the guide-cylinder.

The structure is then placed in the vessel, the plug 0' removed, and the vessel filled to, say, the level 00 with water.

As the water rises to the sieve Z it contacts with the calcium carbide in the vessel Z, causing the rapid production of acetylene gas, which rises into the chamber (1 fills the latter, and then by exerting its pressure in a downward direction through the sieve against the water forces the latter downward against the resistance of the pressure of the water column in 1 the chamber 1), thus practically stopping further generation of the gas and holding the same under the pressure of the said water 1 column. On opening the cock 2" gas, under the pressure stated, will escape and may be ignited at the burner 73 As the gas escapes and pressure in the chamber Q3 is reduced the water will again rise to the sieve, more gas will be generated, and the operation described repeated.

The lower end portion of a the shell (1 should extend so far down as to i be always sufficiently below the sieve Z in the adjustment of the latter to prevent gas from escaping to the chamber 1) and vent-opcning -.2 b the guide-cylinder n is a solid ring, and the lower end portion of the cylinder is provided with one or more recesses n atone point is an opening a, from which a Fora short distance below the plate at In the plate a a tube nf may extend downward to the plane of i the upper ends of the notches or recesses 22 The space m between the lower end of the tube a and plate a may thus operate as a gasometer or equalizer, which is very useful in a'device of this nature. The annular receptacle on about the cup 1 may be initially provided with a small amount of calcium carbide, which will operate as an absorbent and tend to abstract from the gas in the chamber q any moisture carried thereby. Inthe event that water should at any time accumulate in the annular vessel on it will drain through the opening 01, and tube 01 the calciu 1n "carbide, becoming spongy, should swell beyond the capacity of the vessel Z, the surplus material will drop therefrom into the If in operation annular vessel m, and, through absorption of moisture froin'the chamber g or rise of water through the tube n, also gradually generate acetylene gas.

Assuming that the water column in the? chamber 1) extends to the line so, when the a water contacts with the carbide on the sieve Z a certain pressure will be exerted against the gas generated, which pressure will increase gradually as increased generation of gas raises the water column, and the degree of compression of the gas in the chamber (1 may be increased by lowering the vessel Z in the guide-cylinder n and diminished by raising the vessel. If no means are provided for maintaining a uniform water column in the chamber 19, and the water-line in the vessel A is lowered by use of the water in the generation of gas, the gas-pressure may be increased from time to time in the chamber (1 by pushing down the rod 70 to lower the vessel Z.

Then the sieve Z is in a plane above the recesses 02 the pressure of the gas in the chamber will be normally exerted against an area bounded by the guide-cylinder wall at, and the rise and fall of the water in said area under variations of gas-pressure will produce but little variation in the water-line 5c, and therefore little change in the pressure of the water column. \Vhen the gas generates so rapidly as to force the water below the tops of the recesses M, the gas will exert itself against a much larger area of water and raise the water column more rapidly, causing a rapid increase of water-pressure. This all tends to maintain a uniform standard of gas pressure in the chamber 1 and to prevent the too ready generation of gas.

In the event that through splashing of the water against the sieve in carrying the lamp about, or from any other cause, gas should be generated much more rapidly than is desired the pressure of the gas from the chamber q against the water below the sieve will cause the whole structure to rise in the vessel A, and thus operate as an effective safeguard against explosion.

As a means for maintaining the water-level at m the chamber 4' may be filled with water and the plug 0' raised to the position shown in the figure, whereby as fast as water is consumed in the formation of gas it will be supplied through the openings 0' \Vhile I have shown and described my im- A provements in connectipn with an acetylene lamp, it may be of :a much larger size than would be practicable to render it portable, and a pipe leading to any number of burners may be connected to the opening 8'. My im provements may also be found desirable for use in generating gas other than acetylene. lVhile I have shown and described my improvements as I prefer to provide thennthey may be modified in the matter of details without departing from the spirit of my invention as defined by the claim.

hat I claimas new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

In a generator for the production of gas from two bodies of chemically-coacting ma terials, one of which is solid and the other liquid, a vessel for the liquid, a shell supported in said vessel and containing a gaschamber having an outlet at its upper end portion and opening at its lower end into the vessel, a circumferential inward-extending plate in the shell above the lower end thereof, a guide-sleeve secured to and extending below the said plate to a plane above the lower end of the shell and forming with the shell a gas-space about the said sleeve, and a receptacle for the solid material having a perforate lower portion and supported in said guide-sleeve, a space between the shell and side wall of the vessel forming a chamber for a liquid column, whereby the gas generated by the contact of the materials passes through the solid material as generated and fills the chamber and exert-s downward pressure, through the body of solid material, against the liquid to separate the said materials against the resistance of the liquid column and check the generation of gas, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

\ HENRY F. FULLER. In presence of-- M. J. Fnosr, J. H. LEE.

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