US643222A - Acetylene-gas-generating street-lamp. - Google Patents

Description

Patented Feb. [3, 1900.

W. C. CLARKE.

ACETYLENE GAS GENERATING STREET LAMP.

(Application filed Apr. 10, 1896.)

(No Model.)

R 0 T N E V m BY @M m c2. ATTORNEY WITNESSES: A W' wf H: uonms PETERS w, vnoraumun WASHINGTON, o. c

Unrrnn XVILLIAM C. CLARKE, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO THE ACETYLENE APPARATUS MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF WEST VIRGINIA.

ACETYLEN E-GAS-G EN ERATING STREET-LAMP.

SPECIFICATIGN forming part of Letters Patent No. 643,222, dated February 13, 1900.

Application filed April 10, 1896. Serial No. 586,932. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM (J. CLARKE, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city of New York, in the county and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Street-Lamps, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to that class of streetlamps in which the individual lamps are not connected with a central gas-supply, but are each provided with a local supply of fuel; and the object of my improvements is to provide means whereby acetylene gas,which, as is Well known, is generated upon bringing water in contact with a suitable metallic carbid, may be conveniently, safely, and economically used as an illuminant with such lamps. In certain respects this gas is particularly well adapted for such a purpose, since it can be generated at or near the spot where it is to be used, thereby avoiding the expense of laying and maintaining street-mains, and can also be produced in such limited quantities as may be required to supply a given lamp or burner for a predetermined number of hours. It gives also a light of great brilliance and luminosity, well adapted for lighting large spaces and for exceeding that of any liquid or gaseous illuminant heretofore employed for street-lighting. Certain difficulties incident to the nature of the materials employed in generating the gas and the manner of its use have, however, to be provided for. Thus it is necessary that the water and carbid employed in producing it shall be brought together in such manner that no material amount of gas shall escape during the operation, and also that the gas shall not escape from the gas receiving chamber, which is necessarily connected with the generatingchamber when thelatter is opened for the purpose of removing the debris of decomposition and introducing fresh charges of material.

To the end of providing such a means and method for operating a streetlamp that it may be charged and recharged and operated with convenience and without loss of gas, I provide a post or support for the lamp having a hollow gas tight body the interior of which serves as a vertically-elongated gas-receiving chamber, provided with a floor or bottom below which the support extends, so as to be set in the ground or otherwise suitably secured. From near the lowest point of this gas-chamber a gas-pipe, open atits lower end, runs up through the gas chamber to the burner, between which and the gas-chamber is interposed a pressure-regulator. Outside of the lamp-support and near the bottom thereof is a generating-chamber, consisting of a cyl- 6o inder, with its longest axis vertical and provided at top and bottom with removable caps. From a point at or near the top of the gencrating-chamber a pipe leads into the gaschamber, which it enters at a point as near as may be to the floor or bottom thereof.

In using the apparatus the cylindrical generating-chamber is charged from the top, the lower cap being in place, with a Waterproof cartridge containing carbid of calcium, which is preferably so made as to closely fit the chamber diametrically and of such length as to leave sufficient space in the chamber to receive the water required for decomposing the carbid. The upper cap of the chamber being placed in position, the cartridge is then crushed or opened by a device provided for the purpose and the water in the chamber enters the cartridge, whereupon the gas is generated and passes into the gas-chamber. The quantity of carbid contained in the cartridge should be such that the amount of gas generated and the pressure under which it is stored in the gas-chamber will be only sufficient to operatively supply the burner for a desired or predetermined number of hours, allowance being made on the first charging for such excess of quantity as will remain in the chamber after the pressure is exhausted, and the light is permitted to burn until ex- 0 tinguished through failure of gas-pressure at the end of the given time. Owing to the fact that the vertical diameter of the gas-chamber is much greater than its horizontal diameter and that the gas is taken by the feed-pipe from near the bottom thereof the residue of gas remaining in the chamber when the pressure is so far reduced that enough gas to support the flame is no longer supplied will not escape and be replaced by air, as would 0therwise be the case, but being lighter than air is trapped and remains in the upper part of the gas-chamber ready to be added to the next charge of gas, whereby an important economy is effected. In order to recharge the chamber with gas, the cock of the lampburner is closed or care is taken to ignite the gas at the burner as soon as suflicient pressure is generated, the caps of the generating chamber or cylinder are removed, and the spent cartridge is driven out through the lower opening of the cylinder. The lower cap is then replaced, a fresh cartridge is inserted in the cylinder, and the generation of the gas is effected in the same manner as before.

Owing to the great vertical extension of the gas-chamber, which may be assisted, if desired, by an outwardly-closing check-valve in the pipe leading from the generating-cylinder to the gas-chamber, no escape of .gas will occur when the cylinder is opened for recharging, except such small amount as may be present in the cylinder, which may be disregarded.

The invention will be best understood by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 shows a vertical section of the device; Fig.2, an elevation thereof, and Fig. 3 an enlarged section of the generating-cylinder. Fig. 4 is a transverse section.

The same letters of reference indicate corresponding parts throughoutthe drawings.

A indicates the lamp post or support, which is made hollow,'so as to forma gas-tight chamber B, the vertical diameter of which is much greater than its horizontal diameter. From a point near the bottom or door 0 of the chamber B a gas-pipe I), the lower end of which is open, extends up through the top of the chamber to the lamp-burner a. Below the burner a is placed a pressure-regulator Z ,which may be of any usual or well-known form. 4

Outside the lamp-support A is placed the generating chamber or cylinder E, consisting of a cylinder of suitable material having its longer axis vertical. The cylinder E is provided at each end with a removable cap 6 e, by which it may be closed gas-tight. The upper cap 6 is provided with a cutting or crushing device F, which may form a part of the cap and which when the cap is in position projects into the cylinder and as the cap is screwed into place is forced downward and into a cartridge H, placed therein. The lower cap may also, if desired, be provided with projections which when the cartridge is forced against them by the action of the device F will pierce the lower end of the cartridge. The cylinder E is connected near its upper end with the gas-chamber B by a pipe G, which enters the chamber B near the floor or bottom thereof.

cylinder'E is removed and a waterproof cartridge containing carbid of calcium is inserted therein and a quantity of water sufficient to effect the decomposition of the carbid is poured into the cylinder above the car- 'added to the next following charge.

tridge. Preferably the cartridge is made to fit the cylinder so closely that the water cannot pass down to the lower end of the cylinder, but will remain above the cartridge until it is opened and the cartridge is forced so far down in the cylinder when placed therein that thespace above it will be sufficient for the reception of the requisite quantity of water. The cartridge may be made to fit the cylinder either by being itself of such diameter as to fit closely therein or by being provided at its upper edge with an outwardlyprojecting flange h, which will fit closely against the walls of the chamber. If desired, this flange may be made to extend so far upward as to form a cup in which the water will be contained. The cap 6' is then screwed on and the crusher F is forced down and into the end of the cartridge, so that the water can pass in and combine with the carbid. Since all of the water is above the cartridge in the cylinder, it will all enter the cartridge and come in contact with the carbid, and thus be efiective in forming'gas, so that it is'unnecessary to provide space in the cylinder for morethan enough water to effect the decomposition of the maximum amount of carbid used, and there is practically no surplus of undecomposed water which might become frozen in cold weather, as wouldbe the case if the waterwere admitted to the cartridge at other than its highest point. The gas developed passes into the gaschamber B and up through the pipe D to the burner, where it is consumed as required.

The cartridge employed should be charged with such a quantity of carbid as will provide sufficient gas to run the burner for the number of hours during which it is desired the lamp shall be operated in asingle night. By so doing the lamp requires attention but once in each twenty-four hours, the operation of supplying the gas being performed at the time when it is desired that the lamp shall'be light ed, and the gas being then ignited andpermitted to burn until the gas-pressu re becomes so reduced that it will no longer support the flame, which goes out of itself, and the operation is repeated from day to day. Regard must also be had in proportioning the gaschamber to the pressure under which the gas is to be stored, so that it shall be sufficient to maintain the flame for the required time, as otherwise while the gas-supply may be ample asfar as quantity is concerned the flame may be'prematurely extinguished through lack of sufficient pressure. Owing to the relativelygreat vertical elongation of the gas-chamber B and to the fact that the gas is taken to the burner from the bottom thereof any residue of gas remaining in the chamber after the pressure becomes so reduced as to no longer support the gas-flame will not escape from the chamber, but will remain therein to be In order to renew the charge of carbid, both the upper and lower caps e e of the cylinder E are removed, and the spent Cartridge is driven out through the lower opening of the cylinder. The fact that the interior of the cylinder or generating-chamber when the caps are removed is simply avertical tube open at both ends, thus presenting an open passage, enables this to be easily done, even in case of the freezing of any small quantity of surplus water in the cylinder in cold weather, and also enables any lime that may have escaped from the cartridge to be washed or scraped from the walls of the chamber. After the spent cartridge is removed the lower cap e is put in place, and the cylinder is charged and the gas generated in the same manner as in the first instance, the gas-burner being closed before the generation of gas is begun and being again opened and the gas ignited when the gas-pressure is reestablished.

By means of my invention an isolated streetlamp can be operated with a minimum of attention and in a simple and economical manner. As the lamps require visiting but once each day one man with a vehicle provided with the necessary supply of cartridges and water can efficiently attend to the lighting of a village or town of considerabe size, advan tages which will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. As a means of operating street-lamps the combination with. a hollow lamp-support forming a gas-chamber and having a gas-pipe leading from near the bottom of such chamber to the lampburner, of a cylindrical gasgenerating chamber located outside of said gas-chamber and having its longer axis vertical, a pipe connecting the upper part of said generating-chamber with the lower part of said gas-chamber, removable caps for the upper and lower ends of said generating-chamber, a cartridge, adapted to closely -fit the interior of said generating-chamber and containing material adapted upon contact with water to generate illuminating-gas and means for opening the upper end of such cartridge when contained in said chamber after the latter is closed, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

2. In a street-lamp the combination of a hollow lamp-support forming a verticallyelongated gas-chamber, a gas-supply pipe extending from near the bottom of said chamber to the lamp-burner, and a generatingchamber exterior to said gas-chamber and consisting of a tube provided at the ends with removable caps and presenting when such caps are removed an open passage, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

3. In a streetlamp the combination of a hollow lamp-support forming a verticallyelongated gas chamber, a gas supply pipe within said chamber and extending froma point near the bottom thereof to the burner of the lamp and a gas-generating chamber located exterior to said gas-chamber and operatively connected therewith, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

4. In a street-lamp the combination of a hollow lamp support forming averticaIlyelongated gas-chamber and a gas-generating chamber operatively connected therewith and consisting of a cylinder having removable caps at the ends thereof and presenting when such caps are removed an open passage, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

5. In a street-lamp the combination of a gas-chamber, a burner supplied therefrom, and a gasgenerating chamber operatively connected with such gas-chamber and consisting of a cylinder having removable end caps and presenting, when such caps are removed an open tubular passage, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name this 1st day of April,'A. D.

WM. C. CLARKE. Witnesses:

GEo. OOSTER, F. A. THAYER.

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