Improvements in Incandescent Oil or Spirit Lamps.
Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application, 20th Feb., 1899-Accepted, 15th Apr., 1899
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Incandescent Oil or Spirit Lamps.
I, ÉTIENNE PETRÉANO, of 4 and 6, Rue Thimonnier, Paris, France, Chemical
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this 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 has reference to incandescent oil or spirit lamps, that is to say
to lamps having an incandescing mantle and adapted to burn a mixture of atmo-
spheric air and the vapour of petroleum or other oil or spirit. The improved
lamp is constructed in such manner that the vaporization or gasefication of the
petroleum or other hydrocarbide is effected without having recourse to pressure
or to the heating of the combustible liquid or to the use of an exterior flame.
In a lamp constructed according to my invention I employ one or more metallio
conductors of heat, the radiation from which produces on the one hand the gasefica-
tion or vaporization of the oil or spirit in the wick and on the other hand the
heating of the air required for the combustion. The oil or spirit vapours and the
air become intimately mixed at the upper part of the lamp within a bell with
perforated side wall and the mixture thus produced burns above the bell giving
a very hot and non-luminous flame by means of which the mantle is rendered
incandescent.
The accompanying drawing is a vertical section of a lamp constructed in
accordance with my invention.
CD are two concentric tubes, preferably cylindrical, between which is the wick E.
The outer tube has a threaded collar by means of which it is screwed into a threaded
aperture as shown in the lamp reservoir A. The tube C extends higher than the
inner tube D so as to allow the wick E to project above the inner tube while not
reaching the top of the outer tube. The height of the wick is regulated by
means of the button B. S is a metallic rod; it is placed in the axis of the lamp
and serves to conduct the heat. At a position somewhat above the level of the
top of the tube C the rod S has a shoulder X3 by means of which and of a locking
ring X2 it is secured in a vertical position in the centre of a bell X which supports
it. The cylindrical part X' of the bell fits into the tube D and is formed around
its circumference with a number of perforations as shown of round, square or
other form or it may alternatively be made of wire gauze. The bell X has no
openings at the top. The lower end of the bell rests on a rib M on the inside
of the tube D. The tubes CD are formed with a lateral opening P a little above
the reservoir A for the admission of air to the interior of the lamp; the size of
this opening can be regulated by means of a movable ring Pl. A gallery R sup-
porting the chimney G is fixed to the upper part of the tube C and has two sets of
openings R R2 for the inlet of external air to support the combustion of the
combustible mixture formed within the lamp. Between the two sets of open-
ings R R is a partition R³ which divides the incoming air into two currents.
The air entering by the inner set of openings R¹ maintains the base or lower
part of the flame at a high temperature while the air entering by the outer set
of openings Re has the effect of maintaining perfect and regular combustion. The

page_text: air entering by the openings R' has the further advantage that it tends to cool
the upper part of the tube C. The mantle T is supported by a bent rod Y the
height of which can be regulated as required by the screw Z.
When it is required to light the lamp the wick E is raised so that it passes
a little above the tube C; the chimney G is then removed and the wick is lighted
by means of a match or other igniter introduced through the gallery R. The
chimney is then at once replaced. Almost immediately about a third of the
mantle becomes incandescent the flame being blue, and the incandescence
spreads until the entire mantle is incandescent. The heat produced heats the
rod S to redness in about 30 seconds and the rod then by its conductibility and
radiation heats and gasefies or vaporizes the oil or spirit in the wick E and heats
the air which enters at P. This heated air becomes intimately mixed in the
bell with the vapor or gas and this mixture burns above the outer tube C
and bell X giving a non-luminous but very hot flame. When the whole mantle
has become incandescent the vaporization of the oil continues with regularity,
without smell and without moving the button B.
Instead of the side wall X¹ of the bell X being cylindrical as shown in the
figure it may be of any other suitable form such for example as that of a cone
or conical frustrum with the larger diameter at the bottom resting upon a suitable
support such as the rib M.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is:-
-
1. In an incandescent oil or spirit lamp, the combination of two concentric
wick carrying tubes of unequal length with a heat-conducting rod and a bell with
perforated side wall within which bell the gasified or vaporized oil or spirit and
the air heated by the said rod become intimately mixed before being consumed,
substantially as herein before described.
2. The two sets of openings R1 R2 in the gallery R in combination with the
partition R³; also the bell X without openings at the top and with perforations
in its side wall, all substantially as and for for the purposes set forth.
3. The general combination of parts, substantially as herein before described
and represented in the accompanying drawings constituting an improved incan-
descent oil or spirit lamp.
Dated this 20th day of February 1899
J. C. MEWBURN & ELLIS,
55 and 56, Chancery Lane, London,
Chartered Patent Agents.